Beyond Labels

A 360° Discussion of Foreign, National and Local Policy Issues

For Jul 23: The Proper Role of Government

We’ll explore what “services” should properly be provided by government and which should be provided elsewhere—by the private sector, by charitable organizations, by individual households.

Most important to the “what” will, of course, be the “why” (this and not that)and “how” (to deliver it—to whom, and to pay for it.

We should also consider, within “government” how it’s role should be divided between Federal, State, County and Town governments.

Here’s an op-ed from today’s Post that I think provides some relative context to the discussion—though it’s not strictly on-topic.

Notes: Notes July 16 2018

List of the United States and Russian Summit (Wikipedia)

January 3, 1993 Moscow  Russia George H. W. Bush Boris Yeltsin Signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II).
March 20–21, 1997 Helsinki  Finland Bill Clinton Boris Yeltsin Signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START III).
June 16, 2001 Ljubljana  Slovenia George W. Bush Vladimir Putin Slovenia Summit 2001
May 24, 2002 Moscow  Russia George W. Bush Vladimir Putin Signing of the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT).
February 24, 2005 Bratislava  Slovakia George W. Bush Vladimir Putin Slovakia Summit 2005
April 8, 2010 Prague  Czech Republic Barack Obama Dmitry Medvedev Signing of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
July 16, 2018[1] Helsinki  Finland Donald Trump Vladimir Putin 2018 Russia–United States summit

US Defense Spending

 

Trump’Putin press conference live stream

The Knife Media 

We run each news story through an analysis process that measures bias and assigns objective ratings for Spin, Slant and Logic. Then we combine those ratings into a single score so you can see the integrity of each news outlet’s coverage.

I will do a deeper dive into this site, but here’s a taste:

 

For Monday, July 16: Russia, Trump and Europe

President Trump’s travels to Europe to see our NATO allies and UK Prime Minister May before meeting Vladimir Putin, provide us with an opportunity to take a closer look at Russia:

US/Russia Relations

  • Friend, foe or something else (like Trump’s “competitor”) to the U.S.?
  • How much of a risk to the U.S. is Russia? Does Russia have the wherewithal to be more than an “irritant” to the U.S.?
  • Are there areas in which the two countries should continue (or expand) cooperation–e.g., sharing intelligence on terrorist activities–or should we become more adversarial?
  • What is the best strategy to get Russia “back in line” vis-a-vis issues such as Ukraine, Crimea, Georgia, Syria, election meddling, etc.?
  • If you were advising Trump (or, Hillary Clinton if you can’t imagine advising The Donald) prior to the Putin meeting, what would be your advice?

NATO-Europe/Russia Relations

  • To what degree are NATO’s actions provocative to Russia?
  • Do Putin’s policies reflect broad Russian themes or do Russian policies revolve around Putin (i.e., subject to change when he’s no longer in power)?
  • Given their proximity to Russia, how should the Europeans deal with Russia on a commercial basis? To what degree should politics (and defense interests) influence these commercial relationships (i.e., natural gas imports to Europe, export of “strategic” machinery or other goods to Russia)?

I’m sure we’ll find lots to talk about on Monday. If you’d like to get started “studying” early, here’s a NYT op-ed piece published today.

 

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