FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThe 18th Annual Robert M. Clinger III Invitational Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, February 20, 2024—The 18th Annual Robert M. Clinger III Invitational was contested on Monday, February 19, 2024 at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Eighty players ranging in age from thirteen to eighty-two competed for the … Continue reading The 18th Annual Robert M. Clinger III Invitational Golf Tournament
Author: thinkingoutsidetheboxe
When the White House kept press availability tightly limited, declined routine interviews, and ran a staff-managed schedule, was that ordinary modern presidency — or evidence that the public was no longer seeing the person who actually held the office?
Myrtle Beach, SC Every White House manages a calendar. The question is whether this one managed it past the point where the public could still see the officer, and the numbers are the place to start rather than the vibe. In three years this president has given fewer than a hundred interviews. Each of the … Continue reading When the White House kept press availability tightly limited, declined routine interviews, and ran a staff-managed schedule, was that ordinary modern presidency — or evidence that the public was no longer seeing the person who actually held the office?
Should classified-documents handling by former presidents and vice presidents be governed by one published standard after the Biden and Pence discoveries, or does the divergence in charging outcomes confirm that the documents file was never a neutral records policy?
Myrtle Beach, SC If the subject is records, the government should be able to publish the rule before it knows the name on the box. That was the standard I expected once classified material turned up not only at Mar-a-Lago but in a Wilmington garage and a house in Carmel, Indiana. And I spent this … Continue reading Should classified-documents handling by former presidents and vice presidents be governed by one published standard after the Biden and Pence discoveries, or does the divergence in charging outcomes confirm that the documents file was never a neutral records policy?
Did Special Counsel Hur’s description of Biden as an elderly man with a poor memory — while declining to charge — confirm a two-track standard for cognitive fitness in classified-documents cases, or was it an irrelevant aside in a declination memo?
Gastonia, NC An aside is a sentence you can cut without changing anything. This one cannot be cut, and the reason has nothing to do with the memo. Four days ago, on the evening the report came out, the President walked into the briefing room to rebut it. He said his memory was fine. He … Continue reading Did Special Counsel Hur’s description of Biden as an elderly man with a poor memory — while declining to charge — confirm a two-track standard for cognitive fitness in classified-documents cases, or was it an irrelevant aside in a declination memo?
Is the increasing concentration of federal regulatory power in independent agencies still consistent with constitutional accountability?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Agencies wield substantial power with limited direct accountability, and the courts have begun to reexamine it in a way that will matter more than any statute. Two cases argued this term are the ones to watch. One asks whether courts must defer to an agency's reading of an ambiguous statute, … Continue reading Is the increasing concentration of federal regulatory power in independent agencies still consistent with constitutional accountability?
Is the current model of commercial real estate financing viable after the permanent shift toward remote and hybrid work?
Orange County, CA Correspondent — Not for the office segment, and the numbers are now firm enough to say it without hedging. Office values are down somewhere between thirty and forty percent from the peak in most major markets, and considerably more for older buildings without amenities. Occupancy nationally has plateaued near half of pre-pandemic … Continue reading Is the current model of commercial real estate financing viable after the permanent shift toward remote and hybrid work?
Should universities face greater accountability for the intellectual and viewpoint diversity of their faculties and curricula?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — This question was academic until three weeks ago and now it isn't. Three presidents testified before Congress on December 5 and were asked whether calling for genocide against Jews would violate their codes of conduct. They answered that it depends on context. One resigned four days later. Here's why that … Continue reading Should universities face greater accountability for the intellectual and viewpoint diversity of their faculties and curricula?
Will the conflict in the Middle East produce lasting changes in global energy markets and alliance structures?
Clermont, FL Correspondent — The premise deserves a correction before the analysis, because the market answered and the answer was surprising. Oil spiked briefly after October and then fell for the rest of the quarter. Crude finished the year lower than it began, during a war involving the most important oil-producing region on earth. That's … Continue reading Will the conflict in the Middle East produce lasting changes in global energy markets and alliance structures?
Is the growing use of legal process against political opponents a greater long-term risk to democratic norms than any single election outcome?
Wheeling, WV Correspondent — Elections decide who holds power for a term. Using the legal system as the primary weapon changes the character of the competition. When prosecutions are widely viewed as selective or timed, trust in equal application falls and the next cycle repeats the pattern. That erosion is harder to reverse than any … Continue reading Is the growing use of legal process against political opponents a greater long-term risk to democratic norms than any single election outcome?
How can the United States address the long-term fiscal burden of entitlement programs without undermining the social contract with current retirees?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent — Current retirees planned around existing promises and abrupt cuts would break expectations built over decades. The arithmetic is published and nobody disputes it. The trustees put old-age insurance depletion at 2033, after which the payroll tax covers something like three-quarters of scheduled benefits. Medicare's hospital fund runs out sooner. Depletion isn't … Continue reading How can the United States address the long-term fiscal burden of entitlement programs without undermining the social contract with current retirees?
