The Political Show Recap – March 17th
There was a recent challenge in the House of the Dodd-Frank Reforms. Republicans and some Democrats want to scale these back, which has upset the White House and prompted it to reach out to House Democrats and urge them to oppose weakening the Dodd-Frank Act. We then debated the effectiveness of the Dodd-Frank reforms which were enacted in 2010, and also the state of economic recovery. A big sticking point was who gets credit.
Senate Republicans Send Letter to Iran
A letter was recently sent by 46 Senate Republicans to Iran, urging them not take negotiations that are currently underway between Secretary of State, John Kerry, and the Iranian Foreign Minister seriously. The Senators made it clear that any treaty would not gain the necessary support to pass the Senate. We debated whether it was appropriate and even legal for these Senators to send the letter. On one hand, Americans have the right to free speech, and on the other, undermining the Executive in Foreign Affairs borders on sedition and potentially treason. Obviously our views differed widely on this one, so it was a hot debate that we may come back to in the future.