Grace-Marie Turner

As we watch the presidential campaigns unfold, a sea change is realigning American politics.  Consider the evidence: First, voters consistently say they wish they had other choices at the top of the ticket.  But former President Trump and Vice President Harris are the main choices, and the parties are using the media to reshape and even reinvent the candidates.  Harris … [Read more...] about A Sea Change

Joy, excitement, and optimism filled the conference arena this week in Chicago as Democrats rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee. We heard flowery promises “to care for each other,” celebrate freedom, and chart “a new path forward” of competence, calm, and normalcy. It evoked the “hope and change” of an earlier era.  This may be shrewd political strategy, but it … [Read more...] about Kamala the Chameleon

Yes, our nation’s political system desperately needs a reset, but the same is true of the health reform debate. We constantly work to expose the massive costs and adverse consequences of the left’s government-dominated health care agenda. But to change policy, we need Big Ideas to first transform the debate. My colleagues in the Health Policy Consensus Group and I accepted the challenge and … [Read more...] about The Big Reset 

#242 In anticipation of tonight’s debate, I have a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal with suggestions to reframe the debate over drug pricing: Trump’s Debate Chance on Drug Prices Mr. Trump could build on his administration’s successes in seemingly unrelated areas to turn a new page on this issue.  The article is derived from a project I’ve been working on for several months … [Read more...] about Big Ideas for the Debate

#241 The Biden administration is continuing the march toward a universal, government-run health care system, both by chipping away at the private health sector and ushering more and more people into government programs. The latest: President Biden announced on Tuesday he’s giving legal status to undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens and their children. At least 500,000 are expected to … [Read more...] about Drip. Drip. Drip.  

#240 We all need a break from Washington’s summer heat and even hotter politics, so you might want to take a journey into another era 33 centuries ago to visit the incredible new King Tut exhibit in the nation’s capital. “Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures” has opened not in a museum on the Mall but in an exhibition space with room to display more than 1,000 full-scale recreations of … [Read more...] about A Diversion

#239 I wrote last week about the Biden administration’s decision to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous Class III controlled substance, alongside steroids and Tylenol with codeine. We learned this week that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was a notable holdout in President Biden's politically driven push to loosen federal marijuana restrictions. More about … [Read more...] about In Memory

# 238 President Biden on Thursday announced plans to move marijuana from the highest controlled substance classification to a lower category. For an administration whose mantra has been “follow the science,” this is perplexing since the decision appears to be based almost entirely on politics. In a recent interview in The Wall Street Journal, one of the nation’s top … [Read more...] about High on Politics