Blog Response

This is a response to Are You a Citizen? Not Anymore! I don' t agree with this blogger. I feel that if laws are in place to determine what was and wasn't an act against the US, then the person should be stripped of his or her citizenship. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. There are few things people do in this crazy world that get me furious. However, aiding in or taking part in terrorist actions should have even harsher punishments than this bill. Do we still do death by stoning?! Just kidding, but lets not let criminals/terrorists get off easy!

Blog 4: Response to "A Killer Faces Families"

In the fox news blog, "A Killer Faces Families" by Adam Housley, he explains how recently in San Diego a man was being charged with the raping and death of two young girls. 14 year old Amber Dubois and 17 year old Chelsea King were both the victims with so much more life to live. But Gardner will have all his life to live, in prison. I think that the penalty should be worse. Death, or even torture for this individual would be the correct punishment. The author really plays on peoples emotions in this blog. He shows how tragic these killings were and how easy Gardner's getting away with this. I couldn't even be in the courtroom if I was a family member or a close friend. The worst part about this whole thing is Gardner was already a convicted sex offender and he was allowed to live close to the public schools in his neighborhood. I would like to see an add on to this blog Adam Housley wrote so I can find out if laws will be put into place to prevent things like this happening again.

Response to "Mary Jane Makes 13 States Merry"

I agree with Obama's decision on letting medical marijuana be up to the states, not the federal government. I am glad however, that it's only medicinally used and not civilian used marijuana. My mom actually suffers from Multiple Sclerosis so it would be beneficial for her to use it for medicinal purposes. However, I would not want to see my little brother using it for recreational purposes. If it is regulated and secure enough that it wont be given to the general public, I see nothing wrong with this decision by the Obama administration. We will see if it stays legal and beneficial in the near future! This link shows all the diseases it might help cure or alleviate! Here is the link for the original blog.

US National Government's Response to Gulf Oil Spill

I have been very interested and concerned over the recent ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana has been victim to natural disasters in the past few years with such incidents as Hurricane Katrina and now this oil spill. I think if you compare the two disasters, the Obama Administration is definitely more prevalent in the coordination of relief efforts than Bush was with Katrina. Although no human lives are at stake right now with this oil spill, Obama has sought to take all possible precautions to show he actually cares for our country and the environment. Obama deployed the National Response team which is made up of 16 federal institutions such as the Department of Defense, US Coast Guard and the Homeland Security. I feel that this concern Obama has for this dilemma in the coast will ensure the best and most efficient method for achieving success against fighting this oil spill. It gives me confidence in our government for taking care of us the right way.

Rate My President

I agree with you here when it comes to what we should rate our president. B + seems accurate since we have had some negative and some positive results so far. The national healthcare situation is scary and until it is put into place I will remain skeptical just like you. It is very hard to be in such a high position of power in the US and some have cracked under pressure. (Cough....George Bush) Hopefully he can go in depth to solve all the problems that are occuring. I would rather him work on one major issue thoroughly than to spread himself out to thin. The deficit problem is utterly ridiculous but if the stimulus plans were not issued we might have a different set of problems on our hands. Things to think about. There will always be a what if but all in all he seems like he's out to do the right thing for his country.

US National Government and the Census

There are many aspects and functions of the US National Government. A current and major role the National Government plays is having to deal with the Census of 2010. Ever since the start of this nation, our founding fathers suggested we take a tally of our ever growing population and where the demographics of the people live. Not only does it give an estimate of our overall size as a nation, it helps the national government decide how many seats in the House of Representatives each state gets. This is very important for Texas since this state has grown tremendously in the last decade. We should expect to see about three additional seats available in the House, which means more voting power in the electoral college during the presidential elections. Texas already holds the highest amount of seats at 38 members. This census also means more educational funding as well as many other improvements for our state. Another temporary, yet good thing is that the Census Bureau will be hiring thousands of people part time with decent pay to carry out all the tasks needed to make the census a success. Overall, there will be 1.2 million jobs nationwide held for this census, and it will cost the national government close to $11.1 billion dollars. Maybe I am biased to the census being a worthwhile national task because Texas will benefit greatly. I would be upset if I was in Ohio which is expecting to lose 2 seats for the upcoming 2012 presidential election. Hey at least its a fair determination to see who has more people. The largest population gets more percentage of voting.

Unemployment

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/opinion/23wed1.ready.html
The editorial, "Americans Without Work" is an interesting article discussing the jobs bill that was recently passed. This 157 billion dollar bill is intended to extend unemployment benefits and provide aid to state and local governments. The author's intended audience would be towards anyone that is unemployed or on shaky ground in their professional careers. I feel like the author could have used more citation to show where he got his facts and statistics. The author goes on to say(weakly) that he believes this bill will be a waste of money because too much deliberation would distract the government from efficiently implicating this bill. He also states that the only way the bill will work is if the government focuses on creating jobs.
I feel like this is not the issue with the bill. I feel that the whole problem is that thebill does not help to get people back to work. It helps people cope with being out of work. I believe that there is no such thing as a massive attempt to create jobs. If there is no money to be made, there is no job. If there is only a certain amount of business at a store, there is only a certain amount of employees. The only way unemployment will turn around drastically is if people use their money confidently.
The author also depressingly uses statistics to show that teens from ages 16-19 have trouble finding jobs. He is right that they do have trouble. However, it is not limited to just teenagers. Anybody (no matter what age) who does not have a specific skill or training will have a tough time finding work. People know the economy is bad and this leads to more employee competition. An employer is not going to hire or promote someone that can get the job done. They are going to hire or promote someone that is willing to do everything in their power for that job. I have seen it myself. 30 year old men working themselves to death just to make 10 dollars an hour. Times are hard and the only way to make it better is not by creating more jobs, but by creating more revenue and letting everything fall into place.