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Tell women truth about motherhood

National Columnists

America loves to celebrate mothers while doing little to inspire young women to become them. The biggest news this Mother's Day is how few new moms there are. The U.S. fertility rate hit another record low, according to CDC data released last month. There were 53.1 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age. That was a 1% drop from 2024 and a 23% decline since 2007. There is much debate about why this is happening, especially since it's a worldwide phenomenon. While there are lots of factors at play, consider this question. What is the good life? For millennia, the ...

What is status of national debt?

National Columnists

The U.S. national debt just crossed a once-unthinkable threshold on the way toward breaking the record set in the wake of World War II: It now exceeds 100% of America's gross domestic product. As of March 31, our publicly held debt was $31.27 trillion, while America's GDP in 2025 was $31.22 trillion. This puts the ratio at 100.2%, compared with 99.5% when the last fiscal year ended Sept. 30. That 100.2% figure will likely climb, because the federal government is running historically large annual deficits of nearly 6% of GDP, which add to the debt. The final tally will depend on Iran ...

Rubio's mission was persuading rightness

National Columnists

It must be the highlight for any Roman Catholic to meet the head of his church. So it must have been last week for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a practicing Catholic. Rubio was on more than a spiritual journey. His mission was to persuade Pope Leo XIV of the rightness, even the righteousness, of the Trump administration's actions to destroy Iran's goal of acquiring a nuclear weapon and likely using it as a means of intimidation, or possibly launching it as a weapon of war. The Pope is committed to resolving disputes through diplomacy. That course would be worth pursuing if Iran's ...

Nurses deserve more appreciation

National Columnists

My son came home from school the other day and announced that the two most underappreciated occupations were teachers and nurses. During National Nurses Week, he had heard that, he told me, from his teacher. And though her bias might have tinged the first part of her claim (frankly, I think one of the most underappreciated occupations has to be "person who cleans the bathrooms at O'Hare Airport"), it certainly got me thinking about the nurses I've known. Immediately, I remembered the nurses at the NICU when my own two preemies were boarded there, unflappable in the face of ...

Show love — reject bitterness

National Columnists

May 7 marked our nation's 75th annual National Day of Prayer. This milestone year of reverence to the Lord carried the theme "Glorify God Among the Nations — Seeking Him in All Generations." For many, this theme holds special significance, as we will be celebrating America's 250th anniversary in July. The prayer that was posted on the NDP website was written by Task Force President Kathy Branzell, and in it, she praises God for guarding and guiding our country since its inception. The beginning of the prayer is an earnest statement of confession, where Branzell writes, ...