For four terms I served at the Montana Legislature representing HD 36. One thing has become obvious; conservative legislation can be vetoed by a liberal governor. For eight years there has been conservative legislation passed by the House and Senate, but the measures were dead on arrival at the governor’s desk. In 2020 we are Read More…
All panics begin with a rational fear that quickly turns dangerously irrational. A threat is identified. The danger posed by the threat is amplified by speculation. Worst case scenarios are obsessed about, and action is demanded. Discussion of unseen consequences are discouraged. Skepticism of the threat is met with suspicion or anger. The current panic Read More…
For four terms I served at the Legislature and one thing has become obvious: liberal governors veto conservative legislation. For eight years conservative legislation has passed the House and Senate but are dead on arrival at the governor’s desk. In 2020 we have the best opportunity in 16 years to take back the Governor’s Read More…
Where is Montana Attorney General Tim Fox these days? I have attempted to contact his office three times in the past month regarding a complaint I filed against a Montana Highway Patrol trooper back in July, but Fox’s silence has been deafening. After forwarding my complaint up the MHP chain of command without resolution, Read More…
COMMENTARY X Story Stream recent articles The stage is set for a “high stakes hearing.” Washington braces for “dramatic testimony.” Local bars are opening early with happy-hour specials for “blockbuster congressional hearings.” If this all sounds familiar, it should. It’s sweeps for the swamp. Think your favorite reality show, just with lower ratings. It’s the same Read More…
X Story Stream recent articles For one brief moment, it appeared that the Democratic presidential primary would finally have fewer candidates than the 2016 Republican field at its peak. No longer. With the potential entry of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the actual entry of former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick into the Read More…
The public impeachment hearings opened this week with a tussle over the whistleblower who raised concerns internally about President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine policy. Republicans, backed up by a barrage of presidential tweets and retweets, scored Democrats for not calling the whistleblower to testify. Democrat Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, vowed to Read More…
Another school shooting, this time by a 15-year-old at Saugus High School in California, another quest for answers. Yet, 20 years after Columbine, the United States is still looking for how to stop mass public shootings. The rest of the world, where mass public shootings are actually much more common, is also looking for solutions. Read More…
“READ THE TRANSCRIPT!” President Donald Trump has been pounding that message for weeks. During the first public impeachment hearings regarding Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine, we learned a damning new fact that explains why. At issue in the inquiry, of course, is whether Trump committed impeachable conduct toward Ukraine when he allegedly withheld military aid and a Read More…
The Trump administration’s whiplash-inducing plans for U.S. troop levels in Syria have swerved through announcements of full withdrawal to small-scale reshuffling to redeployment to “secure the oil.” Now they’ve stopped right where they started. “There will be less than 1,000” American soldiers on the ground in Syria, Army Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Read More…
X Story Stream recent articles Good morning, it’s Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. Today’s morning newspapers and television broadcasts are full of impeachment coverage, which will be the case for a while. Fifty-eight ago on this date, though, a U.S. president awoke to glowing news coverage about his activities at the White House. The night before Read More…
To be sure, President Donald Trump continues to get many things wrong in regard to U.S. relations with Ukraine. According to recent reporting by The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, among others, he still thinks that Ukrainian officials tried to help Hillary Clinton defeat him in 2016. He thinks, also without evidence, that they have protected Read More…
X Story Stream recent articles WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is making a late entry into the Democratic presidential race. Patrick announced his bid Thursday in an online video, saying, “I am today announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.” Patrick made history as the first black governor of Massachusetts Read More…
X Story Stream recent articles From 1967 to 2019, Republicans controlled the California governorship for 31 of 52 years. So why is there currently not a single statewide Republican officeholder? California also has a Democratic governor and Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature. Only seven of California’s 53 congressional seats are held Read More…
X Story Stream recent articles Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wants “Medicare for All,” as does Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., her self-described “Democratic socialist” rival. Unlike Sanders, however, Warren claims she can finance her plan by raising taxes only on the superrich. The middle class, Warren insists, will see their health care costs go down and Read More…
X Story Stream recent articles I’d like to personally bop over the head the next Democrat who says that Michael Bloomberg shouldn’t be running for president because he’s a billionaire. Let’s give thanks that a simple-minded dismissal of rich candidates didn’t sink FDR’s chances. Billionaires are not the enemy. If you believe that those raking Read More…
X Story Stream recent articles As the Democratic field for president thins out, most supporters of the dropouts will pick another candidate. That prospect raises the question of whether these newly available voters will flock to the front-runners or boost the chances of one of the also-rans. To gain insight into this question, the latest Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 11:48 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. It’s a farewell to arms at the University of Virginia. The 200-year-old university founded by the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, abandoned the time-honored tradition to fire a rifle Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 10:53 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a leading contender for her party’s 2020 presidential sweepstakes, recently released her long-awaited Medicare for All plan. Warren estimates her grandiose plan would cost a mind-blowing $52 trillion Read More…
President Donald Trump has again hinted that another tax cut may be on the way. It does not appear he has any actual plan to provide one, which is fortunate given that any revenue proposal from this administration would be engineered to solve a problem that does not exist — the over-taxation of the rich. Anyone Read More…
Under normal circumstances, most kids look for excuses to stay home from school, at least once in a while. This week in Israel, 300,000 kids stayed home from school a few days in a row. Under the circumstances, they’d probably rather have been in school. Beginning early Monday, Palestinian Arab terrorists fired more than 400 Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 8:50 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. The happening featured Donald Trump Jr. and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle. The couple was on stage at UCLA to promote the president’s son’s book, when they were jeered by dissident Deplorables for shutting Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 8:42 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. The son of a Republican congressman was targeted and assaulted by a violent gang of socialist and communist thugs at North Carolina State University. Jack Bishop, a 19-year-old freshman tells the Todd Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 8:18 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. Breathless media coverage anticipated the “history” about to be made Wednesday morning as two witnesses prepared to regale Congress with testimony about President Trump’s Ukraine phone call and the issues surrounding it. Read More…
American rapper and actor T.I. bragging on a podcast about subjecting his daughter to annual OB-GYN visits to determine whether her hymen is “still intact” has sparked widespread and deserved backlash. But as physicians, we know that T.I.’s outrageous actions are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the unscientific, archaic and degrading practice Read More…
Is that it? Is that all they got? Day One of impeachment was not exactly must see TV. Sure, it was interesting and substantive at times, which would be compliments if this were a graduate school seminar about the lonely lives and confusing experiences of far-flung diplomats. But this was a congressional hearing to determine Read More…
X Story Stream recent articles History was too boring to watch. At least, that is what the president of the United States said, and the current front-runner among those trying to replace him seemed to echo the sentiment. Neither President Trump — in meetings Wednesday with Turkish leader Recep Erdogan — nor former Vice President Read More…
“Over the past two days, our society has been pushed to the brink of a total breakdown,” the Hong Kong police said at a Tuesday news conference. What they didn’t dare say is that it’s Beijing that’s doing the pushing. Last weekend was the bloodiest since mass demonstrations began five months ago. A man was Read More…
Sadly, Chuck Schumer probably wasn’t surprised at the flak he took for praising Rep. Peter King after the Long Island Republican announced his retirement. New York’s senior senator simply tweeted that King “stood head & shoulders above everyone else” as a “principled” lawmaker who “never let others push him away from his principles,” a man Read More…
In their first day of public impeachment hearings, Democrats made clear just how weak their case is. In beyond-dull testimony, the Dems’ first witnesses, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and US Chargé d’Affaires in Ukraine Bill Taylor, noted their displeasure with the fact that there were “two channels” (a “regular” and an “irregular” Read More…
If Democrats think they advanced their case for impeachment with the first day of hearings into the Ukraine matter, they are deluding themselves. The proceedings were confusing, not clarifying. Speaking as someone who has followed this matter in granular detail, I found it extremely difficult to tease out the set of undeniable facts that would Read More…
The Cuomo administration has admitted there is a “structural imbalance” in its massive Medicaid budget, which means the Empire State’s biggest single government program is spending beyond its means. So, what does Gov. Andrew Cuomo plan to do about it? Some hint of the answer might be forthcoming in a midyear financial update — whenever, Read More…
It’s a safe bet that President Donald Trump was watching today’s impeachment hearings. But cartoonist Mike Thompson shows us how we can tell for sure in Today’s Toon, above. For more commentary on the latest news, scroll through the rest of the daily editorial cartoons gallery. And check back often for updates. In fact, on this page, you’ll Read More…
Since the election of President Donald Trump, Democrats have made impeachment their No. 1 goal. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has finally agreed to let the American public see what has been going on in his closed-door, Soviet-style hearings. For two years, Democrats chased the Russian collusion hoax. Former special counsel Robert Mueller concluded Read More…
President Donald Trump has insisted dozens of times, most recently on Wednesday, that his dealings with Ukraine this summer were not a “quid pro quo.” After the opening day of public testimony in the House impeachment hearings, does anyone really believe that anymore? Actually, the Latin phrase quid pro quo (something for something) was always too lofty an expression Read More…
With a laundry list of tax hikes proposed by Congress or Democratic candidates for president, it’s understandable why many would view Washington as the biggest threat to taxpayers’ wallets. However, policymakers at the state and local level are just as likely to reach into taxpayers’ pockets as those in Washington, D.C. Take Election Day 2019, Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 12:01 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. Here we go again. We’re approaching another deadline to pass a government spending bill or risk a government shutdown. Legislators routinely manufacture this sort of “crisis” to ram through provisions that wouldn’t Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 12:01 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. Last week, the U.S. Secret Service released a groundbreaking report analyzing school shootings and mass casualty attacks over the past decade. If taken seriously by school leaders, this report should help spot Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 12:01 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. Millennials and Generation Z have been inundated with the notion of climate change as undisputable fact. A March 2019 Gallup poll indicates 67 percent of those aged 18-29 are “concerned believers” in “global Read More…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wants “Medicare for All,” as does Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., her self-described “Democratic socialist” rival. Unlike Sanders, however, Warren claims she can finance her plan by raising taxes only on the superrich. The middle class, Warren insists, will see their health care costs go down and their taxes will not go Read More…
If you aren’t Canadian or didn’t grow up near the border with access to the CBC on your TV and have hockey as a part of your childhood, the name Don Cherry likely doesn’t mean much, if anything, to you. But what just happened to him should matter to you, because it could happen to Read More…
| Posted: Nov 14, 2019 12:01 AM The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. According to a report by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the teaching of U.S. history to American students lags behind all other subject matters. The latest NAEP survey finds that Read More…
I get a little picky about this whole due process thing, not just because I’m a lawyer and not just because I helped defend our Constitution overseas in uniform a couple times, but because I’m an American citizen. Let’s understand clearly the nature of the due process argument over impeachment. This is not about Donald Read More…
WASHINGTON — It is slowly becoming ever clearer whom exactly the Democrats are zeroing in on as their key voting bloc for 2020. It is not the youth vote, contrary to the received opinion. The youth vote is always in danger of oversleeping, and by 4 p.m., most are in danger of being lured to Read More…