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Why Trump will surrender soon, but he’ll call it a great victory

No one knows what President Donald Trump is going to do from minute to minute, least of all Trump. But it's looking ever more likely he'll be exiting Iran within days, declaring his "excursion" into it (as he's termed his war) a major victory — and then changing the subject. On Friday, Trump posted on his social media site that "we are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East." What objectives? He never said what they were to begin with. He's about to wind down and exit because he doesn't give a damn ...

Cutting gas taxes is good politics, but not policy

With the Iran war driving up the average price of gas more than a dollar per gallon, politicians are calling to suspend the gas tax until the crisis ends. A shortsighted tax “holiday” would do little to help drivers while distorting the market at the worst possible time. While Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a law on Friday to suspend the state’s 33.3 cents per gallon tax for 60 days, other governors have pushed back. In Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore (D) rejected demands by GOP legislators to suspend the gas tax, with his spokesman saying it “would blow a $100 million hole in ...

Politicians just can’t help but create troubled economies

Politicians say they can “make the economy work better.” I once believed they could. But years of reporting taught me politicians’ attempts to “fix” the economy usually make things worse. Twenty years ago, Republicans and Democrats helped create the Great Recession by telling government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy more of people’s mortgages because, as President George W. Bush put it, “Owning a home is a part of (the American) dream.” But that guarantee inspired lenders to approve dubious mortgages, given to riskier borrowers. Housing prices shot up ...

CHOICE Act is a danger to Ohio kids

Sitting in the Ohio House Health Committee is state House Bill 561, a measure for which authors appear to have given as much thought to a catchy acronym as they did to the well-being of Ohio children. HB 561, “to revise the law governing childhood immunizations and exemptions and to name this act the Parental Clarity on Health Options and Information on Conscientious Exemptions ‘CHOICE’ Act,” would eliminate the requirement for some Buckeye State children to get the hepatitis B vaccine and make changes to other vaccine regulations. It is similar to a host of other ...

Time to leave the Social Security plantation

To repeat what Americans have heard a lot recently, our Social Security system is in very bad shape. Per the most recent report, in 2025, of the Social Security and Medicare board of trustees, Social Security is capable of paying out the entirety of promised benefits through 2033. After that, there is only capability of paying out 77% of promised benefits. That’s seven years from now. Anyone who got a letter from their investment fund or insurance program that said “We’re sorry but in another seven years we won’t be able to pay out what was promised” would immediately ...

For times that try our souls: Resistance

“Fight for our rights, fight for your rights,” is probably the most overused phrase in American politics. In this desperate moment when American democracy — and world peace — is in peril in one man’s cruel chokehold, it’s time to retire that jersey. “Resist for our rights” is the right way to approach the national plight. Nonviolent resistance is the only way out, as old as the Friends faith, which was born some 400 years ago in England. Also known as Quakers, they practice and spread the art with remarkable results over time. They were the backbone of the ...