Analysis

The Perils of Overreach, Part II

Election Wins Are No License for Shutdown Stubbornness In my previous column, "A Warning to Democrats on the Government Shutdown and ACA Subsidies," I cautioned the Democrat Party against the seductive trap of overreach during the ongoing government shutdown-now entering its 38th day. Drawing on historical precedents like the 1995-1996 and 2013 shutdowns, I argued that leveraging public blame against Republicans to demand permanent extensions of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies risks transforming a tactical advantage into a strategic disaster. The ACA's enhanced premium tax credits, set to expire at year's end due to Democrats' own sunset clauses in the 2022…

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The Perils of Overreach

A Warning to Democrats on the Government Shutdown and ACA Subsidies In the annals of political wisdom, few quotes capture the precarious nature of governance as succinctly as British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's reputed response to a question about what posed the greatest challenge to statesmen: "Events, dear boy, events." This adage underscores how unforeseen incidents can derail even the most calculated strategies, turning public opinion on a dime and exposing leaders to unforeseen vulnerabilities. As the United States grapples with the longest government shutdown in history-now entering its 37th day on November 6, 2025-Democrats find themselves in a position of…

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Republicans Can Win the Housing Battleground

Republicans Must Seize the Housing Crisis to Secure America's Future As we enter the second Trump era in November 2025, with Republicans holding the reins of power in Washington, the time for bold action on America's housing affordability crisis has never been more urgent. The data is damning: The median age of first-time homebuyers has hit a record 40, up from 38 last year, while first-time buyers now comprise just 21% of the market-the lowest since tracking began in 1981. Overall buyer age stands at 59, with repeat buyers at 62, and fewer than a quarter of buyers have children under…

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A Wake-Up Call for Republicans

Why the 2026 Midterms Are Still Ours to Win November 5, 2025 – Last night's off-year elections were a gut punch for the GOP. Democrats swept Virginia's top offices, with Abigail Spanberger cruising to the governorship by 15 points and Jay Jones claiming the attorney general spot amid his controversial texts fantasizing about political murder. In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill trounced Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points. New York City elected 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani as mayor with 50.6% of the vote, a self-proclaimed Marxist who trampled Andrew Cuomo's political dynasty. Down-ballot disasters piled on: Democratic supermajorities in Virginia's House of Delegates and…

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Virginia Democrats’ Redistricting Gambit

A Flawed Bid Doomed by Timing Introduction Virginia Democrats are barreling toward a high-stakes political maneuver that could reshape the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms. With House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries desperate to blunt Republican redistricting gains and Virginia Democrats eager to keep Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears off the campaign trail, the party is pushing for a special session starting October 27 to amend the state constitution and redraw districts. Yet, this audacious plan is poised to fail-not due to lack of ambition, but because Virginia has been in a general election for the past 45 days, rendering…

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Trump is Wrong on Loan Forgiveness

Trump’s Expansion of Loan Forgiveness: An Originalist and Principled Critique The Trump administration’s October 2025 decision to process $400 billion in student debt cancellation for 30 million borrowers under the Higher Education Act (HEA) represents a significant act of executive overreach. By accelerating forgiveness through adjustments to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans-reducing timelines to as little as 10 years for many-the Department of Education has revived and broadened a framework originally developed under prior administrations. This move comes despite the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Biden v. Nebraska, which invalidated a comparable $430 billion plan for lacking explicit congressional authorization. As an…

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Schrödinger’s Subsidy

How Democrats Built Their Own Political Trap on Obamacare In the marble halls of Washington, where partisan trench warfare has become the national pastime, the federal government is shuttered once again-not over border walls or bloated bureaucracies this time, but over Subsidya ticking time bomb that Democrats themselves planted 15 years ago. As of October 14, 2025, the shutdown that began on October 1 has furloughed thousands of federal workers, halted critical services, and cast a pall over an economy already teetering from inflation's aftershocks. At the heart of this manufactured crisis? The impending expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA)…

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The Triumph of Trump’s Moral Compass

Outthinking and Outworking Western Leaders in the Gaza Peace Deal In the marble halls of Washington, where partisan trench warfare has become the national pastime, the federal government is shuttered once again-not over border walls or bloated bureaucracies this time, but over Subsidya ticking time bomb that Democrats themselves planted 15 years ago. As of October 14, 2025, the shutdown that began on October 1 has furloughed thousands of federal workers, halted critical services, and cast a pall over an economy already teetering from inflation's aftershocks. At the heart of this manufactured crisis? The impending expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act…

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Saturday Shutdown Showdown

Quick Takes: Trump’s Troop Pay, RIF Gambit, and Democrats’ Healthcare Overreach The federal government’s 11th day without funding (October 11, 2025) has turned Washington into a battleground of fiscal brinkmanship, with President Trump and Senate Democrats wielding competing strategies to exploit the shutdown. Trump’s bold move to secure military pay, the OMB’s aggressive workforce cuts, and Democrats’ push for costly healthcare expansions reveal a deeper struggle over priorities, power, and the public purse. Each maneuver, cloaked in urgency, risks legal overreach and fiscal recklessness, leaving taxpayers and federal workers caught in the crossfire. Trump’s Troop Pay Directive: A Legal Lifeline or…

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Paul Ryan Was Right

Obamacare's True Costs Exposed In my July 20, 2025, column, "Joe Wilson Was Right," I argued that Rep. Joe Wilson’s infamous 2009 outburst-"You lie!"-during President Obama’s address to Congress captured a prophetic truth about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. While Obama’s claim that the ACA wouldn’t cover undocumented immigrants held true in the law’s text, the reality of fungible federal funds enabled states to extend billions in coverage to non-citizens, a dynamic unmasked by the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). But Wilson’s raw cry was not alone in its foresight. Rep. Paul Ryan, then a rising star…

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