Obama, Biden head back to school to reach young voters

Recap:

This article discussed the upcoming mid-term election and what Barack Obama and Joe Biden are doing to convince voters. Both President Obama and Vice President Biden going to be at rallies supporting the Democratic party over the next few weeks. The majority of these rallies are aimed at young people. Obama next week is at University of Wisconsin and Biden is at Penn state University. Obama and Bidens reasoning behind these rallies is that 11 percent of voters in the 2008 election were first time voters and 70% of them voted for Obama. Polls also show that a large part of Obamas supporters are under the age of 30. It also talks about how important this election is although it is only the mid term. It is said that many of the senate seats are expected to be won by the Republican party which would make this a very important election for Obama, Biden and the entire Democratic party!

Opinion:

It's an interesting article as it shows that Barack Obama wants as many votes as he can get. I think it's a great idea to appear at universities as this is where hundreds of thousands of young people can come and see you speak. I don't know everything about the election although from the articles I have read over the past couple of weeks, it seems to me like the republicans don't have a good chance of holding on to open senate seats and governorships. I'm excited to see what will happen in the mid term election as it is only a month and a bit away.

Georgia baby sitter, 11, charged in death

Recap:

The article I read was about a an eleven girl who lives in Georgia. She was babysitting a girl late Saturday night when the two year old girl she was babysitting died. The mother of the two year old victim called 911 from the babysitters home. She was brought to the hospital and when she arrived she was eventually pronounced dead. The eleven year old said that the 2 year old fell out of bad and she just immediately put her back to bed. The autopsy revieled that she had blunt trauma to her head and a few other parts of her body such as her torso and buttocks. Her eyes were wide open when she arrived to the hospital. The eleven year old babysitter is being charged with murder but they are unsure whether or not the case is going to be held in juvenile court.

Opinion:

This was a very interesting article. Astonishing story as you would never expect anything like this to happen. It's something shocking and I surprised that this happen. I'm not sure if the eleven year old actually killed the little girl. I think the case should be held in in juvenile court. It's an interesting case! It's really tragic to see a little girl die like this and I feel bad for the family, it's a terrible story.

Gulf well permanently plugged, U.S. says

Recap:

This article discusses how the BP oil spill has officially ended as of this morning. This past weekend they poured cement to try to stop oil from spurring out and this morning it was announced that it worked. The articles other focus was the cost of the cleanup and the effect it will have in the long run. Fisherman say it could seriously hurt their business, they believe the waters are clean enough to fish but many people are too scared to buy the fish that are from the gulf. Also it discusses how much BP has invested in the clean-up, BP spilled 206 million gallons of oil and it had cost them 9.5 billion as of Saturday and they have promised another 20 million to pay for the costs of the clean up. CEO Bob Dudley believes it will cost them an estimated 32 billion by the time it's all over. Another topic within the article was the government. Many people believe that Obama did not help with oil spill soon enough and therefore ended up making it worse in the long run.

Opinion:

My opinion on the matter is that it's fantastic that its finally plugged. After 5 months of clean up I'm happy to see that all the efforts actually finished with success. I think it's an unbelievable amount of money that BP had to spend on the clean up, if it ends up costing them 32 billion then it's a huge toll on their company and could hurt them a lot. Another thing is the fisherman, I feel bad for them as they had nothing to do for the past five months, certain men said they helped and BP would pay them for it but it's another major toll on their fishing company. I believe BP is doing the right thing by reimbursing people for their troubles and the federal government for their clean up efforts.

More Democrats break with Obama on tax cuts

Recap:

This article discusses whether the Bush era tax-cuts will come to an end or not at the end of 2010. President Obama wants the tax cuts to end. However there is a catch, he only wants to raise taxes for people/families who make over 250 000$ per year. 31 democrats have signed a letter to extend the tax breaks after the conclusion of this year. People who have signed this letter such as Gary Peters believe the tax cuts should continue because raising taxes could hurt the economy at a fragile time like this. Many of them believe in recovery after the recession and believe they shouldn't raise taxes. Obama wants the Bush era tax cuts to end and the republican party disagrees. Now that there is a bill circulating with 31 house democrats supporting the tax cuts to continue, it is looking like the republican party may get there way.

My Opinion:

I truly believe that they shouldn't raise taxes. In one of the other articles I analyzed, it discussed how Obama wanted the tax cuts to end because he said it could cost the USA government up to 700 billion over the n ext decade. I truly believe that taxes should not be raised for anyone. Yes, it is important for people to invest in the economy and that's what the taxes would be doing, however raising taxes for the upper class may do that but I truly believe as I stated in one of my other posts that people should invest in the economy on their own will. Raising taxes would force them to do it. I truly believe that what the 31 house democrats and the republican party is doing the right thing by trying to freeze the tax breaks for another 2 years.

Obama attacks Republicans as mid-term elections approach

Recap:

This article was about how Obama is saying that the Republicans care more about politics then there countries financial state.  He states that the majority of republicans have disagreed with all of his proposals since he has entered office. Also as many people know the Bush era tax cuts come to an end at the end 2010 and this article also talks about how Obama would like these tax cuts to end as they would cost the American government 700 billion over the next decade. The article also discusses John Beohner and how he stated two weeks ago in a press conference in Ohio that Obama was "job killing" president. Obama who was also in Ohio referenced him many times in his speech. Obama believes that they shouldn't cut taxes because the government can't afford to lose 700 billion. Also he believes that the upper class(families who make more 250 000 $ per year) should not have tax breaks because they should be the people investing in the economy.

Opinion:

I think that Obama is right in the fact that the republicans should vote for bills that help the economy and the country and they shouldn't only care about politics. I also truly believe that the tax cuts should stay in place. Yes, the middle and upper class drive the economy but also they work harder. Obama stated a few times in his speech that they didn’t want to end the tax cuts to pick on the upper class but because these people should be investing in the economy. I agree with that but I also think they should only invest on their own will. Ending the tax cuts makes it seem like we're forcing the upper class to invest and I agree with this fact.

Me and Jake discussed what was above and we basically agreed on all of our opinions. We thought this was an interesting article because of the different views from politicians but also because it will be an intriguing debate whether Obama will raise taxes or will he keep the tax breaks. Also it is exciting to see who will win the midterm.

Justice Department 'expects it may sue' BP

Recap:

The article that I read was about how the justice department of the USA may sue BP for additional clean up costs because of the oil spill. They can potentially sue BP under the Oil pollution act and the clean water act. The clean water act could potentially allow the justice department to sue BP for up to 3400$ per barrel spilled in the deepwater horizon spill. It also talked about what the government would want compensation for. The main thing attorneys say they would want compensation for are loss of tax revenue, destruction of natural resources and a few others. BP has already paid the government 390 million to help clean up the oil spill and have promised to put aside 20 billion over several years to compensate what the government will have to do to get things back to normal.

My Opinion:

I believe that BP should have to pay for the cleanup on the gulf coast. The oil spill has affected the water, natural resources and living organisms dramatically.They have promised to put aside a lot of money over the next several years but I understand fully why the justice department would want to sue them for additional clean up costs. Another large factor is tax revenue. They lost a large amount of money due to the loss of the amount of oil in the gulf. I believe that BP should compensate all the money that the government has lost and has to spend on the clean up.