Chris Edwards President Donald Trump is making rapid decisions on a wide range of issues. His fingers are into everything. Some actions are misguided and divisive, as were many actions of his predecessor. Modern presidents can be so disruptive because the federal government has amassed so much power over so many activities. If you are bitter about federal politics, you ...
Colleen Hroncich With decades of experience helping kids with special needs—both professionally and as a mom—it’s not surprising that Lisa Mitchell created Everything Under The Rainbow, a hybrid homeschooling program for neurodiverse children. Lisa’s two children, now adults, are both neurodiverse and learned very differently from each other. “My daughter is the one that, quite frankly, she’s the one that ...
Adam N. Michel Last month, we kicked off the Cato Institute’s Congressional Fellowship in Tax & Trade Policy ahead of a year that has already been busy for both policy areas. The first four discussion sessions focused on tax policy, covering all the critical information you need to know as Congress decides how to address the year-end expiration of the 2017 ...
David Inserra Last week, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi immigrant to Sweden was murdered because he burned Qurans to show his opposition to Islam. His murderers remain at large, though the Swedish government said that the killing could be connected to a foreign power, similar to how author Salman Rushdie has been frequently targeted by Iran for his 1988 novel The ...
Gene Healy Two weeks into the first Donald Trump presidency, Washington was freaking out about presidential style: “alternative facts” about Inaugural crowd size; scandalizing the CIA(!); using the National Prayer Breakfast to roast Arnold Schwarzenegger for lousy ratings as host of Celebrity Apprentice. Eight years later, the Beltway meltdown is largely about policy substance. Little wonder: Where Trump 1.0 issued ...
Neal McCluskey “But even if they can, should they?” I asked that question last week in response to President Trump’s executive order on “indoctrination” in public schools. The question asked specifically: Even if federal officials have the constitutional and legal authority to take sides on values-laden education decisions, is it wise to do so? The question is fully applicable to ...
Tad DeHaven President Trump issued an executive order planning the establishment of a US sovereign wealth fund. A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund that manages public assets, typically financed from surplus or natural resource revenues, to generate long-term financial returns for state aims. Think Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund or Norway’s Government Pension Global Fund. Not ...
Scott Lincicome and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon Buried in yesterday’s Census Bureau release of the latest US international trade data for full-year 2024 was a nice reminder that, for all the talk of tariffs and “de-globalization,” American consumers and companies aren’t having any of it—at least not yet. In fact, inflation-adjusted US goods imports hit an all-time high last year (Figure ...
Walter Olson In a remark that might seem to sum up Congress’s current approach to its oversight role, Sen. Thom Tillis (R‑NC) acknowledged the other day that the Trump administration’s opening moves to cut spending and do away with agencies without congressional approval were in some cases not lawful, but said, “Nobody should bellyache about that.” In particular, he said, ...
Chris Edwards With today’s massive budget deficits, the Trump administration and Congress should look for savings in every federal department. That includes the massive $859 billion Department of Defense (DOD) and the huge $365 billion Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Congressional Budget Office released charts last week with an overview of spending in the two departments. This chart breaks ...