Are Charter Schools Worth It?

James Dail CM ’20 – Ever since she was rumored to be a possible pick for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos has been mired in controversy. The most common criticism that has been raised against her is that she favors charter schools and vouchers for private schools over the traditional public schools that she would…

How to Respond to the Opioid Epidemic

James Dail CM ’20 – The United States is in the midst of its worst-ever drug crisis. Every day 91 Americans die from opioid overdose.1 To make matters worse, the crisis is not affecting all facets of American society. Poor and working class Americans bear the brunt of the carnage.2 Unless viable solutions are devised,…

The Trump Budget

By James Dail (CMC ’20) Following the conclusion of last year’s presidential election, one thing pundits on both sides of the political aisle could not stop talking about was how it signaled a change. There had been a radical shift in the Republican base that would have reverberations for decades to come. Every year, the…

European Resurgence: Military Spending and the Draft

James Dail CM ’20 – The two international developments in the twenty-first century that have defined relations between former Eastern bloc countries are growing Russian belligerence and the dawn of US isolationism. The Russian invasion of Crimea, and its covert involvement in the Ukrainian civil war, have the former Eastern bloc countries worried about their own…

Maine’s Experiment: Ranked Choice Voting

James Dail CM ’20 – Democracy in America is changing. The last several decades have seen a remarkable increase in partisanship. Unless a single party controls both chambers of the legislature and the executive, it has become nearly impossible to pass any substantive legislation. There are those who point to the political compromises that the…

The Conservative Case for Carbon Dividends

By James Dail PO ’20 A new faction has emerged within the Republican Party that has put its unique stamp on a solution for climate change. Former US Secretary of State James Baker, combined with seven other politicians and economists, proposed a carbon tax that would replace the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan, which forced…