The once quintessential American dream of homeownership seems to have faded into the realm of fantasy for numerous renters, according to a recent survey conducted by the Harris Poll Thought Leadership and Future Practice. The Washington Times stories: White House
Read More...On September 22, when federal prosecutors accused Senator Robert Menendez of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, Representative Andy Kim, a fellow New Jersey Democrat, asked one of his neighbors what he thought of the charges. “That’s Jersey,” the man replied. The neighbor’s shrug spoke volumes about not only a state with a sordid history of political corruption but also a country that seemed to have grown inured to scandal. In nearby New York, George Santos had settled into his Republican House seat despite having been indicted on…
Read More...Take a drive down Main Street of just about any major city in the country, and—with the housing market ground to a halt—you might pass more churches for sale than homes. This phenomenon isn’t likely to change anytime soon; according to the author of a 2021 report on the future of religion in America, 30 percent of congregations are not likely to survive the next 20 years. Add in declining attendance and dwindling affiliation rates, and you’d be forgiven for concluding that American religion is heading toward extinction. But the…
Read More...The Supreme Court has set itself on a collision course with the forces of change in an inexorably diversifying America. The six Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices have been nominated and confirmed by GOP presidents and senators representing the voters least exposed, and often most hostile, to the demographic and cultural changes remaking 21st-century American life. Now the GOP Court majority is moving at an accelerating pace to impose that coalition’s preferences on issues such as abortion, voting rights, and affirmative action. On all of these fronts, and others, the Republican…
Read More...<p>Here’s the Times <a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/obituaries/harry-reid-dead.html”>obit</a>. Here’s the <a href=”https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/harry-reid-former-senate-majority-leader-and-democratic-kingmaker-dies-at-82″>obit</a> from <em>The Nevada Independent</em>, the top instate political news operation and the folks who knew him best. </p> Talking Points Memo
Read More...After President Richard Nixon appointed then-Appellate Court Judge Harry Blackmun to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1970, Blackmun somehow convinced members of the U.S. Senate that he embraced judicial restraint and felt a duty to protect “little persons.” When Blackmun’s nomination came up for a vote, Sen. John McClellan, D-Ark., made the case for confirmation. “He does not believe it is either the duty or the prerogative of the court to change the historical interpretations of the Constitution so as to be tantamount to amending that great document by edicts…
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