In my experience, many who plead most passionately for bipartisanship do so because they hope to persuade those on the other side of the aisle to cave in on their principles.

The immigration debate has taken a sudden and nasty turn with the publication of a new report by The Heritage Foundation claiming that reform legislation will end up costing American taxpayers $6.3 trillion.

The sentencing of an American citizen to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea's infamous prison camps has escalated the cold war between the totalitarian regime and the United Status. Since assuming his role of head of state following his father's death, Kim Jong-un has repeatedly ratcheted up tensions between his nation and ours.

Twelve years after September 11, our intelligence and federal law enforcement agencies still haven't fixed the data-sharing problems that make us vulnerable to more attacks.

The immigration reform bill introduced this week by a bipartisan group of senators will please few die-hards on either side of the immigration debate, but it's likely to please most Americans.

Fifty years after the passage of civil rights laws outlawing discrimination based on race, ethnicity and sex, blacks, Hispanics and women still earn less than white men. In many circles, this fact alone reinforces the belief that discrimination is widespread and only greater government intervention will solve the problem.

Liberal education once stood for something grand and good: the study of the arts, humanities and sciences with the aim of improving the mind through the acquisition of knowledge and the pursuit of truth. But some of America's most elite colleges and universities have all but abandoned this goal.

The arguments on gay marriage before the Supreme Court this week pose the most momentous questions the court has faced in the past 50 years -- and perhaps in its history. At stake is the definition of an institution that has been the bedrock of civilization from time immemorial.

Sen. Rand Paul's embrace of immigration reform this week shows just how far the GOP has come on this contentious issue since the election. Two years ago, the tea party's favorite senator was one of those Republicans wanting to deny citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants born in the U.S.

Jeb Bush's recent backtracking on the question of whether we should grant legal residency but withhold citizenship to the 11 million illegal immigrants living in the country today is far less draconian than some advocates for legalization are claiming.

When one of Washington's most distinguished journalists -- Bob Woodward -- accuses the White House of rewriting history, even liberals should take note. And when the White House responds by threatening him, you would think the story would become a national scandal. What makes the story even more important is that it deals with an issue that has dominated the news in recent weeks: the Draconian budget cuts that will take effect on March 1 unless a last-minute deal is reached in Congress.

Chuck Hagel's nomination to be secretary of defense is in trouble -- as it should be. The former Republican senator has so much baggage, it is amazing that the administration hasn't dumped him, as they did Susan Rice when her proposed nomination ran into trouble.

As conservatives debate what to do about immigration reform in the wake of the GOP's disastrous showing among Hispanic voters in the 2012 presidential election, they might consider that the groups they've allied themselves with to date are strange bedfellows.

"Enforcement first" has become the mantra of conservatives opposed to comprehensive immigration. However, what opponents refuse to recognize is that illegal immigration is under better control today than at any point in the last half century.

With little discussion or fanfare, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the ban on women in combat that has been in effect for as long as there has been a U.S. military. Feminists and some women serving in the military are applauding the move as a victory for equal rights.

President Obama's second inaugural address will be full of lofty sentiments and promises to move us forward. But I'd like to suggest that instead of eloquent and uplifting rhetoric, the president do something unexpected and brave.

Obamacare promised access to health care to millions of Americans who lacked it, with the president personally promising those who had health care that they liked that they wouldn't be forced to change.

The shooting of 20 schoolchildren and six adults in Newtown, Conn., just before Christmas has reignited the debate about guns and violence in America. But the problem with trying to tackle a complex issue in reaction to a horrific event is that too often we end up making symbolic gestures -- and sometimes those gestures end up doing as much harm as good.

The last year has been a tough one for conservatives. The hope that four years of failed policy would be enough to repudiate the liberal/progressive ideology of the Obama administration ended when the majority of the American public voted to maintain their entitlements -- so long as someone else paid for them.

While Washington pols pose and posture on whether to raise taxes next year, American businesses are busy taking action to avoid the hit their shareholders are likely to take come January.