Is abortion a political or personal issue?

When it comes to abortion there is rarely an individual who falls into a gray area of agreeing or not agreeing with it. Someone like yourself either strongly disagrees or they strongly agree. I am one of those individuals who do fall into a category of understanding both sides of the argument. For a long time I was very much pro-life, I felt that who are we to say one can legally kill a child? Then I started researching abortion more and looking on the more political side of the issue. We as women have had many more obstacles then men have ever had or will ever have. They will never know what it is like to face an issue such as this because they physically cannot carry a baby nor have an abortion. To be faced with an unwanted pregnancy is terrifying and sometimes there is no other alternative.
When it comes to this issue I do call myself pro choice because although I personally will not ever have an abortion I feel that we deserve to have the option if we choice to. It is not breaking the law and in the first trimester when 95% of abortions are done, there is no way the fetus could live outside of the womb. I am not trying to justify my views to you are trying to sway you, but this issue is a political issue and if it could justly be considered homicide then abortion would not be legal. I am thankful that I live in a country where I can decide on issues such as having an abortion. I am also thankful that I live in a society where you too can voice your opinion and make your own choices.

Equality for ALL

Everyone in the world has an idea of what marriage entails and who it involves. When most people think of marriage they think of this union being between a man and a women. Is marriage really about the sex of the individuals or is it about the commitment and rights of the individuals? Although society has instilled since the beginning of time that marriage is between a man and a women in reality I think we should all ask ourselves if it really matters whom it is between and if we are violating our constitution by not allowing same sex marriages in a majority of our states.
This week has been an exciting and historical week for those who are fighting to have same sex marriages legalized. This is an issue that will have to be legalized through a state by state process and I feel that we are finally seeing it really begin. This past Wednesday Main passed a bill legalizing same sex marriages. Also on Wednesday New Hampshire voted in favor of same sex marriage. It is unsure if the bill will be signed since New Hampshire’s Governor John Lynch feels a law may not be necessary since they do recognize civil union. On Tuesday our nation’s capital voted in favor of recognizing same sex marriage. They will not give out marriage licenses to gay or lesbian couples but at least they are giving rights to those who get married in the states that have legalized it.
What harm will same sex marriage have on this nation? Who are we to not give same sex marriages the same recognition and rights that we give marriages between a man and women? I feel that much of the nation’s disapproval of same sex marriages simple derives from religion and what is considered to be right and wrong. This country is not supposed to make laws due to ones religious beliefs, yet it seems to be done over and over again. Allowing same sex marriages to be legal in all states will not change this countries moral. We are all humans with compassion and morals instilled in us and that will not change with allowing same sex marriages.
In the constitution it says that all people are created equal and that all citizens of the United States should be allowed the same rights regardless of race, sex, or religion. So how is this issue considered to be unconstitutional? I support and respect the decisions of the few states who allow same sex marriages and those states that allow civil unions. One can hope that one day our entire nation will recognize it, but until then it will continue to be a constant state by state fight.

Marriage or cohabitation, thats a good question

Living with your significant other can be a tricky topic and a tricky situation. I do agree with your view on not cohabiting with multiple people and while reading your article link, I do also agree that living with someone outside of marriage when one has a child is not a good idea. Some points though I do not agree with at all.
I have lived with my boyfriend going on 7 months. Now we are probably different then some couples you speak of since we did discussed marriage and where we wanted to take the relationship before we officially moved in together. We even met with a couple’s counselor before we officially took this step. In my experience, living together has made us even stronger. It has made me realize that I can actually marry him and live with him.
When it comes to statistics I cannot say that I agree. Since the 70's divorce has been on the rise. Over half of marriages end in divorce but I do not agree or believe that a majority of that is due to living with someone before they get married. It is extremely easy and acceptable to get divorced now a day whereas before it was looked down upon.
We are all entitled to our opinions and I do think you have some valid points. In my opinion though I think if a couple is smart about it and is doing it for the right reasons, why does it matter? Why should a state have it illegal? We are a Country built on freedom and this is just one of the many perks to living here.

Is this nations crime rate really effected by illegal immigration?

Illegal immigration has been a “problem” in this country for many years. Is illegal immigration really raising our crime rates? If we completely stopped illegal immigration would crime take a drastic fall? This is a touchy yet interesting subject because those who support illegal immigration and those who are against it are very passionate about their argument. I personally do not think that if this country completely knocked out illegal immigration we would see this drastic drop in crime. Statistically yes illegal immigrants do contribute to this countries crime rate, but so do legal immigrants, so do individuals here on temporary visas. It is so easy for those who are citizens here to jump to negative conclusions within the immigration debate when in fact they are not looking at the bigger picture.
In 2008 an immigration policy was put into play in Prince William County. This policy is having police officers are now required to check every individual’s immigration status when taken into custody. This was put into effect because many people in this County felt that illegal immigrants were the reason for neighborhood overcrowding and a raise in crime rate. This is a ridiculous way for this nation to try to minimize illegal immigration and I believe it is trying to start an issue with a group of people that needs to not be started. Do I believe that illegal immigration should be allowed all the time? Absolutely not but I think we as a Country need to work on our immigration process so that it is easier and faster for individuals wishing to live in the United States.
Much of the argument for this policy is that these new number s proves that illegal immigration is a large player in crimes. When I read Arrest Data Add Fuel to Debate on Illegal Residents I found it to have to opposite opinion. I have always felt that the petty crimes illegal immigrants contribute to be because they cannot get hired anywhere else because of their immigration status. It says that only 2% of crimes in Prince William County in the last 10 months were done by illegal immigrants; please explain to me how that constitutes illegal immigration being a major player in this County or rather this Nations Crime rate?
Illegal immigration does need to be controlled in some ways. I do believe that we should reevaluate how we run our immigration procedures. I do not believe that we should go around and make policies to try to intimidate people who are trying to make a life here in this Nation nor do I think we should attempt to kick them out.

Is this Country slipping into Socialism?

Do we the people really believe that Obama’s administration is pulling us into Socialism or dictatorship, or is this just the Republicans trying to complain about something else? On AMERICAblog one of its editors John Aravosis blogs that Republicans are throwing complaints at just about anything just so they can complain. Aravosis is a highly acclaimed journalist who has won many awards for his achievements and focuses his writing in D.C since he is also a political consultant. Aravosis is trying to reach an audience that shares his beliefs and also ones that may not. He wants to show anyone who is willing to listen and able to vote what his views are and how he believes they are correct. In Aravosis’s blog he shows a video clip of Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity stating that by the Obama Administration attempting to infiltrate into corporations to gain control of its CEO pay and other things is this administration pulling this country into Socialism or dictatorship. Aravosis finds this claim of these two men to be very hypocritical of them. He finds it to be funny how these men complain about what the Obama administration is trying to do when they in fact supported the Bush Administration when they were justifying spying on Americans. These men did nothing but bad talk the Constitution but now they are trying to imply that these Obama administration actions are unconstitutional. Hannity and Gingrich in the video clip claim that by the Obama administration wanting the right to limit executive pay (even for those corporations who are not receiving a bailout) and seeking the right to seize firms in order to benefit bills they want passed by using the reconciliation process is eliminating the need for the Republican vote and is wrong and unfair. Aravosis believes these men are wrong and unjust in their view and he fully supports what this administration is wanting and trying to do. He says “by passing this legislation it will be easier to stop a depression”, and considering his background in politics this could be true, even if we do not agree with it. Aravosis feels that these men’s logic is “Taking rights away from citizens is patriotic, but taking rights away from corporations is dictatorship”. He feels that they are extremely hypocritical and have no sense to their argument at all. Aravosis says support this administration because all they are trying to do is keep us out of another great depression. Do I agree with our government being able to go in and control aspects of our countries corporations? Absolutely not; but his blog was more or less showing how in the last 8 years they were ok with doing many unconstitutional things, now they want to yell and scream at anything Obama and his administration wants to do that may change anything.

Is our Economy at a point of no return?

Is our Economy at a point of no return? According to Paul Krugman’s article in the New York Times he has put his faith in Obama and believes that we are not at a point of no return. Krugman is a highly educated and experienced author of editorials and books. He also is a professor at Princeton University teaching Economics so he has a pretty good idea of how to understand and track our economy.
In his article Climate of Change Krugman is trying to reach an audience that is eligible to vote, and are supporters of not only Obama but also the Stimulus plan that was proposed by his administration. This article was very easy to read and understand which made this article very appealing to those who are not used to thinking “politically” but are interested in what is going on with our economy.
Although this article addresses a variety of issues within the Stimulus plan, his main claim is that the Nations deficit will be dramatically decreased by 2013, and that healthcare can begin to be reformed within Obama’s first term. He states that our nation’s huge deficit is based on our current economic situation, which is a temporary situation. Therefore, when this temporally situation passes then the budge should improve. Now we are spending 100 billion dollars a year in Iraq, but Obama is working towards removing troops from Iraq by 2013. Obviously that alone will substantially decrease our nation’s deficit.
In terms of reforming healthcare, Obama’s new budget allocates $634 billion dollars for healthcare reform. This would be spent over a ten year period. Although the public is assuming Obama is doing this by only taxing the wealthy citizens at a higher tax bracket, there is actually more to it. Obama will also be working with Medicare and attempting to reduce payout to insurance companies.
I have to say that I do agree with Krugman’s logic within this article. Although the money allocated in the budget for healthcare is not enough to do an entire over haul of the current healthcare system, it is a pretty good start and will set us on the right track to making healthcare more readily available to US citizen. If Obama can get us out of Iraq and the US undergoes severe economic recovery, then yes the nation’s deficit will be dramatically reduced by 2013.

Is $789 billion really enough?

On Wednesday Feb. 11th a bill was passed after a long and argument filled 24 hour debate. This bill is called the $789 billion economic stimulus bill. This bill's entire purpose is to help our economy and pull us into economic recovery. It is also striving to create more jobs by giving companies and consumer’s money. Obama has been in office a few weeks and he is already not only making a difference but also holding up his side of the deal. This entire article went from excitement for this new possible economic recovery bill that could pull us out of this recession, to the arguments of both the democrats and the republicans how this bill will not work. I really encourage everyone to read this article because it gave me a better understanding of how bad our economy is and how nobody can really seem to agree on how to fix it.
To me $789 billion dollars is a lot of money. According to the Democrats this still is not enough. Apparently when the bill was first put on the table they were asking for $ 2.5 trillion dollars to fix our economic crisis, are they serious? Is our economy really that bad right now? Although they agreed to make it "less" they were upset over the cuts that had to be made. Cuts on things that they felt are very important. I hope that they pass this bill officially and on Monday Obama signs it. Then hopefully we can start to see our economy rise again.