Comentary #2: On "Let's Not Follow in Greece's Footsteps"

I completely agree with you Megan. In your editorial you are talking about how both republicans are doing too much talking and not enough action. And inevitably the clock is ticking, we only have a month till we start the New Year and still no action is taking place. All I see is one side wants this and the other side wants that. There is still no in between point, no compromise.

 Another thing is what you said about how Medicare and Medicaid are being abused by the American people. I believe in actuality they should never be removed, like you I feel there should be some changes at least. Like a way to actually define who is eligible to gain these benefits. I for one have seen many people who are capable to do work and have the strength to actually get stuff done but decide to stay home because it is easier for them to gain that benefit. America in other words is becoming lazy. Actually no, let me rephrase that; the American PEOPLE are being lazy.

To be honest I feel that your comparison between America and Greece is very accurate. Greece was one a great empire; wealthy, prosperous, the people were happy. But then everything took a turn for the worst. And the great Greek empire started to crumble. And if Obama doesn’t act fast we too will fall victim to that economic down turn. Actually it’s not even all Obama’s fault. It’s the fact that both parties are acting like little kids playing in the sand box. One wants to build a castle while the other keeps throwing dirt in his face and destroy that castle he is trying to build. I’m sorry but America is not something to play with. They have to find a way to reach that compromise and fast no more lsmall plays. It’s time to throw that Hail Mary and hope for the best.

editorial 2: the justices overlook on health care.

The Supreme Court believes that the health care reform may violate religious freedoms. In our country freedom in religion is a big deal.  If something violates that amendment believe there will be those to fight against it. Right now there is a pending lawsuit from the private Liberty University. They claim that the taxpayer dollars would be used to fund abortions and contraception, one of the claims that Obama’s administration has rejected time and time again. I being Catholic strongly disagree with abortion. I believe a human is still alive. They have a heart. They are not just a piece of tissue you can cut and throw away. Reading that there could be a possibility that our taxpayer dollars could be funding them angers me. And I probably am not the only one.

The Supreme Court believes that the Affordable Care Act’s funding mechanism, requiring nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance or pay financial penalty. This then tossed out all the pending appeals. And so there is no indication when the appeal toward  whether  the lawsuit should be blocked on jurisdictional grounds by the three-judge panel of the 4^th circuit U.S Court of Appeals in 2011 will be visited again since Liberty University has refilled a lawsuit. This lawsuit says objection to the law should be reconsidered due to the court’s 5-4 ruling which affirmed the overall law. The school believes that Americans should not be required to do such purchases. Especially if there are religious objections tied in with it. It doesn’t even have to be because of religion all you need is some moral standing about abortion.

 This is just one of the many pending lawsuits filed to challenge the law’s application since the decision made in June. All the Richmond-based appeal asks is for the Liberty University to have a legal argument. Not only are they not denying them from a chance to stand for their beliefs, The Obama administration did not object toward the university asking for another chance.

In the end my beliefs towards this still remain the same. I feel that our country should be more aware about what they use our tax money for if. Because then claims like this start appearing left and right. This is not good for our government and the president. If they want the people to follow them they have to look at everything from all spectrums. What I feel that these lawsuits are false. The last thing the government wants is to mess with the freedom of religion for the people. That right given to believe in their religion and the moral standing is a part of what this country has been built on. This is just another of people fighting for their rights as usual.

My Constructive criticism about a classmates editorial

Hi Veronica, I just have to say is that I as a male Hispanic find your thought in your editorial about how diversity in Congress agreeable. I for one believe that the best way to benefit the view points of the people towards our government. Like you said the Congress is for the people. Meaning more than just white males should be in congress. This huge change is a great improvement! I believe that we should be more diverse. It will help the nation because we will have a government that will think outside the box and in many viewpoints not just one. And that women being in congress will not only just try to strengthen American families but also provide leverage in our government. In my thoughts strong American families means a strong American government. This nation I believe is in dire need of leverage. Whether it’s due having more women and congress.  Or that we have a more diverse race in congress that would obviously help the people because like you said, “Congress should be made up of all kinds of people which will be able to represent their people”. That is what caught my eye the most because so true. What is the best way to improve a government other than provide it with the people. Ones who have lived in the same conditions. Who know the hardships that we the people are facing. I believe that if you have experienced it or lived it your opinion is much great than that of one who hasn’t and only lives his or her life on what the facts and statistics state. I agree with you that this such change is help us as a nation head towards the right direction.

Obama's thoughts about how to avoid another recession (editorial)

 Last week Obama spoke about the economy and the deficit Friday in the East Room of the White House. He was asking for higher taxes on the wealthy. And that those taxes would be a part of an agreement which would help us avoids a fiscal cliff. Yes I understand we just had an election but that doesn’t mean Obama is going to take a break. He won this election, which was unexpected by the republican, along with that the electoral college behind him it would seem that whatever Obama offers to Boehner it’s going to be hard for him to refuse the coming up tense negotiations over a deficit cutting deal. Obama wants the Republicans to agree to extend the middle-class tax cuts so it will expire next year so more discussion on averting the fiscal cliff can made to the point of where both parties can agree on. Take note that if this fiscal cliff went through we would have gone through another economic recession. On Friday Obama was clearly trying to put the pressure on republican to extend the middle-class tax cuts by stating that on Tuesday night it was obvious that Americans agreed with his approach and not Romney’s.  This also includes Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. He is pretty much pinning Republicans to the corner saying that if the taxes go up for middle-class earners and not raise taxes for the wealthy it will be their fault not his. I myself am totally for this. I believe Obama deserved this Second term. He has many big plans and 4 years was not enough for him to do so. How do people expect a man to clean up 8 years of mess in 4 years? Along with that there was a lot of “hate” between both parties. In Obama’s first term every time he tried to do something the Republicans instantly shut him down. Now he has them pinned against the wall saying this time it’s going to be my way. Not only that but on that same night Boehner stated that the American people made it clear that there is no mandate for raising tax rates. It seems that both Obama and Boehner can come to a common ground. But what they do with it we will not know until they are done. They’ll have a chance to discuss about this matter next Friday in the white house. Let’s just hope they come to a similar agreement.

Blog Critique

In the blog, The Real Threat to the economy next year isn’t thefiscal cliff; the author simply states that no matter who wins the election who wins the government budget will do us a lot of harm economically. Those leaders in both parties have been silent about the expiration of payroll tax holiday. That would create a significant tax increase for many middle class income earners, but it would help reduce the deficit by $100 billion or more next year. If Obama wins the election the Democrats will force the House Republicans to end the Bush tax cuts for high income earners, which will bring tens of billions of dollars out of the economy and into the Treasury. This would help stall unemployment. That is only based on Okun’s law a rule of thumb that allows them to estimate how changes in GDP will impact employment. The estimates don’t take into account that certain budget cuts hit the economy harder than others.  Obama says that the most frightening of the tax cuts is payroll tax cuts, because it’s a lot of money and most of that money goes to people who need it.  In the end it scares a lot of the senior lawmaker because you are threatening sudden austerity, and the lapsing payroll tax cut. Brian Beutler, the author, is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight and the debt limit fight. I feel like he is trying to tell the middle-class and low class earners to watch out for next year. And that she feel we should be prepared for the worse. She is arguing with the fact that the ones who are going to be most affected next year by tax cut are going to be those who are the middle-class families. And that the rich no matter how high the tax is they will always find a way around it so it will accommodate them.  I completely agree with him about how the government is still making those who are working hard into more and more dept. but then again he also stated that it would many who are unemployed. But who knows what will happen next year. To me he has a bunch of persuasive facts but how would we know until then. So I guess right now we will just sit, wait, and hope for the best.

Critique

In the editorial, The Pentagon’s war on theAmerican dream, an course called Power and Privilege which is offered by Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute is suppose to help teach those who are going to be in the Defense Department how to promote human dignity and that every individual is equal to you no matter if you are rich or poor, black or white. Its purpose is to teach students that a misunderstanding between power and privilege can lead to discrimination. What caught my attention in this editorial is the fact that in explains a slide on socioeconomic privilege features a picture of a happy-looking white family of four sitting outside of a middle-class home. that is suppose to illustrate to the student that the American dream is only reachable if you believe in the idea that what you get out of the system is the same as what you put in. This to me isn’t always true if you really get what you put in then my parents lives would be just peachy. Which inevitably I agree with what the editorial said about how only suckers fall for that one. Another thing that caught my eye was the fact that race was brought into the concept of what individual equality is. On another slide it shows white men playing golf. That picture to me feeds the stereotypical view of what our society “should” look like. In a way the editorial describes this as being a war on class-stereotypes and how if it were a different picture for example Tiger Woods playing golf with those four white men then it would be a different story. To me I feel that the author is targeting Congress and the people so that Congress can either change or cut the program completely because it does not claim to teach what it is intended to teach. Well, at first glance. To me I feel that the author is taking this class and the pictures a bit too much out of proportion , yes I agree that some of the slide look like they represent something other than what it’s intended to teach. But what do the rest of the slides contain? How can I fully respect his or her view without more representation of how bad this class is? To me I feel like the Defense Department is doing an outstanding job at teach their students. In no way will this simple class effect the outcome view of its students in a negative way towards politics and/or the government.

It's a new hot link!

In the article, Top Senate Democrat pushes tax hikes on wealthy, Charles Shumer, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, feels we should cut the traditional tax reform model that is being used by Mitt Romney and some other democrats. Also trying to replicate the same tax reform of the 1986 effort by President Ronald Regan would end with increasing the tax for the middle class destroying any recent rise in income inequality. Thus we should raise the tax rate on the wealthy.  But in order to do this and have the middle class remain with the same tax rates the government will have to raise enough money to both reduce rates and the deficit, then cut deductions and credits. But they would have to cut it at a far greater scale than in 1986. Right now it is unclear about how this would play in the debate. Including that this approach is unpopular with most republicans. I feel this article is interesting because if you have been in either the middle or lower class it has been hard to live in comparison to the wealthy. So to be considered as equals we have to raise their taxes so it can help benefit or nation.

My political autobiography

My name is Ivan Segura I am 19 years old, I am starting my first year of college. My reasons for taking Government 2305 are to obtain more of a political background, and an understanding of our government and how it has evolved into what it is today. I have witnessed the tragedy of 9/11, nearly a decade of our troops trying to hunt down the man responsible for that tragic day, and then finally the killing of that man. I like any other person knows what is right and wrong in this country. All of which is a matter of opinion in the eyes of him or her. My views right now are more post-modern than anything. I feel that diplomacy should be used more than force. I support the government in what it has done to help those who need help but also understand that we are falling more in dept and need to fix it. Although my views of our government are set right now, they are still a bit shady because I am young. This is just another beauty of growing up. As I age my beliefs and opinions of our government can still change.