On the Issues Archives - Solve with National Journal

May 25, 2018 On the Issues

Is the US doing enough to combat the opioid crisis?

Each day, over 115 people die due to an opioid overdose. The opioid crisis is taking tens of thousands of American lives annually and is expected to cost the US over $1.5 trillion by 2021. Seven months after the opioid epidemic was declared a public

May 3, 2018 On the Issues

Is the US election system ready for another round of hacking?

Even if voting machines never go online, digital threats to the US political system loom over this year’s midterm elections and, presumably, every election to come. A full year after US intelligence agencies unanimously agreed that President Vladimir Putin directed a Russian operation to interfere

March 29, 2018 On the Issues

Takeaways from PA-18 special election on fundraising & strategy

In November, voters from southwest Pennsylvania will vote for a congressional candidate for the second time this year. Instead of a Republican incumbent, which they’ve had for the past 15 years, the incumbent will be Democrat Conor Lamb. He recently beat Republican Rick Saccone in

March 9, 2018 On the Issues

Recap: Charlie Cook on the 2018 Midterms

“All politics is local.” So said former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil. The phrase means that, to succeed in politics, a politician must appeal to the mundane, everyday, and indeed local concerns of his or her constituents. But political analyst Charlie Cook, who

March 1, 2018 Advocacy / On the Issues

We’re Woefully Unprepared to Deal with Campaign Finance in the Digital Age

Campaign finance has received more than its usual attention recently with the revelation that the Russian government spent at least $100,000 on political Facebook ads surrounding the 2016 election. This episode highlights just how unprepared we are to regulate campaign finance in the digital age.

February 16, 2018 On the Issues

What is Merit-Based Immigration?

“Merit-based immigration” is one of those clever political phrases—like “pro-life”—that is impossible to oppose. Take the phrase at face value: who could be against an immigration system based on merit? Definitionally, it wouldn’t make sense. Someone who has merit is deserving, and immigration policy determines

February 8, 2018 On the Issues

The Politics of the Olympics

To paraphrase Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and John Paul Stevens in their majority opinion in McConnell vs. FEC (2004), when it comes to politics, money—like water—always finds a way in. Lately, the same could be said about politics and culture—the former keeps seeping into the

January 19, 2018 On the Issues

Blockchain: Solving the Internet’s Value Problem

The problem: eating my cake and having it too The internet is great at transferring information, but much less so at transferring value. This is because when information is sent through the internet, such as in an email, it is not really transferred at all—it’s

October 22, 2017 On the Issues

Republicans and Democrats: More divided than ever? Or just back to normal?

Republicans and Democrats show different levels of trust in news media, with different media brand preferences. The gap seems wider, but isn’t abnormal.