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National Columnists

Fed chairman plans to stay on reserve board

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced last week that he's going to remain on the Federal Reserve Board until 2028 even as he by law surrenders his chairmanship. The announcement came even after President Donald Trump agreed to drop his unwise lawsuit against Powell for funding a $2 ...

It is possible to defeat poverty

In 1964, former President Lyndon B. Johnson declared an "unconditional war on poverty." He warned it "will not be a short or easy struggle," but that "the richest Nation on earth can afford to win it." He was right that it wouldn't be a short or easy struggle. Johnson and Congress ...

Who is monitoring debt?

People of a certain age will recall a lyric from the Tennessee Ernie Ford song "Sixteen Tons": "Another day older and deeper in debt." I thought of that song as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth asked Congress to approve a $1.5 trillion budget for fiscal year 2027 to put the military on what he ...

Ruling will promote corrupt electoral maps

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. cautiously praised the hard-won Voting Rights Act of 1965 as a "great step forward" toward removing obstacles that kept Black Americans from voting. It was. But last week, in striking down a voter redistricting map in Louisiana, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken ...

‘Drill, baby, drill’ was beginning of energy policy wisdom

It's not 1973 anymore, and that's a very good thing for the United States. Back then, the U.S. imported more than a third of its oil, much of it from the Middle East, and it paid the price. Now, it's in a transformed position. "Drill, baby, drill" is arguably the most successful public policy ...

We lost one of great grumps

In every school, work or personal gathering, you need at least one grump for the group to thrive. Grumps do the work that no one else will. When everyone else is being mercilessly upbeat, they swim against the tide and complain. The grump may follow your inane rules — but ...