Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson How trustworthy is the reporting in the New York Times? Fifty years ago, that question didn’t need to be asked. Everyone assumed that it was truthful and accurate. Patrick Maines (formerly with the Media Institute) reminds us that in 1972, the National Review published an analysis with the title, “Is it true what they say about the New York Times?” The editors concluded that the paper was balanced in his news pages, in contrast to it editorial pages….

Kerby Anderson Credit card debt is soaring to new records. The reason for this dramatic increase is simple: inflation. Americans with a fixed income have few choices when prices rise. They can cut back or go into debt. An increasing percentage of Americans are doing the latter. In the last three months of 2022, credit card balances increased by $61 billion to nearly $1 trillion ($986 billion). By the way, this smashed the previous record ($927 billion) that was recorded…

Kerby Anderson Freedom in this country depends upon three important foundations: morality, limits, and human rights. First, freedom depends on morality. John Adams observed, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” When the citizens have an internal moral compass, the size and scope of government can be small. There is no need for external laws and regulations from government. If people do what is right and…

Kerby Anderson The political battle over the Norfolk Southern train accident has now moved to debates about rules and regulations. And once again, it appears that progressive bureaucrats hold to the cliché: “never let a crisis go to waste.” First, let’s look at what we know. According to the preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, the derailment in Ohio occurred because of an overheating wheel set. It was detected by a wayside safety device only after it had…

Penna Dexter We’re officially in Lent, the period of 40 days, which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. It’s a time of preparation for Easter, and, in many Christian traditions, a season of remorse. I think Lent can serve a good purpose even for people who are not in liturgical churches and don’t observe or think about it much. During Lent we can take our hearts through a process to get them ready for Easter. Christians are often uncomfortable with a whole…

Kerby Anderson A week ago, I talked about entitlement spending and the impact it would have in the future, unless Congress was willing to modify the trajectory of Social Security and Medicare. Entitlement spending is a major contributor to the increasing federal debt. Are we headed toward a debt crisis? The US national debt now exceeds $31.5 trillion. We must service the interest on that debt. When President Joe Biden took office, the annual interest payments were $549 billion. According…

Kerby Anderson The proposed mandate for electric cars has a tragic human cost that most Americans know almost nothing about. Professor Siddharth Kara writes about it in his book, Cobalt Red. Mark Mills wrote an excellent three-page summary of the book so that you might be spared the horror of reading about what take place in cobalt mines. Cobalt is necessary for lithium batteries in electric cars, but also essential for smartphones, laptops, and a variety of toys. Three-fourth of…

Kerby Anderson The current debate about the federal budget centers on whether the government is too big and too inefficient. Most Republicans argue that the federal government is too big. Many Democrats ask: “Where is your evidence that government has grown too big?” John DiIulio is a co-author of a significant book about American government. He explains that government grows larger by using three types of what can be called “administrative proxies.” The first are state and local governments. The…

Kerby Anderson The gas stove controversy last month illustrates how the establishment media uses a controversy to malign conservative media and members of Congress. You may remember how it started. The commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned that 40 percent of US homes have a “hidden hazard.” He went on to explain, “Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.” Many in the conservative media warned that gas stoves could be banned. Senators Ted Cruz (a Republican)…

Kerby Anderson I recently read an op-ed in The Hill (a political website covering Congress) with the dramatic title: “Congress is set to expose what may be the largest censorship system in U.S. history.” I assumed it was a bit of exaggeration from a Republican member of Congress. But then I saw that it was written by Jonathan Turley, George Washington law professor, who is hardly a Republican supporter and not given to hyperbole. He was talking about the House…

Penna Dexter There’s been much written lately about Jamie Reed’s piece for the online publication, The Free Press. Ms. Reed, who describes herself as “a queer woman, politically to the left of Bernie Sanders, now married to a transman,” worked for four years as a case manager at Washington University Transgender Center at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She left last November because she had come to believe that the treatment patients are receiving at her clinic and others is…