When the 118th Congress commences in January, we will be facing several important issues simultaneously. The United States will be dangerously close to reaching its debt ceiling, and Congress will need to pass legislation raising it. Presumptive House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said he intends to use the debt limit as a weapon to force […]

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It’s always healthy to guard against premature optimism, but reality may be making a comeback. Cryptocurrency markets are cratering; Russia has surrendered Kherson; Elon Musk is melting down at Twitter; and President Biden and the Democrats delivered the best midterm performance since President Kennedy. I’ve been watching these trends as a single networked phenomenon, and […]

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US household debt hit a record $16.15 trillion in the second quarter of 2022. Mortgage debt accounts for 75% of the total; college debt another 10%. The rest is mainly motor vehicle and credit card debt. Rising household debt over the past two years is worrisome, and will become a greater problem as interest rates […]

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Guns were a ubiquitous part of my childhood. My grandfather, who had been a master sergeant in the army, had a small arsenal in his house in Mechanic Falls, Maine. He gave me a 2020 bolt action Springfield rifle when I was 7. By the time I was 10, I had graduated to a Winchester […]

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It has been three months since the last January 6th Committee hearing — a lifetime in the theater of politics — so it was only natural that members opted to use Day Nine to offer a refresher course on how Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election and end American democracy. In doing so, they finally […]

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