“In an effort to help cover costs for working families, President Joe Biden rolled out his child-care plan Wednesday allowing all American parents to drop their kids off at the White House between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. “Starting today, you can drop your tykes right off at the front gate, where a senior adviser will check your child in and escort them to the West Wing,” said Biden, who touted the new program as a convenient centralized location for families from the Mid-Atlantic, Southeastern, and Midwest regions, as well as only a short drive away for those living in the West and Southwest.

“We understand how hard it is to be a working parent, so please feel free to bring them down. We’ve allocated over $200 billion for pudding cups, crayons, and dodgeballs for kids of all ages to enjoy. They can explore the Roosevelt Room and dig in the Rose Garden. The White House chef is currently preparing 700,000 PB&Js, so let us know if your child has a nut allergy. But please be warned, if your child does not behave, we will not hesitate to send them to the Guantánamo Bay detention camp.”

“At press time, Biden added that all children who had not been picked up by 5:30 p.m. would be made wards of the Department of Health and Human Services.”

(From https://politics.theonion.com/biden-s-child-care-plan-to-allow-all-american-parents-t-1846781784)

A hearty CONGRATULATIONS to Political Science graduate Peyton Paschke, who also majored in French Language, for acceptance in Brandeis University Law!

Yesterday, the Dept. of Political Science’s work with the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, Intercultural Affairs and Student Involvement & Leadership was recognized with a “Lead with Passion Award.”

The award highlighted Dr. Cook’s work in various capacities with the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement and the Department’s support of many of its activities. Thank everyone who has participated in their programs including Citizen’s U, Constitution Day, Leadership Studies, election events and voter turnout activities.

Dr. Brad Lockerbie served as chair and discussant on the “Consequences of Framing on Public Perception for the Race, Class, and Ethnicity Division” at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association in April. This conference is considered to be the one of the finest conferences every year for political scientists.

Dr. Kassab – from the island of St. Kitts, was featured on WITN news on Thursday speaking about the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian war.

Check it out: https://www.witn.com/2021/05/13/ecu-professor-explains-current-violence-in-middle-east/

FYI: Summer 2021 classes begin next week:

• Summer I classes start Monday, May 17 and run through Tuesday, June 22.
• Summer II classes start Thursday, June 24 and run through Friday, July 30.
• The 11-Week Summer Session classes start Monday, May 17 and run through Friday, July 30.

This semester, students graduating from our Master of Public Administration program are working with faculty member Dr. Casey Fleming to complete the program’s capstone project.

This project investigates the complex social and economic conditions driving some of the growing problems around housing affordability in many urban and suburban areas. Focusing on two North Carolina urban centers – Wake County/Raleigh and Cumberland County/Fayetteville – students are gathering primary and secondary data to produce a thick description of the current state of housing affordability; to identify and compare complementary and competing policy solutions that can increase the stock of and access to affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households; and to make evidence-based recommendations that take into consideration issues of equity, feasibility, and political acceptability.

Students presented and defended their projects for faculty and others on April 29.

“Blasting the critics of surging migrant detentions, President Joe Biden claimed Monday that it was unfair to attack his administration over borders that former President James K. Polk was responsible for creating. “It’s absurd, we just got here, and now we are being blamed for a lack of transparency around migrant detention even though we obviously inherited this border from Polk,” said Biden, who attacked his critics for ignoring the clear fact that border crossings started 172 years before he took office. “We have a delicate situation here, and we inherited a real mess from the incompetent Polk administration. They started this problem by pushing the border south to the Rio Grande. If you want to blame someone go talk to Winfield Scott and James Buchanan.

“…Biden was also dismissing criticism over the minimum wage fight by pointing to inherent flaws of representative democracy he inherited from the 509 B.C. Roman Assembly.”

From https://politics.theonion.com/biden-claims-it-s-unfair-to-attack-administration-over-1846528578

Dr. Baumgartner published a chapter that provides a comprehensive review of the research on how exposure to political humor affects political engagement. The chapter, titled “Political Humor,” was published in Thomas Ford and Madelijn Strick, eds., The Social Psychology of Humor (New York: Routledge, 2021, pp. 20-38).

Hugh M. Lee, “The False Claims Act and COVID-19: A Potential Avenue for Relief for Nursing Home-Acquired Infection and Injury?” 361 Elder Law Advisory 1 (April 2021).

This article is a follow up to one Prof. Lee did last year on state common law immunity from claims for COVID-19 infection and a subsequent presentation he did to the Alabama Bar in which he calls into question the governor’s use of authority under Alabama’s Public Health Emergency Act to grant immunity.

The article essentially addresses whether the Federal False Claims Act might provide a possible cause of action against nursing homes for COVID-19 infection and injury. Nursing homes have been granted broad immunity in most states from common negligence and malpractice claims under public health emergency statutes and state executive orders related to COVID. So the question many have been asking is whether these nursing homes, almost all of which receive federal funding, might be liable for failing to comply with rules and regulations related to Medicare and Medicaid under the False Claims Act.