Republican Lawmakers are a Little Nervous About Repealing Obamacare C10-3

President Trump and most Republicans in the House and Senate have stated multiple times that the Affordable Care Act, more widely known as Obamacare, needs to be repealed. President Trump said during his campaign it would be one of the first issues on the agenda with him as President. However, now that he has won the presidency, Congress is feeling a lot of pressure.

During the Republican Policy retreat last week in Philadelphia, a repeal act was spoken about behind closed doors in private meetings. What was discussed was then leaked to the press via an anonymous email. Many Senators are very unsure what the solution will be. There were multiple ideas that were floated around the meeting, and one that stuck out would be raising taxes on the middle class, or receiving health care through their employers.



Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/behind-closed-doors-republican-lawmakers-fret-about-how-to-repeal-obamacare/2017/01/27/deabdafa-e491-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.3205398e5d55

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto cancels meeting with Trump C10-2

Mexican President Enrique Nieto has cancelled his meeting to the white house after President Trump signed executive action to build a wall on the Mexico and US border. President Trump has repeatedly said that the American people will not be paying the wall, then in recent interviews stated our tax money will first pay for the wall, but that Mexico will pay the United States back "in some way". However, many officials from Mexico, including President Nieto, have said multiple times that their country will not be paying for the wall. In a speech earlier this week, Nieto said that Mexico is willing to negotiate with Trump if he were to offer some respect to the country.



Link:http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/25/politics/mexico-president-donald-trump-enrique-pena-nieto-border-wall/

The Fight for the Supreme Court C10-1

This week, President Trump stated that his decision on his nominee for the Supreme Court Justice would be reached. All of the Senate has been eager to hear what his choice will be, and a lot of Democrats are ready to fight against this decision. All of the democratic Senators are very angry the Republicans denied this open seat to be filled by President Obama. They were able to do this by refusing to take any case ruling for a new judge, and since they have the majority, they were able to succeed. The Democrats, being the minority, plan to filibuster for as long as possible, which could drive the Republicans to have a majority vote to change the rules. So basically, the Republicans are going to get their conservative Supreme Court Judge no matter what. This will give the Court a 5-4 advantage of conservative ruling judges instead of the year long 4-4 deadlocks that have occurred for almost a year now.


Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/us/politics/supreme-court-nominees-trump.html?_r=0

President Obama's Final Speech C9-1

Yesterday (Jan. 10), President Barack Obama made his final speech as President to the nation. During his speech, he thanked First Lady Michelle Obama for being with him all these years. He also thanked Vice President Joe Biden, even calling him his best friend. He urged the voters to be active and said "If you're tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try to talk with one in real life". He then spoke about how he will continue to make change as a voter, just like all Americans can. When he spoke of the transition of power with Trump, the crowd booed, which he quickly shut down, saying it was a part of American democracy, and will be peaceful.

The question is asked then, does a two-party system still work in our nation? The Founding Fathers did not build our constitution with the intention of our nation to be a two-party nation. Could this election prove that it isn't right? Half the country wasn't crazy about either candidate, they just voted for the one they hated the least.

LINK: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38578985

Intro to Parties Around the World - Germany

1.Germany is a federal republic where the power is divided between states and voters have total control of political issues. The central government has limited power, and they have a President and Federal Chancellor as considered the "Head of State". The President is more of a ceremonial role while the Federal Chancellor has central executive authority. (

2.There are about 15 parties represented nationally, and about 3 state parties.

3.Major Parties are the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Minor Parties are The Greens and The Left.

5. The CDU is Germany's conservative Party, and the CSU is the sister party to CDU, just more conservative on social issues.

 

Sources: http://www.expatica.com/de/about/The-main-political-parties-in-Germany_107953.html  
https://www.reference.com/government-politics/type-government-germany-df24ab1416a8b68a