From The Hill:
Biden Could Be Picking the Next President: VP Choice More Important Than Ever
Say Biden is elected. He will be 81 years old when it’s time to run for re-election. If he decides not to run for a second term, his vice president will be the obvious favorite to claim the Democratic nomination for president in 2024. So Democrats will very likely be nominating their next two candidates for president this summer. And Democrats will be asking voters to vote for the next two presidents.
—Bill Schneider
From the Washington Post:
The Coronavirus Crash Was Fast and Hard. The Recovery Will Be Slow and Uneven.
When the viral storm finally subsides, the initial ride back up is also likely to be steep, at least initially, as companies and workers get back to business and investors pile back into the market. But after that brief surge, progress will slow and the longer-term effects of the crisis become clear.
—Steven Pearlstein
From the Baltimore Sun:
Gov. Larry Hogan’s Coronavirus Leadership Trumps Trump’s—and Many Others
Many state and local leaders are making the right decisions to try to get through this crisis. But there is no national coordination and those subnational governments slow to act are endangering everyone. Without some aggressive national action, many will continue to act with less than the urgency required in this situation. Federalism in the U.S. has great virtues during normal times. But in crises and emergencies a sure-handed national effort is necessary. And that is tragically lacking right now.
—Mark J. Rozell
From the Washington Post:
Here’s Why Giving Every American $1,200 Is a Really Bad Idea
It is not just an inefficient and ineffective way to stabilize the economy — it’s also a cynical ploy by President Trump and the Republican leaders in Congress to buy the next election. Even more surprising is that it seems to have won the reflexive support of liberal Democrats who have become so fixated on economic inequality, so addicted to fiscal stimulus and so desperate to win back the white working class that their instinct isn’t to oppose it, but to demand the checks be even larger.
—Steven Pearlstein
From the National Interest:
The Coronavirus and Pakistan: Why People Must Immediately Begin Social Distancing
Pakistan has all of the conditions that would allow the coronavirus pandemic to run rampant…The prime minister of Pakistan, who has responded to the pandemic poorly, stated in a televised address to the nation that the country could not afford to take an economic break by enforcing social distancing. Furthermore, officials mishandled the infected pilgrims returning from Iran. Consequently, in the absence of a bona fide crisis response, the public is churning out myths and conspiracy theories and turning to totkay (sorcery and unscientific treatments) for Coronavirus.
—GRAs Muhammad Salar Khan and Farah Latif
From Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:
Myanmar Should Finally Come Clean About Its Chemical Weapons Past—with U.S. Help
By showing that it may open up about its past chemical weapon program, Myanmar is offering the United States an opportunity the Trump administration shouldn’t let slip. Washington should make it clear that it will provide the assistance—technical and financial—necessary for Myanmar to declare and destroy its program, perhaps by establishing a trust fund through the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Other countries should make similar pledges to Myanmar as a way of reassuring this developing country that the international community will help it shoulder the burden. Finally, the United States should make it clear that it views any chemical warfare agents, munitions, or production equipment that still exist at Tonbo to be a potential proliferation risk, thereby keeping this issue on the international agenda until it is fully resolved.
—Greg Koblentz and Biodefense Master’s Student Madeline Roty
From the Syndication Bureau:
The US-Taliban Deal and Its Shaky Aftermath
For the US, should this agreement – not a treaty requiring ratification by the US Senate – actually permit the desired withdrawal of US and NATO forces, it will find its place in the canon of national security literature as another war that did not produce a military victory. Virtually every war since World War II, with the notable exception of the Gulf War of 1990-91, failed to achieve a clear military victory and a sustained political settlement. Afghanistan will join Vietnam as a long, tragic engagement where the US lost sight of an achievable goal.
—Ellen Laipson
From American Thinker:
Coronavirus Relief Bill Shows Why We Need to Constrain Government Spending
Let us look at it from the elected officials' point of view. It's not their own money they are spending. Groups receiving the funds will help them advance their careers. And currently, because the re-election rate of incumbents hovers around 90 percent, legislators have no real incentive to be good stewards of taxpayer resources.
—David K. Rehr
From The Hill:
Is This Any Way to Pick a President?
Indeed, the nomination system has evolved to the point where the process clearly is favoring non-conventional, populist candidacies. And we cannot ignore the threat to democratic institutions posed by those who either reject the norms of the system or want to fundamentally overturn the status quo. They can win nominations, and even become president.
—Mark J. Rozell
From The Hill:
The Big Issue for Democrats Is Donald Trump
The issue that dominates American politics right now is one that never got discussed in a Democratic debate because it’s only just become a crisis — the coronavirus epidemic. Tuesday’s Michigan exit poll got at it by asking, “Which candidate do you trust most to handle a major crisis?” Biden led Sanders, 49 to 35 percent. In a crisis like this, experience counts. And Biden has more experience than Sanders (or Trump).
—Bill Schneider
From Responsible Statecraft:
Putin’s Courtship of Both Assad and Erdogan Is Spinning Out of Control in Syria
Moscow really cannot afford to let Turkey defeat Syrian forces in northwestern Syria, because this risks stimulating opposition to it elsewhere in Syria. But helping the Assad regime fight off Turkish forces in northwestern Syria could involve Russia in a much bigger and longer conflict than Putin wants. Even if successful against Turkey, the damage to Russian-Turkish relations could this time be irreparable. Putin’s balancing act between Erdogan and Assad may no longer be sustainable.
—Mark N. Katz
From the Washington Post:
Here’s a Better Way to Get the Economy Through the Coronavirus Shutdown
So how could the government give lenders and landlords the incentive and the liquidity to offer widespread forbearance? The quickest and most efficient way is by offering them tax credits, which is just an indirect and politically disguised way of sending them enough money to make them whole if they are willing to do the socially responsible thing.
—Steven Pearlstein
From the Roanoke Times:
Northam and Federalism Confront a Crisis
Confronting a crisis with a hodgepodge of policies often in conflict with each other is not working. Federalism works great in normal times, but its flaws are on full display in the current crisis. Only a strong nationalized response — better late than never — is up to the task of solving this crisis.
—Mark J. Rozell
From The Hill:
Biden’s Back, but Clearing the Field Still a Challenge
Superdelegates are no longer allowed to vote on the first ballot. But they can vote on the second ballot. There are over 770 superdelegates this year, and very few of them support Sanders. That gives losing candidates an incentive to stay in the race — Sanders and Biden would have to bargain for their support on the second ballot. It’s the scenario political junkies have been dreaming of for nearly 70 years — “a brokered convention!”
—Bill Schneider