1. Does America need more charter schools?
2. Would a line item veto reduce federal spending effectively?
3. Were recent Clinton and Geithner led Sino-U.S. talks a failure?
4. How critical is the independence of the Federal Reserve for U.S. economic growth?
5. Can Linda McMahon win Christopher Dodd’s Senate seat?
6. How damaging are Rand Paul’s comments on the Civil Rights Act for the tea party movement?
7. Will Congress succeed in overturning “don’t ask, don’t tell” by the end of the summer?
8. What should be President Obama’s top domestic priority in 2011?
9. Is the Obama administration being unfairly criticized over its response to the Gulf oil spill?
10. Does Obama’s decision to send National Guard troops to the US-Mexican border go far enough?
Category: U.S. Extemp Page 45 of 55
California’s Budget Crisis: Greece is the Word from the Economist
Financial Overhaul Bill Poses Big Test for Lobbyists from the New York Times
Taming debt? It’s easy. Until you try from the Christian Science Monitor
Banker knives out for House-Senate reform panel from Reuters
Financial-Bill Playbook: Don’t Mess Around from the Wall Street Journal
Obama administration officials to prod China anew on currency from the Kansas City Star
Texas board to finish social studies guidelines from the Associated Press
Schools, students sue state over funding from the San Francisco Chronicle
U.S. schools chief: We’re in ‘educational emergency’ from CNN
Pawlenty won’t go after federal education grant from Business Week
Education chief says 300,000 teachers could lose jobs from the Boston Globe
New financial regulations bring tougher rules for mortgage borrowing, lending from the New Jersey Star Ledger
What the healthcare law means for small businesses from the Los Angeles Times
Farmers say risk management program too complex from Business Week
Tesla to build electric cars at Northern California plant from the Los Angeles Times
U.S. Bans Japan Beef Imports After Foot-And-Mouth Outbreak from Bloomberg
EPA scolds BP in Gulf oil spill: dispersant is too toxic, change it from the Christian Science Monitor
Interior Secretary Salazar provides details on plan for Minerals Management Service from the Washington Post
Obama to Mandate Rules to Raise Fuel Standards from the New York Times
Clinton’s New START Misstatements from the Heritage Foundation
US-Mexico tensions darken visit of President Felipe Calderón from the Christian Science Monitor
Mexico-U.S. Relations: What’s Next? from the Americas Quarterly
Japan, US to end base row: reports from the Agence France Presse
The Say-Do Gap and Obama’s Engagement Strategy from the Center for a New American Security
Seoul’s Charges Usher In New Tensions from the Wall Street Journal
U.S. envoy urges leading Iraqi politicians to look beyond personal ambitions from the Washington Post
1. Should the U.S. put off new sanctions on Iran in light of Iran’s agreement to send low-enriched uranium to Turkey?
2. What steps can the federal government take to ensure that another offshore oil drilling disaster does not occur?
3. Should Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango have been granted asylum?
4. Are public employee unions too powerful?
5. How optimistic should GM executives be after the company posted its first quarterly profit in three years?
6. Will Eric Holder file a lawsuit against Arizona’s new immigration law?
7. Should ethnic studies programs be banned?
8. How big of a blow to school reform advocates is the decision by Central Fall High School to rehire much of its staff who were fired earlier this year?
9. What did Tuesday’s primaries say about the mood of the American electorate?
10. Does the Supreme Court’s ruling in US v. Comstock demonstrate that federalism is not a high priority among the Court’s conservatives?
1. Should Congress tax oil companies to pay for the Gulf oil spill?
2. Will Charlie Crist be Florida’s next senator?
3. Should the U.S. rethink the use of drones in Pakistan?
4. Is Obama interfering too much in the Greek debt crisis?
5. Are furloughs of state workers illegal?
6. Was Kagan a shrewd Supreme Court choice?
7. Can the tea party sustain its momentum through election day?
8. Should Obama campaign for Specter?
9. Does an audit of the Federal Reserve significantly violate its independence?
10. Now that David Cameron is prime minister, will America’s relationship with Britain improve?
Note: I’m sorry about the delays in the posting of some information over the last week. This week has been finals week @ WKU so my attention has been taken up by that. This Thursday will feature the return of R&D for Extemp TOC topic areas.
1. Will the declaration of the size of the U.S. nuclear arsensal place more international pressure on Iran?
2. Is Chris Christie’s decision to replace John E. Wallace Jr. on the New Jersey Supreme Court a blow to judicial independence?
3. Does the U.S. need to find a more cost effective way to do the census?
4. How would the imposition of the “Oz law” impact future elections?
5. Will the Gulf oil spill be Obama’s Katrina?
6. Should there be a national prescription drug monitoring program?
7. How will the planned merger between United and Continental impact the airline industry?
8. Should a bailout fund exist within the financial reform bill?
9. Will boycotts of Arizona force the state to change its law targeting illegal immigration?
10. What impact will the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have on the U.S. economy?
1. Does the fight over financial reform still carry significant resonance with American voters?
2. How will political problems in Iraq impact plans to withdraw all U.S. combat forces this summer?
3. Would the imposition of a VAT cost Obama re-election?
4. Will the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico put a damper on efforts to expand offshore drilling?
5. Can more gun control solve Chicago’s homicide problem?
6. Will Charlie Crist’s reported decision to run as an indepedent cost the GOP its Florida Senate seat?
7. Is the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates too low?
8. Do the signers of public petitions have a right to privacy?
9. Does the Supreme Court’s ruling in the “Mojave Cross” case enhance or destroy First Amendment rights?
10. Will Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform this year?
1. What role will abortion play in this summer’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings?
2. Is it possible for Democrats to steal the tea party’s message?
3. How can President Obama project more strength on the Iranian question?
4. Do problems with Massachusetts healthcare model foreshadow problems that will occur under Obamacare?
5. Is President Obama losing the support of the gay community?
6. Do the ends justify the means for the FDA’s plans to limit the amount of salt that is allowed in processed foods?
7. Are the recent allegations against Goldman Sachs politically motivated?
8. How should the Supreme Court rule in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez?
9. Will the ongoing Fort Hood investigation be an embarassment for the Obama administration?
10. What impact would Charlie Crist’s departure from the GOP have on the party’s national image?
1. Are unemployment benefit extensions hurting the speed of the economic recovery?
2. How far to the left should Obama go in choosing a successor for John Paul Stevens?
3. Why have the U.S. Treasury’s foreclosure-prevention programs failed to get off the ground?
4. Is the tea party movement a growing national security threat?
5. Will Arizona’s passage of a strict illegal immigration bill be replicated in other states?
6. Should the federal government do more to rein in the payday loan industry?
7. Why is financial reform turning into a partisan issue?
8. Was Mitt Romney’s victory in the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll a strong indication that he will be his party’s nominee for president in 2012?
9. Will environmental advocates in the Senate be able to craft a bill that will woo moderate Republicans?
10. Does the victory of Ted Deutch in Florida show that predictions of a strong GOP victory in 2010 are premature?
1. What should the U.S. do with captured Somali pirates?
2. Should the U.S. continue to link political reform in Cuba to a lifting of its embargo on the island nation?
3. Does the elevation of Mike Leavitt as RNC Chief of Staff spell problems for the party’s 2010 hopes?
4. Is the White House exaggerating the progress made in the latest jobs report?
5. Are Obama’s plans to revamp America’s nuclear defense strategy sensible?
6. Will the Performance Rights Act bankrupt local radio stations?
7. Are high oil prices a reflection of economic recovery or yet another sign of economic distress for the U.S.?
8. Should college athletes be paid?
9. Why is Meg Whitman leading Jerry Brown in the California governor’s race?
10. Should Elena Kagan replace John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court?
1. Is Charlie Crist toast in Florida?
2. Will new student loan reform legislation help college students?
3. Do American schools have a bullying crisis?
4. How can the U.S. government increase the number of people who participate in the Census?
5. Should the Obama administration impose a peace settlement between the Israeli and Palestinians?
6. Will the Republicans be as opposed to financial reform as they were to healthcare reform?
7. How can the Democrats win the PR war over healthcare reform?
8. Does the appointment of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board reignite the national debate over card check?
9. Will California voters legalize marijuana in November?
10. Is President Obama’s tougher stance against Republican opposition a sign of strength or of desperation?
1. Does Obama’s anti-abortion executive order do enough to ensure that federal dollars are not used for abortions?
2. Is the media covering the tea party movement fairly?
3. Does the financial overhaul bill do enough to prevent future threats to the economy?
4. Are school lunches healthy enough?
5. Is the allowance of offshore oil and gas drilling a worthy price to pay for a cap and trade bill?
6. Does the FCC’s broadband plan need more competition?
7. What should the U.S. do with its nuclear waste?
8. Is it a political mistake for the Republicans to promise that they will repeal Obama’s healthcare legislation?
9. Who is the biggest loser from ACORN’s decision to disband?
10. Will the Democrats win the reconciliation fight over healthcare in the Senate?
1. Are U.S.-Israeli relations in a crisis?
2. Is a one drug method of lethal injection constitutional?
3. Would Obama’s healthcare reform bankrupt the United States within a decade?
4. Is Eric Holder’s admission that the U.S. does not expect to capture Osama bin Laden detrimental to the war on terrorism?
5. Would a downgrading of America’s credit rating cause the U.S. Congress to get more serious about deficit spending?
6. Do U.S. forces need more lenient rules of engagement in Afghanistan?
7. Will the Obama administration’s planned revisions of No Child Left Behind be a boon for American education?
8. Why is teen drug use back on the rise?
9. How can the U.S. Postal Service change its financial fortunes?
10. Will the “slaughter rule” be used to pass healthcare reform?