Group items tagged

This article discusses the role inaccurate media portrayal played in the emergence and persistence of the Obamacare debate. The op-ed piece argues that false equivalency in the media by way of exaggerating the mistakes and flaws of one party to criticize the obvious sins of the other party allowed the media to add fuel to the fiery debate without appearing to have a bias for one side or the other.

On Monday, Uganda reopened schools after the longest pandemic-prompted shutdown in the world. Schools have been closed since March of 2020, and despite attempts at remote learning, many students effectively stopped learning after classrooms closed and many students may not return to their education. Certain educators and critics claim the decision may have eroded decades of progress the country has made in regard to education. I'm curious what prompted the government to make such a harsh decision, and what impact it will have on the country's development considering many students are lacking two years of education and may never return to school. (Years of schooling are a part of the calculations for HDI).

I'm also interested in the long term impact of education in the shutdown but also on covid cases and how this move either helped/hindered recovery.

Although the Texan Senator Ted Cruz has been the focus of much blame for the government shutdown, many Texans appreciate his strong conservative effort in Washington, much less to defund the ACA. Still, moderate and establishment Republicans in Texas disapprove of Cruz, and question his real purpose for stalling the government. While quieted, there a divide within the red state among Republicans. But is this political divide a bigger issue than the divide between Texas and other liberal states?

"But the continued support for Mr. Cruz among Texas Republicans illustrates something larger: the cultural and political divide that continues to widen between a red state that President Obama lost by nearly 16 points in the 2012 election and the blue or even purple parts of the country where Mr. Cruz's tone and tactics have caused outrage and consternation"

Although the title of the article is fairly optimistic, the article itself is not. BBC reports that certain members of the Republican party are willing to end the government shutdown caused by Obamacare if significant revisions are made to Medicare and Social Security.

"Caused by Obamacare?" In what way?