"Children are one third of our population and all of our future."
-Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health

Friday, December 31, 2010

Governors Preparing to Leave

Over the nest few weeks, a number of prominent governors will be stepping down due to being defeated in election, reaching their term limits, pursuing a different career, or leaving politics because of a scandal. Some of these governors include Schwarzenegger from California, Crist of Florida, Richardson of New Mexico, and Paterson of New York. Some of the governors are leaving office as early as tomorrow. It's out with the old and in with the new for a lot of states as we head into the new year, and we'll have to see how, and if, this changes state policies.

Well-known governors prepare to leave office

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Bill Clinton Butts Into Chicago Mayoral Race

Bill Clinton decided to put his support behind ex-Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for the Chicago mayoral face. Democratic Representative Danny Davis, a former supporter of Clinton, told the former president to leave the race alone. Davis is an African-American and said that Clinton would fracture his relationship with the entire black community of Chicago should he decide to continue to push for the other candidate. While I agree that Clinton has no place in supporting one candidate over another in Chicago's mayoral race, I also don't see why Davis had to bring race into the argument. Clinton shouldn't be supporting anybody for this campaign regardless of race, but I don't think the former president took race into consideration when choosing to support Emanuel. It was inconsiderate and pretty egotistic of Clinton to insert himself into this campaign, but pretty ignorant on Davis' part to even mention race.

Dem warns Bill Clinton: Back off

Monday, December 27, 2010

Politics Year in Review

First I'd just like to start out by apologizing for my sparse posting the past two weeks. I had finals to finish up the semester and then enjoyed the holiday without getting online much. But anyway, things are starting to return back to normal and so will my posting.

Anyway, since Christmas is over and now we're looking forward to the New Year, I found this year in review video on CNN and thought it was pretty interesting. They don't bring up the obvious stuff, but some of the funnier stuff you might have forgotten about. Check it out.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2010/12/23/jk.no.ordinary.year.cnn

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas!

I have nothing to really say today besides enjoy your holiday and have a great day!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Oprah Discusses Palin

Oprah Winfrey discussed Sarah Palin and Palin's chances at running for the presidency in 2012 during an interview with Parade magazine. When asked if Palin running for office scared Winfrey, she responded, "It does not scare me because I believe in the intelligence of the American public." These are harsh words, but I think they needed to be said. Palin can ramble on all she wants in front of a camera on a reality show, but please don't run for office. I'm glad someone with as much influence as Oprah spoke out because people need to realize we can't have her leading our nation.

Oprah talks Palin, 2012

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Census Results Out

Remember several months ago when the U.S. Census was all over everything and people were coming to your doorstep for information? Well the results of that census have been released, and it's good news for the South and West, but not so good for New England. You probably know that the number of representatives a state has in the House depends on their population, and the census determines each state's population and thus each state's representation in the House. Because New England lost people, its power in the House will be weaker than previous years and the South and West will be stronger. This is bad for Democrats, since New England is traditionally liberal, and good for Republicans, since the South and West are traditionally conservative. We'll have to wait and see how this affects the voting power of the Republicans verse the Democrats.

Census results: Red states make gains

Monday, December 20, 2010

Feedback Time

Okay guys I made some changes to the design of the blog, as you can see. What do you think? I just want to know how I can make this blog better for everyone that reads it. I link a lot to CNN and Yahoo, do you trust the reliability of those sites, or would you like me to use others? I'd just like any advice or comments you have to give, I'm open to any feedback.

Senate Weekend Recap

Alright I've touched a little bit on what the Senate was up to this weekend, but let's give a full recap. First of all, they repealed the 'don't ask, don't tell' law, which, as I mentioned earlier, I felt needed to be reversed. The Senate also worked on the START Treaty, a treaty with Russia that would limit both nations' number of nuclear weapons and leave both nations liable for inspection. The Senate failed to pass the DREAM bill, which was discussed in the post before this. They also went on to work on issues like food safety, government spending, and the health care of 9/11 responders, which you can read about in the article I'm linking. I'm pleased with the production of the Senate and I agree with most of the decisions they made, except for the food safety bill. This bill was supposed to increase government inspections of food, which, as anti-Capitalism as it is, does keep people safe. Instead, because of a legislative technicality, the bill will likely fail, which I'm pretty disappointed about.

What happened in the Senate this weekend

Saturday, December 18, 2010

DREAM Act Fails in Senate

First of all, I'd just like to give an update on my last post: the 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal was passed by the Senate and will be signed into law by the president this week. Alright, now something I haven't really talked about is the DREAM Act, a bill that offers citizenship to some illegal aliens that entered the U.S. as children. The bill failed in the Senate by five votes. It passed in the House but, unlike the 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal, failed in the Senate. Most Democrats, including the president, are fans of this legislation and are going to continue to push for it. I can see both sides of the issue. On one side, the legislation supports illegal immigration which is, well, illegal. But, I can also see why some officials would want to offer those who are genuinely trying to better themselves but can't because of their illegal status citizenship. I think in the end though, it's good this didn't pass. There are legal ways of becoming a naturalized citizen, so I don't think a bill like this, that promotes the notion that this country isn't concerned about border patrol, is appropriate.

Procedural vote on DREAM Act fails in Senate

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repealed in House

The infamous "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays and lesbians openly serving in the military has been overturned by the House today. It will now to go the Senate to be voted on. Personally I hope the ban is overturned. I'm not a huge fan of being homosexual, but banning any group from joining the military is blatant discrimination. If anyone wants to serve, I say let them serve. Conservative Republicans are fighting the repeal, however. I think the funniest quote in this article is, "The United States military is not the YMCA. It's something special, and this is a liberal crusade to create a utopia." Republican Representative Duncan Hunter from California said that and, honestly, I'm disappointed. Ending discrimination is not a "crusade to create a utopia" and having homosexuals in the military doesn't take anything away from the prestige of the United States military. Last time I checked we needed all the support we could get in Afghanistan. However, the article did mention a recent Pentagon study that showed discontent from the Army and Marines if the ban were to be lifted, and I think we do have to take the feelings of the current soldiers into account. So I don't know, it is a tough situation if other soldiers are going to have a hard time doing their jobs with homosexuals, but I think in the end it's time for us to progress as a society and begin to accept the value of all people, even if you don't accept their lifestyle.

House passes 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A Quick Apology

Sorry again for not posting, it's finals week and I've been pretty busy. Anyway, I really don't have time right now to post much, and I apologize, but I leave you with this.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-13-2010/lame-as-f--k-congress

Sunday, December 12, 2010

CNN Readers Criticize Obama

First of all I'd like to apologize for not posting in a few days. I've been sick with a pretty nasty cold, and I just wasn't able to post anything. Alright, so you may have heard of this tax cut compromise President Obama is making with Republicans. Well readers at CNN, both Democrat and Republican, are angry at him for compromising. None of these readers seem to have any legitimate reason why they're mad though; one says because he's siding with the Republicans, others say because he has bad negotiating skills, and others say now he appears weak. Basically these people sound like everything that's wrong with politics: people are too divided by party lines and refuse to compromise. I'm happy with the fact that the president and his opposing party are open to working together, but these people stand on their platform of weak excuses and express their disgust with compromise.

Readers bash Obama over tax cut extension deal

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

WikiLeaks and Students

You're probably aware of the leaked documents released by WikiLeaks over the past couple weeks. The federal government is pretty upset about these leaks, so upset in fact that it has threatened to fire any government employee that reads or distribues the documents. The question now is how does this affect students hoping to get a job with the federal government? Well right now it's unclear, but if you're hoping to be a government employee I would recommend that you stay away from the site altogether. Schools like Boston University, Columbia University, and Georgetown University have sent out emails to students warning them not to comment on or post links to any leaked documents. It's safe to just steer clear of the site, since it could come back to bite you when trying to acquire a job with a security clearance. Really it's important for teens to be cautious about anything they view, post, or join online. I definitely wouldn't be linking leaked documents, though, since that makes you a future threat of being a risk with sensitive material in the government's eyes.

Will reading WikiLeaks cost students jobs with the federal government?

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Elizabeth Edwards Dies At 61

Elizabeth Edwards, estranged husband of John Edwards, died today at 61 after a long battle with cancer. Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. The cancer went into remission until 2007. It's been a tough few years for Edwards and, although not a big fan of her husband, this is sad news. John Edwards was a real scumbag to her and yet she was always able to stay classy and strong in the spotlight. I wish the best for her family and children.

Elizabeth Edwards, 61, dies after long struggle with cancer

Monday, December 6, 2010

Modern President Popularity Announced

A new Gallup poll announced the popularity of the previous nine presidents this nation has had. Kennedy ranked first with an 85 percent retrospective approval rating. Ronald Reagan came in second with 74 percent, with Bill Clinton rounding out the top three. Carter was third in the last poll, but is now sixth, possibly due to his criticism of George W. Bush and the Iraq War. Richard Nixon came in last with George W. Bush just ahead of him; making them the only two of the presidents with a retrospective approval rating less than 50 percent. It's still early to tell with Bush, however, since his approval rating is actually on the rise since he left office. The poll actually indicated that most of the presidents approval rating has gotten better over time, a sign that people seem to look back on past events with a more positive light than they may have looked at it during the present. That's true with nearly all events in our lives; we tend to remember the good things in life and downplay the bad things as they get further and further away from us. I found this poll pretty interesting, although nothing really surprised me in the results.

Kennedy remains most popular modern president

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Man Pardoned for Cutting Pennies

The article I'm linking is actually a pretty amusing one. It's the story of a former Marine named Ronald Foster who would cut pennies in 1963 to be the size of dimes so the vending macines at his camp would accept them. The Secret Service found out about it, and he was given a felony conviction, which he just found out about in 2005 when he tried to get a gun permit. Foster requested a presidential pardon and got it, so his record is now wiped clean. I was reading some of the comments of the article, and some people are really upset that a criminal got off easy, but c'mon. It's not like presidential pardons are uncommon, and I think it's safe to say he gave way more to his country being a Marine then he took away by stealing 25 cents here and there.

Nicke-and-dime crime one of nine to get presidential pardon

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Rangel Censured

Remember the post on Charlie Rangel a couple weeks back? Well he's back in the news again facing the punishment for the crimes I mentioned earlier. The House is censuring him and I'm satisfied with the punishment. Rangel and some other members of Congress feel the punishment is too severe but I feel like he's lucky he didn't get expelled. Holding a public office means accepting a lot of responsibility and if you're too immature to abide by the laws you certainly don't deserve to hold one. I wish he would have gotten expelled as an example to others that absolutely no misconduct will be tolerated. Censure is really only a formal humiliation of someone and has very little long term consequences, so he'll get over it and move on to being the exact same person he was. Sure his offenses were minor but shouldn't Congressmen have no offenses against them whatsoever, and shouldn't they be the example of a perfect citizen? I'm glad he received a punishment, but, although I'm sure many disagree with me, I value public offices too much to be able to tolerate criminals holding one, no matter how minor their offenses or how respected they were before breaking the law.

House censures Rangel

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

My Take On Korea Situation

As you can see, over the past few days I've been writing mostly on the situation in Korea that's been talked about so much recently. Well I read the article below a couple days ago and, based on this and my other knowledge of the situation, I have reason to hope this will all blow over. Of course, I'm certainly no genius and I still have a lot to learn about international affairs, but it seems that without China, North Korea will be forced to back down. China is fed up with North Korea's childlike actions like the rest of the world is, and without their support the DPRK has the entire world against them. China needs the rest of the world, especially the U.S., for the health of its economy and supporting North Korea means losing those international relations and global trade the country needs to stay booming. It would not be in the best interest of China to support North Korea, and North Korea certainly isn't equipped to enter into a war on its own. So, I think this will turn out relatively nonviolently and North Korea will be forced to back down. You never know though, since Kim Jong-il and son have been known to act irrationally and aggressively.

Wikileaks cables reveal China 'ready to abandon North Korea'