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Chance meeting had lasting impression

National Columnists

Every career begins with a defining moment, an instant when preparation meets courage and the future quietly changes course. For me, that moment came in 1983, when, at just 21 years old, I brought Richard Pryor to speak before more than 1,500 employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. I was young, untested and responsible for selecting a keynote speaker. Instead of choosing the safe or expected option, I took a risk and set my sights on Pryor -- not the comedian the world knew but the thinker, the truth-teller behind the myth. It was his first-ever ...

Inflation will hold Congress accountable.

National Columnists

When the Social Security and Medicare trust funds run out in the early 2030s, the law is clear: Benefits must be slashed. That would mean a roughly 24% cut to Social Security checks and an 11% cut to Medicare benefits. But Congress almost certainly won't let that happen. The easy, though irresponsible, political path may seem obvious: Change the law, keep benefits whole, and pay by borrowing the money. This way legislators won't have to cast unpopular votes for spending cuts or tax hikes. This makes sense only if the consequences won't become clear until much later, after voters ...

Poor recordkeeping makes fraud easier

National Columnists

Americans want to help people in need, but when government does that, about 500 billion taxpayer dollars get stolen. It's how the system is designed, says the United Council on Welfare Fraud's Andrew McClenahan in this new video. "You're measuring success by the amount of money you put out." Because of that, government agencies rarely check whether their handouts go to the right people. Minnesota is just the latest example. Government officials didn't uncover that fraud — YouTuber Nick Shirley did. I say to McClenahan, "It's weird that a kid did what government ...

Halftime show is NFL’s decision

National Columnists

The Super Bowl is one of the highlights of the sporting calendar, attracting millions of viewers worldwide year after year, and sparking the beginning of the long and difficult football-free season where we must survive on a meager diet of non-contact sports such as basketball and soccer. But for certain non-sports fans whose sole joy in life is found in complaining about anything and everything online, the Super Bowl has nothing to do with football and everything to do with the halftime show. This year, too many commentators went into overdrive in their attempt to spark ...

Dow 50,000: Supply-side miracle

National Columnists

When I first arrived in Washington in 1982, the Dow Jones hit a low of 800. You may not believe that, so feel free to look it up. If anyone had predicted that in a little more four decades the Dow would surpass 50,000, they might have been admitted into a mental institution. But U.S. stocks have grown 60-fold (not counting inflation). Even accounting for inflation, the Dow is up about 12-fold. We have lived through the greatest period of wealth creation in perhaps the history of the world. No other nation has come even close in modern times. Consider that American publicly ...

AI companion apps exacerbate teen mental health concerns

National Columnists

Troubling stories about dangerous encounters with chatbots continue to surface in the news, with two recent reports from NPR that focused on teen suicide and mental health worsening due to people seeking "sentient" relationships with artificial intelligence. The teen suicide story ran last September, featuring grieving parents, Matthew and Maria Raine, and Megan Garcia, who shared heartbreaking ordeals of their sons taking their lives after engaging with chatbots. The Raines' son, Adam, committed suicide in April of last year, and they had no idea of his involvement with ChatGPT. In ...