Commentary Based on "Sooner, Rather Than Later"

   In her latest blog post, "Sooner, Rather Than Later," my fellow classmate, Rain Guerrero-Lopez, comments on a few reasons why our current President of the United States should be impeached. In a respectful and strong argument, Rain states some very honest opinions and facts about what President Trump has dabbled in the past one-hundred days. I definitely can relate with Rain when she says, "The faster he can be removed from office the better; so, let’s get the process started with impeachment". 

   I stumbled across an article recently that talked about ways that President Trump can be removed from office before 2020. Like Rain mentioned, impeachment should definitely be an option. According to the Constitution, an impeachment is voted on when "treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors" have been committed. A crime or misdemeanor can be almost anything, and there is little to no evidence required for the impeachment to occur. 

   As much as myself and I am sure many others would feel much better if the current President was to be removed from office, it's almost an impossible feat. The House and Senate are both dominated by Republicans and those who favor Mr. Trump. They are not going to vote against him, or at least it would be highly unlikely. Now, if roles are reversed in 2018 when the next elections are held, there might be a change in who controls both the House and Senate, therefore making impeachment once again an option. 

   I agree with Rain, the President has shown time and time again that he is not fit to run this country. With his seemingly eagerness to fight against other countries, whatever is behind this Russia scandal, and his overall irrationality...there is no logical reason that he has even remained in office as long as he has. 

   While the facts are in front of us, and our nation continues in this downwards spiral, I just cannot see the President getting impeached while Republicans are still in control. I am definitely more conservative in my beliefs, however, that does not keep me from seeing the obvious wrong that is being done by the President right now. I honestly cannot say what is in store for the future of the United States, but I hope we can find a stronger leader than what we are stuck with right now. 

 

   

What do you do when it's harder than you thought?

   As President Trump's first one-hundred days in office comes to an end, the President sat down to reflect on his thoughts about being 45th President of the United States. His response was perplexing, given his behavior during the election. Did Mr. Trump just want to win the election, without thinking about what would happen when he actually won? 

   President Trump makes it quite clear that he was not prepared for all that being the President entails. In a recent interview, Mr. Trump stated that "...this is more work than my previous life. I thought it would be easier". He goes on to talk about how he misses his life before the presidency and how he is shocked at the complexity of different issues, healthcare for example.  

   The President is someone who should be an inspiring example to American citizens, who carefully decides how laws should be enforced, a person who connects our nation to other nations and makes careful decisions regarding our military while also being an economic and legislative leader. Now, the people of the United States are being lead by a man who seems like he wishes this never happened and is unaware of the great responsibility it takes to be a President.

   If we take a look on what these first one-hundred days of leadership under President Trump encompass, we can clearly see that all of his talk in the election has lead to very little action. For starters, Mr. Trump has made little progress when it comes to major legislation, almost everything he has started has come to a halt for one reason or another (take the healthcare bill and the wall for example). The President has also only made about 50 nominations for the executive branch positions, and there is 553 positions to fill. This means about 90 percent of these jobs have been left with zero nominations. There is also the fact he does not have a clear foreign policy and has been under several scandal investigations since the inauguration. 

   It is very clear that Mr. Trump has found himself in a position where he is uncomfortable and inexperienced. Will he make it through his full term, or will he throw in the towel to go back to his old life? I guess only time will tell, but the future of our nation needs to be in responsible and knowledgeable hands. 

   

   

Commentary Based on "The Wall To Be, Or Not To Be, - That Is The Question"

   In A Nation of Red, White, and Blue's latest blog post, "The Wall To Be, Or Not To Be, -That Is The Question," my fellow classmate comments on President Trump and his idea to build a wall to keep out immigrants. My classmate states how it is a rather foolish idea, and I must say that I agree. 

   I am a firm believer that we are only divided by the walls (figuratively and literally) we choose to put up. We are a world full of human beings who happen to be born in different cities, states, and countries. Should we not try and help our neighbors and treat them with dignity and respect? This seems like a very disrespectful move to me. If the President follows through with building this wall, it shows that we do not wish to be a gracious neighbor to our bordering countries. This can only cause rifts in our relationship with people outside of the United States. 

   Now, to look at it from a logical standpoint, the wall along with the enforcement of immigration laws might be practical for those who choose to come in right where the wall is supposed to be located. However, this does not stop those who come in via air, underground and through different countries that have less patrol officers. While there is not documented percentages of how these immigrants are getting into the United States, there is in fact more ways to get here than the border of Mexico. 

   Illegal immigrants are a problem in a sense. It is incredibly hard to come to the United States legally. In order to live and work in the United States, one must acquire a Green Card. In order to get a Green Card, there is a long process of paperwork to be done, and it is up to the USCIS to issue one of these cards to you. While there does need to be some form of process to become a citizen, I do not believe it needs to be so hard that it results in individuals not applying and risking coming through illegally. 

   To conclude, I will say that what my classmate stated about the wall is agreeable. It is not going to stop people from entering and it is a waste of time and money. We should be seeing what we can do to help people, not shut them out. Many people who come to the United States are willing to take any job they can get, and often times, they take the jobs that citizens think are above them. I can only hope that our government sees these "immigrants" as people, individuals just like us. They are not aliens that will bring America to its doom, they are real, beautifully created, wonderful human beings...just give them an opportunity.  

The Financial Factor in the Public Education System

   In her recent extended policy address, Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos touches on her idea of a School Choice program, in which public funding is used to fund private and charter schools as well as public schools. However, one thing she said stood out in particular. DeVos asked, "At what point do we accept the fact that throwing money at the problem isn't the solution?"

   Should there be more funding for the public education system? 

   Although DeVos has not released her budget plans, here is what the budget has gone towards in the past. The majority, about sixty percent, of the budget goes towards instruction. This is assumed to include tools and curriculum. The next thirty percent goes to benefits (for staff) along with generalized support and the last ten percent goes to transportation and debt. All of these things are compacted into a relatively small budget of approximately one to five hundred billion dollars, depending on the fiscal year.

   While this seems like a large amount of money, with over 14,000 school districts, it can become an issue. The issue is not with the amount of money necessarily, but where it is being put and which schools or districts are being better financially supported. In this way, Ms. DeVos is right, throwing pockets of money will not solve any problems if districts are not given tools to work with. 

   With that said, funding for the public education system is still a very important aspect of how well education runs, so better funding is still necessary. Unfortunately, if the School Choice program is adopted, funding will lessen and the public education system will suffer greatly. Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, stated that President Trumps choice of Education Secretary "makes it loud and clear that his education policy will focus on privatizing, defunding and destroying public education in America."

   Over 50 million students attended public school in 2016, while only a little over 5 million attended private schools. If funding were to be redistributed in a way that even less is provided for public education, that is over 50 million children that are not getting the education they deserve.

   While "throwing money" at the system will not solve any issues, providing a big, well thought out and sound budget for the public education system to work with will help our children grow up in a positive environment where they can learn and be participating citizens. After all, the children are indeed the future, and how we choose to educate them will impact the future of our country. 

  

 

Honesty Is The Best Policy

   The commentary blog, "What Should We Do If the President Is a Liar?" written by Senator Bernie Sanders for The Smirking Chimp, discusses how trustworthy the current President of the United States actually is. Senator Sanders points out the fact that President Trump unfortunately has not proven to have the greatest track record for honesty. Although President Trump holds a very important office, it does not seem as though he treats it with anymore respect.
   
   Senator Sanders has crafted this post in such a way that calls the American people to action. He asks us how we should deal with such a President as Mr. Trump and those who do not expose him for these lies. His audience is the American people as a whole, for we all have the power to make a difference in the nation we live in. However, Mr. Sanders leaves this question open for interpretation, as there are many possible ways to go about dealing with an untrustworthy President.

   Senator Sanders has been in the political business for a very long time. He served sixteen years in the House of Representatives until becoming a member of the United States Senate in 2006. Mr. Sanders has also made history in regards to government membership, as he is the longest serving member of Congress. To say the least, Senator Sanders is experienced and well-respected.

   In this post, Senator Sanders argues that there is a possibility of "major crises" in the United States and even world-wide, because of Mr. Trumps presidency. Mr. Sanders states his concern by stating-

"If Trump lies over and over again what kind of credibility will he, or the United States, have when we need to bring countries around the world together to respond to those crises? How many people in our country and other countries will think that Trump is just lying one more time?"

Senator Sanders relates President Trump and his consistent lying to a "boy who cried wolf" type situation. As the popular tale goes, the boy continuously tricked the townspeople into thinking a wolf was attacking his sheep. Eventually, they all stopped believing him and coming to his rescue. When an actual wolf came about, nobody believed him, and he was left alone to face the wolf on his own. Similarly, Mr. Sanders fears that the more Mr. Trump lies, the less everyone will believe him. If this happens, unity and peace will be at stake, and that is precisely when the "wolves" come out to play. 

   I believe that honesty is important no matter what political or non-political occupation one may have. Unfortunately, our political system is not always full of those who tell the truth, and it definitely has an impact on us as a nation. There is never a time when every single person will agree with one another, but we should never have to question whether or not someone is being honest- especially the President. I believe that Mr. Sanders has some quite valid concerns, and it is up to the American people to strive for change. 

Afghanistan Action?

   In the commentary blog, "What are You Going to Do About Afghanistan, President Trump?", Brian Cloughley of The Smirking Chimp discusses the priorities of President Trump regarding his stance on Afghanistan. President Trump was not particularly specific on if the White House plans to take any action due to the recent terrorist type attacks. However, with President Trump's ideals on putting America first, any advances on the situation are questionable. 

   Mr. Cloughley has designed this piece to sound like an open letter to President Trump himself- asking him what he plans to do about Afghanistan multiple times. It is clear that Mr. Cloughley is a strong liberal, who appeals to the Democratic views in this article. However, his intended audience is not going to be those who agree with his views, but those who oppose him. Mr. Cloughley seeks to propose a question that is being overlooked, and yet can have a direct affect on not only Afghanistan, but also the United States.

   Among other things, Mr. Cloughley is a published writer who focuses on South Asian Affairs, and is actually a South Asia Defense Analyst who covers places such as Afghanistan, India and Pakistan regularly. Mr. Cloughley has over forty years of studying and research under his belt, so it is safe to say that in this specific topic, he is well versed-therefore quite credible. 

   In this specific blog, Mr. Cloughley argues that Afghanistan is on the verge of devastation and the White House is remaining silent on the topic. President Trump was at one point caught in an interview stating-

 “Look. I am the strongest military person, and if I have Iran in one, I would be the strongest military president ever. I believe in having — I would not be cutting the budget. I’d be coming out with the best weapons ever, all right? But with Afghanistan, I want to build our country. You know, in Afghanistan, they build a school. They blow up the school. They blow up the road. We then start all over again. And in New Orleans and in Alabama, we can’t build schools.”

Now, at first glance this response is seemingly unrelated, but Mr. Cloughley brings it all back to the idea of money. President Trump seems to believe that it is better to use the money close to home, which Mr. Cloughley highlights as being an understandable point. In one way, helping our states is not a bad thing, but then, what does this mean for the people of Afghanistan? With Afghanistan declining at a rapid pace, this can only mean that the United States will also start to see a significant impact on the economy and government as a whole.

   I am a strong believer in helping others, even on a national level. I believe that we were not created to put up borders and deny help to our neighbors, but to pick them up and assist them in being their best selves. While it is important to make a difference within our own country, I do believe that by helping others, we can also change our own situation. If the White House chooses to ignore what is going on in Afghanistan, it could be the start of a very sticky situation. While I know this is easier said then done, I hold hope that we can outstretch a hand to those in need and be a part of the solution in Afghanistan. 

 

Getting Educated About Education

   Many Americans held their breaths on Tuesday night as Betsy DeVos was sworn-in as the new Education Secretary. With her seemingly lack of experience in public education and her position on certain topics, people were (and possibly still are) nervous as to what she is going to do with the future of our education system.

   ABC News wrote an article on what seems to be an effort to comfort the public about what DeVos actually can and cannot do. Due to the fact that the system of government America has in place is one of checks and balances, DeVos does not solely hold all of the power to make decisions. Many of these proposals have to be approved by Congress.

   DeVos' main influence will be in the educational agenda and civil rights. Though she cannot fully control what the states do as far as the agenda is concerned, she will be a highly influential supporter for certain programs. When it comes to civil rights, she will have to make the choice as to if she will enforce congruity in areas such as discrimination (and many others) heavily or lightly. Overall, in most other areas, she must leave decisions to the states.

   I believe this article to be worth reading, because it puts to rest many preconceived notions about what DeVos or any other Education Secretary is actually allowed to do. It also provides some peace in knowing she cannot make any rash decisions that would severely damage our education system. Getting educated about how parts of our government works is extremely important, and this article is one of many that allows us to do so.