Obama Loosing Young Votes

"Shortly after Obama took office, 84 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 approved of the president, according to Post polling. Earlier this month, that figure had dropped to 52 percent." opens a new Washington Post article when discussing Obama's ratings.
Apparently, Obama's approval rating has been steadily decreasing since he took office with not only the young voters, but also with the Latino and African American groups. That being said, the polls still declare Obama the favorite among the young generation and, I believe, that Obama will be able to increase his approval rating not only with the young, but also with the other minorities as he begins his campaign for the 2012 election. Personally, I believe that Obama is going to win the 2012 election. 

Biggest Political Problem Facing Virginia

Personally, I think that the biggest political problem facing Virginia right now is funding for the roads. An article in the Richmond Times argues that a increase in taxes is necessary for Virginia to be able to have enough money to keep up with the quickly deteriorating funds. Apparently, only $2,000 has been allocated for road maintenance for the past six years. Increase in sales and gas taxes have been proposed to fix the problem.

Hehehe :)

Obama's Report Card

Health Care B
To be honest I'm not really educated enough on Obama's Health Care ideas to make any informed comments on it, but I do respect the fact that he has made an effort towards reform and has succeeded in passing a bill so I'll give him a B.

War on Terror A
Obama took down Gadalfi and Osama and I've heard that all of the soldiers will be out by December 2011. A.

Dealing with the Economy B
Stimulus? Barf.
That being said, the unemployment rate is decreasing. Weather or not this is because of Obama is up for debate. B

Reelection Bid A
Personally, I think that Obama is going to win reelection simply because the Republican party can't get it's act together (ni****head? Really?). I also think his killing of Osama, his sympathizing with minorities, and his all around charisma are going to carry him along. A.

Medical Marijuana?

Hey friends :)

As you may have heard, whether we as a country should legalize marijuana is currently a very popular topic. Despite what many people think, this issue is not just a fight between those who think marijuana is harmful and those who don't. With the legalization of marijuana, the United States would see changes in the economy along with changes in other countries as well. As with any other product, the legal introduction of marijuana into our economy would allow for new jobs to be made and would help with money flow and would be another source of tax revenue for the government. Unlike other products though, with the legalization of marijuana we as a country can basically stop a terrorist organization in it's track. The Mexican drug cartel is getting out of control and, unfortunately, most of it's money comes from illegal drug deals with those in the United States. With the legalization of marijuana and with the introduction of legal methods to purchase marijuana in the United States, citizens of our country would no longer have to turn to illegal means to get the drug and the source of revenue for the drug cartel would dry up.
In addition, studies have shown that medical marijuana is a cheep and effective method for dealing with certain diseases. One of these diseases is Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which can be caused by,"any event that results in psychological trauma. A recent article in the Washington Post by Steve Fox called Marijuana may help PTSD. Why won't the government find out for sure? brings up the issue of Medical marijuana and criticizes the government for not allowing research to be done that could prove how effective it is. Apparently, there is a chemical in marijuana called cannabinoids that is more effective than current drugs to treat the disease. This chemical has been tested and proven in animal trials, but the government is putting it's foot down and discontinuing all current studies and prohibiting new studies.
An important thing to remember about this issue is that a lot of people who currently suffer from PTSD contracted the disorder during a traumatic experience they went through while serving in the US Military. Personally, I believe that the government owes it to these men and women to do whatever they can to help them. If medical marijuana really can help these people then nothing, including the government, should be able to get in the way.

Immigration

Being Hispanic, Immigration is an important issue to me and my extended family.
I am a second generation American which means that my mother was born in the United States and so was I, but it also means that my grandmother and everyone before her in my family tree were not born in this country. Though my grandmother entered the United States legally, held a job for the entire time she was here, and raised and cared for a family, it took her over twenty years of applications and paperwork to finally become a citizen of this country.
Personally, I don't think that our economy can support everyone who would want to come into this county, but I do think that the government needs to start putting more of an effort into regulating and bettering the application process for becoming a citizen and into regulating the flow of immigrants into this country rather than simply ignoring the problem or putting even more money into fortifying our borders.
I believe that immigrants come into this country searching for jobs when they cannot find any at home or cannot support their families and, that if our economy truly couldn't support them and they couldn't find jobs they would return to their original country. Also, while many people are against immigration, we as a middle class benefit from the work immigrants do, many of whom take jobs that those in the United States wouldn't take which allows food cost and the costs of many other services to stay relatively low.
While I don't have a solve all method to offer regarding immigration, I think that we have reached the point where we as a country must focus on organizing and regulating the flow of immigrants rather than trying to cut it off completely.

Unemployed? No, thanks.

Hey friends :)

As you've probably heard, the unemployment rate in the United States is very high relative to what is usual in our nation's history. When last reported in August 2011, it was found that around 9.1 Americans are currently unemployed. For this reason, I was shocked to read an article in the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/jobs-bill-backed-by-obama-would-tackle-discrimination-against-unemployed-applicants/2011/10/09/gIQAn0gDXL_story_1.html) describing the hiring practices of large businesses  Apparently, people are being denied the right to have a job potentially, to support their families simply because they are currently unemployed.

Clearly, with 9.1 percent of the country currently unemployed, this pattern is doing nothing to solve the unemployment problem, but rather is making it worse. If we allow large companies to continue to turn away those who are out of work, we as a nation cannot be shocked when we find ourselves faced with another depression as bad or worse than the one we faced in the early 1900s.

That being said, Obama has addressed this problem in his recently proposed jobs bill in which he explicitly prohibits companies from "refusing to consider — or offer a job to — someone who is unemployed. The measure also applies to employment agencies and would prohibit want ads that disqualify applicants just because they are unemployed."
Personally, while I do not agree with everything proposed in this job bill, the thought that someone with previous experience and skills could be turned away simply because they are currently unemployed scares me. Personally, I think the government should step in and should attempt to stop this problem, whether it be by passing the jobs bill or through some other method.