Rising Prices At The Pump

In the last couple weeks, gases prices have been slowly making their way to the $4 mark for the first time in 3 years. A survey showed that the national average for gas was $3.77 and that the average of some states including California, Hawaii, and Alaska had already surpassed $4. Even though the average is almost a dollar high then it was at this time last year, economic data has yet to be burdened by the strain of high gas prices; however, economists believe that “the pain will become more palpable” (Hauser) when we top $4 nationally. While we have yet to see much severe damage to the economy from the increase in prices at the pump, consumers are still driving noticeably less as prices inch their way higher, and most economists believe that industries that depend on tourism and travel for revenue could start to feel the decline in driving over Memorial Day weekend and during the summer. Though it’s hard to see those high gas prices, the economy is stronger now than it was three years ago; the last time prices went up this much.

Prices started their ascent after political unrest swelled in the Middle East over the last few months. The price for crude oil reached its highest point since 2009 last week, topping $110. Now, as prices continue to soar, people will soon begin to feel the crippling effects. It’s true that after dealing with an increase in gas prices in 2008 more and more people bought fuel efficient cars (and that’s a lot of the reason why prices will need to get even higher than they did three years ago if we’re to feel the same strain), but it won’t take much more for the hardships to become substantial. Despite the increased strength in the labor market – and the economy as a whole – people still don’t have the pliability in their budgets to make it through this unscathed should prices continue to rise.


--Emily

Stop Hate Speech!

As much as we try to avoid them, hate speech and other forms of verbal abuse are all around us, even in the most unexpected places. One of the more recent incidents of hate speech has been at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – the place where I will be spending the next four years. On April 4, a UNC-Chapel Hill freshman, Quinn Matney, told police that while standing outside of his dorm talking to another individual, he was called an anti-gay slur and then burned by hot metal on his left wrist.

As they should, the University eventually spoke out and made the incident public. Dr. Holden Thorp, Chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill stated that the university takes hate crimes “seriously” and “strives to foster a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment.” However, although the university planned to report the hate crime to the federal government, they realized that they could not because Matney was unable to say neither his attacker was nor who the person with whom he was speaking with before attacked was. Furthermore, although police has tried to contact Matney to gain more information, they have not been able to.

In my opinion, it is hard to get all of the facts straight regarding the incident that night. I think that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has done all they can in response to the situation, especially with what information they have been given. I do believe that all hate speech is unacceptable in any way, and that verbal and physical abuse due to someone’s sexual orientation is completely intolerable. Although I will be attending this UNC next year, this incident does not make me think less of the University in any way. Hate crimes happen everywhere; how we handle them is what makes the difference.

--Mattie

Planned Parenthood, Jon Kyl, and Barack Obama

Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) stated on the Senate floor that abortion represented “well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does” (CNN). This seems like a harmless statement by a senator who wants to rally his constituents against Planned Parenthood. Of course, there is one problem; the real figure is only 3 percent (CNN). He only missed the real percentage by about 87 percent. Fair enough, a politician lied for his own personal benefit. What else is new? His office released a statement that claimed that Kyl’s statement was “not intended to be a factual statement” (CNN). Wait…. What?
A United States Senator took to the floor and entered into the public record a lie. It was a statement he knew was, at best, embellished or, worse, completely made up. This simple fact illustrates the political environment that is currently present in the US. Senators can outright lie. If we can’t trust what he hear on the Senate floor, what can we trust? Planned Parenthood has become a new rallying point for the Tea Party. The saddest part in the whole ordeal is that some people probably still believe Jon Kyl. These people want it to be true, so to them, it is true.
I am very glad that President Obama made sure that Planned Parenthood did not get defunded as a result of the compromise that resulted in no government shutdown. It was the one thing that I did not want to be included in the deal. During his presidency, Obama has not pursued too liberal of an agenda. For instance, environmental reform has been completely absent and the financial reform bill is largely toothless. Obama has governed much more to the center than I, and many other liberals, hoped and expected. If he had sold out Planned Parenthood, he would have lost even more support from the liberals that he will need in 2012.

Airport Security: How Much Is Too Much?

It’s not surprising that after the attack on 9/11 airport security has heightened. Now, after more unfortunate incidences have occurred, the security is stronger than ever before. We are lucky that the security system of our airports has the ability to be so thorough with the use of full body scans and pat downs, but is there a point when there is too much security?

A recent incident brought this question into play at Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans. This airport has very strict guidelines when screening their passengers: a full body scan or a pat down is necessary for each individual. Some find this to be appropriate and like the idea that their safety will be ensured once they enter the airplane, but when questions of ethics are brought into the picture, is this really the way to go? When a six year old girl was patted down last week, many people were outraged. Many eyewitnesses explain how the child questioned why this was happening to her and what she did wrong. Although the TSA official told her everywhere she was going to check before she did so, imagine the terror this little girl had as a stranger felt around her waist line and down her legs. The biggest question in this situation is why was it necessary for this child to have the full pat down? Wouldn’t the body scan be just as effective? The answer to this question is still unknown, but we can only assume that there is no real reason for this pat down to occur.

Not only was this an excessive precaution, but it took time away from the TSA official. This time could have been more wisely used on other passengers with a greater risk to others. How much damage could this child have caused? There is the argument that parents use their children for bad, which is certainly true, but anything that she could have been carrying would have shown up on the body scan. The fact that this innocent child will probably remember this confusing situation for a long time and to know that it was unnecessary is unnerving. Next time a TSA official decides to pat down a passenger, they should think about if it is completely essential to do so, or if the body scanners would be just as adequate.

--Nicole

Walk A Mile In Our Shoes

Did you know that more than 400 million young people throughout the world do not have shoes, therefore putting them at risk for injury and disease? Earlier this week on Tuesday, I had the privilege of participating in one of the largest events in Cary. On April 5, at 6:30 PM, the Cary Family YMCA had the opportunity to make history in being a part of TOMS One Day Without Shoes. This event was held in an effort to raise awareness to help change the statistics that result from disease and injury from having no shoes to wear. It went on rain or shine, and it was shoe optional. An estimated one million people worldwide went without shoes for the day, a number more than the estimated 250,000 people who participated last year.

I have been working with the Cary YMCA in the after school program for almost two years now, and although I have stopped working for a few weeks due to school sports, I am so happy that I have been able to come back to work and to help out with various things. The TOMS walk was something that I could not miss. Since March 7, 2011, tons of people in the community have donated pairs of shoes. In our individual programs at the YMCA, we have been doing things to help increase awareness and to promote this event by playing games related to shoes and doing various arts and crafts projects.  Consequently, on April 5, and as a result of the outcome from the Cary YMCA, North Carolina became the second largest state to participate in the country. We got approximately 2000 pairs of shoes total, and now we get to send ten people to Ethiopia from our association to help put shoes on those who are less fortunate.

                To be honest, I did not recognize how huge of an event this was going to be until that evening. There were so many families and friends walking, and so many people had a reason to walk, even if was as simple as “I want my kid to understand how fortunate they are.” Some people, including myself, walked the mile about three times! Not only did this event help to raise my awareness on what kids my age are going through in other countries, but it also allowed me to realize how fortunate I have been over the years, and how important it is to help others.

*When you buy a TOMS shoe, the organization donates a pair of shoes to a child in need. For more information on the TOMS walk, check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BitShRujoeA&feature=player_embedded#at=43.

-- Mattie

Government Shutdown Narrowly Avoided

After weeks of arguing by the two parties and hours of tense negotiations on Friday, an 11^th hour deal was reached by Democrats and Republicans about the budget for the federal government. In short, with less than two hours until the federal government would’ve been shut down due to lack of funding, party leaders finally came up with a plan that would concede something to each side. Republicans held firm on their desire for historically high budget cuts, while Democrats held off Republican demands for less funding to the new health care law and other Democratic programs. Although it seems like a victory that lawmakers were able to avert the crisis of a government shutdown, any celebrations should be short-lived and peppered with questions.

Why did we even let it get this far? Had negotiations failed or lasted two hours longer, more than 800,000 federal employees would’ve been temporarily out of work and a host of government services would’ve come to a screeching halt. With so much on the line, including the possibility of further crippling our recovering economy, why would our leaders even entertain the idea of a shutdown? Unfortunately, not only was it entertained, but the wheels had already begun to turn with employees starting to receive their furlough notices on Thursday.

In a divided government like this, with one party controlling Congress while the other controls the White House, compromises must be made in order to reach any kind of deal. But sometimes the politics get in the way. Thoughts of reelection or pressure from constituents – like that from the conservative Tea Party movement on Republican leaders – serve to cloud the judgment of some officials. The fact that Republicans refused to back down from their extreme positions, which started with a proposal of $61 billion cuts in the federal budget, all but guaranteed a standoff between the two sides and significantly increased the likelihood of a shutdown. But not all of those 800,000 workers are Democrats; failing to compromise would’ve left Republicans without their paychecks as well.

Americans can speculate all day about what would’ve happened had midnight come and gone without compromises being made and a deal being reached. In the end – however late it was – a deal was eventually reached and a shutdown of the federal government was avoided. But this was just a warm-up for much bigger fights to come and now we need to face the real question: how will our leaders deal with the even more consequential battles on the horizon? If things continue like this, eventually political agendas and politician’s pride will end up hurting all Americans, regardless of party affiliation.

--Emily

Articles:

Bendavid, Naftali. "Last-Minute Deal Averts Shutdown." Wall Street Journal (2011): n. pag. Web. 9 Apr 2011. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704503104576250541381308346.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories>.

Hulse, Carl. "Deal To Cut $38 Billion Averts Government Shutdown." New York Times (2011): n. pag. Web. 9 Apr 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/us/politics/09fiscal.html?_r=1&hp>.

Weisman, Jonathan. "Shutdown Holds Risk For GOP." Wall Street Journal (2011): n. pag. Web. 7 Apr 2011. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704101604576247100322182190.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories>.

Picture:

New York Times. Web. 6 Apr 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/us/politics/06budget.html?_r=1&src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fpolitics%2Findex.jsonp.

Future of the Republican Party

There are no clear favorites to become the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. All of the candidates are flawed politicians that would have a lot of trouble defeating an incumbent president. Mike Huckabee would have a lot of trouble winning any states outside of the South. Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich only appeal to the “Tea Party” wing of the Republican Party. Mitt Romney will have trouble energizing the conservative base because of his Mormonism and the universal healthcare bill that he signed into law as a governor. Barack Obama proved himself as a skilled campaigner and it will be tough for any of the current candidates to build a big enough coalition to take him on.

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are two candidates who appeal to two very different types of voters. Moderates and fiscal conservatives will vote for Romney, but might never dream of voting for Gingrich, while Gingrich appeals to social conservatives that would never vote for a Mormon. These candidates represent the two wings of the Republican Party. On the one hand, they have the new radical “Tea Party” that helped them to win back the House of Representatives. On the other, there are the moderate fiscal conservatives that might be socially liberal. Republicans will never be happy with the candidate that they nominate because it will be impossible for anybody to appeal to a majority of the party.

There is going to be a war for the heart of the party in the coming years. I don’t think it is possible for the two sides to coexist in a party that can only nominate one person for president. The ongoing budget debate is a perfect example of the battles to come. The Tea Party side of the party believes that they have a voter mandate to drastically cut government spending and have been, so far, unwilling to compromise. The moderates have been trying to avoid a government shutdown and have been willing to keep funding for some programs that Democrats have wanted. It will be interesting to see who wins this battle and what its effect on the makeup of the Republican Party will be.

If the Tea Partiers succeed and make the Republicans much more conservative, they will have a lot of trouble ever getting a president elected. The moderates will most likely leave the party and vote for the Democrat who, to them, seems like the lesser of two evils. For a decade or so, I believe that the Democrats would experience an increase in party membership, Senate seats, and years served as president. If the moderates succeed, it is unclear what the Tea Partiers will do. It is always possible that they create their own party and run candidates. I think that they would not have a wide enough base to ever win a national election.

As the government shutdown gets closer and closer without a resolution, it seems to be clear that the Tea Partiers are drawing a line in the sand. They are drawing a hardline, but it is unclear how the American public will view a government shutdown and who they will blame. The leaders of the Republican Party face a major decision in the coming months with the Tea Party. It will decide the future of American politics.