A heavily armed man recently killed 22 random Canadian citizens. Two of the guns were purchased in the US. While such violence is relatively rare in Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau responded with more than just “thoughts and prayers.”

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Opposition to companies buying back their stock has historically been a partisan issue. Both sides, however, agreed to prohibit companies that accepted stimulus money from doing so. How might independents think about this issue? The short answer is “it depends.” Here is why.

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As the COVID-19 death toll rises, it is clear that several countries have handled the health crisis better than we have. Learning from our failure could be the silver lining of this crisis. But it won’t be easy.

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Richard Nixon famously said to David Frost, “Well, when the president does it…that means that it is not illegal.” President Trump recently engaged in negotiations to increase the price of oil. Price fixing in the US is illegal. Was there a better, and legal, policy response?

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The good news is that we will survive the COVID crisis. The bad news is that when we do, all the same challenges facing our country will be here. Is there a coherent way to think about the coming 2020 election debate? Here is a suggestion.

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Director of the NIAID since 1984, Dr. Fauci has become the media darling of the COVID-19 crisis. Clearly masterful at describing the crisis, has he also been masterful at shirking responsibility for it?

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The utter vacuity of the modern media-as-entertainment complex was on full display during the last two debates in Nevada and South Carolina. This is no way to pick a dogcatcher, let alone a president.

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One thing folks in Washington always seem to agree on is that Russia is an enemy. Candidate Trump shocked both sides when he said that he would “get along with Vladimir Putin,” asking rhetorically, “Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” Well, wouldn’t it be?

A common assertion this election season is that the system is “rigged” in favor of the rich. Upon a review, however, it appears that the system is rigged not just in favor of the rich, but in favor of any interest group with influence. Let’s try to be fact-based and rational and share what we found.

As the 2020 campaign for president matures, three of the four leading candidates routinely engage in pure and simple demagoguery. Once again, it looks like the more radical factions of the two parties may limit our choices. This is why the mission of OurFutureAmerica is important.

A common refrain of some of the presidential candidates is that the wealthy do not pay “their fair share” of taxes. While it is pretty clear that this means the wealthy should pay “more,” what isn’t clear is how much more would be considered “fair.” What is also not clear is whether the use of the word “fair” is in fact fair. Let’s try to be fact-based, rational, and fair.

In America, the value of your life apparently depends on how you die. Some deaths matter more than others. Let’s try to be fact-based and rational. 

Put on the defensive by Bernie Sanders, who is a self-described socialist (albeit not in the true definition of the word), Democratic candidates for president have been asked to take a side. Are you a socialist or a capitalist? So far, they all profess to be capitalists. Their rhetoric, however, would suggest they don’t always understand what this means. Just recently, Joe Biden criticized companies for not paying their employees a living wage while buying back stock. In her autobiography, Kamala Harris attributes the decline in middle-class wages to corporate greed. Elizabeth Warren’s invective against Wall Street is legendary. How can they be both against it and for it? Perhaps we can help them to reconcile their inconsistency. Let’s try to be fact-based and rational.

In a recent opinion piece, Thomas Friedman addressed in his words one of the themes of OurFutureAmerica: that many of us no long have a home in either major political party. Could it be that America needs more parties so that all us can find representation? As he often does, Friedman helps us be fact-based and rational.