Politics

CONSCIOUSLY LIBERAL | On Fiscal Policy For the People

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Two weeks ago I explained that the Central Bank has the ability to bypass Congressional gridlock and should conduct monetary activities that can help assuage market troubles. In this post, I will explain what Congress should do if able to act. If total spending is total income, and if a small percentage of people are getting too huge of an income that does not go to the real economy, then aggregate demand is implicated. Since both those premises are economic realities, I propose several policy recommendations for the politicians to resolve this issue. This post is divided into Revenue and Government Spending.

Politics

WELCOME TO THE ZOO | Fracking

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With an open mind and two sides of the story, you’re bound to learn something new. Welcome to the zoo! This is a blog where both the Republican and Democratic viewpoints are represented. The blog is not meant to sway you either way necessarily, just to present both sides of the story. You may not agree with the whole article, but hey, you’re likely to agree with half!

Politics

BETWEEN BARS | Out of Necessity

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When the cart rolled into the classroom, several of the students immediately left their seats and walked over. I followed suit. It was a steel double-sided cart, the kind that librarians use for shelving books. A few titles caught my eye: a complete encyclopedia of African American culture, Drown by Junot Díaz, and Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The students and I shuffled about the cart to get a closer look at the selection.

Politics

MCEVOY MINUTE | How the Sugar Industry Won (and How We Lost)

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Earlier this week, an article was published in JAMA Internal Medicine providing evidence that in the 1960s the sugar industry supplied funding for scientific research that identified fat and cholesterol as the main culprits of coronary heart disease, and downplayed the evidence that sugar consumption can also be linked to CHD. It is likely that this literature, sponsored by the Sugar Research Foundation and originally published in the New England Journal of Medicine, contributed to the rise of low-fat diet in the mid to late 1900s. Today, the American public consumes 25% more carbohydrates than we did in the 1970s, as we have turned away from fatty foods like nuts, meat, and cheese, and began to consume more grains, potatoes, and ‘low-fat’ versions of food. These ‘low-fat’ foods, marketed as the healthier option, are actually packed with salt and sugar to make them taste as good as the original option containing fat. The American Heart Association and the U.S. government, based on misleading information and studies that could not be replicated, perpetuated the idea that a low-fat diet would help reduce weight and risk of heart failure.

Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | France’s Burkini Ban Misfire

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Over the past several months, France has been ravaged by Islamist terror attacks. On November 13, several ISIS militants executed a coordinated terrorist attack on Paris, leaving 130 people dead and hundreds more wounded. On July 14, a jihadist rammed his car into hoards of people celebrating Bastille Day, leaving scores dead. It is no wonder why French people are anxious about the imminent and deadly threat of radical Islamist terror, and why they want to do all in their power to protect their society. However, the recent Burkini ban imposed by several French beach towns is a poorly calibrated attempt at reducing the threat posed by these radicals.

Politics

NOBODY’S OPINIONS | Why Johnson will survive #WhatisAleppo

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This election season has left people with some tough choices. In our two-party system, it kind of makes things difficult when a lot of people don’t support either candidate. Consider moderate Republicans: many of them don’t want to vote for Hillary Clinton for a bunch of reasons, most of which are ideological, but they also realize that Donald Trump is a terrible alternative for much more basic reasons. “What a shame,” they think, “that neither of the candidates agrees with my ideological views. If only there were someone I could find some common ground with!”

Enter Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico and Libertarian candidate for the presidency.

Politics

THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL | Political Culture and Clinton’s Cough

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The biggest news story from this past weekend isn’t that our nation just grieved September 11th for the 15th time. Nope, the biggest headline following this historic day is that Hillary has pneumonia. Over the past few months, the 68-year-old Democratic nominee has faced a constant barrage of scrutiny surrounding her physical health, and after her stumble and early departure from a 9/11 commemoration ceremony, it was revealed that Clinton is currently being treated for pneumonia. Even more disconcerting than the fact that Clinton still works tirelessly despite her illness and tries to conceal it from us, is our grotesque fixation on her and the hyper-scrutiny we subject her to.  Conspiracy theories ranging from seizures to an inability to support herself at a podium have surfaced, and a letter from her doctor claimed that Hillary is undoubtedly “fit to serve” as president.

Politics

POLITICS & STUFF | The Problem of College Unaffordability

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Arthur E. Levine once said, “When a quality education is denied to children at birth because of their parents’ skin color or income, it is not only bad policy, it is immoral.” It is because I believe education is a universal right, not a privilege, that I believe the United States federal government should help provide affordable college education through grants and federal aid. First, the cost of college has become an obstacle in accessing increasingly necessary post-secondary education. According to the US Department of Education, even when inflation was accounted for, “the cost of obtaining a university education in the US has soared 12 fold over the past three decades… [increasing] four times faster than the [that of] consumer goods, medical expenses, and food.” The uncontrolled increase in tuition in the years of recovering from a recession is making college an unattainable goal for millions of students, making the American Dream a privilege to those who already come from well-off families. In fact, Sara Goldrich-Rab and Nancy Kendall of the US Department of Education conducted a study in 2013 and found that those who come from low-income families are 12 to 16 times more likely to forgo college. However, in an era of fierce competition within the job market, those who do not have a college degree have little chance of climbing up the socioeconomic ladder.

Politics

WELCOME TO THE ZOO | Minimum Wage

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With an open mind and two sides of the story, you’re bound to learn something new. Welcome to the zoo! This is a blog where both the Republican and Democratic viewpoints are represented. The blog is not meant to sway you either way necessarily, just present both sides of the story. You may not agree with the whole article, but hey, you’re likely to agree with half!

Politics

CULTURALLY SHOOK | Donald Trump is Actually Kind of Right, For Once

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In an interview with ABC this Sunday, Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, likened Donald Trump’s encouragement of Russia to hack into Hillary’s emails to the infamous Watergate scandal. Kaine’s comment was his way of deflecting negative attention off Hillary by pointing out just how much worse Trump is. And it’s true. I hope you don’t need me to tell you this, but Trump really is so much worse than Hillary. That’s why it’ll surprise you to hear that he was actually kind of right.