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?
politics
The role of the justice system and allegations of selective prosecution have become major campaign themes. Does this election represent a referendum on equal application of the law, and what practical steps could either candidate take to restore confidence?
Prescott Valley, Arizona Correspondent — When large numbers of voters believe the justice system is being used as a political weapon, the election becomes partly a referendum on equal application of the law. Trump has been the principal target of the most visible and contested prosecutions this cycle, and he is also the candidate campaigning … Continue reading The role of the justice system and allegations of selective prosecution have become major campaign themes. Does this election represent a referendum on equal application of the law, and what practical steps could either candidate take to restore confidence?
Inflation and the cost of living have remained central concerns even as official rates have moderated. How should voters evaluate the candidates’ records and plans on prices, wages, housing costs, and federal spending?
Owatonna, Minnesota Correspondent — Voters should look at the full path of prices since 2021, real wages, housing costs, and the fiscal stance that accompanied the surge. Trump's record before the pandemic and his emphasis on energy production and spending restraint give him the stronger position on durable relief. The alternative continues to lean toward … Continue reading Inflation and the cost of living have remained central concerns even as official rates have moderated. How should voters evaluate the candidates’ records and plans on prices, wages, housing costs, and federal spending?
Immigration and border security have ranked among the top issues throughout the campaign. What are the clearest differences between the candidates on enforcement, asylum rules, and legal pathways, and which approach is more likely to produce a stable outcome?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — The clearest differences are on the scale and speed of enforcement, asylum screening at the border, and whether legal pathways come after control or instead of it. Trump treats the border as a sovereignty and enforcement problem that has to be solved first. Harris and the current administration treated it more … Continue reading Immigration and border security have ranked among the top issues throughout the campaign. What are the clearest differences between the candidates on enforcement, asylum rules, and legal pathways, and which approach is more likely to produce a stable outcome?
If a future administration opened parallel state and federal files against a departing opposite-party president, would the defenders of the current docket still call that “the rule of law,” or would they rediscover process, venue, and timing as constitutional values?
Gastonia, NC The easiest constitutional principle in America is the one that binds the other side. The useful test is whether the sentence survives a change in the proper noun. Before running the test, I want to correct the tense in the question, because it is doing a great deal of work and it is … Continue reading If a future administration opened parallel state and federal files against a departing opposite-party president, would the defenders of the current docket still call that “the rule of law,” or would they rediscover process, venue, and timing as constitutional values?
Should the Washington NATO summit next week lock in a long-term Ukraine funding and production schedule, or mark the start of a narrower U.S. role?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — A summit that locks a tab is a summit that skipped the sentence about whose factory runs at night. Long-term schedules are adulthood if European line items are the ones that grow and American high-end stays the scarce part. They're a habit if the schedule is another way to write American … Continue reading Should the Washington NATO summit next week lock in a long-term Ukraine funding and production schedule, or mark the start of a narrower U.S. role?
Does a campaign conducted while one candidate is a convicted felon under state law create a legitimacy problem for whoever wins, or is that a category the Constitution already answered?
Myrtle Beach, SC Correspondent — The Constitution answered the category. It lists age, residency, natural-born citizenship, and a small number of disqualifications that Congress and the Fourteenth Amendment actually wrote. A state conviction isn't on the list, and the historical precedent is direct. Eugene Debs ran for president from a federal penitentiary in 1920 and … Continue reading Does a campaign conducted while one candidate is a convicted felon under state law create a legitimacy problem for whoever wins, or is that a category the Constitution already answered?
After the first presidential debate, should party mechanisms have a formal capacity test for nominees, or would that process be captured by the same insiders the primaries were meant to discipline?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — The country watched a fitness question answered on live television. That doesn't mean I want a committee with a stethoscope and a donor list. Primaries were supposed to be the capacity test voters run. What we saw last week was a party that spent a year insisting the question was a … Continue reading After the first presidential debate, should party mechanisms have a formal capacity test for nominees, or would that process be captured by the same insiders the primaries were meant to discipline?
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?
Is the current scale of U.S. border encounters sustainable under existing asylum and immigration law, or does it require legislative change?
Wheeling, WV Correspondent — The encounters and the backlog have exceeded the capacity of the law and the infrastructure for several years, and December is running at a record. Catch and release, multi-year waits, and asylum standards written for a different era have produced a de facto policy that neither secures a border nor processes … Continue reading Is the current scale of U.S. border encounters sustainable under existing asylum and immigration law, or does it require legislative change?
