More and more job fields require some form of higher education, and the pressure is on for schools to adequately prepare our students to compete both nationally and globally and help drive economic growth.

The job of the press is to defend their institution, hold the government accountable and freely report and gather information.

Solutions and ideas should come from the bottom up, generated by local communities and not mandated from Washington.

Pat Buchanan's challenge to George H.W. Bush in 1992 helped elect Democrat Jimmy Carter.

The failings in Afghanistan don't fall on the shoulders of the American service personnel trying to complete their mission. The failure falls on military leadership unable to adapt to irregular warfare, and a Congress that blindly continues to fund failure.

It's fascinating, isn't it, that whereas so many of our statues have been of military leaders, now it may well be sports stars who are the ones more likely to be so honored.

Texas Republican political leaders take perverse pride in how deeply they have cut our state's education budget. Thousands of teachers have been pulled from classrooms, schools have closed and valuable programs have been canceled. In many places, districts are forced to choose between prekindergarten programs and English, algebra and art.

Populist promises to reverse every tough decision are nothing but empty rhetoric, irresponsible leadership, and bad politics. They are not the solution to Ireland's problems.