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Social Security leader protects program’s future

National Columnists

There is a pattern in the Trump administration that if you are very good at the first job you are appointed to, you are likely to get another one, something more challenging than the first. It’s been true for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also the acting national security adviser and acting archivist of the United States, and for several months, he was the acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Frank Bisignano hasn’t hit peak Rubio yet. But the 18th commissioner of the Social Security Administration, who was confirmed by the Senate in May, was ...

We’re not going to take it anymore

National Columnists

I’m forming a new political party. I’m going to call my party The Nuisance Liberation Front, and you’re welcome to join. We’re not going to tackle any hot-button social topics — you can go somewhere else if you want action on wedge issues. We’re dealing only with the stuff everyone agrees on, but no one ever takes action about. Here are just a few of the planks in our platform: A permanent end to corporate welfare. Recently, the CFO of ChatGPT company OpenAI, which lost an estimated $5 billion last year, said the federal government should “backstop” their $1.4 ...

Important to open up about mental health

National Columnists

“Someone could be smiling, someone could be dancing, laughing, having a great time, expressing all this joy, but on the inside, they could really be fighting a battle that you never know about.” These are the poignant words of Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Solomon Thomas in describing his teammate Marshawn Kneeland, who died from an apparent suicide after fleeing a traffic stop in Frisco, Texas, on Nov. 6. Kneeland’s death sent shockwaves through the Cowboys’ locker room and the NFL, and from reading teammates’ fond descriptions of him, it appears that no one detected ...

Ellis Island sharp contrast to recent border crossings

National Columnists

Between 1892 and 1954, approximately 12 million immigrants arrived at the now-iconic Ellis Island to enter the U.S. — or nearly 200,000 legal entries per year. All were registered, documented, and given rudimentary health exams. They arrived as rich and poor, white and non-white, and, without exception, legally. With the gradual decline of such great influxes, Ellis Island finally ceased operating roughly 71 years ago. Yet Ellis Island’s successful tenure offers a sharp contrast to the failures of our recent open-border catastrophes. Americans will never know how many ...

Affordability issues continue to dominate

National Columnists

The Nov. 4 election results are a reality check for the Trump administration. Democrats didn’t just run up the score in deep-blue enclaves. With power prices soaring, they flipped two Georgia utility-regulator seats in rare statewide victories. In New York City, more than half of voters told exit pollsters that their top worry is the cost of living. Seven in 10 Americans say their grocery bills have gone up this past year. Six in 10 say their utility costs have increased. So, yes, the affordability issues that dominated the 2024 election remain central. But President Donald Trump ...

Don’t Be Cruel: Administration Ignores Elvis’ Plea

National Columnists

The rock musical “Hair,” a huge hit in the ‘60s, is scarcely remembered today. Still, the first line of the play’s showstopper song, “Easy to Be Hard,” keeps running through my head: “How can people be so heartless?” Each day that’s what I ask myself. The Democrats never had a chance in the congressional standoff over the budget. Violating precedent and judicial orders, the Trump administration cut off the food aid provided to about 42 million Americans by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. A senior White House official promised, “We’re going to ...