In the weeks and months ahead, as we approach the midterm elections, we will hear a lot of political labels used to frame, define, categorize and box in candidates and their affiliated political groups — positively and negatively. What label defines you? Are you a Democrat, Republican, independent, Libertarian, Green, progressive, socialist, liberal, conservative, leftist, […]
Michigan voters have barely finished choosing their candidates for November, and already one of the oldest labels in American politics is getting another workout. Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in this week’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate offers a timely example. El-Sayed is unapologetically progressive, and voters should scrutinize his proposals, challenge their costs and consequences, and […]
More than a century ago, our state confronted a difficult question: Who should government ultimately answer to, its citizens or concentrated wealth?
Like two sides of a coin imprinted with the nation’s motto, “e pluribus unum” — out of many, one — America’s political factions are cast in opposition, but they are intrinsically bound together as parts of a larger whole. From the beginning, the United States has aspired to build a more perfect union. When our founders […]
The parades, reenactments and fireworks are over. And in the aftermath of Americans’ celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it is important to recognize that the declaration was only the first step in making a unified country. Many of the founders argued that the country needed a remodeled government. They asked […]
Disagreeing is one thing — it is rooted in our pluralist republic. But when we cannot find ways to work together, it becomes impossible to solve our problems.
Scholarly surveys, discussions and polls have consistently revealed a clear consensus: the leadership capacity of the founding generation — Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton and Madison — is unrivaled by any subsequent coterie of American statesman. It is true that these same academic conversations reflect agreement that Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt stand atop the list of America’s greatest presidents, with founding chief executives such as Washington and Jefferson closely on their heels, but there is, it seems, no generation of political leaders across 250 years that is comparable to those who launched the American Revolution, drafted the Declaration of Independence and wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Montana taxpayers expect their tax dollars to be spent responsibly, transparently, and on priorities that benefit everyone — not directed to private organizations with the strongest political support. That expectation is reflected in Article V, Section 11(5) of the Montana Constitution, which states: "No appropriation shall be made for religious, charitable, industrial, educational, or benevolent purpose to any private individual, private association, or private corporation not under the control of the state."
We are between two of the most important holidays in the United States today: Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.
In June 1776, Great Britain and its North American colonies had been fighting for over a year. The Americans desperately needed foreign help, particularly from Great Britain’s principal rival, France.
