The Not-So-Neutral Net?
This week, over on the Election Central Web site, the main story explores the controversial action being considered in Congress called “Net Neutrality.” What is this political issue and how might it affect you? When you go online, do you expect to be able to access any website you choose? Do you want to view […]
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Town Hall Meetings Stir Up the United States Across the country, citizens are voicing their objections to President Donald Trump’s agenda using a method as old as our nation itself: by participating in town hall meetings. These meetings take place in churches, theaters, high school auditoriums, and many other venues, and give people a chance […]
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Wells Fargo Violations The financial company was back again in the news this past week and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the global banking firm, John Stumpf, faced angry questions from members of Congress. This was the latest scandal surrounding the banking firm that played a key role in causing much of the credit […]
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USA PATRIOT Act Debate Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. This law expanded the authority of federal law enforcement in order to better identify and stop terrorist acts. There are provisions (or sections, called Titles) that deal with different areas of homeland security. The […]
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Tis the Season to be Awesome! Last year, btw enthusiastically brought you news of the wildly successful crowdfunding campaign called Project for Awesome. In 2007, “Vlogbrothers” Hank and John Green (the latter of whom is the popular YA writer) encouraged anyone with a camera and a charity to promote to upload a video educating the public […]
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Wikipedia Blocks Congress A prankster within the United States House of Representatives offices has caused quite a stir by creating what are being called, “disruptive editing” on Wikipedia. The popular online collaborative encyclopedia allows users to make changes to any page, but those edits are monitored by volunteers, who have the authority to reverse blatantly […]
btw’s Year in Review: U.S. News
It’s that time of year again, time to take a break from the frantic pace of the holidays and reflect on the year behind us. Doing so not only reminds us what happened, but allows us to reflect on trends, learn from our successes and failures, and speculate on what might have lasting impact. 2013 […]
UPDATED!! Debt Ceiling Squabble
Last night, the president and Congress overcame their disagreements to end the government shutdown and avoid the possible debt ceiling (also called the debt limit) crisis. Today was the deadline announced by the United States Treasury that the government would have lost its ability to borrow money, relying only on incoming taxes for revenue. The […]
Shutdown Showdown
For the first time in seventeen years, the U.S. government is in the midst of a shutdown. This means that a number of federally-funded programs and services have been suspended and its workers “furloughed.” Furloughted workers are not allowed to work or get paid until the shutdown has been resolved and the continuing resolution that […]
So What’s the Deal with Obamacare?
You are probably well aware by now that the federal government has shut down temporarily. This is largely over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, sometimes called Obamacare. Congress already passed this law in 2010, which has been going into affect in stages. However, last Sunday night, Congress could not overcome political and financial […]