Opinion

Having just watched a U.S. Supreme Court nominee supported by a comfortable majority of Americans draw just three Republican votes in the Senate, you could be forgiven for thinking bipartisanship in Congress is a thing of the past. And in the case of Supreme Court nominees, you’d be right: The last time a nominee received more […]

U.S. economy contracts 1.4 percent in Q1 amid crushing inflation Well, that didn’t take long. It has only been a month since the spread between 10-year treasuries and 2-year treasuries in the bond market inverted on March 31. That has been a reliable recession indicator that has predicted almost every recession in modern economic history.

The question of America’s role in the world is central to U.S. foreign policy, and we have debated it since the nation’s founding. Russia’s war against Ukraine has brought new urgency to the question.  The U.S. has rightly taken a leading role in responding to Russia’s invasion with economic sanctions and other measures. We are providing

Inflation is raging at an annual rate of 8.5 percent. March’s extremely hot price growth of 1.2 percent pushes the nation’s inflation rate to levels not seen since the first few months of the Reagan administration in May 1981. Unfortunately, President Joe Biden has no idea why prices are out of control, even though he

An interesting thing happened after Russia invaded Ukraine. Though U.S. standing in the world had taken a knock after the much-needed but chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, there was no question where the world’s democracies would turn for leadership in the Ukraine crisis. As much of Europe and Asia has found a new resolve on behalf of

Once again, New York’s budget was passed with little respect given to even the most basic expectations of transparency and democratic ideals. It was a week late, passed in the dead of night with almost no input from anyone outside the governor and legislative majority leaders, and it featured a record level of spending. New Yorkers have

Is bipartisanship dead? Sometimes it seems like it is. Watching Democrats and Republicans fight over nearly everything, you’d think they can’t agree on the difference between day and night. Witness the partisan reaction to President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. An eminently qualified jurist who would be the first Black

Gov. Kathy Hochul promised a better, more transparent budget process when she took over as New York’s executive. Promises made, promises broken. Unfortunately, New Yorkers were left with the same secretive, ineffective negotiations they have come to expect from one-party rule in Albany. The process remains as broken and dysfunctional as ever. The final spending

Maybe it’s the perspective a long life brings, but I find myself eyeing with some skepticism the glut of “personal brands” that assault us every day on television, in print, and through social media.  Entertainers, celebrities, politicians striving for acclaim, artists and writers who have mastered the public-relations game, journalists and media stars who are building their

Buried deep in the March jobs report is the punchline that pulls the rug out from under any happy talk about the Biden economy. To quote the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) summary, “Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 13 cents to $31.73 in March. Over the past 12