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Webinar rewind: Preparing for potential election crises

A pandemic. Battles over millions of mailed-in ballots. The Supreme Court deciding an Electoral College dispute. The accelerated undoing of democratic norms. Dozens of legal battles over election administration and voting rights. Each would be enough to create unprecedented challenges to an election. But all are present this year, positioning Election Day 2020 and the days after to face challenges rarely as intense before. As Nov. 3 approaches, voters, government officials, candidates and the media may become overwhelmed by the many storylines, the shifting landscape and the potential outcomes. Preparation needs to start now.

The Fulcrum convened an expert panel to discuss these issues and more on June 9. Editor-in-Chief David Hawkings moderated the webinar, which also included:


  • Bryan Monroe, associate professor of practice at Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication. Before joining Temple, Bryan was editor of CNNPolitics and Washington opinion editor for CNN; president of the National Association of Black Journalists; and editor-in-chief of Ebony & Jet magazines.
  • Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center. Trevor is a past chairman of the Federal Election Commission and was general counsel to John McCain's 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns.

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Ending taxes on home sales would benefit the wealthiest households most – part of a larger pattern in Trump tax plans

File:Homes-for-sale-Burrus-02.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Ending taxes on home sales would benefit the wealthiest households most – part of a larger pattern in Trump tax plans

Not long after U.S. housing prices reached a record high this summer – the median existing home went for US$435,000 in June – President Donald Trump said that he was considering a plan to make home sales tax-free.

Supporters of the idea, introduced by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as the No Tax on Home Sales Act in July, say it would benefit working families by eliminating all taxes on the sales of family homes.

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From Fragility to Resilience: Fixing America’s Economic and Political Fault Lines

fractured foundation and US flag

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From Fragility to Resilience: Fixing America’s Economic and Political Fault Lines

This series began with a simple but urgent question: What’s gone wrong with America’s economic policies, and how can we begin to fix them? The story so far has revealed not only financial instability but also deeper structural weaknesses that leave families, small businesses, and entire communities far more vulnerable than they should be.

In the first two articles, “Running on Empty” and “Crash Course,” we examined how middle-class families, small businesses, and retirees are increasingly caught in a web of debt and financial uncertainty. We also examined how Wall Street’s speculative excesses, deregulation, and shadow banking have pushed the financial system to the brink. Finally, we warned that Donald Trump’s economic agenda doesn’t address these problems—it magnifies them. Together, these earlier articles painted a picture of a system skating on thin ice, where even small shocks could trigger widespread crisis.

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America’s Boiling Frog
a red white and blue flag
Photo by Jon Sailer on Unsplash

America’s Boiling Frog

The myth goes that a frog sitting in slowly heating water won’t notice until it boils alive. Americans know better—or we should. A recent Pew poll found that 72% of us already believe the U.S. is no longer a good example of democracy. We see the heat. The question is whether we’ll jump.

If you’re like most people, the thought of boiling a live frog seems cruel and purposeless. Even if you happen to enjoy frog legs—cuisses de grenouilles, as the French call them—it’s still a gruesome image. What’s more, the myth that frogs won’t notice a gradual rise in temperature isn’t even true. If given the chance, frogs will jump out, as proven decades ago by Dr. Victor Hutchison, a professor of zoology at the University of Oklahoma.

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