×

Opinion

Celebrating 250th birthday with some thoughts

National Columnists

This summer, the United States celebrates its 250th birthday. In 1776, few people believed this new version of self-government would last. After the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government the Founding Fathers had created. "A republic," he ...

Advice for US Senate candidate

National Columnists

Now that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has roundly defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican runoff primary for Cornyn's U.S. Senate seat (Paxton won by 25 percentage points), the real battle begins. Paxton's opponent on the Democrat Party ticket is James Talarico, a former ...

Ballot measure extends state’s taxing power.

National Columnists

Californians will face two competing tax measures this November. The first is the Billionaire Tax Act, a onetime, 5% levy on the accumulated net worth of the state's richest residents. Lesser known is the Retirement and Personal Savings Protection Act, which would draw constitutional ...

Golden state no longer land of dreams

National Columnists

Many years ago, sometime after Ronald Reagan replaced Pat Brown as governor of California, I was driving up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco and visited Hearst Castle, William Randolph Hearst's epic mansion in San Simeon. It was state property then, donated by the Hearst ...

Letter to the Editor: Don’t sit this one out

Letters to the Editor

Thomas Jefferson said “We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” On June 9th North Dakota will conduct its statewide Primary election. If the past is any indication, “the majority who participate” as Jefferson mentions, may only be ...

May 31 is National Dam Safety Awareness Day

National Columnists

I stood on the riverbank in Milltown, Indiana, with Allen Pursell of the Sam Shine Foundation. We watched young people fishing on either side of the low-head dam on Blue River. May 31 is National Dam Safety Awareness Day, and I wanted to learn why the Sam Shine Foundation was committed ...