Think Past the Establishment
Californians broadly support cleaner air, environmental protection and action on climate change, but that consensus weakens when voters confront the price. Gas now costs roughly $5.55 a gallon, electricity rates rank among the country’s highest and two-thirds of residents oppose the state’s planned ban on new gasoline-powered cars.
A Texas court must determine the future of an infant born with a serious heart condition after his biological parents sought an abortion but the woman carrying him refused.
A new group of Republican lawmakers is moving beyond border enforcement toward lower legal immigration, tighter rules for temporary workers and a reassertion of Congress’s power to decide who may join the American political community. Their rise threatens the party’s business-oriented wing, which continues seeking agricultural and labor-market exceptions after voters endorsed mass deportation in 2024.
Modern society depends on strangers cooperating without investigating one another first. Social trust makes commerce, employment and civic life possible through shared rules and honest dealing; when it disappears, surveillance, background checks and bureaucratic verification fill the void, making every interaction more expensive and society…
Gavin Newsom has signed a law allowing employees and volunteers at immigration nonprofits who document threats to conceal their addresses in public records. Supporters call it protection against doxxing, while Republicans have dubbed it the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” and warn that it could make taxpayer-funded programs harder to investigate.
Artificial intelligence is forcing conservatives to choose between competing visions of national power. Techno-optimists see an opportunity for economic growth and technological dominance, while populist skeptics fear surveillance, job losses and greater control by powerful corporations.