CMC In The News

In an article about the U.S. government’s showdown with the debt ceiling, Prof. Jack Pitney said he is optimistic about an agreement being brokered between Republicans and Democrats, but there have been many factors that complicate a path towards a deal.

Prof. Frederick Lynch was mentioned in an article about governors are not requiring a college education for job-seekers. In response to this idea, Lynch has said that removing barriers to jobs is a good idea, but education has provided upward mobility for tens of millions of minorities and women — and many benefits outside of work, such as critical thinking, civic engagement, and healthy behavior.

A report from the Rose Institute of State and Local Government was cited in an article about how Reno’s multifamily market has been heating up over the last decade. The report found that Reno ranked as the third most popular destination for companies moving out of California.

Former President Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation against onetime Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll. In response to the verdict, Prof. Jack Pitney explained that “practically nothing” could undermine Trump with his base. However, he added, “Among general election voters, it is another in a long list of liabilities. Under certain circumstances, he could win, but the case makes his climb a little steeper.”

In an opinion piece, Prof. Manfred Keil, in collaboration with Sasha Rothstein, prompted ChatGPT to read out an economic analysis of the Inland Empire, finding the results were not factually correct. The op-ed then outlined the ‘good,’ ‘bad,’ and ‘ugly’ in the analysis. 

Prof. Rachel Fenning provided context for new research on “Mindfulness” practices, which may help parents of young children with autism manage their daily stressors, benefiting their kids in the process.

In a radio interview with AirTalk’s Larry Mantle, Prof. Jack Pitney talked about the implications of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s absence from the Senate.

In an opinion piece, Prof. Lily Geismer explained that recent initiatives to increase affordable housing in the suburbs, such as those proposed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, are important steps towards addressing issues of systemic racism and economic inequality. However, suburban elected officials and residents have been resistant to these types of proposed changes and historically, have had success in stopping them. Prof. Geismer suggested that passing these laws will require state officials to resist the usual suburban campaigns and to enforce the laws consistently to bring about change.

Prof. Jack Pitney provided insight into the current state of the House and how Rep. McCarthy’s leadership will be challenged in the existing environment. Pitney explained, “…there’s a faction of Republicans who are bent on pushing an ideological agenda at the expense of an institution. It does not bode well for future votes on things such as the debt limit. He’s going to have a very difficult time, given how much he owes the hard-liners.”

In an opinion piece, Prof. Ronald Riggio wrote about the five signs that your boss is a toxic leader. The key highlights in the article included punitive and narcissistic bosses are two common forms of toxic leadership; leaders who play favorites or pit team members against one another are particularly toxic and a toxic leader can cause chaos in a team and sow seeds of distrust.

In an article highlighting Redlands Representative Pete Aguilar (D), Prof. Jack Pitney is quoted on Aguilar’s relationship with Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis. At Lewis’ funeral, Pitney recalled Aguilar “talked about their long-standing friendship going back to when he was mayor of Redlands. It’s no coincidence they got along so well, because Jerry was pretty much like that too. He was not a cultural warrior. He had a conservative voting record, but he made a point of befriending people on the Democratic side.”

Prof. Gastón Espinosa is quoted in an article highlighting a recent Pew Research Center report that found about 30 percent of Latino adults are not religiously affiliated. This number has increased significantly since 2010. Espinosa explained that the Latino population may be more religious than the survey shows. “Those that identify as charismatic Pentecostals or evangelicals are sometimes counted as unaffiliated or nonreligious because they don’t belong to traditional denominations, like Catholic or Baptist.”

Pieter van Wingerden, a junior at CMC was named the winner of the Truman Scholarship. Van Wingerden studies government and Asian studies at CMC and is interested in political, economic, and military issues in Asia. He is CMC’s 20th Truman Scholar since Congress established the scholarship in 1975.

China has recently rebuffed attempts by the Biden administration to restart high level talks and lower tensions in Taiwan. Prof. Minxin Pei said it is possible that Beijing will re-engage with Washington once it feels it has more leverage. That could come after Beijing has deepened ties with more nonaligned countries like Brazil or after it has widened splits in Europe over how closely to follow the United States in its tougher stance toward China. “China wants to engage the U.S. from a position of strength, and China is clearly not in that position now. If anything, America’s success in rallying allies and waging the tech war against China proves that it is still far more powerful than China and has more tools at its disposal,” he said.

The Washington Examiner interviewed Prof. Jack Pitney about Gov. Ron DeSantis’s recent TV ad attacking Trump. “Here is the message: ‘Trump is stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook.’ Do the DeSantis people really think that they can convince Republicans that Trump is too much like Biden and Pelosi? That seems pretty unlikely.”