Blog #7 Is the US government corrupt Review

In this contemptuous rant, Bblake, a college student from Fredericksburg Texas, tried to express his notion of corruption within our Democracy. The article, Blog #7 Is the US government corrupt?, lacked well defined examples of past or current corruption cases. Any time the word “Corruption” is mentioned it automatically catches attention; however, my attention was lost while reading this article.

Bblake provides the proper definition of corruption at the beginning but following the definition he mentions that “our governments biggest downfall is promising all these certain things, but never holding up there side of the bargain.” But yet, he fails to provide examples of active bribery. Instead he mentions that “Obama has promised to win the war, but he keeps sending more and more troops across sea.” How is this corruption? A president trying to win the war by sending more troops only indicates that he is indeed trying to win the war. How can a war be defeated without a proper sized army? This comment was irrelevant to the topic.

His Health Care Bill example lacked facts, it only showcased opinions. He claims “This new bill is going to give all the power to the strongest people, and screw over the ones that work hard for [their] money…” I was waiting for him to include a fact or anything to prove this argument. “If/when the health care bill is approved the wealthy are going to get [their] care first…” How? Where are the facts?

He feels that “government officials worry about themselves” and not citizens. He argues that the Justice Department shouldn’t have sued Arizona over its Immigration Law because it helps decrease “drug cartel[s] and any other crime that is going on.” He also mentions that “the only bad thing about this new law in Arizona is that corrupt law enforcement is going to racial profile.” Racial profiling is not a form of corruption but rather a civil rights violation. Instead, he could have indicated that law enforcements stationed within the US- Mexico border will more than likely accept bribes from drug cartels, increasing the chance of corruption within the border.

The conclusion failed to “conclude” his argument. It provided a rather irrelevant message, first by saying “I am tired of all the promises that we get by our government. If they held on to [their] promises, our country would be succeeding. Instead we are going into more and more debt...” How does this tie in with corruption? It doesn’t. Second, I feel that his only decent example of corruption should have been added to the body paragraph and not the conclusion.

Overall the message was lost with mere examples of broken “promises” rather than true examples of “bribery, extortion, embezzlement…criminal mischief, including drug cartel[s], money scams, and many other crimes.” Do I think the government is corrupt? I wouldn’t after reading this article

319,000 Jobs

Today the House passed the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (HR 1586). This bill not only saves 319,000 jobs but it will increase the chance for American children to get a higher education. It will increase the chances for public safety by providing proper funding to police departments in order to avoid layoffs. According to the bill, it will also avoid jobs being shipped overseas by closing loopholes.

I feel strongly about having proper education readily available for the children who have the power, to control the future of our Country. The bill will grant $10 billion to local school districts in order to prevent teacher layoffs. This fund will lift so much weight off school districts who were downsizing staff but increasing class size. Around the nation teachers were probably dancing around their living room when they heard, that according to the Department of Education, 161,000 teaching jobs will be saved. Not only will this keep good educators in our classrooms but, our children will receive a proper education. When teacher layoffs occur the children suffer immensely. They don't receive the attention they need in order to succeed! The bill prevents states from using the funds for transportation, utilities, equipment and or renovations. With these and other limitations we don't have to worry about improper use of the funds. This will guarantee that the $10 billion dollars will be spent properly.

Keeping the children educated and our streets safe is what sets us apart from other nations. So when I read that police departments were also getting some help, I was ecstatic. I would hate for crime rates to go up because of enforcement division layoffs. I am an advocate for supporting our police departments. This bill provides the assistance they desperately needed.

The loopholes that assist big corporations ship jobs overseas will finally get closed. According to the bill, "Foreign tax payer abuse is among the IRS's top compliance concerns for large corporate taxpayers." If there aren't any incentives for having jobs overseas than corporations will finally stop scheming the IRS. With this said, the bill will save this nation money and it will keep jobs here. These jobs are necessary to help rebuild our economy.

Not only did the House pass this bill at the right time, it also answered a lot of prayers. With school starting in a few weeks, they will now be able to hire educators and prevent after-school programs from being shut down. Police departments will have enough law enforcement out on our streets keeping the public safe. "319,000 job" opportunities will help rebuild this desperate economy. Finally, the foreign tax credit abuse will reach the ending the IRS was hoping for.

"Don't Ask Don't Tell" Review

This blog entry "Don't Ask Don't Tell," written by Alex, a student attending the University of Texas, explicates the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. It provides just enough information to enlighten the reader about the policy, yet, it teases the audience with few facts.

DADT was well defined at the beginning of the article. This quick punch of information was like jumping into a cold pool on a hot summer day, I was alert and ready for more.

He provided further information about the fact that it has "deprived the U.S. of nearly $200 million from its start until 2003." This shocking statistic supports his argument that the policy should be repealed due to the cost itself.

He further expresses his belief that the policy should be repealed by stating that DADT "discriminates against [LGBT] soldiers serving the military." The sentence following this statement lacks support, He reminds us that "our nation's history is scattered with discrimination..." If he mentioned a few examples regarding discrimination it would have supported his argument. It lacked concrete details, such as the beginning of militias and how Louisiana segregated theirs and etc.

The reference to Lt. Dan Choi in this post made the problem real. It supported Alex's argument that the policy is "senseless and just plain stupid." It makes no sense that the military would discharge an outstanding Lieutenant just because of his sexuality.

The question that should be asked is why aren't we as a whole fighting for their freedom? Soldiers are fighting for our freedom, so why can't they be freed from such discrimination? I agree that this policy should be repealed. There isn't a strong enough reasoning behind having such a policy.

This would have been a stronger argument if Alex included a reference backing up his beliefs. The Washington Post featured an article titled "Don't ask don't tell survey released," regarding this policy that would have taken his argument to a different level. The questions asked on the survey were enough to leave me pondering what idiot would take credit for writing such crap?