Articles by David Yee

17,201 days. That's how long it has been since the last constitutional amendment passed from start to finish in the 20th century, the 26th Amendment -- ratified July 1, 1971. The 27th Amendment came later, but it was intended to be a part of the bill of rights -- and took just shy of 204 years to complete the process. But 17, 201 days. This is a number we need to ingrain in our thinking when we start talking about any plan that requires a constitutional amendment to make it work. And there s...

Another common core complaint? Nope. Failing at our standardized testing? Not even close. America's worst math problem right now is in how we talk about numbers in our daily lives, especially in political conversations. It's easy to talk about billions and trillions in political discussions. It's like moving around little counting chips, each one with a trillion dollars stamped on it. All you have to do is be able to count to 100. But therein lies the problem. We can talk about a $13 billion...

History always serves us a cautionary tale -- avoiding the mistakes of the past is the surest way to avoid immense criticism, even if all we do is create new mistakes in the process. Inaugural celebrations have been no exception.  The greatest and most memorable inaugural speeches focus on the present issues, the greatness of America, and the peaceful transition of power. The worst often speak for themselves. James Buchanan (1857): No one likes a 'sore winner.' History has been unkind to Bu...

The veto process granted by the Constitution ensures that the legislative and executive branches have to share power when it comes to new federal legislation -- while a president might veto a bill, one with popular support can still become law with a super-majority of congressional support from both chambers. Only 7 of our presidents chose not to use their constitutional prerogative to veto congressional legislation, with 2 being less-than-full term presidents. But even stranger, it took Congr...

Margarine? Really? That plastic-like stuff that's supposed to taste like butter, but barely looks like it, definitely doesn't smell like it, and has a vague hint of butter flavor that contrary to the marketing you'd never 'believe' it was butter. But the 19th century debate of the chemist over the cow creating our food became the gateway to the federal government's ever expanding role into regulating the economy, imposing national product standards, and (to some) stripping the Tenth Amendment ...

For over a year, IVN has reported on Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's crusade against fraudulent voters -- including the twists, turns, court rejections, and outright lack of evidence his investigations have produced. From illegally purging 18,000 legitimate voters from the rolls to falsely promising the state legislature 200 cases of voter fraud for immediate prosecution -- Kobach has spent more time in court defending his baseless claims than actually doing his job. But he stays in th...

April 1995 put radicalized right-wing terrorism firmly in the minds of Americans and law enforcement, when Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. At the time, this was the single largest act of terrorism ever committed on American soil. Then, in August 1998, two separate strikes against American embassies foretold what would be the new norm in global terrorism -- the rise of radicalized Islamic terrorism in the form of al Qaeda. Three years lat...

A romanticized view of a past that never happened the way we thought is one of the greatest disservices to a functioning modern republic. It gives us the impression that everything the demi-gods of the past did was right, and everything our modern leaders do is open to the highest scrutiny. Today's political rhetoric is filled with Donald Trump's pledge to not receive any salary as president, but is heavily offset by some of the seemingly outlandish expenses he's already submitted to the feder...

Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? My middle-school aged daughter serves on the Student Council, with one of the largest projects so far this year being a food drive for the needy. Thousands of cans of food were donated, along with almost a full pallet of ramen noodles and mac-n-cheese. I'm of the opinion that hungry people will eat almost anything. I've done my time as a poor undergrad student and had a few major family illnesses causing hardship. And over the years, I've alway...