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America has her swagger back

In 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared, “The East is rising, and the West is declining.” It certainly looked that way during former President Joe Biden’s term. In August 2021, Biden surrendered Afghanistan to the Taliban. During the chaotic pullout, a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops. Medieval barbarians humbled the mighty United States and took control of billions of dollars of military equipment. Russian President Vladimir Putin sure noticed. Just months later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Shortly before the attack, Biden mused that a “minor incursion” would ...

A look at the search for meaning in everyday life

“Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose,” a New York Times bestselling book by award-winning author and journalist Jennifer Breheny Wallace, has made an instant buzz with readers this year. If you want to check “Mattering” out from your local library, you are most likely in for a long wait, as copies have flown off the shelves, and e-books are in use. “Mattering” was released in January and is getting rave reviews from users on Amazon, as well as a huge endorsement from public health leader and former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Murthy, who ...

Lack of affordable housing still plagues low-income Ohioans

Affordable housing remains a challenge for Ohioans — and that challenge only grows as rent puts a greater strain on an increasing number of households. According to the 2026 Gap Report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, there are 422,098 extremely low-income renters in the state, and 73% of those report spending more than half their income on rent. That is an increase from 66% only five years ago. “For people at the bottom of the pay scale, rent is gobbling up most of their paychecks. But this report shows the rent ...

Next governor must follow DeWine’s lead on education

In his final State of the State address, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was right to spend so much time on education — particularly reading. If we aren’t giving Buckeye State children the best start possible, it’s hard to see how public officials are going to be able to get much else right. They’ll just be playing catch-up. But there are bright spots on that horizon. DeWine’s persistence regarding the Science of Reading may be helping our youngest readers improve their reading performance. The governor and his team at the Department of Education and Workforce must be seeing evidence ...

Senate six declare war on Iran war

Readers, does it seem we’re going through one constitutional crisis after another? Six Democratic senators told a scrum of journalists that President Donald Trump’s newly launched war on Iran, with Israel, pushed them past a breaking point. They vowed to force public hearings and debate on the war, which is costing about a billion dollars a day without a clear endpoint. Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) voiced the strongest case against the escalating war in the Middle East. “The president jumped into a war of choice with no oversight, no hearings,” he said. “The Senate has to do ...

Fix what’s broken at home so we can defend ourselves abroad

In 2024, for the first time in almost a century, the United States spent more financing its national debt than it did, as a percentage of GDP, on national defense. In 2024, interest on our national debt expenditures came in at 3.1% of GDP and defense spending at 2.9%. This has been the case through this year, although it’s too soon to say what the picture will finally be for 2026. But it’s very close. We’re in this situation because of the massive increase in federal spending, and the massive increase in federal borrowing to finance the spending. At the same time, defense ...