Tag Archives: Political reporting

Pete Buttigieg rising in latest polls

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By EVAN SIEGAL

Despite being the mayor of a city of under half a million people, Pete Buttigieg continues to be among the hottest names in the presidential race thus far. Among a very crowded field of candidates in the Democratic primaries, the previously unheard of mayor now sits squarely in fourth place only behind Joe Biden, Beto O’Rourke and Bernie Sanders among likely caucus goers in Iowa.

Buttigieg’s stances include a firm promise to tackle climate change as well as raise taxes on the top one percent of earners in the country. In a town hall last night hosted by CNN, Buttigieg promised to restore civility to American politics. Vice President Mike Pence said of attacks made against him that he is bringing “attacks on my Christian faith.” Defenders of the mayor says Vice President Pence is simply attacking him because he is openly gay, but Pence has denied this.

Buttigieg would be by far the youngest president in American history should he win. At just 37 years old, he is a long shot to win but at the very least has cemented himself into several firm positions going forward. Many in the Democratic party have suggested him as a potential candidate for governor of Indiana in the future and perhaps the Senate. Indiana was, of course, once considered a swing state, as Barack Obama carried the state in 2008 and Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly served as the senior senator from the state until this past election cycle.

Was Washington a real estate mogul?

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By LIAM FABRE

One year ago this month, President Trump and the First Lady, accompanied by French President Emanuel Macron and his wife, visited the renowned Mount Vernon estate. Mount Vernon, located 13 miles south of Washington, D.C., was the historic home of George Washington, the first president of the United States.

So why are we talking about a story that took place a full year ago? The answer is a Politico article that was published yesterday about the visit.

According to Politico, the visit was, “truly bizarre.” The tour guide assigned to the Presidents was none other than Doug Bradburn, president and CEO of the Mount Vernon estate. Bradburn told reporters that President Trump knew little about American history and struggled to keep him interested in the tour.

Bradburn piqued President Trump’s interest when he told him that Washington was an 18th-century real-estate titan.

“That is what Trump was really the most excited about,” said an inside source.This led the president to ask Bradburn if Washington was “really rich.” He was pleased to hear that Washington was in fact, really rich. Sources also stated that the president didn’t understand why Washington had not put his name on the building.

“If he was smart, he would’ve put his name on it,” Trump said, “You’ve got to put your name on stuff or no one remembers you.”

Bradburn pointed out that after all, Washington was successful in getting the nation’s capitol as a well as the Washington Monument, named after him. “Good point,” replied the president.

Though this story should not surprise anyone, it is nevertheless, disappointing. The president represents the United States and it is quite embarrassing to know that Macron was a witness to all of this behavior. It makes the president look foolish, but more importantly, it makes the United States look foolish.

Pilots not to blame for 737 Max 8 crash

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By OLIVER JIA

According to CNN, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed a few months ago. The plane is a Boeing 737 Max 8. This incident killed all of the passengers and crew, 157 people were dead.

The Ethiopian aviation authorities reported this week that the pilots of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 did everything they were trained to do, but they still could not prevent this incident. Boeing 737 Max was not safe anymore.

The biggest problem is the automated anti-stall software called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). This system can keep the 737 Max’s nose from pointing up at too much of an angle, called “angle of attack.” High angle of attack (AOA) could cause a plane to stall and crash. Right now, only Boeing 737 Max has this MCAS system.

Boeing said it is currently developing a new version of MCAS and executives hope the Max can return to service soon. The improved MCAS system will be provided by data from two AOA sensors on the jet’s exterior rather than one. The improvement also includes a cockpit indicator to alert the pilot when something wrong with the sensors.

All in all, Boeing faces the most pressure to make sure the 737 Max is safe.

#joetoo? Woman accuses Biden

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By LIAM FABRE

Is Joe Biden a sexual predator? The short answer is no.

Earlier this week, Lucy Flores, a former Nevada State Assembly woman, accused Joe Biden of touching her inappropriately. She did not state that he sexually assaulted her, but she did say that Biden had made her feel very uncomfortable.

At a campaign event in 2014, Vice President Biden came up behind Lucy Flores, grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed the back of her head. She recalls being shocked and appalled by his actions and says he, “crossed a line of decency and respect.”

Let’s begin with the VP. The man is clearly out of line here. While some people, like Biden, are very affectionate and “touchy,” some people, like Flores, are not. Those people have a right not to be touched and have a right to express frustration at this kind of behavior.

That being said, why did it take Flores over five years to express herself? A possible answer is that Flores wants to hurt Biden. Joe Biden has made it clear that he is interested in running for president and he is currently at the top of the polls. Flores is an open Beto O’Rourke supporter and so perhaps this whole story is a political stunt.

Lastly, I will say that I am both surprised and disappointed that this story received so much news media coverage. Some woman from Nevada is mad that Joe Biden put his hands on her shoulders five years ago and somehow that is national news?

This story just illustrates the fact that political elections have become dirty, dirty games. People will try anything to take down politicians and the news media will help them every step of the way.

O’Rourke generating national buzz

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By EVAN SIEGEL

Beto O’Rourke, the former three-term congressman from Texas, threw his hat in the ring and announced his candidacy for president. He joins a crowded field of over a dozen Democrats looking to unseat the Republican incumbent Donald Trump. O’Rourke recently ran an unsuccessful campaign for Senate in Texas, losing to Ted Cruz.

O’Rourke’s Senate campaign was far from a complete failure, however. Running in a state usually dominated by Republicans, O’Rourke came shockingly close to defeating Cruz in a surprisingly tight race. O’Rourke famously visited all 254 counties across Texas, spending large amounts of time in unpopulated areas between El Paso and San Antonio.

O’Rourke had been serving as the congressman from the El Paso area, and announced his desire to run for the Senate in 2016. All in all, O’Rourke took over 48 percent of the vote, losing to Cruz by less than three hundred thousand votes. O’Rourke ran up the numbers considerably in the biggest urban areas of the country, specifically Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio.

O’Rourke also did very well along the border towns of Texas, which have been a consistently reliable blue area of the state. O’Rourke won over the support of Republican congressman Will Hurd, who represents a district along the border and won his midterm election by less than a thousand votes. O’Rourke’s fundraising skills have translated to the presidential campaign, so far.

Only twenty-four hours after announcing his candidacy, O’Rourke raised over six million dollars towards his run. While many members of the Democratic base are waiting for Joe Biden to announce his candidacy, O’Rourke has a substantial chance of upsetting the field and becoming the party’s nominee.

Feds list people to question at border

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By NAOMI FEINSTEIN

Customs and Border Protections created a secret list of reporters, lawyers and activists who should be questioned when crossing the into the United States from Mexico at the San Diego checkpoint last year.

According to NBC News, at least 21 people confirmed they have been questioned as they crossed the border. They were told they were being questioned and must give up access to their cellphones due to an ongoing national security investigation.

The individuals featured on the list traveled with the caravans from Central America hoping to seek asylum in the United States. Many of these activists and journalists are speaking out against the U.S. government for singling them for unwarranted extra questioning.

However, officials deny targeting “journalists for inspection based on their occupation or their reporting.” They claim many of these individuals may have connections to the assaults staged against CBP agents back in November.

Some fear that this will have a chilling effect on reporters as well as activists from doing their jobs since those who report on immigration and provide help to asylum-seekers are the individuals being targeted on this list.

Border officials do have the right to question an individual they suspect committed a crime, however, it is widely inappropriate to detain someone based on his or her occupation and directly violates his or her First Amendment rights.

Reporters need to continue telling this story and questioning officials to get the bottom of this matter because the vague response from officials of conducting a national security organizations does not suffice.

Sherrod Brown says he won’t run

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By EVAN SIEGEL

One of the Democratic parties’ biggest names in the U.S. Senate announced that he will not be running for president this week, despite overtures from all wings of the party. The senator from Ohio had formed an exploratory committee and had been pondering a run for months, as far back as immediately after the 2018 midterms.

Brown won his reelection bid in what has become a Republican-leaning state in recent years. Brown was the only Democrat to win a statewide election in the state after Donald Trump comfortably carried the state by nearly 10 percentage points in the 2016 election. In the governor’s race in the 2018 midterms, Mike DeWine won by a surprisingly big margin after a contentious few weeks of debates.

Brown won reelection with 53 percent of the vote in 2018, and immediately began considering a presidential run. The Democratic field already got a little bit more crowded last week, after conservative democrat John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, joined the race.

The state of Ohio has experienced a dramatic economic downfall in recent years. Columbus and Cleveland still remain comfortably employed and populated, whereas Cincinnati, Toledo, and Dayton have all declined in recent years. Brown has vowed to attempt to turn this around in the senate.

How much is too much reporting?

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By GIANNA SANCHEZ

The news media are looked at as the watchdog over our government. They are supposed to hold people accountable for what they say and do–but to what extent? It seems as though sometimes news outlets are reporting on the wrong aspects of the news.

I realized this when scrolling through Twitter. I saw a tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the representative for New York’s 14th Congressional district. The tweet linked an article from the New York Post with the headline “Ocasio-Cortez leaves parade in 17-mpg minivan–blocks from the subway.” Ocasio-Cortez responded with some light humor saying “I will have you know my tía was very upset that the New York Post insulted her minivan…If they saw how many goldfish snacks were in this thing they’d say I was killing the ocean too.”

At first, I thought it was just internet trolls at it again and Ocasio-Cortez getting into trouble. Once opening the article, it really criticized her. The first line was “she’s addicted to Uber.” The article goes on to say how hypocritical Ocasio-Cortez is for advocating for climate change and better use of energy while not using a form of mass transportation.

The writers, Sarah Trefethen and Bruce Golding, did a lot of digging to find out how much gas time and money she was wasting by taking this mini-van ride from her aunt, but they claimed it was Uber. They also revealed statistics from her days campaigning to say how much money she spent on Ubers, taxis and for-hire vehicles. They did not realize, however, that this ride that she was taking was not an Uber.

While it is good to know information about candidates or politicians and what they truly support, when is enough enough? Do we as journalists have to bash Ocasio-Cortez for taking an Uber ride or ride from her aunt and not using the subway for every mode of transportation every day? Does this truly prove a bigger point and say that she does not truly believe in everything she claims to?

As journalists, I feel as though the line that is separating what is necessary to report and what is distracting from the point is blurring more and more each day. We need to figure out whether or not to report on the details of someone’s personal life versus the issues they are discussing.

India-Pakistan conflict​ heats up

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By OLIVER JIA

According to CNN news, with the amid rising tensions in the Kashmir region, China could be sucked into an India-Pakistan crisis. 

Pakistan and India’s diplomatic relations has reached their lowest point. Indian military said their air force had let fighter attack a terrorist camp in Pakistan. This is a first incursion by Indian air forces since the India-Pakistan war on 1971.

This conflict happened in the in the Kashmir region that borders China. So, China needs to balance this conflict. China has good relationship with Pakistan on the economic, diplomatic and military. 

At the same time, the trade war made China look for alternative trading partners. China has started rebuilding ties with India. The India Prime Minister Narendra Modi made two visits to China last year. Nowadays, China had called for both Pakistan and India to maintain self-restraint and focus on regional peace and stability.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi asked Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to help them. Wang Yi stressed that “China respected all of the countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, China doesn’t want to see any acts that violate the norms of international relations”

Some experts and university professors are saying China could maintain the balance between these two countries. Pakistan is one of the largest buyers of Beijing’s weapons. And India’s purpose is against terrorists.

Cohen hearing erupts in racism debate

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By EVAN SIEGEL

Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) found himself in hot water after Michael Cohen’s explosive testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill earlier this week. Cohen is facing a prison sentence after several guilty pleas involving campaign finance violations among other crimes. The former fixer for Donald Trump also gave a seven-hour closed door testimony to the same committee yesterday.

During the televised public portion of the questioning, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan accused Meadows of using an African American woman as a prop while he attempted to discredit Cohen’s testimony. Tempers quickly flared as Meadows repeatedly tried to undercut and interrupt Tlaib’s remarks and asked that they be removed from the record. Chairman Elijah Cummings of Maryland quickly interjected to subdue the scene, but the controversy had only just begun.

A video of Meadows in 2012 saying “We need to send Obama back to Kenya, or whatever” resurfaced as soon as the hearing ended. Meadows quickly said he “regretted” the statement, however a full public statement has not been released yet. Meadows was frustrated with the Democrats on the committee for inviting Cohen as their main witness despite the fact that he was an admitted liar and is going to prison as a result.

Meadows was also a member of the controversial “birtherism” debate during the Obama administration. President Obama, who was born in Hawaii, was the subject of countless questioning and doubts over whether or not he was indeed born in the United States. Meadows used this controversy as a primary selling point during his various reelection bids over the years.

Ocasio-Cortez, Ivanka swap criticism

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By KARLI FEINSTEIN

CNN released a story on Wednesday morning regarding a feud between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senior White House advisor Ivanka Trump. The dispute came to be after Ocasio-Cortez fired at First Daughter Trump on twitter for a comment she had made about the Green New Deal.

In an interview with Ivanka Trump on Monday, Fox News asked her about Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal on the Green New Deal and her thoughts on people supporting the deal due to its occupational guarantee. 

Trump’s response was “I don’t think most Americans in their heart want to be given something. People want to work for what they get, so I think this idea of a guaranteed minimum is not something most people want. They want the ability to be able to secure a job. They want the ability to live in a country where there’s the potential for upward mobility.”

Trump’s comment on the issue immediately started trending all across social media platforms even including some reviews from late night talk show host’s like Trevor Noah.

On Tuesday morning, after the interview was aired, Ocasio-Cortez commented on Trump’s response through Twitter, “As a person who actually worked for tips & hourly wages in my life, instead of having to learn about it 2nd-hand, I can tell you that most people want to be paid enough to live.”

Ocasio-Cortez and other congressional Democrats feel very passionate about the proposal. The Green New Deal was made to destroy the greenhouse gas population in the U.S. and to fix the problem Americans have with living off low minimum wage.

Ocasio-Cortez also tweeted, “A living wage isn’t a gift, it’s a right. Workers are often paid far less than the value they create.”

According to CNN, the federal minimum wage hasn’t been raised from $7.25 since 2009. I personally think this is a huge issue the government chooses to turn a blind eye to. I’ve been in the position of working at a place that pays minimum wage and I can’t imagine having to use that money as serious source of income. I applaud Ocasio-Cortez for proposing this deal and I hope it ends up getting passed in the end.

Regardless of what Trump says, the American people know the right thing and will continue to stand behind this deal until its proven successful.

Saudi crown prince visits China

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By OLIVER JIA

According to ABC news, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman traveled to Beijing on Thursday. He visited the Great Wall, grinning and posing for the cameras. This trip also symbolized the good relationship of China and Saudi Arabia.

During the G-20 meeting, the Chinese President Xi Jinping and few country leaders had offered support to MBS publicly. And China had already became Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner. These two countries have exchanged $63.3 billion in goods last year.

Recently, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, signed a deal to develop a $10 billion petrochemical refinery with two Chinese firms. So, we can see how China and Saudi Arabia are working together. China needs resources and Saudi Arabia needs high technology, that encourages the two countries to have a close relationship. Also, Saudi Arabia is one of China’s suppliers for crude oil. At the same time, this deal may reclaim the top spot from Russia.

China wants Saudi Arabia to play a role in Xi’s massive worldwide infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative. This project seeks to build a network of roads, railways the and ports connecting the world to China.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman stated that China is the last stop on his economic travels after he also visited to India and to Pakistan.

Trump discusses Venezuela at FIU

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By LESLIE ANNE DOMINIQUE

On President’s Day, President Donald Trump flew to Miami to give a speech at Florida International University, where he was joined by hundreds to thousands of Venezuelans chanting, “libertad, libertad, libertad” (freedom, freedom, freedom).

The purpose of Trump’s speech was to address the crisis in Venezuela and announce his support for Juan Guaidó, an opposition politician to the Venezuelan regime and the man who many believe is the rightful president. The South American nation is currently going through a political crisis involving hyperinflation, leaving millions of citizens in poverty. President, Nicolás Maduro, who many citizens blame for the nation’s decline, has refused much of the humanitarian aid that is being sent to feed the starving in Venezuela.

Trump spoke to the pleas of much of his audience stating, “a new day is coming in Latin America.”  The president seeks a “peaceful transition of power” in which Guaidó is president. The large majority of his speech was focused on discrediting Maduro’s socialist agenda.

He warned Maduro supporters that they would lose their livelihoods. Speaking of the blockage of aid from the United States, the president said of Maduro, “He would rather see his people starve than give them aid.” Although Trump’s speech was rather mellow for him, there were underlying hints at a military invasion by the U.S., if the presidency was not granted to Guaidó.

Many question Trump’s intentions and stance on the issues revolving around Venezuela. Trump spoke greatly of Venezuelans who have protested and raised arms against the corrupt government however; this is the same man who is supporting the deportation of Venezuelans who seek to flee tyranny from the Maduro regime.

Maduro has since responded to President Trump’s speech, stating that it was “A tired rhetoric questioning our right as a free country to adopt the ideas of socialism which is humane and Christian. It was a Nazi-style speech.” It seems that the two leaders share a flair for the dramatics.

In a video surrounded by military officials, Maduro claimed “Donald Trump wants to ban ideologies… [He] wants to impose his way of thinking of the white supremacists in the White House. No! Venezuela will continue with its division of ideologies. We will continue to be multiracial.”

Maduro believes that Trump is encouraging an invasion of Venezuela and has taken action to avoid such. Since Monday, Nicolas Maduro has forbid all aid from the United States to enter the country. This has put the Venezuelan crisis at a climax.

What now?

Fighting back is not in the favor of Venezuelans, as the military regime is rather strict and forceful. It seems that it would take outside interaction from military giants, such as the United States, to get Venezuelans the freedom and supplies that they need. In opposition of the regime, Guaidó has called for a huge nationwide march on Feb. 23 to get charitable relief into the country. Venezuelans are in wide support of Guaidó and find that he will be the key to gaining them their freedom.

How are we reporting this story?

This story, along with many stories regarding the Venezuelan crisis, has been reported by various news sources. Every day different networks such as CNN, NBC and FOX are reporting stories on Venezuela on paper, on air, and on television. There hardly is a day that passes when Venezuela is not being reported by journalists. Many news organizations are reporting it by focusing on the food crisis and how citizens are fighting to gain supplies; others are focusing on statements from Maduro himself. Many journalists are also suspecting an invasion from the U.S., and reporting on this expectation.

National border emergency declared

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By MCKENZIE STOUTE

After lots of speculation, President Trump declared a national emergency over border security on Friday.

This decision came after Congress wouldn’t give the president the $5.7 billion he asked for to build the wall, that he previously stated that Mexico was going to pay. This resulted in a 35-day government shutdown, the longest U.S government shutdown in history. In order to avoid another shutdown President Trump signed a bipartisan spending bill that allocated him $1.38 billion for border barriers. This falls more than $4 billion short of what Trump sought.

The president has received backlash for this, with many Democrats saying it is an unconstitutional abuse of his authority.

“We’re talking about an invasion of our country,” President Trump stated in defense of his actions. Trump plans to draw $6.7 billion from the military, $2.5 billion from counter-narcotics programs and $600 million from the Treasury Department.

Yet, this is the closest that President Trump has gotten to fulfilling his promise of building a wall along Mexico’s border.

U.S.-Huawei fight messing with 5G plans

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By OLIVER JIA

According to CNN, American’s fighting with Huawei is messing with the world’s 5G plans. 5G is a new technology that can bring high internet speed. Especially, it useful on self-driving cars and other high technology area. 

Huawei technology company has already built up such a strong lead in 5G technology. The United States is trying to persuade other countries do not let Huawei equipment and base stations into their countries, because the gear could be used by the Chinese government for spying. Huawei strongly denies the accusations. 

Some top international mobile operator stated that shutting Huawei out of 5G networks countries could have a risk on the undermining their own tech capabilities. Comparing the 4G network, 5G network was faster than 4G as much as 100 times. 

Australia’s government has decided to ban Huawei from providing 5G technology for network. The Vodafone’s (VOD) CEO Nick Read stated that complete ban on all Huawei gear would delay the variability of 5G.The United States and China are all big country in the world. They all have advanced technology, good economy in the world. So, the competition is always existed. If they cooperate each other. The 5G internet will be stronger. 

Anti-Semitism? Who cares?

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By LIAM FABRE

Ilhan Omar posted an openly anti-Semitic comment and basically, no one cares.Earlier this week Congresswoman Ilhan Omar re-tweeted a statement posted by Glenn Greenwald in which he expressed his discontent over continued U.S. support for Israel. Along with her re-tweet she added the statement, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” implying that U.S. support for Israel was entirely bought and paid for by the Jews.

This statement upholds the long-time anti-Semitic view that Jews in America simply buy out politicians and worse, that no one in American politics supports Israel simply from a moral basis. Her comments are disgusting and she should resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee immediately.

What was the response from the news media? The short answer, not much. Instead of focusing on the statement itself, stories focused on the fact that Omar is a “fresh face” in Congress and thus, still finding her way. Stories also covered the fact that Republicans “pounced” on her statement and overreacted.

Omar later apologized, but I would hardly call her statement an apology. She said, in another tweet, that she apologized unequivocally for any pain she may have caused, but that she stood by her statement. In my book, that is not an apology. It seems that for the left anti-Semitism is not a problem.

Omar will stay a Congresswoman and she will keep her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee. If we are to become a society without hate and one of equality, we must denounce all offensive statements. Not only the ones that further our political goals.

Global warming crisis continues

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By SHANIKA ISAACS

According to NASA, global climate change is increasing rapidly as its impact continues to affect the environment around us. As time progresses, we continue to see ice glaciers melting, the rise of sea levels, more frequent and severe forest fires, increase ocean acidity, extreme winters, heat waves and the list goes on. However, with new information surfacing and the fate of the United States changing, President Donald Trump seems less concerned about this evolving world crisis.

“WHAT THE hell is going on with Global Warming. Please come back fast we need you,” said President Trump.

As the play on words pertaining to a serious issue, nature will continue to take its course. Likewise, the unattended struggles of Puerto Rico since the hit of Hurricane Maria in 2017, will continue to cripple the country up to this date.

Collin Powell once said, “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

The president’s administration still intends on removing the United States from the Paris climate agreement which will have severe impact on the world. The Washington Post states that while the Trump administration ripped up clean-air rules, U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions shot up 3.4 percent last year, putting the lie that market forces alone will adequately drive down the country’s carbon footprint.

President Donald Trump instead continues to focus on the opposing party funding his $5.7 billion border wall and threatens another partial shut-down for Feb.15 if it is not funded. Why are we so heavily invested in the smaller problems and not more focused on the bigger ones? Where are our priorities as a nation moving forward?

Fact-checking Trump’s SOTU address

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By NAOMI FEINSTEIN

President Trump delivered his second State of the Union address to both chambers of Congress Tuesday night. In his speech, Trump made calls for unity and bipartisanship. However, along with many of his hopes for the future of the country, he discussed and reflected on matters pertaining to immigration, the economy, and foreign policy among others.

Throughout his speech, Trump made a number of claims that I, myself, wanted to make sure were correct. Therefore, when I went to read different news outlets reactions to the speech, I found some interesting pieces about examining the accuracy of Trump’s claims. It is quite unnerving that different news media outlets have to “fact-check” our president, someone who we trust to tell us the truth.

I applaud these different news media organizations to go through the president’s speech and check for falsities. We live in a country where we are bombarded with falsehoods and so-called fake news. However, we rely on these presidential addresses to hear about the state of our current affairs. But, now we are left thinking, what are we supposed to believe?

I particularly enjoyed The New York Times piece titled, “State of the Union Fact Check: What Trump got Right and Wrong.” Today, our news media landscape has become very partisan, making unsubstantiated claims about our government. However, in this piece, a number of reporters came together to detect falsehoods and exaggerations in the president’s speech by presenting data and information that disproves what he said.

When Trump spoke about immigration, he said, “The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime — one of the highest in the entire country, and considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities. Now immediately upon its building with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is on the safest cities in our country.”

However, New York Times reporters prove that this statement is false by showing that El Paso has never been one of the most dangerous cities in the United States and prior to the building of the border fencing in 2008, the city’s crime rate had already been decreasing.

If the story had failed to provide the evidence for which Trump’s claim was false, I would be less likely to believe it. As we know many say Trump has lied previously; however, many of those claims have lacked support. These reporters tracked the accuracy of these claims through extensive research and that is what you call good journalism.

It is through strong reporting like this that a democracy flourishes. The press or the Fourth Estate helps U.S. citizens stay well informed and holds officials accountable. The advent of the free press was grounded in the idea that it serves as watchdog of government and this piece serves as a tool for citizens to track the progress of our country under President Trump for the last two years.

Booker joins list of 2020 candidates

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By MCKENZIE STOUTE

With the next presidential election only one year away, many have been wondering who is going to take on current president Donald Trump in 2020. At this point, Americans are insisting to know who they will be looking as candidates in election before hand. Since President Trump was elected, people have been making assumptions about who will be running against him and who won’t be. We even have had talk about music artist Kanye West running for president.

Although the next election is more than a year away, there are very few things the public knows for sure, but slowly but surely we will start to receive confirmations of who is officially running.

So, what do we know for sure? Cory Booker, a 49-year-old New Jersey senator, finally  announced that he will officially be running for president as a Democratic candidate in 2020. Booker, who is a Stanford University graduate and Yale Law School alumni is more than certified for the position.

The announcement of Booker running for office is no surprise being there has been talk about him running for over a year now. Booker’s platform has always been one of love and unity and plans to stick with that message throughout the campaign.

“The lines that divide us are nowhere near as strong as the ties that bind us. When we join together and work together — we will rise” is the message the senator attached to the video announcing his presidential campaign.

This video shows clips of the civil rights movement and the most recent movements we’ve had like March for our Lives and the Women’s March on Washington. Through showing support for group protest and coming together as Americans, peacefully, to make change, Booker is hoping that the stark contrast between his message and our current president’s message is what will lead him to winning the 2020 election.  

What’s happening to our government?

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By SHANIKA ISAACS

According to an article written by Josh Haufner for USA Today, the partial government shut down became the longest in history both breaking and setting a 34-day record. Anticipation for the Republicans made itself comfortable in the White House as doubt and fear started to trickle in.

Even though the government is up and running again President Donald Trump promises for a next partial shut down if the Democratic Party does not provide ways and means of funding his $5.7 billion budget for the country’s boarder wall.

The stakes are high as many Republican supporters became aggravated with the president upon signing the government back into operation. Ann Coulter, a known Trump supporter, bashed the president by calling his efforts “whimpy” over Twitter. The president responded to such a comment at the first White House press briefing on Monday and said “I heard she’s become hostile. I must not have returned her phone call or something.”

Approximately 800,000 government workers officially resumed work on Monday. Half of that number was furloughed and the other half had to work at their necessary agencies for security reasons. Many government workers still struggle financially as they recover from the backlashes of the partial shut down even though they received their paychecks this week.

Partnership CEO Max Stier told WBUR news that working for a federal agency feels even less rewarding especially for those workers with a sense of mission.

He continued “Yes, it had real financial implications, but even more than that, it disrupted the core value proposition of the job, which is to be able to make a difference, to work for a purpose.”

Comments like these permits one to sit down and truly consider the odds as we look into both scenarios. Was the partial government shut down really for a positive cause or did we allow it to move us 10 steps backward? Or are we to be angry like Coulter and blame the president’s efforts for failing us? Exactly what are we to be thinking when considering all circumstances?