Kerry warns U.S.:"The world will not wait for us."

 http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/24/kerry-warns-u-s-the-world-will-not-wait-for-us/

John Kerry, Secretary of State, was in Asia attending a serious of international summits during the government shutdown. When he returned he boldly warned, "the United States must be far more conscious about how our leadership looks through other peoples eyes."
Kerry goes on to state that many of our allies and partners watch us closely and are quickly sizing up. What we do in Washington determines much of their opinion and and matters deeply to them. For him, that very reason is why he is firm in stating that something like the government shutdown cannot happen again.

Kerry also says that politics should not stop us from good leadership. We can't let things get in the way of running the country and keeping us together. According to John Kerry, "The world watches us, but...the world will not wait for us."

I agree with Kerry and I appreciate his boldness in stating such matters. We are always being watched whether by our allies or our enemies. Our nation can't afford another shutdown. It causes others to think of us as weak and unable to lead correctly. There will always be disagreements in politics, no matter where you go, but there is no good reason for shutting down an entire country due to such. America is a great competitor and source in the world and because of that, it must remain strong and intact.

Pelosi pushes back on extending health care enrollment

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/23/pelosi-pushes-back-on-extending-health-care-enrollment/

As the top Democrat in the House, Nanci Pelosi will not budge when it comes to extending enrollment in the new healthcare exchanges due to technical difficulties with the website. Pelosi states, "I think we should fix what we have. Move forward with the deadline we have, respectful of what her (Shaheen's) experience may be, of her suggestion, but not supportive of it." Shaheen addressed a letter to the President stating that more time would be valuable in order to enroll and educate people in insurance plans. Shaheen is fearful that with all the glitches that the website is experiencing people will get impatient and frustrated, causing them to give up and most likely not return to the website again. Even with this in mind, Pelosi continues to disagree and believes that it would just be best to move forward instead of extending the enrollment.

This article shows that even within the same party tension and disagreement occur and things have to be discussed and decided upon. Pelosi is firm in her belief that the Affordable Healthcare Act needs to be implemented according to deadlines already set, whereas her colleague is having doubts due technical errors and difficulties within the website.

I admire Pelosi in the fact that she is firm with what she wants, and I also admire Shaheen for proposing major concerns and questioning the importance of the March 2014 deadline. Each of these women agree with the passing of the Act, but they each have slightly different views on how to go about the enrollment process.

I think that the most important part is educating the people of our country with the correct information. If the website is not ready, then the people should not be penalized for their lack in signing up for things they do not fully understand. Likewise, I think that if a deadline has been set, the hassle in changing that is greater than the ability to fix the current problems and move forward with the original dates and plans.

Health Law Fails to Keep Prices Low in Rural Areas

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/business/health-law-fails-to-keep-prices-low-in-rural-areas.html

For many rural Americans, the encouragement of competition between insurers to keep costs low is falling short due to technical failures in Obama's health care law. For many people in more populous areas the competition is intense, but the rural areas have much fewer options and carriers offering plans in the law's online exchanges. It has been discovered that over 58% of the nations counties are only being offered plans by one or two carriers, making the price significantly higher. This suggests that the original idea of increasing competition, as stated in the Affordable Health Care Act, is being unevenly spread thus far. 538 counties only have one insurer participating, making the price sky-rocket for them. People have already shown great concern in the idea of having to pay a higher premium when the Act itself claims to be affordable.

One of the disappointments lies in the fact that most of these rural areas are also considered poor, and most of these areas can't afford the high prices for insurance. In some cases, people may be told to choose between two insures, both being high in cost. This creates a situation that is not seen to be fair and causes much unrest with the people having to choose.

I think that it is difficult to tell someone what they can choose and then expect them to be content with the demand. Many people are struggling financially and cannot afford the choices that are being presented. The situation is causing much unrest and debate especially in these areas where less choices are offered. However, many people have wanted such a plan implemented for quite some time and they are finally seeing something play out. Much of the issue lies in finances and who can afford what.

75% Say Most Republicans in Congress Don't Deserve Re-election

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/politics/cnn-poll-shutdown-re-election/index.html?iref=allsearch

In a survey by CNN, 8 in 10 say that the shut down caused a loss of confidence in our government and a majority of those surveyed blamed the republicans for it-- some saying they were too extreme. In addition to these results, 7 in 10 say that the members in congress don't deserve re-election, 4 in 10 saying that about their own representative, and 3/4s of people surveyed say that most Republicans alone don't deserve re-election into congress. These numbers have come about by polls post-governmental shutdown so likewise, results show that only 34% blame Obama for the shutdown which leaves 52% blaming the GOP.

Overall, this article showing the results of one poll, is highly more favorable of the Democratic party within congress. That is very obvious. It does address, however, that not everybody is against the Republican party. There is also a high percentage of people who agree that the Democrats have things to work on and that a lot of the Democrat Congress members don't deserve re-election either. Personally, I agree with the fact that the Republicans are mostly to blame in the issue of the governmental shut down. As discussed in class, the fact that they have repealed the Affordable Care Act 41 times with no alternate solution, tells me that they're not willing to compromise, they're not willing to work and revise, and they're not willing to come up with new ideas to progress this country. Basically, they're a bunch of old men who want a position in Congress, which on a high school level, is like someone running for student council purely for the desire to have and wear the sweater (that is definitely purely opinionated and generalized, I recognize that). The fact of the matter is, though, that this isn't okay, and in my opinion, if the people we have in congress are not working well and doing what they're supposed to do, they need to be out.

In contrast to the above statement, I do believe that the Democrats have room to improve too. They need to be willing to compromise with the Republicans even if they don't want to. In these issues I don't think it's a matter of standing one's ground. . .  it's a matter of getting dialogue going, ideas flowing, and bills written for the benefit of the people and country.

As ideal as my two points about both parties are, there really does need to be improvement in congress. The numbers on this one poll by CNN show that there are a lot of unhappy people about the congress members and the job they are doing, and for me personally, I agree that the best solution to fix the problem of things just simply not getting done is to elect completely new people.

Budget Talks May Start With an Extra-Friendly Tone

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/17/politics/budget-talks-whats-next/

Now that the shutdown is over, Republicans and Democrats need to start discussing the budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year. They brought in a budget conference committee which is a committee whose goal are to work together to agree on "key elements such as spending level and tax provisions" The question, though, is whether or not they will agree. Both parties have presented budget plans that are different from each other in many ways and are both being rejected  by either party. Their goal, therefore, is to hold this conference committee to discuss both plans and try to come to an agreement and compromise so that when the fiscal year begins there won't be another shutdown. Ultimately, their goal with this conference committee is the idea of common ground and finding it to prove to the American people that congress can come to agreements, work together, and bring laws and policies that are beneficial to the country, people, and society.

When politicians such as Paul Ryan or Patty Murray (who were both the main interviewees for this article) talk about common ground and committing to find a compromise for the common good of the country, my first question is ultimately how long with that attitude last? As exhibited through the entire debate of Obamacare, as well as recently with the shutdown, the American people can see pretty obviously that congress indeed cannot work together. They shut down the government because of issues that weren't really even about politics and policies anymore. What makes the issues concerning the fiscal year any different? I think, though, that the members of congress recognize their loss of reputation and they're trying everything to gain it back by putting on a face of optimism and cooperation.

I do hope, however, that the attitude of optimism lasts! It'll be good to see cooperation in congress for once and hopefully the shutdown and the loss of people's positive perception of congress will motivate the politicians involved to take responsibility and take action and get things done.

Shutdown Bill Has Items for States and Federal Agencies

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=128&sid=27275546&title=shutdown-bill-has-items-for-states-fed-agencies

This article from KSL discusses the benefits that the bill to end the government shutdown has on the states and federal agencies. It talks in very positive terms discussing topics like more money to "upgrade the Olmstead lock on the Ohio River", more money to aid in the floods that have happened in Colorado specifically in their roads: the flooding had "destroyed 200 miles of roads and 50 bridges." The article also points out that the bill is now helping to fund  the Veterans Affairs Department and to "prevent the furloughs of air traffic controllers and safety inspectors" as well as money for organizations working with a couple of weather satellites. In addition, the article says the money provided because of this new bill is helping the progression of the search for Joseph Kony, the transportation of troops and equipment over seas as well as funding $36 million for firefighting departments.

The shutdown of the government really was a scary thing. To think that the governemt was just at a standstill with nothing happening and people losing money every day it was shut down was disheartening to the well being of our country, as well as the faith people had in their politicians and the trust that good decisions were being made in Washington. So, I was glad to read this article and see that there is some good coming out of the shutdown. I was glad to see that there's some move toward progression after our government halted progression for 16 days.