Opinion

What’s the biggest single economic challenge facing working and middle-class Americans? Housing. Its supply isn’t nearly keeping up with demand. This means higher home prices and higher rents.

Data released by the Census Bureau yesterday shows fewer housing starts in May than in any month since the 2020 pandemic.

I once naively believed that the worst kind of loss in politics was at the ballot box.

I learned the hard way about real loss in October 2002, when Sen. Paul Wellstone’s plane went down while he was traveling the state doing his job as U.S. senator and running for reelection.

The great paradox of modern times is that we have access to more information than ever — but ignorance seems to be growing.

People in the United States and around the world believe more bogus theories now than they did 10 years ago. Comment sections on social media reveal that most people are just as gullible as ever, and in some ways, even more likely to believe outlandish things. This ignorance has consequences of global importance, because an increase in ignorance will lead to ignorant people getting elected to positions of power. I don’t think I need to give an example here because you’re probably already thinking it.

The Supreme Court's recent unanimous ruling in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services hasn’t got nearly the attention it deserves.

On the surface, the ruling seems innocent enough. The Court merely decided that white and straight employees who allege they’ve been discriminated against don't need to meet a higher standard of proof than do Black or LGBTQ+ employees who sue for discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Legal scholar Stephen Legomsky, who taught for 34 years at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, has just published a book, “Reimagining the American Union,” that proposes a radical idea: Abolish state government. The Conversation’s politics and democracy editor, Naomi Schalit – a former statehouse reporter herself – interviewed Legomsky about the provocative idea behind his book, in which he advocates moving most of the functions of state government down to the local level, closer to those represented and governed by it.

You propose abolishing states. Why?

Gov. Ron DeSantis and his minions have perfected the art of bending and/or dispensing with the rule of law and long-held democratic norms in ways that have enabled Republicans to keep control of the state’s political levers.

During just about every news cycle, especially during legislative sessions, we see our high-handed chief executive belittling critics, sneering at perceived enemies, and rewarding his friends.