<span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">From </span><a href="http://votesmart.org/public-statement/1183491/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&quot;fire and fury&quot;</span></a><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to </span><a href="http://votesmart.org/public-statement/1184274/" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&quot;locked and loaded&quot;</span></a><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and most recently </span><a href="http://votesmart.org/public-statement/1189510/" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&quot;All options are on the table&quot;</span></a><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the President has had some tough and controversial words for Kim Jong-Un and North Korea after several Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests and now a hydrogen bomb test. Some critics worry that these words have worsened the rising tensions with North Korea; other critics simply worry that Twitter may not be the best outlet to issue these statements. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those who defend him feel that Trump’s words should reflect North Korea’s actions.</span><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span id="docs-internal-guid-db5b6f05-c02d-04d6-9c17-7a55f5ecc0c8" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> <br> </span><span id="docs-internal-guid-9bf27c9b-53e5-da08-21e8-d8e65474c451" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> <p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8013px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; white-space: pre-wrap;">While members of Congress have debated the President’s statements, sanctions on North Korea have been strongly supported in both the Capitol and the White House in 2017. Following nuclear tests, the death of Otto Warmbier, and sanctions on North Korea, we’ve seen that tensions between the US and North Korea have only continued to snowball. </span><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> &nbsp;&nbsp;</span> </p> <br> <p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8013px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This snowball has been rolling for far longer than 2017, however--while Americans threw literal snowballs celebrating New Year’s Day, Kim Jong-un </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/01/world/asia/north-korea-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-test-kim-jong-un.html?mcubz=3" style="font-size: 12.8013px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">issued a statement</span></a><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> about his nuclear plans--setting the tone for the rest of the year. Skip forward 6 months and several missile tests and we arrive at another holiday--the 4th of July. As Americans launched fireworks in their backyards, North Korea celebrated by testing its first ICBM.</span> </p> <br> <p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12.8013px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> <span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">To visualize the series of events that followed, we have compiled a timeline below outlining the rising tensions between the US and North Korea since the launch and the statements made and actions taken as a result. </span> </p> </span>

&nbsp;<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">Congress has been very busy in early 2017. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read further to find out what is happening on both sides of the aisle!</span>

<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8012809753418px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19.2019214630127px;">Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://votesmart.org/voteeasy#.VbuQA7NVhHw" target="_self">VoteEasy</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8012809753418px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19.2019214630127px;">&nbsp;at&nbsp;</span><a href="votesmart.org" target="_self">VoteSmart.org</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8012809753418px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19.2019214630127px;">, giving South Carolina voters an invaluable resource for identifying their&nbsp;best political match November 4th. Eight of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.</span> <div> <span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8012809753418px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19.2019214630127px;"> <br> </span> </div>

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to&nbsp;<a href="http://votesmart.org/voteeasy#.VbuQA7NVhHw" target="_self">VoteEasy</a>&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="votesmart.org" target="_self">VoteSmart.org</a>, giving South Dakota voters an invaluable resource for identifying their&nbsp;best political match November 4th. Nine of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> Immigration: it's an issue that's been on the minds of a lot of prominent people involved in politics lately. </p>

States across America considered legislation in their most recent sessions that would change voting and voter registration requirements.

<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A&nbsp; 20-year study of over 15,000 congressional candidates and their willingness to answer questions on the major issues</span></span>

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The South Carolina Republican Presidential Preference Primary is scheduled for Saturday, January, 21st and while in most of our minds there are only four candidates still vying for the GOP nomination, one look at the ballot will tell a slightly different story.&nbsp;

As expected, the Iowa Caucus, the first nominating contest of the 2012 election season, proved to shake things up inside the GOP race.

There is one issue that only pops up every decade with noticeable consequences, and that issue is redistricting.

The U.S. Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction&nbsp;was established with the goal of improving both the short and long term financial outlook of the US and reducing the deficit “...by at least $1,500,000,000 over the period of fiscal years 2012 to 2021” But they missed their deadline...