When the U.S. Census Bureau recently revealed a small increase in California’s population, it came as a welcome sign to some that the state was growing again. The data even showed a slightly reduced level of out-migration.

Good news, right? Unfortunately, not good enough.

Last year’s count still leaves the state’s numbers below where ...Read more

Congressional Republicans face some tough math. They want to extend tax cuts, set to expire this year, that would add perhaps $4.5 trillion in new deficit spending. To offset such extravagance, they plan to come up with $2 trillion in spending cuts. Can it be done, as the White House suggests, without touching benefits? Possibly — but not the ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Education is calling colleges to account for racist and antisemitic incidents on campus — and its move to withhold taxpayer dollars from violators has gotten university officials’ attention.

The University of Michigan just disbanded its multi-year, multi-million-dollar boondoggle in diversity, equity and inclusion (...Read more

It wasn’t quite a “where were you when” moment, but almost. I’m talking about Richard Dawkins — the world’s most famous atheist — announcing that he’d become a “cultural Christian.”

Initially I was confused. Dawkins a Christian? Then I realized what he was saying. The Oxford professor wasn’t embracing faith; he was joining...Read more

There is a new global war raging, and the West is losing. It is not the war in Ukraine, though that is the most visible front. It is the fierce but largely unrecognized global war in the cognitive domain, where our enemies, particularly Russia and China, have gained the upper hand. And let us be crystal clear: Despite the Trump administration’...Read more

If Republicans dare broach the subject of waste and fraud in Medicaid or Medicare, it will be seconds before Democrats accuse them of seeking to throw grandma out of her wheelchair or to leave impoverished children to fend for themselves in some dark Dickensian dystopia.

In fact, there are real issues that need attention, as Elon Musk’s DOGE ...Read more

Nevada Democrats are outraged at an executive order that Donald Trump issued to regulate elections. But while the president’s authority in this area is limited, he’s more aligned with voter sentiment than his critics.

The order promotes proof of citizenship requirements and seeks to ensure all mail ballots are returned by Election Day. It ...Read more

You think the Signalgate debacle is a national security disaster? You may not realize the half of it. This Pentagon blunder (don’t call it a mistake) lays bare the security risks posed by President Donald Trump’s unqualified and ill-prepared national security team.

The incompetence on display is the real scandal — one which goes deeper ...Read more

In a rare rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump said this week he was “very angry” with the dictator for thwarting a Ukraine peace deal and that he’d consider new sanctions on Russia’s oil exports and its biggest international consumers. “If I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil,...Read more

Against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding measles outbreak, what we need right now is urgent assistance from the federal government to support immunization and strengthen vaccine delivery, not more challenges. Unfortunately, vaccine expertise is instead being sidelined while anti-vaccine perspectives are being elevated.

On Friday, Dr. Peter ...Read more

Given that a hallmark of the Trump administration is the gulf between its appointees' responsibilities and their qualifications for their jobs, it may be hard to pick out the quintessential example of the wrong person in the wrong place.

But the Department of Health and Human Services may have a winner. He's David A. Geier, a well-known anti-...Read more

Here’s the thing about Donald Trump 2.0: The slapdash chaos of his first term has solidified into something more deliberate. He’s no longer just winging it like an insult comic. Now, he’s got a plan, and the theme is callousness.

Take, for example, the Venezuelan immigrants he sent to an El Salvador “detention center.” One of the “...Read more

I realized a famous true crime story was a part of my family history more than two decades ago, when I discovered my mom’s name in a book. In my parents’ bedroom combing through their bookshelf, my eyes stopped on a peculiar title, “Killer Clown.”

I’m not sure why I paused. The title was strange; unless it was some Stephen King novel,...Read more

Americans are exhausted—by our divisions, our politics, and a media landscape that thrives on tearing us apart. When asked to envision our ideal future, Americans say they want to connect and be united. But how do we get there?

Perhaps, I'm simply invoking my Midwestern roots here, but I believe most Americans not only want to know their ...Read more

Are foreign tourists still welcome in President Donald Trump’s America? I’m starting to wonder after several cases of international visitors being detained for long periods in questionable circumstances. If this rough treatment continues, it won’t just be travelers who suffer.

While the U.S. has a duty to protect its borders and enforce ...Read more

It has been a rough week for national security adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the rest of the Trump administration’s national security team. The so-called Signalgate catastrophe, in which Waltz organized a top-secret chat on the Signal messenger application about pending U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen, ...Read more

The 2024 film, “Anora,” about a young woman victimized by sex trafficking, recently won five Oscars at the Academy Awards. Perhaps, it is a signal of more awareness and less stigma surrounding the pervasiveness of domestic violence at all levels of society.

The ongoing lawsuits between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni claiming sexual ...Read more

The DOGE-damners on Capitol Hill are going to hate Elon Musk’s latest target: Congressional wallets.

Speaking at a town hall in Wisconsin Sunday night, Elon Musk suggested that his Department of Government Efficiency will investigate how certain members of Congress got “strangely wealthy” despite their comparatively modest public salaries...Read more

There is no honor in kicking a man when he’s down — or a political party, for that matter.

Yet that’s exactly what Gov. Gavin Newsom did Friday when he appeared as a guest on Bill Maher’s “Real Time” talk show.

Newsom branded the Democratic Party “toxic,” which seems like a weird way to go after the Democratic presidential ...Read more

Should Catholic Charities be exempt from paying state unemployment taxes because it has a religious purpose?

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the issue Monday, and the odds look good that the court will grant the exemption. But the way it does so matters. A narrow ruling would protect the general principle that religious organizations ...Read more