This week, we are drawing attention to three issues: the recent Supreme Court decision on Gerrymandering, the first Democratic debates for the 2020 Presidential race, and how the present administration has molded our relationship with China. Read the insights below, and, of course, we encourage you to read the articles in full and inform yourself on these important issues:
“The rulings by the Supreme Court on Thursday in bitterly contested battles over partisan gerrymandering and the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census grappled with issues fundamental to the nation’s democracy: How power is allocated, and ultimately, how much of a voice the American people have in selecting their leaders. But far from settling these questions, the court has unleashed even higher-pitched and partisan struggles over once-settled aspects of the country’s governance, placing greater pressures on the nation’s political system.” - Michael Wines, New York Times, MORE
“Messy as they were, the first set of Democratic presidential debates did their job: They helped sort out the party’s giant field of candidates. They showed there’s a distinct progressive camp, which is colliding, noisily, with a centrist camp. They also identified the main issue—health care—that divides these two camps. Yet the proceedings left one big question hanging: Did the debates help the party start to win over the kinds of working-class voters Democrats need to beat President Trump? Or, by pushing the party more to the left, did they do the opposite?” - Gerald Seib [TCG Past Speaker], Wall Street Journal, MORE
“The rivalry between the United States and China is here to stay. But the Trump administration is bringing the wrong tools to the contest, applying blunt trade-war tactics reminiscent of the nineteenth century instead of crafting a strategy to keep the United States the world’s economic and technological leader in the twenty-first. Defensive protectionism will not meet the China challenge; only domestic revival can do that. Restoring the United States’ global standing and revitalizing its economy will require an ambitious strategy that doesn’t rely solely on changing Chinese behavior so much as on preparing the United States to compete...The Trump administration is right that China’s high-tech mercantilism threatens U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. China aims to replace the United States as the global leader in several high-tech sectors. The Trump administration is also right that the United States should push back...Tariffs were always a poor choice to change Beijing’s behavior...They are alienating U.S. allies. And, analysts warn, they are increasing the risk of a global recession. There’s a better solution.” - Tom Donilon, former National Security Adviser, Foreign Affairs, MORE
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Common Good.
