Articles by Craig Berlin

Referencing events in El Paso and Dayton a week ago, the editors of The Lives of Guns, commented via Politico, “The two mass shootings this weekend have inflamed a gun-control debate that never seems to go away and never seems to get resolved.” This, of course, came only days after an incident at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Salinas, CA. I have long agreed with Forbes contributor Louis Woodhill, who said we have two parties:an evil party (the Democrats) and a stupid party (the Republicans), wh...

As another government shutdown loomed over the border wall, many people wondered if the newfound calls for unity in President Trump's State of the Union message had the potential for any bipartisan cooperation. Though Congress managed to pass a bill to avoid the shutdown, short-term results look distinctly unsatisfying. Trump signed a border compromise bill that fell far short of his goals for funding and then declared a controversial national emergency to continue what Congress wouldn't suppor...

As another government shutdown loomed over the border wall, many people wondered if the newfound calls for unity in President Trump's State of the Union message had the potential for any bipartisan cooperation. Though Congress managed to pass a bill to avoid the shutdown, short-term results look distinctly unsatisfying. Trump signed a border compromise bill that fell far short of his goals for funding and then declared a controversial national emergency to continue what Congress wouldn't suppor...

To the Founders and the thinkers who preceded them, the idea of limited government (ironically, a key concept in the history of liberalism), seemed intuitive. The United States Constitution presents an example of the federal government not possessing any power except what is delegated to it by the document itself, with the Tenth Amendment specifically stating that powers not specifically delegated to the federal government are reserved for the people and the states. This approach wasn’t unprece...

Team sports and competition are popular, from baseball to mixed martial arts. However, our politics are increasingly filled with partisan rancor, and unfortunately, despite Americans disassociating with the two major parties in large numbers, positions are increasingly associated with one side or the other. Losing friends over political beliefs in the age of social media, particularly during the Trump era, is nothing new. I’ve drawn the scorn of family and friends -- many of whom came from the ...

Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” In October of last year, Pew Research released a study revealing what many of us already know: the partisan divide has grown dramatically. Even more disconcerting is that even though people have been leaving the Democratic and Republican parties in droves, “fewer Americans hold a mix of views. Instead, “the shares of Americans holding liberal or conservative views across a wider range of issues – is increasingly ...

As with many issues today, the debate on immigration is mired in partisan opposition instead of pragmatism. At one time, nearly everyone agreed that illegal immigration was a problem, but now one side acts as if it's a "human right" to live anywhere you want while the other suggests anyone here illegally is up to something nefarious. Even where people understand the space between, we have no real solutions that address the disease rather than the symptoms. During the Obama administration, the ...

In the last week of 2017, the Washington Post published an article highlighting perhaps the biggest winner from the the new GOP tax plan: accountants. The bill’s passage on partisan lines, along with the rhetoric that’s followed, is yet another indication that the two parties and their enablers in the media are more interested in staying in power than being honest with the American people or truly doing what’s best. Many Americans have been debating this topic and as has sadly become the norm,...

Thursday the House will again attempt to pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Americans have been anxiously waiting in anticipation especially since the Freedom Caucus expressed support for the GOP’s new plan. The bill does indeed rescind some Obamacare taxes and regulations while putting other measures in place, but is it really what the country needs? I recently did my second rundown on the possibilities of public-private partnerships that could work to give the U.S. a workable univer...