Clinton Promotes Economic Changes

In the article, "Clinton Floats Tax-code Changes as she Campaigns in New Hampshire" (link to article) it states that while Hillary Clinton has been campaigning in New Hampshire this last week, she has been promoting her willingness to make changes to the U.S. tax code in order to reward companies that produce goods and services instead of trading. At one of the places she visited she even said, "I want to do everything I can to support goods and real services and take a good look at what is now being done in the trading world." In addition to changes in the tax code, Clinton has been talking about several other economic goals such as making college more affordable and dealing with income inequality.

From how Clinton has been campaigning so far, it looks like her campaign will be very focused on economic changes that she plans to make. Many of the plans she has mentioned so far are targeting middle class  individuals since her efforts seem to be focused on changing  the tax codes to benefit the less wealthy and make education more affordable. I definitely think that the tax codes need to be changed so that the wealthy can't go through loopholes in order to pay less than middle class Americans, but I'm not quite sure how it should be done. I think that Clinton's economic goal could be good as long as the plan is implemented correctly. It will be interesting to see how the other presidential candidates' economic goals compare to Clinton's.

Democrats Ready to Support Clinton

In the article, "Poll: Most Democrats Are Ready For Hillary" (link to article) it expalins that a recent poll indicates that 57 percent of Democrats and independents who lean towards the Democratic party are in favor of Hillary Clinton as a 2016 presidential candidate. Also, 80 percent of Democrats believe that Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination and 77 percent think that she will win the presidency. Hillary Clinton's popularity among the Democrats this year is much different from Barack Obama's back in 2007, for a poll from that time found that only 20 percent of Democrats supported the current president while he was campaigning.

While I am not completely sure if I would be willing to support Hillary Clinton for president in 2016, this poll is indicating that Clinton has a pretty good shot of at least getting the Democratic nomination. I think that if only 20 percent of Democrats in 2007 supported Barack Obama, and he became president, Clinton definitely has a good shot. However, this poll only shows the amount of support from the Democratic party. I am sure that if someone was to poll Republicans or both Republicans and Democrats at the same time, the number of supporters for Hillary Clinton would be much less. It will be interesting to see how these numbers change throughout the duration of her campaign.

Picking up the Garbage is a Crime?

In the article, "Sanitation worker's early pickup leads to two weekends in jail" (Link to Article) it states that Kevin McGill, a sanitation worker in Atlanta, had been sentenced to thirty days of jail time for the "crime" of picking up garbage too early. Apparently, McGill violated a city noise ordinance that did not allow for trash pickup to take place before 7 AM. McGill started work at 5 AM one day which is why he was charged. The court allowed for his sentence to be served only on weekends, though, and he had already served two weekends as of the time this story was published.

I find this whole story completely ridiculous. First of all, I think if someone is going to be punished for violating a city ordinance like this, they should maybe be fined but definitely not sentenced to serve jail time. I think that this is an excellent example of cruel and unusual punishment, for jail time is far worse than the minor crime that this man committed. He just started working early one day, for heaven's sake! Thankfully, the solicitor's office realized this after the story went viral, for they announced that they would amend McGill's sentence because, "the actions of the court with regards to Mr. McGill's sentence for violating the city's noise laws was disproportionate to a first-time offense." They considered his time served after the two weekends he spent in jail. Like I stated before, I think that it is ridiculous that a court decided to put a man in jail for doing something as trivial as picking up the trash early when prisons are already overcrowded as is. I hope that something like this doesn't happen again.

Public School Forces Prayer on Children

In the article "Georgia public school teachers humiliate kids for not praying to ‘God our Father’: lawsuit" (link to article) it states that in the Emanuel County School System of Swainsboro, Georgia, a teacher forced children to either participate in prayer or leave the classroom. The Freedom From Religion foundation has recently filed a lawsuit against the school system in response to this. The students involved in this case had been teased by the other kids at school and had been made to feel like they were bad people because the teacher punished them for not praying. The basis for this lawsuit falls on the idea that forcing prayer on children is a direct violation of the freedom of religion that is found in the first amendment of the Constitution.

I think that it is horrible that children in a public school were made to feel bad about themselves because they didn't want to pray. I am surprised that this had been allowed to go on for so long considering that most public schools focus on banning all types of religious conversation and prayer in school rather than supporting it. I think that the Freedom From Religion foundation will most likely win this case because the evidence of the violation of the first amendment is extremely clear. The freedom of religion that is awarded to each citizen of the United States should prevent this type of thing from happening. Children should be allowed to pray in school if they want to, but teachers should never be allowed to force students to pray if they don't want to.

Hate Crime or Parking Dispute?

In the article, "3 students shot to death in apartment near UNC Chapel Hill" (Link to Article) it states that three students were recently shot and killed at an apartment building near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. All of the students were shot in the head. Because the three students were all Muslim, police are exploring the possibility that this was a hate crime. Another option for this crime could be a supposed "ongoing neighbor dispute over parking." The suspect, Craig Stephen Hicks, is in custody after he turned himself in on Tuesday night.

I think that what this man did was horrendous, especially if it truly was because of something as trivial as a parking dispute. I believe that this was a hate crime, though, due to all three of the victims being Muslim along with how the suspect had supposedly threatened the three students numerous times before the murders took place. Whether it was a hate crime or not, I think it is incredibly sad that this senseless act of violence took place. I am also sorry for all the students at the University of North Carolina who are mourning their fellow classmates and friends. I hope that the families of these victims get justice for their loved ones and that Hicks is charged for a hate crime rather than just murder.

Space Exploration is Expensive!

In the article, "NASA seeks $500M budget boost" (link to article) it states that NASA has released its new 2016 proposed budget request of $18.5 billion which is a $500 million increase from this year's budget. The proposal also asks Congress to increase the commercial spaceflight program funding by 50% ($800 million to $1.2 billion). If this funding is not approved, NASA might not be able to launch U.S. astronauts by 2017, like they have planned.

I think that continuing space exploration is a neccessity for the growth of the United States, but I'm not sure if there is enough money to fund all of NASA's projects. I'm not sure that Congress will pass NASA's budget request because of the significant increase in funds that are being asked for. I know that President Obama supports NASA and their upcoming projects, but I am not so sure that Congress will. Hopefully NASA will be able to launch their new exploration projects even if Congress does not approve of their new budget.

Unlawful Execution?

In the article "Georgia inmate put to death after Supreme Court denies stay" (link to article) it states that Warren Lee Hill was executed today after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case for a fourth time. Hill's execution had already been postponed three times, all within hours of when he was supposed to be put to death, in the past three years. Hill was given the death penalty after he battered to death a fellow inmate while already in prison for killing his then 18-year-old girlfriend. Hill's lawyer claims that Hill had an intellectual disability which gave him the maturity of a young boy, and thus should not have been found fully culpable for his actions. Because of this disability, Hill's lawyer believed that the death penalty was unjust for him, but because the Supreme Court refused to review the case again, Hill was put to death.

I think that while the actions of this man were horrible, putting him to death was not the right thing to do, especially if he truly had an intellectual disability. Executing mentally disabled people is considered cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution, so Hill's execution could be considered unlawful or illegal. I think that while this man undoubtedly deserved to be in prison, he did not deserve to be executed.