Recent Viewpoints

by Kerby Anderson Bob Kocher served as a special assistant to President Obama for health care and economic policy. In fact, he was the only physician on the National Economic Council advising the president. So it is remarkable that his most recent op-ed had the title: How I Was Wrong About ObamaCare. He and many others pushing the Affordable Care Act believed that the consolidation of doctors into larger physician groups would improve health care delivery and patient care. Some…

by Kerby Anderson This year we will be hearing quite a bit about the Trans Pacific Partnership, also known as TPP. It not only will be part of the presidential campaign, but there is good reason to believe an important vote will be taken on it after the November election. The TPP agreement establishes a Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission that has sweeping regulatory powers. It is charged with overseeing the implementation and operation of the agreement and has the power to…

by Kerby Anderson It isn’t any real surprise that voters this year aren’t too excited about the two major party candidates. Some apparently don’t want to choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. They are taking a second look at third party candidates. That is probably why support for these candidates seems to be increasing. An article in The Hill reports that Libertarian Gary Johnson has gone from 4.5 percent to 7.2 percent in the RealClearPolitics polling averages. Green Party…

by Kerby Anderson Is crime on the rise in America? You got two different answers to that question at the two political conventions. Donald Trump said, “violent crime has increased in cities across America.” President Obama talked about “huge drops in the murder rates” in a number of cities. You also get various answers depending on the commentator. Newt Gingrich wrote about the crime rate statistics because comedy show host John Oliver mocked Gingrich for defending Trump’s statement that crime…

by Penna Dexter In oral arguments last year in Obergefell vs. Hodges, the case that struck down the laws against same-sex marriage in every state, the Obama Administration’s lawyer made a very accurate prediction. During the proceedings, Justice Samuel Alito asked Solicitor General Donald Verrilli a question about how the religious liberty of religious schools that oppose same-sex marriage might be affected if the Court were to rule that same-sex marriage is a civil right. He wanted to know whether…

A number of state attorneys general along with some state legislatures want to prosecute people and institutions that are climate change skeptics. Back in March, seventeen of these attorneys general vowed to use the legal system to pursue fraud allegations against fossil fuel companies and their supporters who they labeled as climate change deniers. In California, the legislature briefly considered (but did not pass) a bill with the title: California Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act of 2016. Recently I…

One of the more controversial planks in the Democratic Party platform is the call for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment so that there can be full taxpayer funding of abortion. This is a remarkable change from just four years ago. The Hyde Amendment is named for Representative Henry Hyde and prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion (except in cases of the mother’s life or rape or incest). It was passed by Congress in 1976 and signed into…

by Kerby Anderson If you took the time to watch the two conventions, you would certainly wonder which view of Congress is correct. To listen to many of the Republican delegates (as well as many conservative talk shows), you would think that the Republican-led Congress was a do-nothing Congress. To listen to the Democrats, you would conclude that Congress has stymied President Obama and his agenda at every turn. What’s the real story? Let me provide a short list of…

The Supreme Court term that ended earlier this summer was a brutal one for Christians. The death, in February, of Justice Antonin Scalia brought about disappointing decisions in cases involving restrictions on abortion and upholding religious liberty. Justice Samuel Alito took on Justice Scalia’s role as dissenter in some of these decisions. He was very critical of the Court’s decision not to hear one particular religious liberty case, saying this was an “ominous sign.” It’s unusual for justices to issue…

by Kerby Anderson Franklin Graham in a recent commentary reminds us that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, but that is small comfort when we see so many attacks around the world by violent Muslims. He takes the time to help us understand how many of this violent minority there might be in this country. The Pew Research Center asked Muslims in the United States under what circumstances “suicide bombings and other forms of violence against civilians is justified…

by Kerby Anderson Now that the two political conventions are coming to an end, it is obvious that both major parties and both major candidates want to ignore the looming problem: the national debt. Four years ago, it looked like the Republican Party might get serious about dealing with our indebtedness. Representative Paul Ryan was the vice-presidential nominee who had been promoting a plan to overhaul the nation’s entitlements. This year, House Speaker Paul Ryan was also the chair of…