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?
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Was the Fulton County racketeering indictment a conventional use of a state RICO statute against an alleged effort to overturn a certified result, or a county prosecutor’s attempt to nationalize a political dispute the voters were already going to retry?
Gastonia, NC The word doing the work in this indictment is "enterprise," and I want to start there because I spent two days last week finding out that the word does not mean what I assumed it meant. My assumption, and I suspect most people's, was that a racketeering statute reaches organizations whose business is … Continue reading Was the Fulton County racketeering indictment a conventional use of a state RICO statute against an alleged effort to overturn a certified result, or a county prosecutor’s attempt to nationalize a political dispute the voters were already going to retry?
Are midsummer state referenda and ballot-qualification fights over abortion a better test of post-Dobbs democracy than a federal statute neither chamber can pass?
Myrtle Beach, SC Correspondent — Democracy that can actually close a question beats a national bill that exists as a fundraising header. The decision didn't create a consensus. It created a venue, and venues that can vote are the test of whether a country can live with disagreement. Ballot-qualification fights are ugly — signature vendors, … Continue reading Are midsummer state referenda and ballot-qualification fights over abortion a better test of post-Dobbs democracy than a federal statute neither chamber can pass?
Do gasoline prices at midsummer levels require a temporary federal tax holiday and drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or would those steps worsen the longer shortage?
Myrtle Beach, SC Correspondent — A holiday on a federal tax of eighteen cents against a five-dollar sticker is a rounding error with a ribbon. A reserve drawdown is a one-time sale from a tank built for a blockade, not for a midsummer poll. Neither drills a hole or finishes a pipe. Midsummer prices hurt … Continue reading Do gasoline prices at midsummer levels require a temporary federal tax holiday and drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or would those steps worsen the longer shortage?
How should regulators respond to the spread of monkeypox without repeating the early-COVID pattern of mixed messages and uneven access to vaccine?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — Say who is actually at risk, say it on Monday, and say the same sentence on Friday. That's the whole rule. The current outbreak is concentrated in a defined sexual network — overwhelmingly men who have sex with men — and it's spreading through close, sustained skin contact rather than through … Continue reading How should regulators respond to the spread of monkeypox without repeating the early-COVID pattern of mixed messages and uneven access to vaccine?
Should Congress reassert clearer limits on the use of emergency and national-security authorities by the executive branch?
Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — These authorities expanded through repeated use and broad interpretation, and Congress has the constitutional position to redraw them. Tighter definitions, shorter time limits, faster review. Leaving them vague invites continued expansion and reduces the legislature to a commentator. I'd say the obvious thing about why it doesn't happen. A member … Continue reading Should Congress reassert clearer limits on the use of emergency and national-security authorities by the executive branch?
After the first hundred days and the January 6 prosecutions, is “domestic violent extremism” now a coherent federal priority, or a label that will be applied to whichever street the current majority dislikes?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — January 6 was ugly, illegal, and a gift to every camera in the country. Whether it was domestic terrorism depends on whether the noun means anything or just means a crowd we dislike on a day we can use. A coherent priority would have found the word in 2020. A police … Continue reading After the first hundred days and the January 6 prosecutions, is “domestic violent extremism” now a coherent federal priority, or a label that will be applied to whichever street the current majority dislikes?
Regardless of the outcome, has the 2020 campaign revealed deeper problems in the primary process, debate structure, or campaign finance system that both parties should address before the next cycle?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Yes, and the useful thing about this question is that it can be answered before anyone knows who won. The primary calendar and the debate rules amplified early momentum and limited sustained scrutiny. A candidate who survives the first three contests acquires an aura that substitutes for examination, and both … Continue reading Regardless of the outcome, has the 2020 campaign revealed deeper problems in the primary process, debate structure, or campaign finance system that both parties should address before the next cycle?
Briefly, what are the three or four most important issues that the winner must address in the first year, and which candidate is better positioned to handle them?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — Finish the acute phase and get a vaccine distributed, assuming one works, without leaving permanent emergency rules behind. Restore economic activity and employment. Re-establish order in the cities that had sustained unrest. Set a coherent course on China and critical supply chains. Trump's instincts on reopening, on order, and on strategic … Continue reading Briefly, what are the three or four most important issues that the winner must address in the first year, and which candidate is better positioned to handle them?
Foreign policy differences on China, Iran, Russia, and alliances have received less attention than domestic crises. Which candidate’s approach is more likely to reduce long-term strategic risk, and why?
Sydney, Australia Correspondent — I don't have a vote and I'm not going to pretend to a preference, but I can tell you how this looks from an allied capital, and it's more mixed than either campaign would like. On China the substance was correct and I'd say so plainly. The prior consensus underweighted the … Continue reading Foreign policy differences on China, Iran, Russia, and alliances have received less attention than domestic crises. Which candidate’s approach is more likely to reduce long-term strategic risk, and why?
