Politics
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Eric Roper: Libertarians are outraged by ICE tactics. Will conservatives listen?
MINNEAPOLIS — They consider taxation to be theft, oppose gun regulations and want to dismantle the welfare state. But they’re also royally pissed off about the federal operation in the Twin Cities.
Meet the libertarians.
The bastions of smaller government and individual freedom have planted their “Don’t Tread On Me” flag in the ...Read more
Commentary: Humoring Donald Trump is appeasement, and appeasement is surrender
Most of us learned this lesson in grade school: Appeasement doesn’t stop a bully. It invites only more bullying. The only thing that works is standing up for yourself. It isn’t a guaranteed win. You might still get a bloody nose. But if you don’t fight back, you are certain to lose, again and again.
Europe learned this lesson in 1938, ...Read more
Commentary: Spending is hot. Saving is not. Something has to give
The U.S. government released some long-delayed data Thursday that seemed to prove true the cliché about never betting against American consumers.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, spending increased 0.3% in both October and November when adjusted for inflation. The results were in line with the average monthly gain over the past ...Read more
Commentary: Trump's global chaos is sowing decades of trouble for the US
Sure, President Donald Trump’s erratic foreign policy has alienated allies, shredded the U.S.-led rules-based global order, nudged Canada closer to China and turned NATO into something resembling your uncle’s Facebook page after someone brings up politics.
Other than that? Everything’s terrific.
Just kidding. It might be even worse than ...Read more
Anita Chabria: The myth of anti-white discrimination in LA schools -- and the politics behind it
LOS ANGELES — Spoiler alert: No, Los Angeles schools do not discriminate against white students.
But a new lawsuit from a conservative group is claiming that they do — and there are enough frustrated parents out there that it's getting a lot of attention.
So here we are, folks, in the age of Trump, once again faced with those who are ...Read more
Trudy Rubin: European and business leaders force Trump to reverse course on threats to Greenland
Donald Trump’s sudden retreat from his military and economic threats to seize Greenland from NATO ally Denmark shows it is still possible to block the president from further foreign policy folly.
Trump did a complete U-turn at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, shortly after berating European allies and NATO in a lengthy, lie-...Read more
Editorial: Congress should get moving on Russian sanctions bill
President Donald Trump prudently backed off from his Greenland invasion threat, perhaps signaling that he’s ready to again turn his attention to containing one of this nation’s actual enemies, Vladimir Putin and Russia.
For nearly a year, the Senate has sat on a bipartisan proposal intended to exert additional pressure on Putin to end his ...Read more
Noah Feldman: The Supreme Court doesn't want to break the Fed
It seems very highly probable that the Supreme Court will allow Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to remain in office despite President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her. It’s less clear whether the justices will find a way to make the case go away altogether, or whether they will send it back to the lower courts for additional fact-...Read more
James Stavridis: While Washington debates Greenland, Iran is bleeding
Even as the world focuses on the future of Greenland, the Trump administration has effectively walked away from events in Iran. Following the largest protests in the country since the 1979 revolution, President Donald Trump put the theocratic regime on notice that further killing of protesters would provoke a U.S. response. He later appeared to ...Read more
Editorial: Trump claims he 'won't use force' to seize Greenland, but his takeover efforts may shatter NATO beyond repair
As many as 85 million deaths were caused by World War II, including more than 400,000 U.S. service members. It was the largest and deadliest conflict in history, involving more than 70 countries.
Out of that horrific six-year battle, the United States, Canada, and 10 Western European nations forged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to ...Read more
Commentary: New food pyramid is a recipe for health disasters
The meat industry’s celebration of the Trump administration’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans should be a clear sign that these new guidelines aren’t for the people.
It’s true that “the United States is amid a health emergency,” as Secretaries Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Brooke Rollins state. However, in claiming to be an answer to ...Read more
Michael Hiltzik: Feds now admit DOGE accessed private data at Social Security
Back in March, Social Security officials swore to a federal judge that members of Elon Musk's DOGE team never had access to individuals' personal information held at the agency, and certainly could not have misused it even if they had.
The Social Security Administration has now taken all that back.
In a "notice of corrections" filed Jan. 16 in...Read more
Abby McCloskey: Republicans have ideas on affordability -- Just not conservative ones
Congressional Republicans are ideating about domestic policy. That’s a good thing. It’s too bad that few of the ideas are actually conservative.
Earlier this month, the Republican Study Committee released its “Reconciliation 2.0” framework, called “Making the American Dream Affordable Again.” The framework included ideas like: ...Read more
Editorial: Trump's use of tariffs to bully the world should be brought to heel
Given how this president is now wielding tariffs, it’s time to take away President Donald Trump’s BB guns.
We’ve been consistent in our view that the substantial increases to date under Trump in duties paid by importers are economically counterproductive and ultimately raise costs for American consumers. But the president’s tariff saber...Read more
Editorial: Why Chicago hotels have a case for taxing themselves. And why we worry
Anyone who has stayed in a hotel in a high-tax city like Seattle or New York is familiar with how that nightly $200 hotel room turns into $235 or more once numerous taxes are added.
Both U.S. states and cities from Omaha to Memphis love to smack visitors with high lodging tax rates, mostly because taxes that are not paid by locals are far less...Read more
Beth Kowitt: Target's ICE response shows corporate America's overcorrection
When Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in November 2024, corporate America took it as yet another sign that it had misjudged the political landscape. Many companies scrambled to roll back whatever remained of their DEI efforts and watered down sustainability goals. Executives apologized for past corporate activism, saying ...Read more
Commentary: My family in Iran is cut off from the rest of us. It is taking its toll
Iran has experienced many communications blackouts in the immediate aftermath of uprisings but never anything like the current one.
In one recent call, with family members all outside of Iran, we swapped stories of how we’ve gotten through previous blackouts. “The 2019 blackout occurred the same weekend I emigrated from Iran,” one family ...Read more
Commentary: I ran as a Democrat in a red state. Here's what I learned
South Dakota is a state rich in natural beauty and resources. From the granite peaks of the Black Hills to windswept prairies that stretch for miles, there is nowhere quite like home for me.
Every fall, hunters arrive to pursue the Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasant, our state bird. In days past, a different kind of hunter also frequented our state: ...Read more
Mark Z. Barabak: California is suffering truth decay. Sacramento should do something about it
California has a problem. It's not homelessness, a lack of housing or the state's increasing unaffordability, all of which have been documented at length.
It's truth decay.
If you believe that information is the taproot of knowledge and expanding personal vistas is key to learning, there's a case to be made that the great Golden State — ...Read more
Commentary: HUD is making a mess of housing policy
For months now, the Trump administration has pushed a reckless policy agenda on housing and homelessness, with particular focus on the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Instead of improving efficiency and effectiveness, these decisions by the administration and HUD have overwhelmed and confused frontline workers who rely on federal ...Read more




















































