The U.S. has been going through a rough winter so far this year. With the polar vortex hitting the Midwest in late January, and the heavy snow storms on the Northern Eastern coast, the newest area to be affected with this snow storm is the West Coast. Squaw Valley, in California, had its snowiest month on record, according to The Guardian. Snow was also seen falling near Pasadena and West Hollywood.

More snowfalls have also took their tolls in areas in Oregon.

The United States is currently in the third year of Donald Trump’s presidency. This means that next year 2020) is the next election for United State’s president. So far, there are a handful of candidates running for office.

Today, I will be listing a couple candidates and their backgrounds from both of the political parties.

Elizabeth Warren is one of the democratic candidates for the next presidency. She was formerly a Harvard law professor in Massachusetts. She is specifically known for advocating for more regulations on Wall Street and other big corporations.

Another candidate for office is democratic, New Jersey, U.S. Senator, Cory Booker. He was a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School. He was elected as mayor of Newark, New Jersey, in 2006, serving until he was elected to the Senate, and assumed office, in 2013.

One of the republican candidates running for office in 2020 is the former governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld. His beliefs are very libertarian based (he was a libertarian nominee for Vice president in 2016). Even though he is running on the republican side of the political spectrum, he believes in LGBTQ rights along with being pro-choice.

Another one of the republican candidates running is the President, Donald Trump, himself. He will try to be re-elected for office in 2020.  According to the Washington Post, he was spending money on 2020 efforts as early as Nov. 24, 2016. Trump is also confident he will be re-elected, depsite his constant low approval ratings.

Rashida Tlaib is the mother of two boys, and the oldest among 14 children born to immigrant parents. Tlaib was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She attended and graduated from Southwestern High School. She went to Wayne University in Detroit and earned her bachelor’s degree there. She then earned her law degree from Western Michigan University. After that, she married Fayez Tlaib whom she later had two sons with.

In 2008 Tlaib won her race to be a State Representative. She became the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan Legislation. While being a state representative, Tlaib helped secure millions of dollars, for education, for people as well as seniors. She wrote laws to protect homeowners and stop thieves. After serving three terms in the legislature she couldn’t run for her seat again, because she had reached the term limit.

On January 3, 2019 Rashida Tlaib was sworn into Congress. She is the first Muslim American woman to serve in the House of Representatives. Tlaib chooses not to wear a headscarf, but she doesn’t let that stop her from committing to her religion.

Democrat Rashida said in her campaign biography that: “She is focused on getting more money for better education, free health clinics, after school programs for students and, programs for seniors.” Tlaib is trying to solve how the world views Muslims, and she tries to help her community. While in office, she opposed tax breaks for billionaires, and wealthy corporations, and forced the the state to fund causes such as helping students pay for college instead.

Tlaib has worked against campaigns such as, anti-Arab and anti- Muslim bigotry. She showed people that she isn’t scared to say what the issues in world are. Tlaib has earned respect from many people because she wants to help people and fight for them to get things that they need.

By: Daniela Fernandez

On February 5, 2019, President Trump gave his State of the Union Address. The State of the Union Address was originally supposed to be given on January 22, but was canceled because of the government shutdown.

This year’s speech was overshadowed by a series of exchanges between the President and the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Their series of exchanges consisted about when he was to give his speech. The President wanted to give his speech on January 29, but Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, made it clear that in order for him to give his speech, he must first be invited by Congress, and then only the Speaker of the House can call for a joint session between the chambers. Finally, they came to an agreement to have his speech after the government reopened according to CNN.

At this year’s State of the Union Address, President Trump discussed immigration, the economy, infrastructure, drug prices, national security, and governance according to CNN.

On the topic of immigration, the President claimed that his petition for the wall is justified because El Paso, Texas used to be a dangerous city with high crime rates, and that now with a wall in place, it has become one of the country’s safest city. According to CNN, who analyzed and reviewed data from the FBI and city law enforcement, while there was high violent crime in El Paso in 1993 it fell long before a wall was built in 2008-2009.

Next, the President discussed the economy. He claimed that there are more people working in the United States than ever before. He also claimed that 157 million are working. Again, according to CNN, who analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this month, 156,694,000 are working. They also stated that compared to the population percentage, the number of people working is still lower than before the recession.

The President also discussed drug prices. He claimed that drug prices are too high for Americans to pay, and wants to work towards lowering them. He also claimed that because of his administration, drug prices where lower than they had been in 46 years in 2018. CNN analyzed the consumer price index for prescription drugs, and they found that while prices did drop 0.6%, which is that largest drop since 1973, the prices rose 3.2% later that year.

Last, the President discussed National Security. He made many claims on international relations such as reducing support for NATO. He also claimed that ISIS was defeated. While most of their territory was recaptured, they still have control over around 20 square miles according to US Central Command, General Joseph Votel. The President also made a call for international support.

This year’s speech brought a lot of scrutiny by the media, and political analysts, and a lot of controversy.