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Freeloader University

Yale University has fancy dining halls. They pay no property tax. Local restaurants struggle to compete, but their tax burden makes that hard. "We basically pay one-third of our rent in taxes!" complains Matt West, manager of Koon Thai Restaurant. "Yale is a money-making machine." It is. Many colleges are. Yale has a $31 billion endowment. Harvard's is $40 billion. My alma mater, Princeton, has $26 billion. Yet, these schools also get government handouts and tax breaks. How government rips-off taxpayers and students by subsidizing colleges is the subject of my video this ...

Manchin important to Dems

Here's something you probably won't hear from either the left or the right: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is a much more important and influential Democrat than New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (or "AOC" for marketing purposes). Just this week, Manchin did something far more consequential than anything AOC has done in her entire career. Yet everybody is paying more attention to her. Now, when I say "everybody," I mean almost nobody, save for the insular world of political journalists, party activists and, well, that's about it. AOC, Sen. Bernie Sanders and other leaders of ...

No longer the party of JFK

In this current era of no compulsory military service, Veterans Day takes on personal meaning to fewer and fewer Americans. When the country transitioned to a voluntary military in 1973, about 1% of the population served on active duty. Today, it is less than one-half of 1%. But perhaps we can take it further and say that the idea of compulsory service of any kind has personal meaning to fewer and fewer Americans. This brings to mind the famous words of newly elected President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address, on Jan. 20, 1961, 60 years before our next president will be ...

Senior Menus

SENIOR DINING LSS MEALS ON WHEELS (in partnership with Heartland Senior Living in Truman) Meals on Wheels in Truman helps older adults maintain good health and remain living at home, by providing hot, nutritious meals Monday through Friday as well as a friendly visit and safety check for Minnesotans age 60 and older. To sign up for the program or for further information, call Holly at (507) 776-2031. MONDAY — Salisbury steak deluxe, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, bread and butter, rhubarb upside-down cake, mandarin oranges, milk. TUESDAY — Turkey pot pie over biscuits, ...

Trumpism is deflated

When Pennsylvania was called, the world heard a quick boom, followed by the pffffffffft of a deflating presidency. Suddenly, the angry, paranoiac tweets that used to scare so many because, after all, Donald Trump was president, lost their menace. The air was escaping even before Joe Biden was declared winner. Come Thursday evening, ABC, CBS and NBC felt free to cut away from Trump's rant about voter fraud "stealing" his reelection. The Trumpian power to dominate coverage was clearly fading. Just weeks ago, the pro-Trump New York Post was peddling a crazy story about incriminating ...

Charter schools under attack

The academic achievement gap between black and white students has proven resistant to most educational policy changes. Some say that educational expenditures explain the gap, but is that true? Look at educational per pupil expenditures: Baltimore city ranks fifth in the U.S. for per pupil spending at $15,793. The Detroit Public Schools Community District spends more per student than all but eight of the nation's 100 largest school districts, or $14,259. New York City spends $26,588 per pupil, and Washington, D.C., spends $21,974. There appears to be little relationship between ...