Opinion

Maybe it’s just a professional preoccupation, but I have always been intrigued by why voters cast their ballots as they do. I’ve never made a formal study of it but have talked with plenty of them over the years, and one thing sticks with me from those conversations — there is no one thing. People […]

The Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) announced recently that it would host eight public listening sessions across New York state prior to redrawing state legislative and Congressional district lines. It’s a process that takes place every 10 years to reflect population changes. The sessions are a result of a 2014 public referendum in which millions of New Yorkers

New York State legislators ended this latest session without passing what may possibly be the most detrimental bill in state history. The New York Health Act (https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2021/S5474) would have crushed small businesses, middle-class families, and a myriad of jobs within the health care and insurance industries.  With a Democrat supermajority in the state legislature, certainly the votes

Gov. Andrew Cuomo [recently] issued an executive order declaring gun violence a “disaster emergency,” representing a “first-in-the-nation” strategy to combat crime. This is a forced, contrived approach to solving a problem that was largely created by the governor and his political allies. Gun violence is a devastating problem that has spiked recently due to policies that

Like most of my fellow citizens, I’m proud to be an American. When we celebrate Independence Day and reflect on our nation’s history and heritage, we are pleased to identify with the United States and to stand with our country against its competitors and adversaries. I am impressed most of all with two characteristics of the United

But unemployment rate ticks up to 5.9 percent in June The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report is actually two distinct surveys — one of employers (the establishment survey) and one of people (the household survey). It is not uncommon for these two surveys to significantly diverge in their findings.  In June, the establishment survey

If you look at the polls of how Americans feel about the job Congress is doing, they’ve been remarkably consistent for the last few decades. The institution’s favorability rating, as measured by Gallup’s monthly surveys, hasn’t been above 50 percent since 2003. These days the favorability rating of Congress is in the low 30s — though that’s

Globalization has transformed our planet, again and again. It touches every part of our lives: the food we eat, the entertainment we enjoy, the ways we communicate, the products we buy. For many of us, it shapes the way we earn a living in an increasingly connected and interdependent world. The constant flow of people, goods, information,

The announcement [on June 23] that the declared state of emergency for New York State would not be extended was welcome news for all New Yorkers. Weeks ago, the Assembly Republican Conference called for an end to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order. Unfortunately, when Democrats in Albany had an opportunity and responsibility to return checks and balances

President Joe Biden has announced a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure spending bill via budget reconciliation but has not told the American people how they can afford it under current deficit-neutral rules. Given the massive growth in government spending due to emergency COVID spending, the only approach is to revive bipartisan-sequestration rules from 2011 that prohibit