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July 27, 2018
Thomas Valentine

Who Will Replace Paul Ryan as Speaker? These Are the Contenders.
House Republicans have been in various stages of chaos -- both healthy and unhealthy -- ever since retaking control of the chamber in 2010. Speaker John Boehner was constantly trying to cut deals with President Obama, usually giving the President most or all of what he wanted, so Republicans wanted him gone. Boehner resigned in 2015 and is now a high-paid lobbyist, while his lieutenant, former Majority Leader Eric Cantor, was taken out in a shocking primary defeat. Their clearest successor at the time was Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, but he stumbled quickly and took himself out of the running. With no other favorites emerging, establishment Republicans and conservatives alike settled on drafting Paul Ryan, long considered an up-and-comer in the GOP, to serve as Speaker.[...]
July 25, 2018
Ross Hougham

The Implosion of the Left: Diagnosing a Troubling Record of Public Engagement
“You push back on them. Tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere!” California Congresswoman Maxine Waters stood gesticulating in the midst of a crowd of supporters in Los Angeles, whipping up emotions against Republicans. She belted a voice developed over five years in Washington -- poised and confident, knowing well what sort of waves her words would create. Stumping alone on the far-Left Coast, Ms. Waters’ aggression echoed the boiling sentiment of millions of progressive Americans, enraged at our country’s current circumstances.[...]
July 25, 2018
Bridget Starrs

Do Pro-Life Democrats Have a Future?
Late last month, the Missouri Democratic Party announced a new platform, containing an amendment that has since raised a great deal of controversy within the party. At their quarterly meeting, the Missouri Democratic Party approved updates to their ten-year-old platform and included an unexpectedly welcoming caveat for pro-life party members:[...]
July 23, 2018
Karen R. Effrem, MD

Screen and Medicate More Students? School Safety Commission Gets Wrong Message
If the White House School Safety Commission is to make wise and helpful recommendations to protect school children, it needs to have good information. Sadly, most of the witnesses chosen to discuss the mental health aspects of this complex problem at a commission meeting earlier this month only provided limited and potentially dangerous recommendations: namely, the increased mental screening of school children and the increased use of psychotropic drugs in children -- despite their connection to school violence.[...]
July 18, 2018
Terry Schilling

Crooked Liz? Controversial Warren Bill Raises Specter of Abramoff
An American Indian tribe in Massachusetts with direct ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff is trying to bypass the federal courts and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to jumpstart a stalled casino project underway near the Massachusetts border with Rhode Island. Ironically, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has enlisted an unlikely ally, Senator Elizabeth Warren, to carry its water on Capitol Hill.[...]