The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) - Chattanooga Times Free Press

Times Opinion: Bessent’s defense of the yen is a risky innovation

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·August 10, 2026

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's decision to join Japan in supporting the yen was the first joint intervention of its kind for decades and took…

Photo by Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images / Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, right, listens as U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, the presidential retreat, on July 31, 2026 in Camp David, Maryland. Trump convened members of his Cabinet at the presidential retreat as the war with Iran continues.

Times Opinion: Say no to Todd Blanche

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·August 3, 2026

Recent Senate hearings for Todd Blanche, the president's nominee for attorney general, didn't change what has become obvious over the past year he has…

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images / WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears at his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill July 15, 2026 in Washington, DC. During Blanche's tenure as acting Attorney General the Justice Department has been under scrutiny for pushing President Trump's 1.8 billion dollar "anti-weaponization" fund and its handling of the Epstein files.

Times Opinion: Don’t rebuild the tariff wall. Demolish it

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·August 2, 2026

Since the Supreme Court struck down its "Liberation Day" tariffs earlier this year, the White House has been turning to other ways of getting…

Photo by Andrew Harnik via Getty Images/TNS / U.S. President Donald Trump dances after speaking at General Motors' Milford Proving Grounds on July 27, 2026, in Milford, Michigan. Trump is expected to address US auto manufacturing, tariffs and show support for Republican candidates ahead of the Aug. 4 primary during the visit.

Times Opinion: The Fed’s independence is unfinished business

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·July 10, 2026

The Supreme Court has recognized the Federal Reserve as a special case among the government's numerous independent agencies — one that requires protection from White House interference.

Photo by Jim Watson via AFP/Getty Images/TNS / The seal of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors is seen ahead of Chair Jerome Powell's news conference at the Federal Reserve headquarters, following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2025.

Times Opinion: Happy 250th to a battered but beautiful America

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·July 3, 2026

Perhaps the most evocative tune in America's patriotic repertoire, and certainly the most popular, is also among the least understood. Written by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893, "America the Beautiful" will be sung out at countless parades and picnics and parties on the country's 250th anniversary this July 4. Amid divisive times, it offers a hopeful and fitting rejoinder.

Photo by Andrew Harnik via Getty Images/TNS / Onlookers look on as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump drives to a dedication ceremony for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on July 1, 2026, in Medora, North Dakota. The privately funded library and museum, located at the edge of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota's Badlands, will hold its grand opening on July 4th to coincide with the nation's 250th anniversary.

Times Opinion: Beware the hidden risks lurking in property tax cuts

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·June 29, 2026

A home that gains value is part of the American dream — except for the taxes. In the past two years, 17 states have lowered or limited property taxes as politicians respond to escalating prices.

Photo by Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS / Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is proposing a homestead property tax exemption increase that wouldn't benefit new Florida residents. It's not the first time such an idea has come up.

Times Opinion: Free speech, however vile, is vital to democracy

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·June 22, 2026

"If liberty means anything at all," wrote George Orwell, "it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images / A protester shouts on a megaphone during a shift change outside of Delaney Hall Immigration Detention Center on June 7, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka has pulled Newark police away from the detention center, where protesters continue to gather in support of detainees who are on a hunger and labor strike. The facility is owned and operated by GEO Group, a private prison contractor that runs multiple detention centers across the country.

Times Opinion: Growing Ebola outbreak is a warning

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·June 20, 2026

Ebola, a deadly virus, is spreading rapidly through parts of central Africa.

Photo by Jospin Mwisha/AFP/Getty Images/TNS / Medical staff stand at the doffing and decontamination station at the Evangelical Medical Center of Nyankunde (CME) after providing care to patients suffering from or suspected of having Ebola virus disease in Bunia, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 13, 2026.

Free Press Opinion: A gas tax holiday is good politics but bad economics

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·May 28, 2026

Even as the U.S. and Iran wrestle over an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, surging gas prices have turned the government's attention to a perennially popular fiscal scam: Ease the pressure on household budgets with a gas tax holiday.

Photo by Mario Tama via Getty Images/TNS / High gas prices are displayed at a Chevron gas station near the Pacific Ocean on April 8, 2026 in El Segundo, California. California imports approximately 75 percent of its crude oil with nearly one-third of the crude supplied from the Middle East as prices at the pump in the state are averaging $5.93 per gallon today amid the war in Iran.

Times Opinion: The Navy’s new battleship is a boondoggle in the making

by The Editorial Board / Bloomberg Opinion (TNS) ·May 26, 2026

The U.S. Navy says it plans to buy 15 hulking "battleships" over the next 30 years.