Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

US Senate Fails Again to Advance Massive Coronavirus Aid Bill

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Categories: ASCF News National Preparedness Economic Security

Comments: 0

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin say they hope a deal on a $2 trillion economic aid package can be reached Tuesday. 

They held talks until late into the night Monday after the Senate failed for a second time to advance a bill that would send money to most Americans and many businesses that have been severely impacted by the deadly coronavirus.    

Republican and Democratic leaders have exchanged sharp words as the process unfolded in recent days, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accusing Democrats of delaying the process by asking for changes to the bill and Schumer saying McConnell wasted time by bringing two procedural votes on the measure he knew would fail. 

Democrats first blocked advancing the aid package on Sunday.  After more negotiations Sunday night and Monday morning, they again voted against moving the legislation forward on Monday afternoon, triggering the fresh talks between Schumer and Mnuchin, with a phone call to President Donald Trump. 

The aid package is aimed at boosting the U.S. economy by sending direct payments to more than 90% of Americans and a vast array of U.S. businesses to help them weather the immediate and burgeoning economic effects of the coronavirus.  

Most U.S. families of four would get $3,000 in assistance, with the aid package also creating a $500 billion lending program for businesses, cities and states, and $350 billion more to help small businesses meet payroll costs at a time when there is a declining demand for their products and services.    

Democrats focused their objections on the $500 billion lending program for businesses, which some critics are calling a “slush fund” because the Treasury Department would have wide discretion over who gets the money, with little accounting for how the money is spent.     

Trump, in comments made Sunday, appeared to agree with the Democrats’ contention.   

“I don’t want to give a bailout to a company and then have somebody go out and use that money to buy back stock in the company and raise the (stock) price and then get a bonus,” Trump said. “So, I may be Republican, but I don’t like that. I want them to use the money for the workers.”    

But by Monday afternoon he stood before reporters at the White House and said Congress should approve “the Senate bill as written.” 

Governors in at least 13 states have ordered millions of people to stay home, in effect quarantined, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. No national shutdown is planned.    

The toll from the coronavirus is mounting in the U.S. More than 41,000 cases have been confirmed, with more than 500 deaths. Both figures have markedly increased in recent days. 

Photo: AP

Link: https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/us-senate-fails-again-advance-massive-coronavirus-aid-bill

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