The Average Joe

If you have all been keeping up with the news, it is impossible to not see the headlines dealing with the healthcare battle in the Supreme Court of the United States.   The main argument in this case is whether or not the federal government can mandate all Americans to purchase healthcare insurance if they do not already have it.   The individual mandate, which originated as a Republican idea, would require that all Americans purchase minimum health care coverage starting in 2014, as stated in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.            Donald Verrilli Jr., speaking at the Supreme Court in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare; argued that this law is a valid response to a crisis in the market of health care.   The individual mandate regulates how people are going to pay for healthcare services, which is and always will be a universal need.   It is also important to keep ...

Throughout the GOP debates, candidates have criticized President Obama for not doing enough on a variety of issues, which include the economy, jobs, gas prices and his stance on Iran’s nuclear program.  In reality, the GOP candidates are wrong and President Obama stands a very good chance for reelection because of what he has done in while in office. The recession that resulted from the market crash of 2008 put the United States in its biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.  Many have this perception that presidents can fully control the direction of the economy.  The truth is that they cannot and most of that power in government rests with Congress.  Nevertheless, voters still hold the president accountable when the economy tanks and praise him when it grows.  Since January, 2012, the economy has been growing and unemployment has been decreasing .   If this trend continues through the Presidential Debates in the fall, President Oba...

Over the last couple of weeks, contraception has become an issue that has dominated the media.  In fact, there was even a hearing held by Congressman Darrell Issa, a Republican, yet it featured six male witnesses and not one woman.   Their stance on this issue is further damaging and tarnishing the GOP in the eyes of female voters.  Aside from the fact that this was a ridiculous spectacle, I find it wrong and sexist that not one woman was featured as a witness.  Many women have been voicing two main points over these hearings.  The first is that these politicians clearly are not on their side, and the second is they do not understand their life and what it is like to be a woman. After having this whole issue out in the open, many women feel that Republicans just do not get it. Mitt Romney’s position on birth control further demonstrates that he really has no core values.  He has flip-flopped on thi...

On December 31 st , 2011, while most Americans were celebrating the New Year, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  This pernicious legislation significantly expands the power and scope of the federal government to fight the War on Terror, including the indefinite detention of terrorism suspects without trial. Under the new law the US military has the power to carry out domestic anti-terrorism operations on US soil. Even worse, the NDAA authorizes the military to detain US citizens under the broad new anti-terrorism provisions provided in the bill; once again, without trial.  Originally, President Obama threatened to veto the bill unless that specific provision was retooled, so that the civil liberties of US citizens were not in danger. Basically, this law now opens the door for the military to conduct policing inside the United States, which would overstep the powers of the Executive Branch.  The image of military patrolli...

Over the last decade, many in the GOP have created this myth of Ronald Reagan as the savior of the United States and American way of life after the Vietnam Era, high inflation, high unemployment and the gas shortage.  From this, he has become the embodiment of the Republican Party.  For every Republican I can think of, Ronald Reagan is their role model. Is their image of Ronald Reagan accurate ?  Unfortunately, this is a false image as history has proven…should you dare to challenge the status quo. It is worthwhile to find out how images are created.  More importantly, how false images come into being.  Many Americans have grown up accepting, with little question, certain images as accurate portraits of public figures.  As a historian, it is my duty to question whether or not these images are true to the original.  Because of the spotlight that is centered on their every move, presidents seem to fall perfectly into this category. Popul...

In looking back, I do not know when or how it happened.  Did it happen all at once or was this a slow and steady change?  If I had to, I couldn’t even point out a specific time, a certain instance in where or how it all changed.  I just do not know when the GOP became part of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.  In fact, while watching the GOP debates, I feel as if I am a little kid at the circus with cotton candy and popcorn.  Almost all of them appear to be the insane clown posse.  Due to longer believing in what the Democratic Party stood for, in 1962, Ronald Reagan said “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the party left me” .  Using that same logic, I can now say that I didn’t leave the Republican Party, the party left me.   I am now changing my membership to the Independence Party here in NY.  I have been feeling this way for a while, but after watching these clowns on stage at the GOP debates, it is clear that ...

Over the last decade, we have seen the ongoing erosion of our civil liberties and attacks on the middle class here in the United States.   Through war under false pretenses, illegal wiretapping , warrantless search and seizures , as well as prison without a fair trial…or any trial for that matter; we as a people remained silent.   There had been no indication that anyone seemed to notice.   The United States is not living up to its democratic principles. In the past, we as a people would protest against actions like these.   However, even if we wanted to freely protest at a presidential rally or appearance, we have lost that right as well.   The Secret Service can setup free speech zones to contain and control these protests.   In fact, here in the New York City, if a group wanted to protest, they must do so by obtaining a parade permit , which Mayor Bloomberg has failed to grant.   What idiot signed this into law and how did the American people a...