GUEST COLUMN, Sally C. Pipes

Affordability is on the lips of lawmakers these days -- and with good reason. Nearly half of Americans say they're struggling to pay for basic necessities like rent, groceries, and health care.

The good news is that Congress is weighing several reforms that could help make health care in particular more affordable.

Many of the drivers of today's sky-high healthcare costs are a direct result of Obamacare. The 2010 law made it all but impossible -- and in some cases illegal -- for insurers to offer low-cost plans. Predictably, individual-market premiums have tripled since the law's exchanges went online more than a decade ago.

GUEST COLUMN, Dick Morris

During the Clinton years, State of the Union speeches routinely led to huge upticks in the president’s approval ratings. But in the highly polarized and fiercely partisan environment of today’s politics, they have had little impact other than to reinforce partisan differences among voters.

Trump’s State of the Union speech last week is the exception. Polling by Harvard-Harris, the best firm out there (except for John McLaughlin), shows a mammoth change favoring Republicans after the speech. The GOP went from an 8 point deficit to a tie in voting preferences in the midterm elections. A huge change reminiscent of the swings we used to get in the 90s.

GUEST COLUMN, Jared Whitley, Townhall.com

The military strikes President Trump ordered against Iran are a stark reminder of a decades-long geopolitical reality: the stability of the Persian Gulf region is anchored by the resolve of America and the men and women of its military.

By moving aggressively to neutralize a regime bent on provoking regional instability and destroying Saudi Arabia, its chief rival in the Muslim world, the United States has also demonstrated its commitment to an American-Saudi friendship that has flourished under President Trump.

MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

This summer, we'll celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Events leading up to the signing include the French and Indian War, the Enlightenment discussed last week, and today we'll look at some notable people and events surrounding a remarkable religious event described as the Great Awakening.

In reaction to increasing materialism, religious apathy, and the formality of established churches, a series of separate revivals swept through the American colonies starting in the 1720s. They affected a much larger number of people than the Enlightenment, which had influenced mostly well-to-do, educated leaders. The Great Awakening filled the need some had for a strong emotional motivation, and brought a heartfelt experience as opposed to religion of the mind. For others, it developed within a new framework of enlightenment thoughts described by John Locke as "the reasonableness of Christianity".