Republicans Stall Unemployment Vote in the Senate and 2.5 MILLION people wait for 30 Hours

Yesterday the Senate voted 60-40 for cloture to move forward on passing an extension. This finally passed on the fourth time. Two Republicans from Maine Senator Snowe and Collins voted with the Democrat majority. Now it will go up to a vote in the full Senate. The only procedural method that the Republicans have to slow the vote is to use all 30 hours for debate.
Republicans biggest reason for opposition is the cost of 34 billion dollars. They argued that this bill would increase the deficit. Their solution to help employment is to keep the Bush Tax Cuts. They think that this would help spur job growth.
Unfortunately for the Republicans, it is statistically shown for every dollar given out in unemployment benefits the economy gets $1.62 back. For a tax cut, a dollar given out 30 cents is spent. If you look at this, 34 billion dollars turns into 55 billion dollars. That is a 20 billion dollars injected into the economy, which is almost 2/3 the amount Congress has allocated.
These benefits are needed for Americans to hold on until the economy comes back up.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/21/unemployment-extension-re_n_654083.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/20/unemployment-extension-bi_n_652805.html

Happy Memorial Day

Today was Memorial Day. A day of remembrance of fallen soldiers and veterans. These soldiers, sailors, and airmen risked their lives in the defense of our freedom. We should remember these people throughout the year.

Arizona Treads on American Rights by Giving Police the Right to Detain Americans

On Friday Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law Arizona Senate Bill 1070. This bill will allow police to stop anyone that looks like an illegal immigrant and ask for their residency papers. If the stopped individual is unable to show their papers they can be detained. The horrible thing is if they are actually a citizen and did not have their papers they are given a 500 dollar fine and 6 months in jail.There is no way to identify illegal immigrant. As most people know illegal immigrants come from all parts of the world and not just Mexico. This is  a bill will discriminate Hispanics and other peoples of color.

Immigrants built this nation into what it is today. Naivest movements come and go, but what is scary about this movement is that a state government is supporting it. The bill allows a great expansion of state power through law enforcement. The ability given to police in Arizona now can be compared with power given to police in the Soviet Union and Nazi German. I know these are radical examples, but this is how bad this law can get if something is not done.  What needs to be done to counteract this law is support of its repeal.

This law does not help the common good of the American people. The law is direct discrimination of American citizens. There are better ways to fix the immigration system than discriminating against a group. It important that people express their displeasure, because complacency will allow this to happen in more areas.

Fact Sheet for S.B. 1070
Arizona S.B. 1070
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100419/us-immigration-enforcement/
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/25/us/AP-US-Immigration-Enforcement.html?_r=1

Happy Earth Day

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. It is important today that a conversation is started on sustainability and what we as a nation could do to help. Doing things to help out are not difficult. Simple things like recycling, buying reusable products, and using more efficient products also can make a big difference. For example buying four 13 watt CFL bulbs would equal a regular 60 watt light bulb. Technically four rooms could be lit for the price of one. Another item using reusable shopping bags also help dramatically. By using those bags can cut the amount of plastic used in the environment. Along the same lines carry your own water in a reusable water bottle. This will cut the amount of plastic used, save water, and save you money. On average 60oz of water are used to make a 20oz bottled water bottle. This is horrible.
If we all work together we can save the world. The important thing to remember if we work for the common civic good we will all suceed.

Throwing Bricks Through Windows Will Raise Your Taxes

Some protesters of health care threw bricks through windows after the legislation was signed into law. Arguments made by most of the protesters that their taxes would be raised and they did not support the health care bill. It was counter productive to vandalize Congressional offices and threaten Congressmen. The cost incurred for the additional protection and fixing the vandalized property would be paid by the U.S. government. The U.S. government gains their revenue from taxes, therefore the vandalism and threats have raised taxes.

Protests are great items to help express points of views. The problem  is when people take their protests to the extremes hurt their cause. It is not benefitical for the country. We the people need to have a civil discussion with each other to have better understanding of views. If people do not do this and still portray their hate the country progress can not be made.

Health Care Passes

Tonight Americans have witnessed one of the biggest legislative packages passed since the Medcaid Act of 1965 part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Reform that has been elusive for 100 years is now into law. This is a great moment for democracy and people that want affordable health care. The plan is not perfect, but a great start. Hopefully in the near future reforms can be made to improve the reform. As of now Americans are gaining freedoms that some have never had in thier lifetime. This is a great time to be an American.

Texas Board of Education New Amendments to the Social Science Curriculum Give it a Conservative Spin

Friday according to Talking Points Memo the Texas Board of Education voted 10-5 to change their social science curriculum to include a variety of Conservative points. The vote was along party lines some outlets like Fox News have made the argument that this is a war to save our children from evil liberal policies. Other outlets are arguing that what Texas decides shapes the school curriculum for the entire nation.

Major alternations according to the New York Times include works Thomas Jefferson will be limited in talking about the Constitution because he was a strong supporter for the separation between church and state and considered to be a major person in the Enlightenment. He will be replaced with by religious thinker John Calvin the founder of Calvinism.   This only pertains to World History.  Another amendment that is out there is the inclusion of Conservative ideals like Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America," Moral Majority, and the National Rifle Association. Other items lessen with these amendments are the great tragedy of Japanese Internment Camps, the Civil Rights movement will also show the downfalls that it brought to society, and the importance of McCarthyism in the fight against Communism.

The view of history projected by the Texas Board of Education is biased and does not serve a purpose of educating students, but promoted an agenda through the second largest buyer of textbooks. Interesting facts none of the board members are Historians. They do not have any formal training in the subject matter that they are changing. A quote from Mary Helena Berlanga a board member commenting on the amendments, “They are going overboard, they are not experts, they are not historians,” she said. “They are rewriting history, not only of Texas but of the United States and the world.” 

This is an outrage 10 people are holding the history curriculum hostage for their personal beliefs instead of the common good. They are angry that beliefs that they hold have not been criticized by historians and want revenge by altering the textbook for a more favorable view of history.  What they are doing is wrong. History is the way society looks at the past and critiques what went right and what went wrong. By top loading history to benefit one side does not help that side’s argument. History is free flowing and the truth will come out. Unless Texas changes their college, history curriculum the true idea of history will be told.  It is impossible to change history to your liking what the Texas Education Board fails to realize that will history teachers actually teach the lessons that they propose?  What happens when history educators rebel? This attempt by the Republican 10 to alter history textbooks to alter history will not work and will fail.