Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Character and fitness matter because the office concentrates power and demands judgment under pressure that nobody can rehearse. Both candidates have vulnerabilities and I'd resist the framing that one set is serious and the other is noise. Trump's are extensively documented and frequently self-inflicted. Biden is seventy-seven and the questions … Continue reading Character, age, and fitness for office have been raised against both candidates. Should these considerations carry more, less, or the same weight as policy differences in this election?
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Record numbers of mail-in and absentee ballots have raised both access and integrity concerns. Do the current voting procedures strengthen or weaken public confidence in the outcome, and is major reform of election administration now required regardless of who wins?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Expanded mail voting increased convenience and increased the opportunities for dispute, because the rules changed late and verification standards vary enormously between states and sometimes between counties. Public confidence has clearly suffered, and I'd note it has suffered on both sides in different registers. The emphasis on verification, chain of … Continue reading Record numbers of mail-in and absentee ballots have raised both access and integrity concerns. Do the current voting procedures strengthen or weaken public confidence in the outcome, and is major reform of election administration now required regardless of who wins?
The 2020 campaign has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with sharp disagreements over lockdowns, school closures, masks, and vaccine timelines. How should voters weigh the candidates’ records and proposals on managing the pandemic against the broader economic and educational costs of the response?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — Voters have to hold the health effects and the economic and educational damage at the same time, and most of the coverage has asked them to hold one. Prolonged closures produced learning loss and business destruction that fell hardest on people with the least margin. I've had clients close who were … Continue reading The 2020 campaign has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with sharp disagreements over lockdowns, school closures, masks, and vaccine timelines. How should voters weigh the candidates’ records and proposals on managing the pandemic against the broader economic and educational costs of the response?
If a vaccine arrives before Inauguration Day, should first doses be allocated by federal civilian formula, by Defense Production Act logic, or by the states that can actually put shots in arms?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — A dose in a freezer isn't a dose. A dose in an arm is a dose. If something usable arrives before January, the scarce objects are cold chain, a defensible list of who dies waiting, and a clinic that can run on a Tuesday. Use all three instruments in an … Continue reading If a vaccine arrives before Inauguration Day, should first doses be allocated by federal civilian formula, by Defense Production Act logic, or by the states that can actually put shots in arms?
As courts and legislatures chip at NCAA amateurism, should college athletes be treated as employees this fall, or is that a category error that will collapse the non-revenue sports?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — A linebacker who fills a stadium and a biology major who swims at six in the morning are not the same worker. Pretending they are is how you get a category error with a legal memorandum attached. The courts are right that amateurism as a vow became a business model, and … Continue reading As courts and legislatures chip at NCAA amateurism, should college athletes be treated as employees this fall, or is that a category error that will collapse the non-revenue sports?
Is the renewed push for D.C. statehood a representation argument that should be settled on the merits, or a mid-cycle attempt to add Senate seats by statute?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Taxation without a House vote is an argument I can hear. Two senators from a federal city, created by statute, in a presidential year, is a different argument wearing the first one's coat. The merits version would look like a constitutional process — an amendment that retires the Twenty-third, a … Continue reading Is the renewed push for D.C. statehood a representation argument that should be settled on the merits, or a mid-cycle attempt to add Senate seats by statute?
Should states expand no-excuse mail balloting for November on pandemic grounds, or treat late changes to election mechanics as a confidence risk that outweighs access arguments?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — Access is a real word. So is a rulebook that moved after the primary posters went up. A pandemic justifies more absentee options for people who can show a reason and a simpler process for people who already had the right. It doesn't justify a July invention of universal mail in … Continue reading Should states expand no-excuse mail balloting for November on pandemic grounds, or treat late changes to election mechanics as a confidence risk that outweighs access arguments?
With the extra federal unemployment supplement scheduled to lapse, should Congress extend the $600 add-on, step it down, or let labor-market tightness and state systems take over?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Six hundred dollars on top of a state check was a March instrument. March instruments that pay more than the job they replaced become July problems. A cliff on the thirty-first is ugly if the job doesn't exist. A cliff is honest if the job is posted and the add-on … Continue reading With the extra federal unemployment supplement scheduled to lapse, should Congress extend the $600 add-on, step it down, or let labor-market tightness and state systems take over?
After new Hong Kong sanctions and another tariff round, should U.S.–China policy treat decoupling as a destination or as a limited valve strategy?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — A destination called decoupling sounds like a slogan that has never had to buy a capacitor. A valve strategy sounds like somebody who has read a bill of materials. The Hong Kong measures are a political and legal matter. You don't treat a city that was promised a different rule as … Continue reading After new Hong Kong sanctions and another tariff round, should U.S.–China policy treat decoupling as a destination or as a limited valve strategy?
After weeks of unrest and federal deployments to protect courthouses and monuments, should the use of federal officers in cities that refuse to hold a riot line be normalized, or reserved as an exceptional remedy?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — A courthouse is not a suggestion and a monument is not a comment box. When a city won't hold a line around either, somebody else does or the line is a rumor. Normalize is the wrong word if it means federal patrols standing in as municipal police. Exceptional is the … Continue reading After weeks of unrest and federal deployments to protect courthouses and monuments, should the use of federal officers in cities that refuse to hold a riot line be normalized, or reserved as an exceptional remedy?
