Virginia Governors Race

Based on what I have heard and read, I think that Bob McDonald will with the Gubernatorial race. Even though in recent elections, Virginia has been moving more and more democratic, The democratic candidate, Creigh Deeds, seems to have made a few vital mistakes. Many republicans blame the current situation on the Democrats is D.C. pushing some people against any democratic candidate. To try and compensate, Deeds tried not to ally himself with any Democrats in D.C. including President Obama. this could easily cost him the election. Obama won Virginia in the 2008 election, which was the first time in decades that Virginians went democratic. He is clearly popular in Virginia, which Deeds could have used to his advantage. But instead he pushed the other direction, a move that could cost him this November Gubernatorial election, leaving the Republican candidate, Bob McDonald, our new Governor.

Current Event Week 5

U.N. officials arrive in Iran to inspect new nuclear facility. On Sunday international officials from The Unites Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Iran to inspect a newly disclosed nuclear facility. The IAEA representatives are visiting to make sure the facility is being used for peaceful purposes. On Friday Iran said that it need more time to decide on signing a deal that help in ending the international showdown with its nuclear activity. It calls for low-enriched uranium produced in Iran to be sent out of the country for further enrichment and then returned for use in medical research and treatment. Iran informed the IAEA that they are considering the proposal in favorable light, but they need more time to respond. The IAEA states that "approval of this agreement will signal a new era of cooperation," which seems hopeful for all.Tehran sent shock waves through the international community by revealing in a letter to the IAEA the existence of a second nuclear enrichment facility. After the inspection Iranian officials are expected to meet with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to further discuss Tehran's nuclear program. Iran leaders still maintain that their facilities are peaceful.

I am hopeful that Iran will sign the treaty. An era of peace in one of the most war stricken areas of the world could have a huge impact. I have no idea whether Iran will use its nuclear power for peace, bu I trust the IAEA to do its job in evaluating its legitimacy. I hope that Iran will maintain its peaceful intentions.

Heres the link.

Current Event Week 4

After the South Carolina Republican shouted "You Lie!" Joe Wilson has become a household name. He has since apologized and spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars on an aggressive marketing and fundraising operation. Wilson has collected nearly $2.7 million since his outburst. Those in charge of his 2010 campaign have made an effort to capitalize on his new publicity and support from republicans around the country. He has since spent $52 thousand on web design and online advertising, as well as $42 thousand to help boost his profile on Twitter and social networking sites. In the end Wilson's team has spent roughly $235,000 on fundraising and communication. Rob Miller, Wilson's opponent raised $1.7 million at the same time, but his campaign spent considerably less on fundraising and marketing efforts.

Regardless of what Wilson said, I think that this event highlights just how ridiculous campaign spending is. If these people really cared about the issues that they campaign for, why are they wasting millions that could go strait to solving these issues. Politicians seem like unnecessary middle men. In the end funds are being taken away from there original purpose. People should spend money on what they think is important, not on electing someone with the same values, its just ridiculous.

Here is the link.

The Biggest Issue Facing Virginia

I think the biggest issue facing the state of Virginia is jobs. With the economy in its current recession, many Virginia's are finding themselves jobless. The federal government has issued stimulus packages, but nothing has solved the problem yet in the state of Virginia. The Virginia job market is different than other parts of the country. Here in northern Virginia it is very different from the south. Most of our parents and friends have well paid jobs that are usually in demand, but in the south, where there are more people working for minimum wage and working less specialized jobs, many more citizens have fallen into unemployment. With out jobs many of these people and there families will fall into debt. This would continue to intensify these economic issues for the state of Virginia.

Presidential Report Card

As far as health care reform, I would give Obama a B. He seems to be making a clear effort for change, but I honestly don't know enough about the current health care system to tell how big of changes are needed. But he really needs to begin pushing his health care through congress, because it doesn't matter how good his ideas are if they are never put into action.

With the current economy, I'd give Obama a C. But I'm not so sure its fair to grade him on the state of the economy, because we live in a free economy, where the government does not have totally control over the economic situation. Obama has tried a couple of stimulus plans, but he has yet to make a big change in the current recession.

I would give Obama a C on the War in the middle east. I understand that we cant just pull the troops out of Iraq, but I think that Obama needs to make a bigger push towards getting our men and women out of there. He is currently debating how many troops to send into Afghanistan, its complicated and I don't know what he should be doing but I hope he can push for peace.

Curent Event Week 3

On Sunday, thousands of gay and lesbian rights activists marched along Pennsylvania Avenue. Many strait and gay people marched on the capital to remind President Obama of one of his many campaign promises that he has yet to take any action on. During Obama's campaign for presidency he said "I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,", which rallied a lot of support from the gay community. But with the economic recession and the war in the middle east, President Obama has yet to do any work on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military, which does not allow openly gay me or women in the military. Obama never put forth an agenda for ending this policy, but activists are hopeful that he wont go back on his promises to get closer to ensuring equality. As one protester said, "If somebody doesn't have equal rights, then none of us are free."

I think equally has always been an important aspect of our country. Some one's sexually orientation should not prevent them from serving our country, and in no way hinders their ability to preform military service. I think that this policy is dated and needs to be changed. I also think that its important for political figures to keep their campaign promises. I should hope that the person that we elect as our commander and chief is true to the American people. Granted Obama does has a lot on his plate, but I think that he should at least being to address this important issue.

Current Event Week 2

While running for office, President Obama promised to try to end the war in Iraq and said that the war in Afghanistan was a" war of necessity". And he has pulled many troops out of Iraq and placed many more in Afghanistan. But the Obama administration seems to have reached an impasse. Some of Obama's top advisers are warning of the possibility of failure, and think that 40,000 more men are necessary to win the war. The Obama administration is rethinking there strategy once again. But Obama's advisers are split over what to do. Vice-President Joe Biden is said to support bringing the troops home and fighting al Qaeda rather than the Taliban. But Republicans are hopping Obama will mantain his promise to win in Afghanistan.

I'm never sure how I feel about our country fighting a war, and apperently the american public agrees, the support for the war has fallen to 39 percent. the death rates from this war on terror are already rediculus. I understand why we are in this war on terrorism, but I always feel that more violence can never solve the problem of violence. But in this situation its pretty obvious that diplomacy wont do much good. It'll be interesting to see how the war ends up playing out.

Issues That Interest Me

I'm actually interested in the economy. I know that with this current recession everyone is calling for change in our economic situation. There are a lot of ideas that have been proposed, but too me, they all seem the same. I think that its important for all Americans to fully understand the economy because it plays such a vital role in every ones' day to day lives. You'd think that we would want to be able to understand something very thoroughly before we invested all of our savings into it. As an adult with more money to invest, I know that I will need to at least vaguely understand what is going on. I really hope to gain a better understanding of not only how the current American economy works, but also how all of these potential economic solutions could affect the economy and its current recession.