Should Sandy Hook Elementary School be Renovated/Demolished?

The article talks about how most schools that have shootings either get demolished or renovated. By doing this, it erases the pain that many families face when passing the school, especially an elementary school. Other people feel that they want t leave it as a memorial. My biology teacher talked about this today in class and I was curious on what was to happen to it. What do you guys think?

Boehner Plan Addresses Taxes but Delays Fight Over Spending Cuts

With the fiscal cliff once again looming Speaker John Boehner revealed "Plan B" after President Obama showed his more comprehensive deal. Boehner's plan continued the negotiating but called the president's plan "unbalanced and insufficient".  We talked about this a bit in class regarding the fact that they'll eventually come to an agreement before the deadline expires. What do you think will be the largest compromises? What will either party refuse to budge on?

Gun Control, Or Reloading Morality?

This article talks about the two sides of gun control after the horror of the recent shooting in Newtown , Connecticut and their validity. It then talks about the dismantling of the American community, how people can no longer have an "every man for himself" attitude that our society is a broad community and to how long will we tolerate the collateral damage that gun ownership of high powered "assault" weapons create when psychopaths use them to kill people.

Though I disagree with any further measure to restrict these types of weapons from law-abiding citizens, some of you may think strict gun control is the answer.

Hackers attack Westboro Baptist Church for picketing Sandy Hook

This is just sickening.  The Westboro Baptist Church said they are going to protest at the children's funerals in Connecticut.  I am beyond words for just how furious and upset this makes me.  They are going to take those signs and disgusting beliefs of theirs and just go and say that those children deserved to die? I think people have rights yes, but that is just rude and ignorant of other peoples feelings.  I for one am actually extremely happy the hackers decided to go after them for being so crude.  People like this slander other Americans and are more trouble then they are worth. I am just speechless at this still and I have no clue how I could even put this kindly because I honestly do not think I could be nice to these people under any curcumstance.

Reaction to Newtown Shootings Spreads to Corporate America

This article talks about the reaction of corporate America to the horrific events that transpired on Friday in Newtown, Ct. Many companies that sell firearms have removed the ones used in the event from their website while a private equity firm that has holdings in Colt Defense have announced they will be immediately selling the company. This event has of course sparked the debate once again about whether or not there needs to be some sort of ban on assault rifles. It seems to me to be extremely similar to the war on drugs here in America. Meth and Cocaine aren't legal substances; however, people are able to obtain and abuse them. Some sort of ban on assault weapons won't stop the problem. People will still be able to get them. They'll just be coming from South America and Mexico.

NRA Faces New Political Challenges After School Shooting

Should teachers carry guns in school?

In the wake of the mass shooting in Connecticut lawmakers in texas, Oklahoma, and Oregon are proposing laws to allow teachers and educators to carry firarms with special training if they all ready have concealed carry licenses/permits. Many law abiding citzens have ccls but are not permitted to go into schools with them because of the existing laws.

Some Unlikely Democrats Join in Push for New Gun Laws

The tragedy that took place in Newtown, CT has certainly unleashed much debate over gun laws that for a while were not considered a main priority. Even Democrats such as Mr. Manchin, a Senator of West Virginia as well as an avid hunter, asserted that efforts to resolve the issue of gun violence must go beyond mere dialogue. Action must be taken. On one side of the debate are those who cite the Second Amendment and support the right to bear arms. They argue that any restrictions on gun use will not stop a madman from wreaking havoc as he or she pleases. On the other side of the dispute are those who favor bans or restrictions to gun use. Their argument is that no hunter actually needs as many as 30 rounds in a clip, and regulation of ammunition would make minimal difference to hunters. Any step to change legislation would be a very demanding and difficult task, and many are calling on Obama to take executive action. Further updates on this heated issue will surely emerge in the following weeks and months.

After Tragedy, Partisanship May Cool a Bit

Obviously, there was much debate regarding gun control immediately following the tragedy that took place in Newtown, Connecticut this past Friday. However, this article suggests that gun control was not the only issue that this calamity caused Americans to reflect upon. It suggests that "the contest over taxes and spending" will also be affected. This event has forced Obama and Boehner, who are working together to form a compromise that would ideally be passed in Congress, as well as other politicians to put the issue of taxes and spending into perspective. Many politicians are suggesting that this catastrophe will soften the hearts of Obama and Boehner as they come to an agreement. In fact, reports indicated that Mr. Boehner had offered this past weekend for the first time to agree to a raise in the tax rate on high incomes and include an increase in the nation's debt limit if the president agreed reductions in entitlement programs in the long-term. It is difficult to deduce whether or not this step forward was due to the recent tragedy, but only time will tell if this sense of unity will last.

Congressman Picked for South Carolina Senate Seat

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/us/politics/congressman-picked-for-south-carolina-senate-seat.html?hp

This was a very interesting article regarding South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's decision to appoint Tim Scott as a senator. He will replace Jim DeMint, who is retiring to persue other opportunities. This is a monumental appointment considering that Scott will be the first black senator from the South since the late 19th century. Also, it is truly amazing that Scott is where he is after he almost flunked out of high school and he had to overcome a troubling childhood. However, after getting off to a rough start, Scott won over the governor due to his strong conservative voting record. I think that the fact that Scott is black will also help the Republican party because they have recieved a lot of criticism for not having minorities among their party.

Obama speaking about the Shooting in Connecticut

This was very moving to me and I hope many of you will feel the same. Obama did a great job with this speech. I felt this was worth sharing.

Pro-Gun Senator Open to Discussing Controls

Did Obama Go 'Gangnam?'

Obama Did NOT Go 'Gangnam'

I figured I would take a step away from all the serious news posted on the blog and find an article that can be easily relatable. As many of you may have heard, a controversy has risen around Korean pop star PSY. Although his hit single "Gangnam Style" has been on the Top 10 singles iTunes list and was even #1 at one point, Obama is certainly not his #1 fan. It all started when a video surfaced of one of his old songs titled "Dear America." Lyrics included phrases such as "Kill those f--ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives..." and "Kill them all slowly and painfully... daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers." It is quite obvious as to why this would bring up such a dispute. I first heard about this event as I was listening to the radio in the car, and ever since then I haven't been able to think of this singer in quite the same way. PSY has publicly apologized for this offensive song, but is an apology sufficient for these words to be forgiven?

FBI readies Furlough plan if fiscal cliff talks fail

FBI readies Furlough plan if fiscal cliff talk fails

The FBI has been preparing a plan in case the negotiations between the white house administration and congressional Republicans fail and are unable to reach a compromise and conclusion. This plan would include reducing the number of agents investigating cases on a day to day basis and would take one or two unpaid days about every two weeks. This plan isn't finalized and could change but I don't think it will be necessary for this Furlough plan to take action because there is still time for negotiations for th fiscal cliff and there has been some breakthroughs in the past few weeks.

A Tax Package Proposed for Hurricane Sandy

A Tax Package Proposed for Hurricane Sandy

This article discusses the features of a tax package proposed by Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey for the damage of Hurricane Sandy. These elements include cleanup cost deductions, tax exemptions, and tax credit extensions. The package is claimed to be "modeled [by] the tax package... to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina." I am slightly worried by this claim after seeing that video of the aftermath in New Orleans and hearing about thousands of people who were not receiving the help that they needed. Although it was stated that Mr. Schumer believed the adoption of the package was "common sense," he may be somewhat biased. Do you think this is an adequate tax package for the circumstance?

Time running out on 'fiscal cliff' deal

Time running out on 'fiscal cliff' deal

President Obama and House speaker John Boehner met on Sunday at the White House in an attempt to compose a deal and compromise regarding the fiscal cliff and the national debt. It was said that this meeting was vital if Obama and Boehner wanted to win approval for their plan before the December 31st deadline quickly approaches. There haven't been any specific details released on the exact compromises of the deal but I think it will be interesting to see how the two groups end up working together for something that could ultimately affect everyone in our country.

Income Inequality

While we were talking about income inequality today, and the question of whether or not it's "right" or "fair", I thought of Ben and Jerry's, a company famous for its progressive business practices. One such measure was an income cap for the CEO of only a 7:1 ratio of the CEO's salary versus the lowest paid workers. This measure was rescinded after several failed attempt to fill in the shoes of retiring CEO Ben Cohen, because they could not find anyone well-qualified willing to accept such low pay (for a CEO). As a result, the company went from very profitable to actually losing money, so that it had to be bought out by multinational-firm Unilever.

While it may seem like CEO's make an exorbitant amount of money, this provides a clear example that these people deserve that money. How many of us could handle that pressure and know what to do running an entire company? It takes a special, 1 in a million type of person to hold such a job, and the demand for such personalities matched with the small "supply"/availability of them makes their jobs worth so much.

This is just a brief article about it:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-42750506/occupy-wall-street-why-ben--jerrys-endorsement-rings-hollow/

News of Israel Settlements is Bad Timing for Obama

Israel announced the construction of Jewish settlements in sensitive territory east of Jerusalem (E1) following the United Nations General Assembly's decision to admit Palestine as a nonmember observer state, bringing Palestine a step closer to statehood. The United States has continuously warned Israel against building in this area because it would threaten contiguity between the West Bank and Jerusalem, aggravating peace negotiations. Israel's announcement caught Barack Obama off guard, irritating the president. With the president's successful record in foreign affairs it will be interesting to see how he manages relations overseas while negotiating circumstances at home.

Republicans Make Counteroffer in Fiscal Talks

Now that December is upon us, and the fiscal cliff is rapidly approaching, Republicans and Democrats find themselves countering back and forth on their deficit reduction proposals. The GOP plan asserts  that over the next decade deficit savings would be $4.6 trillion, they also proposed $600 billion in cuts to federal health care programs. The White House was critical of the plan, especially because of the Republican's unwillingness to increase taxes on the wealthy. In order to provide a reasonable, promising plan before the deadline approaches, the Democrats and Republicans will need to set aside some predispositions and work together.

Is the Tea Party dead?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/12/04/whither-the-tea-party/

After the 2012 election results, questions about whether the Tea Party remaining a leading force in American politics have been brought up. The party seems to be coming apart from the inside out, and when it comes to the fiscal cliff, Republicans seem more than happy with the idea of ignoring the Tea Party’s wishes. Polls have also revealed that Tea Party support hit an all time low of 22 percent after the election. It seems that the Tea Party’s future depends on how they may or may not impact the fiscal cliff negotiations and the debt ceiling fight that’s likely to come by the end of February.

Personally, I don’t think the Tea Party is going to last very long. With them having many problems internally and them losing support, I just can’t see them being as strong as they were when they first came onto the scene. The party is weakening, and as we all know, third parties don’t last very long in our political system. 

Iran claims American drone capture

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-state-tv-revolutionary-guard-captures-another-us-drone/2012/12/04/4fd06252-3de6-11e2-8a5c-473797be602c_story.html

One year ago, Iran claimed to have captured an unmanned CIA spy drone, and last month Iran also claimed a drone was “violating” its airspace. On Tuesday, Iran claimed it had captured another unmanned aircraft. The US Navy however, said all of the aircrafts were accounted for. Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, admitted that drones had been lost in the water in past years, but none recently. Questions about if the said drone is authentic or not, have been brought up. However, unlike the aircraft that was captured a year ago, the one Iran says to have obtained most recently, is a spy plane primarily used for photography and videos.

I remember last year when Iran had captured a drone. One of the concerns had been that Iran was going to copy the design of it, and apply it to its own aircrafts. That being said, Iran has made advances since its capture of the first drone. I’m curious to see if that is going to happen again. I’m also not entirely sure whether Iran’s claims this time are true or not. While the Navy does say that all of the aircrafts are accounted for, I don’t think they would want to admit that another one is missing. In last year’s case, it did take a while for American officials to admit that a drone was lost, hopefully that won’t be this case this time around.

Criticized as Weak in Past Talks, Obama Takes Harder Line

At the end of the year, tax increases for most people and massive government spending cuts will automatically take place if Congress and the President do not act to take a different course. Some economists say this could lead to a new economic recession. President Obama wants to increase taxes on the wealthy, but does not offer any other plans to decrease spending that the Republicans want. During his first four years in offices, the Republicans rejected all of Obama’s ideas on stimulus spending, which he thought were compromises, but the republicans did not. Obama is waiting for the Republicans to agree with an increase tax on the wealthy, and for them to make proposals on spending cuts. Obama thinks that he has an election mandate to make the Republican’s responsible for making choices that will affect America’s future.

            President Obama’s campaign-style debate worries me. If neither he nor the Republicans make a move, American will be in a very bad situation. I think both sides will wait until the end of December to make a decision, which will be scary, because citizens will not know the fate of our country’s financial problem.

Below-Average Post-Election Approval Bounce for Obama

After President Obama’s reelection, his job approval rating went up 2 net points which is a small increase when the average increase is 6.25. In the last 16 presidential elections, Obama has had the smallest positive net gain. In these last 16 presidential elections, only three incumbents have had negative gains, Truman, Johnson, and Carter. Incumbents who have lost or aren’t running and their party lost have had larger job approval rating than before the election. This shows that many citizens are at least partly dissatisfied with President Obama. While he doesn’t have any more elections to worry about, the lack of support from citizens can decrease how well he will be able to pass his agenda over the next four years. Since he has already had problems passing items through Congress, this will only make it harder. Since he was reelected he will have a better chance at negotiating a fiscal cliff resolution, but he would be better off if he can get the majority of the country to support his ideas. In the last 4 elections, the incumbent has seen smaller bounces in their job approval rating, but it is too soon to see if it is a trend that will continue

Clinton Warns Syria on Chemical Weapons