RealClearPolicy Articles

Unfortunately, many elected officials do not grasp what drives small business viability and growth. There are still too many theoretical assumptions driving policy ideas in state capitols and on Capitol Hill and not enough common sense. For small business owners it’s about cash flow, capital and market access, managing costs, and the ability to invest and plan. It’s also about certainty. That’s exactly what the “Working Families Tax Cuts Act” (the One Big Beautiful Bil) is delivering for millions of entrepreneurs, the self-employed, and small businesses...

When the Pentagon lacks visibility into who can make what, where, and at what scale, its system naturally defaults to what it already knows: large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and legacy suppliers who are specialized exclusively for Department of War (DoW) manufacturing. These big firms play an important role in this process. But the nation’s strong base of small- and medium-sized manufacturers offers something more: strategically important depth, flexibility, innovative practices, and cost-effective approaches. Exclusive reliance on OEMs and legacy suppliers who tout that...

Washington and Silicon Valley are at loggerheads over the Pentagon's use of artificial intelligence while America's adversaries probe our critical infrastructure for vulnerabilities and war expands in the Middle East. The question is no longer whether AI will shape national security, but whether the institutions meant to safeguard us are prepared for the task. Government moves slowly. Industry moves fast. Neither can close the gap alone. The United States is in the midst of a period of rapid technological change that has huge implications for our economic strength, national security, and the...

The state of Oregon passed a law last year that should outrage every American who believes in the First Amendment. Not because it bans speech outright. Not because it targets a newspaper or a broadcaster. Because it targets a letter. An email. A text message. A conversation telling public employees they have a constitutional right to opt out of their union. That’s what Oregon made illegal. The Freedom Foundation has been communicating with public employees for years. We do it because back in 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in Janus v. AFSCME that every government employee...

The war with Iran has already reshaped the Middle East, regardless of how or when the fighting formally ends. The strategic landscape has shifted in ways that cannot be undone.  The remaining questions are how other countries, especially Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, respond and what the U.S. should be doing now to shape that future. While negotiations are reportedly ongoing, any agreement that allows Iran to retain the ability to enrich nuclear material, develop advanced ballistic missiles, or fund proxy networks is not a deal that ends a war. It merely postpones the next one....

America needs to get serious about copper. Our nation mines copper but ships it to China for processing, a supply chain failure that has become a national security vulnerability, because copper is critical for military hardware, data centers, and every advanced system modern warfare depends on. Last October, in Tokyo, the U.S. and Japan made a quiet announcement that most Americans never heard. As part of a landmark bilateral investment framework, with $550 billion in capital targeted at American industry, Japan named a single U.S. copper smelter project in Arizona as a priority. For a...

When the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine in its 2024 Loper Bright decision, it fundamentally realigned the relationship between agencies, regulated entities, and the courts. The era where judges deferred to the relevant agency's reasonable interpretation when statute was ambiguous is over. While Loper Bright restores judicial oversight of administrative actions and curtails arbitrary abuses of agency discretion, Loper Bright may have the unintended consequence of imposing new burdens on an already over extended judicial system. In the Loper Bright ruling, the Supreme Court...

March is Fraud Prevention Month, a time to recognize both how far financial crime has evolved and how urgent it is to equip the institutions on the front lines with the tools to fight it. The Federal Trade Commission launched Fraud Prevention Month in 2006 to raise awareness about scams and strengthen efforts to protect Americans from financial harm. How times have changed! Back then, fraudsters used landline telephones, AOL email, and dial-up internet to fool and rob consumers with phony sweepstakes prizes, weight-loss products, credit repair, and telemarketing pitches. Today, artificial...

President Donald Trump has an important decision over the next few months as he decides the fate of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, one that will significantly impact the agricultural economy and the financial wellbeing of rural America even beyond our lifetimes. Why does this decision matter to you? Rural America is where the crops and animals are grown that feed, fuel and clothe us. As the leaders of two of the nation’s largest agricultural groups, representing a combined nearly 100,000 farmers, we have seen firsthand how USMCA has benefitted rural America, and we implore...

My name is Amanda Stulman, and I speak today on behalf of the Intersectionality Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation. Thank you, commissioners, for the opportunity to speak with you today on how intersectionality ideology is one of the root causes of mainstreaming antisemitism on American campuses. As a theory, intersectionality was originally most well-known for the idea that different forms of discrimination can overlap and should be reflected as such in the law. However, even from its inception, intersectionality used a framework of systems of “privilege” and...

Donald Trump isn’t a king – he’s an obsession. If you observe the modern Left, you’d think Trump is an all-powerful monarch occupying every corner of their minds. He’s not ruling them – but he’s absolutely dominating them. He’s their obsession. Just look at the scenes from the recent ‘No Kings’ protests. In Philadelphia, demonstrators gathered under the banner of anti-authoritarianism while chanting ‘Death to America,’ ‘Death to Israel,’ and ‘Long live the intifada,’ waving Palestinian flags as if...

The absurdity of New Jersey’s ill-conceived affordable housing laws is now playing out in full public view atop the highlands of Morris County in the tiny rustic borough of Mendham (population 4,973). First settled in the 1720s, the historic colonial town of Mendham provided support to George Washington and his troops during key New Jersey battles of the American Revolution. Mendham residents are currently waging a different kind of fight—this time to stop the construction of a five-story, 75-unit apartment complex located in the center of town that is being pushed on the borough...

Another energy crisis, another Jones Act waiver, and—predictably—another round of demands to repeal it. Every emergency should instead prompt us to question why the law exists and how it can be reformed for the modern world. The Jones Act, a cabotage law, generally requires cargo moved between domestic ports to travel on ships built in the United States, flying the U.S. flag, and operated by American crews. America’s maritime system, vital to national security, is also part of the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Unlike airports, highways, and railroads, ships...

Federal policy addressing homelessness has faced significant disruption over the past year. Actions by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to change long-standing homelessness programs have resulted in funding delays, shifting guidance, revised rules, staffing reductions, and legal challenges. Together, these developments have introduced uncertainty into a system that relies heavily on stability and predictability. The resulting funding uncertainty places many formerly homeless individuals at risk of losing housing, underscoring the need for congressional attention. For...

American working families are caught in a bind that no job training program alone can solve. A parent cannot show up productively at work while wondering if their child is safe and cared for – not to mention those for whom affording childcare is simply out of reach. A worker cannot invest in retraining when losing a paycheck means losing the mortgage. A caregiver cannot build a secure retirement while stretched thin between aging parents, young children and full-time employment. And yet, these are the daily choices millions of Americans face. We spend enormous energy debating...

Even as inflation shows signs of cooling, affordability remains top of mind for families and businesses navigating an uncertain economy – marked by volatile freight demand, ongoing trade tensions, and persistent cost pressures. In moments like this, industries often retreat or pass costs along. Freight railroads are not. Instead, Class I railroads are sustaining investment levels that improve safety, strengthening supply-chain reliability, and helping keep transportation costs stable – delivering real results for the network, the communities it serves, and the American economy...

For decades, the United States and South Korea have maintained one of the world’s most important economic and security alliances. That partnership now faces its most serious test in a generation — not over military deployments or regional security, but over something far more fundamental: whether South Korea has been working to intentionally harm American companies operating in South Korea. The House Judiciary Committee’s newly announced investigation into South Korea’s treatment of U.S. firms, including Seattle-based tech company Coupang, signals that...

There are many similarities between those who oppose ICE policies towards illegal immigrants and those who oppose Israeli policies toward Palestinians. For many, Palestinian behaviors that are criminal or put themselves in dangerous situations are ignored because as victims, their actions cannot be criticized. Similarly, illegal immigrants are considered victims so that their behaviors are ignored as are the often dangerous and irresponsible actions of their defenders. For many critics, no efforts by ICE agents will be tolerated even efforts to capture criminals or save exploited...

In the classic John Ford movie, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", a distinguished Senator (played by Jimmy Stewart), whose career was built on having outdueled a gunslinger, reveals in flashbacks to a reporter that the killer was actually the John Wayne character. The Senator is incredulous when the reporter tears up his notes regarding this revelation but the reporter tells him, "when the legend becomes fact, print the legend."  Similarly, with respect to retail private credit, many critics have decided to run with the legend rather than the facts. The conventional wisdom is...