ISSUE #2: Boosting the Minimum

People were angry that the minimum wage was only $5.15 an hour and they wanted it to be changed to $7.25 an hour. Increasing it would raise the take-home pay of millions of Americans and it would raise people out of poverty. It would need the help from food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) too. In May 2007, Congress passed a large Iraq war funding bill and it included domestic spending provisions raising the wage and providing $4.8 billion in small business tax breaks. Full time workers that earn minimum wage are still living below the poverty line. Increasing the minimum wage would effect millions of Americans, especially single mothers because they're the group with the highest risk of being poor. They think that doing this would boost the economy because if people have money they will spend more. This would also create wealth throughout all the social classes. But what big businesses are worried about is if the minimum wages increase, then their tax cuts will be taken away and they will still lose a lot of their profits.

I think that having a higher minimum wage is a good thing because then we can keep this country's poverty numbers a bit lower. Plus, not allowing the minimum wage to go up limits the amount of necessities a person can get. Ralph Nader once wrote in a newsletter, "The cost of freezing the minimum wage has deprived millions of working Americans of trillions of dollars for their necessities of life." He is absolutely right! Minimum wage increases are a good thing for this countries and all those big businesses that are against it should stop being so selfish and allow it to happen.


ISSUE #1: All Things Being Unequal - Chris Sholts

ISSUE#3: Putting Welfare to Work - Thomas Williams

Environmentalists critical of Obama drilling plan

Some environmentalists slam Obama's plan, citing danger to ecosystem and tourism. Florida senator says the plan is better than others proposed. Obama proposal would keep offshore drilling 125 miles from Florida coast. Another environmentalist praises protection for sensitive areas on West Coast. Basically, the environmentalists are angry that Obama has these plans. And as you can see from the picture, people have already been protesting his plans by standing on a beach next to the ocean, holding hands, symbolizing something like a barrier trying to stop them from drilling in the ocean.

I don't exactly understand why the environmentalists are so angry about this plan. Its safer than other ones that have been proposed and its going to be 125 miles off shore. I think that these plans would be good for the economy and it would make gas prices go down for the American people. Some environmentalists need to settle down.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/31/energy.environmentalists/index.html

Obama will take to mound for presidential tradition

A presidential tradition that dates 100 years will continue Monday: President Obama will throw out the first pitch before the Washington Nationals take on the Philadelphia Phillies. It all started in 1910 when President William Howard Taft threw a ball from the box seats. There have been a few years, though, wherethe president has not been able to throw the first pitch in a game. Like in 1912, Taft wasn't able to throw the first pitch because the Titanic had just sunk. John Odell, curator of history and research at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, said that President Dwight Eisenhower may have had the best form. It was rumored that he had played for a semi-pro team while he was at West Point.

I think that its a great thing for the president to throw the first pitch of a game. A first pitch says a lot about how a president ought to behave, we want him to take the job seriously but not so seriously that he can't take a few hours to come out and be a regular guy like the rest of us and enjoy our national pastime. Its good to see Obama taking the time to throw the first pitch. He is a veteran when it comes to throwing first pitches. He threw one for a White Sox game in 2005 as the U.S. Senator from Illinois and he lived in Chicago. He also threw the first pitch of the 2009 All-Star Game. But even though he has experience, he doesn't have good form at all so its humorous to watch him throw.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/31/presidential.first.pitch/index.html