What Were We Thinking? Selected Schar School Op-Eds (August 2023)

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From USA Today:

What If Biden Stumbles? Democrats Need a Strong Alternative Candidate with Stakes So High.

There is a darker prospect that should make every Democrat want a challenger to Biden. Most of the attacks on Biden as senile are unfair, snippets of videos that mistake fumbling with words for dementia. But if you haven’t seen at least one mildly troubling video of Biden being confused, you haven’t been paying attention. 

—Jeremy Mayer

 

From the Hill:

Time to End America’s Obsession with Manufacturing

This manufacturing subsidy war will be expensive and will support inefficient sectors, raising costs for households and firms. For example, most estimates of semiconductor chip fabrication in the United States are that it costs up to 50 percent more than fabrication elsewhere. American taxpayers will eventually bear the cost of subsidizing this kind of relative inefficiency.

—Kenneth Reinert

 

From the Washington Business Journal:

Viewpoint: D.C. Region Has Lost Its Competitive Edge. Here’s What It Will Take to Regain It.

Why are young workers in their prime of life deciding that the Washington region is not where their future lies? Congestion, a tarnished image, growing crime, political uncertainty, lack of leadership, high cost-of-living—the list is lengthy.

—Stephen Fuller and Mark J. Rozell

 

From the Diplomat:

Commerce Secretary Raimondo’s China Visit Must Confront Changing Attitudes

China-U.S. geopolitical dynamics extend far beyond mere economic considerations. How these various dimensions are navigated will shape the nature and scope of future trade agreements.

—Hilton Root

 

From Fortune:

We Gave 2 Groups of American Voters Opposite Scenarios for the U.S. Economy and Asked Them About Culture Wars. No One Cared About ‘Wokeness’ in Case of a Recession.

Exposed to bad economic news, Republicans’ level of concern over wokeness and critical race theory dropped more than any other issue.

—Justin Gest, et al.

 

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Experts: New Ohio State President Landed Most Lucrative Contract Seen in 20 Years

It makes us wonder if the taxpayers of Ohio and Ohio State's students and donors are making a smart investment in agreeing to pay more than most Ohioans earn in their lifetimes to just one individual over the next five years.

—Judith Wilde and James Finkelstein

 

From the Conversation:

Nonprofits May Engage in Advocacy and Limited Lobbying, But Few Do So—New Research

We believe these findings indicate a need for more training of nonprofit leaders regarding the importance of advocacy and lobbying tied to their missions.

—Mirae Kim, et. al

 

From Homeland Security Today:

A Holistic Approach to Combat Fentanyl Smuggling and Ongoing Overdose Deaths

A more balanced approach must be given to the various dimensions of fentanyl-related overdoses, as the high number of overdose deaths makes it crucial to take necessary measures. It is as easy as providing medicines that reverse the impacts of fentanyl in the hot-spot regions where most deaths are recorded. Still, the most effective results will be obtained with successfully applied long-term strategies.

—Mahmut Cengiz

 

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Spanberger’s Expected Gubernatorial Bid in 2025 Poses Dilemma for Democrats

The same portfolio that made Spanberger successful in one of the nation’s most visible swing districts also makes her one of her party’s most alluring gubernatorial contenders.

—Mark J. Rozell

 

From the Washington Post:

How Congress Can Shut Down the Bullies

The right-wingers will accuse them of treason. 

—Steven Pearlstein

 

From War on the Rocks:

The Allure of Conscription

History cannot tell us if reintroducing conscription is right or wrong. But it reveals that this policy has been the exception throughout the nation’s existence. A historically informed approach to supplying the personnel levels the U.S. military needs might begin with examining the anachronistic personnel policies, largely derived from World War II, that remain in existence today. 

—PhD Political Science Student Ryan Walker Pallas

 

From Kiplinger:

Central Banks Near End of Rate-Hike Cycle: Kiplinger Economic Forecasts

Mexico’s central bank will likely be the last in the region to embark on rate cuts, as core inflation remains stubbornly high there and the labor market stays tight.

—Rodrigo Sermeño

 

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

With White House Bid Fading, Youngkin’s Star Is Brighter Than Ever

If he can convert Virginia from total Democratic dominance in 2021 to full Republican rule in just two years, he would be enormously appealing to a Republican presidential nominee looking for a compelling running mate. Much, however, depends on who wins the nomination.

—Mark J. Rozell

 

From the Messenger:

Indictments Haven’t Hobbled Trump: They Might Not, and Here’s Why

What’s driving it? More than anything else, the immigration issue. Specifically, resentment of non-white and non-Christian immigrants who migrate to Europe and the U.S., often illegally. Anger over illegal immigration was the issue that created the Trump movement.

—Bill Schneider

 

From NAPA Management Matters:

Making Government AI-Ready Begins with an AI-Ready Workforce

By incorporating these elements into the existing curriculum, colleges can provide students with a well- rounded education in AI that prepares them to contribute meaningfully to the field and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of AI technologies. This means courses in policy, public administration, the humanities, and organizational development are a few disciplines that should easily absorb and embrace AI.

—Alan R. Shark

 

From War on the Rocks:

From Terrorist Organizations to Cocaine Groups in Colombia: Is ELN the Next?

Ongoing security vacuums in the borderland areas of Venezuela and emerging opportunities and collaborations with Mexican cartels have generated a favorable environment for existing groups to become involved in cocaine trafficking.

—Mahmut Cengiz

 

From Bearing Drift:

Trump Indicted Again, This Time in Georgia

I held public office as a Republican for more than twenty years, but honestly, I hardly recognize the GOP today. It has been taken over by conservative ideological extremists and purists who don’t understand how government must work in a divided and polarized society.

—Bill Bolling

 

From the Messenger:

Abortion, Kamala Harris, and the Glue That’s Holding the Democratic Coalition Together

Harris is a progressive black woman with immigrant roots, whose parents both earned PhDs and who made her career in San Francisco, the most progressive city in the country. President Biden is a devout Catholic who used to vote in Congress against federal funding for abortion but whose views on abortion rights have evolved.

—Bill Schneider

 

From the Atlantic Council:

The BRICS Come to the Middle East and North Africa

This is because whatever purposes the BRICS serves—whether as a group of five or eleven—it does not seem likely to be able to resolve disputes among its members. 

—Mark N. Katz

 

From Homeland Security Today:

Taliban Rule at the Two-Year Mark: Should We Worry About al-Qaeda and ISIS-K?

Despite its promises to distance itself from terrorist organizations, al-Qaeda and ISIS-K enjoy operating in the security vacuums of the government. This article examines the Taliban’s two years of rule at the government’s second anniversary and focuses on the current capacity of al-Qaeda and ISIS-K.

—Mahmut Cengiz

 

From Bearing Drift:

A Question for My Pro-Life Friends

Honestly, it seems to me that supporting a 15-week abortion ban is pro-choice … at least pro-choice lite! If you support this proposal you are saying it is okay for 94 percent of all abortions to continue to be performed. 

—Bill Bolling