After 8 years the Obama Administration was coming to an end and it was time for the country to elect a new President. It seemed both sides had a lot of energy, especially the Republican side that had been waiting to take back the white house. Much to the surprise of many citizens and politicians a business man turn celebrity who had thrown around the idea of running was officially through his hat in the ring. A Mr. Donald J. Trump the New York billionaire known for this real-estate empire and this TV show competition The Apprentice.

Right off the bat the day Trump announced he was running for President it was a fire storm the media could not stop talking about him and either for the American people. Like or dislike him he breathes attention and gets people talking, with comments and sound bights to change headlines in minutes. Many in the political elite and establishment took Trump as a joke and many on both left and right on the isle said he had no chance from the beginning. As the first polls start to come in people were shocked with Trump the front runner, with 16 other candidate many established and lift long politicians. His rhetoric to many seemed mean and like a bully but that how a lot of voters felt they were angry with the establishment and how things were going to they left like Trump represented them and their voice. Winning the Republican Nomination and the stage was set for the real battle for the Presidency against the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

The election as we all know was one of the nastiest and divisive elections in recent history with both sides getting low in attacks on the other. Against all odds and the opinions of almost all the political establishment Trump would go on to win the Presidency. With taking office and now being 2 years in tensions are still high on both sides, with the country seeming more polarized than ever. There have been some very good accomplishments with tax cuts, the lowest unemployment in 50 years, booming economy, increases in the military, record number of feral court appointments, and much more. Where so much of the division and tension comes from is the man Donald Trump himself, the Democrats support a fair bit of his platform and since he is the President they don’t agree with pretty much anything he supports. Both parties have the opportunity to put politics aside, come together, help bring the nation and together and push it forward with progress.

I know this is a lot to a ask but I think the majority of the country feel the same that agreeing and bipartisanship is the what America need right now. Trump has said it himself so many times he is a businessman he negotiated he is willing to talk and give if the Democrats just come to the table. The opportunity to makes deals on improving infrastructure, paid family leave, immigration and so much more. We have seen a glimpse what can come from bipartisanship with criminal justice reform with the First Step. This legislation passed congress with flying colors and signed by the President is making our justice system fairer for nonviolent drug offenders and bringing in more rehabilitation programs to help people rejoin society. This is a great piece of legislation and is a great example of what is possible when people come together, hopefully the path the politicians will head toward in the coming years. With two years left until the next election there is still much time for more progress to be made, and in time see how this Presidency performs going forward into 2020.

The Great Recession which last from 2007-2009 was a huge turning point for many as the world was only around 7 years into the new century. This was the worst finical crisis America had seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s, it was not as large and powerful but still had some very heavy effects on the country and the internationally. This huge economic downturn came out of nowhere for most Americans. With Real GDP falling $628 Billion (-4%) and unemployment inflating from 4.5% to 10%. This recession devastated not just the U.S. economy especially the banking and real estate industries but aa good bit of international financial markets as well. The financial crisis led to so many hardships for Americans, with increases in home mortgage foreclosures around the world and caused millions of people to their homes, jobs, and their life savings. The effects of the crisis were definitely felt internationally but the recession was most hard felt in the United States. This is also where it born most of which was a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.

For those of you who aren’t very familiar with economics a recession is defined as a decline or halt in economic growth. As seen in the History.com article “Since the Great Recession, the International Monetary Fund has described a “global recession” as a decline in real per-capita world gross domestic product (GDP), as supported by other macroeconomic indicators such as industrial production, trade, oil consumption and unemployment, for a period of at least two consecutive quarters”. The subprime mortgage crisis was in a nutshell a mess of lack of regulations, corporations getting greedy, and people making many small bad decisions that really added up. A subprime mortgage is a home loan that is granted to a person with poor credit history and are considered high risk. In the early and mid 2000s there was a housing boom in the U.S. and mortgage lenders wanted to profit from the rising prices on homes and became a lot less restrictive on the types of borrowers they would approve. Housing prices continued to rise and then many financial institutions saw an opportunity and acquired thousands of these risky mortgages in bulk. This is known on a bond or is also typically in the form of mortgage-backed securities which is an investment, the hope for the institutions was a make a profit from them. These small bad decisions would become catastrophic on a scale no one imagined. The securities filled with subprime loans eventually failed with many financial institutions losing billions and going out of business. As time went on housing prices across the country began to fall with in large part was due to so many new homes on the market, so millions of homeowners—and their mortgage lenders were in trouble with their homes now valued less than their total loan amounts.

A crisis like this had not been seen in decades and it took the full force of the Federal Government to put the pieces back together. In response Congress increased expenditures, cut taxes, and changed to budget to help along with a Stimulus package bill which provided taxpayers with rebates ($600 to $1,200), which they were encouraged to spend, and increased the loan limits for federal home loan programs. This was in hopes to drive up homes fails and get the economy back on track. The Fed also decreased interest rates to help encourage barrowing and investments. There is a lot more to know and learn from the Great Recession highly recommend looking into it more and highly recommend watching the film “The Big Short” it is a fantastic and funny movie that teaches the audience watch happened to cause the recession and those who saw it coming.