As Russia’s full-scale war against the independent country of Ukraine approaches its 20th month, the role of the United States in arming, training, and funding the Ukrainians has become a point of contention between Joe Biden and some of his potential GOP opponents, as well as among Republicans on Capitol Hill. Does the issue deserve...
If current surveys are taken as predictive, the Democratic Party will nominate President Joe Biden for reelection next year, the Republican Party will nominate former President Donald Trump, and whoever wins will begin his term in 2025 as one of the most disliked politicians in American history. How can this be? As I’ve previously argued,...
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses August 2023 Civitas Poll results related to President Biden and former President Donald Trump. Kokai offered these comments for an Aug. 24, 2023, report on WNCN (CBS17).
Over the next 25 years, the market for electrical power in North Carolina will undergo dramatic change. If progressives get their way, government will use a combination of subsidies and mandates to vastly expand our dependence on solar and wind. If cooler heads prevail, we will vastly expand our use of nuclear energy — which...
President Biden has of late unveiled the term “Bidenomics” in an attempt to brand his administration’s economic agenda a success story. “Good jobs and lower costs: That’s Bidenomics in action,” he declared. Unfortunately for him, the American public isn’t buying it. Recent polling shows only 34% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy....
Has there even been a point of time in which so many public controversies rest on a single, abstract principle of constitutional government? I can’t think of one. The principle in question is the separation of powers. Here are only some of its recent political manifestations: • The U.S. Supreme Court has just blocked President...
North Carolina’s own Patrick McHenry, who represents our 10th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, helped negotiate the debt-ceiling compromise that President Joe Biden signed on June 3. Not surprisingly, McHenry described it as a major accomplishment. “Huge relief to actually see a bipartisan bill make its way through the House and Senate and...
In Washington, Republican lawmakers are insisting that any deal with the Biden administration to raise the federal debt ceiling be accompanied by stricter work requirements for such programs as cash welfare, nutrition assistance, and Medicaid. In Raleigh, Republican state senators tried to make work requirements a condition for expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act,...
I started writing my column for North Carolina newspapers in 1986. From the start, I resolved to focus primarily on state and local issues. Newspapers were already chock-full of opinions about national politics and international affairs. As a then-college student, I didn’t think my views on these topics would be distinctive enough to interest editors...
John Locke Foundation President Donald Bryson discusses Civitas Poll results dealing with potential 2024 presidential matchups. Bryson offered these contests for a March 31, 2023, report on WNCN (CBS17).
Newly elected U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina’s 11th District attended his first State of the Union address last week and joined his fellow Republicans in calling out Joe Biden’s fiscal irresponsibility. “We have a looming debt and deficit crisis with serious implications for our national security and fiscal sovereignty,” Edwards observed. “Inflation is...
