Author: Peter Roff

Washington, D.C. – The reports of the collapse of America’s educational institutions are, as Mark Twain might have put it “greatly exaggerated.” That does not mean their current performance is flawless or even adequate. The reality is they are in a state of prolonged decline. This is as true for institutions of higher learning as it is for local K-12 establishments. Test scores are down. Violence on campus and truancy are up. Simply put, in far too many places like the city of Chicago, there’s considerable evidence that our children are not learning. This is not because they are somehow…

Washington, D.C. – The operatives who design and execute strategy in American political campaigns are driven by the need to know why voters behave the way they do. What drives them to pick one candidate over another? Is their choice personality-driven or do issues matter? If it’s the latter, what issues are they? And are they constant or do they change from election to election? There are a lot of things the pollsters and practitioners of the political arts want to know about why people vote the way they do. Most of all, what keeps them up at night? What…

Washington, D.C. – West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin has yet to announce whether he’ll seek another term in the U.S. Senate. As he makes up his mind, a GOP-aligned group, One Nation, announced it would spend $1 million in the state reminding voters how the state’s senior senator betrayed his constituents’ interests when he provided the critical vote needed to allow President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to become law. The group said the campaign was intended to urge Manchin, who has frequently been a stumbling block to administration efforts on the environment and the economy, to stop putting West…

Washington, D.C. – The Democrats lost another elected official Monday as West Virginia State Delegate David Elliott Pritt left the party and joined the GOP. The move was announced in a statement issued by West Virginia Republican Chair Elgine McArdle welcomed Pritt, who represents Fayette County in the legislature, into the GOP. “I want to welcome Delegate Elliott Pritt to the Republican Party. Like so many West Virginians, Delegate Pritt has recognized that the Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that our parents grew up with,” McArdle said. With Pritt changing parties, Republicans now occupy 89 of…

Washington, D.C. – A group of prominent economists Thursday urged congressional leaders to reject the Biden administration’s FY 2024 proposal, calling it “irresponsible” and suggesting that, if adopted, it would set the nation on a path to economic disaster. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the economists lamented the “anti-growth tax increases and unsustainable budget deficits” the administration put forward in its latest budget document. Instead of enacting the Biden budget, the 434 economists who signed the letter called for Congress to focus on the process of “reducing the federal…

Washington, D.C. – Pop sensation Lady Gaga, who infamously once wore a dress made entirely of meat, has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as co-chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, is an award-winning singer-songwriter with 13 Grammy Awards who has sold over 170 million records, including the hit single “Poker Face” and an album of traditional standards with legendary vocalist Tony Bennett. In announcing her appointment, the White House drew attention to her philanthropy and “staunch support of LGBTQI+ rights and mental health,” as well…

Washington, D.C. – President Joe Biden’s budget for the coming fiscal year is as audacious as it is reckless. Rather than rein spending in to reduce inflation, he’s proposing to blow the doors off, taking annual federal expenditures from about $6 trillion, post-COVID, to nearly $10 trillion by 2033. If it’s enacted, and there’s a snowball’s chance it will be, the feds alone would end up spending about half of the value of all goods and services currently produced in the United States. Add to that the amount taken by states and local governments and the total approaches two-thirds. That’s…

Washington, D.C. – A member of the Missouri legislature is asking his colleagues to officially condemn the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump by a New York County grand jury. GOP State Rep. Phil Christofanelli of St. Peters, Mo., Tuesday called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s effort to move forward on the 34-count felony indictment a “blatant political prosecution” that would further divide the country and increase the level of political polarization some analysts believe is damaging public confidence in the U.S. electoral system. “The actions of the Manhattan District Attorney against former President Trump,” Christofanelli said in a release,…

Washington, D.C. – North Carolina Democrats were left scrambling Tuesday as media outlets throughout the state began reporting state Rep. Tricia Cotham would be crossing the aisle. Cotham, who represents portions of Mecklenburg County, is expected to make the switch as early as Wednesday, giving the GOP a narrow, three-fifths supermajority in the state’s lower chamber. North Carolina Republicans already had a supermajority in the State Senate, meaning GOP legislators will have the power to override any of Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes once Cotham switches. Analysts speculated this would allow the GOP to make law of measures that have…

Washington, D.C. – For a long time, Joe Biden and his buddies have been preaching the need for the wealthiest among us to pay “their fair share” of the federal tax burden. That’s as deceptive as it is misleading. As a theory of economics, it’s got more in common with Karl Marx, who famously talked about “from each according to his number to each according to his need” than it does with anything said or written by Adam Smith or Milton Friedman. The name of the game is redistribution, which is played by having the government take from those who…