Society, Politics, & Economics

Only Tangible Policy Positions Will Win Them Elections, The "Center" Doesn't Provide That We are currently 6 months into the Trump presidency. The Republican Congress has bungled the ACA repeal attempt while Trump has haphazardly played the role of a president. Currently, there is a Muslim ban in effect and waiting for Supreme Court review. A wall on the southern border with Mexico could potentially be funded by Congress. There are a handful of other policy attempts being worked on, but so far no real piece of legislation has been signed by the Trump administration. The GOP has effectively put forward a slate of policy positions that their voters can observe, The Democratic Party needs to do the same for future elections. Democratic standpoints thus far been of pure and overt rejection. Democratic politicians have gone out on limbs to say things like "this is awful", "we don't support this", "we would never do this". The Democ...

School Choice Is Not The Answer The United States population is as diverse as it gets. There are multiple religious, ethnic, cultural, and racial groups all living under the same government, because of this we have become one of the most unique societies that human history has ever witnessed. One important fact remains, regardless of the general characteristics of an individual or group, we are all Americans. We may have have our differences, but we are all equal members of a greater society. A question that a society as diverse as our faces is how can we ensure that the next generation learns that our differences do not define us, that we are all inherently equal? Public schools have historically been the institution where this happens. Our public schools have been where children of Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Atheist or nonsectarian parents would come together and learn as a single unit. They would all be treated as equals for the duration of their education...

At A Minimum, Criminal Charges Must Be Filed News has broken  that Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Donald Trump Jr. took a meeting with a Russian government connected lawyer. Newly released emails show how the meeting apparently took place to further the Russian government's efforts to support the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Campaign finance laws clearly state that American electoral campaigns cannot request "something of value" as a contribution from foreign nationals and governments. Emails show that the meeting took place to further the Russian government's efforts to support the Trump campaign. This is clearly an attempt by the Trump campaign to solicit a contribution of "something of value" from a foreign national or government. The emails show that three members of the campaign are directly at fault, while leaving the standing of the rest of the campaign up in the air.  This is dangerous. Members of the Trump campaign app...

Constant Attacks On The Press And The Media Have Fractured The American Public The 4th Estate, or better known as the press (or the media), is a crucial component of The United States. The First Amendment guarantees the public's right to having a free and open press, and American history has thanked our nation's founders for that right. Without the 4th Estate, the American public never would have learned about Nixon and the Watergate scandal, the truth about Vietnam may have never come to light, and political discussion and debate would be drastically limited.  The press acts as the American public's best source for information regarding their government's and politician's actions and beliefs. The press is one of the pivotal components of a system that ensures a free and open debate of opinion, ideology, and belief exists in society. Coverage regarding President Trump has been critical and relatively negative. Trump has responded by lashing out at me...

The Policy Won't Hold Up Under Strict Scrutiny The Trump administration is hell bent on enforcing its immigration and refugee ban. The ban would ultimately a temporary ban on the inflow of Muslims into the United States, however we cannot truly know what Trump means when he says temporary. The language of the ban does not explicitly discriminate against Muslims and the Islamic faith, but the intent behind the ban and the potential effect of the ban are to explicitly discriminate against Muslims and Islam. The Supreme Court is likely to view this case in regards to the religious clauses of the First Amendment. These clauses are the free exercise of religion clause and the establishment of religion clause. The former concerns an individual's right to practice their religion as they see fit, while the latter concerns government support for religion and/or the disadvantaging of religion by the government. The constitution applies first and foremost to the government its...

The Left Must Understand What Mike Pence Represents The current President of the United States, Donald Trump, is currently embroiled in scandal after scandal. Much of them concern the matter of Russia's involvement in the election and Trump's awful handling of the controversy surrounding it. Some Democrats, and even a few Republicans, have either mentioned or been asked about the possibility of the impeachment and removal of President Trump. Representative Al Green has begun his efforts at kick-starting impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives. While the impeachment and removal of Trump as the president is unlikely while Republicans control both houses of Congress, it is interesting and important to discuss the issue. If Democrats are successful in the process, the vice president, Mike Pence, is next in line to become the president. He represents a relatively significant departure from the current state of governing at the office of the presidency. M...

Trump's "Mistake" Poses A Danger To Our Society Former FBI Director James Comey gave testimony to the Senate today, during which we learned more details regarding his interactions with President Trump. Comey described his meeting with Trump, in regards to Mike Flynn, as a conversation in which Trump requested that Comey and the FBI drop the investigation into Flynn. The exact word that Trump used in his request was “hope”. Comey took this as being an order from the President for him to end the investigation. Comey was criticized for not informing the President that requests of this nature were inappropriate for him to make. However, Paul Ryan, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives in Congress, described this at a news conference by saying:  “He's new in government, and so therefore I think he's learning as he goes" . This response from Paul Ryan is disappointing in a multitude of ways. It shows how members of the same political p...