US Senate dysfunction now painfully obvious

Mark Z. Barabak, Tribune News Service To say the US Senate has grown dysfunctional is like suggesting water is wet or the nighttime sky is dark. The institution that...

Increase in polarisation mirrors growth of government

Pierre Lemieux, The Independent Politicians and policy experts like to talk about the “root causes” of crime, homelessness, poverty, rising prices and other problems. If they want to understand...

Democrats showed promise in 2025 as future party leaders

Carl P. Leubsdorf, Tribune News Service Like most parties that lose presidential races, the Democrats have struggled through a difficult aftermath. But the handwringing over their lack of effective...

The GOP’s next leader will need more than populism

David M. Drucker, Tribune News Service President Donald Trump has always been just insider-enough to placate the Republican establishment and just outsider-enough to excite conservative populists. But keeping that...

How constitutional limits become negotiable

Noah Feldman, Tribune News Service The most astonishing feature of Donald Trump’s decade as one of the most dominant figures in American politics is his ability to make the...

Deep divides emerge over core American values

Ronald L. Hirsch, Tribune News Service There are fundamental differences between liberals and conservatives—and certainly MAGA adherents—on what are “American values.” But for both liberal and conservative pundits, the...

Voting rights are back on trial... again

In October, one of the most consequential cases before the Supreme Court began. Six white Justices, two Black and one Latina took the bench for arguments in Louisiana v....

The GOP job

Shutdown's lingering effects burden families

Adam Geller, The Independent The promise of a new beginning and a celebratory Thanksgiving meal has been overshadowed by lingering financial insecurity for families like Shelby Williams, whose meticulously...

MAGA vs MAAA