The debt ceiling standoff revealed the presence of an interesting statistic, hiding in plain sight: 70 percent. The House averted financial disaster by passing a debt ceiling compromise with a vote of 314 out of 435—or 72 percent. The Senate passed its measure 63–36. When the chips are down, Americans overwhelmingly choose stability, sanity, and […]

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The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Moore v. Harper may well be one of the most consequential Constitutional cases affecting the future of American democracy. But its political meaning is as significant as its legal implications. Its wider context is the current court’s crisis of legitimacy, Donald Trump’s attempted coup to overthrow the result of […]

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The debt ceiling—the maximum amount the federal government can borrow—is an anachronistic relic from World War I. Enacted by Congress in 1917, it allowed President Wilson to fight the war without waiting for lawmakers to return to Washington and vote to increase spending. Not wanting to give the president a blank check, Congress limited borrowing […]

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Resolving some hostage crises – as when Putin grabs American basketball players and Wall Street Journal reporters – can require making difficult trade-offs with thugs. But the refusal of Congressional Republicans to lift the debt ceiling is not one of them. The U.S. Constitution is clear that no law, of any kind, trumps the mandate […]

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For decades, the conventional wisdom about Silicon Valley was that it leaned progressive. And by many measures (like donations by Big Tech employees to political candidates), the industry has been aligned with the Democratic politics that dominate the San Francisco Bay Area. But contrarian alternate worldviews held by prominent voices like Elon Musk and Sam […]

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