Elizabeth Warrens evasions and other commentary – New York Post

Eye on 2020: Warrens Evasions

The New York Times editorial boards interview last month with Elizabeth Warren leaves the reader with one nagging conclusion, quips Commentarys Noah Rothman: She doesnt think youre very bright. Among many examples: She snapped at Times editors for asking how shed get her plans through Congress, asking if they want [to] just give up? and telling one questioner to give me a break. And she gave an embarrassingly tautological response when asked how shed do away with the Electoral College. Warren clearly thinks interviewers and readers might not be sharp enough to notice her evasions. If the members of the Times board have some measure of self-respect, theyll respond to her obvious loathing for their intelligence by refusing to endorse her.

Schools beat: The Principle Booker Stuck With

Youve got to hand it to Sen. Cory Booker, cheers schools expert Marcus A. Winters at The Wall Street Journal. The former mayor of Newark, NJ, refused to be bullied when it comes to charter schools. That earned him the ire of teachers unions and contributed to the failure of his presidential candidacy. It didnt matter that Newarks citywide graduation rate rose to 77 percent in 2018 thanks to his reforms. In a new study for the Manhattan Institute, Winters found that attending a Newark charter school that participates in the citys common enrollment system leads to large improvements in math and reading scores. Newarks charters are among the most extensive and inventive in the nation, enrolling about a third of the citys roughly 55,000 public-school students. Sadly, the current mayor, Ras Baraka, has called for halting or even reversing the expansion of the citys charters.

Libertarian: Abandoning Amash

FreedomWorks, an influential libertarian/conservative advocacy group, backed ex-Republican Rep. Justin Amash in each of his first eight years in Congress. Yet, reports Reasons Matt Welch, the group doesnt have any plans to help him this time around. In 2018, Amash bolted from the libertarian congressional Freedom Caucus, which he co-founded, and from the Republican Party, largely because he supported impeaching President Trump. That triggered an epidemic of cold shoulders from outfits that used to back him, including the fiscally conservative Club for Growth and the influential DeVos family though hes still the same anti-spending hawk as ever. Which shows, sighs Welch, how advocacy groups commitment to principle is actually party-dependent and pragmatic a flaw that may result in their own future regret.

Culture watch: A Missed Message on Marriage

At National Review, W. Bradford Wilcox and Wendy Wang cite their new research, which shows a split between the way Hollywood portrays marriages and how families there actually live. They note that Marriage Story, about a couple that lands in divorce court, is but the latest from an industry that shies away from depicting stably married families in a positive light. Yet they found that, in the heart of Hollywood, there were virtually no single parents. And in the best neighborhoods in Southern California, fewer than 20% of kids live in single-parent families. Films arent sending messages about the realities of modern-day marriage and the better outcomes for kids in two-parent families. As a result, many Americans dont know the new truth: Most marriages end up happily ever after, even in Hollywood.

Energy desk: Solar Plants Wasted Billion

Back in 2011, SolarReserve, the $1 billion Crescent Dunes, was to be the biggest solar-plant project of its kind, and it looked like the future of renewable power. Now, report Bloombergs Chris Martin and Nic Querolo, SolarReserve is mired in litigation and accusations of mismanagement at Crescent Dunes, where taxpayers remain on the hook for $737 million in loan guarantees. And late last year, Crescent Dunes lost its only customer, NV Energy Inc. The plant is dead, snarks the manager of a nearby hotel. Real pretty, though. You can see it for miles. Expect it to become a Trump administration talking point if the White House proposes to eliminate federal subsidies for renewable power.

Compiled by The Post Editorial Board

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Elizabeth Warrens evasions and other commentary - New York Post