Opinions on "The School System Needs an Overhaul"

In "The School System Needs an Overhaul" I believe that attaching money to each student is a great idea. This forces schools to preform better. Better preforming school means more students which means more money for a school. With that money school could spend it on (but is not limited to) new computers or new books. Poorer performing schools will lose students because parents will want to send their children to good schools. Financially poor schools that are willing to improve their curriculum or already have a good curriculum will have an opportunity to draw in more students and money which will help these schools improve even more.

Where's the food!?

Every night I have a bowl of rice for dinner. Almost every night for the past nineteen years I have had a bowl of rice for dinner. I take it for granted since I see it every night, but a few weeks ago after hearing a report on the radio about a rice shortage I was stunned. Countries in Asia that export rice like Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines barely have enough to support their own populations. People are hording rice and waiting to sell it when the demand is so high that they can set their own price. The Philippines’ Government is even sending teams of police to track down and bust people who hoard rice because it is so scarce. What surprised me even more was a report that Japan is having food shortages. A well developed nation that doesn’t have enough butter or corn for it population; a world superpower having a food shortage? Impossible- but it’s happening.

How does this world food shortage affect Americans? Right now the food shortage is hardly noticeable since most of us have food on our tables every night, but people are pointing fingers at the government; particularly at subsidies that the government gives to farmers. According to Justin Norrie’s “Japan's hunger becomes a dire warning for other nations” the Japanese are running short on certain food items. Since Japan relies on food exports on other nations, a drop in an exporter’s production could hurt the importers like the Japanese.

This is where subsidies come in. Since energy prices are so high the United States government is making a push to subsidize corn for ethanol- a component of biofuel. This investment in ethanol makes fuel cheaper but reduces the amount of farmers that produce food for eating. Farmers like these subsidies because they are getting more money out of the subsidies then growing wheat or food grade corn. More farmers are planting corn for ethanol instead of corn for the supermarket because they are making more money planning corn for ethanol. This affects the world because the United States exports food to other nations. If more farmers in the United States are planting crops for ethanol then what is happening to the amount of crops the United States is exporting? What is happening to countries that import food and products that rely on exporting countries?

I believe the market should dictate what should made or planted and that the government should do its best to stay out of the market. The food shortages that are occurring in Asia are good examples of how the Untied States government can affect other economies. So in the best interests of the human stomach government should stay out of the market.

Comments on Never Ending Politics' "War in Iraq"

Comments on Never Ending Politics' "War In Iraq"
http://amberjeane.blogspot.com/2008/03/war-in-iraq.html

I also believe that the War In Iraq should come to an end- just not an immediate end. I believe the United States should stay in Iraq long enough to stabilize the government, to strengthen their security forces, and to improve their infrastructure and economy. If Iraq is strong enough to support their own military and have a means of supporting it (through its economy and infrastructure) the United States would be able to withdraw more of their troops with less worry of instability in Iraq because a stronger Iraqi military would be able to fend for itself.

If we started withdrawing our troops now, what would we do about insurgent groups? Who will deal with them? The Iraqi military in its current state might not be strong enough to handle these groups. What if insurgent groups decided to attack US military forces while we would be withdrawing? I think we would be more vulnerable because we are pulling out our resources; how can our army fight effectively if it doesn't have enough resources it needs to fight? It is possible that the United States might lose more troops due to an immediate withdrawal due to a possible increase in insurgency and lower resource levels compared to the casualties levels now.

You mention wasting money. The defense industry is part of the economy that the United States spends a lot of money on. Many of the bullets, aircraft, guns, boats, cars, trucks etc. the United States Military using are manufactured in the United States by American companies. So most of this money that is being poured down the drain is being used on American companies.

The issue of staying in or withdrawing from Iraq is a difficult decision to be made for our interests and the interests of others. Hopefully we can pull our troops out and have a stable Iraq.

Where is my money?

The Social Security Act, passed in 1935, was part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal to help bring the United States out of depression. Social Security was created to give citizens something to lean on in old age and unemployment. Social Security has annually brought in a surplus in from paychecks, which the government “borrows” and promises to pay back through bonds plus interest. Many retires will be drawing from Social Security; this massive strain on the system could reduce benefits and raise Social Security taxes for future generations. Congress needs to come up with a plan to counter this problem before it gets worse.

Right now many baby-boomers are and will be retiring. Large amounts of money will be distributed to these retires who no longer need to pay into the system. This means less money for future retirees because there are less people paying into the system then there are drawing from it. In fifty to seventy years from now when people today are retiring there will be an even larger amount of people retiring then there are now; and there will be less money for everyone with less people paying into the system.

The government might try to compensate for reduced coverage by raising Social Security Taxes. Current Social Security taxes are at 12.4 % for paychecks under $102,000, according to Jeanne Sahadi’s article “Paulson: Social Security fix needed,” if this problem is not dealt with in the next seventy-five years rates could be raised to 14.4%, for future retirees to receive 100% of their benefits. One-hundred percent coverage would be preferred by many citizens but not at the expense of their paychecks. Congress needs to decide now on how to deal with this problem.

How should Congress support future retirees? People don’t like taxes so why raise them? Why not let the people decide what the government does with their Social Security money instead of letting the government “borrow” it? Or-- the taxes could be eliminated entirely so that citizens may invest in their own money-- or have someone invest it for them.

The Race between McCain and Huckabee

Compared to the Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama the Republican race between John McCain and Mike Huckabee is more clear cut. Senator McCain has what looks like a solid lead over Huckabee; who stands little chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination.

For many conservative republicans John McCain is not “conservative” enough. He has voted in favor of Democrats several times and has gone against the ideological grain of the Republican Party. In Curt Smith’s commentary “Smith: Huckabee is just the man for Texas,” Smith believes that Huckabee is conservative enough for Texans. He believes that Hackabee still stands a chance to win the presidential nomination and that Texas could be his victory.

Senator McCain was “born to privilege,” Smith claims that this is hurts McCain politically. Huckabee has a better appeal to farmers, small business men, and blue-collar workers because of his humble blue collar beginnings. Huckabee also appeals to conservatives because he holds a large amount of support from evangelical Christians. Smith believes that this helped Huckabee win several Southern states and believes that Texas holds the same conservative qualities that the other Southern states have, which will allow Huckabee to win Texas.

Conservatives don’t like McCain because he believes in an easy path to citizenship for immigrants, lacks support for tax cuts, and how he is strictly against Guantanamo Bay. However, he has “crossed the isle” and worked with Democrats to help reach a consensus on many bills; for this he is disliked by many conservatives. He also has the support of many conservative figures like Arnold Schwarzenegger and George H. W. Bush.

Compared to the Democratic presidential nomination, the Republican presidential race seems more civil. Both republican candidates are campaigning minding their own business. While the Democrats are fighting and mudslinging, Mike Huckabee appeals more to the conservatives, while John McCain appeals to the bipartisan/moderate group. With Huckabee's more evangelical and conservative views, he might stand a chance at winning Texas.

Bush's Role in McCain's Campaign

Elisabeth Bumiller describes how Senator John McCain does not want a strong presence by President Bush in the article “McCain Facing Delicate Choice: A Role for Bush.” The article discusses when to use President Bush to the greatest effect and how the President will affect the opinions of voters that McCain is appealing to.

Senator McCain wants to be able to campaign with little help from the President. He faces the difficult task using the President to appeal to conservatives while not alienating the independents and moderates. He does not want the President’s currently low approval rating to hurt his relatively high approval rating. Instead of a constant presence at McCain’s side Bush will be fund raising, mainly at dinners, bringing money into the Republican Party. The President’s endorsement, support and lack of it in the past have helped or hurt Presidential candidates. When Al Gore ran for President many Democrats wanted Gore to use more of President Clinton’s support. The Democrats want to promote the use image of Bush against McCain by making it make it appear that Bush is actually running for another term by using McCain as a puppet.

The use of the President to appeal to the people is a delicate situation. The overuse of a President with low approval ratings would hurt a candidate's campaign. President Bush is not popular with many people because they do not agree with his opinions and actions in Iraq, a slowing economy, immigration, social security, health care, global warming etc. Even though he may not be responsible for several issues people like to pin the bad times on the President. However, McCain can still use President Bush to his advantage to help bolster his conservative credentials and gain money for his party.

"McCain Facing Delicate Choice: A Role for Bush"

Border Security (Stage II)

In "Bush's border security plans draw praise, complaints" Richard S. Dunham discusses the opinions of several Congress men and women who support or disapprove of President Bush's budget increase proposals for United States border security. Bush's increases in funding to border security might go to: fencing, surveillance technology, detention facilities, personnel, and electronic employee verification programs. Several Congress men and women believe that the increased amount of money towards border security is good; others believe border security is not being seriously considered by the government- a few even believe what Bush is doing is not enough. Dunham's article on the President's border security proposals allow readers to know what the President believes is right for border security, what Congress men and women think about the President's plan and how much money could go into border security improvements.
"Bush's border security plans draw praise, complaints"