Public Policy

This past week, I attended the Conference Board’s Government Relations Executive Council meeting. Much of the discussion revolved around current social issues—abortion, equity, guns, January 6th, ESG—and their potential impact on corporate operations. For instance, Jen Stark, Co-Director of the Center for Business and Social Justice spoke on the need for businesses to prepare themselves for the fall of Roe vs. Wade. And Anna Palmer, the founder and CEO of Punchbowl News, led a discussion about the outlook in Congress heading into the midterms.

I’ve never seen The Crown, and I couldn’t name one character on Downton Abbey. I’ve never been to London, and I can barely remember my mother’s excitement watching Prince Charles’ and Lady Di’s wedding…Still, today, I admire the British people.

The rampage at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two adults was a horrific and devastating attack that defies belief. I have two children of my own, and I know I would be utterly lost if I ever had to endure such an inexplicable tragedy. Because of the helplessness so many feel, I understand the desire to reach simple, black and white explanations as to “why,” as well as the need to place blame on someone or something more tangible than the country’s mental health crisis or the breakdown in the nation’s social fabric.

I’m amazed at the number of questions I continue to receive about former President Trump. It’s been more than a year and a half since the November 2020 elections, and in 30 years in the Washington office, I’ve never received as many questions from friends, family, and colleagues about a former president.

One of my closest friends is a pilot for United Airlines…I’ve asked him multiple times, in all his years flying, whether he had ever come across an unidentified flying object (UFO) or some other unexplained phenomenon. His answer has always been, “No.” Still, the intrigue over UFOs has not dissipated in Washington, and next week, a House Intelligence subcommittee will hold open hearings on the subject.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion from Justice Samuel Alito, indicating that the Court’s conservative majority is ready to overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to abortion, shook Washington and the political world like an earthquake this week.

Ever since he hit that mid-range jump shot in the 1982 national championship game against Georgetown, I’ve been a Michael Jordan fan.

The Walt Disney Company is among the world’s most sophisticated global enterprises. So, how, in the span of just over a month, did it put itself in the position of jeopardizing the special status it has enjoyed in the state of Florida for more than 50 years?

It’s been more than two years since the Coronavirus upended life in the United States. Today, Americans I come across find themselves in an environment that is at once greatly improved and frustratingly familiar.

Today’s ‘thought of the week’ is not so much a thought but a question, or more accurately, a series of questions. There’s no doubt that economic and geopolitical issues will be top of mind for voters in the coming mid-term elections, but cultural questions, both new and old, are sure to garner attention as well. With an eye to energizing their bases, conservatives and progressives see little downside to fanning polarizing issues.