Matters of Policy & Politics

Education Reform

Recorded on March 9, 2017 President Trump calls it “the civil rights issue of our time,” offering low-income families their choice of better schools. Checker Finn, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and chair of Hoover’s Task Force on K-12 Education, assesses the state of vouchers, charter schools, and the Trump administration’s willingness to take on an establishment “blob” that’s dead set against reform.

US Military

President Trump wants a nearly 10 percent increase in defense spending. Is the new administration on the right track? Hoover research fellow Kori Schake, coauthor with Defense Secretary James Mattis of Warriors and Citizens, a book detailing the civil-military gap–civilian leaders out of touch with the realities of military life and wartime service–discusses the peaks and valleys of a military buildup.

Immigration Reform

Comprehensive immigration reform is dead in Washington, but Hoover Institution fellow Tim Kane discusses a step-by-step approach on the economics, safety, and fairness of immigration reform that’s feasible if the president and congressional leaders are willing to try it.

US and Russian relations

What to make of US-Russian relations? Michael McFaul, the Hoover Institution’s Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow and US ambassador to Moscow from 2012-2014, deciphers the riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, that is the coming diplomacy between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

The Art of Presidential Transitions

Tax Reform during the forty-fifth Presidency

President Trump has indicated that a “phenomenal” tax reform will materialize in two to three weeks. John Cochrane, Hoover senior fellow and author of the Grumpy Economist blog, walks us through the intricacies of what may evolve and why a carbon tax espoused by Hoover’s George Shultz makes economic sense.

Trump’s First Two Weeks

Only two weeks into the job, President Trump hasn’t lacked for action – or drama. That includes executive orders, meetings with foreign leaders, a Supreme Court pick and an open question as to implementing an ambitious agenda. Hoover polling experts explain how the busy pace has affected Trump’s approval numbers and what that bodes for his presidency moving forward.