This type of legislation is badly needed, especially if we don't want to fall even further behind in the race to modernize our country for the technological era. I really like how the plan not only calls for tangential things like bridges and roads, but also includes a proposal to ensure every American has reliable access to high speed internet regardless of where they live.

I'd be pretty surprised if it passed in its current form, but it does seem like a well thought out plan that should be seriously considered.

We can't keep the status quo of patchwork fixes to our aging infrastructure. It's time to go big.

I know it's not the most popular topic, especially for teachers who already are tasked with doing one of the hardest professions in the country, but the way we educate our children versus a number of other industrialized countries should alarm all of us, even people who don't have children.

The 9 months on/3 months off system made a lot of sense when schoolchildren helped on their family farm decades ago, but it me it just doesn't make sense any longer. When the first 1-2 months of a school year is rehashing everything you learned the final couple months of the former year then something isn't right.

Like I said, I know this will be unpopular with both children and teachers alike, but isn't it worth it to try to figure out a better way to educate our kids to get them ready for the 21st Century?

2016 taught me to never, ever predict with confidence what will happen in the Presidential election again.

Personally, I think Trump has far more to be concerned about than a potential 2024 run. Prosecutors in New York are zeroing in on him like a killer whale zeroing in on its prey and he could very well be the first President in history to face time in prison. Add in the fact that he is personally on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in loans due in part or in full in the coming months and you have a pretty exposed and vulnerable "frontrunner."

I don't think that means Trumpism will go away. He ushered in a new ugly norm in our country and I don't see that going away overnight. But if I were a betting man (which I am not) I would guess he'll tease a run only to make some lame excuse as to why he won't run, but only after making as much money as he can with the teasing.

Outside of a new Constitution you're going to continue to be disappointed and frustrated for quite a long time.

We certainly have an ... odd way of running our country, but it's the system we have.

Other Western democracies have a parliamentary system where the leader of the ruling party is also the leader of the country. Additionally, when the "people" lose confidence in the ruling party snap elections can be called and the people can vote to keep the ruling party in power or usher in a new ruling party without having to wait for an arbitrary date to vote like we have in the US.

I share your frustration about our current system. It's a system designed to give overwhelming power to small, largely white states at the expense of large, diverse ones.

Can someone explain how it's fair that the Dakota's, with a total population between the two states of 1,658,026 have four Senators, yet California, with a population of 39,368,078, has two? I can go on and on.

More good news on the ongoing drive to get as many as possible their shots, this time with President Biden saying that 90% of adults in the United States will be eligible by April 19th. That's nearly two weeks earlier than his previous goal.

This is great news, but Biden made clear that we can't let our guard down just yet. We should all continue to practice social distancing, wear a mask, and just practice good hygiene (which we should always be doing anyway!).

I'm happy to see this date moved up, but the real test will be how long people will have to wait once they are eligible for the shot.

It didn't take long for President Biden to quash any rumors about him only wanting to serve one term as President. During his first primetime press conference, the President responded to a question about his plans by saying "[t]he answer is yes, my plan is to run for reelection. That's my expectation."

To be honest, I'm not surprised at all. I always found it odd how convinced people were that he would somehow be some placeholder President. That's not really how it's ever worked in our country, so we shouldn't be shocked that the President isn't going to tie his hands behind his back by announcing to the world that he's a lame-duck President two months into his term.