William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, discusses the House’s passage of an extension to the Foreign intelligence Surveillance Act.

"Whatever damage takes place here would not happen in a vacuum," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science, about the unwritten rule in the Capitol, often called the Bear Mountain Bridge Compact, that dictates: "What happens in Albany stays in Albany."

Israel recently published a list of 20 mainly European and U.S.-based pro-BDS organizations whose senior members will be automatically barred from entering Israel, a move that Miriam Elman, associate professor of political science, says is long overdue.

"There’s a possibility that a lot of people view the president as being the spokesperson for the country, and what it stands for and values," says Steven White, assistant professor of political science. "They see Oprah as able to espouse a world view that inspires them."

"President Donald Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the culmination of U.S. foreign policy over seven decades in which the goal of the peace process has been to impose a solution on the Palestinians," writes Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history.

"It is fair to wonder about the [Christopher] Steele dossier and how it came into the hands of our intelligence community," said William Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. "The bottom line, however, is that whatever role this dossier has played, our intelligence community had other sources that would have led them to the information about the Russian interference in the election even if Steele had never tried to share his dossier with the United States."

In his book "Welfare for the Wealthy," Christopher Faricy, associate professor of political science, points out the federal government is hardly generous with the poor alone and the same pattern holds in health care and education.

Devashish Mitra, Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs, argues that trade has been beneficial to developing countries in Asia, with competition leading to higher productivity, lower price-cost markups and lower poverty.

"There’s resistance to change in procedures when there is a vested interest in the way things are being done," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, says Democrats have benefited so far from positive press coverage but that it could be harder to attack the bill if taxpayers start to see some benefits in their paychecks.

Tom Perreault, professor of geography, says water withdrawals for irrigation from upstream rivers reduce the lake’s size, along with the huge amount of water used by nearby mines, and the contamination they produce.

"Having that level of quality to choose from is probably a good thing for the Democratic Party," says Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, about the high caliber of New York candidates.

"President Trump and his administration claim that they are fully supportive of the protestors in Iran and warn the Iranian state that crackdown will have consequences," says Mehrzad Boroujerdi, professor of political science. "To many Iranians, the expression of support for the 'great Iranian people' from a man who put Iran on his Muslim travel ban rings rather hollow," he adds. 

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