Political – The Witness

President Trump Releases Tax Plan

May 1, 2017May 1, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

Just days before his 100th day in office, President Donald Trump released his administration’s tax reform proposal. For individuals, the 7 tax bracket system will be reduced to three brackets of 10 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent. Describing the plan’s details, Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn states that “a married couple won’t pay any taxes on the first $24,000 of income they earn” (para.8). In addition, the plan includes tax breaks for child care as well as for care of elderly dependents. For corporations, the income…

Free Speech Debate Arises After UC Berkeley Campus Cancels Speaker

April 28, 2017April 28, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

On Monday, April 24, the Berkeley College Republicans and the Young America’s Foundation filed a lawsuit against the University of California, Berkeley campus following their cancellation of Ann Coulter’s scheduled speech on campus. Coulter, a provocative conservative personality, was scheduled to speak on Thursday, April 27, but the address was cancelled due to security concerns. Earlier this year, violent protests erupted on Berkeley’s campus preventing Milo Yiannopoulos, another provocative conservative personality, from giving an address on campus. The plaintiffs’ legal argument states that the campus’s “time, place, and manner”…

Russia Vetoes U.N Resolution on Syria

April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

On Wednesday, April 12, Russia vetoed a United Nations’ Security Council Resolution that denounced Syria’s use of chemical weapons on its people. The resolution also required that the Syrian Government would allow an investigation to be conducted regarding the attack. Although ten of the Security Council’s members expressed their approval, the resolution nevertheless failed to pass. The countries of France, Britain and the United States drafted the failed resolution (UN News Centre). Lambasting Russia for their veto at the United Nations (U.N.), U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley…

President Trump Signs Energy Independence Executive Order

April 3, 2017April 3, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

On Tuesday, March 28, President Trump signed an executive order that calls for a reassessment of existing energy policies. The order requests the executive branch to “immediately review existing [energy] regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources and [to] appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind” the burdensome regulations (“Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy”, 2017, para. 4). The order revokes several of the Obama era energy and climate executive actions. The order revokes several of the Obama era energy and climate executive actions. The revoked…

United Kingdom Suffers Fatal Terrorist Attack Near Parliament

March 27, 2017March 27, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

London, England was struck by a deadly terrorist attack outside the perimeter of the Parliament this past Wednesday. The perpetrator, fifty-two year-old Khalid Masood, drove his vehicle into police officers and civilians on the Westminster Bridge. ABC News reports that after the perpetrator “crashed into the fence around the Houses of Parliament,” he proceeded to assault “an officer who was standing guard” with a knife (Winsor, Kutsch, & Jacobo, 2017, para. 13). The officer, forty-eight year old Keith Palmer, died of his injuries. The attack’s perpetrator was fatally shot on…

Secretary of State Discusses North Korea’s Missile Threat During Trip to Asia

March 20, 2017March 24, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

On Sunday, March 19, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson concluded a diplomatic trip to the countries of China, Japan and South Korea. During his visit to Asia, Tillerson addressed the increasing threat North Korea poses to not only its neighboring countries, but also to the United States. The New York Times reported on March 18 that the country of North Korea has “conducted a ground jet test of a newly developed high-thrust missile engine” (Sang-Hun, 2017, para. 1). Due to their steady enhancement of their missile systems, North Korea could…

President Trump Issues a Revised Travel Ban

March 11, 2017March 16, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

On Monday, March 6, President Trump issued a revised travel ban in order to remedy the legal issues that have befallen his original executive order. The order maintains a ninety-day restriction on the admission of nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen into the United States. The revised order, however, lifts the travel restriction on Iraqi nationals. While the executive order requires that “additional scrutiny” should be allocated for Iraqi nationals before they are permitted to enter the United States, the order purports that “Iraq’s commitment to combat…

President Trump Delivers First Address to Congress

March 7, 2017March 7, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

On Tuesday, February 28, President Trump addressed both Congress and the nation in his Joint Address to Congress. Within his hour long speech, the President covered an expansive range of policy areas. Seeking to “deliver a message of unity and strength,” President Trump opened his address by praising the “renewal of the American spirit.” Speaking on the controversial issue of immigration policy, President Trump reiterated his promise to build a wall across the Southern border and to “remov[e] gang members, drug dealers, and criminals” from the country. The President also…

Trump Administration May Make Adjustments to Controversial Executive Order

February 20, 2017February 20, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

During an address at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany this weekend, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly revealed that there may be changes made to President Trump’s Executive Order 13769. Formally titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” the executive order is commonly referred to as President Trump’s travel ban. The order restricts entry into the United States by individuals from seven countries. Soon after the order was issued, the states of Washington and Minnesota requested a temporary restraining order to prohibit…

President Trump Announces Nomination for the Supreme Court

February 5, 2017February 6, 2017 Taylor Turner 0 comment

On Tuesday, January 31, President Donald Trump announced his nomination for the next judge of the United States Supreme Court. The President nominated 49 year-old Neil Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals to fill the post. If confirmed by the Senate, Gorsuch will fill the vacancy left by the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia last February. Making the announcement at the White House, President Trump praised his nominee’s “outstanding legal skills” and “tremendous discipline.” President Trump also noted that Gorsuch had “earned bi-partisan support”…