Shows
The Seth Leibsohn ShowJuly 28, 2025 – Hour 3 (Guest Carol Platt Liebau)Carol Platt Liebau, President of the Yankee Institute for Public Policy & Salem National News & Public Affairs Board Member, discusses familiar and sexual social indicators and lessons; the importance of marriage, having babies before your 40’s, the impact of divorce and fatherlessness on young children, and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2025-07-2936 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Watching Meta and Their China ConnectionThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. The testimony was alarming—for Meta’s reputation, but more importantly, for America. Last week, a whistleblower (who once served as Facebook’s Director of Global Public Policy) testified before Congress. She said that Meta, which used to be Facebook, had worked with the Chinese Communist Party to develop censorship tools and offer access to information on Americans. According to the whistleblower, Meta also created and tested a custom censorship system for China when the company was trying to break into the Chinese market. It even allegedly promot...
2025-04-1601 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: "Equity" in ActionThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. We’ve got yet another horrible idea emanating from California. A new speeding ticket regime is launching in the once Golden State. Its towns can issue fines — based on the income level of the driver. A new law allows California cities to set up speed cameras. But it also makes lower-income drivers eligible to have speeding fines dramatically reduced. The last provision gives the game away. Not surprisingly, it’s rolling out first in San Francisco. Handing out different punishments for different people who comm...
2025-04-1001 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: America’s Impatience With Open BordersThousands of people protesting the deportations of illegal immigrants recently blocked a major highway in Los Angeles. Almost a million illegal immigrants live in the LA metropolitan area, so it’s reasonable to suspect that many were protesting the possibility of their own deportation. But it’s hard to imagine a tactic less likely to win widespread public support for their cause. It took almost five hours for the highway to fully reopen. This is in a city recently traumatized by terrible wildfires that have destroyed numerous homes and displaced countless people. And virtually all of t...
2025-02-0501 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Birthright Citizenship and the High CourtPresident Trump recently released an executive order that seeks to deny US citizenship to children born to parents living here illegally. It revokes what’s known as “birthright citizenship” for any baby born after February 19. A federal judge blocked the order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.” But it might not be that simple. The argument is based on the 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War to ensure citizenship for former slaves and other African Americans. It defines a citizen as “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Note tha...
2025-02-0301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Truth About the Biden YearsIn Joe Biden’s spate of last-minute commutations, one particularly disgraceful episode stands out. Biden actually granted clemency to a drug lord who murdered an eight-year-old boy and his mother to prevent them from testifying against him. They’re saying it was an accident. Biden signed pardons for “non-violent drug offenders” at the request of the ACLU. Biden’s staff reportedly didn’t double-check the ACLU’s list. This is a scandal. But it also highlights a greater emerging scandal: America was running on autopilot for four long years. The result was misguided progressive policy, sloppiness and...
2025-01-3101 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: A Fitting End to a Failed PresidencyJoe Biden’s political adversaries have long referred to the “Biden crime family” – and the former president has now engraved that title into the history books. Just fifteen minutes before his term in office ended, he issued sweeping preemptive pardons to his brothers and sister-in-law, and to his sister and brother-in-law. These bookend the pardon he previously provided to his son, Hunter. Remarkably, the pardons excuse all conduct from 2014 to the present. That covers the time that investigators allege the family collected tens of millions by selling Joe Biden’s influence in China, Russia, Ukraine, Romania an...
2025-01-2401 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Christopher Wray and the Politicization of the FBISixty Minutes isn’t the must-see TV it once was. But it aired a recent interview with outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray that, by rights, should be grabbing everyone’s attention. Wray disclosed that China has successfully inserted malware into America’s critical infrastructure. Our top foreign adversary can wreak havoc on our water treatment plants, transportation system, electric grids and natural gas pipelines whenever it chooses. Wray essentially admitted that our enemies hold a death grip over our domestic security and our economy. But during his tenure, the FBI prioritized things like rounding up Januar...
2025-01-1701 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Trump and the Supreme CourtChief Justice John Roberts just issued his annual report on the federal judiciary. In it, he warned that officials from across the political spectrum have shown disregard for federal court rulings. In fact, both sides aren’t equally guilty. President Trump has been critical of some Supreme Court cases and federal court judges. But he’s never defied a Supreme Court case. Joe Biden has. The Court struck down his student loan forgiveness program, but he went ahead anyway. And even boasted about it. Biden also attacked the Supreme Court in a State of the...
2025-01-0901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Britain’s Dirty LinenThe United Kingdom is reeling under what may be the greatest sex abuse scandal in its history. Thousands of young white girls were sadistically groomed, raped and trafficked by Pakistani men for more than a decade. Not only did government authorities know about the abuse and cover it up, but often bullied victims and their families when they came forward. Conservative and Reform Party politicians now call for a national inquiry, but held power for 14 years without conducting one. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a liberal, was the third most senior public prosecutor when these cases w...
2025-01-0801 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Lawless CommutationsIn a commutation spree two days before Christmas, the Biden administration shocked the nation’s conscience by commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 murderers on federal death row. They include a man who kidnapped and murdered a 12 year old girl. Men who killed a family, including two children. A killer who assaulted and then stabbed two little girls. A cop killer. A Marine killer. And more. These commutations aren’t justice. They’re lawlessness. Congress put the death penalty in place for certain heinous crimes, and as the nation’s chief executive, Joe Biden is supposed to be enfor...
2024-12-2701 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: A Welcome Return to NormalcyA recent article in DC-insider magazine Washingtonian reported that food workers were organizing protests to target members of the new Trump administration. The piece recalled the “resistance” hijinks in DC dining rooms when Trump was last president. Cabinet members and Trump-friendly senators were occasionally driven from restaurants by hostile crowds. Trump’s press secretary was denied service by a restaurant owner. Members of Congress like Maxine Waters told supporters to harass Trump officials. But now, something’s different. The Washingtonian piece featured quotes from a restaurant worker reserving the option to refuse service to the Trump ad...
2024-12-2301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: An Abuse of the Pardon PowerLast week, The White House announced Joe Biden will commute the sentences of almost fifteen hundred criminals and pardon 39 others. It’s the most commutations and clemencies ever granted in a single day. It’s an abuse of the pardon power. Above all, many of Biden’s commutations look like an ugly, obscene gesture to the country that elevated him to its highest position. They include a judge convicted of taking kickbacks to send minors to for-profit detention facilities — resulting in one young man committing suicide. Another recipient of clemency committed the largest municipa...
2024-12-1801 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: America’s Had EnoughThe Biden administration is reportedly considering preemptive pardons for political allies including Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney, and Mark Milley. Biden justifies the pardons on the grounds that some officials might be targeted by Donald Trump. The president’s pardon power is absolute, but just because he can doesn’t mean he should. It’s not surprising that Joe Biden is worried about lawfare. Perhaps he’s measuring Donald Trump with the crooked yardstick that should be applied to his own administration. Never before in American history has any president’s Justice Department prosecuted his political...
2024-12-1301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: A Good Day at the High CourtLast week, in United States v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court heard a case with major implications for the protection of minors who are suffering from gender dysphoria. The lawsuit challenged Tennessee’s law banning medical gender transitions for children. The Biden administration argued Tennessee’s law violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause because it discriminates on the basis of sex, an immutable characteristic. Any law doing so must meet a higher standard to be upheld. But Justice Alito exposed the fallacy of the administration’s argument. He asked one of the attorneys if transgenderism is immut...
2024-12-1101 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Money SquanderedIn the wake of Kamala Harris’ defeat, Democrats are demanding an audit of the campaign. Influential party members are simply shocked the Harris campaign raised more than one billion dollars and still lost. Big donors are enraged by payouts to celebrities and gambits like advertising on the Las Vegas Sphere. They can certainly be angry—but they shouldn’t be surprised. Taxpayer dollars are routinely squandered by the federal government. Millions have gone to study how hamsters fight, billions are paid each year to maintain unused buildings—and federal agencies have wasted nearly 785 billion dollars on overpaym...
2024-12-0601 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Hunter’s Pardon—and Trump’s OpportunityOnly the most naïve could have ever believed Joe Biden wouldn’t pardon his son Hunter—despite the President’s repeated assertions to the contrary. There was no way the President was going to let his son go to jail. But President Trump can turn an egregious misuse of the presidential pardon power into something positive for the country. With the pardon, Hunter’s rights against self-incrimination are gone. He must testify. President Trump should make it clear he isn’t interested in prosecuting any of the Bidens. Rather, his interest is in exposing...
2024-12-0401 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Time for Serious and Substantive ReformDonald Trump has promised to close the Department of Education. It’s about time.Despite spending hundreds of billions since its founding in 1979, student test scores have gone down. If we’re going to do right by America’s children, serious reforms are in order. It’s time to get education policy out of Washington and into laboratories of experimentation in the states. The left claims that more spending will fix education. That’s just not true. In New York, they spend the most — thirty thousand dollars per child—but only 33 percent of students are reading pr...
2024-12-0301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Truth About Asylum Claims in AmericaMany illegal immigrants are here because they've claimed asylum. Here's how it works. If migrants claims to be afraid to go back to their country because of their race, religion, nationality or politics, the US lets them stay to pursue an asylum application. Just saying the word "asylum" is enough to enter our country. A hearing on the claim may not happen for years. And even if asylum isn't granted, migrants are rarely removed. The real question is whether the migrants' stated fears of persecution are true. But the f...
2024-12-0201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Let’s Get to WorkFor the first time in four decades, Republicans are basking in the embrace of pop culture. Boxers and football players are doing the “Trump dance.” Leaning right is the new counterculture. It’s fun for conservatives to swim in the mainstream—especially after having been marginalized by the left for so long. But Republicans will make a great mistake if they draw the wrong lessons from the 2024 elections. Republicans didn’t win because a majority of voters signed onto their agenda. They won because the Biden/Harris administration was an utter, arrogant failure; and because Donald Tru...
2024-11-2201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Our 21st Century Potemkin VillageIn 18th century Russia, Field Marshal Gregory Potemkin ordered the construction of pretty facades so Empress Catherine wouldn't see the true, grim state of newly annexed Crimea. They became known as “Potemkin villages.” Fast forward to 2024. Kamala Harris’s entire campaign was the modern-day equivalent of a Potemkin Village. All that celebrity support — Beyonce, Oprah, Meghan The Stallion and Cardi B? Bought and paid for. Polls that showed Donald Trump with a lead over Harris were dismissed as right-leaning “garbage.” Real Clear Politics, which used the polls in its aggregation, were actually deplatformed by Wikipedia. As it turned...
2024-11-2001 min
Y CT MattersEp. 116: CT Artist Sculpts National MonumentSabin Howard, a classical artist, has his showroom in Kent, Conn. This past September, he unveiled his latest project "A Soldier’s Journey" — a nearly 60-foot long, 38-figure massive bronze sculpture depicting an American soldier’s call to duty, from home to the Western Front, during the First World War. The sculpture has become the centerpiece of the National World War I Memorial in Pershing Square Park, Washington, D.C.Howard discusses with Carol Platt Liebau how he received the commission and his process in creating, what several outlets have dubbed, a masterpiece.Learn more about...
2024-11-1923 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: America Is Seeing Through the Hitler HoaxThere’s a catchphrase in political and media commentary: Never go full Hitler. Comparing anyone to Hitler is over the top, given the historical depth of Hitler’s evil. But Democrats and the legacy media did it. They went full Hitler on Trump—comparing our next president to the Führer. Look no further than Joy Reid of MSNBC: “We've laid out the stakes in this crucial election where one side stands for freedom while the other meets the textbook definition of fascism. Namely a far-right dictatorial regime like Hitler's Germany or Franco Spain, or...
2024-11-1401 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Good RiddanceThere are many reasons to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory, but perhaps none greater than this: It marks the end of the Obama era. We’ve heard a lot about “norms” in recent years. No one broke a bigger “norm” than Obama in 2016. Rather than leaving the nation’s capitol like every other president, he stayed in D.C. and effectively established himself as a shadow president. He knew Russiagate was a hoax, and yet he quietly encouraged it. And even in the waning days of the last presidential campaign, Obama was peddling the discredited “very fine people...
2024-11-1301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: A Clear Cut and Indisputable MandateWell, he did it. In one of history’s great political comebacks, redemption arcs and hero’s journeys, Donald Trump has risen like the phoenix to reclaim The White House. Beyond the sheer triumph of the human spirit, Trump’s victory represents a stunning repudiation of legacy media and the permanent Washington establishment. Both these elite communities sought to make support for Trump not just unpopular, but unthinkable. But in the end, the common sense of the American people prevailed. They saw through the hysterical rantings of a self-important, self-anointed elite. And they realized that the el...
2024-11-1101 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Ignore the Name CallingKamala Harris is closing the presidential campaign by calling former President Trump a fascist. She wants voters to fear he will centralize power in his own hands for his own radical and totalitarian ends. The claim—as ugly as it is—doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. In fact, Kamala Harris is the one who's offered radical plans with a totalitarian flavor. Kamala Harris is the one who tried to censor Donald Trump actually calling for him to be thrown off social media. She’s open to expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court just because s...
2024-11-0101 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Revealing Lawfare as Election ApproachesFor years, some Republicans claimed there was a reason for Democrats' embrace of illegal immigration. They argued Democrats wanted to import a new voter pool who would support them more reliably than existing citizens. Democrats said these Republicans were simply spreading a hateful conspiracy theory, but current events in Virginia suggest there may have been some truth in the charge. Less than three months before the election, the Biden Justice Department sued to put self-identified non-citizens back on the voter rolls. 11 days before the election, a federal judge, a Biden appointee backed the DOJ. And now a t...
2024-10-3001 minY CT MattersEp. 114: How Presidential Polling Works with Gary RoseWith the 2024 Presidential Election in its final stretch, the candidates and country are dissecting polls to glean how the race will unfold. But how do polls work? What do pollsters ask? How do pollsters ask questions? How can we trust a poll's findings? Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau is joined by Gary Rose, a Professor and Scholar in Residence at Sacred Heart University, who has been a political science professor for 40 years, specializing in the field of American politics.
2024-10-2932 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Voter Integrity MattersFor years, Republicans asked whether Democrats wanted an open border as a way to import new voters into the American electoral system. Time and time again, leading democrats dismissed those questions as nothing more than crazy “conspiracy theories.” But now, in California, Gavin Newsom has just signed legislation that prevents local governments from requiring voters to present identification at the polls. This makes it impossible to ascertain whether illegal immigrants are casting ballots. Likewise, in Virginia, the DOJ is suing to keep noncitizens on the voter rolls. Canceling the registration of suspected noncitizens has been stat...
2024-10-2901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: McDonald’s and the Dignity of WorkOne of the most charming sights this election cycle was former Donald Trump working the fry machine at a Pennsylvania McDonalds. In his trademark red tie covered by a McDonald’s smock, Trump greeted customers and handed out bags of fast food. Of course, he was trolling Kamala Harris, who can’t verify her claim she worked at McDonald’s. But even so, it is far too unusual these days to see a man of Trump’s wealth and station in life treat a blue-collar job with seriousness and respect. And that was the message of Trump...
2024-10-2301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Change Is AfootIn Pittsburgh, Barack Obama campaigned for Kamala Harris, whose candidacy is struggling to attract support among black men. Obama admonished these voters, suggesting that their lagging support stemmed from misogyny. Obama’s rebuke highlighted the sense of Democratic entitlement to the votes of people of color. Sadly, it also showed just how central skin color remains to politics of America’s first black president. Ironically, had the majority of Americans voted in accordance with Obama’s views on racial solidarity, he’d have never been president. But then something heartening happened. There was a backlash. Many bla...
2024-10-2101 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Not Ready for Prime Time... or the PresidencyKamala Harris is stuck in a media doom loop. Her internal polling must be telling her she needs to do more interviews. But when she does, things only get worse for her. Take her “60 Minutes” interview. What a debacle. Harris didn’t fall back on her old standby about coming from a middle class family, but she did dodge the tough questions again. Whether it was immigration or how she’d pay for her economic programs, no answers were forthcoming. A great portion of the television segment consisted of correspondent Bill Whitaker editorializing over film of the c...
2024-10-1001 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Is This a “First Gentleman”?Next year, could a woman beater be living in The White House? According to reports in The Daily Mail and The New York Post, if Kamala Harris wins, the answer is “yes.” Three women accused Emhoff of slapping his ex-girlfriend so hard she spun around—then climbing in a cab with her when she tried to escape him. They’ve provided photos and documentation that corroborate their story. Emhoff’s staff has denied it. But these women have offered far more evidence than Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser—Christine Blasey Ford—ever did … yet Kamala Harris lauded Blasey Ford...
2024-10-0901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: A Star Was BornRepublicans haven't left a debate this happy since the second Reagan Mondale face off in 1984. Despite facing three opponents, Tim Walz plus two hostile moderators, J.D. Vance acquitted himself flawlessly. Of course, the questions were seeded with gratuitous fact checks and frame from the left. They focused on beltway obsessions like climate change in January 6th, ignoring topics like China, Ukraine, and the flood devastating the southeast. Even so, Walz was overmatched. He looked by turns, confused, afraid, and sad. If his mission was to win over men, he completely failed. He didn't look li...
2024-10-0301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The American Left vs. First AmendmentThis November, our First Amendment right to free speech is on the ballot. At a World Economic Forum panel last week, former Secretary of State John Kerry said the quiet part out loud. He hates the free speech social media allows. Here’s what he said: “they're putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major block to be able to just, you know, hammer it out of existence.” Kerry’s not alone. For elites, free speech is a problem because it makes it impossible for them to impose their narrative on the rest...
2024-10-0201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Our Dishonest SystemThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. The union that represents IRS employees has just endorsed Kamala Harris—and it’s not surprising. Along with President Biden, she’s delivered 80 billion dollars in new funding and 80 thousand new agents to scour Americans’ tax returns. She’s done a lot for them … with your tax money. In the end, that’s what’s alarming about government unions endorsing candidates in the first place. Politicians earn their support by supporting big government—through spending your money. In return, unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats become their supporters. It's a cozy...
2024-09-2501 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Garland’s Politicized DOJAttorney General Merrick Garland has just made a speech denouncing alleged efforts to turn his handling of the Justice Department into a “political weapon.” Garland doesn’t have a leg to stand on. I guess we’re safe to presume he wasn’t referencing Kamala Harris’ attacks on Robert Hur, when Hur didn’t prosecute Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents because of the president’s mental decline. In truth: His Justice Department is the first to prosecute the president’s political opponents. His DOJ brought a classified documents case against Donald Trump while letting...
2024-09-2301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Beyond the PaleThere’s now been a second assassination attempt on Donald Trump. So: He’s survived more assassination attempts than his opponent has national media interviews. We know what the press would say had—God forbid—Kamala Harris faced assassination twice. When there’s violence toward the left, the right’s rhetoric is blamed. But when it comes to Donald Trump, leftist politicians and the media take no responsibility for having created what they love to call “a climate of hate”. In fact, the day of the attempt, NBC’s Lester Holt appeared to blame it on Trump’s own “fie...
2024-09-1801 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Americans Distrust Elite MediaAmericans deserve a more balanced debate than they got from ABC. The moderators fact-checked former President Trump four times, but never fact-checked Vice President Harris, and at least one FactCheck was factually incorrect. Trump may have made 14 false statements, but Harris made 16. While the moderators pressed Trump six times for follow-ups, they didn’t press Harris at all. Not once. That's not the only place the fix was in. The questions the moderators selected, including about race, the last presidential election and January 6th, were designed to make Trump look extreme. Issues unfavorable to Harris: Taxpayer-funded sex exc...
2024-09-1601 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Big Loser of the Debate was ABC NewsThe purpose of the Trump Harris debate was to help American voters understand the issues at stake this election year and the candidate’s positions on them. By that measure, the ABC debate was a miserable failure. The moderators were horribly biased. They peppered Trump with gotcha questions, but ignored all Harris’s sticky issues—and there are plenty. Worse: Too many questions focused on elite obsessions like January 6th, race and climate change. They didn’t flesh out the candidate’s plans on the issues that normal people really care about—like inflation, the economy, job creation, imm...
2024-09-1201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Getting Serious About KamalaAmericans are being bombarded by favorable press about Kamala Harris and her circle. We know she’s called “Momala” by her stepchildren, and the moniker has been adopted by simpering celebrities like Drew Barrymore. As if that’s not enough, Politico has run a puff piece calling her husband, Doug Emhoff, “America’s Dad in Chief.” Not to be outdone, The Washington Post insists the internet has cast Tim Walz as “America’s Midwestern Dad.” But Americans already have parents. We’re not looking for them in The White House. In fact: we don’t want to be treated like children...
2024-09-1001 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Hiding From the PressLast week, Kamala Harris met the press for the first time since being anointed her party’s nominee—if you can call a gentle, eighteen minute, heavily edited interview with her running mate actually “meeting the press.” It’s clear why Harris is so reluctant to take questions from the media. She isn’t good at thinking on her feet and has a tenuous grasp of policy. She’s deeply insecure and lacks self-confidence. But when Harris won’t talk to the press, she’s not just disrespecting them. She’s disrespecting us. Kamala Harris owes Americans a str...
2024-09-0501 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: RFK’s Country Before Party "A Bridge Too Far"It was a sight few Americans thought we’d live to see. A Kennedy endorsed a Republican. Yes: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. endorsed Donald Trump. It’s not our parents’ Democratic Party—and RFK was effective in driving that point home. He called out the Democratic Party as “the party of war, censorship, corruption, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Ag and Big Money.” It enraged five of his siblings, who promptly denounced their brother. It’s remarkable that this is what finally broke the family code of silence. Generations of Kennedys have remained discreet and loy...
2024-09-0201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Campaign AheadIn the coming campaign, Donald Trump’s job is straightforward. He must explain to American voters that until she herself tells us differently, we must assume Kamala Harris’ policy positions are the ones she articulated in 2019: open borders, no fracking, defunding the police, abolishing ICE, and eliminating private health insurance. In short, the positions that earned her the title of the most left-wing senator in the United States, including socialist Bernie Sanders. Few voters agree with these policies. Harris couldn’t have won the nomination without being hand-picked by the Democratic establishment. So she’s left with...
2024-08-1901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Tim Walz Tells us Nothing Good About Kamala HarrisThere are lots of problems with Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ vice presidential choice. He visited China 30 times on a teacher’s salary. He chose the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre for his wedding because he wanted a date he’d “always remember.” That’s the day Chinese Communists slaughtered pro-democracy activists. Walz delayed sending in the National Guard as Minneapolis burned during the George Floyd riots. He sent Covid patients into nursing homes. And he suggested he served in combat when he hasn’t. But these aren’t the biggest problems with Tim Walz. The bigges...
2024-08-1401 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Olympics Normalize Men Beating up WomenThe Olympics have normalized men beating up women. Last week, an Italian boxer withdrew from the Olympics mid fight after being pounded by an Algerian opponent, who was barred from competing in women’s events at the World Championships. He has XY chromosomes and testosterone in the male range.After being forced to surrender her Olympic dreams, the Italian female boxer apologized for failing to shake her opponent’s hand. She says the controversy makes her “sad.” What’s even sadder is when women are afraid to stand up for themselves. Female athletes have worked too hard and c...
2024-08-0901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: "Weird"In a unified display of middle school mean girl lunch table theatrics, the Democratic establishment — of course including the media — has decided to label JD Vance as “weird.” Yes, the party that believes you can choose your sex and celebrates the mutilation of minors is calling other people “weird.” But that’s not what’s most disturbing. What should concern us most is that to many leftists, JD Vance really does seem weird. Think about what that means: To Kamala Harris supporters, a straight white man who lifted himself out of poverty; served as a Marine; and is d...
2024-08-0901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Google’s Election Interference Needs to StopThomas Jefferson understood that for a self-governing people to make the best decisions for themselves and their country, they had to have access to the facts. “A properly functioning democracy depends on an informed electorate,” he wrote. President Jefferson would be appalled at what’s happening today. Google is the world’s most popular search engine, with 92 percent of market share. It’s autocomplete feature hides suggested results referencing the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Users including Elon Musk pointed out that google was autocompleting searches for “President Donald” with “President Donald Duck.” Others have noted that searchi...
2024-08-0601 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Open Season on VanceIt’s pretty much open season on Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance. Criticism has focused on caustic remarks he made in 2021 about “childless cat ladies.” But as Vance stated then and has explained now, he isn’t making personal attacks on those who find themselves childless through circumstances or choice. His critique is instead aimed at a party whose policies reflect growing indifference or even hostility to childbearing and family life. The fact that Kamala Harris never had children is no one’s business but her own. Her celebration of abortion and her proposal to eliminate the child tax...
2024-08-0101 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Cheatle’s Colossal FailureThere are few things that unite Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill these days. But they do agree on one thing: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle had to go. Florida Congressman Mike Waltz called the testimony from Cheatle “the worst testimony” he has seen in his time in Congress. Cheatle’s smug arrogance was a complete affront to the Americans our government officials are supposed to be serving. Even before Cheatle’s appearance before the House Oversight Committee, it was clear she wasn’t up to the job. After a colossal failure like w...
2024-07-2901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Not Your Parents’ Democratic PartyJoe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential field marks the end of an era. Biden was the last nexus to the Democrats’ New Deal/working class days. Democrats are now officially the party of technocratic elites and hard-left radicals, ruled by a big money oligarchy with priorities and obsessions far distant from those of everyday Americans. Kamala Harris is a fitting mascot for the post-Biden Democrats. She comes from San Francisco and has never won a non-Californian’s vote. She can’t credibly pursue Joe Biden’s lunch bucket strategy of competing in Rust Belt states like...
2024-07-2501 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Donald Trump Can’t Stop WinningDonald Trump just can’t stop winning. He’s cheated death, and now the classified documents case Special Counsel Jack Smith brought in Florida has been dismissed. US District Judge Aileen Cannon held that the special counsel’s prosecution was unconstitutional in two respects. First, Jack Smith is essentially a private citizen—no federal statute authorized his appointment by the attorney general, nor has he ever been subject to any sort of Senate approval. Second, he’s been free to spend money with little to no Congressional oversight, in contravention of Constitutional requirements. Jack Smith will appeal...
2024-07-2201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Our Corrupt Media EstablishmentAs the press turns on President Biden, a radio show host and her station have “parted ways.” The host revealed the Biden campaign gave her pre-selected questions—and she asked them. “Station leadership said the practice violated the standards of an 'independent media outlet." But wait a minute. For years, there have been pictures of the cards President Biden holds at press conferences. On them are the reporter’s name, affiliation—and their question. Yes, the question has been drafted by the media outlet, not the campaign. But it has been pre-submitted by the outlet and selected...
2024-07-1201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Democrats Exposed in Opposition to Citizenship BillFor years, it’s been called a right-wing conspiracy theory. Some on the right have charged that Democrats seek to secure a permanent electoral advantage by allowing non-citizens to vote. That, they argue, has been one of the reasons President Biden opened the border. Democrats have long smeared them as conspiracy theorists and racists. But now, perhaps they’re due an apology. A House bill coming to the floor this week would require proof of American citizenship to vote in federal elections. And House Democratic leadership is preparing to fight it tooth and nail. Th...
2024-07-1001 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Loper Bright Marks the Beginning of a Much-Needed ReckoningIn its Loper Bright ruling, the US Supreme Court made all of us a little freer by limiting the power of unaccountable federal bureaucrats. Overruling the 1984 Chevron case, the Court held that judges need not defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of federal laws. Agencies like the EPA, FDA, and SEC have been usurping an ever-larger role in American life. They were created to flesh out highly complex laws through expert regulation. But their power has metastasized. They’re not in the Constitution, but they’re an effective fourth branch of government. Each agency has the equivalent of legisl...
2024-07-0301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: A Supreme Court Decision That Will Serve FuturePundits describe the executive power Supreme Court case as a “win” for Donald Trump. In one sense, it is. Special prosecutor Jack Smith won’t get the case against him to trial before the election. But the opinion wasn’t written for current circumstances. It was written for the ages. The Court held that presidents have absolute immunity for acts within their core constitutional powers. They have presumptive immunity from prosecution for all official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts. These are sensible distinctions. Future presidents will be free to fulfill their duties without fear of...
2024-07-0201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Coward’s Way OutIn Murthy v. Missouri, the Supreme Court has taken the coward’s way out. In a 6-3 ruling, it declined to rule on whether the Biden administration could coerce social media companies to censor and shadowban people who disagree with it. It said the plaintiffs lacked standing—that those who sued hadn’t shown a sufficient injury to bring the case. This ought to be distressing for everyone who cares about free speech. The Biden administration clearly engaged in censorship by surrogate—using social media companies to silence those it could not legally silence on its own. Bu...
2024-06-2701 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Working Overtime to Stifle DemocracyFor years, Democrats have been styling themselves as the “party of democracy.” They have characterized their political opponents, most notably former President Trump” as a “threat to democracy.” In his 2022 speech in Philadelphia, President Biden accused what he called “MAGA Republicans” of working to undermine democracy itself. So imagine how surprising it was to read a recent story in the New York Times. It details all the ways a coalition of leftists is working to thwart Trump’s policy objectives, should he regain The White House. How ironic. Those who claim to fight for democracy are working over...
2024-06-2701 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Biden Offering Citizenship for Multitudes of IllegalsThe Biden administration recently made a big splash about the President’s supposed mandate to reduce asylum claims from illegal immigrants at the border. But it’s important to look — not at what the administration is saying — but at what it’s actually doing. President Biden is now offering a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants married to US citizens. It would be one of the most sweeping immigration programs in decades. It’s effectively amnesty. This is in addition to the administration closing more than three hundred fifty thousand asylum cases since 2...
2024-06-1901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Real Minimum Wage Is Always ZeroNo state can impose a twenty-five percent increase in its current minimum wage without expecting job creators to respond. So far, it’s been only two months since California raised the minimum wage for fast-food workers to twenty dollars per hour, but the negative impact is already clear. There have been massive job losses—up to ten thousand. Chipotle raised its menu prices by roughly seven percent and Chick-fil-A’s prices increased an average of eleven percent. Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy and Rubio’s closed a third of its restaurants. These outcomes were entirely predicta...
2024-06-1701 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Bragg’s Lawfare BackfiresChalk it up to the law of unintended consequences. The Biden campaign welcomed Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Donald Trump. They expected the conviction to destroy Trump’s standing in the polls. They didn’t realize their lawfare would help Trump erode Biden’s last remaining advantage—his fundraising. In the first day after the guilty verdict, Trump raised $53 million dollars. His May total was an eye-popping $141 million dollars—almost twice as much as he raised in April. Trump had raised $124 million from 2021 through April of 2024. Now he’s more than doubled that figure. For context...
2024-06-1301 min
Townhall Review | Full Interviews & MonologuesTrump Trial and the Erosion of Constitutional Norms | Seth Leibsohn with Carol Platt LiebauIn this episode, Seth Leibsohn talks with Carol Platt Liebau, President of the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, about the guilty verdict in former President Trump's New York hush money trial, and its implications for democracy and the rule of law. 👉Follow Seth on X 👉Follow Carol Platt Liebau on XSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2024-06-0429 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Lawfare Taken to the ExtremeCitizens must have faith in their justice system: that people will be treated equally under the law, and that defendants are being prosecuted because of what they’ve done, rather than who they are. Donald Trump’s trial has set a dangerous precedent. The judge allowed the entire case to be prosecuted without ever telling Trump what some of the charges were! His lawyers couldn’t defend him against the alleged “predicate crime” that transformed a misdemeanor—allegedly falsifying business records—into a felony. No one knew what it supposedly was until after the defense was done. This vio...
2024-06-0301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Government Green GriftIt was an embarrassing weekend for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. On Face the Nation, he was confronted with some damning facts. Despite having received seven and a half billion dollars for electric vehicle charging, the Federal Highway Administration has only produced a grand total of seven—or maybe eight—EV chargers. In three years. That’s a far cry from the fifty thousand per year necessary to reach the administration’s goal of five hundred thousand chargers by 2030. The waste is particularly galling given Americans’ declining interest in buying electric cars. According to an April Gallup pol...
2024-05-3101 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Hunter Biden’s Gun TrialIt would be interesting to know how frequently Joe Biden visits his daughter-in-law Hallie at home, as he did last weekend. Biden says the visit was to commemorate the anniversary of his son Beau’s death. Hallie was his wife and thereafter in a relationship with Hunter. But Hallie is a key prosecution witness in Hunter’s gun trial, which begins next week. Prosecutors allege that after Hunter illegally owned a weapon, Hallie disposed of his gun in a public dumpster. It’s much easier to keep a conversation completely secret away from White H...
2024-05-3001 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: No Longer Trusting the "Experts"Last week, Americans learned just how badly the scientific so-called “experts” mishandled the covid pandemic. Republican members of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released the transcript of an interview with Dr. Francis Collins, the former director of the National Institutes of Health. Collins admitted he knew of “no science or evidence” to support the six-foot social distancing guideline imposed during covid. This is a scandal. The six-feet-of-separation rule had damaging real life consequences. It made it impossible for schools to reopen, because teachers’ unions insisted the guideline be observed. Businesses suffered untold costs trying to...
2024-05-2301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: A Stain on America’s Rule of LawThe Stormy Daniels “hush money” case against Donald Trump is an affront to our basic notions of American justice: • Gag orders are typically imposed to protect defendants and secure their right to an untainted jury. Here, the defendant—Trump—has been gagged, leaving him unable to defend himself. • Prosecutors are keeping the witness schedule secret until the eve of their testimony. That deprives the defense of the time needed to adequately prepare a cross examination. • Finally, Daniels’ seamy testimony inevitably prejudices the jury against Trump—and it’s not even relevant to his alleged crime! The e...
2024-05-1501 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Subsidizing Our Own DemiseAmericans have watched in horror as elite college campuses have roiled with antisemitic, pro-Palestinian protests. But let’s not kid ourselves—the protests are deeply anti-American, as well. Fully $149 billion dollars of taxpayer money goes to American universities each year—including “private” ones. Columbia received $1.2 billion, Harvard got $676 million, and Princeton took in $403 million. Yet these schools are little more than indoctrination camps. They are literally teaching our young people to hate their country, the western tradition and all the values that have made our culture great. It makes sense to support universities that educate young peop...
2024-05-1301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Alvin Bragg’s Lawfare GambitOne needn’t be a Donald Trump fan to understand that the “hush money” case being prosecuted against him in Manhattan is weak. Conventional wisdom holds that keeping Trump tied up in a Manhattan courtroom helps Joe Biden, who’s struggling in the polls. It prevents Trump from being out on the campaign trail, talking to voters and making his case. Yet most recent polls show that Trump has, in fact, expanded his lead over Biden. Ironically, keeping Trump cooped up in a courtroom may actually be helping him, by involuntarily imposing message discipli...
2024-05-0201 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Biden’s Rules Hurts All WomenLast week, the Biden administration released a new and extensive set of rules that expand Title IX’s prohibition of “sex-based discrimination” to include “gender identity.” The rules destroy protections for sex-based accommodations in the American educational system. Under the new rules, it will constitute unlawful discrimination to keep biological men who “identify” as women out of previously all female spaces. This includes bathrooms, locker rooms, sororities and athletic events. The ironies are breathtaking. President Biden complains about the mythical gender-based wage gap. But these rules take away something much more precious than a few cents in a pay...
2024-04-2901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The Hand Selected RadicalsThe antisemitic riots at Columbia and Yale should be a wake-up call for Americans. It’s just more evidence that when it comes to our elite universities, the emperor has no clothes. Student radicals pitch tents—and fits—at elite academies that once were the envy of the world. They’re the lucky few, out of mountains of accomplished, well-rounded, hardworking applicants who would have welcomed the chance to learn, rather than agitate. But the universities hand-selected these radicals. It’s an important reminder that places like Columbia and Yale no longer deserve the deference they’ve lo...
2024-04-2401 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Time to Stop the AppeasementThe Iranian regime attacked Israel on Saturday with over 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Most Americans were horrified by the news. They would have been appalled to realize that America has effectively funded these drones and missiles that rained down on our closest Middle Eastern ally, thanks to the disastrous Obama/Biden Iran policy. The Obama deal with Iran did nothing to curb its long-term nuclear ambitions. And: It did provide Iran with billions in sanctions relief. After Biden came into office, the nuclear deal was resurrected, with billions more in sanctions relief funneled to Iran...
2024-04-1901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Democrat’s Anti-Israel Policies Help HamasNancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren are among the loudest voices opposing Israel. Warren, in particular, has provided plenty of aid and comfort to Hamas. Just over the last month, she’s called for a Palestinian state, blocking the sale of F-15’s to Israel, and a cease-fire. Nancy Pelosi likewise demanded that Biden halt weapons transfers to Israel. But here’s what they—and other progressives like them—seem to have forgotten: Hamas killed thirty Americans on October 7, and still holds six Americans hostage. And the media remains silent about all of it. Every time Warr...
2024-04-1501 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: "Death to America" in DearbornIn Dearborn, Michigan, a recent anti-Israel rally turned even darker as an activist and an imam led the crowd in chanting “Death to America.” Under our First Amendment, people can scream this hateful slogan. But the first question is: why has America adopted an immigration policy that welcomes people who hate our country? The second question is: where is the media? Reports of this America-hatred are scarce. The third question is how is the Biden administration permitting this? It was team Biden, after all, who sicced the FBI on parents at schoolboard meetings, who p...
2024-04-1101 minY CT MattersEp. 99: Who is Carol Platt Liebau? Hosted by Andy FowlerFor 98 episodes, YI President Carol Platt Liebau has discussed Connecticut policy, politics and human-interest stories as part of the organization’s efforts to be your eyes, ears and voice. But now the interviewer becomes the interviewee. Andy Fowler, director of internal affairs, guest hosts, asking Carol about her background, her love for Ronald Reagan, her time at Ivy League Schools, the evolution of Yankee Institute during her tenure, her hope for Connecticut and even her favorite musicals. Carol’s full bio can be found here.
2024-04-0541 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Unsafe Speech LieThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. In recent years, almost all American universities have shut down right-leaning speakers and cancelled unpopular speech. The justification was that words somehow constituted violence and speech was making college community members feel unsafe. Please. In a dark bit of irony, many of those who claimed that discussion of conservative ideas made them feel unsafe are celebrating the massacre of Jews. On campuses like Harvard, masked pro-Hamas protesters have literally intimidated and harassed Jewish students. Now that’s behavior that could legitimately make someone fe...
2023-10-2501 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Our Institutions of Higher LearningThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. Americans received an unwelcome wake-up call watching pro-Hamas rallies on some of our country’s most prestigious college campuses. At UNC, masked protesters rallied with images of the paragliders Hamas used to invade Israel. At University of Wisconsin, student protesters yelled, “Glory to the martyrs, glory to the murders.” Antisemitism has been repackaged into our social justice and intersectionality moment. Radical professors and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement—BDS—have taught students that Jews are oppressors and Palestinians the oppressed. And so barbaric anti-Jewish violence has been rebra...
2023-10-1901 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Lessons From HarvardThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. Almost immediately after Hamas launched horrific terrorist attacks murdering Israeli babies, mothers and grandmothers, 31 Harvard student organizations spoke up. To condemn Israel. The great Christian writer C.S. Lewis once noted that “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” Here is a prime example. America’s supposed best and brightest are unable to engage in even basic moral reasoning. It’s the only explanation for their willingness to support the antisemitism and barbarism being broadca...
2023-10-1301 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Trump Prosecutions Damage Trust in the Justice SystemThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. Donald Trump has been indicted for the third time, for what he said and did between the 2020 election and January 6th. There’s plenty about Trump’s conduct to criticize. But for people who claim to care so deeply about our democracy, the Biden administration, the special prosecutor and the New York DA are inflicting serious damage on it. For any country’s justice system to survive, people must believe in its fairness. The Trump prosecutions are destroying that. The New York and January 6 cases...
2023-08-1001 minY CT MattersEp. 64: The Livability of Connecticut Towns with Dr. Jonathan WhartonWhat makes a city or town livable? And how are lawmakers addressing housing and transportation concerns to the improvement or detriment of Connecticut’s municipalities? Dr. Jonathan Wharton — associate professor of political science and urban affairs at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) — discusses these critical issues with YI President Carol Platt Liebau, and explains how lawmakers can incentivize Nutmeggers from leaving the state during their prime earning years. Learn more about him here and follow his writings at CT News Junkie and Hearst Media.
2023-08-0426 minY CT MattersEp. 56: Is Domestic Abuse Being Enabled by the Courts?Connecticut Inside Investigator found a group of divorcees who claim the state’s family court system is not only ignoring abuse allegations in ongoing child custody battles, but enabling them. YI President Carol Platt Liebau discusses the claims with Lisa Fontes, a psychotherapist, author and activist who lectures on topics ranging from the sexual abuse of children to intimate partner violence. Learn more about her here.
2023-06-0929 minY CT MattersEp. 41: What Bills Would Hurt Small Towns in CT with Betsy GaraSmall towns in Connecticut will be feeling the financial and staffing burdens if bills on project labor agreements, affordable housing and ‘right to housing’ — to name a few — become law. Betsy Gara, executive director of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), dives into the issues with YI President Carol Platt Liebau and they discuss how small towns make up the fabric of Connecticut. Learn more about COST here.
2023-02-2429 minY CT MattersEp. 38: Steve Noxon: The Bad Bills CT Legislators Want to PassIf Connecticut is so financially sound as suggested by candidates in the November elections, why are lawmakers proposing new taxes that will drive the state economy into the ground, political commentator Steve Noxon asks. He dives into the latest legislation being debated at the Capitol — from increased taxes to tax agents to surveillance cameras on motorists. He breakdowns the mayhem with YI President and host Carol Platt Liebau.
2023-02-0324 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The CDC Has Failed UsThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. Last week, the CDC’s advisory committee recommended that the COVID vaccine be added to the immunization schedule for children—everyone aged six months and over. Although such recommendations don’t constitute mandates, which are set by states, they will absolutely influence some states to require the vaccine for school entry. The CDC’s credibility is being further eroded by the recommendation. Children are the group at lowest risk from COVID-19. What’s more, 86 percent of them have already caught the virus, which confers natural immunity...
2022-10-2801 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Victories for WomenThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. Recently, in Europe, we’ve seen some interesting female leaders rise to prominence. First, Liz Truss, an avowed admirer of Margaret Thatcher, became prime minister of Great Britain. Now, Giorgia Meloni is poised to become Italy’s first female prime minister. It seems like an ideal time for a spate of news articles hailing the ascension of these highly capable women to the pinnacle of power. But in most prestige American papers, there seems to be little celebration. Meloni, in particular, is being routinely savaged as “hard right”...
2022-09-2801 minY CT MattersEp 9: Why Entrepreneurship Matters with Dr. Gerald Gunderson [PART 2]Join us for Part II of Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau’s conversation with YI board member Professor Gerald Gunderson, a founder of Yankee Institute. This week’s episode focuses on entrepreneurship, ranging from art and hi-tech innovation to ancient Greece and modern day America. Tune in to learn more about how entrepreneurs have played a vital role in the advancement of civilization as we know it today!
2022-07-1527 minY CT MattersEp 8: From the Founding of YI to Econ 101 with Dr. Gerald Gunderson [PART 1]In this episode, Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau is joined by YI board member Professor Gerald Gunderson, a founder of Yankee Institute. Professor Gunderson has served as Trinity College’s Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of American Business and Enterprise, and Director of the Shelby Cullom Davis Endowment at Trinity College since 1982. Dr. Gunderson is also the author of The New Economic History of America and The Wealth Creators: An Entrepreneurial History of the United States. His conversation with Carol ranges from Yankee Institute’s early days to his own storied career to his thoughts on higher education today and...
2022-07-0819 minY CT MattersEp 7: Inside the Capitol with Andrew MarkowskiYankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau is joined by YI’s advisor on government affairs, Andrew Markowski. He is a principal at Statehouse Associates, LLC, and a denizen of the Capitol, whose business it is to know everything that goes on in that storied building – the good, the bad, and the ugly! Andy speaks with Carol about how he became a specialist in government affairs, what it’s like to be deeply involved in day-to-day life at the Capitol, and how he manages to retain his idealism and good humor despite his “insider” knowledge about how the policy process really wor...
2022-07-0127 minY CT MattersEp 6: Walking Away From the Classroom w/ Jennifer TafutoIn this episode, Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau is joined by former Connecticut teacher Jennifer Tafuto who made national headlines last year after she walked away from the classroom over concerns about Critical Race Theory. Jennifer talks about her experiences with CRT creeping into the curriculum, how she saw it starting to impact her students and what drove her to speak out.
2022-06-2328 minY CT MattersEp 5: Connecticut Gas Prices w/ Chris HerbIn this episode, Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau is joined by Chris Herb, President of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association to talk gas prices. As the cost at the pump seemingly reaches a new all-time records daily, Carol and Chris will look at the factors driving the increasing prices and what special factors play a role here in Connecticut. They will also look ahead towards the costs of other forms of energy and what the market may look like this winter when it comes time to heat your home this winter.
2022-06-1623 minY CT MattersEp 4: Connecticut's Growing Problem w/ Ken GirardinIn this episode, Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau is joined by YI Director of Policy and Research Ken Girardin to talk about he recent policy paper CT’s Growing Problem: Population Trends in the Constitution State. Ken blows up the myth that Connecticut's population problem has to do with moving vans leaving the state. Ken also talks about the recent SEBAC negotiations and how the deal will impact state finances going forward.
2022-06-0918 minY CT MattersEp 3: Children's Educational Opportunity Foundation w/ Carolanne MarquisIn this episode, Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau is joined by Carolanne Marquis from Children's Educational Opportunity Foundation of Connecticut. They talk about the work Children's Educational Opportunity does in providing scholarships to low-income families in Connecticut so more kids can get the benefit of a private-school education.Carolanne talks about the application process and shares some of the heartwarming stories of some of the program's biggest success stories.
2022-06-0227 minY CT MattersEp 2: A Discussion on Connecticut's Finances w/ Dan HaarIn this episode, Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau is joined by Dan Haar from Hearst Media. They talk about Connecticut's financial outlook and look back at how the state got to be where it is now. Dan also talks about his writing process and how he gets some of his ideas.Plus the story of how Dan nearly accidentally knocked Larry Bird out of the 1987 NBA finals.
2022-05-2625 minY CT MattersEp 1: The Launch of CT Inside Investigator w/ Marc FitchCarol Platt Liebau talks to Marc Fitch about the launch of Connecticut Inside Investigator and his work as an investigative journalist. They also delve into some of Marc’s other writing including his non-fiction books and horror novels. Marc also tells the story about how he got his start at Yankee Institute and the role muttonchop sideburns played in his hiring.
2022-05-1629 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: No Way to Treat a Free PeopleThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. No institution has hemorrhaged public confidence during the Covid pandemic like the CDC. Once trusted by nearly all Americans, now it’s ignored by almost everyone. Even Democratic governors have begun to ignore its advice—lifting mask mandates in schools contrary to CDC guidance. Transparency is needed to restore the public confidence so it’s so strange the CDC has decided to withhold important data about the Covid vaccine. In its infinite wisdom, the CDC refuses to publish vaccine information for those aged 18 to 49. What’s more...
2022-02-2501 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: Identity Politics and the Supreme CourtThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. President Biden will soon nominate a black female for the Supreme Court. In so doing, he’ll be fulfilling a pledge made to secure the endorsement of South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn. But by announcing his nominee’s race and sex in advance, the president has made his selection about her identity, not her accomplishments. And in doing so, he’s cheapened her achievements. The President’s approach highlights the pitfalls of affirmative action. It was intended to allow consideration of immutable characteristics—as one fac...
2022-02-0401 min
Townhall Review | CommentariesCarol Platt Liebau: The DOJ Eyes ParentsThis is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com. The Department of Justice says it’s very worried about domestic terrorism. So worried, in fact, that it just created a whole new unit focused on finding and prosecuting domestic terrorists. You should be worried, too. Not because there’s any reason to believe there’s a big boom in actual domestic terrorism. But because it looks like the DOJ is playing some very ugly politics. Last week, we learned that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona solicited a letter from the National School Boards Association. It compar...
2022-01-2401 min
From the Swamp to the States- an ATR PodcastRunaway Pensions, High Taxes, & Govt Employees Scamming TaxpayersGovernment employees get raises in the middle of a pandemic, some fraudulently claim unemployment. Just a sample of the challenges Connecticut faces. Yankee Institute’s Carol Platte Liebau joins the podcast to talk about fixing Connecticut and lessons for other states.
2020-08-0624 min