Michael McKenna

Real test of Fiscal Responsibility Act will be sturdiness of spending targets

Without taking sides on the wisdom of the debt limit increase (unironically named the "Fiscal Responsibility Act"), a couple of features of the deal and the surrounding conversation are worth noting.

June 2, 2023

Be wary of early poll results

Now that the field for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is starting to settle, it seems an auspicious moment to offer the usual warning about the results of opinion research.

May 31, 2023

Forget the ‘obituary test’: Live instead to prepare for God’s judgment of your life

Last week, as part of a lovely graduation ceremony, the dean of a business school encouraged graduates to pursue things that give life relevance outside of the workplace.

May 28, 2023

Durham’s history term paper fails to produce any justice

John Durham, the special counsel appointed back in October 2020 to examine the origins of the claims that Russia had somehow involved itself in the 2016 election, finally closed up shop a couple of weeks ago.

May 24, 2023

Gorsuch: Coronavirus policies ‘the greatest intrusions on civil liberties’ in peacetime

In a Supreme Court decision last week, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch offered a scathing rebuke to how the U.S. handled COVID-19 both legally and policy-wise.

May 23, 2023

The hazards of permitting reform in getting energy projects built on time

As Sen. Tom Carper gets ready to add to the melange of proposed permitting legislation, it might be worth thinking about whether the current batch of permitting reform may do more harm than good.

May 20, 2023

In wake of a budget deal, Republicans should get ready for longer fight

As we head toward what seems to be a deal on the debt limit and associated spending reforms, it is worth thinking about what we can learn from this experience.

May 17, 2023

Biden is coming for your cars, all of your cars

As part of the propaganda surrounding the White House's effort to ban gasoline-powered cars, President Biden implies that there will be a seamless exchange where current cars and trucks are traded for shinier, more hip, better electric cars and trucks.

May 14, 2023

If you want to solve immigration crisis, put business executives in jail

The great Roman judge Lucius Cassius, who lived in the first century B.C., routinely sought to cut to the heart of a case or controversy by asking "cui bono?" ("who benefits?").

May 10, 2023

Florida is a model for conservatives to win again

We interrupt the usual news of Washington to report that, back in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican legislature just wrapped up a productive legislative session.

May 7, 2023

How long is long enough? Time for term limits for professional officeholders

Earlier this week, Ben Cardin, Maryland Democrat, announced he was not going to run for a fourth term in the Senate, deciding, one supposes, that being in public office for a mere 56 years is enough.

May 3, 2023

The 2024 presidential race begins: Will it be a repeat of 2020?

Recently, there has been a rash of informative polling focused on the 2024 presidential campaign.

April 30, 2023

Biden’s ‘freedom’ campaign favorable to Republicans

In announcing his intention to seek reelection, President Biden extended two great courtesies to voters.

April 26, 2023

White House is doing its best to help Speaker McCarthy

In its haste to humiliate and marginalize Mr. Manchin over what it thought were unnecessarily restrictive provisions in the legislation, the Biden administration might have played itself into a disaster.

April 22, 2023

Chinese Communist Party cash ultimately corrupts both Democrats and Republicans

Earlier this week, Rep. Jason Smith, Missouri Republican and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, gaveled in a hearing on countering China's trade and investment agenda.

April 19, 2023

Silence is not an option in long march to pro-life America

The Republican Party and the pro-life cause have recently enjoyed a series of victories in the judicial arena (Dobbs) and suffered a series of setbacks (the latest in Wisconsin) in the electoral arena.

April 16, 2023

Democrats want to run against Trump in 2024

Despite his best efforts, former President Donald Trump is in a good spot with respect to the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

April 12, 2023

Who’s to blame for the Republican loss of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court?

Republicans moderated or muddied their message on life and lost anyway.

April 9, 2023

Have a reverent Good Friday and Easter Sunday

This coming weekend, the world's 2.5 billion Christians will celebrate -- emphasis on "celebrate" -- the torture, execution and resurrection of an obscure Jewish carpenter.

April 5, 2023

Holy Week reminder, dwell on love, not loss

Fretting about the amount of time we have with those we love is pointless. The best thing we can do is to love whoever God has put in our path for as long as they remain with us.

March 31, 2023