Gas Prices

I'm commenting on Never Ending Politics blog about gas prices. I feel the exact same way she does. Something seriously needs to be done about the rising gas prices. Before you know it everybody will be catching the bus or even walking to school and work. I'm a full time college student, therefore I can't work tons of hours during the week to help keep up with the rising gas prices and I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that are in the same situation. I believe there should be a solution to the rising prices before it gets way out of hand and we do have to result to riding buses and walking. I believe it would be pretty ridiculous if that were what it came down to.

Warrantless Wiretapping

I strongly disagree with warrantless wiretapping. I don't think the government should have the right to invade our privacy without a court order. I understand they are trying to protect our nation from further wars and other happenings, but I still believe they should at least get a court order before invading our space. I don't have a problem with the government putting surveillance cameras up at street lights and department stores because I believe that is for a good cause, but I believe tapping into our phone conversations and into our internet is taking things a little too far. If the government honestly believes someone could be a terrorist and wants to spy on them, they should be able to provide proof and get a court order stating it's okay to invade their space. I know that would be a lot of work for the government but if they strongly believe that person needs to be spied on, they will put in the effort. During class today you mentioned how this wasn't in the Constitution, but of course it wasn't. They didn't have the internet back when they made the Constitution. The internet is new technology and it should go without saying that it's not right to invade somebody's space through the internet. If the government believes warrantless wiretapping is okay, there's no telling what they are going to do next and before you know it we won't have any privacy whatsoever. I believe something needs to be done before this gets way out of hand.

Immigration

I’m commenting on Governmental Confusion's blog about immigration.

I totally agree with him on this subject. I hate how people can come into our country and not expect to learn our language. Trust me, I know it’s hard learning another language. I had to take two years of Spanish in high school and it wasn’t the easiest thing to learn, but I believe they should put forth some effort to learn English. I agree with him when he said he wouldn’t move to another country without knowing that language or attempting to learn that language, and I think it should be the same way for people who want to live in America. I believe by putting Spanish on billboards and cereal boxes is telling them it’s okay for them not to learn English, and that shouldn’t be the case. If we don’t do something about this now, it’s only going to get worse. I also agree with him when it comes to the hard working ones. I have respect for them and don’t have a problem with them coming here. I just have a problem with the ones who expect us to cater to them. In conclusion, I believe he had a well-written blog with a strong opinion and I agree with him 100%.

U.S. to Require States to Use a Single School Dropout Formula (Stage 4)

This article from The New York Times is about a lady, Margaret Spellings, who wants to require all states to use one federal formula to calculate graduation and dropout rates. This is a big deal because it’s going to affect every high school in this country. I'm on her side when it comes to this issue. I believe she has a strong point and it's for a good cause. This will give us a more reliable formula to go by. Instead of states making their own formula, so we have a dozen different formulas in the United States, we will only have one. There are some states not taking everything into consideration when it comes to figuring out the dropout rate, therefore they are getting a lower dropout rate than what there really is, which is only hurting us. We need to know exactly what the dropout rate is so we can try and correct it. Our country can't afford to have some high schools with a 70% dropout rate. Something needs to be done to fix this problem and I believe Ms. Spelling’s federal formula is a good start. By lowering our dropout rate we will become more successful by having more people in high paying jobs and less in lower paying jobs.

U.S. to Require States to Use a Single School Dropout Formula