Taxes used to shovel horse manure

"Shovel-ready: Stimulus funds still being spent on manure project" by Elizabeth Harrington

As part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus act, passed over five years ago, $60,000 in taxpayer dollars is being used to haul manure from a public corral in Oregon that holds horses awaiting adoption. People who are up for the task will get paid $17 per hour plus fringe benefits. If there is a beneficial use for the manure then it will be utilized, otherwise the manure will be disposed of.

These funds allotted to the horse corral will benefit them and the workers who get paid. However, this also will contribute to the budget deficit. It could possibly have a beneficial impact if it it used as fertilizer, but the article says that it might not be.

I think that although this helps create jobs, the money could be put to much better use, or not used at all. The whole idea behind mixed economies and capitalist economies is that privatizing businesses creates a drive to work and spend money in appropriate and beneficial areas. We have also discussed the growing debt of America. The debt should be a priority, not horse manure.

Fear and Anxiety Equals More Gun Sales

In the article titled "Gun Sales Boomed in November," Smith discusses how Black Friday and Ferguson-related fears led to an increase of about 12% in gun sales from October.  1.8 million background checks were performed in November, with 175,000 occurring on Black Friday.  Fear and anxiety often lead to increases in the amount of people buying guns, which is why ironically the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary led to the biggest month of sales ever since people were scared of gun restrictions passing.  Those restrictions, however, never happened.

As more and more people continue to buy guns, it is more likely that people will push for gun restrictions, especially if more shootings occur.  However, events like the one in Ferguson could lead people to instead not want gun restrictions because they would want self defense.

There are too many guns in circulation to prevent people from getting them.  I would not be against gun legislation banning automatic weapons, but other legislation would do no good and anger many people since right to bear arms is guaranteed in the Constitution.

Voting is a Right

In the article titled "Federal Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin Law Requiring Photo ID as Polls," Davey and Yaccino discuss the 2011 law that was struck down earlier this year. The judge ruled that this law violated the 14th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act because proportionally, there are more black Wisconsin citizens living below the poverty line than white citizens. Those who live below the poverty line have more trouble finding transportation to obtain photo IDs, and they are less likely to use these photo IDs for things like banking and international travel. Critics also point out that this might have proportionally prevented more Democrats from voting than Republicans. However, advocates say that this law helped prevent fraud and increased confidence in the voting system.

This decision shows that the judicial system is using the 14th Amendment to protect the basic rights of people. However, a Supreme Court decision on a law in Indiana upheld a similar law in 2008. It will be interesting to see if this law gets appealed to the Supreme Court.

Until fraud becomes a major issue, I think that restrictions like these should not be allowed because everyone has the natural right to vote. However, if voting fraud begins to increase, a measure may need to be found that helps prevent fraud at very little inconvenience to the voting population.

Republicare

In the article titled, "What a Republican Senate Means for Obamacare-And What it Doesn't," by Sam Baker, the new Republican Senate majority is discussed.  Republicans are now in 51 of the Senate seats, and many of them got there on a campaign promise to work toward the repealing of Obamacare. It is unlikely that the Senate would reach the 60 needed votes to completely get rid of Obamacare, but only 51 votes will be needed to make certain changes to the plan.

This Republican Senate majority will most likely lead to some changes, but the GOP will still need to show American citizens that they are doing more than just fighting Obamacare if they want to have strong results in the next election. It will be interesting to see any changes that are made to Obamacare.

I think it may be a good thing to have a Republican Senate to offer a different point of view. I do not know enough about Obamacare to know what changes would be best for the country. Now that I have voted for the first time, I am more interested in the effects an opposing Legislative and Executive branch will have on this country.

Link: http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/what-a-republican-senate-means-for-obamacare-and-what-it-doesn-t-20141105

South Dakota may not be a Key Player Anymore

Recent evidence had suggested that the Republicans in Washington were pouring in large amounts of money into the SD senate race to help Republican Mike Rounds win the election and give SD two Republican senators.  However, the article titled "GOP pulling cash from South Dakota Senate race" says that the GOP is very confident that Mike Rounds will win, so it is no longer necessary to provide him with more funds.  The National Republican Senatorial Committee is planning on canceling over $300,000 in funds.  The confidence of the Republicans comes from a recent poll that had Mike Rounds in the lead.

This article may have an effect on those voters who are still wavering between candidates.  They may begin to see less advertisements for Mike Rounds.  However, according to this article, this should not affect the outcome of the election.  Elections are approaching fast and many people probably already know who they are voting for.

I am not a fan of the biased and attacking political ads that are always on TV, so I am happy to hear that they may be slowing down.  It is surprising that people can feel so confident about the outcome of an election days before it even happens.  I think that less money should be spent on campaigning and more on other aspects of government.

Link: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/2014-south-dakota-elections-mike-rounds-nrsc-weiland-pressler-112232.html

Record-Breaking Spending

Jim Morrill discusses the Senate race that is going on in North Carolina in the article titled "

Tillis-Hagan showdown could be nation’s most expensive Senate race ever." Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan are receiving massive amounts of donor money in this tight race. Combined, the two have paid for about 80,000 TV ads through October 13, which is three ads every 5 minutes and is expected to add up to over $103 million. These campaigns will surpass the 2012 race in Massechusettes between Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Scott Brown who combined spent around $76 million.

This Senate race is drawing national attention as it nears the end. It will be interesting to see how the amount of donor money affects the outcome. The amount of ads has likely made the NC citizens very informed on the senators they are voting on, but I am sure that all of these ads were very biased.

In my opinion, it is a shame that this much money is spent on just campaigns for the candidates. It would be better if they could have saved this money to help institute changes they want to make while in office. However, in today's ad-filled society that would be hard to accomplish. Also, if I was living in NC I would have grown very tired of seeing these ads so often.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/10/18/5250909/tillis-hagan-showdown-could-be.html#storylink=cpy

Link: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/10/18/5250909/tillis-hagan-showdown-could-be.html#.VEbA1Pm-3PY

Improvements to be made in air travel

The article titled "Flight returns to San Francisco airport after cabin wall panels come loose" discusses the flight of the Boeing 757 on Monday, October 13. As the plane took off from the San Francisco airport en route to Dallas, passengers said that they heard loud popping noises as the plane shook. The side panels in row 14 began to come loose, but cabin pressure did not change and the oxygen masks did not deploy. The pilot announced that the flight would continue to Dallas, but he changed his mind when he saw the panels for himself. None of the 184 passengers were hurt, but the FAA is still going to try to diagnose the problem.

This incident was likely scary for all of the passengers, and they were probably upset about the long delays caused from this event. However, this scary incident might have a positive impact on air travel safety as the FAA works to resolve this problem. Since no one was hurt, it may be a good thing that this happened. Maybe planes will have to go through more frequent checks and simulations, and the production of future planes may also be affected.

I am glad that no one was hurt on the plane, and I hope that this does prompt some changes in the aviation industry. Plane safety has been improved greatly since 9-11, and I will still feel safe while flying because I know instances like this one are continuing the push towards extremely safe air travel.

Article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/10/14/flight-returns-to-san-francisco-airport-after-cabin-wall-panels-come-loose/

Rebublicans Want to Win the Senate

The article titled "Senate Republican's campaign arm says it's raised record $15.5M in Sept., no word on savings" discusses how the Republican senators campaign has bounced back from previous low months of funding to receive four times the average amount in the month of September.  The National Republican Senatorial Committee declined to comment on how much money they have spent in their campaign, but they will have to release these details by October 20.  Senate Republicans feel optimistic that this boost of confidence is a sign that they will pick up the 6 seats needed to have a majority of Republicans in the Senate.

These statistics might have a huge impact on the outcome of the upcoming elections.  This may be one of the first months that the Republican Committee raises more than the Democrats, but it is happening at a very crucial time.  After Republicans failed to win the majority in the senate and the presidency, donors are most likely wanting to contribute even more this year.

In my opinion, raising money is very important to the success of a campaign.  However, the politicians themselves will be the ones who ultimately determine who the voters will choose.

Article:  http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/10/07/senate-gop-campaign-almost-16m-raised-in-sept

What is the Value of Saving Lives?

     The article "U.S. has already spent nearly $1 billion fighting ISIS" talks about the expected costs to continue the fight of the ISIS terrorist group.  Currently this money has just been put towards air strikes, but the cost could increase if the US decides to deploy ground troops.  If air strikes continue and ground troops are inserted,  the war against ISIS could cost roughly $4 billion.
     This article helps show people that even though it is extremely important to combat terrorism, they must still look at the costs.  There is the cost of bombing, but there would also be the cost of human lives if troops are deployed, but currently the president does not plan on deploying troops.
     In my opinion, there is no cost that can be placed on the lives of innocent humans.  The US should look into asking the UN to assist in the costly bombing raids.  If we do not spend money to stop the terrorists now, we could end up paying even more for damages to property and people.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/30/news/economy/isis-cost/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Scott Moore is Captive no More

In the article titled "American journalist freed from Somali pirates," the release of journalist, Michael Scott Moore, is discussed.  Moore was in captive for over two years in Somalia after he was captured while researching Somalia pirates.  Moore's family was extremely happy to have him back, but they declined to comment if a ransom had been paid for Moore.  Moore said that he was mentally and physically exhausted from being held by the pirates, but he will soon make a full recovery. Interestingly, Moore's stories of his time in Somalia lead us to believe that illegal fishing by European countries off the coast of Somalia might be a driving factor for Somalians who resort to piracy.

This article could have two possible effects.  First of all, it is a powerful reminder of the dangers of traveling in third-world countries.  When Moore was captured, a no travel advisory to Somalia had been issued by the US.  Second, if Moore's stories are true, it may lead to an investigation of European fishing practices that are hurting the fishing industry in Somalia.  In my opinion, piracy is not a good option to resort to in order to compensate for stolen fish.  I thought that the most important part of this article was that the Somalians captured a reporter. Maybe they did this on purpose so that someone influential with a wide audience would be able to spread their complaints of illegal European fishing.

Article link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/23/world/africa/somalia-american-journalist-released/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

The Purpose of the Media

After reading the article, "C-SPAN bus rolls into town, but students still skeptical of political process," I felt that an injustice had been done to my classmates and the student body of St. Thomas More.  The article told a one-sided story about teens who are not interested in government and politics.  Although this may be true or partially true for many, it was an inaccurate account of the AP Government class.

The purpose of news is to tell an unbiased account of an event.  It seems to me that the reporter had a biased view of teenagers' interest in politics before she even came to STM.  Had she not been biased, she would not have picked out the few negative quotes about our government that was shared in the long process of the interviews.  Unfortunately, she probably assumed that sharing a negative view of our political interests would provide a more exciting story for the readers of the Rapid City Journal.  This is why the media cannot be trusted to provide accurate accounts; they benefit more from interesting articles that more people will read.