Obama's Cuban policy change: Today's news for January 13th

Reuters:

Obama administration ends special immigration policy for Cubans

The Obama administration said on Thursday it was repealing a measure granting automatic residency to virtually every Cuban who arrived in the United States, whether or not they had visas, ending a longstanding exception to U.S. immigration policy.

The end of the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which allowed any Cuban who reached U.S. soil to stay but returned any picked up at sea, is effective immediately. Cuban officials had sought the change for years.

The Department of Homeland Security also ended a parole program that allowed entry for Cuban medical professionals. That program was unpopular with Havana because it prompted doctors to leave, sapping the country's pooled of trained health workers.

How you think about this change directly relates to your views of Cuba. If you believe we should ease our relations with Cuba, then this might seem like a good idea. On the other hand, if you believe kowtowing to a dictator is bad policy, this might seem like a bad idea. Then again, you could be torn between the two options.

What should American policy be towards dictators? While we should have good relations with our neighbors, how far does this extend? There is no easy answer here. Obama's action here supports a very questionable, although not necessarily incorrect, policy.

Back to more post-election analysis...

Roll Call:

Study: Economy Was Top Issue Among Millennial Voters

A new study conducted after the election shows that the economy mattered most to millennial voters.

The study by the Millennial Impact Report surveyed 350 young voters they had surveyed in different waves throughout the election.

The organization found that millennials had considered education to be the most important topic during the election through each of three waves of surveying.

However, this changed when respondents were surveyed between Nov. 9 and Nov. 14. The survey showed employment and wages were the primary concern for millennial voters.

The study also showed roughly 80 percent of all millennials surveyed said they voted in the election.

In addition, the survey showed that the number of millennial voters who said they voted for Republican candidate Donald Trump nearly doubled postelection compared to those who said they were voting for him before the election.

James Carville lives! "It's the economy, stupid" is still true today.

Unfortunately, the last election featured two major party candidates with scary bad economic ideas. Anyone who really cared about the economy would have voted for Gary Johnson.

On the bright side, there is hope for the next generation:

Many who did not choose between Trump or Hillary Clinton said it wouldn’t have made a difference due to the Electoral College and because “the lesser of two evils is still evil.” 

The last word today goes to Republican Senator Tim Scott...

The Post and Courier:

Someone called Sen. Tim Scott the N-word on Twitter. 

The South Carolina senator shut it down with one word.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican senator, shut down a racist tweet Wednesday with a pithy one-word response.

The tweet, which has since been deleted from a Twitter account that has also disappeared from the Internet, called Scott a “house n----a.”

“Senate,” Scott, the Republican senator from South Carolina, tweeted back.