Troop Build Up

I agree with you on the build up of American troops in Afghanistan is not good at all. Fighting an unknown war that most other countries have failed to do especially in Afghanistan. We keep building up troops to send over there to fight a war that these Taliban soldiers have known nothing but to fight they’re whole life. No one has ever won a war there, and in a way this is a modern day Vietnam War. We will always be fighting terrorism if everyone was good what would evil be. CNN reported that lawmakers want to have a deadline to withdrawal troops or have some sort of plan to win the war there.

With really no other country helping us out except NATO who has about 5,000 more there we have roughly 100,000 troops there and more on the way. One quote from article states "You either have a winning strategy ... and then once it's succeeded, then we withdraw or, as the president said, we will have a date [for] beginning withdrawal in July 2011.

We can fight and fight there but in my mind is more money spending on something we cannot win even with all of our technology. Are we spending more and more money on a war that may last along time rather then taking a step back and rethink everything? Yes I know you can say then that gives them time to recoup or recruit more people and I believe it really does not matter. With new and new strategies done, it just seems that everything keeps getting put back and some new strategy is made up again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwtX69pJxXc

Unemployment Sky High

The national unemployment rate is reaching an all time high of 10%, and reports are speculating that it could reach 12% in the new year. This statistic is a big blow to America. We are all feeling the effects of the downfall of the economy and the recession. We are being told by our Washington officials not to worry, and things are getting better, but companies are still having to close down, decrease number of shifts, or cut back jobs. President Obama is trying to generate more jobs, trying to stimulate our economy, through providing jobs in the alternative energy and healthcare fields. In my opinion we have so much money invested in China and other manufacturing countries that our national economy is suffering greatly. Companies keep taking their manufacturing overseas, which means there is less opportunity here for people to work.

I understand that outsourcing overseas is economically better for these companies, but I question whether the outcome is really worth it for these companies. I also believe that cash for clunkers was a good idea, but should have been used on Americans cars only. Doing this could have helped to jump start economy, make American cars more desirable then the foreign competition. In order to thrive and remain a competitive country we need to start brining jobs back here. The government should start mandating corporations to create more American jobs, which could help stimulate the American economy. Another report I looked at explains that more and more college graduates are moving overseas for jobs, why can’t we create jobs here for them. Many companies expect you to have so much experience to fill higher paying jobs, but what about all of these newly educated graduates, where are the job offers for them. People are going back to school to try to get better jobs, but if they don’t have experience they are being turned away, yet if they have too much experience they are being turned away too because the companies do not want to pay them for experience. How do students and recent graduates, or highly experienced win this game? In order to make a semi good living you still need a graduate’s degree or do move up the ladder with a good company. We need to look into what is working in other countries, why are they more desirable in the job market right now. All we can try to do now is bring back mill jobs, car manufacturing plants, and help people get on right career paths.

Gay Marriage Rights

I agree with Jill’s take on her positive and pro stance on Gay marriage. With so many issues going on today in the world the last thing we should be fighting or arguing about is gay marriage. I say let gays have their equal rights and be able to marry whoever they want to spend the rest of their life with. I use to think with a closed mind, but over the years I have gotten to know many gay woman and men and realized “hey they are just like me and you.” Yes, they may have different interests but they love each other just like a straight couple, and deserve to have the same rights. To be honest many gay couples from what I have noticed have healthier relationships then straight men and women. I agree that California should have passed proposition 8 that got voted down, I don’t know why its our choice of who gets married and doesn’t. There are many extreme and close minded people out there who don’t get to know these people and just decided that the bible and their beliefs are the be all and say all. These people judge gay marriage and do what their priest, pastor or religious leader says. Iowa was the first mid west state to allow gay marriage and they even have there own website to promote it. Life is too short to be angry cause someone is different, and does not follow the norm of what the right wing conservative believes. So all in all, I believe gay marriage should be universal.

http://redwhiteandgoinggreen.blogspot.com/2009/10/inevitable.html?showComment=1258154113866#c2605720379439052915

"A Unknown War"

The US war in Afghanistan is having its most deadliest month for the American troops, since arriving in late 2001. With over 55 soldiers killed this month, it has been a very hard toll to pay for the country, especially with no end in site. We have over 35,000 troops in Afghanistan, and another 3600 waiting to be deployed. Is it worth the money and lives? Should our government be putting this all out there to win this war? As Dan Rather quoted “wars are won with fire power, will power and staying power.” The question is, are we ready to stay in Afghanistan for the long haul?

The people we are fighting, our enemy at war, has a very strong will to fight. A country that has no education system, no healthcare or clean water and that knows nothing else but to fight as a way of living. They have the will power to continue to fight. Even with the new presidency, we still need to ask ourselves is it worth it to fight in a country where an empire tried and could never defeat the afghans. One unnamed source says that Afghanistan is unknown as “The grave yard of empires, From Alexander the Great, to the British army and over 20 years ago the afghan soviet war.”

Washington policy makers only seem to have a few options of what to do. Should we can just leave, should we be concerned with counter insurgency or counter terrorism? Unlike the soviets we don’t want to colonize Afghanistan, but to eliminate the terrorist. The tough issue is also how many more groups and people have the Taliban recruited or established. It is very tricky with Pakistan being a pathway for these groups to move in and out.

With this war going on we are seemingly getting more and more information on what is going on in Afghanistan, unlike what we saw with Iraq. President Obama stated, “Iraq took to many resources of what was going on in Afghanistan and spent on the Iraq war.” I believe that this conflict is not being talked about or even shown to the public interest as much as it should be. I believe the general public needs to be in discussion about it, rather then everything being hush. We dedicate more and more resources to a war that isn’t being won. Hasn’t history showed us of what could be the outcome? We are fighting a long waged war that may never be won and could cost America billions of dollars. We may not establish colonies or American lifestyles there, and we, as the public need to be more in the loop. The question has been ask to the men in charge of the Afghan war, if victory can be achieved, and there is hesitation in their response. Even with Washington wanting to keep perusing the war on terror, we are in for the long haul in Afghanistan.

Health Care Reform

Anne Coulter, is a conservative, right wing, opinionated commentator who has won many fans as well as enemies with her racy, and controversial beliefs. In the blog that I read, she goes on the attack of President Obama’s health care reform. There are very many things that Ms. Coulter presents in the entry that I disagree with. First, she attacks the governments involvement into private insurance companies, stating that the best way to have insurance companies compete is to allow states to open up interstate commerce which would allow insurance companies to act like a car insurance or home owners insurance company. Now her idea sounds like a great one, but does not fix the problem that everyone should have insurance coverage, especially when as a country we rank 26^th in the world for healthcare. I believe the government needs to step in and take action because insurance companies deny so many people everyday of health insurance. Insurance companies deny coverage to many different individuals because of a health condition or a preexisting condition they may suffer from. The government’s plan would work to end this, and allow anyone the opportunity to get healthy at a reasonable price. She then goes onto explain that in her opinion if you were to move across states, you would still qualify for the luxuries of the proposed insurance reform and would be able to obtain car and home insurance, hairdressers, baby sitters, dog walkers, computer technicians, cars, houses, food and every other product and service not heavily regulated by the government. Now even if Ms. Coulter’s opinions were true and everyone in America would move to take the benefits, I think the reform would prevent American’s from taking advantage of the new system. If you read the presidents fine line it states that there would be a tax credit for insurance and this would only be for healthcare not home or car insurance. Now, I do believe bigger companies should be slapped on the wrist for not covering their employees; Ann goes on the attack saying larger companies should not be penalized for not offering coverage to their employees. I think health coverage for employees is important; I worked for a company when I first moved to Austin who decided health coverage for most of its employees was not necessary, and it was taken away from us. I was shocked when I learned that the company would not cover me medically, and all of my doctor visits, medicines would have to come out of my pocket. Of course weeks after learning about the end of my health coverage I was diagnosed with shingles and had to pay for everything doctors visits, tests, and expensive medication with the little money I got from my paycheck. Health insurance is important for everyone, large companies should be penalized if they can’t cover their employees, but in reality it just makes more sense to find a proper system that would allow coverage for everyone.

In the editorial from the New York Times, it talks about the high cost of inmates on death row and how much states are spending on these cases. I agree that we need to make a better push to solve this issue. With states spending millions of dollars on death row executions such as California did with spending over 114 million dollars on death row inmates and spending almost $250 million on executions since 1976. Also the state of Maryland spent over $186 million on 5 executions and that of over 8 million dollars a year spent on trials and appeals and more then the execution itself. That is way too much money per year for the execution of a criminal. With appeals processes, going between 15-20 years there has to be a better way to solve this issue through not only states but the government law makers as well. The government has talked about abolishing the death penalty but law makers will not do so almost leaving it up to the states themselves. Eight million dollars a year could be spent on many more things then executing 4 people. Kansas is trying to get inmates with life without parole, yes this would be a good thing, but keeping inmates in jails especially on death row still comes with a price. The high cost of keeping people on death row is getting more and more expensive especially with the over crowding of prisons in the United States. This issue is leading to states cutting programs such as parks, rest areas, schools and healthcare. The price of an education for students is worth more then a prisoner on death row. I agree also that we could use a lot of the money spent on death row inmates could go to police or solving crimes to totally abolishing capital punishment. New Mexico last year abolished and stopped executions, also the appeals process and trial cost can cost states an absurd amount of money.

CIA interrogations of high-profile terrorism suspects.

With the ongoing investigation of water boarding and advanced tactics that has been used to interrogate terrorists over the past few years at the dreaded Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, CNN reports this week on FOXNEWS Sunday morning that former vice president Dick Cheney went on the record stating it is a terrible decision to review these cases again. With president Obama under pressure from left winged democrats, President Obama has had the Attorney General Eric Holbert to review these cases again. That was executed over the past several years at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Cheney calls this issue, a political stunt and flat out as he says funny. Cheney still prides himself that the illegal actions they took against the so called terrorists that many American lives were saved and attacks were foiled. Also the people who executed these actions were persecuted. As more findings go into it the Cheney-Bush policy on advanced tactics clearly violates international law (Geneva Convention) Also last week Attorney General Holder explained that the justice department would in good faith, not persecute officers who followed legal guidance in executing these tactics on the detainees.