We were discussing the War Powers today in government. Yes, I want Congress to have the power to declare war. Yes, I want the president to be able to carry out immediate militial action at a moment's notice, to enact whatever force necessary in event of an emergency. YES, I think the 60-90 day limit for such action needs to be enforced! Why has it never been enforced? Either declare war or get out. Don't dilly-dally.
I've discovered a humongous conflict I have with my own moral reasoning. I don't want our country to continue sending foreign aid when our own people are in need. However, many of the same people who agree with me are also anti-welfare, saying people need to help themselves. So, what do we need to do? Just not help anyone? Spread our resources thin and help everyone? I don't know...maybe put some more money into our Free Clinics. Put more money into the poor public schools that will be squeezing as many as 48 students in a classroom with one teacher, half as many textbooks as needed, and denying students access to classes simply because there's not enough students signed up to make 2 full classes of 45. It has been announced at our school that students need to do especially well on their STAR tests, because if 60 students are signed up for a class, the school WILL NOT be making 2 classes of 30. They'll be making one class of 45, and 15 students will not be allowed to take the class. The rule goes for AP classes as well. Yeah, the school's College level classes will have twice their desired amounts. I hope they don't have high expectations.
I'm so glad I'm going to a Private college next year. Sorry guys.
1 comment:
Glad that you're thinking about this stuff, my niece. :) I have some "Yeah, but...." thoughts for you.
1) No one yet knows how exactly the AZ law is going to play out. In theory, asking for some form of proof of citizenship shouldn't be any more complicated than asking for a license, registration, and proof of insurance. It may be that with a driver's license, even a forged one, a cop can tap into a database of suspected forged licenses. If there is an additional "I'm a citizen" license to be obtained, then it makes it that much harder for an illegal to obtain all the forged documents necessary. The point is that it allows the state of Arizona to find a way to tackle the problem that the federal government has failed to tackle. Once they try to put this law into practice, offended people will get to sue and the courts will help us figure out what's legal and what's not. There are enough truly liberal organizations out there to protect us from living in the Reich or Gattaca.
2) War Powers. Congress doesn't need to declare war to have a take. All they have to do is stop allocating money to the war. Declaring war used to mean something when it would take you months to get troops mobilized and across an ocean to fight. Nobody's really declared war since WWII--arguably the last "real" war fought.
3) School situation. One of the many reasons that, while I'll always be a Californian at heart, I'm not too disappointed to not be raising my family there. As for the "overcrowded AP classes," you could argue that a larger class size does a better job of preparing high school students for college. Doesn't work in English, but that's the way of the world for math, science, history, etc. Just a thought.
:) You make good points. Let me know what you think of my counter-points.
Post a Comment