Bill Owens

Former New York Congressman Bill Owens discusses the past week's political, economic and social events

A tape surfaced of Chief Justice Roberts testimony at his confirmation hearing in which it appears he gave a dramatically different opinion about whether or not the President was immune from the law, essentially saying that no President is above the law without qualification.

The Israeli Supreme Court recently ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jews are not exempt from military service. This poses a significant political issue for Mr. Netanyahu as that group makes up a significant portion of his support in the Knesset, and has threatened numerous times to withdraw from the government if the exemption was terminated.

North Dakota voters just approved an age limit for Congressional candidates; however, the age limit is phrased oddly in the sense that its says that if you are in your late 70’s or older you can no longer run for Congress. There will be some interesting challenges to poorly drafted legislation.

Scientists have determined a day on the lunar surface would be 56 microseconds shorter than one on earth and thus, we need clocks on the moon. Even though this is a bit of minutia, so to speak, it could lead to significant inconsistencies over time. I have not calculated how long 56 microseconds would take to be significant, but I bet it is fairly long. One can imagine that with certain scientific instruments, particularly those as sensitive as we use in our rockets and lunar vehicles, could be dangerously impacted by such a discrepancy. I am for putting clocks on the moon.

The conviction of Mr. Trump which has more than adequately been covered in the media does, nonetheless, have some confounding twists. We have claims of every type of impropriety, a process one could imagine, Republicans falling over themselves who called the system corrupt and weaponized with the same loud rhetoric that has been used against college presidents arising out of the demonstrations on their campuses.

Former New York Congressman Bill Owens discusses the events of the past week

The Department of Homeland Security has indicated that the “real” deadline for the new licenses known as “real ID” is May 7, 2025. So, if you do not have some other form of identification, like a passport, NEXUS card, global entry card with you when you are flying you will likely be unable to board an aircraft.

The Fed appears to have determined that no further rate hikes will be imposed, nor will any rate cuts be imposed until inflation gets at or close to the Fed’s designated target of 2%.

We again are experiencing mixed reactions to the demonstrations at Columbia University and actions taken by its administration. The real issue is what constitutes anti-Semitic actions or language, which in some instances is difficult to define much like Justice Holmes saying that he would know pornography when he saw it.