Politics Archives - Page 7 of 7

Pennsylvania Taxpayers Will Shell Out Big Bucks To Defend Unpopular Gay Marriage Ban

Sep 25, 2013Jeff Patterson5 CommentsExplanation, News, PoliticsControl, government, Laws, student

Article summary:

This article explains how Pennsylvanian taxpayers will soon be paying at least $400/hr for Governor Tom Corbett to hire the William H. Lamb law firm to fight a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s 1996 ban on gay marriage. Additionally, Steve Esack of The Morning Call (a Lehigh Valley newsource) claims that associates from a separate law firm working on the case will earn $325/hr, and neither of these prices covers additional payments for state lawyers also working on the case.The worst part is that all of this money is going to the losing side of an argument; a poll from Franklin & Marshall College found that, by a 52 to 41 percent margin, Pennsylvanians support marriage equality.…

Obama and aides confront skeptical Congress on Syria strike

Sep 21, 2013Scott Ridout4 CommentsExplanation, News, PoliticsControl, Obama, student

Article Summary:

Following the recent chemical weapons attack in Damascus, Syria, President Obama has advocated for United States led military action in Syria for ‘humanitarian purposes.’[1] The Syrian Civil war began more than two years ago and has claimed the lives of over 90,000 people. Although President Obama, as Commander in Chief, has the authority to order military action in Syria, he has chosen to let Congress decide on this issue. Last year, President Obama claimed that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a red line for the United States.

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The Drug War And Mass Incarcerations By The Masses

Sep 19, 2013Jeff Patterson4 CommentsExplanation, News, Politicsstudent

Article Summary:

The Obama Administration, in its 2013 budget, has requested $25.6 billion in federal spending for the war against drugs. The Drug Policy Alliance estimates that “when you combine state and local spending on everything from drug-related arrests to prison, the total cost adds up to at least $51 billion per year.” Over the course of the last 40 years, it’s estimated that American taxpayers have spent almost $1 trillion on a war that has accomplished the following: an unchanged drug addiction rate and the world’s highest incarceration rate. The American Civil Liberties Union has identified that the U.S. has only 5% of the world’s total population, but 25% of the world’s prison population. Equally as surprising, just under half of the people currently incarcerated in the US are there for non-violent crimes.

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New salvo in mammogram wars says young women should be screened

Sep 17, 2013Jacob KashiwagiExplanation, News, Politics, Science

Article Summary:

A recent Harvard medical study advised that women should get mammograms regularly before 50 years old. The study looked at 7,301 breast cancer cases over 9 years, showing that the majority of women that have died due to breast cancer are under the age of 50 and 65% of them never had a mammogram. The study concluded that Women should begin getting mammogram test performed regularly starting at age 40. However, other studies have claimed that mammograms do not prevent breast cancer deaths. …

Obama and Holder sue Louisiana over schools

Sep 14, 2013Joseph Kashiwagi3 CommentsEducation, News, Politics

Article Summary:

Louisiana currently provides vouchers to low income households allowing them to place their children in almost any public or private school. This is causing a dilemma in the government between the State of Louisiana and the Federal Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ is filing a lawsuit against the State of Louisiana.

Louisiana State View: The vouchers allow poverty stricken homes to get their children the best education possible.

Federal Department of Justice View: The vouchers are illegal because it is causing minorities to pull their children out of schools where they are the minority and put them in schools where they are not the minority, which breaks the desegregation law.

Bob Siegel translated this to mean: “Seeing too few black students at a majority white school is a greater concern than providing the best education possible.”

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D.C. Proposes 24-Hour Waiting Period For Tattoos And Piercings

Sep 12, 2013Alfredo Rivera7 CommentsNews, Politics

Article Summary:

Fox News Associated Press has recently reported Washington D.C. is proposing a new regulation that will require anyone who wants a tattoo to wait a minimum of 24 hours. This regulation is believed to help reduce the number of regrettable tattoo decisions, due to many people who receive tattoos while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A local D.C. tattoo artist Paul Roe is not in favor of the proposed law. Roe believes “some regulation is required…but over regulation is a killer to any profession.”

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Doctor stops accepting insurance, lowers prices and posts costs online

Sep 6, 2013Contributor5 CommentsNews, Politicsstudent

Article Summary:

A doctor in Maine is refusing all forms of health care in order to provide better and cheaper service to his patients. He is also posting costs online to make sure his patients know what the costs will be so there will be no surprises. This has allowed him to lower prices and act in the best interest of the patients instead of being dictated by the insurance companies. The article identifies that a visit that would usually cost $160 now only costs him $75. Patients can still file a claim with their insurance company if their insurance allows it.

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Drug Sentences

Aug 16, 2013Joseph Kashiwagi3 CommentsNews, PoliticsControl, Drugs, government, Laws

Article Summary:

This week, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department would no longer pursue harsh sentences for low-level and non-violent drug offenders. Such a decision comes on the realization that incarceration is “ineffective and unsustainable.” Some punishment will still be given to those who break the law in regards to drugs. However, the sentences that will be given to these small time offenders will match the crimes they commit, instead of being irrationally harsh.

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Detroit Bankruptcy

Aug 12, 2013Joseph Kashiwagi6 CommentsNews, Politics

Detroit filed bankruptcy on July 25 ,2013, making it the largest American city to take such a course of action. The implications of this bankruptcy are that investors and retirees will receive only 17% of their previous funds.

The American public was completely surprised as Governor
Rick Snyder approved this course of action. Many citizens believe this ordeal will happen to other cities, too! To them, it seems as though Detroit’s bankruptcy was a random event.

Despite the fact that the American public was in total shock, those who understand the facts can quickly conclude the cause of bankruptcy. Detroit has accumulated numerous problems and few solutions, ultimately leading to their downfall.

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Incarceration

Jun 26, 2013Joseph Kashiwagi11 CommentsExplanation, Politics

According to popular belief, prison serves two main purposes: to correct unacceptable behavior and to increase community safety. This reasoning may not be completely sound. In a logical sense (backed by much data), prison does not effectively correct obscure behavior, nor does it escalate security in communities. The data verifies that 45% of released prisoners return. Using this statistic alone, it becomes apparent that almost half of these criminals did not “learn their lesson”.
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