Independent Conversations

When Nancy Pelosi touched down in Taiwan, the lawless communist mainland government of China threw a fit; does their overreaction mean that the United States should now overtly pledge in advance to fight against China if it invades Taiwan? Looking back at home, is the rule of law threatened by the recent FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago? And let’s hear it for the latest miracle political words: it’s called the “Inflation Reduction Act”—even though it will ramp up inflation!

What’s one thing both parties agree on? Subsidies for big businesses with lots of employees—even if it comes at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. That’s the impetus behind last week’s semiconductor pork-barrel bill. At the same time, the Biden administration, spooked by inflation, sets out to change the definition of “recession,” apparently in hopes that terminology will ease the impact of disastrous spending and monetary policy. Then there’s Dr. Fauci, who now tells us that if he had it to do all over again, he’d insist on even more draconian lockdowns and restrictions.

Resisting unprecedented political and ideological pressure—including public violence and an attempted assassination of a sitting Justice—the U.S. Supreme Court just issued two 6-3 decisions demonstrating the majority’s resolve. In Bruen, the Court struck down New York state’s discretionary handgun licensing law, as a violation of the 2nd Amendment. In Dobbs, it ruled that there is no Constitutional right to abortion, as asserted by Roe, and that therefore states, not federal courts, have jurisdiction over abortion law. Was the Court wise—or foolish—to turn a blind eye to public opinion regarding these momentous rulings?

Inflation spirals to a 40-year high; but should we be surprised, given federal fiscal policy? Ukraine’s agony drags on; will the economic after-effects also drag on and, more importantly, will Russia’s slogging success end up triggering a Chinese move against Taiwan that puts the U.S. in a quandary? Then there’s homelessness: is there any way out for the growing numbers of people trapped in the “homeless-industrial complex”?

What’s behind the outbreak of mass shootings and what can stop it? Would banning more types of guns, or more features of guns, or giving officials more power to seize guns, solve the problem? Or is a more radical solution necessary, as argued by those who say the U.S. Constitution is the obstacle to safety? Is there wisdom in President Biden’s plan to cancel college student debt, or would that degrade student borrowers while further boosting inflation? –which now looms as Americans’ greatest anxiety.

How can it be that New York State’s gun control laws—some of the toughest in the country—failed to stop a race-crazed killer who unleashed his mania on innocent citizens in Buffalo, NY? Also, why is baby formula suddenly in short supply? How about galloping inflation? Is the U.S. Treasury Secretary right that Build Back Better’s federal spending surge played only a small part in rising prices? And looking abroad, should Americans be sanguine about NATO expansion to Sweden and Finland, under the general theme of “Serves him right!”?

In this Independent Conversation, Senior Fellow and author Stephen P. Halbrook is interviewed by Dr. Graham H. Walker (Executive Director, Independent Institute) to discuss the Supreme Court’s upcoming gun rights decision on New York State’s discretionary-license law and Ukraine’s experience with an armed citizenry during the Russian invasion sheds light on the underlying issues.

Does President Joe Biden have what it takes to “stand with Ukraine” without provoking a wider war? Will Biden’s “Disinformation Governance Board” protect Americans or quench their freedoms? How could the U.S. Supreme Court allow the unprecedented leak of its draft opinion revoking Roe v. Wade? And how will the Court navigate the apparently complex religious freedom cases now before it? We’ll discuss all these issues and more on this week's episode of Independent Outlook.

David Theroux, Williamson Evers, and Graham Walker discuss if it's easy to agree that Vladimir Putin’s war tactics are monstrous and malignant. But what happens in Ukraine if Putin is getting desperate after Ukraine sank his naval flagship with Western-supplied armaments? Is U.S. President Joe Biden displaying the kind of judicious statesmanlike leadership that the moment requires? On the home front, the culture war is heating up in Florida as Governor DeSantis challenges Disney and scrutinizes Florida’s public-school curriculum. Can we navigate the hot rhetoric to see if Florida’s policies threaten liberty, or protect it? And what is the future of mask mandates, now that a federal court has pulled the plug on the CDC’s authority to require masks? We will discuss all this and more on this week's upcoming episode of Independent Outlook.