You'd trust me with a car, but would you trust me with a ballot?
The National Youth Rights Association came up with a list of Top Ten Reasons To Lower The Voting Age. After reading this I have my own opinions about these points. Let's take this one at a time as I put in my 2 cents.
Reason #1: Youth suffer under a double standard of having adult responsibilities but not rights.
To be fair, some minors do not have have the same responsibilities as adults because of their parents. But in most cases yes, this is true. It's like he have to have all of the work adults do with no reward.
Reason #2: Youth pay taxes, live under our laws, they should have the vote.
Any tax-paying citizen should vote.
Reason #3: Politicians will represent their interests if youth can vote.
What interests do we have right now? Half-price sales at Hot Topic?
Reason #4: Youth have a unique perspective, they'll never have those experiences again.
No one will never have the same experience more than once. By unique perspective, I mean
Reason #5: 16 is a better age to introduce voting than 18; 16 year olds are stationary.
Probably half of 18 year olds are actually in college and not high school, so for the most part they are stationary, but I know quite well that during the transition from high school into life is hectic and usually involves a lot of moving and packing, which would make no room for going out and voting. Although, 16 year olds voting just because their stationary doesn't mean anything
Reason #6: Lowering the Voting Age will increase voter turnout.
Reason #7: If we let stupid adults vote, why not let smart youth vote?
I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.
Reason #8: Youth will vote well.
Maybe.
Reason #9: There are no wrong votes.
ha
Reason #10: Lowering the voting age will provide an intrinsic benefit to the lives of youth.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Defamatory Propaganda
Being a journalism major I can tell you that this headline was written extremely well. The phrasing is impeccably planned and deliberate in its purpose to deliver both a factually accurate message, along with a not-so-subtle false one.
You see, Obama did in fact make a phone call to thank the Libyan president following the attacks and deaths at the U.S. Embassy. The gratitude delivered to him was that resulting from President Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf reaching out and giving his condolences, his remorse and disdain for a few extremists that reside within his nation, and his full support in investigating this tragedy.
But Fox News knows that the majority of its viewer and readership won’t read past the headline. In fact, journalists know that a well-written headline should convey the core topic of the article, to catch attention and immediately make a statement without the reader having to read any of the actual article. What Fox News has done with this headline is purposefully sway readers into beleiving that our United States President made a phone call to THANK the Libyan president for the attacks and deaths of our fellow Americans. Crazy right?
Not. The scary part is that most people who see this headline are going to think just that. Regardless of the facts. Regardless of what should be common sense in that our own President would NEVER thank anyone for damage and death caused to his citizens.
This is irresponsible journalism, just one example of thousands of poor decisions that Fox “News” makes on a daily basis to feed its own fire and to steer its ignorant and ill-informed followers in whichever direction they see fit. But why not just call it what it really is?
Legal brainwashing and defamatory propaganda, not unlike that of Nazi Germany (Godwin’s Law or not) or Middle Eastern terrorist groups.
American terrorism, right here, right now."
I'm aware that I have just quoted this whole thing from a jounralist named Hayes' post on his Tumblr blog, but this is incredible. I never really sat down and looked at how headlines and propaganda affected me. When i saw the headline I saw exactly what they were trying to convey and its really frightening to know that I could be so influenced in such a way and that there was such a clear bias in the wording.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Romney "Lost the Election"
Romney this week has been caught saying a little too much about his voters that could be a real deal-breaker. In a "secret recording" that's been leaked everywhere it shows Romney saying that 47 percent of Americans "believe that they are victims," and "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
In an article on the Washington Post's website it goes into depth of who the 47 percent really are. 28.8 percent of people who don't pay income tax pay payroll tax, 10.3 percent are elderly, 6.9 percent are not elderly and make an income under 20,000, and 1 percent is other. This means a lot of these people are old and poor, who probably don't even make enough to pay income taxes. "Part of the reason so many Americans don’t pay federal income taxes is that Republicans have passed a series of very large tax cuts that wiped out the income-tax liability for many Americans." That means that Republicans are complaining about the effects that they have caused.
Some go even far enough to say that it's over for Romney, with their titles like "Today, Romney Lost the Election," which he might just have. The writer even goes as far as saying "Romney is the most opaque presidential nominee since Nixon," and we all know how Nixon worked out in the end. That's a pretty low blow but there's a hint of truth in it.
"Romney has been vigorously denying President Obama's claims that his tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class. Now, he's been caught on video suggesting that low- and middle-income Americans are undertaxed." That's a pretty large claim considering the fact that the low and middle class Americans pay 1.4 percent more than he does. If anything, the man who makes $21.6 million per year could afford to pay a higher percentage in taxes. He does say that he never paid less than 13 percent in taxes, but he sure is cutting it close.
In an article on the Washington Post's website it goes into depth of who the 47 percent really are. 28.8 percent of people who don't pay income tax pay payroll tax, 10.3 percent are elderly, 6.9 percent are not elderly and make an income under 20,000, and 1 percent is other. This means a lot of these people are old and poor, who probably don't even make enough to pay income taxes. "Part of the reason so many Americans don’t pay federal income taxes is that Republicans have passed a series of very large tax cuts that wiped out the income-tax liability for many Americans." That means that Republicans are complaining about the effects that they have caused.
Some go even far enough to say that it's over for Romney, with their titles like "Today, Romney Lost the Election," which he might just have. The writer even goes as far as saying "Romney is the most opaque presidential nominee since Nixon," and we all know how Nixon worked out in the end. That's a pretty low blow but there's a hint of truth in it.
"Romney has been vigorously denying President Obama's claims that his tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class. Now, he's been caught on video suggesting that low- and middle-income Americans are undertaxed." That's a pretty large claim considering the fact that the low and middle class Americans pay 1.4 percent more than he does. If anything, the man who makes $21.6 million per year could afford to pay a higher percentage in taxes. He does say that he never paid less than 13 percent in taxes, but he sure is cutting it close.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
We're doing this AGAIN?
I may be a little late on this but I just read this article today about how Kansas can't quite decide if Obama should be on the ballot because they believe that his records could be supplemented. I'm not sure if he would've been allowed to be president the first time if they were. In fact, i do remember there being a big debate even then. I feel like it's a sad last attempt to do away with Obama with this cliche issue. It even says that earlier this year Arizona considered removing Obama from the ballot. They were at least smart enough to back down after they were given proof, which they really did not need in the first place.
But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just not listening to all the facts. I went on politifact.com to see the debate. It appears that "Donald Trump" has a lot to say, along with "chain email".
The thing that really grinds my gears is that this is Kansas. This is the place of his mother, his grandparents who helped raise him. In my eyes it's practically a third home for Obama, right behind Hawaii and the White House. It just seems really odd and sad to me..
But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just not listening to all the facts. I went on politifact.com to see the debate. It appears that "Donald Trump" has a lot to say, along with "chain email".
The thing that really grinds my gears is that this is Kansas. This is the place of his mother, his grandparents who helped raise him. In my eyes it's practically a third home for Obama, right behind Hawaii and the White House. It just seems really odd and sad to me..
Monday, September 17, 2012
Turning Point In the Election?
So I read today about how apparently Mitt Romney isn't doing so well with his campaign, and by "not doing so well" I mean, and I quote, "the Republicans managed to stage the least effective convention in modern political history."
It seems to me like this convention could be the turning point of this election, and I really hope it is.
It is addressed in the article that most of his campaign has been focused on Obama, in that everything Obama isn't doing, he could. To me it sounds like he's doing a rendition of Annie Get Your Gun's "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)", which is just a childish little number that doesn't really convince anyone of anything.If he's going to make things better, he should really clearly say how, and without making a lot of promises that he surely can't keep.
He really does talk a big game, especially in the way he and his advisors have talked about the Lybia Attack, to which Obama responded with “The fact is that any president of either party is going to be confronted by crises while in office, and Gov. Romney continues to demonstrate that he is not at all prepared to manage them.”
I definitely agree here.
It seems to me like this convention could be the turning point of this election, and I really hope it is.
It is addressed in the article that most of his campaign has been focused on Obama, in that everything Obama isn't doing, he could. To me it sounds like he's doing a rendition of Annie Get Your Gun's "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)", which is just a childish little number that doesn't really convince anyone of anything.If he's going to make things better, he should really clearly say how, and without making a lot of promises that he surely can't keep.
He really does talk a big game, especially in the way he and his advisors have talked about the Lybia Attack, to which Obama responded with “The fact is that any president of either party is going to be confronted by crises while in office, and Gov. Romney continues to demonstrate that he is not at all prepared to manage them.”
I definitely agree here.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Where I Stand In The 2012 Election
So today I took a quiz on isidewith.com to find out where I stand on the 2012 elections. Here are my results:
According to the website, I side with Obama more than any of the other candidates. I'm actually a little surprised because although I am very fond of Obama as a person, I didn't know if I agreed with him stood when it came to his political views.
Things Obama and I agree on:
~Pro-choice on abortion.
~Gay couples should have the same rights as married couples.
~Health insurance couples should provide free birth control.
~Evolution is a scientific fact.
~The U.S. should intervene in the affairs of other countries only in matters of national security, human rights violations, or specifically asked by the international community.
~The should U.S. maintain a presence at the United Nations.
~Foreign terrorism suspects should be tried in military tribunals but not subject to torture.
Welcome!
Hello Everyone! Welcome to my brand-spanking new blog made especially for my Honors Government/Economics class. Here is where you'll watch me learn and grow by recording my government education during the first quarter of school. Please bear with me until I get my blog set up. Once it does, you won't regret it! I'll be posting regularly and I'm going to try and make everything interesting. Okay, let's do this!
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