Stop Bullying

I thought that Logan Malone’s blog post title: STOP BULLYING was very insightful and shed some light on an issue that needs more attention. In her article, Malone states that, “56 % of students have witnessed some form of bullying at school.” Malone goes on to give the reader many different examples of bullying such as: verbal belittling regarding religion, race, looks, or speech. She also goes on to give examples of the more common signs of bullying such as: hitting, punching, or slapping. I found Malone’s article to be credible because she goes on to discuss possible solutions regarding the issue of bullying. She mentions incorporating anti-bullying programs at school to discuss this serious issue. Malone states, “we need to: develop whole-school bullying policies; add in extra-curricular activities that form positive relationships between peers and improve school ground environment such as peer counseling and assertiveness training. Anti-bullying programs for parental awareness should be required at least one parent attend a seminar to ‘Stop Bullying’ every few years with their children.” I believe that these measures could potentially help reduce the amount of bullying that is happening, but until the punishments start to become harsher, I doubt that “bullying” will cease. Instead of giving a kid a 3 day expulsion (vacation), perhaps a trip to the juvenile court system would do the trick. Imagine how a 13 year old "bully” standing in front of a judge would feel. I think the shock factor of potentially spending some time in a juvenile detention would deter him from continuing his bullying ways. 

Obama Releases Long-form Birth Certificate

       The White House released copies of President Obama’s original long-form birth certificate on April 27, 2011. The administration is hoping to put an end to the constant rumors that Mr. Obama was not born in the United States. The U.S. Constitution states that only “natural born” citizens can become president. Many skeptics believe that Mr. Obama was born in his father’s home country of Kenya. If Mr. Obama was truly born outside of the United States then he would be ineligible for the presidency. White House legal counsel Bob Bauer said, “the administration had to make a special request from the state of Hawaii to get the long-form birth certificate released. Typically, the state only releases what’s called a certificate of live birth when people request a birth certificate.” A certificate of live birth or birth certificate is a legal document detailing demographic information for an individual and his parents. This is considered a primary form of identification. Even though Mr. Obama provided this document, people did not accept it as valid. Mr. Obama has made it a point to disclose this information due to the fact that Republicans are trying to use this false accusation as a platform to propel their own interests. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said, “At a time of great consequence for this country—we should be debating how we win the future, reduce our deficit, deal with high gas prices, and bring stability to the Middle East. Washington D.C. was once again distracted by a fake issue.”

           

       After the disclosure of Mr. Obama’s long-form birth certificate, one could only hope that this false accusation will cease and become a non-issue. Instead of future presidential candidates arguing over where the current president was born, one could only hope that future presidential candidates will start to focus on issue of relevance. 

Smokers Pay $50 a year to Medicaid

         Arizona is discussing a proposal to charge Medicaid patients, whom choose to smoke, $50 per year. When I initially read the title of the article, it did not come as much of shock. People who choose to smoke cigarettes are being taxed more and more every year. What came as a shock to me is that under the same proposal people who are diagnosed with Diabetes and ignore a doctor’s recommendation to lose weight, would also be charged $50 per year. Many people who deal with Diabetes have a hard time monitoring their weight. These people did not choose to have Diabetes; they have to deal with this disease just to survive. Even though I know people who smoke cigarettes, I would not argue against the proposed bill the state of Arizona is trying to implement if it was only affecting smokers. But in this case they are trying to tax people who are trying to cope with Diabetes. Diabetes is not always a disease that is caused by having an unhealthy life-style. I have a cousin that was diagnosed with Diabetes when she was a young child. By no fault of her own, she has to deal with this disease every single day. Should she have to pay $50 per year to Medicaid, plus all of her other medical expenses that go along with dealing with Diabetes? “HELL NO!!!” She has already endured enough in her life having to deal with Diabetes, let alone being charged by the state.

         I totally agree with Ms. Drost’s stance on the proposed bill. She says that, “47% of the people on Medicaid are smokers, so I don’t think that it would hurt them to pay $50 a year into the system that gives them healthcare.” She also feels the same way I do on the issue of taxing people with Diabetes. Ms. Drost says, “I would not charge diabetes patients because they didn’t choose this disease unlike people who smoke.” 

http://brandyssdrost.blogspot.com/2011/04/smokers-pay-50-year-to-medicaid.html

Swiping Fee

           There is a special-interest battle going on in Washington D.C. that affects all of us “consumers”. Currently, there is a provision headed by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, which would require the Federal Reserve Bank to place a cap on the “fees” banks charge retailers every time a customer uses their debit cards in their stores. This draft would slash more than $12 Billion in bank revenue annually by capping the “fee” to 12 cents per transaction. According to a recent Federal Reserve study, banks currently charge on average 44 cents per transaction. Banks are saying that consumers will feel the burden as they will come up with alternative measures to make up for the lost revenue. A couple ways they will recoup potential lost revenue is by charging more for ATM fees and eliminating free checking accounts. Dan DeLawder, the chairman and CEO of Park National Bank in Newark, Ohio, who helps lead an American Bankers Association task force on the fees said, “If you are nicking into our profits, we will find another way to recover that.”

            I do not know if this statement bothers anyone else, but I sort of cringed when I heard this. Did we not just bail out the banking system not too long ago? This CEO of a major bank just threatened to come up with ways of making a profit even if there is a cap put on “fees” collected. Why couldn’t they have incorporated these changes in a timelier manner to avoid needing a government bailout? I guess that question will remain unanswered.

SIX-FIGURE BUS DRIVERS AND OTHER WORKING-CLASS HEROES

           “Can we stop acting as if people who work for the government are heroes of working people?” This was the opening line of an article titled: Six-Figure Bus Driver and Other Working-Class Heroes, which was written by Ann Coulter. For those people who are unfamiliar with Ann Coulter, she is a very conservative woman who does not hold anything back when she expresses her views on political issues. This article was intended for the more conservative reader, as it was published on her website. In her article, she talks about the public sector employees in Wisconsin that are fighting against any proposed reform to that system. After reading her article, you can clearly understand her stance on the issue. She does not support what the public sector employees, and the unions that they are associated with, are trying to accomplish in Wisconsin. Coulter says that, “Public Sector workers are pursuing their own narrow financial interests to the detriment of everyone else in their state.” She goes on to say that, “It’s ludicrous to suggest that these union contracts were fairly bargained. Only one side was at the negotiating table.”

            Clearly, Ann Coulter does not agree with the unions and the public sector employees in Wisconsin. That’s fine and Coulter is entitled to her opinion, but I personally think that the unions need to stand strong on this issue. If the state-workers union gives in and allows changes to be made to their contract then what does that mean for every other union that exists. Does that mean that every time a state faces a budget deficit they can just change the contract agreement to suit the state? That does not sound like an ethical proposal to me.

House Gun Vote Shows Hypocrisy on Law Enforcement

While reading The Huffington Post, which is intended for the liberal community, I came across an article written by Dennis A. Henigan. It was called House Gun Vote Shows Hypocrisy on Law Enforcement. Mr. Henigan spoke about the proposal put forth by the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or better known as the “ATF.” The proposal would require licensed gun dealers in the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California to report to the ATF multiple sales of semiautomatic rifles. Examples would be the AK-47 and the AR-15.  “This new requirement would give law enforcement officials real time notification of large-volume sales, and would give federal enforcers a valuable tool to move quickly to disrupt trafficking channels -- and arrest the traffickers -- before the guns reach the streets of Mexican cities and towns.” said Mr. Henigan.

 The NRA says the proposal "only burdens law-abiding gun owners and retailers." "If someone is breaking the law, go after them full-bore." "If they aren't, leave them alone.” says Chris Cox, lobbyist for the NRA. Mr. Henigan then goes on to say that, “The problem is that the government needs information to determine who is violating the law and who is not, and then to prosecute the violators. The ATF proposal would give the government more timely information to permit federal agents to go after the traffickers "full-bore" before the guns do their damage.”

After reading Mr. Henigan’s article, I will agree with him that people who buy 30-40 assault rifles at one time should probably be put on a “registry list.” The only concern I have with this proposal is it does not specify how many weapons “one” must purchase before they are put on the “registry list.” What happens if a man goes into a gun store and buys him and his wife both an assault rifle so they can go target practicing. Should he be put on the “registry list?” I do not think so. Just because someone may have more than one assault rifle or handgun does not mean that they should be labeled a “trafficker.”

Austin school district may slash more than 1,000 positions

I found this article in the Austin American Statesman that was very interesting ,and it effects all school faculty and students statewide. If you have not already heard, "Austin schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen will recommend on Monday cutting more than 1,000 positions next school year, about 8% of the district's total work force." administrators said Friday.  The plan proposed that 770 campus-based positions and 242 central office positions would be eliminated from the 12,000-employee work force for an estimated salary savings of $53.6 million. If this goes as planned, there are going to be a lot of teachers out of jobs which would neither be good for them nor the local and statewide economy. I really hope that their is a solution to this budget shortfall. If state lawmakers can not come up with an answer to the budget crisis in the near future a lot of people are going to be unemployed.