Issue 2013: New Year, New Issues? Nope. New Year, Same Issues.

by Elan Axelbank

The celebratory New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square did not wipe away all of 2012’s political happenings, and it did not bring about a new set of political issues.  Unfortunately, the ball did not fall on the elusive “Reset American Politics” button, and the issues that dominated the political agenda of 2012 are still present.  Politically, all that the drop signified was Congress’ shameful failure to come up with an agreement to keep America from falling off the so-called “fiscal cliff.”  Yet another example of our “broken” Congress, the partisan gridlock that has become so detrimental to passing legislation prevented the Democrats and Republicans from reaching a compromise.  In the clearest way possible, this symbolizes the notion that the same issues were carried over into the new year and with regards to American politics, 2013 is but a continuation of 2012.

As we enter 2013 after having narrowly escaped the end of the world just two weeks ago, we still have troops in Afghanistan and talk of gun control legislation is still imperative.  For everybody, higher education is still way too expensive and for the underprivileged, education isn’t close to where it needs to be.  The harmful affects of climate change are still, for the most part, unaddressed and many elected officials do not even believe that global warming exists (which is an issue in and of itself).

The bet way to overcome the above issues would be to decrease the amount of partisanship in Congress and the politics of this country in general.  That statement has been said in virtually every political article over the past few years and I think that most, if not all, people would agree with it.  Why then, do Republicans in Congress continue to be intransigent when it comes to virtually every issue that passes through the legislative branch?  The House of Representatives, under the leadership of Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, couldn’t even come together to vote on legislation to give 60 billion dollars in aid to the states and victims affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Even Chris Christie, previously the “golden child” of the Republican Party, called out his own party’s leaders on this failure.

If for some crazy reason I was in the position to advise President Obama, I would beg him to stop being so complacent and giving in to the GOP on hugely important issues.  I wish he would stop calling the passing of the fiscal compromise a “victory,” when at least personally, I don’t see a tax increase for those with incomes above $450,000 as much of a victory.  Is it a start?  Yes.  But it’s not close to sufficient and convincing the American people that it is will only make his job these next four years harder.

Issue 2013: My Political Pipe Dreams

by Stacy McMillen

I have asked my government students to identify the big issues of 2013.  By big issues, I mean the issues that they believe our national leaders should deal with in the coming year.  This is exactly the sort of thing that I think about all the time (scary, no?), so it seems fair for me to also participate in the assignment.  So I have made a political wish list for 2013.   Mine is one part practical and two parts pipe dream.  I'll leave it to readers to figure out which is which.

1.  Climate change: Real action on climate change, including conversations about our resource consumption habits and policies to change them, especially water conservation and oil and natural gas extraction.  As part of this, I'd like to see us commit to alternative energy development and use.

2.  Infrastructure improvement: An updated and modernized national electric grid, a commitment to national Internet access, significant road and bridge repairs.  This commitment would involve short-term costs in exchange for immediate job opportunities and long-term economic growth.

3.  Disaster preparedness: Now more than ever, a national conversation about disaster preparedness is in order. This is exactly the sort of thing that should accompany real action on climate change.  It could certainly facilitate policy proposals to enable progress in emergency planning.

4.  Gun control:  My list here is long.  Count me among those who would cheerfully vote to remove the Second Amendment from the Constitution.  Short of that, I'd like to see national bans on automatic weapons, national limits on bullet purchases, and vigorous background checks.  These solutions will not fully cure our violent nation, but they would be a start.  My greatest political fear at the moment is that none of it will materialize in the current political climate.

5.  Healthcare costs: A serious effort to come to terms with healthcare costs.  In all honesty, this is truly a pipe dream because the only reasonable solution on this front is establishing a national healthcare model, a sort of Cleveland Clinic writ large, and our nation is so unwilling to understand that this is our obvious solution.

I'm ending my list here, though there are many more issues I'd like our leaders to tackle.  But reality dictates that only a few big policy changes will move forward in a given year and I'm likely already over my limit.  Even so, these New Year's Resolutions made on behalf of Congress are a solid start on moving our nation in the direction I'd like to see us head.  

Okay, Congress, you've been given your marching orders.  Now get to work.