April 27, 2014

 Walter B. Jones, Anti-War Republican

Walter B. Jones

     Walter B. Jones, a Republican Congressman for North Carolina, criticized George Bush's foreign policy and sided with Democrats in attempts to withdraw troops from Iraq. Jones is strongly anti-war and has inspired anti-war groups to run campaign ads against Bush in the primary. He is a Ron Paul supporter, who people call the "anti-war libertarian icon") and is a part of the Institute for Peace and Prosperity. He has secretly written many letters to families whose relatives had been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in efforts to apologize for the tragedy. The Emergency Committee For Israel, a neoconservative, pro-Israel group, began to run ads against Jones, saying his ideas take away from the ideals of America. I think Jones has every right to voice his opinions on foreign policy. Backlash from the Emergency Committee For Israel is something to be expected due to skewed opinions and beliefs on this topic.

April 14, 2014

The John Doe

The Supreme Court has been asked by the governor, Scott Walker, to review the legality of the John Doe campaign finance between he and other groups of interest. The term, "John Doe," refers to the grand jury investigation, but it is held in front of a judge rather than a jury. Walker had coordinated with a few electoral groups such as WCFG (Wisconsin Club For Growth) and they had spent over $9 million just for the recall elections; some groups spent more. Other crimes Walker has experienced while in office is the embezzlement of money, campaign finance violations, and political corruption. This time, the dispute was over the interpretations of state campaign finance laws. In this case, the Supreme Court was conflicted. Two of the groups had contributed large sums of money to get four of the justices to their current positions. The court has not yet decided whether or not they will take this case. 

I believe that the Supreme Court should not take up this case. It has become too personal between the interest groups and the Court, and if they rule against these organizations, the organizations may stop funding the justices who they were already supporting. With this in mind, those justices may vote in favor of the organizations that fund them without actually believing in the cause. This situation is a tough one for the Supreme Court; it should not be the one to handle the case. 

CIA Cover Up

April 5, 2014

The symbol of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The CIA made an error of keeping the happenings of
their agency private from the rest of the government. 

The CIA Cover Up

Upon the discovery of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s torture program, many Congressional members were outraged. Feinstein, the Senate Intelligence Committee Chair, claims that what the CIA is doing is unconstitutional and it "never, never, never should have existed." The CIA thwarted the checks and balances system of the government in this way because in secrecy, the CIA has the power to do things without being prevented by other branches of government. It is evident the CIA is intent on hiding incriminating information that interests their opposition. The CIA is believed to have hacked into the computers to rid them of evidence against the bureaucracy.

The CIA is going to be in a lot of hot water for awhile. There will be more talk of the checks and balances system to assure that all parts of government follow the Constitution. Meanwhile, the Whistleblower Protection Act will keep federal employees protected from the CIA for reporting  them. Because the CIA had withheld and destroyed information of their "Detention and Interrogation Program," there are going to be many more in-depth searches of the CIA. 

March 20, 2014

Insurance for the Young

Dennis McDonough, a member of the House of Representatives, is trying to persuade younger people to buy health insurance for themselves. They must do it, though, before the deadline on March 31. Minorities, such as African Americans and Latinos along with millions of other different Americans are strongly being encouraged to invest in insurance for safety measures. It is very easy for a person to become injured-- injury cannot be foreseen, nor 

can it be prevented. Providing insurance to everyone would 

make the most sense. It could save individuals a lot of money. 

Of course, this is not an ideal world, but if it were, every 

person would have health insurance. 

House GOP Tax Plan

The House Republicans' tax code would decrease the income tax rate from 39.6% to 25%. In doing this, America's wealthiest homes would have to take on a surtax. On Wednesday, this information will be released through the print media. Taxes are not being dramatically altered; instead, the change is only slightly modified. If the wealthy were to be charged a surtax, this could lead to a less extreme form of communism. Just because the wealthy have acquired more money does not give the government the right to give them more taxes. 

February 16, 2014

 

Effects of the Government Shutdown

After the government shutdown that made the public turn against Congress and Republican House leaders, the roles of the Democrats and Republicans were reversed. In polls about Obamacare, Democrats won 50/42 back in October, but now Republicans had the upper hand at 49/44. Women prove to be more supportive of the Democratic candidates while men poll in favor of Republicans; this creates a gender gap between the two groups. In a poll conducted by Cable News Network (CNN), 75% of Americans think Congress does nothing to make changes and approximately 66% say it is the worst Congress ever to be experienced. The unemployment cuts are bad news for the entire economy, not just for those who are unemployed.

                                                  A Gun-Free Zone?

     The American government has promised to prevent mass shootings through gun control by limiting gun types and the number of guns that can be sold to buyers. As the article says, the type or number of guns that people have might not be the problem: it's about where these "gun-free" locations are available to criminals. A large majority of mass shootings (Virginia Tech, Delaware State University, Sandy Hook Connecticut, Aurora Colorado Shooting) have occurred in places that are "gun-free." People from these "gun-free" zones are concerned that signs showing that the area is gun-free leaves them vulnerable. 

Though guns are seen as a huge problem in today's time, it is the states' rights to decide whether or not to establish a system of gun control. In the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment clearly states, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms... shall not be infringed." The people should be able to defend themselves in order to prevent falling victim to a world of criminals.