Roe v. Wade turns 40

This year, the historic court case of Roe v. Wade turns 40 years old.

While I've mentioned in previous posts concerning polling and statistics, abortion does not seem to be a primary concern for as many citizens as it once was. Much of the nation is more worried about our national deficit, free healthcare, and employment rates. With the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, however, I was wondering exactly who would notice and what kind of questions or concerns it would stir up.

I read an article this week regarding a bill that has been awaiting it's fate in South Dakota's State Senate. This bill, finally passed by South Dakota Legislation, brought into question the restrictions placed on a woman seeking an abortion. While reading about these recent endeavors supporting women's rights, I found it interesting that there are still any restrictions at all. I am not necessarily pro-life or pro-choice; in fact, I'm rather undecided on the issue... But when I think about the fact that the ruling of Roe v. Wade has yet to be overturned in 40 years, I find it interesting that some states are even allowed to place restrictions, such as a waiting period, on women who are seeking an abortion. Is this not still an invasion of women's rights? I understand the purpose of such restrictions, to force these women to really evaluate their choice before taking any drastic measures, but if they are seeking an abortion at a clinic and meeting with a doctor, isn't it possible that they have already made up their minds?

Republicans, to this day, stand pretty evenly divided on the issue of abortion and it remains, not surprisingly, a religiously involved controversy. Nearly half of all religiously affiliated and devoted citizens would vote to completely overturn Roe v. Wade.
In my opinion, Americans need to learn from the past. Roe v. Wade was a ruling that became historic due to it's controversy and radical effect on the issue of women's rights. Why would we move backwards by overturning it? And why are we so concerned with the particular restrictions on women seeking abortions. An abortion is a huge decision and often a difficult one at that. If it is going to be legal, why make it any harder than it already is for women who find themselves facing such difficult circumstances?

Sources:        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/south-dakota-abortion_n_2785082.html
                     http://www.pewforum.org/Abortion/roe-v-wade-at-40.aspx

A Criticism of Immigration

After reading Caren Lee's recent blog post, Immigration: Where to start?, I have quite a few questions and thoughts.

This article, written in what seems to be a frustrated tone concerning immigration laws and their needed improvement, made me wonder... what can REALLY be done about illegal immigration? Caren makes a good point in saying that, digging fences will never be the solution to preventing illegal entry into our country. And maybe that's not what we should be so focused on. There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. right now. Of those 11 million, 8 million of them have found their way into the American workforce. If we stop the exploitation of illegal immigrants who are desperate for work, maybe we can eliminate a prime motivation for illegal immigrants crossing the border in the first place. http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/

In Caren's article, she mentions the economic consequences of deporting all illegal immigrants and speculates about whether or not American workers could fill all of these positions. In my opinion, 8 million mostly below-minimum wage paying positions would be incredibly difficult to fill. To reference another article written by our very own Amanda Balamenti, perhaps if we were to raise the federal minimum wage, some of these positions would be eliminated and it would not be a matter of replacing 8 million workers after illegal immigrants are gone, but rather a matter of providing fewer, but better-paying jobs to legal, hard-working American citizens. http://usgovtcheeseandme.blogspot.com/

We need not look over one important rebuttal to Caren's argument for deportation of illegal immigrants. According to an article recently published by CNN, 2.9 billion dollars have already been spent on reducing the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. The price of fixing our current immigration problems is not cheap. While we do need to respect and uphold the law by reducing exploitation of illegal workers and using programs to fairly, and in timely fashion, turn illegal immigrants into citizens, it is not reasonable to expect immigration to be a quick or complete fix. Ever.

People illegally enter our country for countless reasons and in the defense of human rights, we need to consider some of these motives as pure and stop viewing all illegal immigrants as pests that need to be eliminated. America is, after all, a melting pot that boasts in it's opportunity and diversity.

Taxes and Solutions

Taxes, taxes, taxes.

Obama seems to be enduring some heat from the Republican party these days. If you haven't been hearing about budgets and deficits, government spending and taxes, then you must live under a rock.

As part of the future generation to lead our country, I feel it is incredibly important for those in power to do something about the debt that has been acquired throughout this financially devastating time for our country. I imagine telling my children years down the road about what it was like to live through the "Great Recession." What I don't want is to still be worrying about job security or living with the fear of continuous tax increases or our nation's debt.

While Republicans continue to fight the idea of more government as a solution to our financial crisis, Democrats defend themselves by stating that it's not more government, but government fulfilling it's role in securing our nation's financial security in the future. Word from the White House is that we shouldn't expect much in terms of plans for improving the deficit. But the fact is: Obama is the only person in the position to do something about this crisis. And something HAS to be done. The Democrats would rather leave debts and deficits up to the Republicans, but why can't we just agree on the small changes that could make the difference between progress and "kicking the can down the road" and leaving this problem up to future generations?

The Lesser Evil

During our last presidential election, I heard a lot about Republicans v. Democrats, Liberals v. Conservatives... etc. as in every other election. However, this time, I was frequently reminded of the Libertarian party (something I knew very little about) and even encouraged to consider a third party due to the less than pleasing choice between a scrutinized Romney and our quote, "disappointing," current president.

With this in mind, I was surprised to stumble across an article this week that actually referred to the democratic party as "the Lesser Evil." I guess you could say this article caught my eye due to the flagrant, displeased attitude of the author in regards to democrats. With our last presidential election showing a nation-wide frustration with our two party system, I was interested to hear a democrat criticize the democratic party while clearly intending for other democrats to read what he had to say.

The article stated three areas of our government to consider when evaluating the democratic party. The most valid and interesting point that he made, was when considering "identity issues."
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/gaius-publius/47936/is-the-democratic-party-still-the-lesser-evil-if-so-in-what-sense
The author, Gaius Publius, (editor at Americablog.com and seasoned political blogger) talks about current issues like gun control and how they are being turned into an issue concerning human rights. In fact, Gaius practically accuses the democratic party of becoming full-fledged human rights activists! Not that this is a bad thing...

I found it pretty hilarious and very interesting how true this is becoming. EVERYTHING, even the argument over gun laws, is becoming an argument over personal rights. Why WOULDN'T the democrats start to use this to their advantage. It looks good.

Gaius didn't stop at identity issues, of course. He took the time to draw my attention to the economical issues of the democratic party and argues that Obama's plans will in no way, "harm the banker." Democrats are still rich folk working together as a "billionaire-driven party" working for the good of the rich.

I don't know that I agree with this particular stance on Obama's economic policies or the democratic party as a whole, considering Obama's work to improve unemployment benefits; but Gaius does make some good points. I cannot, however, disregard the fact that democrats do appear to use these human rights arguments to their advantage, whether it is to push their policies or just to save face. I do suppose that there could be far worse ways to push your opinions though.

Bipartisan Immigration

I thoroughly enjoyed the editorial I recently read in USA today about a bipartisan immigration plan.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/01/28/citizenship-illegal-immigrants-senators/1872653/

With the liberals talking about a fast-track to citizenship and the conservatives cracking down on immigration, illegal immigrants have been a hot topic for years. Amnesty, maybe the only word that immediately caught my attention when first reading through this article, has seemed to stand in the way of the conservatives' plans throughout recent years.

Here's the ugly truth: most people support amnesty. It would be cruel to force millions of illegal immigrants out of our country-- "the home of the free..." This is where a bipartisan agreement really needs to come into play. I agree with conservatives to some extent... "There should be some punishment for breaking the law..." but at what cost?

Liberals also have the right idea. Amnesty must be enacted with some discretion. There needs to be a helpful and supportive but also fair way of making illegal immigrants into citizens. We can't just ship them all back, but we can't just sit back and let whoever we want go wherever they want, work wherever they want, or take advantage of the rights granted to U.S. citizens and immigrants who have followed processes and done things honestly and correctly. I don't think that illegal immigrants are any less deserving of natural rights or certain freedoms than I am, but there has to be some respect for the law and some consequence for breaking it.

This editorial does a great job of highlighting both the liberal and conservative perspectives on immigration. It really made me think about equality within our democracy and the importance of having laws set in place to regulate things such as immigration. I agree that both parties as well as illegal immigrants are going to benefit from the conservatives coming together and reaching a compromise on an immigration plan. 

It's time to view our country as the melting pot that it is and work together to prevent future problems with illegal immigration. 

Where's the Hope?

This week, President Obama was inaugurated for the second time. While this is, yet again, a landmark in our nation's history, some seem to think that the "excitement" is gone.

In a recent CNN article, Paul Steinhauser comments on the rather disappointing feeling after Obama's inauguration speech, saying that the hope that Obama might bring the nation together may be gone.  http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/21/obamas-second-inauguration-is-the-thrill-gone/

This article rings true with me, because, after reading other articles on the inauguration and talking to my fellow politically minded colleaugues, I have found that President Obama said little to encourage consevative and liberal unity. He talked about pushing liberal opinions even more when it comes to debt ceilings and paying off national debt. In the words of my friend Glen, he seems to have "screwed the pooch" when it comes to encouraging a feeling of teamwork in our country.

This is sad to me, because with the start of a new presidential term, I had hoped that our President could provide some encouragement or at least prove some critics wrong and present a demeanor of open-mindedness to those who have been so disappointed after the past four years of seeing little done to fix our nation's debt and unemployment.

I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on the inauguration and on this article in particular. Why can't we work as a team, am I right?

Political Novice

Growing up, I was surrounded by strong, right-winged believers almost my entire life. While politics were never pushed or talked about much in my home, it was a fact that my family-- immediate and extended-- was entirely comprised of Conservatives.

Growing up in a Baptist Church, this should probably have been expected. While religion and politics claim to be separate affairs, I think we can all agree that one tends to influence the other in some very big ways, and while politics were never spoken of much in my home or in my church, I was conditioned to believe the Conservative way. 

Now, I'm not saying I've rebelled from this much... but I've also never been a politically savvy person, nor have I ever cared much to learn about politics. I thought I knew where I stood when it came to the leaders of our country and the big issues, but I'm slowly learning just how little I know about what REALLY goes on within our government.

I moved to Austin a few years ago and it was quite a culture shock. Moving from a small, sheltered, conservative home in Northern Detroit to the colorful, inventive, and rebellious city of Austin (a city with the strongest concentration of Democrats in Texas) was eye-opening to say the least. A move like that in the middle of your adolescence is bound to make you question your beliefs.

And so here I am, now 20 years old and still clueless about our government, but ready to make an effort to find a side to take, a place to stand, or a party to affiliate with. 

Think of me as the Political Novice-- ears and eyes open, new and impressionable, skeptical but intrigued.