THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- January 23, 2018 - Topic 2

Locked down — on U.S. shutdown

Last week, the 19th federal government shutdown in U.S. history went into force. If previous occasions are any indication, this shutdown will also lead to the furlough of many hundreds of thousands of government workers, closure of national parks with a potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, and a possible overall macroeconomic cost of several billions of dollars in terms of productivity loss associated with the cessation of multiple public services. 

This encore is entirely preventable and the seismic payment default can be traced back to one inescapable reality in Washington: congressional dysfunction stemming from bitterly partisan politicking. A federal shutdown occurs when lawmakers fail to agree on a spending bill, and cannot even sign off on a stopgap funding measure that might keep the government machinery humming for a few more months. In this case, the bill in question would have helped tide over a looming fiscal gap at least until the middle of February. Yet that did not happen, because Republicans refused to compromise on a hardline approach on immigration policy, specifically on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Obama-era clemency policy for foreign-born children of U.S.-based undocumented workers. That policy was ended in September 2017 when President Donald Trump revoked his predecessor’s executive order to protect these children, the so-called DREAMers, from deportation. This apparently rattled Democratic lawmakers to the point where they were willing to make a stopgap budget deal, contingent on Congress agreeing to legislation to shield nearly 700,000 of these law-abiding youngsters from removal.

With dark clouds on Capitol Hill overshadowing the first anniversary of Mr. Trump’s presidency, he has reiterated his call for strong border security and a crackdown on “illegal immigrants”. Interestingly, a recent CNN poll suggested 84% of Americans want DACA extended. But a government shutdown is likely to cut both ways, hurting the prospects of those on both sides of the aisle seeking re-election in the November 2018 mid-term election. Voters may well consider Democrats to be obstructionist, or as putting undocumented workers ahead of national security. And Republicans may lose votes for failing to keep the government working despite controlling the Senate, House of Representatives and the White House. Regardless of who wins in that election, the debate on immigration reform will continue. Too much is at stake for not only the nearly 11.3 million undocumented workers but also the nearly 1.5 million temporary foreign workers, among whom are 500,000 to 700,000 H-1B visa holders, the majority of them from India. For, when Congress finally transcends its partisan biases and legislates a comprehensive immigration reform package, it will likely introduce a revised policy for each of the visa categories.

Vocabulary

Occasion: a particular time or instance of an event.

Example: On one occasion I stayed up until two in the morning

Synonyms: time, instance, moment, juncture, point, event, occurrence

Antonyms: consequence, creation, development, effect, end

Productivity: the state or quality of producing something, especially crops.

Example: The long-term productivity of land

Synonyms: productiveness

Cessation: the fact or process of ending or being brought to an end.

Example: The cessation of hostilities

Synonyms: end, ending, termination, stopping, halting, ceasing

Inescapable: unable to be avoided or denied.

Example: Sometimes, our anger and frustration are caused by very real and inescapable problems in our lives.

Synonyms: unavoidable, inevitable, unpreventable, ineluctable, inexorable

Antonyms: avertable, avertible, avoidable, evitable

Dysfunction: abnormality or impairment in the function of a specified bodily organ or system.

Example: Bowel dysfunction

Synonyms: disfunction

Antonyms: function

Immigration: the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country.

Example: Patterns of immigration from the Indian sub-continent to Britain

Predecessor: a person who held a job or office before the current holder.

Example: The new president's foreign policy is very similar to that of his predecessor

Synonyms: forerunner, precursor, antecedent

Antonyms: successor

Apparently: as far as one knows or can see.

Example: The child nodded, apparently content with the promise

Synonyms: seemingly, evidently, it seems that, it appears that

Reiterate: say something again or a number of times, typically for emphasis or clarity.

Example: She reiterated that the administration would remain steadfast in its support

Synonyms: repeat, say again, restate, retell, recapitulate, go over

Transcend: be or go beyond the range or limits of something abstract, typically a conceptual field or division.

Example: This was an issue transcending party politics

Synonyms: go beyond, rise above, cut across

Comprehensive: complete; including all or nearly all elements or aspects of something.

Example: A comprehensive list of sources

Synonyms: comprehensive examination, comprehensive, comp

Antonyms:  incomprehensive, noncomprehensive, limited, exclusive