Category: Politics


Legalization of Marijuana

Filed Under: Arizona News, Politics
Apr.19, 2009

Smoked a joint lately? Eaten a special brownie? A recent MTF survey about teen marijuana use reports that 10.9% of eighth graders, 23.9% of tenth graders, and 32.4% of twelfth graders have used marijuana within the last year. An article recently published in The Arizona Republic suggested legalizing marijuana use for everyone. Coupled with the already high use of the drug, the legalization of pot in America would cause an explosion of use of the drug among teens.

The article expressed many reasons why the legalization of pot would be useful. There could be a tax put on the drug , just like on tobacco, which would help fix the American economy with the enormous amount of income the legalization would supply. Drug cartels and the violence brought with them would completely be halted as americans no longer supplied the large portion of money that the crime lords would need from marijuana. Those too sick to work and too poor to buy marijuana from pharmicists could grow their own for physical comfort. And lastely, although unlikely, with the decrease of crime rates throughout Mexico, the Mexican economy could possibly rebuild itself, decreasing the number of illegal immigrents coming into America.

Of course there are many negative aspects of this legalization. Along with the rotting of every American brain who uses this drug, we would basically be surrendering to the Mexican drug cartelsand all that they stand for. And if America is really supposed to stand for the epitome of justice, advancement, and standing for what you believe in, we all might as well kiss our powers goodbye on the world stage and among the United Nations. If the American people became really stupid, we could see the crowds of hobbos and hippies return from the undead and the American economy would be thrown down the toilet in a swirl of green peace signs and red hearts.

Personally, I am two-sided on this topic. The positive aspects of the legalization of marijuana are overwhelming, but the negative ones are just as persuasive. I really don’t think our country needs a repeat of the 60′s, but America may already be too stressed to not get high. Thoughts? Opinions? Comments? I’d like to know them.

-FATMAN

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Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life

Filed Under: Ethics, Politics
Mar.29, 2009

Pro-choice or pro-life: who’s at fault?

As a pro-choice and well-educated woman, I’m here to put a stop to this argument. The answer is: neither.

I respect the fact that people with pro-life beliefs hold on to their ideologies and morals; no one has the right to insult or demean that. What I don’t respect is the encouragement of unsafe abortions as a result of outlawing it.

The truth is, abortions are just as old as pregnancies. Women have been finding ways to terminate their pregnancies since the beginning of time. Of course, I don’t commend these women at all, but I do feel the compulsion to fight for their rights to a safe abortion as opposed to using a dirty clothes hanger. I am Jewish, and the Jewish faith is very specific in the clarification that a baby’s life is not an actual life until the baby’s head leaves the womb. Until then, it is only “potential life,” voiding the idea of murder. Judaism also says that abortion is acceptable under the circumstances of danger to the mother.  I am not pro-choice because of my Jewish faith, but I do agree with the ideologies.

Also, I’m not pro-abortion by any means; honestly, I would only have an abortion under the circumstances of harm to my body or rape (I’m not including incest because I don’t see that as a remote possibility). Then again, everything is circumstantial. I don’t judge women who have had abortions; everything is based upon perspective, and I don’t have that said perspective of being pregnant. That is why I fight for the choice to keep abortions safe, legal, and rare. I cannot justify why certain women have abortions, and neither can any other spectator. My hope would be to continue the practice of safe abortions so women desperate enough can move on with their lives (and when I say safe, I mean as healthy and sanitary as possible).

The most important thing I want to express is the ridiculousness of the prevalence of this issue. Our economy is in a devastating state; now is not the time to worry about reversing the legalization of abortion. If advocates of outlawing abortion put half their efforts into economic rejuvenation, maybe we’d be at a better financial state. There is a definite hierarchy of social and economic issues, and at this junction in America, the economy is what’s most important, not what goes on with a woman’s body and a potential life.

I’m hoping this article will maybe suppress some of the fire, not fuel it.

-alishasmoo

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Obama and the Economy

Filed Under: Business and Economics, Politics
Mar.15, 2009

As you have probably already noticed, the economy has been in the toilet ever since the end of 2008 came to a near end. Some might argue the reason for this is because of our new president and you’d be surprised that you are actually incorrect.

Fact 1: Obama became president after the economy started plummeting and showing signs of weakness.

Fact 2: When Bush was still president, his advisor’s had warned him that the economy was showing signs of weakness and that a it could crash. However, nothing was done by Bush to help this from happening.

Fact 3: Bush pretty much left Obama to clean up his mess that has already been made.

Fact 4: Until the housing market gets back up to speed, we will be like this for a bit longer.

Fact 5: Investing in war with the Middle East like Bush did wasn’t smart and that money spending could have possibly affected our economy. Its not cheap to run a military.

Fact 6: The market goes up and it goes down so don’t expect the president to have complete utter control. You have to do your part as well America!

Fact 7: Lets not point fingers at certain people to blame for this because we are all part of this and we all need to work together as a country to get us back up to speed. Believing that a SINGLE person can do that on his own is just ridiculous.

Obama might have become president at a time where the economy wasn’t so great but that doesn’t mean he is to blame. One man can only do so much.  Even if you don’t support our president, you should at least respect a man that has worked his way from having nothing to the life he has today. Stop saying you want to move to Canada or Mexico because your are not and yet no one stops you. Politics is a harsh topic and sometimes you just have to be more open minded and accept the things you might not agree with.

-jordan

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Foreclosure

Filed Under: Arizona News, Politics
Mar.07, 2009

Being minors, a lot of teenagers tend to be influenced by their parents when it comes to politics. During the past election, a lot of teenagers chose their candidate because it was who their parents were voting for, or they picked the opposite to spite their parents. Either way, Obama seemed to be a popular candidate choice for students. The promise of change was the major reason for the American population to root on Obama to win. Change is happening throughout the whole country, however, before things can get better, it seems that they are getting worse.

Arizona has one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the United States. A few weeks ago, Obama visited Phoenix to start a plan to help homeowners keep their homes. As teenagers, we have no control over what happens with our parents’ finances, and, for a lot of Arizonan teenagers, that means losing their home because their family can’t afford it. Obama’s plan to fight against foreclosure only applies to some families, not all. There are applications that families have to qualify for, and many households who need the money and help won’t get it because of restrictions. Even if the family does get help, a few years down the road, they could be in trouble again because this plan only keeps the bank off their back for a short period of time. In all reality, this isn’t helping the problem; its prolonging it.

So what do teenagers do to help out? They drop out of school and get a job to help pay the mortgage. Teenagers should finish high school and go on to college if they so desire. There are plenty of millionaires and billionaires in the world who could donate a few million dollars to help people get out of debt, and they could go on living their rich lives as if nothing happened. However, they sit back and watch the country crumble to pieces instead. This is exactly why other countries think that we, the United States of America, are selfish, and they have good right to think that.

So maybe Obama’s plan won’t exactly get Arizona’s homeowners out of debt, but there are sure others who could help. Why not campaign to major league athletes to donate money to help save a family? Or why couldn’t a movie star film half of their next movie for a fund to fight foreclosure? How hard would it be for them to pay a few hundred dollars extra a month? Apparently its extremely hard, because they would rather have their Hummer 3 Limos run about and waste all of our natural resources. So until the athletes, superstars, and billionaires of the world decide they have money to spare, I guess all we can do is hope and pray that our parents can pay for our homes.

-ceeturtle92

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Are Congressmen Out of Touch?

Filed Under: Politics
Mar.06, 2009

These days, when money is hard to come by, what do we expect to be done?  Is Joe the plumber going to unclog the economic problems from the toilet currently known as the American and global economy?  The frank answer would be no.  In reality, Joe the plumber is busy unclogging toilets so he can pay his mortgage.  The real problem solvers should be the men and women of the 111th Congress.  At least this is what would be expected.

Unfortunately, some of our elected officials would rather talk about Alex Rodriguez’s use of performance-enhancing drugs.  In the past, some of the congressmen wanted to form a committee to investigate whether the New England Patriots football team spied on another team before the Super Bowl.  This past year or so, congress once again brought a baseball pitcher by the name of, Roger Clemens, to Capitol Hill, in order for him to testify on his involvement with steroids.  Oh yes, the men and women of the U.S. Congress are protecting our Constitutional rights.  I believe that the imaginary 43rd Ammendment states something about the conviction of players and organizations for cheating in sports.  Before this recent economic crisis, Congress actually dealt with these types of conflicts.  It is quite unreal how we elect our leaders so they can debate about these insignificant topics, when there are so many more important things going on in the world.

These days when the everybody is short on cash, people are traveling less and staying in the vicinity of their residences.  Congressmen are also staying in congress to actually do something about the economic crisis.  This is a good thing, but let’s be reasonable.  If the economy was strong, Congress would probably be on recess.  Each individual congressman would be using our money, in the form taxes, to pay for their extravagant vacations to exotic destinations.  The total expenses accumulated on these “well earned” vacations would be free of charge to each congressman.  Of course, we aren the ones being affected by these common vacations.  Now everything has changed.  The Congressmen are being coerced to earn their seats in Congress by actually dealing with real and significant issues.  With an array of problems listed on the 111th Congress’ agenda, the least they could do is sacrifice their time off to be the “problem solvers” they advertised to be in their campaigns.  That was their job, wasn’t it?

-payam93

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The Great Schism Between Democrats and Republicans: Is This The Best Time For More Bitterness and Bickering?

Filed Under: Business and Economics, Politics
Feb.27, 2009

Ever since this past election, you have probably seen and heard about President Obama everywhere.  Of course there is no mystery to why, considering the countless promises and problems on his agenda.  This being his first term, and the fact that he has been given a “rockstar” appeal has left a major burden on the shoulders of our 44th president.  The latest and most important issue on the President’s agenda has been the economy.

Day after day, we have all heard how the economy is in the shambles.  It doesn’t matter if you’re 17 or 70; the economy is affecting teenagers and the elderly alike.  Teenagers want to get jobs, make money, and spend that money on miscellaneous things such as gas and fast food.  When the economy continues struggle, this common practice is hindered.  On the other hand, it’s not just teens who are affected, but our grandparents too.   How will they retire?  Will social security be enough?  Will Medicare take care of them?  The problems pile on.  So now that all heck has broken loose, who will figure out what to do?

As a result of all this chaos, President Obama proposed a bill regarding an economic stimulus.  This bill was asking congress to give the president somewhere in the range of 789 billion dollars so he could help maneuver America out of this current economic meltdown.  Although Obama promised bipartisanship politics throughout his presidency, this whole ideology came to a rocky start when only three Republicans throughout Congress voted for the stimulus package.  Therefore, President Obama was allotted the hefty sum to begin his attempt of fixing our economy.

Even though the bill passed, something still bothered me.  I fully understand that as an affiliate of your political party, you are to upheld the views and beliefs of the party you are representing.  The reality is that voting for a stimulus bill is not voting for abortion or the approbation of gay marriage;  issues that conservatives traditionally vote “No” on.  This is simply a stimulus bill.  It’s apparent that the amount of money allotted to the president is a large amount money.  In my opinion, the amount wasn’t the only reason that only three Republicans voted for the bill.  It is possible that the Republicans as a party resented Obama’s victory in the election.  It could be possible that Republicans, individually, decided to vote against whatever bill Obama would propose, regardless, of what was being proposed.  Of course Democrats and Republicans are two different parties with two opposite point of views.  This fact can’t be denied.  Nevertheless, partisan politics should not interfere in the future of this great country.  With this stimulus package serving as a “crutch”,  America’s economy should be back on its feet sooner or later.

–payam93

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