Obama's State of the Union Address

On Tuesday January 24th, President Obama spoke about his future plans in his State of the Union Address. One of his main focuses was economic inequality. In order to balance this inequality, Obama proposed tax cuts to those making under $250,000 which I think is somewhat unfair. I firmly believe it would make the most sense if the middle class and upper class paid the same percentage of their income. In this way, everyone would be paying the same rate, but the extremely rich would in a sense be paying more because a fixed percentage of their incomes would be greater than those of the middle class. If it were done this way, it would be a balance of equality and trickle down economics.
One thing that I agreed with in Obama's speech was the fact that he wants to cut tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas. This would be a great incentive for companies to create jobs in America and strengthen our economy. I also support the fact that Obama wants to give tax breaks for companies that hire Americans.

Candidates on... Sugar?

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I really support The United States government's sugar program to limit the import of sugar from foreign countries, stabilize sugar prices and create more jobs for out of work Americans. This article states that the two main candidates, Gingrich and Romney said that they wanted to end the US government's subsidies to the sugar industry. However, the program is free and the government does not give sugar subsidies. I think that the candidates should definitely have all of the right information because when they speak of their opinions on the subject, they can sway viewers opinions on something that is based on nonfactual evidence. Also, when the public finds out that they were misinformed, the candidates lose credibility and trust in their voters. A comment from Nick Sinner, a director of The Red Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association said, “I think it reflects the media elite bias against rural America, which is very pronounced and repeated over and over,” he said. “They take misinformation and pass it around as fact. To have two presidential candidates so woefully ignorant was so striking and disappointing.” I agree with this statement and think that there needs to be more emphasis placed on rural America and not corporate business.

More on Romney's Money

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I have always preferred following BBC coverage on the different political candidates in the United States. I think that the reporting is relatively unbiased, very professional, and goes straight to the facts. This is why I prefer watching this compared to American media. After viewing BBC's take on the GOP, the reader has the option to form his or her opinion in accordance with what is presented in the article. This article compares Romney's income with Gingrich's and other former presidents. It states that he pays exactly what he owes in taxes, and "nothing more." He also gives a good portion of his income to diverse charity organizations. I think that although Romney's income is very high compared to present and former candidates, it does not mean that it should be held against him and that he is not a good candidate. However, I do think that many voters will think that because none of his income comes from wages, and all is from investments, he can not relate to the average American who must work for an income, and also many of the unemployed who are struggling. 

Romney's Preparation

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In preparation for the Florida primary, Mitt Romney has hired a new debate coach. His strategy of challenging president Obama has shifted to confronting Gingrich after his stunning win in South Carolina. In my opinion, Gingrich has been performing really well in his debates lately and this was most likely the reason why he took South Carolina. The video also cites a new poll that Romney is on favored by one percent compared to Newt Gingrich. I believe Mitt Romney is taking the necessary steps here because Newt Gingrich is definitely gaining steam. Another aspect shown in the video that I found interesting was the polls they showed. For example, in South Carolina people who made over $100,000 favored Romney over Gingrich by 15%. In reverse (people who made<$100,00) Newt won by 16%. I feel that this can be explained from Romney's wealth.

Gingrich's Ex Wife

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I think this video is very interesting because it pries deep into Newt Gingrich's personal life with an interview with his ex-wife. I think that it was biased for ABC News to release this in January, at a time that is vital in the campaign. I believe news stations are supposed to be neutral, and report the news as it comes, without leaning one way or another. I think that ABC dug deep to find this story and to break it at a time that would put Newt in the worst possible light. All of the negative attacks on all of the candidates is really not how it should be..

Plans for Paul

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This article speaks about the campaigning plans for Ron Paul, a candidate with much less financial support than the two main candidates, Romney and Gingrich. It is interesting to see how a candidate with less financial support leads his campaign. He said he would forgo spending money on his campaign in Florida and put more towards winning more favorable states. The article goes on to say that his campaign is very internet driven. I think that the use of the internet and social media currently play a big part in campaigning.

More on Gingrich....

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I pulled this article from the Dailymail, a United Kingdom based news outlet. I thought that it put an interesting spin on the Newt Gingrich affair story. My opinion is that a person’s personal life with their spouse should not be of interest to the public. I believe that it is irrelevant to whether the person will do a good job in office. However, this article cited that during the Clinton scandal, Gingrich was a strong supporter of impeaching the president for lying under oath. I think that this is very hypocritical of Gingrich if in fact that he cheated. But then again, I don't think that because of this he would do a terrible job as president.