Issue 2013: New Year: Let’s Hit the Reset Button

by Diana Zhao

Everyone wishes that there is a reset button so that they could clear the mistakes they’ve made in the past and start a new life in a new year. It should be the same with the Congress and the President. However, the ball dropped down from the top of the Times Square Building doesn’t crush the issues they faced in 2012. They still have to deal with the existing issues and problems while preparing for more in the upcoming year.

2012 has been a tough year for the nation, with Hurricane Sandy, the shooting massacre in Connecticut, newly-issued fiscal policy, partisanship in Congress and many other remaining problems from the previous year. It’s certainly impossible to fix all in merely one year, but we can always wish for better.

1.     Disaster Response

The sudden visit of Hurricane Sandy alarmed people about the inefficiency and the lack of preparation of the government for natural disasters. Even though the hurricane has passed long ago and the remaining issue is the aftermath remedy, the government still has to work on the immediate after-disaster response, backup power and water sources, and infrastructure repair. Also, people who live in the possibly affected areas should get confirmed official warnings or even organized evacuations from local government long before the storm. There would have been less devastation if the news had talked about it more.

2.     Gun Control

The terrible shooting massacre at Newtown, Connecticut, is another tragedy of the long-existing gun issue. Congress really should work out a more strict control policy in 2013, like limiting the kinds of guns, numbers of bullets, and enforcing buying registrations. When people purchase guns, there should be a registration so that the government could track the where every piece goes. However, personal sales at gun shows and black markets have always been problematic. I don't have suggestions on this because it's hard to balance between enough background checks and gun purchase trace, and privacy protection. I wish Congress would have some law worked out. As an international student from China, I myself lived 18 years in a country without legal guns in life and I feel perfectly fine. The right to hold a gun has been part of the American experience from the very start of the nation. That’s why it’s been a very problematic issue for so many years.

3.     Environment

Issues regarding the environment and energy will be a long-term topic in the Congressional discussion. Clean energy development and efficiency improvement are definitely the way out, but the Congress needs to put pressure on specialized agencies to get it going. Simply importing intermediate goods from developing countries and leaving the “dirty” work to them is not, and never will be, the solution.