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Defense budget is a future Homer Simpson problem: 'I do not envy that guy'
Homer Simpson was never meant to be a role model. Not as a father, and not as a leader.
State legislatures have the power to fix election processes
State sovereignty is at the heart of the election system. The Constitution places responsibility for success squarely on the shoulders of state legislators. The Founders' decision to place elections in the hands of states followed months of debate about the proper balance of power between the states and the national government.
America's new crisis and new choice: Freedom or fracture
Our federal government has become powerful enough to enact a train of abuses against the American people and the states through both action and inaction.
We risk losing our republic without active participation
Elizabeth Powell was a leading woman in Philadelphia and a political thinker who hosted salons during sessions of the Continental Congress. It did not surprise Benjamin Franklin, then, when Powell approached him at the end of the Constitutional Convention and asked: "What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" Franklin's answer: "A republic, if you can keep it."
Independent judiciary crucial to protecting Constitution
One of the most important components of the constitutional scheme of checks and balances is an independent judiciary.
War Powers Resolution should be repealed
With the possibility of a more interventionist foreign policy approach looming, questions will inevitably resume over which branch of government actually is responsible for sending U.S. troops abroad.
Pete Stauber: Developing American natural resources encourages hard work, innovation
Americans in pursuit of the American dream have helped create a global superpower, and in turn, a more prosperous future for themselves and their families.
Illegal immigrants shouldn't be included in congressional count
The House of Representatives, otherwise known as the "People's House," was designed by the Framers to be the body of the federal government most sensitive and receptive to voter opinion. That's why almost all members represent fewer voters than senators do, and it's why each member represents as equal a number of constituents as is possible and practical.
Give power back to the states, as Founders envisioned
With the Democrats holding a slimmer-than-expected majority in the House and a 50-50 split in the Senate, the next two years will represent an almost equal tug of war between Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
How much should taxpayers be forced to spend to militarize D.C.?
Should taxpayers be forced to spend approximately 1 million dollars to protect each member of the House and Senate in the absence of specific threats to justify such expenditures?
Founders created Electoral College as a check to tyranny
The 2020 presidential election felt surreal. U.S. elections typically end with certainty and acceptance as a new president is inaugurated and a new phase of American political life opens.
States must stand up to feds to stop poaching of their power
The word "federalism" does not appear in the Constitution, yet it is the guiding principle that preserves the United States from the defects of unitary governments, like Great Britain, in which all power flows from one central government, and the defects of confederation, in which power is dispersed and consequently attenuated beyond usefulness.
Donald Trump terrorizes swamp: 'We will be back'
Washington will never be the same. But former President Donald Trump?
Invoking 25th Amendment would set dangerous precedent
The "To the Republic" series has primarily addressed the original Constitution rather than the subsequent amendments. However, there has been much discussion of the suddenly popular 25th Amendment during the Trump administration, particularly since last week's riot at the Capitol.
Biden should renegotiate Iran nuclear deal as a treaty
Most Americans believe that the Senate ratifies treaties, but that is the president's function and is one of many brilliant checks and balances in our system of government, as noted by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers.
Social Security reform need exposed by COVID-19
An executive order that lets employers defer their employees' portion of Social Security taxes into 2021 will give some workers a substantial boost in their paychecks in the final four months of this year.
Boris Johnson win boosts Donald Trump and, yes, Mike Bloomberg
The election results in Britain are great news for Michael Bloomberg and, for different reasons, Donald Trump and champions of nationalism everywhere.
If Joe Biden is the best Democrats can offer, party is in trouble
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden is hopping around Iowa these days on one foot -- the other being permanently lodged in his mouth.
Trump's smoke-and-mirrors act shines spotlight on inner-city troubles
Channeling fellow native New Yorker Jimmy Breslin, Mr. Trump created quite a show of smoke and mirrors by characterizing Baltimore as a city of "rats and rodents."
Wes Pruden: Editor, mentor, genteel man
Wes Pruden so reminded me of my late dad, Arnold P. Simmons, who was 20 years his elder.
