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Public Comment to the Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration

March 20, 2023 | Lars Schönander

Today, I submitted a public comment to the Economic Development Administration concerning its proposed rules for the Implementation of the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program. My name is Lars Erik Schönander. I am a Policy Technologist at Lincoln Network. I appreciate the opportunity to provide public comment to the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA)

March 15, 2023 | Jonathon Hauenschild

This piece was originally published in the Washington Times. The Senate Judiciary Committee recently grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland over a wide range of issues, including the FBI’s targeting of traditional Catholics and the treatment of pro-life activists, while ignoring violence against crisis pregnancy centers. Likewise, the House Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government

March 14, 2023 | Jimmy Soni

This piece was originally published in The Dispatch. On an SAT answer bubble, a single vertical mark through a letter counts as a response. Why does that matter? Because drawing a short line requires two fewer seconds than shading a full bubble. Across dozens of questions, that’s precious minutes saved. I absorbed this piece of testing

March 8, 2023 | Luke Hogg

This piece was originally published in Tech Policy Press. From education to media to medicine, the rapid development of artificial intelligence tools has already begun to upend long-established conventions. Our democratic institutions will be no exception. It’s therefore crucial that we think about how to build AI systems in a way that democratically distributes the benefits.

Who Owns the Farm in the U.K.?

March 6, 2023 | Lars Schönander

As U.S.-China competition heats up, lawmakers are realizing the extent to which Chinese companies and investments threaten U.S. national security. But this isn’t just an American issue; British policymakers should be aware of similar risks to their own country. In particular, the U.K. has a chance to learn from the latest U.S. area of focus:

March 3, 2023 | Satya Thallam

This piece was originally published in The Hill. Early last year, an FDA advisory committee rejected a new lung cancer drug. The reason? They weren’t too keen on foreign clinical data. Later in the year, the developer of a potential variant-proof COVID-19 treatment that might even be effective against other viruses faced the same problem. The FDA rejected

March 1, 2023 | Luke Hogg

Today, Zach Graves, Executive Director of Lincoln Network, and figures from three other organizations, sent a letter to Speaker McCarthy and members of the House Republican Conference, recommending that they strengthen the legislative branch and its capacity for policymaking and oversight in the 118th Congress. The text of the letter reads: Dear Speaker McCarthy and members of

February 28, 2023 | Jonathon Hauenschild

Data breach notification standards are important tools to protect cybersecurity. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), though, lacks congressional authority to expand its current notification regime to include “accidental” or “inadvertent breaches.” In a recent comment filed with the FCC, I discussed the need to ensure that consumers are notified when bad actors intentionally access confidential

February 28, 2023 | Jonathon Hauenschild

When deploying broadband infrastructure, service providers should not discriminate against potential customers on the basis of income level, race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. In a recent comment filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), I discussed the best ways for the FCC to realize its goal of closing the digital divide while preventing discrimination.

February 20, 2023 | Lars Schönander

This piece was originally published in American Affairs. Between 2017 and 2018, a single Chinese billionaire bought over 140,000 acres of land next to an American military base in southern Texas, and the government did not even know how many LLCs were initially involved in buying the land. It was not even the federal government that

February 15, 2023 | Alex Dubin

This piece was originally published in the National Interest. The liftoff of Artemis 1 last November launched a new era in space, as the United States prepares to send humans beyond low-Earth orbit and back to the Moon for the first time in half a century. The Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule finally made their debut

February 15, 2023 | Brandon Detweiler

This piece was originally published in reimaginED. In 2023, Iowa and Utah have already enacted new education savings account programs that will help thousands of families take control of their children’s education. These states follow Arizona and West Virginia in enacting broadly available ESA programs in recent years. There’s more to come. According to EdChoice, lawmakers in

February 14, 2023 | Richard Reisman

This piece was originally published in Tech Policy Press. Managing society’s problems related to how (and by whom) social media news feeds are composed is rapidly reducing to the absurd. Elon Musk’s capricious management of Twitter highlights many of the core elements of the presenting problems – while related issues have risen to the Supreme Court.

February 14, 2023 | Alex Dubin

The breathtaking launch of Artemis 1 ushered in a new era of American-led human space exploration. The nearly month-long mission to the Moon tested a new heavy-lift rocket (Space Launch System, or SLS) and capsule (Orion), and its success is a triumph for NASA and its partners. The mission comes 11 years after the retirement

February 8, 2023 | Zach Graves

This piece was originally published in Tech Policy Press. In the last year, we’ve seen huge improvements in the quality and range of generative AI tools—including voice-to-text applications like OpenAI’s Whisper, text-to-voice generators like Murf, text-to-image models like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and GPT-3, and others. Unlike the clunky AI tools of the past (sorry, Clippy), this suite of

February 8, 2023 | Luke Hogg

This piece was originally published in the Deseret News. House Republicans had a rough start to the new year, with internal squabbles delaying the instatement of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Now, Republicans have to find a rallying point — otherwise, they risk wasting the next two years. Thankfully, one proposal provides a clear path toward

February 7, 2023 | Luke Hogg

Click here to download the full report in PDF format. Executive Summary Our current online ecosystem is dominated by targeted advertisements. Companies collect troves of information about their users and use that information to monetize otherwise-free services, such as social media platforms and search engines. The inescapability of this system has led policymakers to question how the

February 2, 2023 | Luke Hogg

Today, Zach Graves, Executive Director of Lincoln Network, and Matt Lira, former Special Assistant to the President for Innovation Policy, sent a letter to Speaker McCarthy, urging him to modernize the House of Representatives. The text of the letter reads: Dear Speaker McCarthy: Congratulations on your election as Speaker of the House of Representatives. As

February 1, 2023 | Deepesh Chaudhari

Global Internet freedom has declined for the 12th year in a row, according to the latest report from Freedom House. Russia has increased its crackdown on Internet freedom since the start of the war in Ukraine, while the Chinese Communist Party remains the world leader in digital authoritarianism, mandating “new rules that require platforms to

January 30, 2023 | Lars Schönander

This piece was originally published in Tablet. Federal funds are being used to buy drones and drone detection equipment from DJI, a Chinese drone company that maintains control over data created and compiled by their products. Some of the details of these drone acquisitions were buried on government websites, while other aspects of these programs

Between Sovereignty and the IMF

January 26, 2023 | Lars Schönander

This piece was originally published in Commonweal. Across the world, countries in dire financial straits are giving up economic sovereignty in exchange for emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Sri Lanka, for example, reached a deal with the IMF to restore economic stability after it ran out of fuel and other essentials earlier this year due

These Are Not Your Drones

January 25, 2023 | Lars Schönander

This piece was originally published in the American Mind. A growing concern in debates over U.S.-China competition and decoupling has been the U.S. usage of Chinese drones. Drones made in China by Chinese companies have been used by federal agencies for tasks ranging from fighting fires to agricultural research and by the FBI and Secret Service for security purposes. As

Schoolahoop Launches Across Wisconsin

January 23, 2023 | Brandon Detweiler

We’re excited to announce that Schoolahoop, Lincoln’s free tool to help parents explore and compare schools in their neighborhood, as well as discover scholarships, is officially launching across Wisconsin, thanks to the generous support of the Bradley Foundation. School Choice Wisconsin has partnered with Schoolahoop to be the “boots-on-the-ground” organization for all Wisconsin parents searching

January 17, 2023 | Jonathon Hauenschild

This piece was originally published in The Hill. The Federal Trade Commission recently proposed a rule that would ban non-compete clauses in employment contracts. While the Commission’s attempt to ban them raises important questions about the continued use of NCAs, its assertion of authority will be challenged and is unlikely to survive judicial review. The FTC’s proposal is simple to

January 10, 2023 | Dan Lips

After electing Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the House of Representatives moved to pass the House rules package for the 118th Congress. The measure shapes how the chamber will conduct its business over the next two years. Americans should be encouraged by an important change that will focus lawmakers’ attention on authorizing federal programs. Unlike the Senate,

Quarterly Activities Update

January 4, 2023 | Zach Graves

Dear friend of Lincoln: I’d like to share with you some of our team’s recent activities, including new research from Lincoln Policy, project updates from Lincoln Studio, and other developments across Lincoln Network. Take a look at what the Lincoln team has been working on over the last few months. Policy Our policy research team

4,800 Ways to Improve Government

January 4, 2023 | Robert Bellafiore

This piece was originally published in The Hill. As the 118th Congress begins, Americans may be wondering what, if anything, the legislative branch will accomplish in 2023. For a dose of optimism, they should look to the recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act, which included a bipartisan measure providing a blueprint for good government reforms in

Venture Capital Turns on the Elites

December 29, 2022 | Robert Bellafiore

This piece was originally published in National Review. This March will mark 36 years since the publication of Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind. Since then, we’ve never lacked for laments over the decline of higher education, from Roger Kimball’s Tenured Radicals to William Deresiewicz’s Excellent Sheep. But a nagging fact accompanies these and other powerful indictments: Higher education

The Long Delay Is Nearly Over

December 28, 2022 | Alex Dubin

This piece was originally published in the New Atlantis. George Jetson is alive. No, not literally, of course. But in the world of the famous 1960s TV series, set in 2062, George Jetson was forty years old. This means that the Jetson patriarch was born in 2022. For people of a certain age, this is depressing news.

December 21, 2022 | Richard Reisman

This piece was originally published in Tech Policy Press. Poor performance at Meta and Twitter’s self-destruction remind us that the dustbin of online history is littered with once dominant platforms. Many see this as akin to the extinction of dinosaurs, to be replaced with smaller, more nimble mammals, like the Mastodon. Yet, as David Carroll and Alex Tarkowski each observe in Tech Policy Press,

December 19, 2022 | Luke Hogg

This piece was originally published in The Hill. Congress’s frustration with the cryptocurrency industry was on full display last week when the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to investigate the collapse of FTX. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are fed up with fraud and malfeasance among crypto companies, making it all but

December 14, 2022 | Deepesh Chaudhari

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently announced new export control rules regarding anti-terrorism and regional stability, which will significantly affect the trade of high-end AI chips. As with any complex regulatory change, there is a risk of unintended consequences and surprise challenges in its implementation. The Bureau has therefore rightly encouraged comments and collaborative

December 8, 2022 | Dan Lips

This piece was originally published in the SCIF, the blog of the National Security Institute. Last month, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that he would create a new select committee on China should he be elected Speaker in the 118th Congress, and this morning, announced that Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) will chair the new panel. His

December 6, 2022 | Grace Meyer

Lincoln Network was founded to help bridge the gap between policymakers and innovators, and advance a more perfect union between technology and the American republic. We see our value proposition in cross-pollination, network building, and translation between groups that don’t speak the same language. Our work includes helping innovators understand the policy world, and bringing

December 2, 2022 | Dan Lips

This piece was originally published in National Review. With Republicans set to control the House of Representatives in 2023, President Biden will no longer be able to count on passing large legislative packages to achieve his policy aims. If he continues the practices of his predecessors for decades, that will mean an increased reliance on

December 1, 2022 | Lars Schönander

This piece was originally published in the Wall Street Journal. In one of the latest moves in the U.S.-China great-power competition, the Defense Department revealed in October that DJI, a Chinese drone company, is on its “Chinese military companies” list, which tracks companies working with the People’s Liberation Army. This reflects a growing, and justified, concern with

November 29, 2022 | Zach Graves

Click here to download the full report in PDF format. Introduction At the beginning of each Congress, lawmakers in the majority have the opportunity to set priorities and implement operational and institutional reforms through the House rules package. This report is the result of many conversations with congressional experts on what we believe are ideas that can

November 29, 2022 | Evan Swarztrauber

This piece was originally published in Multichannel News. Ever since the Titanic sank, the U.S. government has regulated the airwaves within its borders. After the Titanic’s distress signal was drowned out by amateur radio operators, Congress passed the Radio Act of 1912, putting an end to the era of a “cacophony of competing voices, none of

November 29, 2022 | Dan Lips

This piece was originally published in the Federalist Society blog. In the recent election, Americans elected a narrowly divided Congress. That means that lawmakers will need to work together on bipartisan legislation if they want to address the nation’s challenges. With the highest inflation in 40 years and ballooning federal debt payments, lawmakers have a responsibility

November 21, 2022 | Geoff Cain

This piece was originally published in American Affairs. Once a technology star, Zhao Weiguo rose fast and fell hard. For the last eight years, Zhao’s semiconductor manufacturer, the Tsinghua Unigroup, had fanfare, ambition, large-scale state backing, and an affiliation with China’s most prestigious institution of higher learning, Tsinghua University. All this made Zhao the face and