For years, the sheer extremity of Republican obstructionism in the House of Representatives has been major news. President Obama has been forced to deal with opponents in the House since the midterms in 2010. However, he has had the comfort of a Democratic Senate throughout his presidency. Unfortunately for the president, this is no longer … Read more
Florida: the state of sunshine, oranges, Stand Your Ground laws, and Disney World. Florida’s gubernatorial election will be held this Nov 4, and if the debate between the Democrat and Republican candidates was any indication of what is to come, the biggest losers during this campaign cycle will simply be the citizens of Florida. On … Read more
With Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, President Obama might have a hard time stopping a new composite energy bill. The last comprehensive energy bill passed by the Senate was the Energy Policy Act of 2005; new legislation is long overdue. Moreover, the piecemeal approach taken by the Republican-led House in the 113th … Read more
California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Election may change the way the nation focuses on reforming education What should have been a clear re-election victory for Democratic incumbent Tom Torlakson ended up turning into one of the most heated contests for Superintendent of Public Instruction California has ever seen. Most predicted that Torlakson would win … Read more
Walking through the dining hall, I spot a lacrosse player in a tank top. It reads, “Two-Time World War Champs,” and sports a huge American flag. I sigh. In many ways, this pretty much sums up the American ethos on which our parent’s generation—and now our own—has been raised. We see ourselves as a global … Read more
When we hear reports of the imposition of sharia law or see videos of summary executions, it can be easy to feel that the United States should do everything in its power to immediately stop the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, from continuing to commit atrocities. Many want to see the … Read more
In months, ISIS has catapulted from a troublesome al-Qaeda offshoot to a dominant military power in Iraq and Syria. Their rapid takeover of territory, bombastic declarations of a caliphate, and horrendous violence towards minorities troubles the watching world. The United States, concerned as it is with any power struggle in the Middle East, is contemplating how … Read more
“Do not believe ISIL is ‘manageable,’” U.S. senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) warned her constituents via Twitter on September 3. “To defeat this enemy, we will have to risk Americans who will be operating in the fight,” House Intelligence Committee Chairperson Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) added in a TIME article the following the day. These calls from … Read more
The Harvard Public Opinion Project’s Fall 2014 survey demonstrates that, though a large portion of young adults (Americans ages 18-29) cited the government’s policies—the economy, foreign policy, immigration, race relations, and healthcare—as important determinants for their choice of candidate in the upcoming midterm election, they do not conclusively trust one political party over the other … Read more
In affecting the United States’ ability to respond to events abroad, polarization may prevent swift action, which is crucial in developing a strategy to handle the militant group ISIS. However, results from the Harvard Public Opinion Project’s fall poll indicates that while young Americans are far from a consensus on how to deal with ISIS, … Read more