'Who would benefit from a Trump-Biden debate rematch, besides Trump?'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day


'Cancel the 2024 presidential debates if Trump is the GOP nominee'
Jill Lawrence at The Bulwark
If former President Donald Trump wins the Republican presidential nomination as expected, says Jill Lawrence at The Bulwark, we should "scrap the three general-election debates scheduled for September and October." Debates are supposed to be "the gold standard of journalists holding presidential candidates to account and voters getting to assess their policy views and political skills." But Trump turns them into trainwrecks of "grievance, insults and, worst of all, distortions and outright falsehoods" that do more harm than good.
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'State and local meddling threatens to undermine the AI revolution'
Adam Thierer at The Hill
Lawmakers everywhere want "a piece of the AI action," says Adam Thierer at The Hill. With "a dysfunctional and highly partisan Congress" struggling to handle the artificial intelligence boom, policymakers in New York, California, and other states are proposing their own ideas, from supporting research to imposing taxes and "sweeping new regulations on AI technologies and companies." Creating a confusing "patchwork" of regulations could "derail the next great technological revolution and undermine America's global competitiveness."
'America helps make Gaza an open-air prison'
Eugene Kontorovich in The Wall Street Journal
Gaza has not produced a wave of refugees, making it "unique among modern war zones," writes Eugene Kontorovich in The Wall Street Journal. Egypt has sealed its border, arguing — with tacit approval from the United States — that letting civilians out of Gaza would hurt the Palestinians' cause. And Hamas "forcibly" prevents Gazans from leaving its "jihadist dystopia" because that would rob it of "human shields" and "end its primary war strategy of running up Gaza's civilian death toll."
'A divided Congress is about to let poor families fall off a hunger cliff'
Grace Segers in The New Republic
Congress' spending showdown could deprive many low-income women and children of a vital resource, says Grace Segers in The New Republic. The stopgap funding measure lawmakers approved last week to keep the government funded until March left the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, with a $1 billion "funding shortfall." Unless Congress wakes up, beneficiaries, starting with non-breastfeeding postpartum mothers, could be bumped to waiting lists or "lose their benefits altogether."
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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