FDL Review

Over two years ago, New York businessman Donald Trump ran for the U.S. presidency with the proposal of a Mexican-financed border wall as a fixture of his platform. While the now-president's pursuit of the border wall has faltered in binational negotiations and on Capitol Hill, on Saturday, Trump inched one step closer to fulfilling his central promise. Trump with a border wall prototype Amid border chaos induced by the flood of 5,000 migrants from Central America, the Trump administration declared that asylum requesters are to remain in Mexico until their claims are approved. This plan would end catch-and-release, the disastrous policy under which applicants are allowed to stay in the United States as their asylum cases are considered. Catch-and-release is called "catch-and-run" by border patrol, and for good reason: According to a report published by the Heritage Foundation, "No courts have higher failure-to-appear rates by defendants than U.S. immig...

Calvin Coolidge, a native of Vermont who made his name in Massachusetts, served as president of the U.S. from 1923 to 1929, implementing transformative tax cuts and reducing the national debt. Thanks to Coolidge's policies, by 1927, 98% of Americans didn't pay income taxes . President Calvin Coolidge Coolidge's good works turbocharged the American private sector, but he lacked monumental accomplishments and therefore is not a household name. According to a Rutgers professor , "scholarly opinion looks upon the Coolidge presidency with skepticism, ranking him relatively low among American chief executives in terms of his administration's positive impact and legacy." However, despite the forces minimizing his accomplishments, Coolidge bestowed onto the American people great wisdom, encapsulated in his meticulous writings and public statements. Here are several of his most choice quotes, as relayed by David Pietrusza in Calvin Coolidge on The Founders: ...

Save for any unforeseen developments, FDL Review predicts that the Republicans will keep control of the United States Senate in 2018. The GOP will have 54 seats compared to 46 for the Democrats, based on our projections. We rate Nevada, Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, and Indiana as "lean" Republican states, based on polls, early voting returns, and past voting trends. Texas and North Dakota are "likely" Republican, and Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska are "solid" Republican. Florida, Ohio, West Virginia, Montana, and Michigan "lean" Democratic, although all five races are tightening in favor of the GOP. Our model is to avoid "toss-up" classifications, for they indicate an incapable, indecisive forecaster, but Montana and Florida could be reasonably indicated as toss-ups. Rick Scott, the Republican in Florida, has held a tiny lead in a few recent polls, but we rated the race "lean" Democratic due to the small (yet relatively co...