Reducing Taxes (Issue #1)

The Republican party advocates reducing taxes.  Supporters of this idea believe that consumers and businesses will have more money to spend. As a result, the economy can be stimulated quicker. Also, businesses will expand as the economy grows so more jobs can be created, decreasing unemployment. Those against tax reduction believe tax cuts will lead to greater budget deficits that will eventually crumble the economy. The tax cuts will reduce the amount of money that funds defense, Social Security, Medicare and education. Arguers against reducing taxes believe that tax cuts cause bigger problems for American children.
Liberals would argue that tax cuts do not help the economy, especially in a recession. On the contrary, as Conservatives would believe, tax cuts can help an economy in the dumps. Here is a scenario, if taxes were cut 10% across the board, workers would gain 10% more of their wages to spend. This money would stimulate other businesses. As businesses begin to prosper, they will be able to dish out more money to their workers in wage increases. And, like a cycle, workers will have more money to spend to stimulate the economy. Here's the best part, because workers are gaining more in wages due to tax cuts, the government will gain tax revenues greater than or equal to tax revenues before the tax cut. Also, unemployment will decrease and  the government can gain more tax revenue. If the government is still spending too much money, than another tax cut can be imposed. If this trend were to continue there would be a rapid decline in the national deficit. Economist Milton Friedman is conservative and promotes tax cuts. In and interview between Milton Friedman and Peter Robinson, Friedman explains that tax cuts will give consumers more power to decide how to spend their money. Also, the government will not have high budget deficits if they don't have much money to spend.



Issue #2 - http://emilyewblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/issue-2-offshore-outsourcing.html
Issue #3 - http://ksteffss1.blogspot.com/2011/02/budget-deficit-and-social-security.html

Taking steps back to recovery

In recent polls, three-fourths of the U.S. population believes that the countries economy is struggling. Our country's unemployment rate is declining because we are not feeding the fires of our economy. Perhaps the government is trying hard, which the people may not understand. These things aren't fixed instantaneously. Also, another poll shows that nearly half of the Americans believe that our economy is the most important issue. If our economy fails, the country will probably fail. The first priority should be the economy and not so much the healthcare issue. As a country, we should try to focus on one big issue at a time. If we try to handle too many issues at once, we will never accomplish anything. First, we must get our economy back on its feet. Then, we can tackle other issues, such as health care. Also, we should not use our political parties as scapegoats to place blame for our countries problems.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/01/poll.election/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Video games possibly bashed by government censorship?

California contemplates implementing a law to censor violent video games. But, the real question is whether or not it is in the government's power to censor these video games. From the stand point of a video game creator, video game design is an art. Hence, it is a form of expression. A video game creator should have the freedom to express their art. The ESRB rating system exists to create a balance by preventing children from buying games without the presence of an adult. But, if a person of the required age buys a game, the content should not be censored, as it is suited to their age. It is not the state's responsibility to censor content from children. That is up to the parents. Also, the state cannot decide whether a child is mature enough or not to handle playing a game that is beyond their age. If a child takes a game to seriously, especially a violent game, they should not play it, but--again--that is up to the parents, not the state.

Gun Down the Aliens!

Reports from Israel claim that a UFO had been flying in restricted air space over a nuclear power plant. To follow protocol, the Israel Air Force gunned down the UFO. However, there has been discussion on whether gunning the UFO was actually following protocol, as it could've been just a harmless small motored vehicle. As a result, Israel has been receiving some flak.

Israel has its protocols to follow. What they did was perfectly reasonable. If the UFO had harmful intentions upon the nuclear power plant, there could have been a disaster. If the UFO was manned, the person inside should be sure to have a functioning radio so they aren't mistaken for a terrorist and ELIMINATED! The Israel Air Force should have salvaged the wreckage. If it was an advanced piece of aircraft, Israel would have an advantage in avionics. If I was an Israeli, that's what I would do.

The Metrodome was terrible anyway... New stadium perhaps?

Since the roof of the Metrodome fell through, maybe its time to build a new stadium. One that, perhaps, could bring in some serious revenue to the state of Minnesota. Some people say it's a waste of tax payer’s money that can be spent on more important things which might be true. But, a stadium that could bring revenue to the state and allow our Vikings to play in Minnesota would probably be a win altogether. And, if we don't build a stadium, we could possibly lose the team all together. As a fan, I would like to keep the Vikings and, let's face it, the Metrodome has seen it's days and is one of the least attractive stadiums in the league. I think we should have built a Vikings stadium first, before building the gophers one. The longer we stand around wondering what to do the more the price of building a stadium will go up. It's now or pretty much never. 50 years from now the nay Sayers will be arguing the same point, "that we could use the money on more important things" or "Now is not the time". Will there ever be a right time to build a new stadium, or is it always going to be just a waste of money. We're going to have to build a stadium sometime. For some, a Vikings team is important to them. There part of Minnesota history whether you like it or not and we should at least give them a place to stay that they can be proud of. Let's keep our Minnesota history.

Switching Focus

Iraq! It seems to be the war that most people think about these days. What about Afghanistan, did we forget about that country? A fair amount of US troops are stationed in Afghanistan trying to combat Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden. Now Obama is shedding more light on the Afghanistan affairs and is focusing less on the Iraq War. Is this the right move? Well I believe we did a fair job in helping Iraq establish itself better than when ruled by Saddam. I believe, though, that going to Iraq before finishing the job in Afghanistan was a big and fatal mistake. We nearly had Bin Laden and the Taliban. Our forces were closing in and, according to a show on the history channel, they interviewed a soldier who nearly had him in his sights. But our Government hesitated due to the Iraq issue and speculation of weapons of mass destruction and thus they got away. We never did find WMD, but at least we made Iraq a more established and a safer country. Now with most of that war behind us it's time to focus on the main task at hand; catching a man and his men who we almost certainly know were behind the 9/11 attack. So I think that finishing what we started in afghan is the right thing to do, it's just that we've should have done in sooner.

Are Americans the only ones with voices?

Rich Lott, a republican candidate running for Congress, is being accused of being a Nazi enthusiast. He was questioned for doing a WWII re-enactment of German soldiers. He was asked if he believes in Nazi ideology. He denied. Instead, he replied that he is presenting an unbiased view point that educates people on the life of German soldiers during WWII. The German point of view is just as important as that of an American’s.

I have a large German ancestral background and, just as well, I am an American. I do condone what the Nazi party did, but I don’t think that all Germans are in the wrong. When Germany was falling after WWI, the German citizens needed a leader. In an unfortunate turn of events, Hitler took the helm and promised to guide the Germans. The people of Germany were in desperate times and Hitler took advantage of that. It may be hard to forgive the German soldiers of what they did. But, in desperate times, when you have a family to care for, what else is a man to do? Sure, the German soldiers made mistakes when they joined the ranks of the Nazi party, but they have a voice and it can justify their reasoning for doing so.  What does this have to do with Lott? He was sticking up for the voice of our past enemies as he would for the voices of his own people. If an American cannot understand that a simple German soldier has a voice too, then their sheer ignorance shows that they don’t value their own rights.