Ernest Istook

ISTOOK: Aid costs will soar as Obama adds global warming red tape

The biggest excuse made for crony capitalism is that it's necessary to fight global warming and climate change.

September 24, 2014

ISTOOK: Will Taco Tuesday penalty on California campus also kill Halloween?

Wearing traditional Mexican garb for Taco Tuesday earned a near death penalty for a sorority at California State University, Fullerton. It was "grotesquely inappropriate," the dean of students decreed. Nothing said at the event offended the school's draconian speech code, so the policy was expanded to cover clothing.

September 17, 2014

ISTOOK: Obama is over his head on terrorism. Congress has a duty to guide our policy

There is no grant of power to the president to be sole judge of how we punish global offenses. Presidents must be guided by Congress and must heed that guidance.

September 12, 2014

ISTOOK: An equally wrongheaded ‘Plan B’ on the minimum wage

A hike in the federal minimum wage is bottled up in Congress despite the labor-organized street protests by fast-food workers. They demand $15 an hour — without having to boost their productivity.

September 10, 2014

ISTOOK: Congress going through motions, but dangerous lame-duck session looms

In its customary fashion, Congress will push most matters under the rug for now, while promising to address them after the election. But don't expect breakthroughs even then.

September 10, 2014

ISTOOK: Jobs terminated! Machines rise thanks to Obamacare, wage protests

Self-service kiosks have arrived, sometimes on a large-scale and others on a trial basis, and companies like the result.

September 8, 2014

ISTOOK: Washington’s power players: Out of touch AND out of voters’ reach?

Power players in Washington, D.C., are out of touch. That's what disgusted Americans tell the pollsters. What makes it worse is how often they're also out of reach of the voters.

September 3, 2014

ISTOOK: For liberals, gun control is the ultimate government regulation

Americans in growing numbers are unhappy about depending on government for survival — life-and-death survival, not just dependence on government for food stamps, health care, housing or even cash.

August 27, 2014

ISTOOK: Ivanpah energy project a glaring danger to airplane passengers

Thanks to a $1.6 billion green energy loan, pilots are being blinded by glare as they fly over the Mojave Desert. It's a safety hazard involving more than 40 million airplane passengers a year. The culprit is the Ivanpah solar energy project.

August 20, 2014

ISTOOK: Holder and Obama must enforce the Anti-Riot Act against agitators now

The rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, involves left-wing militants from across the country. It is not simply local unrest over the police shooting of Michael Brown. Out-of-state anarchists, Communists, Occupy movement members and other agitators are exploiting the situation to create chaos. That is their method for trying to bring down the American way of life that they detest.

August 19, 2014

ISTOOK: ‘No justice; No peace!’ chants in Ferguson are actually saying, ‘We want revenge!’

In Ferguson, Missouri, a desire for revenge has replaced a desire for justice.

August 18, 2014

ISTOOK: Trickle-down liberal agenda afflicts dysfunctional cities

The left is focused on using city governments to transform America, pushing its agenda through local policies, laws, rules and regulations. Their effort could bring us more dysfunctional cities like Detroit.

August 13, 2014

ISTOOK: I was no Nixon fan — yet he left me with words of inspiration

What penetrated the high drama and touched my heart were his very final words, the very last three minutes publicly spoken by President Nixon as he addressed White House staff in the East Room.

August 8, 2014

ISTOOK: Finally! FDA about to act on breath mint label regulation

Perhaps some study has concluded that consuming high-calorie breath mints is a leading cause of big stomachs. That's probably why the Center for Science in the Public Interest weighed in with comments complaining that people consume more numbers of small items than of large items and therefore may lose track of calories.

August 6, 2014

ISTOOK: Soda tax? Another step in the march of the food police

The proposed "SWEET Tax" would be a dime on a can of soda, 16 cents on a 20-ounce beverage. Sports drinks, sweet tea and other drinks would be hit also.

August 5, 2014

ISTOOK: Thanks to NLRB, get ready supersized fast-food prices

Once again, one man has dictated a major change of federal law that could cost American families dearly.

July 30, 2014

ISTOOK: Get ready for super-priced burgers due to NLRB decree

Once again, one man has dictated a major change of federal law that can cost American families dearly. It may double the price of your Big Mac, Whopper, fried chicken, donuts or other purchases at your local fast-food restaurant.

July 30, 2014

ISTOOK: Obama wants to be impeached

Impeachment would be his crowning badge of victimhood, the ultimate symbol to rally his base, asking that they protect him by guaranteeing a Democrat majority in the U.S. Senate.

July 25, 2014

ISTOOK: Lower health care costs, don’t subsidize them

We miss the point and get bogged down by debating Obamacare subsidies via state exchanges vs. federal exchanges. What we should be asking is: Why do health care and insurance cost so much?

July 23, 2014

ISTOOK: The secret is out: ‘Unaccompanied minors’ are only one-fourth of illegal border-crossers

The crossings by family units have increased almost five times faster. This contradicts White House and media efforts to elicit public sympathy by focusing public attention on children.

July 22, 2014