Why would President Obama part with a long standing tradition and refuse to meet with world leaders this week at the United Nations?It’s the single time and place every year where all the world’s leaders are in one place.It’s the one opportunity all year for face-to face-meetings, to iron out …
Read More »Media love affair with Amy Schumer is a 'Trainwreck' for women
Women are bombarded with role models. We’re told to be like whomever the media are obsessed with – Kim Kardashian or maybe Lena Dunham. The latest craze is foul-mouthed comedian Amy Schumer, this summer’s new “it” girl. Only I don’t want to be like Schumer. Her comedy is hateful, sex-filled, …
Read More »Gretchen's Take: Mom and dad thanks for everything
Over the weekend I was back in my hometown of Anoka, Minnesota (the Halloween Capitol of the World) to attend the re-grand opening of my parents Chevrolet car dealership and sign copies of my new book Getting Real. It’s true what they say about “Minnesota-Nice”. And boy did I learn …
Read More »Why Hillary Clinton finally caved and turned over her email server
Imagine the scene splashed across television sets all over America. Dozens of FBI agents, armed with a warrant in search of Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server, banging on the door of her home or a storage facility or both. They soon emerge with computer equipment and boxes. A phalanx of television …
Read More »Americans of every stripe see the government as out of control
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders represent two sides of the same coin. Both men have tapped into a deep anger — a discontent — in the public mood. Little seems to be going right. America appears in decline under a disengaged president. We can’t seem to win wars, or know …
Read More »Five tips to get the most out of 'Back to School' (and work) in 2015
It’s one of my favorite seasons of the year: Back to School. As a kid, I loved fresh school supplies, new outfits, the change of seasons, and the chance to crack open a new textbook. As an adult, in the lead up to Labor Day, I always feel like I …
Read More »Why Georgia's quest for Euro-Atlantic integration matters more than ever
Seven years after his invasion of the former Soviet Republic, Russian President Vladimir Putin is busy in Georgia again. Since early summer, Russian-backed security forces have been inching further into the country from the breakaway province of South Ossetia to install signs unilaterally creating a new border with Georgia. As …
Read More »Randi Weingarten gives teachers good advice for once
Randi Weingarten, the longtime president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), isn’t often a source of wisdom for those who advocate for educational freedom. But, on a recent call-in segment of the Brian Lehrer Show on New York Public Radio, she offered a nugget of truth that teachers — …
Read More »This agency targets individual Americans and small businesses — it must be reformed
As someone whose life’s work is helping small businesses navigate our nation’s complex tax system, I have witnessed firsthand how the Internal Revenue Service has become an outsized force that too often targets those least equipped to fight back. While the agency has long maintained that its enforcement efforts are …
Read More »Where addicts in Philadelphia bow to tranq, I saw why God hasn't given up on America yet
“God ain’t got no power over this hit. God got no power here.” The man gestured like a royal but the scene he revealed was the largest open-air drug market on the East Coast — the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. The man then sat down on an overturned milk crate, …
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