Alomst There...

After meeting with Senate democrats president Obama announced that Congress was "on the precipice" of passing the health care refrom bill. However, even Obama admitted that there needs to be a few changes before the bill will pass. These changes include dropping a government-run health insurance option along with a provision that would allow 55-64 year-olds to buy Medicare. I hope that these changes will take place quickly so that the health-care bill will be able to pass and become law quickly.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/15/health.care.lieberman/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34446325/ns/politics-health_care_reform/

Setting a Precedent?

The District of Columbia city council overwhelmingly voted to legalize gay marriage. This means that gay couples could get married in D.C. as early as March 2010. However, the gay marriage opponents are saying they will try very hard to get this bill overturned in the polls or in Congress. Although I do believe people should be able to do as they wish in America, I am in strong opposition to gay marriage. Marriage between two partners of the same sex is not how it is meant to be. I hope that this doesn't cause states to assume that they must legalize this as well.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34434743/ns/politics/

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/15/dc.gay.marriage/index.html

Democratic Split!

The Democratic Party is beginning to fissure due to the health care plan that has split liberals against centrists. Differences in public ideology regarding public option and abortion are the main roots of this division. This scasm is very threatening to the Democrats because of the 2010 mid-term elections coming up in less than 11 months. I believe it may cause the Democrats to loose their majority in the House but probably not the Senate because senator's jobs are more secure than members of the House, and not every senator will even be running for reelection. I believe incumbants may not win the House like they normally do. This is because a country-wide swing may be coming about.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/11/democrats.divided/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34382653/ns/health-health_care/

Success Finally?

A compromise was made today in the Senate regarding the healthcare bill. The main component of this compromise replaced the controversial public option part of the bill. I believe that this compromise will result in the passage of the bill and will make a significant mark on history. In addition, I believe it will help Obama's public image. Those who are adamently against the bill will dislike him even more and those in the support of the bill will come to support him at a greater level. However, many people who are nuetral will be more likely to support Obama because they see he is standing up for what he believes in and is actually getting something done.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/09/health.care/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34326187/ns/politics-capitol_hill/

More Fairness?!?!?

The Democrats are propsoing a new process regarding the nomination of their presidential candidate. This will create a more fair process by establishing a new primary calendar and giving political insiders/lawmakers less of an influence in choosing the candidate. I am in complete support of this proposal because the "common man" will gets his poinion heard more clearly and there will be less unfair deals in this sector of politics.

Image: A main supporter of the proposal

www.politicalticker.cnn.com/2009/12/05/democrats-consider-new

http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/11/23/reform-of-the-democrat

How long will this last?

As president Obama added 30,000 troops to Afghanastan, many are wondering when and if we will ever get out of the country. These fears are very accounted for considering that now, the pullout date is on hold. In addition, the exit strategy is not absolute. I believe the date will contince to be delayed, and I think that we will not be out of the country by 2011 or even in the next 10 years.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34260027/ns/politics-white_house/

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/03/afghanistan.troop.issues/index.html

A Nearly Impossible Task

As we all know, Obama will be addressing the country tonight about the war in Afghanistan. I believe he has a difficult task in front of him. In order to convince the public to approve of his plan to add 30,ooo more troops will take some serious skill. Not only will he need to utilize his best techinques but he will also have to make note of a few other things. He will need to play down the cost of the war especially because of his new health care reform bill. This will be very difficult because of the amount of money that has already been spent. Also, he will need to place and end to this war and persuade Americans that more troops will lead to a quicker end to the war as opposed to a longer war that is far from complete.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/12/01

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/11/30/

60 Votes Away

The new health care bill only needs 60 votes to become reality. However, these votes will be harder to come by then originally expected. Some Democrats say they will vote for it only if restrictions are tightened while others say they will only vote in favor if restrictions are loosened. This creates a real problem for the Senate majority leader Harry Reid. He wants to get this bill passed once and for all because he sees it as the people's will considering they have elected presidents who have tried repeatedly to get a plan similar to this one passed. I agree with Harry Reid and wish this will pass by Christmas, but I doubt it will get passed then and possibly not at all until major changes take place.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34193191/ns/politics-health_care_reform/

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/21/senate.health.bill.expect/index.html

Revival

The debate over the healthcare bill has sparked a revival in anti-abortion and pro-choice groups across the country. However, the groups seem to have overreacted according to most politicians. The health care bill would not use any tax money to fund abortions, and no one in the healthcare debate proposes adding or taking away restrictions on the actual procedure.

I believe that although the reaction may have been extreme, it is positive that so many people are crusading for what they feel is right. Americans are not involved enough in politics, and this is a way for them to get more involved.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34121980/ns/politics-the_new_york_times/

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/20/sotu.john.king/index.html

Ironic Opinions

A coalition of religious leaders are adamently opposing any healthcare bill that supports abortions. The leaders met and wrote "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience," a piece vigorously opposing any and all abortion funding.


Although, I have nothing against those who are against abortion (for I hold similar views), many of these people are very inconsistent in their views. Abortion is against their religion, but helping the poor and less fortunate is also a key aspect of many Christians and Caltholics. The health care bill would be very helpful to all less fortunate. However, it seems as if the religious advocates are very single-minded and only focus on two issues: abortion and gay rights. Although these are very important aspects, they should not be the base of every religious persons's decisions.





http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/20/christian-leaders-issue
http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/11/coming-up-on-this-week

Are Interest Groups too Controlling?

California is passing a new law imposing energy efficiency standards for television. The new tvs will use 33% less energy by 2011 and 49% by 2013. I see this as a victory for the environmentalist interest groups, but most importantly, I believe interest groups in general are taking over government. They are all imposing their independent and specialized interests, causing the government to be run by these groups.

www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/18/california.efficient.televisions
www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/us/19televisions.html

Are Filibusters Busted?

The Repbulicans tried to use a filibuster so Democratic Judge David Hamilton would not be able to take his seat on the federal appeal courts. Unfotunately for the GOP this technique failed and the Senate voted 70-29 in favor of Hamilton.

Filibusters are a thing of the past. These days, they don't seem to work as successfully as they used to, but most importantly I see them as unfair. Politicians should not have to wait hours upon hours to simply vote. They have a life like the rest of us and many have families at home they support and need to spend time with. Politicians' hours should be reasonable and most importantly, they need to cast their vote. If the fail to cast their vote (because of a filibuster) they are unable to represent their people.

www.politicalticker.cnn.com/2009/11/17/senate-democrats-bread-gop-judicial-filibuster

www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/17/democrats-posied-end-gop-filibuster

What's up with our Electoral College?

America needs to graduate and become real democracy. Instead of a winner-take-all system, America should come up with a compromise and do what Colorado has proposed: allocate electoral votes in proportion to the percentage of popluar votes each candidate recieves. This would cause more people to vote because every vote would count. For example, Democrats in Texas would want to vote because they would be able to get atleast one electoral votes.

www.therestofus.org/electoral_college/quickfixes.htm

www.community.comcast.net/comcastportal/board/message

Term Limits in Congress?

That's right. Some Republicans in Congress are proposing an amendment to limit the terms of Senators and Congressmen. Under this amendment, Senators would be able to serve 12 years while Congressmen would be able to serve only 6 years. I believe that this is an important step that will lead to change in Washington because new ideas must be rotated through Congress in order for change to take place. With our current system, permanent politicians are "ruling" and individualism is not thriving like the Founding Fathers envisioned.

Republican Senator DeMint (pictured above) is the main proponent of this amendment.

www.nowpublic.com/world/senator-dermit-wants-term-limits
www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/11/congress.term.limits

Health Reform Bill Won't Pass Senate

Although the health care reform bill passed the House of Representatives, there is no way that it will find enough support in the Senate. This is mainly because a few democrats don't even support the bill. None of the republicans will vote for the bill and without all of the democratic votes, it will fail to pass. The bill that passed the House should have been altered so it would have more support in the Senate. Then, it could pass by the end of this year and by election season next year, the Democrats would still be able to keep control of both houses. I believe that the bill needs to pass because Americans are spending increasing amounts of money on health care, and the bill would lower the cost of healthcare.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/politics/main/5588038.shtml
www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/09/health.care/index.html