Cain and Romney Leading Iowa Poll

The Iowa Poll in The Des Moines Sunday Register recently published the most accurate picture of what is likely to happen with the Iowa primary in two months.  Herman Cain lead with 22 percent and was followed by Mitt Romney with 22 percent.  These two are close enough that the marginal difference is within sampling error.  The only other candidate to receive more than 10 percent of the vote was Ron Paul with 12 percent.  

The rest were clustered with Michele Bachmann of Minnesota had 8 percent, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and former Speaker Newt Gingrich each had 7 percent and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania had 5 percent.  Romney and Cain have clearly emerged as the front runners, but Rick Perry's exceptionally low showing is somewhat surprising. 

As the Iowa primary is one of the most important for setting the tone of the race and extremely influential on the race for the Republican nomination,  Iowa has been host to many visits and soon ads.  The many people who have not yet made up their minds form a heated battle ground. While all of the prospective candidates are hoping for a good showing,  Rick Perry who was basing his campaign strategy around it will be starting ads this week.  It should be interesting to see how this all plays out in the next few months.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/cain-and-romney-top-iowa-poll/?ref=politics

Virginia's Biggest Issue: Income Disparity and Funding

Because of Northern Virginia's proximity to D.C. and government projects, this area has been steadily growing and become one of the most affluent and influential parts of the country. Along with the jobs, much of the state population is clustered here with approximately one-third of the state considering Northern Virginia home.   The rest of the state is rather different culturally, more rural in nature, typically have lower incomes, and significantly less populous.  The uneven allocation of funds across the state has lead to some regional tensions. 

Northern Virginia and the many surrounding companies pays disproportionately high tax with regards to how much that is received for funding in return.  Some estimates, Northern Virginia gets back only 25 cents on the dollar in cash and state services.  So for the millions of dollars that tax payers send in, only a fraction of that is used for things that directly benefit the Northern Virginia area.

As long as funds are being trapped in this system, Virginia's other large issues are only being exacerbated.  We cannot hope to fix our expensive transportation issue until funds are more balanced.  With some of the most congested roads in the country and millions of people traveling in to the surrounding D.C. areas to work, one can only hope these differences are settled soon. 

Republican Nominees Harsh on Immigration

Both Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain recently made extreme attacks on illegal immigration at rallies on Saturday. While Republicans typically are stricter on immigration policy, both potential candidates took it to a new level.

Bachmann made a promise to make English the official language of America and suggested making a "secure double fence," and also wanted to remove taxpayer funded benefits for illegal immigrants.  She called illegal aliens both an economic and security threat.  While she insisted that she was not aiming her remarks at Hispanics, it carried that undertone.

At a tea party rally, Herman Cain was reported as saying that "When I'm in charge of the fence, we going to have a fence. It's going to be 20 feet high. It's going to have barbed wire on the top. It's going to be electrocuted, electrified, and there's going to be a sign on the other side that says it will kill you."  He later claimed that this was merely a joke, but that intense position is likely to carry over to his real policy.  Cain has met numerous times with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an Arizona law enforcement officer who has been very strict against immigration.  Cain explained that his plan DID include a physical fence, new technology, stronger laws, tighter bureaucracy, and potentially troops on the ground to prevent illegal immigration.

Both of these plans are absurd and extremely insensitive.  Crossing the border is at most a misdemeanor worthy offense, and both Cain and Bachmann are treating as comparable to murder in their intensity of opposition.  Both are potentially isolating voters who are tired of having immigration brought up as a scare tactic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/us/politics/bachmann-and-cain-deliver-blistering-attacks-on-illegal-immigration.html?_r=1&ref=politics

President Obama's Report Card

Health Care: A

Obama has been pushing extremely hard to get universal healthcare reforms passed in the US.  The reforms he has been working toward will not fix everything, but they are definitely a step in the right direction.  Hopefully, what he has worked for won't be shut down if Republicans gain control of the Senate.

Dealing with the Economic Downturn: B

With one of the worst recessions in recent years and extremely high unemployment rates, the economic standpoint has definitely not been helping Obama's approval ratings. Handling the economic downturn is not entirely his fault though when he has made efforts that unfortunately were stymied by Congress like the Jobs Bill.  As long as he continues to make efforts to improve the economy, I don't think anyone else would be doing better in his position.

War on Terror: B

Obama inherited the War on Terror when he entered office.  It wasn't something he started, but he's been working hard to end it.   He has had some successes in the War on Terror as with the death of Osama bin Laden, but he needs to complete what he promised to do which is pulling the troops out of Iraq.  His plans to do that soon are promising.

Reelection Bid: B

While it has been revealed that Obama has raised near $70million for his reelection campaign, he has not been receiving the same amount of publicity as all of the Republican candidates vying for the lead.  He has made a few efforts planning for the future of his campaign with the jobs bill, but at the moment there is not much momentum for him.

Possible Military Cutbacks Raise Concern Among Army Officials

The Army may be forced to reduce its size drastically which could impact the current defense strategy and limit US involvement overseas.  John M. McHugh, the Army secretary, and Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army's new chief of staff, both recognized that the Army might be told to cut the number of soldiers below the 520,000 that was previously the goal for the decade.  Before the attacks on September 11, 2001, the Army held about 480,000 troops.  After increased involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, the current level is at 570,000. 

The Army may also have to comply with meeting $450 billion worth of cuts that were already ordered.  These cutbacks are similar to two of the largest recent budget cuts and troop reductions following the Vietnam War and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. While ground troops were responsible for the most in Afghanistan and Iraq, the newer threats of nuclear power in North Korea or Iran are making troops viewed as less relevant.

Even though budget cuts must be made, General Odierno commented that, “We have to be ready for unknown contingencies. We have never predicted the next conflict that we will be in. So it is incumbent on us as an Army to ensure that we have a force that is ready to deal with these unknown contingencies, as well as roles that we will play in other strategies and other contingencies that we will be planning for.”  Army officials are protesting the level of cutbacks, they are making an effort to make the reductions efficient and keep as many functional units available as possible instead of making "hollow" units that lacked the resources to function properly. The budget cuts may pose problems, but it seems that the military will be working hard to stay strong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/us/army-leaders-warn-against-excessive-troop-cuts.html?_r=1&ref=politics

What Is One Political Issue I Am Personally Interested In?

Universal health care is one of the most important political issues to me.  The health care system affects almost all people at some point, and I have additional interest in the issue as I'm considering medicine for my future. Among other wealthy nations, the United States consistently ranks extremely poorly especially when noting that we have the most expensive health system in the world.  Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system.  Changes seem necessary if we are severely under performing and slipping behind other nations.  Not only is our current health care system cost ineffective, it can also be detrimental to the health of our country as a whole.   Living in a system that doesn't promote stability and long term care can often lead people to put off problems until they become so bad medical intervention is no longer avoidable.  Many unnecessary deaths result yearly because people don't have access to even basic health services.  American health or lack thereof is often a widely recognized issue with obesity rates climbing and average life span dropping, a new health system should be considered.

Extent of Federal Power in the Supreme Court

 The extent of federal power has been a debated issue throughout American history and has been a cause of division during Obama's term.  Obama has recently been pushing for the Supreme Court to review the 2010 health-care act.  This could prove to be an important domestic issue in the next presidential election, but the Obama administration stated its belief that the health care act would be upheld as a fair use of federal power drawing comparisons to Social Security and the Civil Rights Act.  The Supreme Court was called to review a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals from the 11th Circuit in Atlanta which decided that Congress exceeded its power in passing the law that requires almost every American to have health insurance. 

In addition to reviewing health-care, the court is deciding on the states ability to enforce stricter immigration laws, the government's right to monitor airwaves and the notion of privacy with technology, affirmative action in college admissions, and the rights of gay adoptive parents.  While the Supreme Court doesn't like the idea that politics could effect their decisions, it seems that they and their decisions will play a large role in the upcoming election.  Their choices now may reshape our countries political precedence.  

I think that the Supreme Court should uphold the health-care act because while some states may not like it, it is a necessary step to get the health care system back on track.  The United States is one of the only developed countries that does not have a proper health care system.  We spend more of our GDP than most countries for a smaller return. If Obama's health care act fails, the prospects to try again in the future don't look good.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-term-will-include-cases-highlighting-extent-of-federal-power/2011/09/29/gIQA3lbXDL_story.html

What Political Party am I most clearly aligned with?

My parents are usually more democratic, so based on the statistic that 85% of people share the politic ideas of their parents, I assumed that I would follow.  I typically considered myself fairly moderate but more inclined to be liberal.  Four brief political ideology quizzes supported my self-perception that I am in fact exactly what I thought that I was.  I fell either in the middle or was slightly left on most tests making Post-Modern an apt description. I am very liberal on social issues and support the acceptance of gay marriage, abortion, the idea of diplomacy to prevent war, and continuation of immigration.  My stances on economic issues are more conservative, and I support business with little government regulation.  While I will believe that I will stay more liberal on social issues, my view of the economy and what the government should be involved in may change as I grow up and have more at stake in the system.