McDonald's and Greed

In the last few weeks many fast-food workers have gone on strike. These workers have done this for several reasons including the right to unionize and a living wage. Most want a wage increase to $15 an hour. This sounds like an incredible jump, it is double the minimum wage currently. Before I get into all of that stuff I first want to say how incredibly pathetic and demeaning I find the news coverage about this series of events. I direct this to, of course, Fox News and a couple of their reporters. They show no empathy towards people who work a lot and are rewarded with little.

Now lets get to the real meat of this story. In the US McDonald's employs over a half million people. This is with an average of around 9 dollars an hour. If you are working 40 hours a week this wage only brings in a little over 18,700 dollars a year. This yearly income without taxes being deducted seems in my opinion a little unreasonable. Unless of course your single and live in a one room apartment. To scrape by one would need a second job working the same number of hours for the same pay. Eighty hours a week leaves no time for the family that most employees have. The argument is that most employees are high school or college students trying to make some extra cash. This is a fallacy. The average age of fast food employees is about 29 and a half. While there are a lot of people making some extra cash there are also many more trying to support themselves and families. I fully support the strikers and what they stand for. The minimum wage is just that a minimum. I think I speak for all Americans when I say that McDonald's needs to stop scraping by on the minimums.

Some of you readers might say why don't they just get better jobs or go to college. I say why don't we just live underwater. By this I mean not everyone is capable of adapting or even creating better situations for themselves. We can't just wade out into the ocean and be good to survive for any length of time. It is all easier said than done. But if they don't want to do any of that doesn't that mean they are just lazy? NO. In fact, to call anyone who works 40 hours a week to get a mere 9 dollars an hour is just disrespectful. I am sure a vast majority of fast food workers can tell you that these jobs are not a vacation. I see them as victims of the status quo. The rich need to keep their wealth and the poor need to keep being poor. This will not change either not until the poor take control and utilize the tools they have at their disposal and we are finally seeing a little bit of that with the current strikes.

To wrap this article up I would like to leave you all with one thought. If you drove on a road, crossed a bridge, accepted money from the government for college, taxes paid for that and a whole heck of a lot more. So is to much to ask that the people with four homes pay into the system a little more if it means all these things can get better?

Mark Zuckerberg and Immigration Reform: Why we need it now.

If you haven't read my original post on immigration reform I encourage you to read it here. In the last few weeks Mark Zuckerberg's group FWD.org released several videos encouraging Americans to support immigration reform in the U.S. The overall point of the following video is to take home the human aspect of this important issue. They are trying to impress upon us that many immigrants believe in American values and want their piece of the American dream. They don't want to be a burden on our system, they want to be here legally.





While it is true that these people are here illegally, it is because of our current outdated laws. If not for that they could be fully functioning members of our society. For most Americans our ancestors came here with the same dreams as many of those who have come here illegally in the last 30 years; their dreams included freedom from religious persecution, tyrannical governments, security for themselves and their children, to gain an education, and to have new opportunities to improve their financial situation.

Many people support changing the current laws, which have become limiting and ineffective in encouraging legal immigration to the U.S. and often punish those who have known no other country but the U.S. as home. The backlog for working visas, even for high skill workers, has become limiting to our nations growth especially in high tech fields. Even spouses of citizens often have a difficult time receiving visas due to the difficulty navigating our system.

This is a serious issue and it deserves a serious debate by our leaders about the best path forward. We need to increase our security checks and protect both our border and our citizens from those who would do harm to us; but we also need to make a clear path for those who share our values, by preparing the way for those who want to come and by making a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally.

There is an opposition to reform, and I do understand some of the arguments used by opponents to the bipartisan immigration reform bill. As you may be aware there is a bill which has passed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year that is awaiting consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill attempts to address many of the immigration reform issues including securing the border, providing a pathway to citizenship, and providing for more clear regulations on providing visas.

The opposition often points at one major concern: illegal immigrants will be rewarded for coming to the U.S. illegally by granting citizenship. These are the individuals that call any path to citizenship no matter how rigorous "amnesty" and say that it is unacceptable. They state that by offering a path to citizenship we will have failed to uphold the rule of law. They feel there is nothing wrong with current laws but that current laws just need to be enforced.

The answer to this concern though can be answered in several ways, two of which I will explain here. The first is answered by posing these questions: what would you have us do with the (estimated) 14 million immigrants here, many of whom have been here for over 15 years and some who have never known another country? Would you punish them because they were babies when their parents brought them here by sending them to a country where they don't speak the language and don't know anyone? The answer to these questions is no because the cost of deporting 14 million people would be ridiculously high. Instead, the bill requires the border to be secured by adding border patrol agents and electronic monitoring, including drones. Additionally it would implement the e-verify system to ensure workers are here legally. Only after these conditions are put in place would any illegals be allowed to be considered for a visa. It seems to be in our better interest both as members of the human family and as citizens of the United States that we reach out to those who are here illegally and offer them a hand up, not a shove out the door.

The second part of the answer is that there is a punishment put into place. Individuals here illegally would have to pay both a fine and back taxes which they owe, pass a background check, and wait for all those who have already applied to be considered for visas before they would get one. All things considered it is likely that the first individuals in this general category would have to wait 15 or more years to even be considered for citizenship.

Even with all of this, without significant Republican support in the house, it seems immigration reform might fail in the House if public support wavers at all on this issue. This is the best chance we have had in over 5 years to accomplish something which can have lasting positive impact on millions of individuals. I have applauded every member of the Senate who has voted for the bill.

“Today’s final immigration vote represents a product of many long hours of debate, discussion, and deliberation. It takes into consideration the necessity of securing America’s borders, while encouraging the lawful immigration of those who want to come to our shores to contribute to America’s greatness,” said Senator Dean Heller.

“While not perfect, this immigration reform bill is a step in the right direction towards fixing an immigration system that is clearly broken. No question, this has been a contentious debate. While the easy thing to do politically is nothing, the harder choice is to govern. I am pleased that both Democrats and Republicans were able to find ways to work together and pass legislation that this great nation deserves.”

To those who are on the fence about supporting the bipartisan gang of eight bill I say this: supporting it does not mean that you agree with everything in it, but it does recognize that this bill is the first significant piece of legislation with bipartisan support that has emerged from either house in the past 5 years, and with additional support it can also pass the House of Representatives.

I encourage you to do research on this bill, think through the issue, and contact your U.S. Representative to voice your support on this issue. It is vitally important that we as citizens become civically engaged in our democratic process in order to maintain our voice. I am glad that Mark Zuckerberg has thrown his support behind the movement and is raising awareness about the subject.

Embassy closings show the War on Terror is not over yet

Over the weekend U. S. embassies across the Middle East were closed due to security concerns. Today, the U.S. embassy in Yemen was evacuated and U.S. Citizens were told to leave the country due to an al-Qaeda threat.

In the last two weeks U.S. drones 4 times have targeted leaders of al-Qaeda in Yemen and it is believed that one of the dead  believed to be Saleh Jouti, a senior al-Qaeda member. Yesterday alone U.S. drone targeted a moving car in the  Marib province, killing four alleged al-Qaeda militants.

This comes as the State Department released a statement saying that the evacuations were due "“due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks.” After last year's terrorist attack on Benghazi it seems the administration is much more concerned with making sure that diplomatic staff in foreign countries receive adequate protection.

While it has long been known that there is a strong al-Qaeda presence in Yemen, it's strength has been growing and the potential for terrorist attacks seems more and more likely in the region due to the strong presence.

 “It’s very worrisome because al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is the most effective and threatening affiliate,” Bruce Hoffman, a Georgetown University professor told the Washington Post.

“So now the leader of the most consequential affiliate has an intimate command role in the overall organization. From Zawahiri’s point of view, there’s no better exemplar of the Qaeda brand than AQAP.”

While it is true that the core group of al-Qaeda was dispersed and diminished, it has slowly evolved in countries along the gulf and in North Africa, gaining support from governmental changes occurring due to the Arab spring and the continuing unrest in the region.

"We're witnessing another chapter of the terrorist threat and we'll be living with this for years to come,"  Juan Zarate, a deputy national security adviser under President George W. Bush who's now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington told USA Today.

The regional networks are adapting to new opportunities and continue to operate despite pressure put on them by the U.S. and others, Zarate said.

"They're also taking advantage of the political, security and geographic space they operate in. We don't control all aspects of that so it's unfair to blame U.S. policy entirely," he said.

The regional groups continue their activities supported by other radical Islamist groups in Algeria, Libya, Pakistan, Yemen, and other countries in the region. Concern continues even within the U.S. of al-Qaeda affiliates perpetrating terrorist attacks in the U.S. after the Boston Bombing earlier this year.

As the U.S. and it's allies continue to put pressure on it seems clear that we are not done yet, and continued pressure needs to be applied. It seems clear though that the senior leadership continues to be affected by the drone strikes, but that even without some of the senior leadership, the group continues.

Within the U.S. and around the world the questions continue about surveillance programs. Which wonder about their effectiveness and necessity, but results seem to show that at least some of them are necessary.

If the War on Terror can be won, one thing seems clear to us now, it won't be over soon. The theater in which the war plays out may continue to change but the overall influence of Radical Islam continues throughout much of the middle east, and until something changes to diminish it's influence it seems clear that attacks will continue to occur.

What Obama really meant in his Treyvon Martin speech.

Obama made an appearance Friday the 19th of July to discuss the verdict of a case that has received a lot of attention. I am not going to be talking about the case. I will talk about certain points in his speech and what I believe to be his meaning behind them.

"You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago." Obama said this closer to the beginning of his speech and they are the two lines that get quoted on the news than any other part of his speech. It is not hard to understand what he is talking about. There is still a stigma in America that minorities are looked down upon in many ways. History has shown us that this has always been the case. Starting with slavery and indentured servitude to the Jim Crowe laws to interracial marriage laws. And to this day there is still a remnant of this treatment. This remnant, however, has shifted for the most part away from laws that put African-Americans down. It has switched to a social construct. A construct that has changed most people's feelings from disgust and hatred to fear and uneasiness. Don't get me wrong there are still plenty of people out there who hate African-Americans, but I hope they are a dying breed. Obama knows and has been part of a time where it was still ok to hate and fear African-Americans. He has been in Trayvon Martin's shoes. And this is something a vast majority of the white population can't say.

The other major point brought up by Obama is discussing race anywhere but the House and the Senate. This according to a lot of news stations is something that is almost a hushed subject like having an abortion in the early nineties; it was just something you would not talk about. And this is something I feel is very wrong with America. Sadly there are a lot of people that can not have an educated discussion about many topics but that does not mean they should not be avoided or swept under the rug. A man of Obama's power saying to America "Discuss race" is amazing to me. Everyone should feel free to discuss hot topics. And who knows some may be better for it.

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." Martin Luther King Jr.

Anthony Wiener: Are morals irrelevant in U.S. Politics?

Does what happens at home or away from the office matter in U.S. Politics anymore? After the second round of accusations against former Rep. Anthony Weiner we must wonder if they don't. He has since begun to fall behind in polling, but is still a major contender for Mayor of New York City. This same sexting scandal was thought to be so disgusting to the American public that he resigned from the House of  Representatives in 2011. Much seems to have changed since then . 

We shouldn't pretend that fidelity and morality are as high of priorities to the current generation as they were to our parents and grandparents. We are certainly living in an age where many people see morals as relative, rather than the moral absolutism of the past. If anything it seems that the winds are blowing against traditional morality today more than ever. 

We are far from the days of the Victorian era of high morality, but the question remains, shouldn't we require a higher standard of honesty and fidelity from our politicians when it comes to basic honesty and fidelity in marriage? Should a concern arise about the type of role models we put to our children through our political leaders if we elect men that lack credibility and any form of basic honesty or integrity.

John Adams said "(It) is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue." Many of our founders believed that morals and honesty must be the foundation of our society. Though these men were not perfect, I would say that they were men of profound vision. Some of them were known to be less that perfect on this very topic, but they understood the need for virtue in society. 

So to what standard should our politicians be held? If adultery and lewd behavior is an acceptable fault then why not dishonesty in business, cheating on taxes or stealing? It seems the only thing that seems to matter in political contests is that the name is well enough known, that they have enough money and that they are popular enough. It seems that it has become the new norm to ignore all questions of integrity, but rather to focus on their popularity instead. I understand there are differences of opinion on morality and what moral values should be upheld, but when we are talking about marital vows that have been broken and continue to be broken. It is pretty easy to see the basic need for high moral values for our leaders when it comes to honesty, as they are dealing with large amounts of power and money. With special interest groups holding a great deal of power, how do we fight back against that when our leaders are immoral as well?

We need to encourage good men to stand up and accept the role of leadership ones who have integrity and who are not merely wealthy and popular. What it will take though, is the American people to wake up, become informed, and get involved. Voting is not the beginning and end of our civic duty. Honesty and integrity need to be renewed as basic values to Americans, starting in the home, where both parents teach those two values. It then continues in our school, where cheating isn't just discouraged but unthought of. If we continue this chain we can regain a great deal of the foundational values that our forefathers built this country upon, without it our foundation will crumble and be lost.

Where did the Greatness Go? Part One

By Zach Baker
This video is a clip from a TV show called The Newsroom staring Jeff Daniels. He goes on a rant about how America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. Here are the stats he points out that prove America is not the greatest. We are 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 7th in literacy, 3rd in median household income, 4th in exports, 4th in labor force, 178th in infant mortality, 1st in number of adults who believe in angels, 1st in military spending, and 1st in incarcerated citizens. I wont be talking about all of these statistics but I will focus on a few major ones that I believe to be important.


























First I would like to focus on where we are number one. Military spending accounts for almost 700 billion dollars out of our GDP(Gross Domestic Product). I hope those reading will not think I am anti-military. I have many friends who are in right now and I give them my full support. I do, however, feel that this massive amount of money we spend on developing ways to better kill people could be lessened. With the current stockpile the US Armed Forces has at their back, we are unstoppable. The warheads and WMD's that we posses could send everyone in the world back to the Stone Age twice over. This is not even counting how many guns and how much ammunition the civilian population in the US owns. In 2007 there were an estimated 88.8 small firearms per 100 residents. If someone is going to try and invade this country all I have to say is "you are not gonna get far". So why do we spend so much on military? This country is fully protected from just the firearms the civilians have. It comes down to foreign politics. In order to be the biggest player in foreign affairs we need the biggest military. Foreign politics and policies will be something I'll cover in the future.

Incarceration in the US is the highest in the world. The US spent 74 billion dollars on corrections in 2007.

 

I hope everyone sees the problem with this. We spend about an average of 30,000 dollars per inmate in federal and state correctional institutes. I only wish we spent that much per pupil in public schools which is at around 11,500 dollars per pupil in 012-13(Source). This brings me to the one point I would like to say. Perhaps if we spent less on criminals and more on children then our math, science, and reading skills could be closer to the top while the incarceration rate could lower substantially. They say children are our future. I would also like to say inmates are our past. They have made their choices and while some can be rehabilitated there is a majority that will end up back in or stay in the correctional system. If anyone knows of a site with more up to date, please post it in the comments. Thanks.

Education Reform: No Child Left Behind and Common Core

Much of our current educational system stems from an old idea, that each state and school district should set it's own standards, curriculum and by doing so leave both accountability for said standards, and ability to change them with the states. Some states did very well, others did not. Low education rates over decades have shown that decrease in education leads to an increase in drugs, violence and crime. Those who have less than a high school education are three times more likely to go to jail than those who receive their diploma and 63 times more likely than those who get a college degree. Right now the unemployment rate is triple for those without a high school diploma than those with a four year college degree.

It is clear from these stats that education is crucial to upper movement for the lower classes, and that the need for education is crucial to our country's continued success and increased prosperity. We have established in the U.S. and throughout most of the world that education is one of the basic responsibilities for each government.

Over the years congress and various presidents have tried to fight against poverty and low education in the U.S.. In 1965 as part of his "War on Poverty" the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" was passed by congress, emphasizing fair and equal opportunities for all students to achieve academic excellence. It was designed to do this by disbursing funding to schools with children from low income families. It was equally focused on improving low functioning schools as well; however, it has also brought focus for improving funding to these schools to be based upon whether low functioning schools are improving. For most schools nationwide, most federal funding comes from grants have been allotted to schools based upon fulfilling requirements by the Department of Education. Overall most funding for schools come from property taxes, but often that alone often does not fulfill all of the needs of school districts, and so they often rely heavily on these federal grants.

The question became how to continue to encourage poor functioning schools. Dropout rates had increased and it became clear that evaluating students would be a key component in developing methods to know how to encourage poor functioning schools. In the 1990's most states incorporated standardized testing into their curriculum. These tests were set by each state in order to give accountability to teachers and administrators and to gauge the efficacy of the teaching being conducted. In 2001 ESEA was reauthorized with an additional provision, which was called "No Child Left Behind."

No Child Left Behind has been heavily criticized because of it's focus on testing as the primary way to determine where to disperse grants. It failed to take into account student's previous growth and other factors, and overall has left behind more kids than it has helped. 

More recently the National Governor's association in coordination with other national groups decided that there needed to be simpler across the board basic standards that should be met. The need for these standards was to try to ensure that all students would at least be taught up to a minimum standard. This does not mean that students can not be past these standards, achieve higher, get into better classes that have extra expectations, etc. It does, however, mean that a student from California moving to Ohio in 8th grade should be around the same level of education and not several steps behind.

The response has been mixed - many teachers who I have interviewed have been overwhelming in support of the common core curriculum. Their reasons for this seems to be the focus on mastery of concepts and the focus on fewer concepts, allowing teachers to ensure students get a more in-depth understanding of the most important concepts.An additional benefit to these standards is that by having the same standards, we are more easily able to measure how our students are doing compared with students across the world. Having 50 sets of standards made it incredibly difficult to compare our educational performance with other countries. This difference has been thought to be one of the causes for our country being rated lower in education than several other countries.

The concern with common core seems to be centered around a few ideas: the first being that this change has been facilitated through the department of education through the "Race to the Top" program. The concern over a federal takeover of education seems unfounded, however, as each state still sets their own standards based on the core curriculum. These standards are not mystery standards. They are available and are not hidden to parents or teachers once the states have decided on them.

Another major concern is involved in the lack of testing involved with these standards and the lack of involvement by teachers and parents in directly setting the standards. Also there is concern that there has not been a trial run of these standards. I feel that these concerns at this point are valid, but with the amount of states involved in these standards, the secondary concern will be confirmed or denied within 5 years or so. The last concern seems to be the overall cost of implementation, including retraining and curriculum materials.

I understand and support common core's main focus,  and I believe that having equal standards among the states is a necessity. However I also understand that there is a lot that we do not understand about it yet.

VA Backlog Taking Care of Our Wounded

By Tim Newton

Since the beginning of the War on Terror, we have had a higher rate of returning vets who have a high amount of disability. The Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) is responsible for both providing care to returning disabled veterans as well as determining their status.  As you may be aware because of this increased number this has also meant there has been an increased demand for nursing home beds, injury rehabilitation, and mental health care. The VA categorizes veterans into eight priority groups and several additional subgroups, based on factors such as service-connected disabilities, and the individuals income and assets .

Veterans with a fifty percent or higher service-connected disability as determined by a VA regional office board are provided comprehensive care and medication at no charge. Veterans with lesser qualifying disabilities who exceed a pre-defined income threshold have to make co-payments for care.

The VA’s budget has been increasingly stretched to the limit in recent years by the War on Terrorism. In December 2004, it was widely reported that VA’s funding crisis had become so severe that it could no longer provide disability ratings to veterans in a timely fashion. This has become a problem because until veterans are fully transitioned from the active-duty TRICARE healthcare system to the VA, they are on their own with regard to many of their healthcare costs.

The VA has worked to cut down screening times for these returning combat vets, and they receive first priority for patient appointments with the VA. VA’s backlog of pending disability claims under review peaked in march of 2013 at 600,000 is currently up to 560,000.

The VA seems to increasingly believe that the backlog can be fixed by automation, but the concern continues that if claims increase, people will continue to fall through the cracks. 

"You should not have to stand in line for more than a year if you have a disability (claim) pending with the Veterans Administration," Mikulski told reporters this week.

“Over the past five years, I’ve consistently asked them, what do you need. What do you need? Do you need more individuals, resources, bodies — what is it going to take to fix this backlog?” Sen. Dean Heller said in a Senate hearing last week. “And they’ve consistently told me, we’re going to solve this without additional resources.”

 We need to take care of our veterans and we owe them the duty to take care of those who have made sacrifices to protect our liberty. Hopefully the changes due to automation will be able to help in this backlog and our veterans will get the help they deserve.