STARKVILLE — At this writing, the debt ceiling drama – the annual political kabuki theater between Congress and the White House over agreeing on the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations – continues in earnest. Read moreDebt ceiling drama, campaign rhetoric ignores the truth of federal spending in Mississippi

Study after study details how expanding Medicaid will create jobs, grow the state economy and provide a boost to Mississippi’s beleaguered hospitals. Read moreStudies show that not expanding Medicaid is killing Mississippians

When a ship leaves its home port for a transoceanic voyage, the captain cannot see the arrival port for more than 99 percent of the journey. Yet, the captain has no doubt that he will be able to successfully arrive at his desired destination. Read moreAchieving your goals is a journey

It’s been a while since we’ve heard the kind of optimism contained in Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) announcement of a presidential run. Read moreTim Scott: The new Reagan

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ much-anticipated 2024 presidential campaign is finally here. DeSantis is, by any empirical metric or otherwise reasonable estimation, the only person with a viable chance of defeating former President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. What fo… Read moreMaking the case for Ron DeSantis

Child protection laws and policies that determine at what age kids can do things on their own are often wildly out of whack with actual child development – and grossly underestimate kids’ capabilities. Read moreWhy do we keep underestimating kids?

Like most Mississippians, I was deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of Johnny Morgan of Oxford in a plane crash in Arkansas. Morgan – a larger-than-life presence personally and politically – died May 17 while piloting his twin-engine Beech King Air E-90 aircraft near Fayetteville, Ark. Read moreJohnny Morgan: He understood and believed in bipartisanship and the duty to govern

The similarities were striking as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley held a news conference at the state Capitol last week to unveil his ethics reform package just as Jim Hood did in 2019. Read morePresley’s campaign tracks Hood on issues, but welfare scandal could be difference

Integrity: adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty Read moreIntegrity always matters

The Congressional Budget Office has just released its latest projection for the next ten years. Read moreWelfare work requirements make everyone better

The announcement this week from Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that he is running for president comes as no surprise. While DeSantis won his re-election by 19 points and his accomplishments with the help of a Republican super majority in the state legislature have been impressive, … Read moreDeSantis for president?

‘Build the wall” hasn’t been a sentiment often heard in South Side Chicago. Read moreThe bussing of migrants has worked

STARKVILLE — The scion of one of the first families of Deep South print journalism during the civil rights movement, Hodding Carter III cast an impactful shadow during his long and impactful life. Carter died May 11 in Chapel Hill, N.C. at age 88 following a series of strokes. Read moreJournalist, activist and State Dept. spokesman Hodding Carter III participated in history

On a recent weekday in the Colorado Capitol, a well known sound for someone familiar with the Mississippi Legislature could be heard through the state House chamber: a computer application reading a bill. Read moreColorado lawmakers have bills read as filibuster like Mississippi, but no demon chipmunks

Success is the progressive realization of your goals. Life is a journey, not a destination. A common source of frustration for people is comparing their progress to their ultimate goal. They then run the risk of getting discouraged and abandoning their path altogether. Read moreLife is all about the journey

I was proud and moved to participate in opening ceremonies, at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., commemorating National Police Week. Read moreHow to honor our officers during National Police Week

Could it be that union bosses are finally waking up to the cold reality that the greatest threat to steel workers, the United Auto Workers, miners, machinists and the Teamsters is the radical climate change agenda of the environmentalists? Read moreAre unions finally figuring out the green movement is a jobs killer

Bidenomics is not just about spending money anymore. Read moreNew industrial policy, same as the old industrial policy

Founded in 2016 and “supported by grants from foundations, by contributions from donors and sponsors and by advertising,” the website Mississippi Today bills itself as a “digital-first, nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom serving Mississippi.” Read moreWithout charges, arrests or indictments, how’s Bryant to defend himself in TANF scandal?

Democrat Brandon Presley’s task of defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in the November general election seems insurmountable. Read morePresley needs to reverse Hood’s 2019 northeast Mississippi results to have a chance

Some people seem to always attract good things. Others have a knack for being a magnet for the undesirable. What’s the difference between these two types of people? Do you have control over which group you fall into? Read moreAttracting what you want in life

The position of the White House on the debt limit may be shifting from, “President Joe Biden doesn’t want to compromise,” to “President Joe Biden doesn’t have to compromise under the U.S. Constitution.” Read moreThe absurd 14th Amendment option on the debt

That loud clucking sound we are hearing from “sanctuary cities” and other cities run by Democrats is the consequence of lax immigration policies coming home to roost. Read moreChickens come home to roost on immigration

This is the time of year when our young men and women walk across the stage to collect their diplomas before commencing the next adventure of their life, which may look different for each student. Some may go to college or a technical school, some will go straight to the workforce and still … Read moreStand and salute the Class of 2023

A new Siena College/Mississippi Today poll, conducted April 16-20, illustrates the complexity and internal conflict of the state’s electorate. Read morePoll shows Mississippians strongly favor Presley's ideas but he still trails in governor's race

Larry “Butch” Brown – for a decade in the early 2000s the intractable executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) – died April 25 at his Natchez home. He was 79. Read moreEven in death, opinions vary on the enigmatic former MDOT bureaucrat ‘Butch’ Brown

Change is inevitable. Change is OK. Everyone changes and everyone experiences change. You will experience internal and external changes. External changes originate from your environment and the people in it. Internal changes often occur in response to external changes. Read moreChange is inevitable

President Joe Biden has made his bid for a second term official, and the first big news following the announcement is his latest approval rating released by Gallup. It shows Biden’s approval reaching a new low in his presidency – 37 percent. Read moreA history lesson for 2024

The very term “debt limit” makes a mockery of any kind of responsible budgeting. Each time the government reaches the “limit” it gets raised with the familiar scenarios that include threats of a government shutdown (an idea that increasingly appeals to some conservatives) and the claim that … Read moreThe debt limit: Same old song

Does the radical climate change agenda know no end? Earlier this year, it was gas stoves – and then lightbulbs. Read moreWho turned the lights out? Joe Biden did

In Washington, the Biden Administration is battling with House Republicans over their relatively paltry reform plans attached to debt ceiling legislation that would raise the ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for a slower rate of growth in federal spending over the next decade. Read moreEchoes of the WPA: Reimagining the concept of welfare for work in this century

Based on the budget passed hurriedly and with barely any debate in late March during the final days of the 2023 session, legislators apparently were saying all of the state’s problems had been solved. Read moreLegislators leave money on table, opting to leave needs unmet

I was napping on the sidewalk when a kind person stopped to offer me a sandwich. Read moreA little kindness can make a difference

Hillary Clinton writes in The New York Times that Republican insistence to link any increase in the nation’s debt ceiling to spending control and cuts threatens our national security. Read moreBiden sleeps tight while nation drowns in debt

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks). Read morePromoting lawlessness in Chicago

On Tax Day this year, about a dozen left-wing millionaires joined with some of the most liberal Democrats in Congress for a Washington, D.C., press conference. The luminaries included Abigail Disney, Walt Disney’s granddaughter, and former BlackRock whiz kid Morris Pearl. Read moreReal patriots cut taxes, not raise them

Responding to questions from members of the media recently about funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, asked for a show of hands of those who understood the school funding formula. Read moreOne last effort to explain MAEP to Speaker Gunn

Bottom line, can your employer compel you to work on the Sabbath if you have religious beliefs which you believe require you to be in church and rest on Sundays? Read moreCourt asked to reexamine whether employees have the right not to work on the Sabbath

Several people can go for a walk along the same path and yet each one will see something different. Each person is looking in a different direction; one person looks down, another looks up, someone else is looking to the side, and another is watching other people. Read moreWhere are you looking?

Everywhere one looks these days it appears services and products cost more but deliver less than they once did. That seems especially true when it comes to the federal government. Read morePaying more and getting less

Every schoolkid knows – or used to know – that the United States has three branches of government. At least that’s what the textbooks say. Read moreRegulatory octopus is strangling our economy

Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has announced the formation of an exploratory committee for his candidacy for president. Read moreTim Scott believes in American exceptionalism

STARKVILLE — The expulsion of the “Tennessee Three” – actually two of the three – elected state representatives in the Tennessee House of Representatives over their vocal interruptions of the proceedings of that chamber in protesting a recent Nashville mass shooting raises fundamental questions. Read moreExpulsion of ‘Tennessee Three’ lawmakers is another step away from civil democracy

Conservative state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Ellisville and those who support abortion rights are two likely winners from Senate Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency Chair John Polk’s decision to kill legislation reviving the state’s ballot initiative process. Read moreThe winners of the ballot initiative demise? Chris McDaniel and abortion rights supporters

Is the glass half full or half empty? Does it matter? Yes! Your perspective governs your life. From getting through each day to long term strategies, how you see things has a dramatic impact on your happiness and success. Read moreLife is a matter of perspective

From the beginning politics has always been a contact sport with competing interests attempting to achieve power over each other. A friend recently said to me he has never seen it so bad as it is today. Read morePolitics are different then and now

Mark down Tuesday, April 4, as the night Chicago died. Read moreThe left has killed our great cities

You don’t know what’s in the indictment. Read moreBragg is already losing

Mark down Tuesday, April 4, as the night Chicago died. Read moreThe left has killed our great cities

You don’t know what’s in the indictment. Read moreBragg is already losing