While Congress has focused on budget and debt deals in recent months, many other important issues have been placed on hold. The divide between the Senate and the House even resulted in certain legislation passing one, but failing in the other.

Now that the government has been reopened and debt limit extended to new deadlines, Congress can focus on these other major legislative goals. Different senators and representatives will play pivotal roles in what is to be considered “passable” legislation.

Historical perspective can be marvelous for whatever ails you—especially if what ails you is the belief that things are worse in America today than they have ever been. This is almost never true. In the 230 or so years that we have been a country, we have been through—and overcome—a lot. At different points in the past, we have been more in debt, more divided, and more gridlocked than we are now.

PPP, on behalf of the House Majority PAC, did a recent poll of one of the congressional districts in Minnesota that is set to be a "swing district" in 2014. By swing district, I mean it is -- so far -- looking likely to change from a red district to a blue district, and where an established, multi-term incumbent is failing badly.

While this isn't the worst response Pew has on record, with August 2011 paralleling the distrust we see today, it's pretty bad, with the government shutdown drastically impacting public perception of our elected officials.

High overhead costs, an increasing amount of red tape, unnecessary middlemen, and Obamacare prompted Dr. Michael Ciampi to stop accepting all forms of private and government insurance last April, which has allowed him to cut his prices in half.

Former U.S. congressman Ron Paul is no doubt a big influence on the modern day liberty movement in the United States, but have you ever had a question you wanted to ask Dr.  Paul? Now you can.

In October, Paul released a video on his online news network, The Ron Paul Channel, asking viewers to submit any questions or stories they have about the growing liberty movement in the United States.

"Power corrupts, and the prospect of losing power corrupts absolutely." - John P. Roche

Next November, Americans will elect representatives to the 114th Congress. As of October 20, the current Congress has an average 9.2 percent approval rating and 84.2 percent disapproval rating.

Amid the turmoil caused by a temporary government shutdown, a pessimistic outlook for passing immigration reform in 2013, let alone during the 113th Congress, would not be farfetched. Yet, President Obama expressed optimism on Thursday for striking a comprehensive immigration deal before the end of the year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptsgySM1QXE

With the government back in business, attention has now shifted to the shortcomings of the Healthcare.gov website, with Congress holding the first of many hearings aimed at understanding the technical issues plaguing Obama's signature achievement, healthcare reform.

The government, however, is no stranger to data collection, with the National Security Agency's (NSA) controversial harvesting hundreds of millions of personal contact lists - against the will of the American people.