GOP's Plan for Future of the Health Care Bill

As we all know, this November brings drastic change to Washington. It's the midterm elections and there are already some astonishing upsets with many incumbants of the GOP losing to members of the Tea Party. This leads some people to assume that come Election Day, the support for Tea party members that are now their party's candidates, will be able to replace the Democrats in their Majority of either the House or the Senate, if not both. If this does happen, members of the GOP have already stated many of theri ideas of what they will do regarding the healthcare reform bill that was passed several months ago.

These ideas involve everything from changing minute details inside the bill, such as how it currently states all employers must offer health insurance or be fined for not offering it, which many Republicans think is going against both the business' consitutional rights and their well-being in the sense that many smaller businesses may not be able to handle the financial stress it may impress upon them in such a weak economy. But, there is the other side, in which some candidates are saying that they want to revoke the bill all together because having a system in which every must have health care, and that businesses must provide it for them is unconstitutional and that by forcing all to have some sort of government provided health care will somehow turn us into either a socialist or even a communist society.

Personally i see nothing wrong with us have a government provided or government supplemental health care system, because in my mind, I think that everyone should be able to get the same amount of care that everyone else can, and that just because some people don't have an employer that offers it, or don't have the money to purchase it themselves that they shouldn't be forced to have to pay the full bill and then not be able to, and then see themselves spiral into a circle of perpetual debt.

Upcoming independence for Southern Sudan? Freedom or a death sentence?

                On a much different note, it has been announced recently that the Southern Region of Sudan may get it independence in a UN vote in January of 2011. Whether this will be a change for the better, or a change for the worse has still yet to be shown, as there are clear and concise arguments for both side. While I’m sure that nearly everyone in Southern Sudan has been waiting there entire life for the freedom of their region because of the oppression on their people by the government in the north, there are clear and obvious repercussions if this were to happen.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1994209,00.html

                While the government may not have acted in the South’s favor, the north is still the economic center of the country, with the south having little to no income what so ever. This for one, would raise poverty in this already extremely poor region, but it could also promote more violence, as people are already going to extremes, (such as having to patrol with their cattle while wielding weapons so thieves won’t come and take their cattle), but if the economic situation didn’t improve, people would go to further lengths to make a living for their families and children, which could cause even more violence in this war and genocide torn country, a factor that could push a new sovereign state of south Sudan to the breaking point. If we don’t wish for this to occur, it will be extremely important that other countries help the region begin to (hopefully) thrive, so that it doesn’t start out as a country that has no legs to stand on, and has pressure from all sides to succeed, which may cause the new state to crumble quickly. 

Bigotry

   Ever since my last post, I have been thinking more and more about the topic of bigotry, and how it is becoming even more blatantly obvious in our daily lives. I began reading several articles on time, newsweek, the associated press, etc. on the New York mosque, and the consequences/protests that have started because of the plan to build it.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2016795,00.html

   If you read this you'll understand what I mean. Some of these are completely unrelated to the New York mosque, but some are directly caused by it. In this article it names several examples of attacks on Islamic groups, everything from burning mosques, to slicing up a cab drivers neck and face because he was Muslim. These anti-Muslim sentiments aren't only being made by anonymous, little known people, there are actually people with (technical) political power. Sarah Palin can be seen here saying "Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." on her twitter page. http://www.time.com/time/quotes/0,26174,2004752,00.html While refudiate isn't technically a legitimate word, Sarah has used it many times before, as a sort of combination of refute and repudiate, and the underlying meaning of this statement is pretty clear if you read it even once. They are saying that Muslims aren't equal and that they're somehow lesser beings/humans for following this "evil" religion ("evil" because it doesn't fit into their "all knowing and always truthful" religion of "peace") 

   As you can tell, I feel quite strongly about this topic. Not that I feel that Muslims are more important then any other group of people, or that Christians are lesser or anything, just that this type of hate is going on for no reason what so ever. I find it infuriating that these people can bad-mouth an entire religion when their only evidence is fear and ignorance. For those that don't know, the Muslim God, (Allah in Arabic) is in fact that same god as that of the Christians, and of the Jews. (that's right the Christian God, is the same as the Islamic Allah and the Jewish Yahweh) And because of this, this type of ignorance and hatred is even more ridiculous.

   Now, not all bigotry comes in the form of religious persecution, there is also anti-black sentiments being thrown around like it's nothing by groups of people who feel that they are some how lesser for being black. I think that we cannot stop until we have stopped all bigotry, and that it should be considered a major social issue until we at least get some type of control over it. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way, and I think that we shouldn't let this type of behavior spread, it only makes the rest of us look bad for having to deal with these scoundrels.