Trump’s gas price Teflon

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, March 20, 2026

”You have to admire President Trump’s brass. It’s not any president who – facing low national approval ratings, slim midterm margins, including in the Senate, and high Democratic energy – would stomp on the neck of widespread affordability concerns.

Gas prices are up almost 20% since the start of the Iran war Feb. 28, reaching an average of $3.50 a gallon. New polling by Reuters/Ipsos suggests that most Americans (67%) expect gasoline prices to keep going up, with Democrats (85%) feeling this more than Republicans (44%). Few Americans of any political stripe expect to see price relief. “This is going to be huge!” you can imagine Trump saying, as bombs drop in the Middle East, the Strait of Hormuz chokes off, and retirees on a fixed income in Florida fill up their hatchbacks for $4 a gallon.

It says something about the partisan moment we are in, doesn’t it? The bets keep getting bigger. The consequences seem more and more disconnected. Especially considering that it’s Republicans, not Democrats, who disproportionately pay for higher prices at the pump. Democrats are three-times as likely to want or have an electric vehicle. Republicans are more likely to live in rural places with longer commutes, and rely less on public transit.”

Republicans Are Squandering Their MAHA Moment

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, March 16, 2026

“The MAHA base is bigger than you think. And the GOP is going to need all the support it can muster to survive what’s likely to be a bruising midterm.

Roughly four in 10 parents (38%) identify as supporters of the Make America Healthy Again movement, according to a KFF/Washington Post poll. I think this underestimates the movement’s political reach. For example, I wouldn’t put myself under the MAHA label, but I have my moments. I’ve thrown away any black plastic utensils exposed to heat, cook almost every night for our family and shudder at ingredient lists full of unpronounceables. I’m deeply concerned about the rise of chronic health conditions in kids and microplastics wafting out of the ocean.”

Is MAHA Alive and Well?

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, March 16, 2026

“Supporters point to MAHA wins over a short year’s time. Many companies have promised to curb artificial food dyes. The food pyramid has been remade. Schools are serving 2% milk again. Coca Cola is offering real sugar Coke! In Kennedy’s rallies, he calls for more family cooking and family dinners, which are cheaper, healthier and more social. Put the phones out of sight at the dinner table. Good advice.

But rattle off the list out loud and it feels a bit like it’s nipping at the edges, not getting to the heart of it. The reason why the MAHA movement had so much steam to begin with was because it touched on the real emergency in children’s health.”

Staggering US Deficits Call for a Debt-to-GDP Limit

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, March 10, 2026

I recently went to the doctor about a minor health issue. “Is what I’m experiencing normal?” I asked her. “No, it’s never normal,” she said, “but it happens to almost everybody.” I thought: That pretty much sums up the problem of national debt.

After all, it’s been normal for America to run up the federal deficit since the mid-1980s. In fact, it’s become normal for almost every developed country to carry burdensome debt. But what’s considered normal should not be confused with how a healthy government should work.

We need a guardrail against things getting worse, lest the prognosis turn lethal.

The State of Our Union

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, March 4, 2026

A skeptic might ask why Trump needs this speech. He already commands attention unlike any modern political figure.

Answer: Because there’s nothing else quite like it. Even for a nation disenchanted with politics, there’s a mystique to the State of the Union. At no other time do Congress, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet, and millions of Americans sit at attention for the president. The Founders included this speech in the Constitution to balance the branches of government. For the president to take the witness stand before members without term limits and tell them: This is the nation as I see it and what should come next. Congress might seem these days like a china shop nervously awaiting its bull, but it was designed to be the most powerful branch of government — the greatest democratic institution on Earth.

Trump is going to lay it on thick and hard. And he has a lot to work with. His detractors always underestimate this to their peril. . . . Just as telling will be what the speech leaves out.

Washington Can Help Families Without Spending More

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, March 4, 2026

what if the amount given to support families wasn’t either a trickling faucet struggling to keep up with inflation or a budget-exploding flood of spending? Something like a firehose — powerful yet targeted — that could actually douse the affordability fires families are facing?

I’m thinking about a bipartisan proposal now long forgotten. The Advancing Support for Working Families Act of 2019 would have allowed parents of a newborn or newly adopted child (under age six) to receive a lump sum of $5,000 immediately, paid for by a commensurate 10% reduction in child tax credit benefits thereafter.

At the time, the proposal was panned because it was framed by its cosponsors — former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy — as providing paid leave, which it most certainly did not. Then it got pushed aside by the Covid pandemic and the controversy of souped-up monthly child tax credit payments, a program resembling universal basic income.

But the idea of frontloading these payments is nevertheless a good one.

Texas Needs a Boring Senate Race. In Fact, We All Do

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, February 18, 2026

“Why can’t the Texas Senate race be between John Cornyn, the Republican incumbent, versus James Talarico, a Democratic state representative? Because that would be too sane for the times we’re living in.

Instead, a recent University of Houston poll shows Ken Paxton, the state’s firebrand Republican attorney general, and Jasmine Crockett, an equally fiery Democratic US Representative, in the lead for their respective parties. Paxton holds a seven-point lead, with 38% of likely voters saying they will support him, while 31% say they will vote for Cornyn. (A third GOP candidate, US Representative Wesley Hunt, has 17%.) On the Democratic side, Crockett leads 47% to Talarico’s 39%, with 12% undecided.”

How do we balance ICE's excesses?

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, February 15, 2026

I don’t know what’s happening next with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or how the U.S. moves away from political extremism on immigration. It’s a balance that hasn’t been met in a long time. The marauding masked officers; the work, church and school raids; the killing of American citizens and the violent rounding-up of immigrants (most of whom possess no violent criminal record, many of whom have papers) is way too far.

We have to have a secure border to know who is here, to not roll out the welcome mat for cartels. But that can be done without creating terror. And certainly some measure of compassion is called for in the most wealthy and free nation on Earth. You can’t wink and nod for generations at the people coming to fill empty jobs, clean our office buildings, pick our fruit and process our meat, and then suddenly pull out the assault weapons and tear gas and go door to door.

Here’s what’s not the answer. Politicians escalating the conflict for political gain while outside interest groups torpedo any potential congressional compromise because the issue is worth more to them unsolved.

Nor will the end of ICE overreach come from the protest I recently encountered in Dallas. Activists at a neighborhood intersection held up an anti-ICE poster. Others carried a Ukraine flag, LGBTQ flags, an American flag. A couple of people were playing banjos and singing while standing on a rug. It was as if the group had been plucked straight from Berkeley in the 1960s and dropped into Dallas in 2026.

As I drove past, I thought: This isn’t the answer. I think most people agree that ICE has gone way too far. That’s enough reason to protest. Don’t bring unrelated issues into it. It makes it seem like the peaceful immigrants being forcibly detained, or the kids separated from their parents, aren’t a big enough reason. And it alienates people who might otherwise consider changing their minds; makes them think that maybe immigration is the cover story to push through a progressive cultural agenda.

I’m Quitting the Valentine’s Day Parenting Olympics

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, February 13, 2026

“For those with means and minutes, intensive parenting is an arms race. Working parents feel guilt. Stay-at-home parents feel guilt. No one wants their child excluded or left behind. More time and money begets the need for even more time and money. It’s exhausting.

It almost feels normal to fill a Valentine’s basket with goodies from four different stores. I know, because I’ve been one of those moms in years past. And in truth, I felt pretty proud of pulling it off, in the midst of everything else. I’m not just surviving, but thriving-ish — I can prove it with the gifts!

But this year, as I was perusing the Valentine’s aisle, I found myself thinking: Enough. Truly, I’m sure my own mother just drew a heart on a semi-rotten banana in our packed lunch. We passed out generic cards to our classmates and ate a few Hershey’s kisses. (Mom, if you did more, I love you, but I don’t remember it. And that in and of itself says something, doesn’t it?)

So this year, we are taking it down a notch. . . there’s something to be said about loving more with less.”

The Heritage Foundation Sees the Family Crisis — But Not the Fix

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, February 9, 2026

“Let me start by saying that I’m heartened by the right’s recent attention to family policy. I really am. I started writing about paid parental leave and child care more than a decade ago while at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. At the time it was the kind of thing that got you labeled as a RINO or relegated to the policy fringes while the big boys worked on tax and reg policy. Family policy has always deserved a seat at the adult table. It’s good to see the GOP is pulling up some chairs.

And we need some new thinking in this area. It’s not like progressives have had a family policy feast going. They have struggled to pass federal reforms. And some of the proposals they have enacted have had wide-ranging unintended consequences; for example, achievement gaps that have grown for four-year-olds — not closed — following New York City’s introduction of a universal preschool program.

But addressing the problems families face will require more and different approaches than what’s on offer in the Heritage report. Or on offer from the GOP more broadly, for that matter. The report highlights enormous challenges facing families, but the rhetoric and policies don’t ladder up to solutions.’

The Democratic Party Has A God Shaped Hole

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, January 22, 2026

“The Democratic Party has become the political home of religious nones. The sorting of religion between parties has deep implications for our politics.

About 40% of Democrats are religiously unaffiliated, according to Pew Research. This means they identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” Controlling for race, the numbers are even more stark, as statistician Ryan Burge has well documented: Nearly three-quarters of white Democrats in 2024 seldom or never attended a religious service. Only 12% of white Democrats attended weekly. This stands in sharp contrast to the Republican Party voters, nearly 76% of whom identify as Christian.

Here in Texas, the religion gap between parties is narrower. That’s because our state is more religious than the national average. But there’s still a gap. . . “

The Right May Rue Expanding Presidential Powers

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, January 29, 2026

“Do President Donald Trump’s policies have staying power? Conventional Beltway wisdom would suggest no. But we are not in conventional times. . . .

. . . .Trump has relied on executive orders. Last year, Trump signed 225 of them — the highest single-year total since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 — and quadruple the average of modern presidents. (Even President Obama with his infamous “pen and phone” never edged above 42 a year.)

Trump’s predilection for executive action over legislative dealmaking should concern supporters and bring some measure of comfort to his detractors. A Republican president of a different ilk — and certainly a Democratic one — could undo much of what’s been done, and if it’s unpopular, with gusto.

But. And an important “but.” There’s also more to the legacy of a presidency than policy. That’s the top of the pyramid, but beneath it are norms and institutions, many forged over a long time. Think of George Washington’s refusal of a third term. Or Abraham Lincoln’s mercy toward his Confederate opponents. Norms become a kind of bedrock that supports everything else, letting us build new laws and rules atop that foundation.

Not so in Trump 2.0.”

Republicans Have Ideas on Affordability — Just Not Conservative Ones

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, January 20, 2025

“Congressional Republicans are ideating about domestic policy. That’s a good thing. It’s too bad that few of the ideas are actually conservative.

Earlier this month, the Republican Study Committee released its “Reconciliation 2.0” framework, called “Making the American Dream Affordable Again.” The framework included ideas like: creating “The Don” Payment program, a zero-to-low down payment option for creditworthy borrowers; creating new tax-advantaged accounts for housing and healthcare; and establishing a parallel “MAHA” insurance marketplace.

The RSC is a caucus of conservatives, not a formal committee responsible for legislation. But some of these ideas may trickle into a reconciliation package this spring.”

Too Many Kids Already Know Someone Who’s Been Deepfaked

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, January 19, 2025

“The pre-AI world is gone. Estimates suggest that already, as many as one in eight kids personally knows someone who has been the target of a deepfake photo or video, with numbers rising to one in four who have seen a sexualized deepfake of someone they recognize, either a friend or a celebrity. This is a real problem, and it’s one that lawmakers are suddenly waking up to.

In the 1980s, when I was a kid, it was a picture of a missing child on a milk carton from across the country that encapsulated parental fears. In 2026, it’s an AI-generated suggestive image of a loved one.”

Backing Away From the Hyde Amendment Is a Big Deal

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, January 9, 2026

“The anger among conservatives about President Trump’s comments on the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funds from being used for abortion, is not insider Beltway baseball. It’s not a splinter in the MAGA coalition, generously salted by mainstream media outlets. It’s a historic departure on one of the clearest moral issues in conservative orthodoxy.

Two-thirds of Republicans believe abortion is always, or almost always, morally wrong, according to Pew Research. No Republican president has ever waffled on his support of it — until now. “You have to be a little flexible on Hyde, you know that,” Trump told congressional Republicans at a retreat this week. “You gotta be a little flexible. You gotta work something … we’re all big fans of everything. But you have to have flexibility.” . . “

The GOP’s Identity Crisis Is Deepening by the Day

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, January 5, 2026

“This might be Republicans’ last big year to get things done for a while. President Donald Trump is in the second year of his second term — his last before reaching lame duck status. His party is unlikely to hold Congress after the midterms if history is any indication.

What do Republicans want? As 2026 begins, I’m not sure they know. Last year was the big push: the DOGE cuts; the reconciliation bill; tax relief; deportations; tariffs; securing the southern border. It was a four-year term shoved into one.

It almost feels too soon to ask, “What now?” But we are in a moment in history where time is speeding up, not slowing down, as the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife underscores. But what about policy on the home front?”

Government Data Deleted in 2025

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, December 29, 2025

“It was hard to know what to believe this year. In the old days, there were conspiracies about the moon landing. These days, it feels like there’s a conspiracy about everything — that the truth is up for grabs, alongside crusty government datasets.

Some people chose to verify what they heard with multiple sources, including legacy media. Others followed a podcaster or Substack writer who they thought had the corner on truth. And some just asked ChatGPT.

One of the rallying cries of our conspiratorial age is “do your own research.” But that’s not easy at the best of times. Some data require expertise and context to interpret. And this year, some reliable government datasets disappeared altogether. Others are incomplete thanks to 2025's Democrat-led government shutdown, the nation’s longest.”

A Case for Child-Like Wonder in a Grown-Up World

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, December 22, 2025

“Are we too grown-up to believe that there might be a realm of things we might not understand? For that to spark a chill of fear, some humility? And maybe - if we can get past that terror of the cosmos being far more than we could possibly imagine let alone control, filled with powers and principalities as the Christian teachings go  - might there actually be more room for hope.

That maybe a Savior was born unto us after all.  That the childlike wonder points to something we haven’t allowed ourselves to see. “

What the GOP did with all that power

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, December 15, 2025

“What a decade this year has been.” That’s how a friend in Washington described 2025 to me. The last 12 months saw a flurry of activity as Republicans in the White House and Congress worked to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda before he reaches “lame duck” status. The result was a swirling mix of policy highs and lows that — without question — has rearranged the policy table heading into 2026.

Texas-sizing Trump accounts is a mixed bag

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, December 14, 2025

“It’s not often that Texas voluntarily adds to a federal spending program. But that’s exactly what Dan Patrick is proposing to do. It’s not without merits. Or downsides.

The groundwork was laid this summer. The congressional reconciliation package included a provision to create “Trump Accounts” awarded to families with new babies. These would be invested in the stock market, with funds locked up until the child turns 18.

The federal government will seed Trump Accounts with $1,000 for every American child born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, the limited time frame capping costs and aligning with the time President Donald Trump is in office. Family, friends and employers can contribute up to $5,000 a year per child as well.

Already, Texans are jumping in to supersize the idea.”