Opinion on The School System Needs an Overhaul

I completely agree with what was said in The School System Needs an Overhaul. The current state of the public school system is horrible, and something needs to be done. I also believe that vouchers is the way to go. Somehow we need to make public schools try harder and compete with each other and i believe vouchers do that. If vouchers were put in place, the public school system would recognize that they need to better themselves and in turn, kids would get a better education. I don't know how long its going to take or what its going to take to get this to happen but we need it, however long it takes.

Outsourcing

The world is becoming flat. Companies these days are outsourcing their jobs like no other. Most major companies these days have call centers in another country. They do this so it is cheaper for them to operate. Some of the major companies in include Dell, AOL, and Microsoft. In Texas people complain about other people taking their jobs, but really we should start blaming the companies and not the people. Eventually if the trend remains the same almost all companies will have offices outside of the United States. I believe the outsourcing of jobs could be a part of the problem we are having economically right now. If companies were to remain in the United States and give jobs to the citizens, the money would stay in the U.S and we would be in better shape economically. I don't know if there is any law preventing companies from outsourcing their jobs but I think there should be some kind of “rule” set in place. I don't like the whole idea of the world becoming flat and such. I believe as an American that we should be different and try to stand out. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future we develop a “global bill” much like the Euro but for the entire world. The way things are going I think we should try to become more isolated like the United States was before.

Response to War in Iraq

While i agree with you that we should begin to exit Iraq, I do not think we should do it all at once. We need to strategically exit Iraq and not just pack up and run. Doing so will be really unsafe and could leave Iraq vulnerable to another regime takeover. I also agree with you stating that the United States is spending too much money on the war. Being in the economic situation that the United States is currently in, we could do far better things with the money here. But, I also belive that we have done some good in Iraq. Getting the Taliban out of power in Iraq was one of the few good things that we have done there, and i think the United States is a little safer with them out of power.

Economic Crisis

I believe that the United States government could have done things to prevent the current economic situation we are facing. With the amount of technology and the amount of experts that we have today someone or something should have known this was coming. Even though the current administration is currently trying to fix the problem it is too little too late. The economic stimulus package, is really the only thing that the government has done to help our economy. I'm sure there is some way, or some new program that the government could have or could implement to help our economy out.

With the action or inaction rather of Bush to help out or economy problem could hurt the Republicans party chance at winning the upcoming presidential election. I for one am not voting for the Republican party anyway but to some others who may consider it, may look at Bush's decisions and decide against voting for John McCain. On the opposite end Democrats are going to make sure that the public associates George W Bush's decisions with John McCain's presidential run

All the money going into the Iraq war and other programs could be going into another program or something that could help the economy. For some reason the current administration has decided to act by not acting. I know the president is getting the same information the people are getting and by deciding not to act is incredibly irresponsible in my opinion. All the president has given us are words and a little to late economic stimulus package that most people are just going to put in the bank and not spend.

To Torture or Not To Torture

In the article Horrifying and Unnecessary, the writer states that President Bush is going to veto a bill that would end the cruel torturing of our captive prisoners. To Mr. Bush the burdens in the Army Field Manual are too restrictive. The manual bans these specific burdens, forcing a prisoner to be naked, placing a hood over head and duct tape over eyes, applying beatings, water boarding, using military dogs, inducing hypothermia, and conducting fake executions .Although I can see how torturing our prisoners could look bad in the eyes of other countries, and may prompt them to torture their prisoners, I believe that we should continue to use any means necessary.

If we capture a prisoner and need to get vital information from them, I don't think that a prisoner is going to give up his information if he is treated like he is just another person in prison without torture. I don't know about you but if someone was just talking to me instead of torturing me I would never give out my information. Lives could be put at risk if the prisoners we capture don't give up their information. As long as our torture methods continue to be non-lethal I believe that torturing a necessary means of getting crucial information. The author talks to many anti-torture people, but where are the people that support torture. I know the author is trying to make a point but in order to do so you should have both sides of the issue present. I believe that if some pro-torture people were present in this article the author could have a better chance at making a point.

Economic Stimulus Package

The article I am criticizing is one based on the economic stimulus package.

In this article President George W. Bush is proposing to give the economy a “shot in the arm.” In order for such a thing to be effective the amount must be roughly 1 percent of the GDP, which comes out around $145 billion dollars. The largest part of the stimulus package would target the individual taxpayer. He believes that in order to not fall into a recession this must be put into place. Bush says that Americans can spend the money anyway they see fit. Bush believes that passing a growth package is “our most pressing economic priority.” Although the economy will continue to grow, it will grow at a much slower rate than years past.

Although I believe that this economic stimulus package would be good for our economy and is somewhat necessary, I believe that there are alternative things that we could be doing with all of that money. I am not saying that the economy does not need this boost because it does. I just think that we could put it toward something along the lines of universal health care or something of that nature. Also there is no way the determine if all of the money that is being given out will be spent. Some Americans might decide to just put it into the bank, or buy things that would not stimulate the economy so much. I believe that if we can put out this much money for the economy, we can come up with some more money to put toward other things that America is in need of.

The Democratic Divide

The article i read can be found here http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/us/politics/06delect.html?pagewanted=1

This article discusses how the support is divided in the Democratic party between Senator Barrack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. This past Tuesday when 22 states held primaries, Obama and Clinton battled for states. Senator Clinton ended up winning California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, while Senator Obama won Connecticut, Georgia, Minnesota, and Illinois.
The race began with the first results in Georgia, then the two candidates traded victories about every 30 minutes. Throughout the night the biggest prize, California, vexed both campaigns, but early Wednesday morning Ms. Clinton secured a victory and provided a huge moral boost for her camp.
Missouri, another close state, was almost evenly split between to two Democrats at 1a.m. , with Obama leading by half a percentage point.
An analysis by the Associated Press based on incomplete vote totals showed that Senator Clinton had won 166 delegates and Senator Obama had won 146 delegates at stake Tuesday. Overall Ms. Clinton had 479 and Mr. Obama had 386, but these numbers are likely to change as vote tallies are completed.
The results from the polls showed formidable strengths for each candidate. Mr. Obama gaining appeal with white voters and Ms. Clinton solidifying her support among Hispanics.
Because most states gave nominating delegates to both Obama and Clinton based on proportions, as opposed to winner take all, both camps were predicting that neither of them would have a blowout lead. This sets up an intense race for Louisiana, Washington, Virginia, Ohio and Texas who are holding nomination contests in the next 4 weeks.
This article is worth reading because it shows how the votes are truly divided between the two Democratic candidates. Its going to be exciting to watch and see how the race pans out, it is way more close than the Republican candidates. We have some kind of idea who is going to come out of the Republican party, but in the Democratic party it is probably going to come down to the wire.