Our electrifying, exhausting, and sometimes exhilarating election is over; the inauguration is over; the first 100 days are over. The issues that confronted us before the election are still here, and issues demand answers – sometimes in the form of legislation and implementation, sometimes in the form of individuals doing what they can alone and in groups to make this the best country it can be. That’s as it always has been. But there are other issues that don’t lend themselves as easily to legislative solutions – or to solutions at all – but lend themselves to reflection.
The domestic policy issue of inFOCUS asks broadly, “How can we make this the best America?” That requires more questions: Who are we? Who might we be in 25 years? Where did we come from politically and governmentally? What do we do? What do we want? How do we make ourselves safe? What do we expect from our government; is that too much or too little?
Looking back at who we are and how we got to this place, George Friedman considers the national debt from the Founders’ perspective and Tara Ross looks at the Electoral College. Judicial overreach is the purview of Elizabeth Slattery. Capital formation and alternatives in higher education will help determine our future; Pinar Cebi Wilber and Abraham Miller address them. Tevi Troy takes on health care, and Stephen Bryen warns of our decreasing personal privacy – both to hackers and to the government. Nationalism is an often-frightening word to Jews and Americans, but Juliana Pilon has a different view. Immigration is too big for one article, so Ramesh Ponnuru, Michael Barone and David Azarrad tackle various elements of a difficult subject. Shoshana Bryen reviews Tevi Troy’s Shall we Wake the President? Two Centuries of Disaster Management.
Don’t miss our interview with Sen. Rob Portman – his length and breadth of government service, both legislative and executive, make him a great resource and a real talent.
If you appreciate what you’ve read, I encourage you to make a contribution to the Jewish Policy Center. As always, you can use our secure site:
https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/donate
Sincerely,
Matthew Brooks, Executive Director
