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Columns/Opinion

E-commerce wired into behavior

Last week U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin argued that Amazon has “destroyed the retail industry across the United States” and so the Department of Justice is “absolutely right” to investigate it. Both of those premises are dubious: The U.S. retail industry is changing but is very much alive, thank you — and rewriting the rules of antitrust law would hurt the American economy. First there is the matter of Mnuchin’s assertion about the retail sector. He is not wrong that brick-and-mortar retail sales are flat (if that’s what he meant by “destroyed”). But ...

Freedom of assembly under fire in Colorado Springs

Do law-abiding American citizens still have the right to gather peacefully to discuss their ideas without fear of government censorship and retribution? In my adopted hometown of Colorado Springs, the answer is “No” if you believe in border control or question whether the U.S. can survive as a nation-state. The answer is “No” if you wish to meet with others to express concern about the unsustainability of U.S. immigration policy. The answer is “No” if you dare to speak unvarnished truths about the deleterious security and economic impacts of illegal immigrants, ...

Democrats need to drop the identity politics now

The public dislikes identity politics big time. Right-winger Steve Bannon rejoices when Democrats try to sell themselves through special appeals to race, gender, ethnicity or sexual identity. When Democrats dwell on identity politics, “I got ‘em,” he said. “(W)e can crush the Democrats.” Identity politics is dated and even ignored by many in the groups being pandered to, as Kamala Harris’ low poll numbers among African Americans suggest. After the California politician attempted to smear Joe Biden as racially insensitive in the first Democratic debate, Biden’s high ...

What’s next for Democrats post-Mueller hearings?

The Washington Post, which has done everything in its dwindling power with articles, editorials and columns denouncing, demeaning and attempting to destroy President Trump, appears to have temporarily — but only temporarily — raised the white flag. A headline following former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s appearance before two House committees said: “Democrats struggle to figure next move against Trump after Mueller Hearing falls flat.” Democrats’ hatred is so deep for the president, who refuses to submit to their demands — the usual scenario for Republican ...

Recall Trump’s debt promise?

Ah, memories. Remember how presidential candidate Donald Trump grandly promised to eliminate the federal debt in eight years? That’s a memory he apparently hopes we forget. You could hear that in the absence of “debt” or “deficit” in the high praise he enthusiastically tweeted Thursday (“I am totally with you!”) for the two-year budget deal that White House and congressional budget negotiators reached last week. Unmentioned in the president’s tweet is how much the national debt has grown on Trump’s watch to a new record, more than $22 trillion in February for the ...

9/11 fund: It never should have come to this

“Hold tight to your anger, don’t fall to your fears.” — Bruce Springsteen, “Wrecking Ball” It never should have come to this. The first responders who, on a September morning 18 years ago, rushed into toxic clouds that once had been the World Trade Center never should have been put through bureaucratic hell. Sick and dying because they answered the call for courage, they never should have been forced to drag themselves repeatedly down to Washington to lobby Congress for medical care and compensation. Comedian Jon Stewart never should’ve had to use his celebrity to help ...