Pakistan School Attack

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/16/world/asia/pakistan-peshawar-school-attack/

On Tuesday this week, the Taliban attacked the Army Public School and Degree College. They left 145 dead, all expect 10 of these people were students. There were also more than 100 injured, most of them with gunshot wounds. These terrorists got into the school at around 10 in the morning by scaling the walls. They were set on killing the older students, though many of the children were between the ages of 12 and 16. When the Pakistani troops arrived at the scene of the crime, they imprisoned the seven terrorists in four different buildings. They were dead by the end of the day. 

I think the acts of the Taliban are unforgivable. They have done rotten things in the past, but when they brought children into this, they became despicable. Knowing our U.S. government, they will try to get involved with this whole situation. Though I think it is a good thing that we are acknowledging this crisis and will probably try to help with it, we would probably only make things worse. The last thing we need is to get involved with any mid-Eastern incidents.

Veterans

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21635478-nearly-half-new-federal-employees-are-military-veterans-what-next

 Out of all the new federal employees, about half are military veterans. Each year, almost 200,000 people leave the military. Most of these people go through a Pentagon program which is supposed to make the transition into civilian life easier. This program usually leads to a government jobs. When Obama ordered the government to hire even more veterans in 2009, the amount of of these people increased by a lot. Veterans usually have a really good chance of getting a job when being considered over others. Sometimes civil servants even go looking for veterans to hire if there are capable ones available. Sadly, this theory has now changed. It is now more likely for young veterans to be unemployed. The reason for this is now that medicine and body armor have improved, people have survived blows that were once fatal. Many of these survivors return home with severe brain damage. However, there is a group for disabled veterans that will give you an "unemployability" payment if you have a spouse and a child.

This article is related to our class for a couple reasons. First, it talks about both employment and unemployment rates. It also discusses the percentage of veterans that work for the federal government. I think it is great that the world is trying to help out the people who risked there lives for our country. Setting up programs to help with the disability rates, for example, is a good way to support these veterans.

Immigration

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21635006-illegal-immigrants-are-confused-presidents-order-republicans-are-incensed-both

There are about 11 million illegal-immigrants in America right now. On November 20th, Obama made a decision that could benefit about 40% of these people. It was announced that, if eligible, they will now be able to start paying taxes, get temporary work permits, and leave the country with being denied re-entry. However, the immigrants still won't have any formal status in the U.S. The Republicans are very angry with this choice. The trouble for them is incentives for the presidential elections. They need the support from Hispanic voters, especially in swing states, to win. Even the immigrants who would benefit are not 100% pleased. Of the 40% of illegal-immigrants in America, almost 3.5 million immigrants are the parents of children who were born in America. Nearly all the rest arrived in the U.S. when they were children. They are worried about having a brush with the law. Also, some can't find the documents needed for their children or they just can't afford to apply for a work permit.

There are a couple of things related to our AP Gov class in this article. First, it talks about the issue of immigration and how Obama's plan will effect the rest of the country. There was also discussion about the presidential elections and how the Republicans are reacting to this whole thing.

Congress Vs. President

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21632503-anyone-hoping-outbreak-good-government-likely-be-disappointed-face

The Democratic party had a terrible midterm election this year. Some people say that our government system works best when Congress is entirely one party while the President is another party. However, if you are in that state of mind, then when the House and the Senate are two different parties it makes it easier to blame each other for stubbornness.

At the end of the year, questionable choices are looked over.  There is a possibility that Congress will give fast track authority for foreign trade to the President. Both the Democrats and the Republicans want to lower America’s high taxes on companies. Even though most Republican members of the House have signed a pledge to voters never to raise taxes, Congress is trying to cut rates and close loopholes for corporate tax. There is a good chance that a few adjustments will be made to Obamacare.

This article has a couple of things related to our class. First, it talks about the roles of Congress and the executive branch. Also, many controversial decisions such as Obamacare, immigration, taxes, and trade are discussed in this passage. Lastly, the impact of previous presidents and Congress members is talked about.

Midterm Elections

http://time.com/3547829/5-things-to-watch-for-in-the-midterm-elections/

In the midterm elections, there are a couple of things you should keep an eye on. One is the Democrats and women. The root of the idea that the Democrats are the "mommy" party comes from Alison Grimes in Kentucky, Michelle Nunn in Georgia and the incumbents Kay Hagan in North Carolina and Mary Landrieu in Louisiana. All of these women running for Senator have emphasized women’s issues such as equal pay, parental leave, and abortion rights. Another thing to look out for is Republicans and swing states. Iowa, New Hampshire, and Colorado are all swing states that usually lean toward Democrats, though that may change this year. Iowa has a lively Republican candidate against an appalling Democrat. New Hampshire and Colorado are both in tight races against honorable Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Mark Udall.

This relates to our class in a couple of different ways. It discusses the elections into Congress and how we will be affected if the Republicans win the Senate.  If they do win the Senate, it would just make things even more difficult to agree on than it already is.This article also talks about political issues like Obamacare, abortion rights, equal pay, and tax cuts.

Tax Cuts

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21629457-voters-kansas-will-pass-judgment-bold-experiment-tax-cutting-brownbackonomics

Sam Brownback, governor of Kansas, has been applauding low taxes and high growth since 2011, the year he took office. In 2012, he did a very ambitious thing  with tax cuts. People with strong tax views will be watching the election for the governor of Kansas. Now Kansas is a highly Republican state. In fact, they haven't voted for a Democratic president since LBJ. Being the Republican candidate, Brownback should be winning by a landslide. However, he is tied with the Democratic candidate Paul Davis because of Brownback's tax plan. At first, his plan  seemed reasonable. He wanted to cut the marginal taxes and drop the top rate from 6.45% to 4.9%. It was supposed to go down to as low as 3.9%, but the legislative cut rates and eliminated taxes on "pass through" businesses entities. This made revenue take a big hit of 6% below plan.

Many other states have been changing their income taxes in the last couple of years because of Brownback's bold tax plan. For example, Ohio cut taxes for individuals in the years 2012 and 2014 and small businesses in 2014. Maine, Illinois, and Idaho cut income tax and California and Maryland increased income tax for the rich.

Campaign Inflation

http://time.com/3533559/campaign-inflation/

The amount of money spent on elections by campaigns and outside groups has been growing at an incredible rate. It has even grown faster than the rate of health care and private college tuition. They have been using these unlimited bank accounts to get more airtime, mailings, and any other get-out-the-vote methods. The reason the cost of campaigns has increased so much is because of the national economy growth, the extremely tin margin that decides congressional control, and the revisions made to the campaign-finance rules. This growth should continue to increase over time.

This article is related to our class for a couple of reasons. First, it talks about how money is spent for election campaigning. It also discusses the growth rate of issues like health care and private college tuition. Lastly, it talks about the effects that the increasing rate will have on the election campaigning. For example, the NBC affiliate in Iowa decided to add an hour to the nightly newscast to get money from all the political ads.