Republican Rubio

      The "hats in the ring" so far for the 2016 presidential campaign are Ted Cruz (R), Hillary Clinton (D). Rand Paul (R), and now Marco Rubio (R). Marco Rubio at age 43 is the youngest candidate to declare yet this year. Rubio says that it is time for his generation to take charge of America. Another big part of Rubio's opening statement is the story of his parents, runaway Cubans seeking the American dream. The article about Rubio's declaration was written by Manuel Bojorquez and can be found at the following link: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/marco-rubio-enters-2016-race-as-youngest-presidential-candidate/.
       Rubio seems to already be strategizing for his election, as a Minority story he will relate to many democrat minority voters, this appeal as well as the Republican party will increase his chances to become president. As long as he upholds Republican values and appeals to many minority bases, this crazy "kid" could have a shot.

Fear of Big Brother

A 2013 Gallup poll reveals that the American people have very little faith in their federal government. The poll shows that 72 percent of the American people view the federal government as a bigger threat to the future of the country than big business or big labor. The skepticism of big government has been on a constant rise in America since the development of such concerns 70 years ago.


This poll accurately displays the possibility of a "Big Brother" government that was illustrated in George Orwell's novel "1984". 72 percent of Americans fear government action to suppress its citizens in a totalitarian government. I certainly think that an essential right for the people to have is the right to bear arms simply because they could respond to such government actions with force and reinstate the liberties of the Constitution. I am sure that the recent discussion of outlawing guns in America increased the skepticism of many Americans.

Clint Eastwood surpassed the challenge

     The new film "American Sniper" directed by Clint Eastwood became the highest grossing US film of 2014. Eastwood kept the budget for the film under $60 million and the film made $337.4 million as of last week. Steven Spielberg was originally asked to head the project of telling Chris Kyle's story, but he declined the offer because the budget was too small. This film was released Christmas day of 2014 and is reported to have peaked last week, the first week of March 2015; that is three months of profit! This film stole the hearts of Americans and I am sure Spielberg wishes that he could have been a part of the story.
     It does not surprise me that this film attracted such a large crowd. Many  Americans, including myself, did not know of Chris Kyle's story before the film was made. Each viewer was able to see Kyle's mindset as a soldier as well as his call to help those he could. Eastwood portrayed Kyle's story as it should've been told. He was a man who was not fulfilled unless he was assuring the safety of as many Americans as possible. Chris Kyle was an unselfish soldier, and his story left my theater speechless.

The Right to Bear Arms

      Minnesota State legislature is now in session and on their agenda is the bill SF684 which will allow citizens of Minnesota carry a firearm without a permit. This article starts by saying that the majority public of Minnesota support the bill. Then the article goes on to prove why they have such support. The author alludes to British control of the colonies when they tried to suppress the colonists' right to own and bear weapons. The author also alludes to Adolf Hitler administering gun control amongst his citizens before WWII and the Holocaust. Then the author provides a fun-fact sheet on the "good of guns". Nearly 100,000 U.S. citizens reported that they defended themselves against a criminal action, and 11,000 criminals used guns to commit their crimes per year.
     The facts that the author provided definitely make it apparent that there are more citizens in America that plan to use guns for safety and protection rather than harm and personal gain. Personally I share the belief that public ownership of guns is necessary in a free society for protection against a totalitarian government, revolt must always be an option! Although we all would like to see the 11,000 gun related crimes reduced to zero; this bill is necessary to preserve the American people's right listed as the second amendment to our Constitution.

Article summarized and analyzed is found at :http://www.examiner.com/article/minnesota-constitutional-carry-bill-has-been-introduced-to-state-legislature

Small Business Change

     Andrew Soergel wrote that the National Employment Report and Intuit’s Small Business Employment and Revenue Indexes released that small businesses are hiring at  lower rate than last year. Nearly 37,000 less jobs were created in January than in December; however, these reports also show that employees are being paid more in small businesses.
     These reports indicate a change in our small business economy that can be viewed as its cheers and jeers. If less people are able to find jobs, the unemployment rate will increase. On the contrary, if more people are being paid more, they will have the ability to invest their money in the stock exchange to help boost our economy.

Link: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/04/small-business-job-growth-slows-but-hours-earnings-up?int=a14709

Our Supreme Court Keeps Pluggin Along For Justice

     Jess Bravin writes at the below link about how the Supreme Court is intervening in Oklahoma to hear the voice of three convicted murderers. These three prisoners have been sentenced to death by injection of midazolam-- a controversial drug ever since the "bungled execution of Clayton Lockett last April". Mr. Lockett suddenly awoke 43 minutes after injection and died of what appeared to be extremely painful heart attack. The three convicts are challenging that this lethal injection should be banned as a cruel and unusual punishment under the United States Constitution. The supreme court has suspended the death date of the three inmates until the issue is resolved.
     It seems to be an extraordinary thing to be an American for your voice can always be heard. The supreme court stands for justice and recognizes the humanity of even murderous humans. They stand by the Constitution to this day and recognize the human right of every American citizen. Although I personally think the death penalty is an inhumane thing in general, the fact that they recognize making it as humane-as-possible means something. This incident reaffirms my faith in our Supreme Court and our Constitution.

The Article is found at the following link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-halts-oklahoma-executions-before-inmates-case-is-heard-1422475576?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_news

Obama Pro Choice

      Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the impacting decision of the supreme court in 1973 which ruled in favor of abortion and legalized it. President Obama took the chance to explain how vital this decision was to ensure the rights of women to make choices about their own body. He stated that the supreme court ruled justly for it is not the federal government's duty to intervene in private family matters. He also states that he will veto the newly passed bill in Congress that would stop federal funding of abortions. The president finally stated that he is committed to reducing the need for abortions by trying to stop unintended pregnancies and promote adoption.
    President Obama believes that a fetus is not in fact a human being and the only affected person is the involved mother; this is simply a matter of opinion it seems in today's society. Personally I believe that at conception a human being is conceived, not simply a fetus, so the act of abortion will not terminate the life of a fetus but also will terminate the life of a person. I agree that it is not the federal government's duty to intervene on private family matters, but we as humans have a moral duty to respect life, because it's pretty cool. Obama should provide tax cuts to those who choose to put their child up for adoption and for those who decide to adopt a child if he is so committed to reducing the need for abortions.

link to see all the president's quotes about the above topic: http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2015/01/22/obama-roe-vs-wade-supreme-court-abortion-rights-house-gop/22173457/

Environmental and Public Works Disapproves of Keystone Pipeline

    Chairperson Senator Barbara Boxer states her extreme disapproval of the Keystone yesterday. She said that the pipeline will not benefit our country; instead it will mainly benefit Canada. Also she thinks it to be outrageous that a country coming out of a recession would consider approving of an expensive project that will only create 35 permanent jobs. There is also concern for the environment and the health of the American people as the tar sands flowing through the pipeline will pollute the air and cause asthma and carbon dioxide pollution. She promotes the highway bill for it will create millions of jobs and help boost our economy.
     The statement Senator Boxer released did not go into much detail, but she, as the head of the Environmental Committee, should know her stuff. It seemed that she had absolutely nothing positive to say about the keystone pipeline and it makes me doubt that it will be a good cause for our country. I side with Senator Boxer when she says the highway bill should be promoted if it will truly create millions of jobs.
      The link to Senator Boxer's statement is below:
http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Majority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=8fbf41ec-00e8-f685-17d5-965a3588bb3c

Sarah Palin Rips on the Budget Bill

Sarah Palin stated her opinion on the $1.1 trillion dollar budget bill passing a majority republican congress. She stated her shock that the bill passed as it included the new immigration amnesty in its budget. She stated, “The Republican leadership in the House just flipped American voters the bird by sidelining the new Congress we just elected.” She goes on to state her shellshock and simply hopes that the Republican voters receive extreme backlash by their constituents.


Former-Governor has ever reason to be disappointed in Republican Congressmen as this highly aggressive bill is so disapproved by many states. I agree that this bill seems to only make our future more bleak with ludicrous spending. I hope some sort of alternative is addressed for the sake of our economy. I don't understand how something so disapproved of was not compromised to more of an agreement.


Sarah Palin did a great job speaking her mind openly.


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/12/sarah-palin-on-budget-gop-chiefs-flipped-american-/#ixzz3Lij92W00
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Louis Head was head figure in Ferguson riot

     Louis Head, the step-father of Michael Brown, is being investigated on the charge of inciting a riot. Michael Brown died when shot six times by officer Darren Wilson; Brown was unarmed. The riot that Louis Head may have provoked took place November 24th nearly two weeks after his step-son was killed. Riots have been taking place in Ferguson, Mo. after this Brown's death and many have been violent. More riots took place after Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted by a grand jury. Louis Head formally apologized for his actions of encouraging a riot stating that he let his emotions get the best of him and he was in the heat of the moment. he continues to say "to place blame solely on me for the conditions of our community, and country, after the grand jury decision goes way too far and is as wrong as the decision itself. To declare a state of emergency and send a message of war, and not peace, before a grand jury decision was announced is also wrong." The riots in Ferguson are to protest an injustice that has occurred and Head states that rioting does not truly represent their task well.
     I believe that the people in Ferguson responded to the Michael Brown tragedy in a way that is not as effective as it should've been. Many riots are extremely violent and many more people are being hurt than just the Brown/Head family. However, I think that a great injustice has occurred and some sort of motion should be put in place because any citizen who is unarmed or has not acted to threaten the life of an officer cannot be robbed of his right to live. The action of Darren Wilson was extremely unjust and disproportion to any threat Michael Brown could have made that it is ludicrous that he was not indicted. The people in Ferguson want to assure that no injustice could happen again, but I am afraid that that message is too difficult to receive when they are responding violently and only hurting others unjustly.

The 14th Amendment Will Help Gay Marriage

     Adrienne Morris states her opinion on gay marriage and how the 14th Amendment is the means for the ratification of legal gay marrriage. She starts by proving that homosexuals are discriminated against to a point that they are denied their right to marriage. Then she states that this discrimination takes place due to the majority opposition. It is implied that the 14th Amendment was put into place to protect such a scenario: the rights of citizens cannot be limited out of discrimination and opposition.

     It is my personal belief that sexual orientation is not determinned to be a factor of discrimination in the constitution for the founding fathers were not concerned of the such. I do not think that gay marriage should be legalized in America, and I, personally, do not think that it is supported in the 14th amendment.

The article by Adrienne Morris is found at the following link:http://www.heraldextra.com/news/opinion/mailbag/gay-marriage-and-the-th-amendment/article_997a96b9-f7b9-5aae-82f6-9146fb29e079.html

Tillis Wins the Race

     This blog is a response to my earlier blog reporting the outrageous cost of the North Carolina senate race. The race totaled 81 million in outside funders and Tillis came out on top. Each of the 114,000 TV ads was vital to his victory as he only trumped his opponent, Hagan, 48.95 percent to 47.14 percent. He won by 125, 000 North Carolina voters. The victory gave majority Republicans to the senate and marks one of the quickest rise in politics for Tillis, as he was a simple town commissioner just eight years ago.
     I think that it is inevitable for a race so highly advertised to be so close; I am frankly surprised that more voters just decided to vote for the independent candidate out of annoyance of advertisements.


The information above was taken from the following link: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/us-senate-tillis-defeats-hagan-as-gop-reclaims-senate/ar-BBd58Xg?ansObserver11

SD looking normal

     Many have been speculating about the probability of a non-republican senator being elected into the South Dakota senate, which does not happen often as South Dakota is largely Republican. However the article found at the following link: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/sd/south_dakota_ senate_rounds_vs_weiland-4091.html puts all of these claims to rest. The article provides that the race is between three main candidates: Rounds, Weiland and Pressler. This means that the likely winner will only need roughly 40% of the votes. The poles listed on the site state that Mike Rounds has won the hearts of 42% of Americans as of October 26th.
    I do agree with the conservatives strategies of Republicans, so if Mike Rounds truly supports these ideals I definitely hope that the information of this site is accurate.

A Big Budget

     The article by Mark Trumbull provides a shocking statistic for its readers. Kay Hagan and Thom Tillis have been on pace to spend over 100 million dollars in ad campaigns to win the hearts of North Carolina. This would be the most expensive race in senate history. The candidates have already spent 11 million dollars themselves and 70 million has been spent by their sponsors. They are already approaching the previous North Carolina record of 77.3 million set by Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren.


    The race is neck-in-neck therefore the candidates view the ludicrous ad campaigning as necessary. They are spending  the ads in order to inform the citizens of the faults of their running mates and their own accomplishments.


    I can only hope that the ads produced by these sponsorships and spending contain true information.


All of the above information is found at the following link:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2014/1021/North-Carolina-on-track-to-have-costliest-Senate-race-ever

Who Are We to Judge?

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/14/world/vatican-backtrack-gays/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

      The Vatican recently published a statement which enticed a positive outlook on homosexuals. The statement made was that "Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community. Are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?" This statement is not an official declaration, but the concept of the statement is highly controversial in the Church and is being debated by many officials. Many conservative Catholics view the statement to lack solid foundation in Sacred Scripture. However, Pope Francis continues to truly mimmick the life of Christ by being an example of a simpithizer to sinners when he states "Who am I to judge?"
    The world responds to this story in a variety of ways. Some will view the Vatican as falling to the values of a secular world. Many liberals support the statement of the Vatican to recognize the Homosexual community, but most will come to recognize the Vatican showing interest in caring for the oppressed.
   I believe that the Vatican will continue to clarify on this topic until the conclusion will be made that will show less prejudice on homosexuals, all Catholics will be reminded that who are they to judge. However, I believe there is more clarification to come on the "gifts and qualities homosexuals can offer to the Christian community.

Senate's View vs. President's View

     The article found on the following link: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/08/senate-debates-focus-on-obama-economy/ provides a great example of the division of the senate based on the support of the executive branch. The article states many issues and prepositions that are highly debated by senators; each topic focuses on President Obama and the Economy. One headline is the affect of Virginia's support of Obama's plan to create jobs and how it ended up hurting the economy.


     The article continues to provide information on "hot-topic's" in political debate but the author does not go into extensive detail. However, the article is informative on the fact that reforms are being debated and contested to assure what is best for individual state's economies and how our president stands on each issue.

WWF Releases a Harsh Statistic

     The World Wide Fund for Nature's Living Planet Index released that the animal population on earth has diminished to less than half it was 30 years ago. This index, which is the main animal census for over 3,000 species, is made every two years. This article contributes the immense decrease rate to human eating too many animals at too high of a rate. It states the animal consumption that humans have become accustomed to can only be sustained by one and a half earths.
      The rapid decline of animal population could have tremendous economic consequences because many industry rely on natural recourses for profit: the fishing industry is a perfect example.
     I agree with the concern stated by this article in that the only way for the life on our planet to be sustained is moderation, but I do not believe that the sole cause of animal depletion is the human race simply having a big food appetite. I think that the industries exploiting ecosystems with high natural resources are the ones who need to mainly be moderated. The industry will only ultimately hurt themselves by dropping majorly in profit when the natural resources they depend on decrease too much. If our ultimate goal is to sustain our earth and economic state so that it may grow and continue to prosper, our use of natural resources simply needs to moderate to an efficient effort and a use that was constant 40 years ago.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/30/business/wild-life-decline-wwf/index.html?hpt=wo_t2

Obama Fights for Mother Earth

     In the article titled "Obama Presses Chinese on Global Warming" Mark Landler and Coral Davenport report how President Obama is working to stop Global Warming. At the United Nations Climate Summit, President Obama expressed his vision of the world working to stop the emission of greenhouse gases. He stated to 100 major nations how he had taken many steps to protect the quality of life in America, but his precautions would not matter if the rest of the world went on emitting so much carbon. He explicitly told China that they need to work specifically because of their stance in the world as a model for other nations. The United States and China are two nations working to create a negotiation for a Global Climate Treaty by 2015.


    The article creates a sense of patriotism for Americans because we are seen in the United Nations as the only nation taking steps to help the world's rising ecological problems. Overall I think the things that Obama said are quite necessary to help China and those who recognize the concern for the environment.
This article could be found on the following link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/world/asia/obama-at-un-climate-summit-calls-for-vast-international-effort.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

The Twisted Interview

 I have been blessed with attending a great school filled with involved and caring students, but after reading "C-SPAN bus rolls into town, but students still skeptical of political process", I am not quite sure that's what the world thinks. Some of the most intellectual classmates I have seemed to be dumbed down to citizens who care more about a good meal at McDonalds than involvement in our country's political process. Immediately after reading the article, I knew that my classmates had been misunderstood by the reporter, Miss Colias.
     
      Each of my classmates that were listed in the article had trouble recollecting the quotes that she included in her article. They recognized that the only time that they said such negative things about the political process is when they were either speaking of reasons other people dislike the political process; the opinions listed as theirs were not their own genuine opinions. It was astounding how the reporter twisted their words so that they seemed to imply something far from reality.