Myrtle Beach, SC The second half of this question contains an assumption that is wrong, and it is wrong in a way that matters for the whole file. The premise is that the civil service could shrink itself and has declined to. It could not. A career official at Health and Human Services cannot abolish … Continue reading Should an unelected outside executive be given a named role in shrinking the federal establishment, or does that arrangement concede that the civil service will not reform itself?
Author: thinkingoutsidetheboxe
After the 2024 election, is a “Department of Government Efficiency” best understood as a serious attempt to build a permanent cost-control function, or as a campaign brand looking for a building?
Gastonia, NC The question asks whether this will be a permanent function or a brand looking for a building. Both halves have already been answered, in writing, by the people who created it, and almost nobody has read the announcement. The statement on the twelfth says DOGE will provide advice and guidance from outside of … Continue reading After the 2024 election, is a “Department of Government Efficiency” best understood as a serious attempt to build a permanent cost-control function, or as a campaign brand looking for a building?
Should federal disaster and heat-response policy treat this summer as a reason to pre-position grid and hospital surge capacity, independent of the larger climate-statute fight?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — Yes. A hot week and a weak feeder are an operations file and operations files shouldn't wait on a twenty-year bill. Pre-positioning means transformers you can actually move, mutual aid that doesn't begin at the press conference, hospital generators tested in June, cooling sites a county has already licensed. Those are … Continue reading Should federal disaster and heat-response policy treat this summer as a reason to pre-position grid and hospital surge capacity, independent of the larger climate-statute fight?
Thinking Outside the Boxe Releases Transcript of Election Day 2024 Champagne Summit
Myrtle Beach, SC, Orlando, FL and Washington, D.C. November 5, 2024—Thinking Outside the Boxe has released the transcripts of the question and answer session from its special Election Day Champagne Summit held on November 5, 2024. Participants included correspondents from Clermont, Florida; Wheeling, West Virginia; Bismarck, North Dakota; Gastonia, North Carolina; Owatonna, Minnesota; Prescott Valley, … Continue reading Thinking Outside the Boxe Releases Transcript of Election Day 2024 Champagne Summit
Regardless of who wins, has the 2024 campaign exposed structural weaknesses in the primary system, debate format, campaign finance, or party institutions that should be reformed before 2028?
Prescott Valley, Arizona Correspondent — Yes, and this is the question I'd most like the winner to take seriously, precisely because nobody has any incentive to. The primary process again compressed serious scrutiny and rewarded early momentum. Debate formats struggled to hold order and substance. Campaign finance continues to route influence through outside groups while … Continue reading Regardless of who wins, has the 2024 campaign exposed structural weaknesses in the primary system, debate format, campaign finance, or party institutions that should be reformed before 2028?
Briefly, what are the three or four most consequential issues the winner must confront in the first year, and which candidate is better equipped to address them?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — Restore operational control at the border and fix the asylum mismatch. Address cost-of-living pressure through energy production, housing supply, and spending discipline. Rebuild deterrence in the Middle East and hold a competitive stance toward China without new open-ended wars. Signal fiscal seriousness on the debt path. Trump's record and stated priorities … Continue reading Briefly, what are the three or four most consequential issues the winner must confront in the first year, and which candidate is better equipped to address them?
Early voting, mail ballots, and state-level election rules again differ widely. Do current procedures strengthen or weaken confidence in the result, and is further national standardization desirable or dangerous?
Prescott Valley, Arizona Correspondent — Variation in rules can be healthy. Large gaps in verification, deadlines, and chain of custody are not. Confidence is strengthened by clear, stable standards and transparent counting. Limited national baselines on integrity measures would raise confidence without federalizing every procedure. The operational risk I'd name today is different from the … Continue reading Early voting, mail ballots, and state-level election rules again differ widely. Do current procedures strengthen or weaken confidence in the result, and is further national standardization desirable or dangerous?
Trust in media, technology platforms, universities, and intelligence institutions continues to decline. Can the next administration meaningfully improve institutional credibility, or has the problem moved beyond the reach of any single president?
Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — Institutional credibility is a structural problem. A president can stop adding to the distrust and can reduce official pressure on platforms and agencies to police speech. Trump has been the consistent antagonist of the institutions that lost the most trust. That antagonism is often undisciplined and the underlying diagnosis is … Continue reading Trust in media, technology platforms, universities, and intelligence institutions continues to decline. Can the next administration meaningfully improve institutional credibility, or has the problem moved beyond the reach of any single president?
Abortion policy after Dobbs has returned largely to the states, yet it remains a national campaign issue. How significant should it be in voters’ decisions, and what are the realistic federal limits of either candidate’s position?
Prescott Valley, Arizona Correspondent — Dobbs returned the core policy choice to the states. Trump has taken a more restrained federal position than many in his party preferred, treating the question as largely settled at the state level. The alternative seeks to re-nationalize it through federal legislation. Voters who wanted the decision returned to the … Continue reading Abortion policy after Dobbs has returned largely to the states, yet it remains a national campaign issue. How significant should it be in voters’ decisions, and what are the realistic federal limits of either candidate’s position?
The Middle East, Ukraine, and competition with China have all intensified. Which candidate’s foreign-policy approach is more likely to deter adversaries and manage alliances without over-extension or retreat?
Sydney, Australia Correspondent — Deterrence requires credible capacity and clear priorities. Trump's first-term record on the Abraham Accords, pressure on Iran, and a harder line on China was more coherent than the drift that followed. The current combination of weakened deterrence toward Iran and its proxies, open-ended commitments, and uneven alliance management hasn't reduced risk. … Continue reading The Middle East, Ukraine, and competition with China have all intensified. Which candidate’s foreign-policy approach is more likely to deter adversaries and manage alliances without over-extension or retreat?
