Myrtle Beach, SC Correspondent — Shelter costs move first. Crime stories move louder. Measure the first like an adult and treat the second like a prosecutor rather than a rally. The shelter numbers are the printable ones and they have moved. New York's census is down substantially from the peak and emergency sites have been … Continue reading Has the early deportation and parole unwind shifted crime and shelter costs in a measurable way in the cities that asked for relief?
Should federal research and student-aid dollars be withheld from specific universities this year on viewpoint and discipline grounds, or is firm-by-firm litigation the better tool?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — This stopped being hypothetical in the spring. Money has already been withheld at scale from named institutions and the litigation is already running alongside it. So the real question is whether the version being executed is the one any of us would have designed, and I'd say partly. Withholding on a … Continue reading Should federal research and student-aid dollars be withheld from specific universities this year on viewpoint and discipline grounds, or is firm-by-firm litigation the better tool?
Is a mid-year fight over the Federal Reserve’s independence a necessary assertion of elected control, or a risk to the only remaining adult in the rate room?
Myrtle Beach, SC Correspondent — The Fed isn't a priesthood and it isn't a campaign desk. Elected control already exists in the statute — a mandate Congress wrote, governors the Senate confirms, a chair who can be embarrassed in a hearing. Using those tools is adult. Turning the mid-year rate path into a loyalty test … Continue reading Is a mid-year fight over the Federal Reserve’s independence a necessary assertion of elected control, or a risk to the only remaining adult in the rate room?
The tax and reconciliation bill was signed today. Did Congress write a durable code, or a stack of expiring provisions that will be relitigated in 2027?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — We can stop arguing about how it should be written. It was signed this morning, and the answer is both. The core is permanent. The rates and brackets don't expire, and full expensing was made permanent. Those are real and they're what a lender models. Everything the campaign was actually about … Continue reading The tax and reconciliation bill was signed today. Did Congress write a durable code, or a stack of expiring provisions that will be relitigated in 2027?
Should mass-removal operations be paced to agricultural and hospitality labor demand, or does that pacing recreate the old wink under a new name?
Myrtle Beach, SC Correspondent — This coast sells rooms and plates. I know what a July without dishwashers looks like, and I know what a wink looks like, and they aren't the same kindness. We are not speculating about this. Three weeks ago there was a public statement about farm and hotel workers being hurt, … Continue reading Should mass-removal operations be paced to agricultural and hospitality labor demand, or does that pacing recreate the old wink under a new name?
Have mid-year tariff actions produced more reshoring and bargaining leverage than they have raised input costs for builders, farms, and retailers?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — A tariff is a price and a letter. At mid-year we have more of the letter than we have of a finished plant. That isn't a reason to call the letter a failure. It's a reason not to call it a factory. Input costs are real. Builders are paying them in … Continue reading Have mid-year tariff actions produced more reshoring and bargaining leverage than they have raised input costs for builders, farms, and retailers?
The 19th Annual Robert M. Clinger III Invitational Golf Tournament
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The 19 th Annual Robert M. Clinger III Invitational Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, February 18, 2025—The 19th Annual Robert M. Clinger III Invitational was contested on Monday, February 17, 2025 at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The field of eighty-four players braved the cold and wind … Continue reading The 19th Annual Robert M. Clinger III Invitational Golf Tournament
Is the increasing politicization of once-neutral institutions now a greater long-term risk than any single policy failure?
Wheeling, WV Correspondent — Policy failures can be corrected by later elections. A shared factual and procedural baseline can't be restored the same way. I'd say the part that makes this question hard rather than easy in December. The coalition that has spent a decade making this argument is about to hold the executive branch. … Continue reading Is the increasing politicization of once-neutral institutions now a greater long-term risk than any single policy failure?
Is the current structure of the Electoral College still the best available mechanism for balancing national and federal interests in presidential selection?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — This question reads differently than it would have in October, and that's the useful thing about answering it now. The winner carried the popular vote. So the argument most people have actually been having for twenty-four years — that the mechanism produces winners the country didn't choose — didn't arise … Continue reading Is the current structure of the Electoral College still the best available mechanism for balancing national and federal interests in presidential selection?
How should policymakers address the continued divergence between asset-price performance and the economic experience of lower- and middle-income households?
Clermont, FL Correspondent — Asset prices have been supported by low rates and concentrated ownership. Households experience the economy through wages, rent, food, and insurance. The insurance line is the one that's changed most in this state and it's absent from every national discussion. Premiums here have risen by multiples, not percentages, and for a … Continue reading How should policymakers address the continued divergence between asset-price performance and the economic experience of lower- and middle-income households?
