Comment on a colleague’s work #2

In Angela DeRiggi's editorial discussing same-sex marriage she argues that there should be a national law that would legalize marriage for anyone, regardless of sexual orientation. She states very solid reasons in a well put together and considerate way.

The fact that those who would like to marry with the same sex are restricted to specific areas of our country where it is allowed is ridiculous. I liked her stance on how religion has impacted this issue. Her belief that God doesn't discriminate is very interesting and brings a different, yet effective impact to her argument. Arguing for the national government to put in a national law that would legalize same-sex marriage is basically arguing that this issue shouldn't even be an argument in the first place and that it should be a clear cut decision to be enforced in all 50 states. I also agree that there is no set definition of happiness. We are all different and to say "this is how you become happy" or "this is what happy is" is selfish and wrong. She recognizes that and states it well.

Overall, it's hard for anyone to argue against what she's saying, because it's all fair and true and she is well informed and intelligent in her execution of the commentary. I believe it is tough for someone who is so close-minded to stand a chance against one who is open-minded and communicates well. The facts are there, the reasons are there and the argument is on point.

Editorial #2

In a recent Huffington Post article, Dan Sewell discussed remarks from Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner regarding immigration reform. Boehner blamed his own party for basically being lazy and not wanting to act on the issue. Democrats feel that Boehner is not living up to the position he holds. I agree with Democrats in that Boehner is a key figure for the Republican party and even if his comments were didn't mean much to him, he has to understand that everything anyone in the public eye says will be blown out of proportion and heavily analyzed. He should be more professional if he doesn't want people to call him out or take what he says seriously and needs to stop blaming the President or his own party for issues that he can contribute to as well. Having said that, I also believe that both parties should stop being so quick to jump on anything the opposite says and not feel the need to overreact on little things when there are much larger issues than a couple comments someone might say. It's hard to work together when you are so focused on making the other one look bad. Nothing is getting accomplished because the government is too set on their image. It's a shame the government will only focus on the negative when feeding off of the positive can be a big step in leading to progress. All in all, the big issue is the relationship between the two parties and their inability to recognize that the overall nation is suffering because of their own hatred.

Comment on a colleague’s work #1

In Angela DeRiggi's editorial about child care she discusses the need for free child care for families struggling financially to make ends meet. I thought her argument was very articulate and well put. I liked the reference to the HBO documentary that supported her stance on the issue. She appears very well informed on the subject and I agree with her point. Though it was a bit repetitive, the overall point was well said and easy to understand and I was influenced to feel the same way.

In Chris Edwards article Why Is the Federal Government So Wasteful he talks about the issues they have had in the past and today. He mentions how Obamacare website lunch didn't have the success it was suppose to have. Having the Federal Government fail recently isn't the first time, back in the 19th century there was a lot of wasteful spending on rifle and projects. Chris Edwards talks about how private business have made bad decision making, but also provide help to people where the government could not. Having the government be so large with so many different subdivision, how can you review all the spending that goes into it. Edwards quotes "The only real solution to the ongoing waste in the federal government is to downsize it. I think that policymakers shouldn't see spending cuts as being harmful to the people, but more as fixing a mess and expanding individual freedoms to people. Spending cuts would make sense whether or not the government was running the deficits. It would also expand freedom by giving people more control over their lives and reducing the federal spending. American government needs to reduce funding and poor decision making for programs. At the end of the article he wants the government to privatize their activities as much as they can. Having the best policy for the years ahead would be cutting most of the economic taxes, such as income tax. It would not only reduce budget deficits but also create benefits for a expanding economy.

On March 5th, 2014, Larry Crandell of the Huffington Post published an article titled "For Everyone Under 90 -- The Secret to Connection". Crandell discusses how quickly people can go from acquaintances to good friends by discussing love, relationships and just being interested in their passions, hopes, dreams and thoughts. Crandell is nearing 91 years of life and has seen many, many things in those 90+ years. I believe happiness is key to living life, and the happier you keep yourself, the healthier you are and the longer you are able to live. Crandell seems like an interesting and happy guy. He's is more than qualified to write about life, particularly about social interaction. He's been talking to people for nearly a century. That's a lot of conversations with a lot of people. I do agree with him, too. It's rare these days to meet people who will genuinely be interested or even bother to ask about the passionate things in your life. When you do meet someone that will, they stand out and are easier to talk to and you want to keep them around. Crandell is right in that the world we live in today is overtaken by technology and we use the internet and apps to meet people and communicate. The ones who take the time to ask you not just "How was your day?" but "What do you really want to accomplish by the time you die?" are special, unique people who create special, unique moments. For Crandell to suggest to be more like this is great. People have lost their social skills and the more people that show them the better we will all get along. He says he believes in peace on earth and I agree. Peace is attainable, but we must alter our perceptions on the planet and others in order to even understand peace. Crandell has a great argument and his story proves just how different your relationship to someone can be if you just dig deep and create something meaningful for a change. Life's too short to waste it away with missed opportunities or broken relationships when you can gain so much just by being friendly. Maybe someday all will get along.

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In Jason Linkins article Healthcare, he argues that the Democratic Democracy has failed to launch its website on healthcare, but there hasn't been any solution to fix it. If it wasn't for Ann Kirkpatrick, not a lot of people would have heard of the website. The people signing up to this website were having problems because it kept on crashing and everyone then blamed Obama for it. In the article, Senator Mary Landrieu said that individuals should be able to keep their insurance plans even if the plans did not meet the requirements of the health law. Talks about if anything is to blame, it's the government not being up to date with the 21s century. Jason Linkins thinks that future presidents need to be more responsible for the people to get the information on their laptops and their mobile devices. I would have to agree with Linkins because while our President is held responsible for the things, whether negative or positive, in or out of our country, that in no way means all of the blame should be put on one person. The government, like anything else, is a group effort and many people are involved. To put such extreme blame on Obama, without much criticism to the ones actually at fault is unfair and a bit ridiculous. To do so without offering any assistance or positive solutions is even worse. It is very easy to put the blame on one person, but also very illogical. To me, it's common sense, particularly when it comes to government, that when something negative happens, many factors and many people were involved and influenced what went on. To not provide any solutions to issues, but to shine negative light and complain about them, is immature and selfish. Overall Democrats aren't going to have a bad year in the polls, they just need to have more faith in the version towards the country.

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On Friday, February 7th 2014, CNN NEWS did a article on how Republicans slam the president job report. The argument was that Americans where wondering where the jobs in the nation were. You had 113,000 jobs available at the end of January, when economist said it was suppose to be 178,000. The reason why its dropping so low is because Americans are dropping out of the labor force. Over half the country over the age of sixteen was in the labor market, either they had one job or couldn't find one. The Republican Committee used the job report to judge Obamacare for it being at a low mark. If American was gonna be strong and have full employed workforce, it had to get rid of Obamacare because the American people couldn't afford it. The White house respond by saying they will defend their policies, but having more action needed. Overall America has added 8.5 millions the last 47 months, but still healing from the Great Recession.