Cornell Clayton is the Director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University, where he also serves as the Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Professor of Government. Clayton has written widely about American government, politics and law. His work on judicial politics has twice received the American Judicature Award from the American Political Science Association, and his research has been translated and republished in five languages. He is a frequent political commentator on local and national news media, and his research has been featured in the New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, and National Public Radio, among other places. Clayton served for eight years as coeditor of Political Research Quarterly, the journal of the Western Political Science Association, and served as the Chair of the Law and Court Section of the American Political Association. Other distinctions include two Fulbright Scholarships, the Truman Scholarship
March 1, 2021
Tax law expert David Cay Johnston will present “The Prosperity Tax – An Alternative for the Twenty-First Century” at Noon on Tuesday, March 9, via zoom. He will discuss his views on how Congress could adopt a new system that encourages domestic capital investment, promotes economic growth, and raises living standards.
Johnston’s plan for a new tax system has been examined by top tax administrators, tax accountants, and tax avoidance lawyers, all of whom say it is sound and workable. The full plan will be detailed in a short book due out in 2021.
Johnston won a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for what the judges called his “exquisite command of complicated U.S. tax laws and of how corporations and individuals twist them to their advantage.” His reporting prompted Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to change their tax policies and resulted in many laws and regulations being changed.
A constitutional law professor from Yale outlined the legal aspects of possibly banning former President Donald Trump from running for office again during a Foley Institute event Thursday.
Bruce Ackerman led the Foley talk titled “Is Trump the Symptom of a Constitutional Dis-Ease?” He has authored more than 19 books on political philosophy and constitutional law policy, said Cornell Clayton, director of WSU’s Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service.
Ackerman said Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that if any U.S. government official engages in conspiracy involving an insurrection against the government, that person should be disqualified from serving in any future positions.
Although the pandemic has not affected the number of events the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service puts on, the way public educational events are hosted has changed.
Through a virtual setting, the institute is able to reach a much larger audience. However, Cornell Clayton, director of the Foley Institute, said one downside of the pandemic is that people are not able to personally meet the speakers.
“We normally run anywhere from between 40 to 50 events each year, being at least once a week,” he said.
All events are live-streamed on YouTube. The pandemic has enabled the Foley Institute to have a larger variety of speakers since they no longer need to travel to the WSU Pullman campus, said Allie Figlin, student intern for the Foley Institute.
Secretary of State Kim Wyman discussed election interference and how increased cyber security can increase reliability of election processes during a Foley Institute event Tuesday.
Wyman is the second female to hold the position of secretary of state in Washington, said Cornell Clayton, director of WSU’s Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service.
Clayton said Wyman has allowed Washington to become a national leader in election innovation, administration and cyber security.
By integrating new programs, voter registrations are easier to organize and keep track of, she said. This makes the voter counts more reliable.
“I think when you look at the last 50 years, that’s what election officials have spent a lot of time doing trying to build in the controls,” she said. “If someone makes a claim of voter fraud, we can disprove it.”