Jordan P. Cooper

It would be in the interests of the American public to see the following federal policies enacted:  Good Governance Rectify Congress' abrogation of power by returning to it all rights granted to Congress in the Constitution including the right to enact tariffs and declare war, abridging the expansive powers of the Presidency  The creation of a Deletion Committee in the House and Senate, each dedicated to the removal of antiquated, unnecessary, and burdensome statue in addition to statutes that cannot be enforced The creation of an Enforcement Committee in the House and Senate dedicated towards ensuring that all statute remaining on the books are enforced and that there are sufficient funds to enable their enforcement The creation of a non-partisan congressional redistricting commission solely responsible for drawing all districts and direction to the 50 state legislatures to each create a similar commission dedicated to the same mission for state, county, and municipal r...

     American voters' attention is often drawn to 'sexy', emotional issues that have very little impact on their daily lives but about which they have strong opinions tied to their identity. As a 'conservative' they will vote for any candidate who will support their individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense (as they and the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) interpret the Second Amendment). As a 'liberal' they will express outrage at the willingness of SCOTUS to overturn the precedent set by Roe v Wade, allowing for individual state legislatures to outlaw abortion.       But how often do most Americans actually rely upon their own firearms to shoot another person in self-defense? How often does the average American get an abortion? Are most Americans seeking to have an abortion most days?       Contrast these issues with more boring ones. How often do most Americans find themselves driving on a public road? Wh...

Op-ed published on legislation pertaining to the use of prophylactic antibiotics in livestock, co-authored by MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Dr. Ellen Silbergeld. Antibiotic Legislation Falls Short in Maryland On October 1, 2017 a number of health-related bills in Maryland came into effect that have unfortunately fallen short of where we need to be. The Keep Antibiotics Effective Act of 2017 has taken a step in the right direction by attempting to limit the prophylactic use of antibiotics in livestock, fish, and poultry so as to arrest the spread of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria and to thereby prolong the efficacy of our antibiotic drugs. Unfortunately this bill does not require confirmation of an actual disease in a herd or flock in order for the animals to be treated with antibiotics and it will therefore be ineffective at addressing the legislative intent behind this statute. The legislation is to be commended for prohibiting the use of antibiotics...

Op-ed published in the Baltimore Sun critiquing Congress' Russia sanctions package. Russia Sanctions Reveal U.S. Hypocrisy After a twenty-six year hiatus the drums of the Cold War are once again reverberating through the halls of Washington.  With the recent passage of legislation imposing sanctions upon the Russian Federation, Congress has charted an undeniable path towards confrontation with an historical adversary.  We cry foul at human rights violations with scant recollection of water-boarding at Abu Ghraib. We are outraged at extrajudicial assassinations in foreign lands while we continue to maintain a drone kill list. We charge Russia with making a mockery of the democratic process while conveniently forgetting our role in toppling Mosaddeq in Iran, Arbenz in Guatemala, Lumumba in Congo, Goulart in Brazil, Allende in Chile, and more recently our silence in response to the overthrow of Morsi that replaced him with a more stable, reliable ally for the Unit...

Comptroller Peter Franchot spoke to a half-filled room with the Civic Federation on Nov. 9 at the County Council Building. Speaking of his role on the Maryland Board of Public Works, which he said has approved 18,000 contracts accounting for $85 billion in state spending since he rose to the position from being a delegate from Takoma Park, Franchot emphasized his independence from partisan politics as comptroller. Franchot portrayed the Board of Public Works as a “court of last resort” against “machine politics,” citing his ability to stand up to the Democratic Party in Baltimore County as a champion of Dundalk Citizen groups regarding a development proposal that he voted against. The comptroller continued to paint himself as the champion of taxpayers and consumers in the face of stifling government overreach. Consumers of education, he said, will support his proposed one-year standardized testing moratorium that prevents “teachers from doing what they’re go...

The Montgomery County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly has 32 members. With the recent appointments of now Senator Will Smith and now Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins due to the vacancy created by the election of former Senator and now Congressman Jamie Raskin that number has risen to 37.5% [i] or more than 1 in 3 of our elected officials in Montgomery County having arrived in ‘elected’ office through a non-democratic appointment process instead of being elected.  12 members of the current delegation arrived there through appointments without having been directly elected to office by their constituency. So in our great democracy, one-third of our representatives were not chosen democratically by the people they are meant to represent. The appointment process is doubly damaging in Maryland since we are one of five states that has a four year term for the lower house in the state legislature. In effect, delegates appointed a year into a four year term are able...

I wish to clarify the complexity of the many hats that paint the broader strokes of our elected officials' responsibilities. The elected official is at once a politician, a legislator, and a social worker. Many candidates seem to be motivated to run for public office by one or two of these three roles, but few are driven by a desire and/or have the ability to adeptly act as all three. There is some degree of each in every elected official, but generally one trait runs dominant. There are the single-issue candidates who run on a policy platform, often drawing their inspiration from personal experience. These are the candidates that lobby for harsher penalties for DUIs because a family member was killed in a drunk-driving accident, who are frustrated by the de-funding of a school's art program and wish to strengthen state investments in the arts, or a small businessman who has seen the costs of providing health care to his employees skyrocket and is determined to p...