Public Policy Bulletins

Published by the APV Public Policy Committee to communicate about current legislation, political/social news, and trends of interest to APV members

Oct 2711 min read

The Population Bomb - Part III

A Serendipitous Last Chance By James Walker, Ph.D. A Brief Summary of Parts I and II In 1798, Thomas Malthus published a simple...

Oct 512 min read

What's in the 2024 Democratic Party Platform?

By William (Bill) Johnston This article is a list of goals the Democratic Party intend to achieve in the future. As such, it does not...

Oct 56 min read

What's in the 2024 Republican Party Platform?

By William (Bill) Johnston I wrote this article to highlight just the goals the Party was willing to put in writing. Candidates can...

Sep 227 min read

The Population Bomb - Part II

The Club of Rome Sounds the Doomsday Alarm By James Walker, Ph.D. A brief review of Part I The Industrial Revolution, beginning in the...

Sep 176 min read

The Population Bomb - Part I

By James Walker, Ph.D. This is the first of three articles to examine the human population: its development, outlook, and consequences....

Sep 174 min read

The Transformation and Degradation of a Formerly Grand Party

By Paul Lenchner In its 170-year history, the Republican Party has had some glorious chapters. It has elected consequential presidents...

Aug 188 min read

What exactly is the Republican Project 2025?

By William Johnston It's a nearly 1,000-page blueprint for turning America into a fascist police state by purging civil servants and...

Jun 284 min read

"Follow the Money"

By Bill Johnston We have all heard the advice "follow the money" to understand a situation better. In this election year, we may gain...

Jun 224 min read

Bernie, Donald, and Joe, and the Faces of American Populism

By Paul Lenchner Polls taken during the 2016 presidential campaign revealed a finding that surprised many observers. According to the...

Jun 228 min read

What's It To Me

By James Walker, Ph.D. "Human beings cannot comprehend very large or very small numbers. It would be useful to acknowledge that." ...

Jun 225 min read

Waiting For Supreme Court Opinions

By Janette Ansolabehere We are approaching the final release of several major Supreme Court cases, among which are cases that could...

May 235 min read

Emergency of Vector-Borne Diseases in the New Texas

By Hugh Roddy, MD Introduction Human immigration, poverty, and climate change are associated with emerging neglected tropical diseases...

Mar 303 min read

What's Not to Like About President Biden's Job Performance So Far?

By Jim Walker, Ph.D. Joe Biden has an image problem. People are concerned about his age. He would be 86 years old by the end of a second...

Mar 304 min read

Politics Aside

By Rose Ann Goodwin Do you think if we never asked one another about our politics, if we just kept it to ourselves, that we would get...

Mar 304 min read

Redistricting: A Madisonian Challenge

By Paul Lenchner In arguing for the ratification of the Constitution in the Federalist Papers, James Madison wrote, “If men were angels,...

Mar 303 min read

Older Drivers

By Bill Johnston The Journal of the American Medical Association published on December 18, 2023 an article entitled “Driving Impairment...

Mar 84 min read

Our Pro-Business State

By Paul Lenchner Texas is a pro-business state. Elected officials regularly tout our economy. So do leaders in the business community...

Feb 166 min read

Our two Medicare choices: Medicare and Advantage

By William Johnston Introduction In December 2023, the New England Journal of Medicine published an insightful paper about the two...

Dec 21, 20235 min read

Threats to American Democracy

By Paul Lenchner In the sweep of human history, democratic government is a relatively new development. If one scans its successes and...

Oct 12, 20234 min read

Turmoil in the Ivory Tower

By Jim Walker Medieval Traditions in Academia The roots of the modern university go back to late medieval times. Almost their sole...

Sep 11, 20233 min read

BIDENOMICS: The Record, The Reaction, and The Campaign

By Paul Lenchner A solid case can be made that the Biden administration has compiled an impressive economic record. For example: The...

Sep 11, 20234 min read

What is the Supreme Court Doing to the Establishment Clause?

By Janette Ansolabehere Ever since the Declaration of Independence and its accompanying addendum, the Bill of Rights was first read, the...

Aug 7, 20234 min read

United States Supreme Court Review

By Janette Ansolabehere Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University...

Aug 2, 20234 min read

Medicaid Expansion and Texas

By Paul Lenchner In March 2023, North Carolina became the 40th state to expand to eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act....

Jun 29, 20234 min read

Growing Opposition to Recognition and Teaching of Multiculturalism in Schools

By Jacqueline Richardson A quarter million people heard Dr. Martin Luther King give his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28,...

Jun 29, 20233 min read

Lowering Health Care Costs

By Bill Johnston The Inflation Reduction Act passed the Senate 51-50 on Aug. 7, 2022 with all 50 Democratic senators voting in favor and...

Jun 29, 20233 min read

United States Supreme Court Update

By Janette Ansolabehere The Court is working to conclude the 2022-2023 session. As is usually the case, the most anticipated case...

May 11, 20232 min read

How to Save Social Security Without Too Much Pain For Anyone

By James Walker In recent years there has been growing panicky talk about how Social Security will go bankrupt in 2033 when its trust...

May 2, 20233 min read

Non-Partisan Social Security Reforms

By Bill Johnston Martha Shedden has years of experience in Social Security advocacy work as co-founder of the National Association of...

Apr 28, 202310 min read

The REAL Reasons Why American Pharmaceutical Prices Are So High and What We Should Do About It

By Jim Walker Most of the discussion that takes place in the media about pharmaceutical prices consists of a fog of obfuscation and red...

GUIDELINES FOR PUBLIC POLICY ARTICLES

The Public Policy Committee is excited for APV members to submit articles or essays about issues in which a member has a particular interest or concern. However, because so much false information has been spread through social media and sketchy sources, the Committee wants to be sure that reliable sources support any articles or essays.

Submissions should be concise. It is OK to express personal opinions, but you should have facts to support your statements and suggestions for suggested legislation in response. Words such as “I read that… or “this news story said…” are too vague. This language is too common in the misinformation and outright false allegations that have become prevalent online. Facts cited in the article or essay should be from reliable sources.

So warm up your computer (or pen and paper) and start writing!!

Submit articles to curtismooney@sbcglobal.net.