This is Blazer Briefs!

At Blazer Briefs, I follow the active NSDA debate resolutions and fill a unique hole in the market for debate briefs: I go directly to the experts and ask them questions specific to the resolution. The briefs are, for now at least, available free of charge for all debaters. Please enjoy and don't hesitate to email me if you have any inquiries or recommendations.

Blazer Briefs is run by me, Francisco "A.J." Camacho, a freshman at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. As a public forum debater in High School, I attended TOC (the Tournament of Champions) twice and was ranked best in PF in the state of Tennessee by the National Speech and Debate Association.

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Charles Blahous Interview - Public Forum Debate Sep. - Oct. 2020

Charles Blahous of George Mason's Mercatus Center specializes in domestic economic policy and retirement security (with an emphasis on Social Security), as well as federal fiscal policy, entitlements, and health care programs. Blahous’s research The Costs of a National Single-Payer Healthcare System has been used by both proponents and opponents of Medicare-for-All . I interview Dr. Blahous on the 2020 September-October NSDA Public Forum Debate Resolution: "Resolved: The United States federal government should enact the Medicare-For-All Act of 2019." Dr. Blahous made clear that he does not view himself professionally as an advocate or opponent of the bill, but rather as a humble data analyst. With that being established, that he is neither for or against the resolution professionally, here are some key findings from his aforementioned estimates: "Actual federal cost increases under M4A are likely to be substantially higher than the estimated $32.6 trillion over i

Stephen Breyer - Policy Debate 2020-2021

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has spent more than two decades as a Supreme Court justice, and during that time he has cultivated a reputation for pragmatism, optimism, and cooperation with both political parties. On a September 17 event hosted by my own George Washington University, Justice Breyer answered questions from students. Among them was a question on criminal justice reform I thought appropriate for this year's Policy Debate Resolution: "Resolved: The United States federal government should enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing, sentencing." Justice Breyer proposes potential reforms, but many of them are arguably not "substantial." Among his recommendations are training for prosecutors either in the form of training to be a judge or practicing as a defense lawyer as well as a prosecutor. He also indicates his dislike of mandatory minimums, suggesting it w

Robin Olsen Interview - Policy Debate 2020-2021

Robin Olsen is a senior policy associate in the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where she works on criminal and juvenile justice reform. She is leading a project on examining data availability and improvements to prosecutorial decisionmaking. Olsen’s research interests focus on using data and evidence and collaborative work across stakeholders to improve criminal and juvenile justice system outcomes. I interview Ms. Olsen on the 2020-2021 NSDA Policy Debate Resolution: "Resolved: The United States federal government should enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing, sentencing." While previous experts interviewed on Blazer Briefs have focused on specific policies often related to policing, Ms. Olsen points to broader problems, mainly a lack of transparency and data in criminal justice. She discusses a lack of progress on the federal level and areas for improvement in the following Q&

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