Opinion

President-elect Joe Biden will take office vowing to bridge partisan differences and unite Americans. It will not be easy.  Biden will have to work with a Congress that is deeply divided, reflecting divisions among the American people that have grown stronger and more intense.  Beginning in the 1990s, we entered a period of protracted polarization. […]

The [New York State] proposal to reduce the 60-hour overtime-threshold [on farms to 40 hours] threatened to over-regulate New York’s family farms out of existence. Fortunately, the [state Department of Labor’s] Wage Board acted prudently in its decision to preserve the current threshold for the time being. This is welcome news for farmers across New

Joe Biden won’t become President of the United States [until Jan. 20], but it’s fair to say he’s already feeling the pressures of the office. I think being president-elect may be the second-hardest job in the world.   For one thing, as president-elect he’s encircled by people who want something from him: appointments, jobs, and internal

Vaccines for COVID-19 recently began being distributed and administered. The Wall Street Journal states it will take until sometime in March to vaccinate the first 100 million individuals with the highest priority of getting the vaccine. That would leave well over 200 million Americans still in need of the vaccine as we head into spring.   The

Pundits have been commenting on the “Decline of the West” since the German philosopher Oswald Spengler published a book by that title in 1918. The Western world may not be as dominant as it once was, but its decline has been exaggerated. The West, as we usually refer to it, is more a concept than

First, digital conversations on “matters of public concern,” legally the centerpiece of First Amendment jurisprudence, were consistently blocked by partisan social-media operators throughout the 2020 election cycle. That alone is arresting; it has changed public access to information and calls for action. Social-media companies moved from offering a “public forum” (with concurrent legal duties, including openness)

The United States and Europe led the world in pursuit of freedom and democracy in the post-World War II period. Relying on shared values, including a commitment to democratic governance and human rights, we shaped an international order that improved life for people around the world.  Today, our sense of shared values remains, but our

New York State’s budgetary shortfalls due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic are substantial and in need of immediate attention. It’s likely we will be short several billion dollars in the coming years, with varied estimates depending on the potential availability of federal aid. There is little disagreement something must be done. However, some

But that’s only if accessible and affordable During the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring of this year, assisted-living communities across New York state reacted swiftly and comprehensively to minimize the spread of the virus within. Adult-care facilities were mandated to test all staff every week and this will likely remain in place for the

[This year’s] holiday shopping season will undoubtedly look different from those in years’ past as normal commerce and retail activities have been disrupted to a significant degree. For this reason, my colleagues and I in the Assembly Minority Conference are making a special push to remind shoppers of the value and importance of shopping local