Once again, the United States government came to a screeching halt last Saturday, January 20th, 2017 at midnight when Congress could not agree on a budget for the fiscal year.  Coincidentally, the shutdown occurred on the one year anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration. However, after three days of the government being shut down, Congress came to an agreement on the budget, Trump signed off, and the government was reinstated.

This isn’t the first time the United States government has been shutdown. Back in 2013, the government was shutdown from October 1st to the 17th, making it the third longest government shutdown in history.  Similar to the 2018 government shutdown, Congress could not agree on a budget and could not get one approved before time expired and were forced to shut down. The 2013 US government shutdown primarily focused on Obamacare, which was the largest issue on the budget proposal at the time.

One of the key major issues brought up before, during, and after the 2018 shutdown was the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy. The program was put into place in 2012 by President Barack Obama in order to protect children of illegal immigrants, who were brought into the United States as kids, from being deported. Many Democrats fully support the immigration policy and wanted it to continue, but faced issues when it comes to Donald Trump’s deportation plans and whether or not those apart of DACA would be affected. Donald Trump officially eliminated the DACA immigration policy back in September 2017 and has since been slowly dwindling down until the program no longer exists.

The budget in question before the shutdown included funding for the deportation of illegal immigrants, which could eventually include those previously protected by DACA. This prompted Senate Democrats to filibuster and cause the government shutdown. The shutdown officially ended after the Senate reached a decision with the remainder of the budget and agreed to hold a separate debate over DACA. During this separate debate, the Senate is able to discuss how funding would be used in immigration policies and try to protect former DREAMers (those formerly a part of DACA).

Another one of the issues that was brought up during the 2018 shutdown was funding for the United States military. Much of the budget was prepared to give a large amount of money to the US military, but not everyone supported it. After the government was officially shutdown, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill proposed a bill that would continue to fund necessary military personal while the government was shutdown until they could agree on a budget and give out the necessary and allotted amount of money. The proposed bill also would allow death benefits to be given to the military during the shutdown just in case. While a similar bill previously passed unanimously during the 2013 government shutdown, Senate Republicans denied the bill, arguing that there wouldn’t be the need for temporary measures to be put into place, for they believed they would resolve the budget issue quickly.

Donald Trump’s reaction to the government shutdown has been confusing to most. His most recent comment on the shutdown was back in May 2017 when he suggested that the government be shut down and that it will ultimately benefit the United States and the government. However, during the 2013 government shutdown that occurred during the Obama administration, Donald Trump was quoted saying that “problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top and the president’s the leader…when they talk about the government shutdown, they’re going to be talking about the president of the United States, who the president was at that time.”

During the 2013 government shutdown, I was just a freshman in high school. I’d only taken one social studies/history class that focused on politics, so I didn’t know much about what it meant for the government to be shut down. The most important thing for me at the time was that the National Zoo was closed. Years later, I started to understand more about how government works and why it shuts down if an agreement cannot be reached about the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. During this recent 2018 government shutdown, I still remember being in class and having the notification pop up from my News app, saying that the government had shut down because Congress had not been able to reach an agreement on the budget. I still didn’t completely understand why or what it meant, but I did know that the government was not going to be functioning properly because of it.

Most of the information I learned was by doing research about the specific reasons the government shut down, other than the fact that it was a budget issue. By doing so, I was not only informed about how the new budget and agreements would affect myself and others but also what people in Congress were doing to get an equal and fair budget out for the people. I still may not know or understand all about the affects of a government shutdown, but it is important to know the reasons behind it, so that you always know what the government cannot agree upon. Because for the most part, those are the most important things to consider in politics and society.

One of the most talked about topic as 2017 came to a close was net neutrality. For those who are not aware, net neutrality is the law of the land when it comes to the internet. Coming into play during the Obama administration, net neutrality gives internet users rights and protections so that large companies cannot scam users and cheat them out of the service they are using. The internet and large companies have abided by net neutrality for years, but on December 14th, 2017, Congress voted to revoke net neutrality. While this does not mean there would be an immediate effect felt among internet users, it does give large companies, such as Verizon and AT&T, the freedom to control the speed and access given to internet users. For example, before December 14th when net neutrality was in place, companies were not able to purposefully slow your internet access to make you pay more because net neutrality protected internet users from such acts. Now that net neutrality is not protecting internet users, large companies have the ability to purposefully slow service or hinder any internet access because there are no protections against it. Even though Congress as approved the removal of net neutrality, there are many activists fighting the removal. A website has even been constructed to gain awareness of the issue and interest in protecting the rights of internet users.

Large companies have already reacted and responded to the announcement of the removal of net neutrality. Netflix was one of the companies that addressed the issue and reassured the public that they would continue to follow net neutrality and that the company supports its users.

Many other companies have openly argued for keeping net neutrality rules. Dozens of companies drafted a letter that was sent to Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Pai was responsible for the campaign to end net neutrality, which is why many complaints about the decision were directed to him. In the letter, the companies address their concerns that would become reality if net neutrality rules were revoked (the letter was sent before the decision was made). Many of the companies included in the letter were smaller businesses that would be affected the most by the repeal of net neutrality, but other larger companies were eager to participate, such as Pinterest, Reddit, TeamSnap, and Airbnb.

Some companies, however, support the repeal of net neutrality. In most instances, the companies that are for the repeal of net neutrality are larger companies that service a large proportion of internet users, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast. With net neutrality rules no longer in place, larger internet companies would have the ability to restrict access and slow usage, thus leaving internet users everywhere vulnerable. While AT&T and Verizon have vaguely addressed the outcome of the net neutrality repeal, both companies have supported the campaign to get rid of net neutrality for years. The companies may say that they want “an open internet”, but the decision is in their hands, giving them the power to control the future of free, open internet.

When I first heard about net neutrality, I didn’t understand what it was at all. All I knew was that, if net neutrality rules were repealed, internet companies would have the ability to slow connection, charge more for the same services that existed during the time period of net neutrality, and that the internet would not be as open as it once was. I mostly knew about what would affect me, but I wanted to learn more about it. I asked my dad if he knew what it would mean if net neutrality was repealed, but he had barely heard anything about it. The conversation ended with me explaining what I knew about it to him. Most of the information I had learned was from Twitter and seeing tweets from people who were outraged by a specific part of the repeal of net neutrality, which meant I never saw the full picture. My dad, because he is not active on Twitter, was not able to see some of the specific ways repealing net neutrality would affect internet users.

For an issue that is so controversial and so important these days, it made me nervous that my dad, the person I always go to about current issues, didn’t know much about it. It got me thinking that what if other people didn’t know much about it either? The letter written to Chairman Pai specifically talked about how repealing net neutrality would affect small businesses. I am sure that small businesses are aware of the dangers of repealing net neutrality and how it could damage their business, but what if someone didn’t know that? Their business could suddenly plummet and the business owner wouldn’t know what happened. Just thinking about the different ways repealing net neutrality could harm various people made me think about how important it is to stay up to date on current issues and be well-informed about certain decisions that are being made in the government. Even if the decision doesn’t affect you specifically, it might affect people around you. The more informed you are, the better off you will be in society, especially with something as important as the internet.

Hello readers!

Welcome to my Civic Issues Blog! In our lives, there will be many issues that come to our attention and become very important to us. As an International Politics major, I am constantly learning about the world around us, as well as our own system of government and how it differs from everyone else. To me, politics is more than just talking about government and debating for the next election. Politics does involve government, but includes so much more, like the issues that are discussed that cause people’s politics to differ.

As a kid, I never really was interested in politics and government. It always seemed so confusing for me and relatively boring. History always interested me, so when I found out that in 8th grade we would be learning more about government than an actual history class, I was upset. However, the new social studies class I took (Civics) ended up being my new favorite class. I learned so much about our system of government and it actually was interesting for me! Because of that class, I started to consider the possibility of being a Political Science major when I went to college. Even though it was a long ways off, Civics planted the seed in my head about the possibilities of learning about politics.

The older I got, the more interested I became in politics, especially when there were big elections coming up. I started to understand more about the process, the platforms, and the reasons why politics become so important before an election. It wasn’t until this past 2016 Presidential Election that I fully became immersed in the culture of politics, as it was the only thing anyone talked about. I would watch the debates, I would see hundreds of campaign ads, and I would begin to see my own beliefs forming in my head, even though I was still too young to vote.

From my experiences with politics and government, I have realized that there is so much more to it than political parties and elections. Politics are everywhere and have influence everywhere, particularly in civic issues that are brought up during elections that shape party platforms. Personally, I wish that I had gotten more involved in politics when I was younger. Looking back, I realize just how long it took be to begin to understand politics and become interested and a lot of that was because I only became interested in politics when there was an election going on. This is the case for many people, which is why it is believed that those people are ill-informed because they only start paying attention when it is absolutely necessary. Politics don’t wait to show up every four years when we have to elect a new President. Politics are here to stay and it is important to understand them so that people can use politics and the world around them to make the best decision for themselves and others.

One thing that is always a heavily discussed topic, especially around the time of presidential elections is voter turnout. As a citizen of the United States, we have the right to vote, yet not everyone expresses that right. In this article from the Pew Research Center, the results from voter turnout from elections is evaluated and compared to other developed countries. In the 2016 Presidential Election, only 55.7% of eligible voters actually voted.

Many people wonder why we have such a low percentage of people voting. One possible reason is that people aren’t as interested in politics as others. Many people use the excuse that they don’t really have a preference, so their vote wouldn’t do anything. In most cases, the person would have a preference if they took the time to evaluate the platforms and chose to pay close attention to a specific topic or topics and use those as the basis for voting. Speaking from experience, I know what it is like to not be involved or interested in politics. Because I am now able to see it from the side of paying attention to politics, I feel so much better knowing that I am well-informed and educated about our politics and system of government. Now that I have experienced what it is like to care about politics, I will continue to do so and never go back because I believe that being knowledgeable and aware about politics makes you not only a better person, but a better citizen. I know that I will be able to make an educated and informed vote in the next election that I am able to vote in.

No matter what party you belong to, what beliefs you have, or whether you follow American politics or not, welcome to my blog. I will evaluate national politics, as well as international to provide a global perspective, and also discuss some of the interest issues that go on party platforms. It is so important to be involved and I can’t wait to share the journey through politics with you.