Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson As the congressional debate about repealing Obamacare moves along, there will certainly be a debate about some of the facts surrounding its effectiveness and implementation. Writing for The Daily Signal, Alyene Senger lists 8 Reasons Why Obamacare Should be Repealed.  Some of the facts she cites should be part of the congressional debate. Cost is a significant concern. “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, average family premiums for employer-sponsored plans have increased almost 32 percent from 2010-2016.” When…

Kerby Anderson Donald Trump has made some rather unorthodox picks for his cabinet. Perhaps that is to be expected in light of what he said on the campaign trail. But I still was not prepared for his decision to tap Dr. Ben Carson as his next secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Months ago I suggested to my radio audience that if Donald Trump was elected president, he would likely pick Ben Carson as Surgeon General or…

Kerby Anderson Hate crime laws have been in the news quite a bit lately. That is why it might be wise to evaluate how effective they have really been in dealing with crime. Dylan Roof was given the death penalty by jurors in the South Carolina courtroom. They would certainly have given him the same verdict even if he had not been convicted a month earlier of federal hate crime laws. Four African-American youths have already been charged for hate…

Peggy Noonan was a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan. These days, when a president makes an important speech, you can expect to read her insights on it in her column in the Wall Street Journal. She may offer praise or critique. But what I really look for is her discernment of the speaker’s motivations and her knack for explaining why this particular president said what he said. As President Trump delivered his inaugural address, I kept thinking that it sounded…

Kerby Anderson Children spend an enormous amount of their day with electronic media. That is what a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation was able to document. When you add together time spent with television, cell phones, video games, and computers; it essentially becomes a full-time job of more than 53 hours. Needless to say, this is a dramatic increase from over a decade ago. And nearly twice as many now say that they do at least two of…

Kerby Anderson One of the campaign promises Donald Trump made was to remove the Johnson Amendment that has limited the free speech of pastors from their pulpits. A little history is in order. When Senator Lyndon Johnson was running for reelection in 1954, he wanted to prevent outside groups from interfering in his campaign. The amendment he added back then prevents any 501(c)(3) organization from participating in any political campaign. His goal wasn’t to muzzle pastors, but this amendment has…

Kerby Anderson As Republicans in the House and Senate move forward with the possible repeal of Obamacare, Democrats have developed a plan to distract lawmakers and the public. They believe they can sidetrack the attempt by demanding Republicans focus time and attention on prescription drugs. A number of Democratic senators outlined steps they believe must be done to control the price of prescription drugs. Their ideas include setting prices for drugs, imposing price controls, and allowing bureaucrats to determine costs….

Kerby Anderson The Bible gives us a story of the world told through God’s perspective. That is why the Christian worldview provides the best explanation of the world. It answers questions like: Why am I here? and What is my purpose in life? Greg Koukl provides a big-picture introduction to the story of the Bible in his new book, The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important That Happens in Between. He was on…

Kerby Anderson All of a sudden deficits matter now that we have a new president and a new administration. That’s about the only conclusion you can come to with the radical change in perspective from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. Kevin Williamson, in a recent column, reminds us what columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote back in October. He said that future president Hillary Clinton should ignore people worried about deficits and the national debt and engage…

Penna Dexter Congress’s first order of business this year is to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Some legislators advocate repealing and replacing ObamaCare simultaneously. Others favor immediate repeal and replacing later. The real question should be: Should we replace the Affordable Care Act? And the answer is, No. We don’t need Congress to write another gigantic law. Before the ACA, the federal government was already way too involved in healthcare. Now we’ve got a freedom-destroying entitlement that is not sustainable….

Kerby Anderson Today is the presidential inauguration. Not only is it a time when there is a peaceful transition of power, but it is also one of the few times when Americans can enjoy a little bit of pomp and ceremony. Even at the beginning, there was excitement and large crowds. George Washington took office in 1789 in New York City to the sounds of ceremonial artillery and church bells ringing. He made his way through the large crowds to…