Let’s Talk Media

So…lots of things have magically happened overnight in US politics.  Yes, it is true…after days of a lull in political news there is now a lot on which to report.  Let’s start off on some foreign policy issues.  Alright, so we have our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in Pakistan today.  It is not a surprise that she is over there considering all of the tension that has been occurring between us and them since the killing of Osama Bin Laden.  No…the real surprise is BBC News’ hook for the story, “Clinton Woos Pakistan Leadership”.  Now, of course being the curious person that I am, the hook worked, and I just had to click on it.  When I opened it up the headline was suddenly different.  It stated, “Clinton exonerates Pakistan to talk to leaders”, and, in the process of this conversation, she mentioned that she did not think that any senior leaders in Pakistan knew that Osama Bin Laden was in close proximity to Islamabad.  Hillary clearly stated, “[the US] had absolutely no evidence that anyone at the highest level of the Pakistani government knew where Bin Laden was”.  I don’t really see how she was wooing the Pakistani leaders.  In reality she was only giving information about what the United States had learned in regards to Pakistan’s knowledge of Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts.  Remember, back on May 18 Defense Secretary Robert Gates had commented on the fact that there was evidence pointing to a lesser or retired official who knew Bin Laden was in Pakistan, not a high ranking official.   Hilary was only stating what she had learned in the investigation.  This is a prime example of the media trying to put a spin on the story.  BBC News was trying to make this encounter sound like Clinton was sugarcoating the situation and placating the Pakistani leaders.  Yes, it is true that we need to mend our relationship with Pakistan; however, Clinton was just stating the facts.

         

          Anyway, onto an update on the 2012 presidential race…Mitt Romney is officially becoming a presidential candidate contender…next week.  According to Yahoo News, after getting stomped out of the race in 2008, he has decided to go for the nomination again.  He has recently arrived in Iowa for the upcoming primary season even though Iowa was a key state where he lost the last battle for the nomination.  I don’t know how good the prospects look for Mr. Romney.  Yahoo had mentioned that he may find it difficult to get the nomination because there are other contenders who are considered better choices for the nomination.  I personally think that Tim Pawlenty has a shot.  He is pushing for Social Security reform.  He is proposing to raise the retirement age, and while I don’t necessarily agree with that (because I don’t want to be working into my 70s), there are a lot of people who are following him.  He is hashing out ideas that are a little radical for the Republican Party, and while he has moved farther to the right during his campaign for the nomination, he is still in 5^th or 6^th place.  Also, Sarah Palin has been getting a lot of attention from the media lately, and she does have followers.  She may not actually be running, but she keeps hinting.  I haven’t really seen Mitt Romney in the news recently, and he was in the same boat as Sarah Palin.  The media has been highlighting other potential candidates...and Donald Trump.  As of right now he does not seem like the most watched potential candidate.  I mean, people who aren’t even thinking of running, people like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, are getting more attention in the 2012 race news.  I also feel as if this is yet another situation in which the media is trying to influence people’s opinions.  One of the most important things for a potential candidate seeking nomination is to get media time.  This way they can get free advertising and spread their ideas around.  Maybe Romney just needs to try harder.  Hey, maybe we’ll even see him in the news more often since he is going to put his bid in for the nomination.

          Speaking of Palin and media attention, who hasn’t heard about Sarah Palin’s new movie coming to a TV near you?  On every media source (at least on all the ones that I have seen) Sarah Palin: The Movie (I don’t know if it is actually called that) is being hyped up a lot.  It is going to be similar to a documentary and was made for PR purposes.  She is going on tour to promote it this Memorial Day weekend.  Also, The New York Times reports that Fox News analysts are expecting that she will form an exploratory committee and become a contender in the near future.  Alright, this feels like a situation of “so-an-so wanted me to tell you that who’s-a-what said his mother’s cousin’s aunt’s best friend needed to see your dog”.  Ok, so it’s not that serious, but the news is reporting on the news!  Well, I guess when you think about it, it’s more like a case of redundancy becoming redundant.  I know they are just quoting sources, but they are also quoting another news source’s speculations.  It’s not like they had their own analysts say, “Oh, I think Sarah Palin is going to try and become president”, because they totally could have.  I don’t know.  The media just gets really ridiculous sometimes.

          Ok, well, we are now coming to the end of what I consider to be a somewhat light news week.  Never take something like that for granted though.  It just means that the world was a smidgen calmer this week, and God knows we all need a little serenity in our lives.  So, without further ado, I bid you good day and must conclude by saying: keep ticking and stay informed!

SOURCES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13570803

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_usa_campaign_romney;_ylt=Ag6mDr1I814mxgrcKe4LZMSyFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTJyZGhjZzI3BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwNTI3L3VzX3VzYV9jYW1wYWlnbl9yb21uZXkEY3BvcwM0BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNyb21uZXl0b2VudGU-

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/palin-to-launch-public-tour/?ref=politics

The End of Oprah...The End of the World...The End of My Patience

Let me be the first to say that yesterday was a day filled with both useless and (occasionally) somewhat meaningful news.  Firstly, the fact that President Obama signed the wrong date in the guest book at Westminster Abbey.  Albeit the man signed “European style”; however, but he dated it “24 May 2008”.  That was three years ago.  I found this story with a picture at Politico.  All I can say is, wow, that man has some serious jet lag.  He should consider a nap before continuing with any other conversations with anyone in Great Britain.

Another apparently newsworthy story that has so much to do with politics is that it was Oprah Winfrey’s last show.  All of Oprah Winfrey’s major political moments have been highlighted on the Huffington Post.  Who can forget the time she had important candidates on the show like current president, Barak Obama.   Is Oprah really that important?!?!?!  These last two articles that I stumbled upon are prime examples of the media trying to influence what they want the world to think was important.  Don’t get me wrong…a lot of the stories that they put out are really important, but some of the really mundane, trivial things that they report on…ugh.  Some of it’s cute, but when it comes to trying to make really little things something as big as World War III starting…it gets kind of irritating.  Yes, Oprah is a famous, important person, even a caring person, but is she really that important to show up under the political news?  (Wanna know a secret…promise not to tell…the answer is no.)

Anyway, something important was reported on recently and that is the allegations made against (insert drumroll here) JOHN EDWARDS!  Ok, so this isn’t really a surprising story.  Edwards was in an extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter whilst still married to his wife, Elizabeth Edwards.  The New York Times reports that charges have come up against him stating that he illegally used campaign funds to cover up his affair.  Now, let me start by saying I hate cheaters.  Having an affair is the most disrespectful and just plain cruelest thing that a person can do to another.  Now that I have established that this man is among the scum of the earth for doing this to his wife (really, it doesn’t matter who one’s significant other is… or how they act… it is just plain wrong), I’m glad that some kind of charges are coming up against him.  If you are willing to lie to the person in the world that you are supposed to be closest to, who’s to say that you’re not covering up something else.  I don’t know if he actually did it or not, but his past actions need to investigated.

So moving onto an actual piece of news that affects us all.  Yesterday, Congress approved a four year extension of the Patriot Act.  Now we all know that a lot of people have problems with the Patriot Act because of some violations of civil liberties (*cough*…privacy…).  A majority of the Patriot Act is permanent federal law, but two temporary provisions (that had to deal with the whole privacy issue) were due to expire tonight at midnight.  According to USA Today, after debating it, both liberals and conservatives gave up on trying to change any of the impediments to our civil liberties.  Before I continue…here is a fun fact.  Did you know that even if the people reading our emails, texts, and listening to our calls pick up on the fact that terrorists are not calling each other that they have to listen to the whole thing anyway?  Here’s another one.  The government has a bunch of the cell phone numbers of known terrorists, and if your number is close to one of those, they most likely have tapped into your conversations. My dad’s house and cell phone number were pretty close to Osama Bin Laden’s old pay as you go phone.  Now, I am ALL for safety and national security.  I applaud the man and women that have been working hard to keep us safe.  They are doing their job, and they are doing it well.  However, I find the concept just a smidgen creepy.  The thought that someone could be listening to what you are saying is just kind of (*shudders*) creepy (for the lack of a better word).  I find it best if you try to strike up a conversation with the third party listening to your conversation.  So the next time you pick up the phone to talk to someone, make sure you take the time to say “hi” to the NSA team member listening to your conversation.

Well, the world is becoming quiet-ish once again and I must retire for the evening.  So, as I have been saying for the past several posts…keep ticking and stay informed!!!!!

These lonely little articles are begging for you to read them:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/26edwards.html?_r=1&hp

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-05-24-senate-patriot-act_n.htm

http://www.constitutionweekusa.com/index.cfm/event-calendar/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0511/what_year_is_it_6538277e-39cf-4381-b9dc-ee308d0881ad.html

The Blog Continues Despite the End of the World As We Know It...

If you are reading this then the world did not end on Saturday…no…instead it is going to end on October 21, 2011!  I personally was at my grandparent’s house eating a cookie when the “world ended”.  Oh well, I guess we have to wait another 5 months to find out what is really going to happen.  The next time Harold Camping isn’t going to have anything to bail him out of being wrong about the end of the world.  Anyway, that has nothing to do with politics (I just find it fascinating and just plain funny).  Moving on…

So, my main man, the great T-Paw of Minnesota has declared his candidacy for the 2012 election.  Seriously, any person who is willing and accepting towards the nickname T-Paw is pretty darn awesome.  Anyway, Tim Pawlenty is the former Minnesota governor and believes in things like smaller government, tax cuts, and finding a better solution to the national debt problem by a means other than raising the debt ceiling.  Now when talking to someone about this candidate, he said to me, “I don’t even know who that is”.  However, I was totally under the impression that he was pretty darned popular in the mid-west.  I have also heard people saying that there essentially is no 2012 race because the Republican Party doesn’t stand a chance against Obama.  They see the idiocy of potential candidates like Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and (of course…) Donald Trump.  Nonetheless, I really believe that Tim Pawlenty could be the Republican Party’s Obama.  He could make this race really interesting.  According to the New York Times, Pawlenty has the desire to take radical action on the Social Security and Medicare programs.  He said, “[they] are on an unsustainable path and that inaction is no longer an option”.  Just like Obama’s novel idea to have Republicans and Democrats work together to solve the nation’s problems, Pawlenty is stepping up and has the desire to make a difference in America.

Not only have the candidates been busy, but the Supreme Court has settled yet another landmark decision.  According to USA Today, this morning the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to overcrowd prisons in a 5-4 decision.  This goes under everyone’s rights under the Eighth Amendment, an amendment that protects all of us from cruel and unusual punishment.  Therefore, over the course of the next two years over 300,000 convicted felons will have to be transferred or released.  Ok, well, it’s only natural that the prisons are becoming slowly more crowded considering these two facts: the population count is ever increasing, and the ability to collect and process evidence is getting better all the time.  However, isn’t it really dangerous to have a ton of criminals smashed together in a limited amount of space? I’m not a fan of releasing criminals in the streets, so isn’t it about time that the criminal justice system focus more on rehabilitation of felons, at least the ones who show some kind of rehabilitative hope?  This could be a really good thing for the United States.

Now, I leave you with one wonderful thought for the upcoming year; your taxes will not go up because of the approved increase in disaster relief for the South.  Yes, as a brand new tax-payer who filed her first tax-return this year, I am very happy about this.  According to news sources at The Huffington Post, the House approved a $1 billion raise in the relief fund for the United States.  This money will be coming from a cut made in a fund to promote the manufacturing of economically friendly vehicles.  So it looks like the environment may take a small hit; however, (on the up side) not only are tax-payers getting a break, but it looks like Congress is finally making some progress on solving the debt-ceiling issue.  They are cutting funding from programs and not making it harder for the rest of us citizens of the United States.

Well, I hope that last tidbit of information made you happy because that is all I have for you tonight!  Oh, and everybody…keep ticking and stay informed!!!!

Take a gander at these newsworthy sources:

• http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/politics/24pawlenty.html?_r=1&ref=politics

• http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2011-05-24-Supreme-court-prisons_n.htm

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/joplin-missouri-tornado-h_n_866242.html

What was he thinking?

I have one thing to say… YAY! Something is actually happening today.  Thirteen minutes ago from the moment that I started writing this entry, President Barak Obama finished a speech on "a new chapter in American diplomacy" in the Middle East.  This has been spawned out of the recent mission to find and eliminate Osama Bin Laden.  He also referenced his efforts to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He then went on to scold the leaders in the Middle East for blaming the West and Israel for all of the problems that they have been experiencing.  Next, he outlined his vision for the US’s role in the Middle East.  This plan entails the people and government of the United States to make decisions according to the principals of freedom, universal rights, free speech, assembly, and religion.  Seriously…the whole thing is outlined on the USA Today website.  There is a time table and everything.  Then according to the NY Times web page, this speech was not just directed at the Middle East, but to Obama’s voting base here in the US and his rivals.

            As I continue to surf the internet I see that our President, Barack Hussein Obama, decided to not only just give a speech but to pitch his personal idea of how he believes the Middle East should look.  He has openly supported the 1967 Palestinian border.  However, the CBS News article about Obama’s 9 minute spiel, “In a statement following Mr. Obama's remarks, Israeli Prime Minister rejected the President's endorsement, and said that a return to his country's 1967 borders would spell disaster for the Jewish state”.  I completely agree.  For me, it is really quite difficult for me to state my opinion; instead, I offer you a comment that was attached to the article itself.  Serenitylost states, “Imagine Mr. Obama if a foreign leader made a speech to the world proclaiming they support that the United States be willing to give up the southwestern states to Mexico”.  Let’s face it, if Obama really is the pacifist that he claims to be, I would imagine that he above all people would respect Confucius’s golden rule.  I personally could not imagine this country going back to its Pre-Mexican War boarders.  Someone cannot just ask a country to give up their land.  I think this time our President went a little too far.  He was trying to ride the high that the entire country had after he helped authorize the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden.  He abused the good feelings that some of the people in this country had about him and he probably felt invincible.  This time I really think he shot himself in the foot.  He just lost a major portion of his voting base today.  All I can think to say to him is, “Good luck in the future because you’re going to need it.”  It looks like the Republicans now have more than a fighting chance in the 2012 presidential elections.

            On the contrary (at least according to the New York Times), Obama was speaking out of an acknowledgement of reality.  I for one would like to know the reality in which these people are members.  Yes, it is true that there is unrest between the Israeli people and the Palestinians, but those problems are not going to go away overnight.  I have also heard along the grapevine (yes, I’m talking about the New York Times website) that this speech was the beginning of an attempt “lure the Palestinians back to the negotiating table” by helping to create an international recognition of the Palestinian nation.  I understand a desire for world peace, but something like that is just plain unrealistic (back to talking about reality again).  It has to be understood that the entire world does not have the same mentality as the people of the United States.  People have to remember our national origins.  The people who actually made it to this country were hearty people who could survive a really long boat ride.  The original settlers of this country were determined people, people who wanted to achieve a new form of life.  Many of these people had to escape their native lands because their new ways of thinking were not accepted by the rest of the world.  It is still like this today.  Americans have a different set of beliefs.  We cannot force those beliefs on the rest of the world.  The meaning of tolerance in this world has become skewed and corrupted.  Too many people take the word to be a synonym of acceptance.  In reality, (yes, reality), it means to respect.  Obama wants world peace?  Try some real tolerance, a tolerance where the American government is not trying to make another nation accept the ways and ideals of the United States.  The only way to achieve peace is to learn some respect.

            Anyway, that was just an update on what was happening right now in the country.  What I really went online to look up was some information on that proposed driving tax to add onto the gas tax that has already been imposed on the citizens of this nation.  As a new driver, voter, and tax payer, (I filed my very own income tax report on Turbo Tax), I am appalled, even “creeped-out”.  In my sophomore year of high school, I read 1984 by George Orwell.  Anyone who has read that book cannot forget the omniscient and omnipresent character, Big Brother.  According to CNN reports yesterday, the proposed plan is potentially a privacy violation.  The question is “How will the government monitor how many miles one drives?”  Some believe that putting a GPS in a car that can be monitored by the government is the way to achieve this goal.  I have but one statement that can be understood only by those who have read 1984……. 2+2=5.

Well it is 10 p.m. as I slowly but surely finish this entry.  Hopefully I will get to post again before the end of the world on Saturday, (she says sarcastically).  On Sunday I will be posting the Judgment Day, (according to Harold Camping), bumper sticker on my blog, so watch out!!!!! 

            That is all for tonight.  I bid you farewell for now.  Keep ticking and stay informed!

Check out the sites that I used:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/05/obama-outlines-his-vision-for-the-middle-east/1

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/obamas-middle-east-speech-has-many-american-audiences/?ref=politics

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/19/politics/main20064374.shtml?tag=strip

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/18/news/economy/gas_tax_drivers/?section=money_latest

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/world/middleeast/20speech.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp

Really?

I feel as if I lied to you all in my last entry.  It kind of looks like nothing is happening on Capitol Hill.  It’s like radio silence from Houston during a catastrophe in space.  Well, it’s either that or the media is really trying to make people care about something they find entertaining.  Today I was extremely disappointed to load the political page on the New York Times website only to find that the main headline was Arnold Schwarzenegger and his housekeeper.  I even turned on BBC Nightly News on PBS and that was the main story.  It is really beyond me why this is so much more important than anything else going on in the United States.  Oh, wait I just rechecked the website and it finally updated to a newsworthy story.  It looks like at the late hour of 8:43 p.m. that someone finally decided to report on something that will actually impact the country.

            It looks like a lot of the other non-Schwarzenegger related news has to do with the 2012 presidential election.  Apparently Newt Gingrich has no personal or political discipline.  This is something that he admitted on an episode of Meet the Press and was blogged about on the New York Times Caucus Blogs.  (Wow, I’m blogging on a blog…)  Now, if I’m correct, this will not help him as the media slowly increases their use of horse-race journalism as the election draws ever closer.  Anyway, the headline says Can Newt Gingrich Control Newt Gingrich?  I’m guessing that if he wants to get anywhere in the 2012 race, he might just want to learn some discipline.  Really, there are just some things that you do not say to the press…things like little, fleeting thoughts that should just stay inside your head if you possess any sense of self-preservation whatsoever.  However, it seems that in recent history Mr. Gingrich has been filled with many remarks that will not really help him in the long run.  This includes his negative comments on “Obamacare” and the public critique of a proposed budget solution.  Like I said, self-preservation is key.

            In other 2012 election news…Obama birth certificate t-shirts and mugs are for sale!  Get them while their hot!  Seriously, you can wear the shirt and drink coffee from the mug as you spread the seeds on your Obama Chia pet. (I totally got one of those for a family member this Christmas.)  Well, it’s not actually election news, but it’s coming up on all of the 2012 election news feeds.  According to both the New York Times website and AOL News (and probably every other online news source), this is an attack on the birthers who have been attacking Obama from the beginning.  At this point, I really do not know what to think.  I just thought it was hysterical when he got on the air that fateful Saturday morning (and interrupted the Emperor’s New Groove on ABC Saturday Morning Cartoons), looked America square in the eye, and said something along the lines of “fine here you go!”  He looked really angry.  I personally felt that for the first time that day he talked to the nation like a regular person.  Hey, I also thought that it would have been so much cooler if he flipped the podium during his speech like he was part of a really heated moment on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.  I did agree with his point that we as a nation should really be caring about other actually important issues that are plaguing the country.  I also agree that it is important for the President to be a natural born citizen, but do you really think that everyone else in the government would have let him assume office had they believed he was not really from this country?  Here wait…I can answer that right now.  No.  I read a really excellent comment that day on Yahoo News and it said something like, “We’re part of three wars overseas, the national debt is through the roof, my Grandma is eating cat food, and the most important thing in the news is Obama’s birth certificate?”  Anyway, the shirts and mugs have been released as part of a campaign gimmick.  T-shirts are priced at $25 and mugs are being sold for $15.

            Speaking of Yahoo News, hot off the presses…someone in Pakistan knew Bin Laden was hiding there.  It looks like all of the major sites are once again updating their headlines.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates is apparently claiming that he has evidence to the contrary that high ranking officials knew about the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden.  Instead he was hinting toward a lower ranking or retired Pakistani public official.  The world’s “public enemy number one” goes into hiding in a not-so-secluded area and no one knows that he is there?  That goes on my list with the theory that man did not actually land on the moon.  Believe me, people, it happened.  You know what else happened?  Someone knowing where Osama Bin Laden was…that’s what happened.

            Well, that’s really all the major events that have occurred in the US according to all of the news sources that I have skimmed through.  Good night all…this is me signing off…keep ticking, and stay informed!

Check out the sites I got my intel from!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/18/obama-birth-certificate-t-shirt_n_863761.html

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/can-newt-gingrich-control-newt-gingrich/?ref=politics

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_us_pakistan;_ylt=Agw.oIguJrFITBWDm2NNPtWs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNlamZqdmdpBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNTE5L3VzX3VzX3Bha2lzdGFuBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDZ2F0ZXNzb21lYm9k

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/05/obama-team-offers-birth-certificate-memorial-coffee-mug/1

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/05/18/obama-campaign-raises-money-off-birth-certificate-frenzy/?mod=WSJBlog

What happens when you hit the ceiling of a glass house?

         Here is a question to ponder as you read this entry...is it really a good idea to shatter the ceiling of a glass house?  If America is that "glass house", the United States government sure thinks so.
       
          Things are always something happening in Washington, and this weekend was no exception.  However, yesterday’s announcement that the United States has hit the debt ceiling really took the cake.  Seriously, folks, this is extremely significant.  Everyone has always speculated as to what was actually going to happen when the United States finally reached its absolute debt limit.  Well, that time has finally come upon us, and not much is really happening.  Something like this has never happened before, and the government and the media are not making as big of a deal of it as they should.  Granted, the sky did not turn to fire and the day did not become like night; however, this event has paled in comparison to things like Donald Trump’s decision not to run for president and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love child.  My guess is as good as anybody’s as to why every major news outlet is not pumping out hourly updates on what the federal government is doing to solve the nation’s latest crisis.  It is true that some sources are taking this seriously.  For instance, ABC News is calling it the “Debt-Ceiling D-Day”; however, this article shows up on the same newsfeed as “Botox Girl Taken Away From Mother”.  Then again that might just be because the last paragraph of the article states, “Among Americans as a whole, 47 percent say they want to do nothing, 19 percent say they support an increase and 34 percent don't know enough to have an opinion”.  At least the people who did not understand what is going on were honest.

          Anyway, despite America’s lack of caring for the debt crisis, politicians are desperately trying to solve the problem at hand.  In the New York Times article “As the Federal Government Hits Its Debt Limit, Lawmakers Spar Over Solution”, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was quoted as to saying the government had started taking “extraordinary measures” to fix the debt.  This entails “squeezing” the Medicare and Medicaid programs for savings.  Of course, this outraged many people, some of which even came to the capital to protest.  Another solution lies with something similar to a giant yard sale.  The government is considering selling some of its gold in Fort Knox and government property.  These are just stopgap measures until Congress increases the debt ceiling, but, in my opinion, this would only increase the government’s denial to the fact that no matter how much you try to ignore the problem it will not go away.  This situation is kind of like having a really nosy, obnoxious neighbor who has no friends and hangs on you like a sad puppy that’s lost in a park.  You can put up a fence, let your hedges grow high, and get a rabid attack dog, but that neighbor is not going to disappear and stop being a problem.  America is at the point where it has to be proactive.  Speaker of the House John A. Boehner believes just this. According to him, it would be irresponsible for the government to simply ignore the problems behind the ever increasing debt by expanding the nation’s credit limit.  This is one situation where “raisin’ the roof” just won’t cut it.

          Like every other problem, this will not go away soon.  As seen in recent events, like the near government shutdown in April, our current Congress likes to bash heads.  Hopefully this will not be like the near government shutdown that was spawned from their inability to pass the budget.  According to US News and World Report, Democrats are calling for an increase in taxes and raising the debt ceiling while Republicans call for massive spending cuts.  Even though raising the ceiling is inevitable; the method by which to prevent this from happening again is (of course) being heavily debated.  What must the world think of us?  A nation of debtors is being controlled by a government in debt.  Really, it’s just plain embarrassing.  Once again, to add insult to injury, it is not the most important thing in the news.

In 2012 election news, Donald Trump tromped out of the line of contenders for the presidency while Mike Huckabee gracefully bowed out of his position as a potential Republican candidate.  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie still refuses to run, but it is speculated that he could still have a significant impact on the presidential race.

Well, that’s all for now!  Keep ticking and stay informed.

Check out these articles that I used in my post:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-05-16-contractors-political-spending-disclosure_n.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/us/politics/17budget.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=debt%20ceiling&st=cse

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/05/17/parties-prepare-for-debt-ceiling-fight

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Politics/debt-ceiling-us-hit-143-trillion-limit/story?id=13599735