On September 27th, Barack Obama and Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, contacted one another through a phone call. It was the first direct contact the a U.S. president has had with an Iranian leader since the 1970s. This phone call revolved around reaching an agreement about Iran's nuclear program. I think that this phone call was a step in the right direction. I also know that Iran would like to lift economic sanctions that have been put against it, and one way they could do that is by limiting Iran's nuclear program. I am wondering if Iran's willingness to work towards a compromise with the U.S. is genuine because they could only be trying to create better relations for the trade sanctions to be lifted.


The government is facing a complete shutdown because of the conflict in congress surrounding Obamacare and the national debt ceiling. The republican majority in the House will only raise the debt ceiling to fund the government if they get their way regarding the Affordable Health Care Act. Republicans want to connect these issues by defunding Obamacare to then resolve the debt ceiling crisis at the same time, while democrats would rather deal with them separately. I feel as though this conflict is mainly a power struggle between the democrats and republicans. I think it would be fairly simple to resolve this conflict, but neither side wants to lessen their influence in the government. It is frustrating to me that the republicans are more willing to shut down the government than to keep the Affordable Health Care Act, which is something that benefits many people across the United States.