Fight Against Ebola

http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-to-address-un-ebola-meeting/2462000.html

Thousands of people in West Africa, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal have been diagnosed with Ebola. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that by January of 2015, as many as 550,000-1.4 million people in West Africa could be infected with this disease. The economies of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States have all guaranteed to keep direct contact with Ebola-hit countries from the sky and sea. President Obama reported a $1 billion plus plan to help with the Ebola issue in these countries.“Stopping Ebola is a priority for the United States. We will continue to lead and do our part. But this must also be a priority for the world.” Obama said. “The World Bank announced that they are going to add another $170 million to the $230 million they already donated. Doctors, scientists, and military troops from the US have been set up to control the epidemic and find new treatments.

The Ebola threat is related to our class because it talks about foreign policy. It does this by discussing how the US is going to help out the West African countries. I think we should do as much as possible to help the Ebola-hit countries, but we also need to think about our own country. Using such a large amount of money may be risky on top of the debt our country is already in. However, keeping Ebola out of countries around the world is an important task that we should help with.

Georgia Governor Race

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21615619-jimmy-carters-grandson-has-shot-turning-georgia-democratic-again-deal-or-no-deal

This article talks about the race for governor in Georgia. Jason Carter, is involved in this race and is hoping to make Georgia Democratic once again. The fact that he is the grandson of Jimmy Carter is both an advantage and a hardship. It could be beneficial because liberals appreciate his charity work and think he is well deserving of his Nobel peace prize. On the other hand, conservatives recall all the malaise of the late, the botched Iranian hostage crisis, and the ridiculous episode of the "killer rabbit". So far, the Republican candidate Nathan Deal is two percent ahead of Carter. Deal is offering tax breaks for new factories and to cut some regulations, though he is not taking any actions to show that he will actually accomplish this task.

I believe that even though Jason Carter is the grandson of Jimmy Carter, it is still fair for him to run as governor. He has stated that he is his own person and has his own ideas. For example, he doesn't agree with his grandfather's fondness of green regulations and his opposition to oil pipelines. Jason is also pro-death penalty and agrees with the gun lobby practices.

There are a few reasons for why this article is related to our class. It discusses the opinion differences of the liberals and conservatives. It also talks about the fact that starting out with name recognition in a political race can be helpful depending on why you are recognized.

Third Party Canidates

 http://politics.suntimes.com/article/washington/third-party-candidates-could-tip-key-senate-races/fri-09052014-910am

In a couple states such as North Carolina, Kentucky, and Alaska; the third party candidates are shaking up the Senate. Usually, there is no chance of a third party candidate winning an election. However, in the states previously mentioned there are very close races in the running for Senate. For example, the independent Kansas Senate candidate George Orman is getting more attention then ever. He managed the third party bid to remove the three time Republican Senate candidate, Senator Pat Roberts, so well that the Democratic candidate, Chad Taylor, dropped out of the race. These third party candidates are a threat to Republicans. To have the majority, Republicans need six more chairs in the Senate. This proves to be more difficult now that it is likely Pat Roberts wont win the election. Also, many conservatives who usually vote for Republicans are now becoming interested in the libertarian candidates.

I believe it is a good thing that the third party candidates finally have a chance of winning an election. I think this would provide more variety in the government which means new ideas. I also think it would be good for these candidates to win so in debates, the third party can actually have a say.

This article is related to our class in a couple of ways. It talks about the conflict between third party candidates and Republicans. It also discusses what states will be affected by the third party candidates. These states include Kentucky, Alaska, and Georgia.

Ditching Common Core

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OKLAHOMA_NO_CHILD_LEFT_BEHIND?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT 

All around the nation, the U.S. Department of Education has been trying to get states to ditch their school standards. On August 29, the agency said that it was not political motives was behind the decision to deny Oklahoma the authority to decide how to spend the money it receives for federal education, but a focus on high academic standards. The amount of money Oklahoma receives for federal education is 29 million dollars, and the state doesn't get to decide what to do with this huge amount of money. Conservatives have been criticizing the Common Core because they believe it is a way for federal power to take control of education. The federal government is giving Oklahoma time to make a few adjustments to the program so it can follow the instructions the federal law set for the start of the 2015-2016 school year. Other states that have ditched Common Core are Indiana and South Carolina, both of which are Republican led.

In my personal opinion, the state of Oklahoma should be given the option to spend the money how they want to. It isn't fair that the government can do whatever they what with such a large amount of money as 29 million dollars without any consent from the state.

This article is related to our AP US Government and Politics class for a view reasons. First, it describes the different prospective of conservatives and the state of Oklahoma which has a republican government. It also discusses how Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, filed a lawsuit. He accused the Obama administration of "illegally manipulating federal grant money to force states to adopt Common Core."