Week of October 5 - 9 - Blogs

Monday- We went over the group's weekly Forum Posts, reviewed the previous Asian maps, and started a new Asian Map: The Southeast Asian Map. Lastly, we will keep presenting our class projects.

Gun Control

Republicans are typically against gun control because of mass shootings.
They think that background checks should be mandatory.
There was a picture shown where the criminals will still have the guns but the law abiding citizens won't, making them more vulnerable.
The NRA is a powerful organization that has a law of pull and power in congress.
Some people think this is good while others think that the NRA shouldn't have as much power in Congress as they do right now.
The good citizens are being punished more than the criminals because the criminals will just start buying their guns off the black market.
Most republicans say that a simple background check will go a long way.
Donald Trump says that the problem is mostly mental health issues.
Also, even if there's a sign somewhere that says it's a gun free zone, that's not going to stop criminals from sneaking guns into that zone.
Democrats are for gun control.
They think citizens are in danger without having the right to have guns.
The NRA stands for the National Rifle Association.
There's a lot of people in congress that generally believe that it's not the guns that are the problem.
Both shooters in the Sandy Hook shooting and the movie theater shooting had mental health problems.
The weapon that causes the most deaths in our country is the hand guns.
The difference between a semi-automatic rifle and an automatic rifle is that with a semi-automatic, you have to keep pulling the trigger to keep firing shots, but with an automatic rifle you can just pull and hold the trigger and the gun will keep firing shots.
A lot of people think that gun control should have more restrictions, but this statistic is going down.

Taxes

Republicans believe in tax reduction.
They also believe we should cut big spending in the government.
They also say we need to limit the top marginal rate.
Democrats want tax cuts for the middle class and families.
They want to tax the rich more.
However, their actual tax plans lack detail.
In general, republicans want to reduce taxes more, but this mostly ends up benefiting the rich.
The middle class people are the ones who get stuck with most of the taxes.
Also, middle class families are hit harder by taxes than the rich people.
It would make a big difference for middle class families if they could pay less taxes.
Until 1913, there was no income tax.
The 16th amendment of the constitution is what laid down the taxes.
The government needs to tax because that is how they make money and are able to do/make/create things.
The government puts a lot back into the society including roads, welfare, other activities/programs, NASA research, etc.
People don't want to pay taxes but then they would lose of these other thing and programs that taxes pay for.
Income taxes are a tax on people's income. A portion of your pay check goes to the government.
You will go to prison if you get caught not paying taxes.
A graduated income tax says that the more money that you make, the higher percent you pay.
For every dollar, 26.5 cents go to the military.
Health care is number two, 20 cents go here.
Graduated income tax says the more you make the more you pay. )This is the general idea)
Then it's interest on the federal debt, 13.6 cents goes to this. (This is actually pretty much spending money on nothing)
Then it's unemployment and Labor, 12.2 cents goes to this.
Next, 5.4 cents goes to the government. (Salaries probably)
Then it's Food and Agriculture, Veterans Benefits, Housing and Community, Education, Energy and Environment, and a couple of other topics as well.
The rich are actually the ones that make the country run, they provide jobs. When they get tax reductions, it actually trickles down to help the lower classes. Doing this sometimes helps, but usually doesn't in times of depression.
If you are poor you usually pay few to no taxes.

Tuesday- We went over the South East Asian Map again. Then we finished presenting our class projects on presidential candidates and topics currently affecting the society. The class quiz over the South East Asian Map is tomorrow. Today is German-American Day. It celebrates when German immigrants came to the United States. Flooding is still going on in South Carolina. It is extremely devastating and is some of the worst in history. Thirty percent of teenagers break up over text. The problem with this is simple is easy but it's gutless and emotionless.

Tax-

In 1913, the rich/the highest class had to pay 7% of their money to the government.
In 1949, the rich/the highest class could have to pay 90% of their money to the government.
Taxes used to be way way higher.
Graduated Tax amounts have gone down drastically since the 1940's.
Considerable tax cuts were made by the 1980's.
However, the middle class is always kind of being hit hard by taxes at any rate.
The rich used to pay a ton more taxes, but yet everyone used to pay a lot more taxes.

Gun Control-

Gun control is one of the most heated topics in our country.
Every state is a little bit different with their gun laws. For example, in some states you need a license, some you don't
Texas is one of the easier states when it comes to gun laws.
After mass shootings or presidential assassinations, gun control is usually very strongly enforced.
The first gun control laws happened in southern states.
After the civil war, people didn't want African Americans to be able to own guns.
In the 20's and 30's, gun control laws were strongly enforced because of gangsters and the alcohol incidents.
The first major national gun control law was made because the gangs started getting guns. (This is a simpler version of what I said in the above bullet point)
Gun Control Act of 1968- Passed because all of the assassinations. (John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, JFK's Brother)
The Brady Bill is a huge bill in our history. It required background checks and a waiting period.
The Assault Weapons Ban -- 1994 -- This is when assault rifles/weapons were banned. For about ten years, assault weapons were banned, so the ban ended in 2004.
We don't know if gun control helps the society or helps criminals.
In the last five to eight years, the Supreme Court has been pretty respectful to the second amendment and people's right to bear arms.
A lot of Europeans think that Americans are crazy for having guns.
In Germany, you cannot have hand guns, but if you go through tests, hunters can have guns to hunt only.
The United States has by far the most guns owned by citizens throughout the country.
More guns does not necessarily mean more deaths by guns.
America has 4.4 percent of the world's population, but almost half of the civilian owned guns around the world.
There is a mass shooting almost every day in America. (This means at least four or more people are shot but not necessarily killed)
States that have less gun ownership have less gun deaths and vice versa.
In states with more guns, more police officers are also killed on duty.
Still, gun homicides (like all homicides) are declining.
The Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban actually helped.
There are more gun suicides than gun homicides.
Support for gun ownership has sharply increased since the early '90s.

Wednesday- Individually, we went over the South East Asian Map and then took the class quiz. My class got a perfect score, 10/10. Then, again, we used the rest of class time to present our class projects on presidential candidates and topics currently affecting the society.

Gun Control-

High profile shootings don't necessarily appear to lead to more support for gun control. You might think that after events like Sandy Hook gun control would be stricter. However, if you look at statistics, this is not the case. Nothing actually really happens to the laws after these tragedies.
Right now, most people are more favorable to the second amendment and protecting people's rights to bear arms.
Concealed Weapon Laws say that you can carry a weapon as long as it cannot be seen.
There is only one state right now, Illinois, that Concealed carry is completely prohibited.
There are three states, Alaska, Wyoming, and Arizona, that Concealed carry is allowed with out a permit being required.
I don't think that tougher gun control laws will lessen mass shootings.
It might stop some people but definitely not all. Some will probably give up but definitely not all criminals.
Donald Trump said we're never going to be able to stop mass shootings. He got criticism for this, but he is completely right.
In a country of Democracy, you're not going to be able to stop people who are bound to do stuff like this.
Most Americans support having background checks.
Pretty much everyone believes people with mental illnesses should not being able to obtain or purchase guns.
Obama's Plan-
- Require background checks for all gun sales.
- Strengthen the background check system for fun sales.
- Pass a new, stronger ban on assault weapons.
- Limit ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.
- Finish the job of getting armor-piercing bullets off the streets.
- Give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime.
- End the freeze on gun violence research.
- Make our schools safer with new resource officers and counselors, better emergency response plans, and more nurturing school climates.
- Ensure quality coverage of mental health treatment, particularly for young people.
Obama says that his biggest frustration while being president was trying to change and work on gun control laws.

Thursday- The big test over all of the Asian maps and the Australian/New Zealand Map is on Tuesday of next week. However, I took the test today and got 100%. We went over one current event and then started our class project presentations again.

Current Event- We believe Syria is a state sponsor of terrorism. The Arab Spring was a movement by young people in North Africa and Middle East, including Syria. These young people rose up in a sometimes violent type revolution trying to overthrow the government. Some governments stepped down easily yet some governments fought back. The Syrian government also refused to step down. It led to basically a whole civil war. We thought Assad, the leader of Syria, were attacking the rebels with gas. We sided with the rebels. Then, a weird situation occurred, and we were helping Syria fight ISIS even though we didn't really like Syria. Today, Syria is actually launching a massive attack on ISIS. Right now there is a delicate situation in Syria. We're not sure what the relationship is because we are helping them fight ISIS yet we still don't really like them. It's kind of like choosing the lesser enemy to help fight the bigger enemy. Overall, it's a very tricky situation. Plus, the last thing we want to do is to accidentally get into some kind of dangerous situation with Russia. NATO is an organization started in the late 1940's. It stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This organization is our alliance with most of Europe. A defensive alliance is if one of you get attacked, they'll come and help you. However, it doesn't work that if you go attack someone they help. It's solely defensive.

Gun Control-

The NRA was made to help educate and train people on how to use guns correctly.
However, they also kind of try to influence people in congress so some gun control laws don't get passed.
Barack Obama would say that they are influencing so no progress is being made.
He actually looks kind of sick and tired of this big mess.

Rand Paul-

He is a republican.
He was born January 7th, in 1963.
He is currently 52 years of age.
He attended Baylor University and Duke University Medical School.
He received a medical degree.
He became a surgeon.
His spouse is Kelley Ashby(Maiden Name).
He has three sons.
He became involved with politics in 1994 because his father was very interested in politics.
On December, 16th, 2009 he ran for a seat in the U.S. senate.
He got his seat in the senate.
He represented Kentucky.
On April 7th, 2015, he announced his run for presidency.
He wants to balance the budget and only spend what comes in.
He wants to cut spending in all areas, particularly areas that are better run by state and local governments.
He thinks people have a right to know what the Federal Reserve (national bank system) is doing with our nation's money supply.
A lot of people have never heard of the Federal Reserve and what they do.
It's actually kind of secret.
It controls money supply.
He is opposed to abortion.
However, in the case of a woman's health, he would not oppose abortion.
He opposes any type of the government funding abortions.
He supports immigration reform with a strong emphasis on border security.
He supports returning control of education to the local communities.
He believes the issue of medical marijuana is a state's rights issue and that the federal government should not interfere.

Hillary Clinton-

She is a democrat.
Her father is Hugh Clinton he is a WWII Veteran.
They had a small, middle class family.
Her mother had a tough childhood because she was abandoned by her parents.
By the age of 14 her mother self raised herself.
Hillary's mother influenced her future goals and views a lot.
Her mother's name is Dorothy.
When Hillary was younger she was a girl scout.
She witnessed Martin Luther's Chicago speech.
She graduated from Wesley collage and then went to Yale and was one of the twenty seven women in her class.
She met her husband, Bill, in law school.
Then she focused on the Children's Defense fun.
Then she moved to Arkansas when she taught law and ran legal clinics.
She co-founded the Arkansas Advocate.
This is an organization that helps children and how they live.
Bill was elected in 1992 and again in 1996.
As first lady, she fought for good health care.
In 1995, she declared "Women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights".
In 2000 she became the first U.S. Senator for New York.
In 2008 she ran for president but didn't make it.
She supports sensible action to curb fun violence including universal background checks, cracking down on illegal gun traffickers, and keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and stalkers.
She supports a fair and just immigration system, which is like Obama's plan to some extent.
She wants to reduce the debt.

Friday- We used class time to go over a couple of current events and then finish presenting our class projects. Again, the whole individual map test is going to take place on Tuesday even though I already took it.

China has a communist amusement park! (This is just kind of humorous information)
There is an idea about having people pay gun insurance. This insurance would go to pay a family of a gun violence victim if you (whether an accident or not) shoot someone. It benefits the people of that are the victims of the violence. I think it kind of makes sense but would probably make some people angry that they had to pay it.

Minimum Wage-

In 1912 a minimum wage law was made for women and children.
In 1933 minimum wage was finally made to be 25 cents and hour.
This wage was made by the national industrial recovery act.
Republicans are against raising minimum wage.
Democrats
In the 60's and 70's there was somewhat of an actual decent minimum wage. This is the period of time where the minimum wage actually made a difference in people's lives.
The vast majority of people that benefit from a raised minimum wage are adults.
Some people, however, could argue that teenagers are benefited the most. This is because for teenagers it is spending money, but for adults it goes to things like paying for their house.
Democrats favor the increase in minimum wage to help workers.
Republicans oppose and do not want to raise the minimum wage because they say it will hurt businesses.
This is because businesses are all of the sudden going to have to pay all of their workers more.
It started at 25 cents and today we are at $7.25.
In the 1960's minimum wage was almost eleven dollars an hour.
Minimum wage was much better than it is today in the late fifties to sixties and even seventies.
As of 2013, Australia has this highest of the compared countries at $9.54 (This is all transferred into US dollars), and Mexico has the least amount at $1.01. There are a lot of Eastern Europe countries that we compared.
A couple of yearly salaries are as follows:
- $7.25 per hour - $15,080
- $10.10 per hour - $21,008
- $15 per hour - $31,200
- $25 per hour - $52,000
Seattle recently bumped their minimum wage up to 15 dollars per hour. It has been this way since July 2015, therefore, not so long ago.
Some workers there are actually asking for less hours though, so they won't lose their government welfare benefits! Apparently they don't want to be lifted out of poverty!
That is one of the problems of raising minimum wage. Another problem is that lots of types of products will be more expensive. Especially in restaurants, and sometimes maybe prices could be raised in apartment renting.
Obama's plan -
- It says that a higher minimum wage would benefit more than 28 million workers.
- It says the current minimum wage is not enough for workers and their families to get out of poverty.
The minimum wage has been $7.25 for a long time, and most people think that it's time for the minimum wage to finally be raised to $10.10.

Health Care-

In the late 1800's and early 1900's Pennsylvania was an unsafe place to work.
Group insurance is traced back to 1910.
Obamacare is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
It was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010.
In 2014, the fee was 95 dollars per adult ($47.50 per child) or 1% of income - whichever is higher. The family max is $205. The fee increases each year.
Republicans want it patient centered.
They want to put the American Health Care Reform act in place.
This would repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act completely and it would make lower costs and more options available.
Republicans absolutely hate Obamacare.
Democrats support the Affordable Healthcare Act.
They say children can stay on a parent's insurance until they reach the age of 26.
They support Obamacare.

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