Health care discussion reflection

The class discussion was pretty informative and I now understand the issue a little bit better. Many good points were given in the discussion as to how it would help with the economy and how we would even begin to pay for it. One point that got me interested was if we were to start the health care reform, if people that make more such as celebrities should pay more, since you only need so much money. I still feel the health care reform won't fix the economy and it's still too risky to begin without fixing the economy first. If we have time to enforce and spend money on the health care reform, we should have have time to fix the economy. It's good to hear many of  my classmates also feel the same way and others that don't also made good points during the discussion.

Rahm Emmanuel will be able to run for mayor of Chicago.

Rahm Emmanuel was thrown of the Chicago mayoral ballot because in order to run for mayor, you must have resided there in the past year and not have moved recently. Emmanuel lived and grew up in Chicago but had to relocate to Washington to work with Obama to campaign. Emmanuel immediately repealed the decision to the Illinois supreme court. I think the rules should change because of this incident. Someone could want to run for a position for their home town but not have lived there for a while. Emanuel's name will now be on the ballot.

Bury, Chris, and Devin Dwyer. "Rahm Emanuel Can Run For Mayor in Chicago, Illinois Supreme Court Rules - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News, Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. Web. 29 Jan. 2011.

Google Image Result for Http://blog.prospect.org/blog/ezraklein/rahmstance.jpg." Google. Web. 29 Jan. 2011.

Obama Proposes Longer School Day, Shorter Summer Vacation

 

Obama proposed a while ago that he would like longer school days and shorter summer  vacations. The president also stated out how children in other countries, longer working weeks have always been a part of their school system. I absolutely agree that school weeks should be longer but to make such a sudden change could cause problems. Cultural differences play a huge part in this issue. For years other countries like Japan for example, have had longer weeks and a more strict school system. In the United States, schooling is encouraged but are not forced on students. I believe that every part of the world specializes in something better than others because of the way they have always but education first,so we should leave it to them. Not to say we shouldn't have a better educational system, which we absolutely do. If Obama would like to start having higher standards for students it would require less money to be cut from schools. Many countries see education as their number one priority which is why they put so much money aside for it.Of course, this sort of change won't happen any time soon, but this brings up another subject that the president may have mentioned many times before, which is how the United States needs to catch up and be better than other countries in as many things as possible including education. In conclusion, if we have time to make a universal health care plan happen because it is a really important subject shouldn't we focus on education more rather than cutting more and more money from the educational system ?

 US Political News - US Politics Today. Web. 27 Jan. 2011.

"FoxNews.com - Obama Proposes Longer School Day, Shorter Summer Vacation." FoxNews.com - Breaking News | Latest News | Current News. Web. 27 Jan. 2011.

Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address 9/25

 Obama's speech was as usual, very encouraging to get everyone back on their feet and not give up. Although his speech was very well thought out in my opinion, it was too general and most of it wasn't something we haven't heard before. Obama talked about how we need to move forward and try to be better,and also briefly mentioned the health care reform. Instead of talking about doing it and speaking about what will happen, I think it's about time we all agree on something to really take noticeable action. Time and time we've heard before, that change will be long and hard but we haven't even started to make a noticeable change. It's easy to say something will happen but it's another to make it happen. Now is the time to get a head start so we will get results sooner, and until we do that we'll just be having the same heated rhetoric in politics that is never ending and won't solve problems until we come to a consensus.

"YouTube - Watch President Obama's Full Speech at Tucson Memorial." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 26 Jan. 2011.

Applewhite, J. Scott. "Prepared Text of President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address | NOLA.com." New Orleans, LA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NOLA.com. Web. 26 Jan. 2011.

Jerry Brown makes budget cuts for state budget.

On January 3, 2011, Jerry Brown returned to office after being held in it from 1975 to 1983. He is California's oldest governor at the age of 72. Brown has a history of spending $140 million by his Republican challenger Meg Whitman. Recently, Brown has created an $84.6 billion general fund spending plan that will specifically effect welfare, medi-cal, UC and CSU systems,developmentally disabled, and the state bureaucracy directly. Brown says ," it will be painful, requiring sacrifice from every sector of the state, but we have no choice." This budget cut concerns me because it also effects my fathers job, since he works for the UC  system. This budget cut may help California in the long run but it is a risk and  undoubtedly will be "painful".

"Jerry Brown’s Budget Cuts Deep, Looks to Extend Tax Hikes, Reshapes Government| PolitiCal | Los Angeles Times." Top of the Ticket | Anticipating Obama's State of the Union as Edited for the New Civility | Los Angeles Times. Web. 25 Jan. 2011.

McCarton, Phil. "Jerry Brown." New York Times. 3 Jan. 2011. Web. 25 Jan. 2011.

Jared Loughner pleads not guilty in Arizona shooting

  Loughner faces charges, and more charges are still expected. It's said to be likely that he will face life or death in prison if his attorney does not use mental competency questions as a defense.I think that whatever does end up happening to Loughner, he will still be a criminal and is responsible for the lives he cut short so there should be large consequences for his actions.  The prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst estimated that within thirty days, they would know if any additional federal charges will be filed against Loughner.

Billeaud, Jacques. "Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Deadly Ariz. Shooting - Yahoo! News." The Top News Headlines on Current Events from Yahoo! News. Web. 24 Jan. 2011.

Drake, Bruce. "Could Jared Loughner's Trial Be Moved From Arizona? You Bet." Politics News, Elections Coverage, Political Analysis and Opinion. Web. 24 Jan. 2011.

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country."

John F. Kennedy's famous First Inaugural Address was given on this day in 1961. In his speech, Kennedy recognizes that anything will be done to assure the success of liberty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1PbQlVMp98&feature=player_embedded

                                          Hiroshima

                                           Nara

                                           Osaka

                                           Nagano

http://dennysfunnyquotes.blogspot.com/2010/03/44-funny-political-cartoon-strike-outs.html

In this political cartoon, symbolism is being used showing a donkey and an elephant (democrats and republicans). Both parties are being hurt by fighting over the health care reform and it isn't solving any problems.

On Saturday, a horrific event occurred that left six people dead, an Arizona Congresswoman fighting for her life, and has developed into a political assassination. Currently, Repbulicans and Democrats are using this tragedy to perhaps point fingers and assign blame. Do you think that the inflammatory political rhetoric between Republicans and Democrats on issues such as immigration, health care, and the economy should be toned down?

I don't think that it is necessary for people to point fingers at each other, especially after this incident. What happened was a completely senseless and irrational act and there is no proof of the person that started the shooting being on any sides.However, whether it was out of insanity or it was planned, when it involves actual humans getting hurt, I think the rhetoric between both Democratic and Republicans should tone down what they are saying. Although we are all humans and people will say things without anything to back up their opinion, people need to learn when they went too far.For example, Fred Phelps is trying to make a statement by starting a strike in front of a funeral, and why? I believe that it is not only disrespectful but a girls life was lost.There are many issues that can be linked to this. For example, the enforcement of guns and all this publicity is a huge reason to why people do the things they do, because it gets their word out. When I see political debates, people obviously do not always agree with each other, but to say things that become out of proportion will only make them feel better but not solve anything. If people would only know when to tone things down and respect each others opinions when they should there would be less situations that lead to people doing irrational things. I think that if they keep this up, it will not solve anything and eventually lead to more problems in the future.


Hoft, Jim. "Westboro Cult Plans to Protest 9 Year-Old Victim’s Funeral | The Gateway Pundit." The Gateway Pundit | Where Hope Made a Comeback. 9 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Jan. 2011.

"2011 Tucson Shooting." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Unknown, 13 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting