tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45734590116700336222024-02-20T16:11:21.793-08:00Olive Gets DeepMy political and government ramblingsNina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-11928023408958953922012-05-10T06:29:00.000-07:002012-05-10T06:29:02.164-07:00(Blog Stage 8 Commentary) Fixing the ProblemI agree with <a href="http://factorsfaee.blogspot.com/2012/04/fixed-solution.html">Christine</a>. I think that if the state were to require us to spay and neuter our pets it would decrease the number of homeless pets considerably. This would put less of a burden on the city to need to care for them through animal shelters. I see another benefit as well, it would take the free pets off the market and pretty much require people to purchase pets and pay for them to be fixed. This is more of an investment than just grabbing a cute kitty from the side of the road where someone has a box of free kittens to give away. If people have to pay to get pets and pay for fixing them, I think that less people would haphazardly choose to own animals, thus less chance of abandoned animals. Overall, this sounds like it would be a great measure for the legislature to pass. <br /><br />On the other hand, I can see it backfiring in one big way. This type of legislation would need to be enforced. Someone would have to check and see if animals have been spayed or neutered. This creates a huge problem because instead of spending extra money on animal shelters, we now must spend it on checking with citizens to ensure they are getting their pets fixed. The only way I working out is with more legislation stating that the people issued licenses to breed, must keep track of every pet they adopt out and make sure those pets are spayed or neutered either before they adopt them out or that the new owner does it. All of that said, even with that one flaw, I still feel this would be a worthy cause and it would be interesting to look into it further.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-71146238223243051032012-04-30T19:20:00.003-07:002012-04-30T19:21:20.949-07:00(Assignment #7) Commission on Judicial Conduct is out of controlThe Commission on Judicial Conduct has become virtually self-driving and unaccountable. The article "<a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/statesman-investigates/texas-judges-misdeeds-often-kept-secret-by-oversight-2305404.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage">Texas judges' misdeeds often kept secret by oversight commission</a>," found in the Austin American-Statesman, only serves to rile me up further. It unravels the truth that this commission, who is in charge of oversight of our state judges, believes that it should never have to allow someone to go through their files to make sure they are functioning properly. Of course, the commission itself would like to defend why it legally can not share the information it has on cases against the judges in our state, but I love how the Statesman points out that "Defense lawyers, those who have filed complaints and even some judges counter that such secrecy raises questions about how the agency is policing some of the state's most powerful public officials." Of course it raises suspicion! It raises even more alarms when you continue reading the article and see that the Commission on Judicial Conduct has even blocked another state agency from being able to audit it. The Statesman shares, "The Sunset Advisory Commission is charged by the Legislature to review the performance of state agencies to determine if taxpayers should continue funding an agency and, if so, what changes might be made to improve its efficiency." However, the Commission on Judicial Conduct refused to allow the Sunset Advisory Commission access to any of their information. They would not allow them to sit in on any hearings or allow them to assess their functions in any other way.<br />
How can one state agency that is charged with oversight refuse to allow another state agency, charged with the same exact role, to oversee it's operations. I can not even see how that could be legal. The Sunset Advisory Commission's main purpose is to see if taxpayer dollars are being spent well, and the Commission on Judicial Conduct is prohibiting them from performing their role completely. The Statesman even mentions that while some judges are getting a slap on a wrist for serious offenses, other judges are getting serious judgements meted out for less serious offenses. The Commission on Judicial Conduct goes on to say that they believe the other agency has no right to conduct a review on their rulings because they are a Judicial body and is not subject to Legislative oversight. <br />
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Concerning the behavior of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project said it best, "It says that judges protect their own." That is a very fair assessment. It is clear that just as someone in a courtroom who is being tried before a judge can actually donate money to that judges campaign, this Commission on Judicial Conduct can also be corrupted. I think the only way to fix something like this is to fine tune the legislation that brought about the Sunset Advisory Commission. Something that would say that an advisory commission has every right to assess each and every commission that runs within the boundaries of this state. That would create at least a little oversight into the workings of the Judicial branch and this apparently corrupted commission.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-28848365216837008122012-04-16T14:30:00.000-07:002012-04-16T14:30:52.383-07:00(Assignment #6) Comment on "The Young and the Rest - less educated"I enjoyed reading fellow blogger, Jackie Goff's post, "<a href="http://thetxbluebonnet.blogspot.com/2012/04/young-and-rest-less-educated.html">The Young and the Rest - less educate</a>." Her title draws you into the article and she sites her references very well. She also has an interesting take on the the events surrounding Governor Rick Perry's challenge to Texas’ higher education institutions to make college more affordable.<br />
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At first I disagreed that there was something behind A&M being the only school so far to pick up on Perry's 'call to action', but the more I think about it, the more I think there probably is something to the claim. In class we talked about how Perry would love nothing more than to be in the A&M system and leave his "Big maroon thumbprint all over the state," as Professor Seago put it. I know Perry has yet to make it onto the board of A&M or into any other role with any clout in their system, but I am certain there must be a tie between his challenge to the College's and Universities in Texas and A&M doing something about it so quickly. It looks like one of those "I scratch your back, you scratch mine," type things.<br />
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On the actual facts of the degree that A&M is offering, I agree with Ms. Goff's disappointment that it does not apply to people with low income, single moms, or those who have previously served in the military or any other of the vast groups of people who could truly benefit from a degree program that is less than $10,000. I also found it interesting that they only offered this plan with a specific degree program and that they even specified the specialization.<br />
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On the other hand, I think to criticize this plan so quickly is a little short-sighted. Everything has to begin somewhere, and it is entirely possible that if A&M has actually put together a respectable degree for under $10,000 that fully prepares the student for a future job, that this will become the gateway to more schools offering less expensive options as well. I do not think it is fair to say that most colleges and universities should have jumped onto the boat and already pushed out a proposal to meet Perry's suggestion. Most university and colleges are not brave enough, or crazy enough to take a leap like this and I applaud A&M for being an innovator in this area and coming up with an attempt at what seems to be impossible to other institutions.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-86052741441469804812012-04-02T16:25:00.002-07:002012-04-02T16:30:24.731-07:00(Assignment #5) No Surprise... Texas Has Money ProblemsAlways an issue is the so called 'balancing of the budget.' I am not even sure when the last time our budget was actually balanced, but it has been a reoccurring problem ever since I started paying attention to politics. Not that I am surprised or anything. Its not like I expect us to wake up one day and say "Oh look, government fixed all our problems." However, one can hope that they can at least put their money where their mouth is.<br />
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Politicians are famous for saying whatever it takes to get elected, and in Texas, the magic words are "Education is a top priority." One might ponder why those words are so magical, but the answer is quiet simple, education is not a top priority, which makes constituencies unhappy and gives perfect fodder for politicians to call it their platform. If they were to ever actually resolve this issue and make education a top priority then the magic words would not work and politicians might actually have to work to get elected. Ok, that is pretty cynical, but the lack of effort to make education a top priority really shows Texans where our politicians stand on education. We really need to stop listening to their campaigns and we need to start paying attention to their actions.<br />
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<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/texas-taxes/budget/bill-ratliff-free-speak-his-mind/">An Article</a> in the Texas Tribune by Ross Ramsey really drives the point home. Our politicians continually say education is the top priority and while saying that to TV crews and newspapers, they go up to Capitol Hill and pass a budget that goes from $25.4 billion dedicated to Education <b>down</b> to $21.9 billion. Education is but one example of how its is obvious that our legislators refuse to own up to what they sell. It is frustrating to know how short our government falls sometimes, it almost makes you so ashamed that you want to pretend it isn't happening and stop reading the news. I suppose that brings up the cognitive dissonance issue, though. What we find hard to reconcile, we try to avoid.<br />
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All that said, I am sure there is hope somewhere. We could always have an uprising of another party that creates a demand for accountability and authenticity in all parties. Who knows what will happen in the future, but going back to one of my original comments, I really wish politicians would just put their money where their mouth is. Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-86532132276235087072012-03-20T13:33:00.001-07:002012-03-21T10:08:57.882-07:00(assignment #4) Blog Critique<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal">As stated in class, the blog selections were pretty poor, however, I did find a great article that got my wheels turning. Author Emily Cadik wrote an article on her blog titled, "<a href="http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/12023/race-to-the-bottom-a-roundup-of-preabortion-torment-legislation-nationwide">Race to the Bottom: A Round-Up of Pre-Abortion Torment Legislation Nationwide</a>." I do not agree with her every point, but I enjoy the prospect of dissecting her post. <br />
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One of Cadik’s points is that in Tennessee they have a proposed bill that would make public a lot of information about the doctors performing abortions and quite a bit of individual information about the women getting them. At first glance, I felt this possible bill would be great for tracking information related to abortions. However, Cadik makes an extremely valid point that in smaller cities or towns you might as well be writing down the woman's name and address and asking for confrontations. The information could be misused. I really enjoyed her point on this tidbit of information.<br />
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Cadik also stated that, "the sponsor of Alabama's ultrasound bill is actually the vice president of an ultrasound equipment company." The way she noted this fact was with a negative connotation. However, if you think logically, there is nothing for the sonogram company to gain from this legislation, their company is not directly affected if women choose to keep their babies or choose to abort them. Also logically, the people who make sonogram machines have their own individual feelings and thoughts about life, death and babies. It is easy to assume that people who are truly passionate about their work in this field most likely value life and it would make sense that they would likely use their funds to support the pro-life side of the argument. I feel Cadik is reaching too far and trying too hard to make an innocent fact appear sinister.<br />
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On the other hand, I did appreciate Cadik's last comment about the amendment that has been introduced in Virginia about men's health and Viagra. This brings up the whole argument that has been ongoing lately about how the Legislature and Congress are hyper focusing on women's health (Abortions, contraception, etc) and their lack of focus on men's health. It really is becoming a sexist issue and it has taken quite a turn from where I thought the abortion topic would ever have ventured. <br />
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As for Cadiks audience, obviously she is writing to a more liberal crowd that is clearly against abortion. Though I agree with her stance for the most part, I feel her argument was weak and could have been more clearly defined with other examples. I would say that Cadik is pretty credible. It appears the blog itself is written by a staff that is potentially more journalistic in nature and not just some person with opinions writing a personal blog. She also did a great job at linking to outside articles to back up her points. Overall, good article, but she could have used more hard examples instead of soft 'finger pointing' type stuff. It almost read like a frustrated teenager who just found out some 'tasty tidbits' but what they really found pointless scraps.</div>Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-72145355883291645092012-02-24T06:07:00.002-08:002012-02-25T11:56:17.638-08:00(Assignment #3) The STAAR Test is Put on HoldIn the <a href="http://www.statesman.com/opinion/its-smart-to-step-back-on-staar-2188700.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage">Austin American Statesman</a> there is a great article about how Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott has pushed back against the lobbyist group Texas Association of Business and others about the STAAR test. He strongly feels that testing schools to see how well they are performing has gone far off course from what it was intended to accomplish and now teachers are having to teach students to take the tests instead of teaching students to educate them for life. He feels the testing has gone from a means to evaluate to becoming the main focus in schools. The Editorial Board feels that Robert Scott pushing back and postponing the effects of the STAAR test on students grades until next year was an absolute win, and I have to say I agree. The move to push it back a year is absolutely strategic as it coincides with the Legislature convening in 2013 when they can re-evaluate how effective accountability legislation actually is.<br />
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I agree on all accounts with this article. I feel teaching kids to do well on a test instead of focusing on teaching them material so they can advance farther is a huge loss. In other countries they expect their youth to speak two or three languages. I feel we expect much too little from our students and I feel taking out a fourth of a year to teach the test just teaches our kids the wrong lessons about life and takes away from other things our teachers could be educating them about. I am excited that they are pushing it back a year so the Legislature can take appropriate measures to see if accountability legislation is helping or hurting as we try desperately just to keep our schools above board.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-24496643630480948342012-02-11T14:12:00.000-08:002012-02-11T18:50:59.022-08:00(Assignment #2) Texas and the Death PenaltyIn <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/death-penalty/35-years-texas-executions/">The Texas Tribune</a> they have a fantastic article discussing the death penalty. I found it very interesting that in America we did not have the death penalty in use for many years and what started us using it again was an execution in Utah thirty years ago by firing squad. I would have thought that type of execution would not have occurred as recently as thirty years ago.I am also astonished that the current use of the death penalty has only been around since I was born. <br />
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In Texas, the death penalty is a hot item of conversation. I would love to see if use of the death penalty is decreasing due to the death penalty "doing it's job" and persuading people not to commit crimes or is it due to the fact that, as a culture, we are less likely to hand out that punishment. If I were pressed to choose which is the reason, I would certainly lean more towards our culture being less likely to use the death penalty then anything else.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-55236777976230420472012-01-27T15:19:00.000-08:002012-01-27T15:20:01.465-08:00Assignment #1 for Texas Govt.Just setting up the blog.<br />
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.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-62488627508040632172011-11-29T13:59:00.000-08:002011-11-29T13:59:34.023-08:00A Response to "Has Government Sold Out?"I believe Christa Vargo hit the nail on the head when she wrote her blog post <a href="http://amerigovthink.blogspot.com/2011/11/has-government-sold-out.html">"Has Government Sold Out?"</a>. She feels that there should be a cap on political contributions to limit the need for politicians to sell their votes for donations and to enable them to start focusing on what the people really want.<br />
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I agree completely. I also agree that if we place a limit on total contributions it will allow more people into the field that previously would have no chance at winning because they could not raise the same level of funds. Our politicians are so focused on money and so many of the top "1%" of money makers are running the government that it is hard for them to objectively makes laws and run our country in a way that really benefits the majority instead of running it in a way that benefits mostly the rich (themselves).<br />
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In <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/11/money-wins-white-house-and.html">the link she shared</a> that shows that money really does win elections, I was appalled to find out that Obama declined the use the public financing that is offered to top ticket candidates and still significantly beat out McCain on money for his election. It is virtually like buying a seat in congress or buying a presidency. This has got to stop. There is no reason why they need to spend a million or more to be elected and with each candidate that raises more, it raises the price it takes to win. This link she shared was perfect for her points. It spells out everything that she was saying. Overall, this was a great opinion piece and I really enjoyed reading it.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-52800862550936147772011-11-16T20:57:00.000-08:002011-11-20T14:18:13.019-08:00Red and BlueI have been mulling over the differences between Republican and Democrats. I find both of them valid and at the same time flawed.<br />
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If Republicans truly want more state oversight and regulation and less government interaction, then where are all the state laws that we need to protect the citizens from money hungry corporations? Why do we not see more Republicans swarming state capitals and influencing more state government issues? If they truly believe in less national government and more state government, they can't expect to walk up to Washington D.C., strip away all of the big government and say "We've fixed all our problems." If the first thing they do is strip away big government then they have effectively left the public at a huge disadvantage. I find it compelling that Texas, being such a Red state, has effectively dismantled our state level government instead of making it bigger. The true idea would be to build up strong state governments and then seek to dismantle the national laws that are redundant. Then as a nation we could ease off expecting the national government to take care of our needs and trust in the states to take care of us.<br />
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As for Democrats, I personally am leaving my Republican roots and leaning left more regularly because I feel businesses will not regulate themselves. It has been proven repeatedly that businesses will cheat, lie, steal and abuse their consumers and workers. The states have not protected us well enough and an incident with an insurance company proves the point. In 2008 Conesco had to pay around $32 million because their subsidiaries wrongfully denied claims, delayed claims and misled their elderly costumers. We feel like the states are not protecting us, so the government should step up to the plate. The flaw here is that this is exactly opposite of what the founders of the constitution wanted for us. The Bill of Rights wasn't even supposed to be applied to the states. It was truly only to be applied at a federal level and was almost left out entirely because many of the founders believed the states would be responsible for regulation. We were truly supposed to be independent states where each state could have completely different laws, united only for minimal purposes. I guess I lean more to the left because our 200+ year track record of states regulating things doesn't bode well for the future.<br />
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I don't know if there is a better way than what we have going for us now. Sometimes I wonder if we had more options, multiple parties, if that would help address these issues, but right now it seems that any third party (on a presidential level) only serves to detract votes from the only two parties that obtain anywhere close to enough votes to win. However protests and taking test cases before the Supreme Court does seem to have an impact on how laws are seen and used. I guess time will only tell what can make a definite change.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-40683120330482134422011-11-07T06:27:00.000-08:002011-11-07T06:27:41.664-08:00The War on DrugsMy fellow classmate, Caroline Bassett's, wrote an article titled, <a href="http://givemelibertyorgivemeblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/war-on-drugs-where-tax-dollars-go-to.html">"The War On Drugs - Where Tax Dollars Go to Die."</a> I would have to say I agree with her for the most part. She notes that we began the "war on drugs" in '71 and we have little to nothing to show for the 40 years worth of fighting. It got me thinking and if you compare that to the 9 year war we have waged in Iraq, Americans are fed up with the battle and crying out to have our troops returned, yet no one is tired of the 40 years of battle against drugs where we have gained little to nothing.<br />
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If we range farther back in history, we can even ask the question, when has prohibiting a specific drug ever ended well? We had the opium wars, alcohol prohibition and now the war on drugs. The sad thing is that the ban on drugs only gives jobs to cartels and mob bosses and propagates killing sprees, terror and fear. If we legalize drugs, then it becomes common place and the drug cartels and mob bosses have actually lost their foothold on the market. At least, so the theory goes.<br />
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Personally I am against drug use, but it is evident that to stop the increase in crime over drugs we actually have to allow it. The same holds true with Alcohol. We legalized it because the ban on it caused more problems than the actual substance ever did on it's own. As a citizen, spending $1700 on tuition for one semester of classes gives me pause. It is hard to write that check, and our government should have pause when writing that check basically every second of every day, especially when they have to realize that money goes towards making a bad problem worse.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-356868361734744592011-10-20T06:33:00.000-07:002011-10-25T09:24:38.318-07:00Politics Failing<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I find it interesting that President Obama can challenge Republicans to offer a jobs plan that can be assessed by outside analysts and win similarly good marks as his own jobs plan, and the Republicans still complain. For the first time in Obama's presidency I feel like he is fighting for what he believes in. I don’t discredit him for seeking common ground during most of his term though, because compromise could be reached and he still accomplished things. However, since the beginning of the summer the public, and the White House, has seen that compromise is slow in coming and nothing is getting achieved that way. So Obama has taken on more of a firm stance and has decided to demand that something be done about the jobs situation immediately. This is not contradictory to his prior stance, it shows that he can adapt to each situation and apply the necessary pressure required in each situation based on it’s own merits. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">On the other hand, Republicans have not come up with a single alternative to the jobs bill that Obama put forth and all they are doing is sitting around complaining that he is wrong and his plan won't work. Stopping Obama’s plan and not doing anything else is only going to make our situation worse. If we have to do something and the only thing on the table is Obamas plan, then the Republicans either need to come up with a competing plan that gets equally as good marks or they need to make the necessary compromises and let Obama’s plan go through. On the plus side for them, if Obama’s plan fails then the Republicans can basically walk into the white house on election day. It's a win-win for them. Either the economy gets better and we praise our Congress for helping or the plan fails and Republicans get the Presidency. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Overall, I can see why less Americans are participating in politics. It is out of control with too much division and not enough compromise. I would be surprised if the political system can even keep going at this rate. The lack of any appearance of bipartisanship is eating away at American’s trust in the system and too much distrust in the system always leads to a change of some nature. <o:p></o:p></span>Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-7673876405197256232011-10-13T08:38:00.000-07:002011-10-13T08:38:12.427-07:00Cain and his 9-9-9I have been waiting to see someone talk about Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan. It immediately struck me as way too simplistic to be feasible but since he was not considered a top candidate no one paid him much attention. However with the straw poll in Florida saying he is a contender, people are starting to constructively pick apart his campaign. <br />
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It seems there is no consensus about how Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan will affect our nation. However, in the blog, <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/cains-9-9-9-plan-makes-experts-dial-9-1-1.php?ref=fpa"><u>Talking Points Memo</u></a>, it is obvious Author Brian Beutler is not for it. He discusses how Cain's plan will not bring in enough revenues and it will force the government to downsize in some very important areas. Beutler also points out that Cain would like to tack on an extra rule that if a future Congress were to make adjustments to his tax plan, that it would require a 2/3 vote in the Senate. I personally do not see any government organization willingly writing in a strict limit on itself for the future, especially not on a tax rate. However, even if Cain does get elected, this tax plan would likely hit a roadblock in legislation just as Obama is hitting right now with his jobs bill.<br />
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I see possible promise with the 9% corporate tax. However, I find it interesting that everywhere I read, people seem to be saying that the big companies pay 26% in taxes, but when it comes down to what they actually pay after deductions, that figure is just not true. So since a lot of big businesses use loopholes and massive deductions and pay little to no taxes, it seems like forcing them to at least pay 9% might actually bring in some money for the government. So that part of Cain's plan really has me interested to see if it could work. The 9% tax for families might be a tough one though. I know families also get a lot of deductions and if you start taking money out of their pockets right now then it could further dampen our sluggish economy, which is a move we can not afford right now.<br />
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To be quite honest, in the end, if we do not elect someone that congress will work with then we will be stuck right where we are with Obama, going no where fast. I have a feeling Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan would only serve to polarized Congress further and leave our nation in a rut for at least another 4 years. I do not know all the answers, and the media's coverage on this plan has left me asking more questions than before, but I do know I will be keeping my eye on Cain for sure and I am interested to see how much the media will jump in.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-38357621387415146942011-09-27T13:45:00.000-07:002011-09-27T13:45:00.722-07:00The downfall of American newsI keep hearing the American people are poorly educated about politics especially when compared to generations past. This has bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on the deeper reason behind this trend until I was reading the article <a href="http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/thats_infotainment/">"That's Infotainment!"</a> by Matt Nisbet. He really summed it up when he shared that, "[this new generation has the ability to] virtually ignore the news altogether, choosing alternative programming."<br />
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In past generations they did not have tball, karate, dance, volleyball, basketball and every other assortment of things weighing on a persons schedule. Once someone left work they were relatively free to socialize or stay home and watch TV. The big difference? If they watched TV, they were virtually forced to watch the news. Every tv station had a news program. With newspapers, people had enough time to stop and read the newspaper from cover to cover. As compared to now, people have a choice and they choose to watch Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Jersey Shore or whatever entertaining show they are captivated with. This has driven the mass media to try and add entertainment value to the news, thus diluting it and making it less trustworthy, in turn making people less educated about important issues even when they think they are extremely educated.<br />
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It is the power of choice and the downfall of good/honest journalism. I wish I lived in the time of Walter Cronkite. Wow. What a journalistic legend and you knew if he was telling you something that it was to be taken seriously. I don't know that there is a single journalist alive today that I can take as seriously as the world took Cronkite. What a shame. What a shame that people choose not to watch the news, and what a shame the news is just about selling advertising and getting viewers and doing whatever it takes to do that. I could rant more, but I suppose I'll stop here. you get the point.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-20962360057176708292011-09-26T06:09:00.000-07:002011-09-26T06:09:54.107-07:00The Electoral CollegeI have always thought the concept of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_%28United_States%29">electoral college</a> was a little weird and I know the majority of Americans want to change or get rid of it, but what Harold Meyerson addresses in his article <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gop-is-trying-to-rig-the-electoral-college/2011/09/20/gIQA4NFIjK_story.html">"The GOP is Trying to Rig the Electoral College,"</a> makes me angry. His article in the <u>Washington Post</u> discusses that in Pennsylvania, Senate Majority Leader, Dominic Pileggi (R), has proposed to change the way the electoral college's votes are apportioned to a way that is shifty and down right unacceptable.<br />
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Pileggi's idea is to change the state from purely a majority vote awarding all the electoral votes in that state, to each district getting a corresponding electoral vote. At first it sounds fair enough, but it could allow the minority to have more electoral votes. For example, if in his state 200,000 people are crammed into 3 districts who vote for 'president A' and then 50,000 people are spread out in 12 districts who vote for 'president B', then the 200,000 only get 3 electoral votes and the 50,000 would get 12. This results in electing a president based off the votes of a smaller percentage of the population. Perhaps Pileggi thinks he has sound reasoning behind this idea, but the facts speak for themselves. We can not allow a smaller number of people to dictate where electoral votes are going to go. I am concerned with any representative that would support such a proposition. Who are these people we have elected into office to take care of us and why are they taking care of themselves and not the citizens? Somewhere along the way, our entire system created too much room for corruption, which is sad because that is what the founding fathers were trying to prevent. <br />
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It is obvious that in this article Harold Meyerson is talking directly to the public about this problem. When it comes down to it, I know very few honest citizens who would be comfortable with Pileggi's proposition. Meyerson wants to rant about this injustice, but he also wants the public to become educated on this topic because with education comes people standing up for what is right. As far as Meyerson's credibility, he has been an editor for a political magazine and for the L.A. Weekly for some time, as well as a radio host. I feel he has quite a political background and his response to this issue is well educated. As far as his claim, I would have to agree with his outrage on this issue; his logic is spot on and his evidence from the sources he references is solid. He did his homework when writing this article and it is hard to believe that Pileggi would even propose such a self-serving idea.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-66778489032520657262011-09-23T10:45:00.000-07:002011-09-23T10:51:18.462-07:00This ticks me offCongress is making a fool of itself and if anyone up there wants to stay in their post they need to watch what they are doing to their constituents back home. I was reading the USA Today website and found a current article talking about how the government is on the verge of a near shut down. again. AGAIN! Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said it all when he said "Americans are tired of this partisanship. They deserve to know that when disasters strike, we will be there to help them." This division is killing them and us. We need more people to stand up and say "Let's put on our big boy pants today and actually work on a compromise."<br />
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Do these congessman/women think that what they are doing is right? Or is it just a case of ignorance and showboating. I looked up showboating, it fits so perfectly, it means to exhibit a grotesque amount of undue and unfounded pride for a skill or ability which is actually mediocre. Yep. Congress is mediocre and the <a href="http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob.htm">public opinion</a> reflects it; congress is sitting at a 15% approval rating. They are a bunch of do-nothings and worst than that, they are a bunch of stop-everythings. These kinds of behaviors are only going to hurt them.<br />
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Plus, the fact that they must wait until the 11th hour to do anything is very telling and it breaks my heart, which in turn ticks me off. If they must wait until the absolutely last possible minute to work out something that will keep their own jobs moving, then how motivated are they to honestly getting other peoples jobs moving? It doesn't look promising for the American public. What bothers me the most is that after Labor Day Obama addressed Congress and said that if they planned to wait until we elected a new president to start moving things along, that it would be a long wait for the citizens who don't have jobs or need help. That comment really resonated with me and to be honest it worries me because it looks like that is the exactly the plan of congress and countless Americans will suffer for their stubbornness. God. Bless. America (we need it).Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-24406888006262103162011-09-23T08:11:00.000-07:002011-09-23T08:11:02.062-07:00California Rep. Debate<i>Ok ok, it took me forever to finish watching this debate and make my post! But here are my thoughts on the California Republican Debate, forgive my grammar and writing, I'm just getting my thoughts on paper..... rather, the web. </i><br />
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Overall, I really enjoyed the cohesiveness of the republicans. They really refused to be divided all that much. They were determined to beat Obama and find the best candidate to do so and less interested in tearing apart the other candidates. Kudos to them! They took the high road.<br />
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Right out of the box the thing that stinks me is a lot of the candidates continue to say "If I get elected, on day one, I'm going to do _____." That killed me. #1 Do they really think the American public is so stupid to think that they can do that all on their own? #2 I sure hope they aren't diluted enough to think that they really can do all that immediately? If they could, then our country would change drastically every time we got a new president. I hope for their sake that it is just political lingo and not a true belief that they can really make such changes on day one without having to go through any processes. <br />
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They brought up Social Security a lot. I feel like Perry will end up with the young vote since he is appealing to their concern that it won't last long enough for them to receive it. robbing the program to pay other people. Even on this issue Perry and Romney refused to let the questions divide them. I think in general the mass media are trying to polarize this idea that Social Security is a ponzi scheme, but what they don't understand is that Perry is just trying to get people talking about. Sure there are some key differences, yes the public is aware, yes it isn't optional, so by pure definition it may not be a ponzi scheme, but what Perry and Romney are wanting people to see is that it is not going to work long term without some major changes. I have to agree and I think most of my generation agrees with that concern as well. <br />
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On the topic of the HPV vaccine. Bachman was trying to make this issue divisive and she said it isn't right for the government to force people to take a vaccine. However, we have a lot of mandates for childrens vaccines already. Kids can't go to school without certain shots and they must provide a shot record in order to register for school. So that isn't a valid way to oppose Perry's initiative. On another note, by age 50, 80% of women in america have HPV, and it is known to be a cause for cancer. I am with Perry on this. Any other disease or cancer of the body that can be prevented would have been on the vaccine list long ago. It doesn't make sense that this one would be excluded. Something needs to be done, I think Perry was right in what he did. I found it interesting that even Romney supported Perry, saying Perry knew he should have go about it differently, but his heart was in the right place. That support again shows how united the GOP is. <br />
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I have a lot to say about Congressman Ron Paul. #1, I can't stand him, he is extremely far right. To me, he is irrational and I am unsure how he can get any supporters, are his fans as uneducated as the entire GOP is turning out to be? I'm so confused on how people can support him. He wants to abolish way too much of the government. i.e., Take air conditioning away from our armed forces? are you kidding me? These people are there because our government put them there, they deal with 120+ degree weather, that is an unacceptable to consider taking away their A/C simply because it costs us a lot. That is part of the cost of war that is in a place that we are unaccustomed to living in. unacceptable Ron Paul, unacceptable. <br />
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They brought up the topic of Texas school reductions. That may be the case, but Perry pointed out that the graduation rates are up to 84%, which is higher than ever before. If he has raised the graduation rates to the highest level a state has ever seen, how can you condemn him for that? He is doing the best with what he has. To that point, he said: "That is what happens when you share the boarder with Mexico; we have a unique situation in our state." This isn't him trying to push the blame onto the Mexican immigrants. This is pure fact. We do share a boarder with another country that is pouring in immigrants into our state. It does skew our numbers, which then brings us back to the 84% graduation rate and it makes me admire him for that even more.<br />
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Perry was also asked about border security. I really agreed when he said: "For the President of the United States to go down to El Paso, Tx and say that our border has been the safest it has ever been, either he has some of the poorest intel. of a President in the history of this country or he was an abject liar to the American people. It is not safe on that boarder." It isn't safe, and the border is only halfway protected. Everyone in Texas knows that the closer you get to the border, the more dangerous it is. I also liked his point that we need to turn off the magnet. i.e., stop giving them jobs, stop giving them aid to school. Those things draws them here. I enjoyed hearing the GOP unite on this subject. They all said that first they needed to get the fence on the border complete and secure and after that then they would be able to effectively talk about immigration reform.<br />
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Perry, seems to want to walk a narrow line on the environment. One moment he talks about not believing that human activity is affecting our environment, and in the next he talks about how he lowered emissions in Texas more than any other state. That doesn't make sense. If he doesn't believe the environment is changing because of our interaction, then why is he actively trying to change the emissions in Texas? I would like to see him clear this up in the future. Still on Perry, but another subject; the death penalty. He keeps getting bashed for it, but I don't think it's fair. Perry said if you come into our state and you murder someone, you will be prosectued and given a fair trial. If you have committed a murder you will recieve the full punishment for your actions and be put to death. He keeps getting flak for that, but then isn't that what we did when 9/11 happened? We basically said, if you come into our land and kill our people, then you receieve the ultimate punishment of death. Obviously as a nation we agree with Perry and it's not like he is going to instill a Nation wide death penalty, so really I feel this question isn't debate worthy.<br />
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Ok, as much as I have a distaste for Ron Paul, I agree on some small level with him. The moderator asked him how he felt about school provided lunches. He kept saying if it was on a state/local level then he was fine with it, but the government doesn't need to mandate it. I suppose it made me really think about how, as a culture, we truly rely on the government to feed starving kids and meet the needs of the community. We refuse to do it for our neighbors and pass the buck on to the government to do something about it. Our communities have become apathetic and have hidden away in our suburben houses. We need to stop allowing the government to do what the community should be doing. If we actually get out of our houses and know our neighbors then we can meet the needs of those around us and then we wouldn't need government to feed these poor kids who have nothing to eat. All of that said, I'm not sure the American public will do it, so at the end of the day, I don't think what Ron Paul wants will actually work out. I think idealistically it sounds great, but in reality it isn't feasible. Just my thoughts.<br />
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Well, that's my soapbox. Now it's time to watch the New Hampshire GOP Debate and put my 2 cents in on that one.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573459011670033622.post-10036072503328351952011-09-13T08:13:00.000-07:002011-09-13T12:08:39.878-07:00Does Obama Have a Chance?It is time again to start pondering if the current President has put himself in a place to be re-elected or if he has effectively lost the re-election battle before it has even started. In <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_136584575">an article</a><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0903/Is-Election-2012-the-GOP-s-to-lose-What-Obama-could-do."> by The Christian Science Monitor</a> written on September 3rd 2011, they dive into just that question. <br />
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It is an interesting question to ponder especially for the Obama administration. The article "Is Election 2012 the GOP's to lose? What Obama could do" really walks that fine line of political bias and offers a great overall picture of the obstacles Obama will be facing. First and foremost, it is a great read simply because it does not feel like the writer has an agenda. It is written in a very clear and unbiased manner as it really opens up the ways Obama could still win the election yet also shows that it will be a hard road and if he is not careful, the GOP could hit a home run without even trying. <br />
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In this article it shows how Obama is facing some tough issues that he needs to overcome (or explain away) in order to be re-elected. With a high unemployment rate and the debt crisis, Obama has the obstacle of trying to communicate that all the issues his office has faced were not all his fault. However, the author, Linda Feldman, points out that Obama does not have to convince everyone, but just enough people to win the election. The question is, can he? I highly suggest diving into this article as it really is a well written, easy read, with some great thoughts to ponder as we begin our election season.Nina Olivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375350145569250260noreply@blogger.com0