by David Brady, Brett Parkervia Real Clear Politics
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
The recent Democratic Party debates have prompted pundits and prognosticators to wonder how far left the nominee can veer and still unseat President Trump in November 2020.
One of Governor Gavin Newsom’s major campaign promises was to build 3.5 million new homes in California by 2025. But new building permits this year are 80% below Newsom’s annualized target and are even below last year’s extremely low level. California’s economic policies, which raise the cost of building and which can even block development, are the reason why California’s housing crisis is so severe.
Managing governmental spending, guiding private enterprise, maintaining global alliances, and educating the next generation are America’s top priorities that have not changed over time. However, good governance is needed to sustain and realize these long-term goals.
The global order of the past seven decades is being disrupted by regional dynamics. Powers of the past are reasserting themselves—Russia in Europe and the Middle East, Turkey and Iran in the Middle East, and China in Asia and beyond. Technology is changing how nations can prosper, influence, and compel. The panel will discuss what these changes portend for each of these regions and the US role in shaping events in its national interest.
In the past week, both President Trump and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson visited California to examine its housing crisis. Meanwhile, the state legislature passed a statewide rent control bill and officials in Sacramento are bullying cities to change their zoning laws. A veritable tug of war has emerged between state and local governments, with Washington eager to weigh in. Not only is there a housing crisis, but also a crisis of authority: Who is in charge here?
Today is the publication date for my new book : “In Hoffa's Shadow: A Stepfather, a Disappearance in Detroit, and My Search for the Truth.” Here is a description from the book’s web page:
Military historians tend to spend far too much time on the combat arena in which armies, navies, and air forces contend. Yet, underlying their performance is the organizational behavior of intelligence agencies which should be responsible for guiding and framing their actions and reactions. Nothing displays this more clearly than a comparison of the cultures of the British and German intelligence organizations during the Second World War. The latter was hierarchical, compartmentalized, and separated the military from the civilians. Within the German system, there was virtually no tolerance, much less interest in, passing opinions and original ideas up the chain of command. But perhaps the greatest weakness in German military culture was the general contempt for intelligence and its purveyors.
Protracted conflicts are protracted for a reason. They involve deeply-held grievances; ethnic, religious or ideological animosities; territorial disputes; boundary issues; political power struggles; clashes over the distribution of wealth; and competing narratives; among other factors. Protracted conflicts are not static, but rather evolve over time. Conflict management and mitigation, a strategy for dealing with conflicts that appear impervious to resolution, miss the point; for these strategies often do not take into account evolving changes through which conflicts pass.
I have worked on trying to resolve or ameliorate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in formal and informal capacities since the 1980’s. Through two intifadas (uprisings) and the Oslo process, I have seen the conflict in its human terms and the toll it takes. There were certainly times in the 1990’s when it seemed to be possible to settle the conflict. Even after the Second Intifada, which imposed such a terrible price on both Israelis and Palestinians, I believed that the gaps between the two sides were bridgeable.
Hoover Institution fellow Kiron Skinner discusses some of the issues she thinks President Trump should address in his speech to the UN General Assembly. Skinner notes that 'America First' does not mean the US is not deeply engaged with the world.
Trump’s former defence secretary has co-authored a narrative that, in detailing the philosophy and capabilities of the US marines, reveals a willingness within the military establishment to take the fight to the enemy. China should take note.
There they go again! Offering a put for mismatched dealers that will continue to promote borrowing short to carry long securities. See here. For an update, see here. Borrowing short to lend long is what tanked the financial system in 2007-2008, as well as just about every other financial crisis described in This Time Is Different.
A longstanding consensus on how to accommodate religious beliefs in government settings is breaking down as the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to overturn longstanding precedent and allow greater role of religion in public life.
The government-run health care program supported by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and a bunch of other Democrats would give every American regular access to doctors and hospitals. Problem is, there wouldn’t be enough of either.
In a country where most accuse college campuses of being “liberal bubbles,” Stanford is blessed by the presence of the Hoover Institution, which provides access to some of the brightest conservative minds in the nation.
