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Your Predictions for 2012
Tweet Share on Facebook December 30, 2011 CommentWhat do you think will be the big stories next year and how will they play out? There are some large and consequential subjects on the table for 2012. Scary, even. For starters, there's a presidential election. How's that going to turn out? Who wins the GOP nomination? Does President Obama keep his chair? What about war with Iran? What are the odds? Will the euro finally implode and with what effect on the rest of us? Will the United States start to create jobs or do we stay depressingly stagnant? Any good news on the horizon? Will the iPad take over the world? Will we discover the Higgs boson? (And will somebody remind me why that's so important?) Please share your thoughts on what you think will be the big stories to come at editor@usnews.com.
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What Should Obama Do About Libya?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 25, 2011 Comment (6)Should we be doing more or less in Libya? The stakes rose with the announcement last week that the British, French, and Italians were putting "advisers" into the country to prop up the fragile band of rebels. It was an admission of what military leaders said from the start: A sanitary air war was not going to get the job done. And that job, now, is the removal of Muammar Qadhafi. What should be the U.S. role? President Obama has been tentative about committing significant U.S. forces. The polling is going against him. Do we have a strategic interest in trying to shape a favorable outcome? If we don't, who will? Is it best to let the rest of the world try to solve the problem? Are the Europeans capable? I'd like to hear your thoughts on where we go with Libya at editor@usnews.com or in the comments section below.
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Tax Day: Did You Pay Too Much? Are Federal Taxes Fair?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 18, 2011 Comment (3)For some reason, as I sit down to write this, I'm thinking about taxes. Oh, right. They're due today. Debating tax policy after settling up with the government may be as ill-advised as grocery shopping after skipping lunch. But given the politically charged problem of our budget crisis, now's the moment. The issue boils down to merely two of the most important questions a society can ask itself: When it comes to taking money out of people's pockets, what's necessary, and what's fair? No one likes taxes, but thinking about your own still-wet 1040, was it the right amount? Did you get your money's worth? Assuming, of course, that you paid taxes; nearly half of Americans don't. Is that fair? Is there a better system? Give me your thoughts at editor@usnews.com or in the comments section below.
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Does Donald Trump Belong in the 2012 Presidential Race?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 11, 2011 Comment (6)What’s Donald Trump up to? And does it matter? One of America’s greatest self-promoters—and a very successful businessman—is turning his attention to politics. “Oh, goody!” might be a voyeuristic reaction from someone who views politics as an entertainment spectacle. Those who see it as a serious business might think otherwise. [Vote now: Is Trump's birtherism just a stunt?]
Whatever, he can be compelling TV. And he’s already making a mark by reviving questions about President Obama’s birth certificate—including sending private investigators to Hawaii to dig up who knows what. In New Hampshire, some early polls find him with actual support. I’d like to hear your thoughts. Does Trump belong in the race? Is he helpful or harmful to the process? I'd like to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Should the Japan Nuclear Crisis Affect U.S. Energy Policy?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 21, 2011 Comment (3)Should the events in Japan cause the United States to change its policies on nuclear energy? The outcome there is far from certain, but critics of nuclear power have been vocal, and some countries, notably Germany, have talked about scaling back considerably. The headlines and moon-suit pictures have been scary enough. Perhaps too scary? While there is nothing good about a nuclear plant accident, even one on the scale of Chernobyl had consequences that were far from catastrophic. Supporters say Japan's problems had more to do with old designs and bad planning than the fury of nature. The issue arises just as we were coming to a rough national consensus to ramp up this dormant clean energy source. Time to pull back? I'd like to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Should Congress Fund NPR and PBS?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 14, 2011 Comment (3)Has anybody been following the fireworks surrounding stately old National Public Radio? You'd think Charlie Sheen was running the place, given how management is feeding the suspicions of its harshest critics. But aside from the perpetual debate over how far left NPR leans (less far than it used to, I'd say), the bigger question is whether the government should be in the broadcast business at all. The real issue isn't so much NPR itself, but the individual stations, particularly the small ones, often in less-populous areas. Should the government pay to support a radio outlet in the back end of Colorado or the North Dakota prairie? And add to that the PBS television issue, which always comes down to, whither Sesame Street? I'd like to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Is President Obama Underexposed?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 10, 2011 CommentIs President Obama underexposed? That's an unusual question to ask about an American president in the last 50 or more years. Presidents have been increasingly dominant characters in the daily news cycle—this president happily acceding to his place on stage, and more. But over the past weeks Obama has seemed all but absent, even as some hugely significant news events are unfolding. The tumult in the Middle East--particularly in Libya—as well as the budget battles on Capitol Hill are not your ordinary occurrences and would normally attract keen presidential attention. So has the president been too quiet? Too passive? Is there a strategy here, or is he abdicating a crucial role? I'd like to hear your thoughts on Obama and the bully pulpit. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Will Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Doom Public Sector Unions?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 28, 2011 Comment (5)Is the Madison, Wis., standoff the beginning of the end of public employee unions? Should it be? The remarkable confrontation between the new Republican governor and state employees that began earlier this month and spread to other states has raised a major public policy debate. The notion of government workers forming unions and bargaining collectively (see the U.S. News debate on whether public workers should have collective bargaining rights) was controversial in the early days of the labor movement. Even Franklin Roosevelt and other strong unionists opposed the idea. But it gradually came to be accepted. Now, in this cash-strapped era, some think the early concerns have been borne out with unions essentially spending the public's money to lobby for more public money. Where do you stand? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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What Should Obama Do About Iran?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 22, 2011 Comment (16)However they turn out, the protests sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa are a profound spectacle that evokes the fall of communism and transformation of Eastern Europe two decades ago. Like those earlier revolutions, it's worth remembering that some repressive oligarchies are more important than others. Specifically, Iran. The mullahs rule over the world's most dangerous country. Unlike, say, the anxieties over radical Muslims taking over Egypt, it's hard to envision how the regime's downfall could bring about something worse. So what should the United States do about it? Can President Obama help assure the fall of the Iranian government? Or is it best to stand by and let events unfold? I'd like to hear your thoughts below.
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Democrats Go Left, GOP Goes Right--Good for Politics?
Tweet Share on Facebook February 15, 2011 Comment (3)Is the center of Democratic politics dead? This week, the Democratic Leadership Council folded. The group that reshaped the party after disastrous defeats by steering a middle course and helping elect Bill Clinton in 1992 had lost support and funding. Democrats aligned with that view—Evan Bayh, Kent Conrad, Jim Webb, Jane Harman, and others—are dropping out of politics by the week. The Democrats seem to be reasserting a staunch liberalism, even as Republicans move toward a more conservative stance. Is this good or bad? Some think that having starkly opposed parties is the way a two-party system should work. Others see a damaging divide that could make Washington nastier, and less effective, than it already is. What do you think? Post your thoughts below.
