by Chloe Rockow
On the global stage, no action goes without a significant reaction. Revolts in Tunisia and cries for democracy in Egypt have set off a chain reaction of protests, reforms, and unrest. As is common in American foreign policy, experts identify these reactions under the rubric of “Domino Theory: the idea that sudden change in the leadership of one nation can set off a chain reaction in its neighbors, transforming an entire region.”1 President Eisenhower originally coined the term in reference to Indochina, claiming that if one country fell …

by Christina Sun
A year after the Health Care Reform Act code named “Obamacare” was written into law, its incendiary effects continue to rage on. Much of the right-wing gripe over the law has focused on the unconstitutionality of government mandates to buy health insurance. But the more important issue, from my perspective, is the system’s failure to support and create incentives for the most crucial components in the delivery of health care: doctors.
Doctors face a slew of financial and administrative obstacles today that prevent them from providing the best possible …

by Trent Serwetz
APRIL 8 – Congressional leaders have only hours remaining to pass a new budget or face an impending government shutdown. With this swollen leverage, Republicans have the President’s party by the proverbial chestnuts. Facing the crisis of a government shutdown, Congress has a singular opportunity to restore the conservative dream of American “sanity,” passing the most comprehensive budget cuts in recent history.
So what do they do with all this power? Undermining the overriding goal of limiting government spending as much as possible, Republicans instead consent to a virtually …

By Lingfeng Li
As a wave of new Republican lawmakers enters the legislative experience, we look back on a decade of important but misguided legislation. Hopefully these newly elected delegates will avoid some of the missteps made mostly by their conservative predecessors.
1. Iraq Resolution. The war in Iraq has been, in the eyes of most, a huge debacle for the United States. Not only were no weapons of mass destruction found, thus invalidating the government’s rationale for invasion, but thousands of American lives were lost and billions upon …

By Cameron Lambe
With the advent of the 112th Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives will see a Republican majority for the first time since 2006. These newly elected conservatives represent constituencies who were angered by perceived failures of the Obama administration and Democrats at large.
After years of bemoaning the Democratic establishment, this new wave of conservative leaders is under immense pressure to perform. Here, then, are some key items of legislation to keep an eye on.
John Boehner had barely raised his oversized gavel before the Republicans …

By Cameron Lambe
The average age of Republican congressmen and women is markedly lower than the average age of their Democratic counterparts. As a recent Wall Street Journal article pointed out, Republicans are significantly younger: 54.9 (R) and 60.2 (D) in the House, and 61.4 and 63.1 respectively in the Senate.1
While the age gap in the Senate is not especially remarkable, the over-five-year difference in the House is unusual, with the age divide normally hovering around two years. And not only is this gap strange, it also …

By Christina Sun
Despite international sanctions, North Korea continues down the same threatening path regarding its nuclear program. Last November, American nuclear scientist and Stanford professor Siefried S. Hecker visited North Korea where officials showed him a large new facility they had secretly built to enrich uranium.i
The facility, which did not exist when inspectors visited the country in April 2009, is indicative of North Korea’s increasing military aggression. The country is in the midst of a leadership transition from Kim Jong-il to his son Kim Jong-un, who is the grandson …

by Matthew Leonard
President Obama and the Democrat majorities in Congress have amassed $3 trillion in deficit spending in just twenty-three months since taking the reins of Washington in 2008.[i]
The Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), a nonprofit watch group, think the president’s fiscal strategy for the country spells doom, and they have unleashed a public awareness campaign to express their indignation.[ii] The 60 second message set 20 years into the future features a Communist Chinese professor lecturing an auditorium of college students on the history of failed civilizations.  In subtitled Mandarin, …

By Lingfeng Li
Watch out, Ben Bernanke.
Ron Paul, the 2008 Presidential candidate and Texas Congressman (and Duke Med grad), may become the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology on the House Financial Services Committee.  For Paul who has long advocated for the dissolution of the Federal Reserve, leading the committee responsible for overseeing the Fed, along with U.S. financial policies, represents a golden opportunity.

Here are three good questions concerning Ron Paul and the Fed for the next year:
Why does Ron Paul want to dissolve the Federal …

By Trent Serwetz
Edit: As of 12/18/2010, both the House and the Senate have officially voted to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Congratulations to the LGBT community on this resounding victory!
The U.S. military’s longstanding ban on gay servicemen (and women) is over — for the moment. On Sep. 9, U.S. District Court Justice Virginia Phillips called for a “permanent injunction” barring the enforcement of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy.[i]
DADT, crafted by the Clinton Administration in 1993, is the most lenient treatment of homosexuality in the military …