Opinion

“We have no choice but to make hard decisions,” Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern recently said. He leads the Republican Study Committee, a group of more than 160 Republican lawmakers that recently called for making cuts in Social Security.

Dear Annie: My son has left home several times in the past, only to return because he can’t seem to get his life together. A year ago, my husband died, and my live-in son, his wife and their baby stayed to “look after me.”

The 40 congressional districts in the 116th Congress that had the highest median values for their owner-occupied homes were all represented by Democrats. In fact, during that Congress, only 10 of the 100 congressional districts with the highest median owner-occupied home values were represented by Republicans.

Dear Annie: At the end of 2015, I decided to end my marriage of 30 years. My ex made the divorce very long and expensive, and he tried to financially destroy me in retribution. He involved our daughter and son and turned them against me. I have tried from the beginning to maintain my relationship with my kids, but they quickly shut me out of their lives. They haven’t responded to texts, phone calls or voicemails hundreds of them over the years. I was extremely close with them and was shocked that they had taken sides and allowed themselves to be dragged into a very ugly divorce.

It was nearly 50 years ago that Edward Markey, then the lowliest of Massachusetts state legislators, challenged the legislative old guard by pushing through judicial reform measures that ended a gravy train for ethically suspect politicos and their allies. Displeased at Markey in the extreme, the legislative leadership retaliated against him by ostentatiously stripping him of his office, forcing him to sit in the hallway.

Once again, the nation is traumatized by horrible video of police brutally beating to death a Black man. Need I note the victim was Black? Would we be less or more traumatized if the victim were white?

Dear Annie: Each year, I send my sister’s three adult children gifts. The youngest does not thank me unless prompted.

A $2.1 Million Penalty for Failing to File a Form on Time Reveals the Agency’s True Nature As tax season begins, the IRS is making a show of using its newly expanded budget to improve the agency’s “customer service,” mainly by trying to answer the questions of perplexed taxpayers more than 13% of the time. Its biggest challenge will be persuading Americans that they qualify as customers of the IRS in any meaningful sense.

Political news pounces on any poll suggesting Republicans’ preference for the 2024 presidential candidate. Little attention has landed on the Democratic side, where the numbers have been quite interesting.

WASHINGTON -- The song, now almost an anthem I believe, begins thus: “Are you a boy, or are you a girl? “With your long blond hair you look like a girl. “Yeah, you look like a girl.