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?
politics
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?
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?
Should the impeachment process be reserved for clear criminal conduct, or is it a legitimate political tool for checking executive power?
Prescott Valley, Arizona Correspondent — The constitutional text and the early history treat impeachment as a political remedy for serious abuses of power rather than as a criminal trial. Restricting it to indictable crimes would narrow a check designed to be broader. Using it as a routine instrument for policy disagreement drains its legitimacy and … Continue reading Should the impeachment process be reserved for clear criminal conduct, or is it a legitimate political tool for checking executive power?
Can the protests in Sudan and Algeria produce durable democratic transitions, or are they more likely to result in elite bargains that preserve existing power structures?
Sheffield, Jamaica Correspondent The question offers two outcomes, a durable democratic transition or an elite bargain that preserves existing power, and I want to begin by saying that in my experience of how small states change governments the two are not alternatives. Every durable transition I know of was an elite bargain, and most elite … Continue reading Can the protests in Sudan and Algeria produce durable democratic transitions, or are they more likely to result in elite bargains that preserve existing power structures?
With the Green New Deal, the Amazon fires, and youth climate strikes, has 2019 changed the politics of climate policy in the U.S., or only the volume?
Bismarck, North Dakota Correspondent I work in energy compliance in a state that produces more oil than any but Texas, mines lignite that fires the power plants that keep the upper Midwest warm, and ships both by rail through towns where the only other employer is the school, and I want to answer this question … Continue reading With the Green New Deal, the Amazon fires, and youth climate strikes, has 2019 changed the politics of climate policy in the U.S., or only the volume?
Should Congress reassert clearer statutory limits on the use of emergency economic powers by the executive branch?
Dayton, Ohio Correspondent — These authorities were written for genuine, time-limited crises. They've become a route for policy that would be harder to pass ordinarily. Tighter definitions, automatic sunsets, faster congressional review. That restores balance without stripping the ability to act when speed genuinely matters, which it sometimes does. The practical case from my side … Continue reading Should Congress reassert clearer statutory limits on the use of emergency economic powers by the executive branch?
Will the 2020 presidential election cycle further accelerate the nationalization of every local and state political contest?
Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — National money, national media, and national messaging have already turned a lot of state and local races into extensions of the presidential fight. Candidates get judged by their alignment with a national figure rather than by anything they did locally. In a state this small that's a genuine loss, because … Continue reading Will the 2020 presidential election cycle further accelerate the nationalization of every local and state political contest?
Is the growing use of national-security justifications for tariffs and investment restrictions creating a new form of permanent industrial policy?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent — National-security language is being applied to a widening set of economic measures. Some uses are legitimate. Others are conventional industrial policy wearing a more convenient label. The tell is usually the product. When the security case is made about uranium or semiconductors, it's at least arguable. When it's made about a … Continue reading Is the growing use of national-security justifications for tariffs and investment restrictions creating a new form of permanent industrial policy?
Will the ongoing investigations into the previous presidential campaign ultimately strengthen or further erode public trust in federal law-enforcement institutions?
Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — Trust in these institutions was already uneven here before any of this started. In a place where the Bureau's main historical appearance was in a corruption case against somebody local, the reservoir was never deep. When a high-profile probe is read through partisan lenses, every procedural decision becomes evidence of … Continue reading Will the ongoing investigations into the previous presidential campaign ultimately strengthen or further erode public trust in federal law-enforcement institutions?
