Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Democrat, who might have become vice president had Kamala Harris won the November election, has announced he will not be seeking a third term. The alleged fraud involving day care centers and allegations that federal aid went to outside entities, including China and East Africa, apparently forced his decision. A trial opened this week in Mississippi, where it is alleged several nonprofits fraudulently re-directed $77 million in federal money to enrich themselves.

There have been two parts to the political world's reaction to the American operation that deposed and captured Nicolas Maduro. The first part was to marvel at what Brit Hume called the "extraordinary level of skill, technology and daring" on the part of American forces and leadership. Hume noted that the U.S. performance, when considered alongside the flawless attack on Iran's nuclear program, sent to the world "precisely the opposite signal from that sent by the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan."

Venezuelans are celebrating in the streets of Caracas and around the world after U.S. forces staged a flawless removal of brutal dictator and narco-trafficker Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Not celebrating are most Congressional Democrats, a few Republicans, and the new mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani - whose foreign policy credentials are akin to dining at the International House of Pancakes.

There is a lie socialism always tells before it tells the truth. The lie is that it is warm. That it is compassionate. That it cares more deeply, feels more tenderly, and governs more humanely than any system rooted in individual liberty. It promises cradle-to-grave security, shared sacrifice, and moral superiority—all in exchange for a little freedom here, a little property there, and eventually, your independence altogether. The truth comes later. It always does.

I've been shocked that Americans are in such a grumpy mood, as reflected in all the public opinion polls. ​​​At the same time we have Peace & Prosperity, including more income, more wealth, more of almost everything that we want to buy (yes, except for housing), Americans seem to think we have an "affordability crisis." This year, in just 2025, the Median Household Income in the U.S. has risen to more than $86,000 a year – an all-time high. And there's actually much more here to celebrate.

Everything about any welfare program, especially in a Red state that should know better, should be designed to genuinely help people move up the income ladder, gradually and gently reducing benefits until they don’t need them anymore. Families First, as it is designed now, is the opposite of that. Instead of a hand up, it’s a useless program purposefully designed to KEEP families in poverty. And in a Red State no less.

Reading & Math Scores all across the Nation are abysmal, and national testing results have documented that Illiteracy Rates are rising: The number of 16 to 24-year-olds reading at the lowest literacy levels increased from 16% in 2017 to 25% in 2023. As an economist, this is our country's greatest crisis - and it puts the future of American prosperity in grave danger.

Time Magazine, which, like so much in print journalism, has suffered from a loss of readers, has published its annual list called the "Most Influential People of 2025." The list includes "Artists, Innovators, Titans, Icons, Leaders, and Pioneers." Time's "Person of the Year" is Artificial Intelligence. That might also apply to Congress. Most of the people Time considers influential, I have never heard of, so they haven't influenced me. Maybe it's a generational thing.

Some Stay True, Some Don’t Justice Gorsuch has been fairly consistent. Justice Kavanaugh has usually held the line, relying upon the U.S. Constitution as his north star. More than occasionally, Amy Coney Barrett has been a liability to conservatives. It is speculated that she fears for members of her family if she does not yield to Leftist causes. She did, however, appropriately chastise the ranting of Ketanji Brown Jackson – a DEI selection who should have never become a Supreme Court Justice.

Nothing bothers the European elite as much as American conservatives praising the European foundations of their shared, but threatened, Western civilization. Europeans especially resent having their social-welfare state system critiqued by upstart, crass Americans. Americans, in turn, are worried that Europe is not just stagnating but is on a trajectory of permanent decline -- with dire consequences for the entire Western world.

There should be no question what the Democrat Party is about. That is -- miss no opportunity to accumulate political power by fostering as widely and as deeply as possible a culture of government dependence in America. And pay for the bill by bankrupting the country.

“Washington, D.C. has become a case study of what happens when crime goes unchecked, and small businesses are left defenseless. Under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration, our nation's capital deteriorated into a place where shop owners are forced to worry more about theft, vandalism, and violent crime than about serving their customers. Recently, I led a U.S. House Committee on Small Business hearing on the impact of crime on Main Street."

The Woke, the Left, a good Socialist Democrat never tires of finding causes to fight for. "Stand with Ukraine! Free Palestine! No One is Illegal!" Did I forget any other empty slogans? Whatever declares war on the West, undermines natural law and basic reality, and places power above principle, the Left lines up for the kill. But there's one slogan that has disappeared, one fight which has fizzled out: The Climate Change Cult.

Is the American Left finally waking up from its decades-long climate catastrophism stupor? For years, climate alarmism has reigned as political catechism: The planet is burning, and only drastic action -- deindustrialization, draconian regulation, even ceasing childbearing -- could forestall a certain apocalypse. Now, at least some signs are emerging that both the broader public and leading liberal voices may be recoiling from the doom and gloom.

There’s this thing in politics where people scramble to find something “good” to talk about for their side – no matter how bad the reality happens to be. It’s a special kind of “missing the forest for the trees” you can only find in politics and dysfunctional relationships. For instance, Newsweek declared that the results of Tuesday's Special Election in Tennessee – in December of an off-year – to be something Republicans should set their hair on fire over.

Concentrated power has always been the enemy of freedom. Our Founder Fathers understood this truth as a matter of first principles, and Ronald Reagan applied the same logic to the media marketplace when his administration created limits on how large of a national audience any single broadcaster could reach. Fortunately, President Trump has also shown he understands the stakes. Ronald Reagan was right, and President Trump is right.

Why are they so financially stressed out? One reason things seem so "unaffordable" to young people is that too many aren't working hard – in fact, they're hardly even working. Labor Department data shows that fewer and fewer males between the ages of 16 and 24 are even in the labor force. It used to be that more than 70% had a job; now less than 60% do. Work is a virtue. The earlier in life kids learn that lesson, the better for them and for the rest of us.

We have a lot of problems in this country, as we always have. But just for a minute, imagine if we had a Political Class interested in addressing problems in a way that benefited as many Americans as chose to avail themselves of the opportunity to improve their lot in life? Republicans, at least, do try to get good things done every once in a while. Democrats, on the other hand, would be happy to bring the whole thing crashing down on anyone who refuses to bow to their will. But imagine if Democrats loved the country as much as they love illegal aliens or violent criminals.

With new revelations coming out that the Biden administration coordinated with county and state prosecutors to target President Donald Trump and his associates for questioning the results of the 2020 election, Trump is not taking the news lightly. “Arctic Frost” targeted over 430 Republicans, including Trump campaign committees, the RNC and Turning Point USA, and secretly subpoenaed phone records and metadata from Trump and at least 10 Republican senators.

As I wrote recently, careful projections of the U.S. Illegal Population Estimate went from around 12 million in 2007 to 14.5 million during the Biden Administration. The impetus for Biden's policies came from something other than the usual elite economic argument that U.S. population growth is slowing. That something else can be summarized in the phrase "Orange Man Bad." If Trump wants to stop people at the border, then we shouldn't stop anyone there.