Matters of Policy & Politics

As an FBI affidavit reveals details of what classified documents the FBI found in Donald Trump’s Palm Beach residence, the question is: will the Justice Department take the unprecedented step of prosecuting a former president? John Yoo, a Hoover Institution visiting fellow and UC-Berkeley law professor, weighs the legal options before Attorney General Merrick Garland, as well as how to restore the FBI’s tarnished image, plus the constitutionality of forgiving student-loan debt.

What can be done to avoid a repeat of 2020 and a re-questioning of the legitimacy and validity of American elections? Attorney Ben Ginsberg, a Hoover Institution visiting fellow and preeminent authority on election law, introduces Saints, Sinners and Salvageables – Restoring America’s Faith In Voting, a multi-part podcast in which the nation’s leading election officials discuss federal and state voting reforms and new ways to bring further transparency to the democratic process.

An online retail giant chooses not to expand in California, and Newsom’s change of heart regarding safe injection sites generates further presidential buzz. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s “California on Your Mind” web channel, join Hoover senior writer Jonathan Movroydis to discuss the latest in the Golden State, including farmworkers’ voting rights, fast-food oversight, and the irony of a renewable-loving California relying on one nuclear plant for its electricity needs.

Are Chinese and American forces on a collision course in the South China Sea? Admiral Roughead, the Hoover Institution’s Robert and Marion Oster Distinguished Military Fellow and the U.S. Navy’s 29^th chief of naval operations, discusses China’s PLA Naval expansion, U.S. strategic concerns in the Western Pacific, plus the U.S. Navy’s construction, maintenance, and personnel needs.

Congress allocates $370 billion to address climate change while philanthropists offer billions more under the guise of environmental stewardship. Bjorn Lomborg, a Hoover Institution visiting fellow and environmental researcher, discusses ways to develop cheaper energy sources, along with a broader strategy addressing the quality-of-life needs of developed and developing lands.

As a result of California’s “wildfire season” now a year-long occurrence there is widespread difficulty in finding insurance, unsustainable pressure on the state’s insurance market, and a need to better anticipate and contain fire damage. Donnie Hasseltine and David Winnacker, members of Hoover’s inaugural class of veteran fellows, discuss their three-part plan to balance California’s competing housing and fire insurance demands.

Are we in a recession, what are the roots of the present inflationary spiral, what’s valid criticism of Federal Reserve policy and federal spending choices? John Cochrane, the Hoover Institution’s Rose-Marie and Jack Anderson senior fellow and proprietor of the Grumpy Economist blog, walks us these and other economic questions.

Will a California state law that’s survived a legal challenge now force the state’s independent truckers to unionize? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s “California on Your Mind” web channel, join Hoover senior writer Jonathan Movroydis to discuss a possible supply chain crisis should truckers disobey the requirement, the feasibility of a new north-south water tunnel, a proposed bill that would allow some California cities to serve alcohol until 4 a.m., plus the peculiarity of governor Gavin Newsom raising his national profile while Golden State Democrats don’t seem much interested in a larger role in 2024’s presidential primaries.

California governor Gavin Newsom vacations in Montana despite his public feuds with other such red states and a California law banning official travel by state employees. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s “California on Your Mind” web channel, join Hoover senior writer Jonathan Movroydis to discuss Newsom’s presidential prospects, the deflated state of San Francisco office space, plus UCLA and USC making a financial killing by relocating to the Big Ten Conference.

The Supreme Court’s recent rulings on abortion, guns, and other contentious social issues further complicates an already opaque political landscape. David Brady and Douglas Rivers, Hoover Institution senior fellows and Stanford University political scientists, discuss what if any opinion shifts their polling data suggests and what other political variables (inflation, an unpopular president) might affect November’s outcome.