Group items tagged

This article talks about how the US gov't shutdown affected diplomatic relations with other countries. The shutdown "has clearly raised some alarms and even caused some bewilderment internationally". Some think the shutdown and preoccupation with the situation at home indicates a decrease in the US's will to act internationally.

Nice perspective from Europe, Rachel. "According to Dana Allin of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), "it's not a great advert for the American way when your state looks ungovernable". A Brit was also quoted on NPR saying that some Europeans wonder if our system of govt even works any more. Presidential v parliamentary democracy anyone?

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 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?

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"

Coronavirus cases in the UK have surged to numbers even higher than the initial spike in May. Efforts to help the economy and keep the country open have made citizens at greater risk, and experts urge more restrictions and a potential second lockdown.

I think it's a bit of a dilemma, whether it is the right choice to impose another national shutdown after seeing such a severe economic consequence after the first one and a loss of almost 700,000 jobs, or to forgo the consequences and enact the shutdown anyway to prevent the further spread of the virus. Restrictions are probably the only in-between that might work or at least do less damage.