senate

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...

April 22, 2016

Ben Sasse on the Path to Ordered Liberty

Americans are growing in their distrust of the U.S. government and its leaders, with polls typically showing approval of Congress somewhere around 11%. As Senator Ben Sasse put it in his first remarks to the U.S. 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...

May 19, 2015

Samuel Gregg On Free Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership And The Church

The controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), backed by many Republicans and President Obama, hit a snag Tuesday when key Democrats spoke out against the agreement. What exactly is the TPP? It is a free trade agreement with 12 nations (including China and Japan) that purports to increase economic growth, jobs and free trade. Continue Reading...

March 23, 2015

Human Trafficking Victims Lose Out To Partisanship

A bill designed to aid victims of human trafficking in the U.S. should not be divisive. It should not be stalled in the House of Representatives. It should be enacted swiftly, so as to get help to as many victims as possible, as quickly as possible. Continue Reading...

July 14, 2014

Catholic Bishops Oppose Bill Aimed At Curtailing Religious Liberty

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, are asking the Catholic faithful and others to reach out to their senators in response to a piece of legislation known as “Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014” (S. Continue Reading...

October 21, 2013

DeMint on Changing Washington’s Political Culture

There’s a fascinating profile of Jim DeMint, the new president of the Heritage Foundation, in BusinessWeek, which makes a good pairing for this NYT piece that focuses on the GOP’s “civil war” between establishment Republicans and Tea Partiers. Continue Reading...

February 16, 2012

Politicians and the Pursuit of Happiness

In this week’s Acton Commentary I conclude, “The American people do not need politicians to tell them what happiness is and how it should be pursued.” I admit that I didn’t have this quote in mind (or I would have used it!), Continue Reading...

August 02, 2011

Is Making Money Evil, Harry Reid?

I was listening to news radio and heard an update in which the senate majority leader Harry Reid gave his interpretation of events on the debt ceiling negotiation. The part that really got my attention was where he insisted that further committee work would go after those “millionaires and billionaires.” Continue Reading...

July 07, 2011

Questions for Ethanol

Political news changes quickly, and now reports are coming out of Washington DC that Senator Dianne Feinstein, who has been leading the way in killing the ethanol subsidy and tariff, has struck a deal with Senators Amy Klobuchar and John Thune, two stalwarts for protecting ethanol. Continue Reading...

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