Recent Viewpoints

by Penna Dexter The United States Senate recently passed its annual defense policy bill by a vote of 83 to 13. Senator Ted Cruz worked with others in sponsoring and passing 12 amendments to the $602 billion 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. He says, “This bill includes many commendable provisions that make sure our military is strong and our men and women in uniform are fully prepared to defend our freedom.” But when it came down to a vote on…

By Kerby Anderson “What are your kids up to this summer?” KJ Dell-Antonia begins her New York Times column with that question. Although it sounds like a casual question, it strikes at the heart of the problem many parents face when summer vacation arrives. If there is a Mom or Dad at home, the answer to the question isn’t as tough as when either both parents work or a single parent works. Then it becomes a financial and logistical nightmare….

By  Kerby Anderson Should the next president try to relocate some branches of the federal government? Presidential candidates like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders expressed their disillusionment with a government that seems to live by the motto “business as usual.” The concentration of power in Washington with bureaucracies and lobbyists almost assures that nothing will change. Perhaps moving some of the government outside of Washington would be a positive step. Over the years I have tried to get a conversation…

Kerby Anderson We all know the value of a correct diagnosis. If your doctor can give you the right diagnosis for your symptoms, he or she will be more likely to prescribe the correct medicine or treatment regime. If your car stops working, you certainly hope your mechanic can figure what is wrong so he can fix it. Shortly after the mass shooting in Orlando, we heard lots of theories. Hillary Clinton put forth two. First, she talked about the…

Kerby Anderson After the worst mass shooting in American history took place in Orlando, people were asking what we could do to fight domestic terrorism. Some practical, common sense ideas have surfaced in the last week that deserve attention. The editors at National Review called for a long-term strategy to fight Islamic terrorism. First, they recommend that the U.S. no longer treat the Islamic State, a resurgent al-Qaeda, or other terrorist groups as distant enemies. They are bringing the war…

By Penna Dexter Sometimes Fathers Day hurts. Some dads face holes in their lives that their aborted children could fill right now. More than 55 million babies have been aborted in America since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. Every aborted child has two parents. Men are often seen to be peripheral to the abortion of children they fathered. But in 95 percent of abortions, the father is involved. It’s not just post-abortive mothers who have to live with…

A year ago I wrote about how the government could be using various programs to prevent businesses that sell firearms from functioning. A recent story by Kelsey Harkness illustrates how that may be happening. She tells the story of Luke Lichterman, owner of Hunting and Defense in North Carolina. He was denied access to a bank merely because he sells firearms. He blamed a little-known program called Operation Choke Point, which was launched a few years ago by the Department…

Kerby Anderson A few months ago, the leadership at Ft. Riley invited Lt. General Jerry Boykin to speak at their D-Day anniversary event. Earlier this month they decided to cancel the prayer breakfast dues to “scheduling conflicts.” One official made it clear that General Boykin would not be invited back as a speaker. If you are not familiar with General Boykin, all your really need to know is that he was a founding member of the Delta Force and a…

Kerby Anderson Late last year I wrote a commentary that made the case for impeachment of the current IRS director. There is even more evidence now that the IRS has been forced to provide a list of 426 conservative groups that were singled out for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. I might also mention that this list does not include 40 groups that opted out of the lawsuit that was brought. So the actually number of groups…

By Kerby Anderson There are lots of movies and television shows about zombies. They are engaged in all sorts of activities in fiction. It turns out that in real life, they do something else: they vote. Recent investigations in Southern California have uncovered lots of zombie voters. John Cenkner died in 2003, according to Social Security records. Nevertheless, John apparently voted in the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2010 elections. His daughter told the local TV station she was astounded…

By Kerby Anderson When President Obama decided to take an economic victory lap in Elkhart, Indiana recently, I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised. Every outgoing president wants to make the case that his presidency helped build the economy. But to hear the president speak, you would think that the economy is booming and the federal debt is dropping. That is not the case. The May jobs report showed that only 38,000 jobs were added to the economy. But that…