(The Center Square) – Higher interest rates divide households. Savers holding cash or buying new bonds can earn more interest. Borrowers taking out new loans or carrying variable-rate debt pay more. Existing bondholders can suffer losses as inflation and yields rise, while stock-market gains cushion households with substantial portfolios. Those without financial assets have fewer Read More…
In 2020, as a public school parent, I fought to reopen New York City’s schools. I realized parents didn’t have a seat at the table, and we still have none today. Defending Education’s new state ranking on integrity in education now puts New York 35th of 51, behind Michigan and Pennsylvania, which tie at 33rd. I came Read More…
Financial fraud has become a lucrative criminal enterprise. According to the FBI, cyber-enabled crimes defrauded Americans of $21 billion in 2025 alone. Tragically, that figure includes more than $53 million stolen from Montanans. Scammers exploit our trusting, friendly nature to drain the accounts of unsuspecting victims. As state auditor, I’m responsible for protecting Treasure State Read More…
(The Center Square) – The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates this week. Markets now put the odds of a quarter-point hike at roughly 85%. I think the Fed should hold. Inflation is still too high. But the most important question is not whether inflation went up. It is why. Consumer prices Read More…
Last week made the economy look a little less fragile. It did not necessarily make it stronger. Employers added 162,000 jobs in August, unemployment held at 4.1%, and June and July were revised higher by a combined 55,000 jobs. After several weak months, the labor market may have found a floor. But a bottom is Read More…
Ask most folks what built the Powder River Basin, and they’ll tell you it was hard work and good coal. Both are true, but the trigger was federal policy. When President Nixon signed the Clean Air Act of 1970 and created the EPA, the new sulfur limits sent power companies hunting for low-sulfur coal —Northeastern Read More…
On August 5, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division withdrew a business review letter it issued to Institutional Shareholder Services back in 1987. Four months earlier, the Labor Department told the same industry it had been acting as an ERISA fiduciary all along, welcome or not. Two federal agencies, working from two different statutes, landed on Read More…
Americans hear endless talk about the southern border – walls, surges, gotaways – but few know about one of the border’s biggest vulnerabilities: the Tohono O’odham Nation’s reservation. Stretching across roughly 2.8 million acres of Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona, this sovereign tribal land shares about 62 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. That stretch is Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s decision to withdraw Steve Bullock’s 2012 term-limit opinion will undoubtedly be portrayed as a dramatic change in Montana election law. The history tells a different story. The real change occurred in 2012. In 1997, Democratic Attorney General Joe Mazurek interpreted the term-limit amendment Montana voters had added to the Constitution just Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen has withdrawn the 2012 opinion of then-Attorney General Steve Bullock and reaffirmed the reading of Montana’s term-limit provision set out in 1997 by Attorney General Joe Mazurek. He was right to do it. The charge that will follow—that Knudsen invented a new rule for a particular election—has the history backwards. Mazurek, Read More…
Montana prides itself on independence. We value open spaces, open markets, and open minds. We are skeptical of distant institutions that presume they know what’s best for our communities. That is precisely why Montana lawmakers should take a hard look at how state advertising dollars are being spent. Today, Montana state agencies hire advertising firms Read More…
As Americans prepare to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, there will be no shortage of fireworks, parades, speeches and reflections on our history. Those celebrations are appropriate. The signing of the Declaration of Independence remains one of the most consequential events in human history. Its ideas changed the world. Across the globe, they inspired movements Read More…
After a long absence from politics, former legislator Jim Peterson has returned, seeking the limelight once again, this time to criticize the Montana Republican Party for amending its bylaws. You have probably never heard of Peterson, so here is a quick refresher. Jim Peterson is a former Senate Majority Leader and President, most famous for Read More…
Across the Mountain West, data center construction has been slowed by local opposition, fueled in part by misunderstandings about the water consumption associated with the industry. Articles like “AI Chugs a Bottle of Water Every Time You Chat With It,” and “The Dark Side of Data Centers Part 2: Water Guzzlers” give the impression that Read More…
Medicare Advantage is not just an abstract policy for many Montana seniors who rely on it to access doctors, prescriptions, medical care, and peace of mind. Montanans deserve accountability, not bureaucratic delays, when they have questions about their plan and coverage. States need a stronger role in protecting consumers and enforcing the Medicare Advantage rules Read More…
A recent settlement with the Department of Justice in Texas has flung open the doors for the very first time for detransitioner medical care. Attorney General Ken Paxton announced earlier this month that after a lengthy investigation into the alleged misuse of Medicaid funds to perform transitions at Texas Children’s Hospital, they would open a Read More…
For years, litigators, activists and scientific experts have called on the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the litany of local lawsuits related to the herbicide glyphosate. As the court deliberates on the case Monsanto v. Durnell, they will soon get their wish. The case is nominally about pesticide labels. The question lurking behind Read More…
July 4, 2026, marks our nation’s 250th birthday. For two and a half centuries, patriotic men and women have fought and sacrificed so this country remains free, sovereign, and governed by “we the people,” not by federal bureaucrats. A 250th anniversary is rare in a nation’s life. It is also a unique opportunity for a Read More…
Last Thursday night on Long Island, 22-year-old Rony Yahir Alvarenga Rivera allegedly hacked his 32-year-old roommate to death with a knife in their shared apartment. Three hours later he walked into the local Wendy’s where he worked, ambushed his 42-year-old coworker as she took out the trash and stabbed her repeatedly in the neck and Read More…
Government programs often spiral out of control, harming the very people they were supposed to help. Obamacare was full of such perversities. The most obvious are skyrocketing prices caused by a law that claims to make care “affordable.” While fixing the structure requires action by Congress, the Trump administration has gone into the policy weeds Read More…
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept—it is already shaping how Americans live, work, and access essential services. From lowering healthcare costs to improving housing markets and streamlining everyday transactions, AI holds enormous promise for consumers. But realizing those benefits depends on one critical factor: a clear, consistent national approach to regulation. Without it, Read More…
Rail transportation is the backbone of the American economy, and a proposed $85 billion merger threatens to concentrate market power in an already highly consolidated industry in the hands of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. The consequences will ripple across the economy, raising transportation costs, weakening service, and squeezing industries that depend on rail, from Read More…
As everyone expected, a lawsuit was filed on April 9, 2026, in Klickitat Superior Court challenging the unconstitutional income tax adopted this year in Washington. The lead attorneys are former state Attorney General Rob McKenna, a former Democratic state lawmaker and Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, and Jackson Maynard of the Citizen Action Defense Fund. Discussing the Read More…
200 years ago, the Luddites destroyed textile looms and cropping machines in a vain effort to resist technological innovation. Now, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) are trying to do the same thing with the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act. Or at least they’re acting the part of modern-day Luddites to secure political control over Read More…
I’ve heard enough. “Dr. Al” Olszewski has spent the better part of a decade lying to Montana, dividing conservatives, and has used his post as county GOP chairman to pull good candidates down, rather than working to elevate all. He personally has lost three consecutive primaries for US Senate, governor, Congress, and now that he’s Read More…
For most of my career in public education, school choice was treated as a partisan issue. I served more than two decades as a public school teacher and school leader. During that time, I sat across the table from dozens of families whose children were struggling in the traditional school environment. Sometimes the issue was Read More…
“What is conservatism?” asked President Abraham Lincoln. “Is it not adherence to the old and the tried, against the new and the untried?” Defining conservatism is not an easy task. Even before the election of President Donald Trump, fierce debates existed within the conservative movement. President Trump’s rise has intensified those debates over what it Read More…
Montana deserves a federal judge who not only understands the law, but understands Montana. President Trump’s nomination of Katie Lane to serve a s the Treasure State’s next federal judge achieves both of these goals. Katie built her career on a sincere commitment to an original interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and individual liberty. I Read More…
Life has consequences, and we make choices every single day that determine our future. As a small business owner, I understand this reality clearly: Staying in business requires disciplined, fiscally sound decision-making. Sure, I could buy equipment that might make my work easier, invest in software that could help me grow, or drive an expensive Read More…
July 4, 2026, marks our nation’s 250th birthday. For two and a half centuries, patriotic men and women have fought and sacrificed so this country remains free, sovereign, and governed by “we the people,” not by federal bureaucrats. A 250th anniversary is rare in a nation’s life. It is also a unique opportunity for a Read More…
U.S. Rep. Dr. Greg Murphy’s Buying American Cotton Act is a near-perfect example of the old adage that government intervention leads to more intervention. According to Murphy, R-N.C., the bill is due in part to “global competition” making the survival of domestic cotton farmers difficult. The bill would create a tax credit to incentivize the Read More…
I’ve been worried for some time that politicians may take advantage of property tax chaos to impose a statewide sales tax on top of existing property taxes — an idea Montanans have consistently rejected. Now, I’m starting to see the signs that my suspicions may come true. Montanans should beware of this sales tax trap. Read More…
January 26 marked the start of tax filing season, and 140 million taxpayers are once again gathering W-2s, logging into tax software, and bracing for the familiar anxiety of figuring out what they owe Uncle Sam. It’s never a fun process, but this year will be a little better for taxpayers and working families. Thanks Read More…
On Jan. 1, 2026, China made its digital yuan interest-bearing. Fourteen days later, the U.S. Senate postponed a critical vote on whether digital dollars can pay interest, too. This American hesitation feints at unilateral financial disarmament. China is weaponizing its currency to attract global capital while the U.S. is captured by its capitalists. Wall Street Read More…
Idaho has taken a significant step forward in expanding educational opportunity by joining the nation’s first federal education choice tax credit scholarship program. Last week, Gov. Brad Little reinforced the state’s commitment to education choice by announcing Idaho’s participation, placing the state alongside Virginia, Nebraska, Arkansas and Alabama as early adopters of this landmark federal initiative. Read More…
Americans are frustrated with politics, and one group claims to have the answer. Self-appointed election reformers promise that if we enact their plans, things will get better. One problem is that they have a lot of different, conflicting proposals. Worse, many of them would double-down on past reform mistakes. A recent string of losses on Read More…
Every American should be alarmed by the ongoing fraud investigation in Minnesota. What started on social media and initially appeared to be yet another case of government waste has evolved into something far more troubling: a national security failure. The fraud investigation stems from the Feeding Our Future nonprofit, at the center of what federal Read More…
In the wake of escalating protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota, anti-borders politicians like Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar have resorted to hysterical warnings about President Donald Trump invoking the Insurrection Act. They paint a dystopian picture of federal troops storming the streets, suppressing Read More…
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Jan. 13 in two cases that will shape the future of women’s sports nationwide. As a detransitioner, I cannot sit on the sidelines and stay silent while the court considers decisions that reach far beyond athletics and into the core of women’s sex-based legal protections. At issue in Read More…
Every year in January, leaders gather in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum to discuss the global economy. This year, some people have asked a great question: Why is the Trump administration going to Davos at all? Why show up and participate when we’ve been so clear that the old globalist line of thinking Read More…