Politics
/ArcaMax
  Commentary: Regarding the shutdown, Democrats, it's time to let Republicans wear it
Baseball has always been a great cauldron of American vernacular speech. One relatively new expression has caught my attention: “Wear it.” Like when a 99 mph fastball hits a batter’s shoulder or thigh or foot. “Yah, I’ll wear it.” As in, this is part of the game. Sure it hurts, but it is the price I pay for being here.
It is time ...Read more
  Mark Z. Barabak: Payback? Power grab? Proposition 50 is California's political ink-blot test
When it comes to Proposition 50, Marcia Owens is a bit fuzzy on the details.
She knows, vaguely, it has something to do with how California draws the boundaries for its 52 congressional districts, a convoluted and arcane process that's not exactly top of the mind for your average person. But Owens is abundantly clear when it comes to her intent...Read more
  George Skelton: California's sleazy redistricting beats having an unhinged president
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — While President Donald Trump was pushing National Guard troops from city to city like some little kid playing with his toy soldiers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom was coaxing voters into fighting the man’s election-rigging scheme.
It turned out to be an easy sell for the governor. By the end, Californians appeared ready...Read more
  Commentary: The human cost of Congress' inaction on health care
President Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress have a decision to make: They can step up to protect millions of people, providing the security and dignity that comes from being cared for when sick or injured, or they can keep holding our health care hostage and leave a body count.
How do I know? I’ve spent more than two decades in an ...Read more
  Editorial: Federal bureaucrats and 'arbitrary' regulations
Democrats have been outspoken in their concern that President Donald Trump might flout a court order. Yet they shrug when federal bureaucrats ignore Supreme Court precedent to exert their vast authority.
Trump should indeed respect judicial rulings. But as the courts whittle away at the power of government functionaries to interpret vague ...Read more
  Editorial: Trump's pardons reward lawlessness
A glance at the George Santos case might suggest merely that the most flagrant liar in American politics simply couldn’t bear to see a fellow fabulist languish in prison.
But there’s a deeper, costlier moral rot in President Donald Trump’s decision to commute Santos’ sentence after less than three months of a seven-year term.
It’s of...Read more
  Commentary: How to stay informed without being consumed
My father had a simple ritual. At 6 a.m., he would read the New York Post and Daily News cover to cover. At 6 p.m., he tuned into the evening news — an hour of straightforward reporting, not commentary.
He formed his own opinions, and then he moved on. The news didn’t dominate company picnics or poker nights with the neighbors. A staunch ...Read more
  Commentary: Fear of ICE is stealing the simple moments in my Chicago neighborhood
I pick my daughter up from school every day and fight to keep my composure. The teachers are positioned on corners around the school, looking out for suspicious vehicles. Red whistles hang from their necks, walkie-talkies in hand, ready to signal danger. I can see both fear and calm in their faces — the quiet strength that I think drew them to...Read more
  Commentary: California was an 'earthly paradise' for Jews. Is it still?
California, described by one observer in the late 19th century as “the Jews’ earthly paradise” for the economic and social promise it held, seems to have become newly hostile to Jewish people in recent years.
More than any other place on Earth, Jews have shaped much of California’s progress, from Levi Strauss and the founders of the ...Read more
  Mark Gongloff: Bill Gates is wrong to quiet-quit the climate fight
A few years ago, there was a big frenzy about “quiet quitting,” the idea that kids these days might show up to their jobs but not work very hard at them. Bill Gates seems to be quiet-quitting the fight against climate change.
The billionaire Microsoft Corp. founder has long led the charge to keep the planet from overheating, dedicating ...Read more
  Andreas Kluth: Just the threat of US nuclear testing is bad enough
Just as nuclear war, in all its sheer insanity, has returned to Hollywood and public attention, the leaders of the world’s two atomic superpowers seem to be doing their best to make the jitters worse.
First, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s been breaking nuclear taboos for at least three years, boasted about a (new-ish) torpedo drone...Read more
  Commentary: Four votes on Tuesday that will shape the nation (or at least the narrative)
Tuesday is election day, and, as usual, the pundits are breathless, the predictions are dubious and the consultants are already counting their retainers. But make no mistake: Off-year elections matter. Tuesday’s results will shape the political landscape for 2026 and beyond.
Let’s start in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has decided to ...Read more
  Rosa Prince: King Charles destroys his brother over Epstein. America dithers
Born into unimaginable luxury and showered with honors, the man formerly known as His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, Duke of York will henceforth be addressed as plain old Mr. Mountbatten Windsor.
It's a stunning fall. The second, apparently favorite, son of Queen Elizabeth II has not only lost his many titles but also his home. He’s been ...Read more
  Editorial: Washington ignores a looming fiscal emergency
In its final report of the fiscal year, the U.S. Treasury Department delivered some unfortunate news. The government spent a little over $7 trillion in 2025 and raised just $5.2 trillion in taxes. To cover the gap, it borrowed $1.8 trillion, equivalent to more than a quarter of public spending and 6% of gross domestic product. “Unsustainable�...Read more
  Editorial: Chicago mayor deserves credit for a victory in the fight against gun violence
Tuesday will mark a profoundly sad anniversary. It will have been one year since the shooting death of Officer Enrique Martínez as he responded to call in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood on the South Side.
The 26-year-old Martínez was shot to death allegedly by a man from inside a car using a handgun manipulated with a switch converting it ...Read more
  Lisa Jarvis: This open enrollment might give you sticker shock
Americans embarking on the annual task of sifting through the health plans offered by their employers to find the one that gives them the most bang for their buck are facing a new reality: many of those options no longer feel affordable. This year, the process isn’t just complex or confusing — it’s painful.
The cost of health insurance ...Read more
  Commentary: AI won't give American children the education they need
Elected officials are finally waking up to the educational harms of mobile phones in public schools. As more districts ban them, the reports are highly encouraging — though hardly surprising, given the positive results we saw in New York City when we removed them from schools nearly 20 years ago.
Yet even as phone bans spread, elected ...Read more
  Ronald Brownstein: The NJ and Virginia governors' races will answer a key question
The gubernatorial races next week in Virginia and New Jersey will offer the best measure yet of whether the Democratic Party has begun to reverse its losses among two key groups: prosperous suburbanites and economically strained racial minorities. Both groups shifted enough toward President Donald Trump and the GOP last year to help propel ...Read more
  Gustavo Arellano: Bodies are stacking up in Trump's deportation deluge. It's going to get worse
LOS ANGELES — Like a teenager armed with their first smartphone, President Donald Trump's masked immigration enforcers love nothing more than to mug for friendly cameras.
They gladly invite pseudo-filmmakers — some federal government workers, others conservative influencers or pro-Trump reporters — to embed during raids so they can ...Read more
  Editorial: Harvard inflates grades, deflates reputation
“My kid’s getting A’s at Harvard” isn’t much of a flex anymore, thanks to a report from the erstwhile Ivy League institution admitting that roughly 60% of grades given to undergraduates were A’s, up from 40% a decade ago and less than a quarter 20 years ago.
“Current practices are not only failing to perform the key functions of ...Read more






















































