Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Today is Tax Day. But a more important date is Tax Freedom Day. That is the date when your tax burden is lifted. It is calculated by dividing the official government tally of all taxes collected in each year by the amount of all income earned in each year. Put another way, it is when you are no longer working for the government but are now working for yourself and your family. This year Tax Freedom Day occurs…

Penna Dexter Socialism might sound cool to some people right now. But, traditionally, Americans have been hostile to it. Historians attribute between 85 and 100 million deaths to 20th-century communist regimes. Karl Marx’s and Friedrich Engels’ socialism which they described in their Communist Manifesto, implemented by Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and other despots resulted in the destruction of livelihoods, forced famine, and political executions. Of this devastation, philosopher and free market advocate Jay Richards writes,  “Never has an idea had such…

Kerby Anderson Dennis Prager has a phrase that he has been using for some time. He says, “The left ruins everything.” That is the title of a recent Prager U video by him. It surfaced in a recent commentary by him with the title, “How the left keeps me religious.” I really questioned his phrase the first few times I heard him say it. Perhaps it was the realization that every generalization has exceptions. But Dennis Prager is a thoughtful…

Kerby Anderson The millennial generation has a much more positive view of socialism than the previous generation. One survey found that a majority (51%) of those aged 18 to 29 had positive feelings about socialism compared to capitalism (41%). There are a number of reasons for their perspective. First, their teachers and textbooks teach about the evils of capitalism. And if that is not enough, the popular media reinforce those ideas. Think of all the movies and TV programs where…

Kerby Anderson Nearly half (46%) of American adults report sometimes or always feeling lonely. That same study by Cigna also found that nearly the same percentage (47%) reported feelings of being left out. That is why many say loneliness is at “epidemic levels.” Twenty-five years ago (1994) I wrote a book (Signs of Warning, Signs of Hope) making a number of predictions for the future. Chapter eight set forth the case for a coming crisis of loneliness. Years later Philip…

Kerby Anderson Here’s an important question. Will the courts determine the future of Obamacare? You might be excused for thinking that the Supreme Court already decided that question. But there is another case that may also affect the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the bill because of four liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts argued that the mandate in the bill was a tax. And since the federal government has the power to…

Kerby Anderson The former Attorney General, Eric Holder started a conversation the other day on MSNBC when he was asked about President Trump’s slogan, “Make America great again.” Holder responded with this question: “Exactly when did you think America was great?” The implication was that America has never been great in the past. Vice President Mike Pence decided to respond to the question by Eric Holder with four iconic pictures on Twitter. They were pictures of Washington crossing the Delaware…

Penna Dexter There’s yet another survey out showing that young people stop going to church after high school as they go off to college or start a job away from home. A  2017 LifeWay Research Survey shows 66 percent of Americans stopped attending church on a regular basis for at least a year after turning 18. This is down slightly from 2007 when 70 percent reported they dropped out of church at that age. Most young people who cease regular…

Kerby Anderson Lots of controversial ideas get promoted during an election season. We are getting our share of them this time. Eliminate the Electoral College, regulate campaign speech, and end the filibuster are just a few. It occurred to me that the best way to respond to many of these proposals is to remind Americans that our country is a republic not a democracy. The framers recognized that the country would be quite diverse. They wanted to create a government…

Kerby Anderson On my radio program, I am always looking for ways to help listeners develop discernment. With so many sources of news and information and so many claims being made by pundits and politicians, it is helpful to know how to sort them out. Here are two tools for your discernment tool box. First, be skeptical when someone on the left makes a sweeping claim. Dennis Prager goes even further. He says you should always assume the left is…

Kerby Anderson Heartbeat bills have been introduced in numerous state legislatures. Some are held up in committee, but others make it to a floor vote. Some even pass the legislature and may even be signed by the governor. In previous years, even those that survive are certain to be struck down by federal judges. But the political and judicial landscape may be changing. That is why David French argues that it is time for Republican legislatures to “throw down the…