Ryan Greer for New America: One overarching challenge to improving counterterrorism tactics is that much of the policy revolution in the last few years has been a revolution in speech or in structure, but only rarely in funding or action, let alone in evaluation to assess what even works.
For example, consider the challenge of sharing information on foreign fighters. Providing this information to Interpol may involve reducing sensitive data (e.g., intelligence derived from a war zone) to only what is appropriate for law enforcement and also may reasonably be assumed to fall into the hands of any Interpol member, including Russia, who could misuse information provided by the U.S. or other sources. … These challenges highlight that encouraging trust among global partners is paramount, that bilateral exchanges of information are still critical for sensitive issues, and that both civil liberties and intelligence concerns must be represented throughout the policy process.
Similarly, many efforts to counter terrorist propaganda and the use of the Internet have been announced but have yet to achieve much progress. In the United States, it was only in June that the government released its first domestic grants for those purposes. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is unsure of whether he will allow the State Department to spend its resources for that mission. Clearly, expecting strong results any time soon would be premature.
Want a raise? Work for the government
Chris Edwards for Cato at Liberty: Federal worker compensation is rising faster than compensation in the private sector. On average, federal workers now earn 80 percent more in wages and benefits than other Americans. The data come from the Bureau of Economic Analysis …
The federal government has the third-highest paid workers in the United States after utilities and the management of companies. Federal compensation is higher, on average, than compensation in the information, finance and insurance, and professional and scientific industries.
Federal compensation is twice as high as compensation in the education industry, and is almost three times higher than compensation in retail trade.
Send this law to Davy Jones’ Act locker
Charles Hughes for E21: The Jones Act, also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires goods shipped between American ports to use vessels built, crewed, flagged, and owned in the United States or by U.S. citizens.
Congress should consider doing away with the Jones Act altogether. …
The U.S. Virgin Islands are exempt from the law, and those people will be able to work with the full battery of ships willing and able to transport the goods needed to rebuild and recover from the effects of the hurricanes. The other noncontiguous areas of the United States all have filed for exemptions from the Jones Act, but their efforts have been stymied thus far.
According to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, it costs more than $3,000 to ship a container of household and commercial goods from the East Coast to Puerto Rico, while the same shipment costs only $1,504 to the Dominican Republic and $1,687 to Jamaica, which are not subject to the law.
Puerto Rico was already dealing with a fiscal crisis and economic stagnation before Hurricane Maria hit. The entire island is without power because of the storm. The higher shipping costs caused by the Jones Act will make it harder for the U.S. territory to weather the effects of the storm.
Jones Act waivers make it easier for needed goods such as gasoline to make it to areas affected by the hurricanes. The law limits responsiveness in the period following emergencies and raises costs for consumers. To make it easier to rebuild, Congress should consider repealing the act permanently.
Compiled by Joseph Lawler from reports published by the various think tanks.
