president

February 09, 2017

Don’t fear the ‘job-killing’ robots: Remembering the power of creative service

As Americans face increasing pressures of economic change and uncertainty, many have relished in a range of renewed nostalgias, whether recalling the blissful security of post-war industrialism or the rise of the Great Society and the prowess of the administrative state. Continue Reading...

November 23, 2016

Who did Democrats forget?

In this week’s Acton Commentary I weigh in with some reflections on the US presidential results: “Naming, Blaming, and Lessons Learned from the 2016 Election.” I focus on much of the reaction on the Democratic side, which has understandably had some soul-searching to do. Continue Reading...

November 09, 2016

Diverse voters, deep passions: what 2016 exit polls tell us

As, no doubt, many readers are getting flooded on social media with think pieces and hot takes (not to mention apocalyptic worry or celebration), the point of this post is simply to look at what the data seems to indicate about those who voted for President-elect Donald Trump and his opponent, Sec. Continue Reading...

July 29, 2016

Rethinking ‘wasted votes’ and third-party candidates

When it comes to something as important as a presidential election, most Americans don’t want to vote for a candidate who will very likely lose. But pragmatic considerations have no place in the voting booth, for two reasons. Continue Reading...

July 20, 2016

6 quotes to help reflect on Captive Nations Week

On Tuesday, President Obama declared this week Captive Nations Week. The first Captive Nations Week was in 1959, proclaimed by President Eisenhower to call attention to the oppression of several countries in the Soviet Bloc and to encourage Americans to support fight for democracy and liberty worldwide. Continue Reading...

July 06, 2016

Democratic Party Platform Draft Includes $15 Minimum Wage

Sometimes predicting the future is difficult (ask anyone who thought we’d have flying cars by now). But sometimes foreseeing what is going to happen — at least to a high degree of probability — is all too easy. Continue Reading...

May 19, 2016

5 Ways Obama’s New Overtime Rule Will Harm Workers

In announcing the Obama administration’s new overtime rule (for more on this news, see this explainer), Vice President Joe Biden says companies will “face a choice” to either pay their workers for the overtime that they work, or cap the hours that their salaried workers making below $47,500 at 40 hours each work week. Continue Reading...

May 17, 2016

The Regulatory State Adds ‘Ten Thousand Commandments’ Every Year

In the Old Testament there are 613 commandments. Apparently, God deemed those to be enough to regulate almost every aspect of the lives of his people for thousands of years. You could read all of them in less than 30 minutes. Continue Reading...

April 29, 2016

Did President Obama save the world from a Great Depression? Probably not.

There’s not a lot of agreement when it comes to the Great Recession and the 2008 financial crisis; either about what caused it or what ended it. In a recent speech, President Barack Obama blamed the “reckless behavior of a lot of financial institutions around the globe” and “the folks on Wall Street” for causing this economic slump. Continue Reading...

June 01, 2015

Explainer: What You Should Know About the Patriot Act and the Freedom Act

Why is the Patriot Act back in the news? Last night three key provisions of the law were allowed to expire (at least temporarily) after Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked an extension of the program during a Sunday session of the Senate. Continue Reading...

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