Occupy Wall Street and What?

      Devin Rosario’s blog about the Occupy Wall Street as a “soft mannered revolution” leaves readers   slightly confused. Read his blog here: http://governmentmirror.blogspot.com/2011/11/occupy-once-more.html The article Devin blogs about is found here: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/11/17/the-whole-world-watches-again-occupy-wall-street-strikes-back/

     He mentions speaking with Brighton Wallace of Austin, TX, but does not specify what Wallace said that was so passionate and driven or why Devin was fortunate to speak with him. Devin could have engaged his readers with dialogue from his and Wallace’s intimate conversation. In question also, is what Brighton Wallace’s job loss was a result of; what protestors are speaking out against? After writing of his conversation with Wallace he claims, “Since that day I have been approached by young men with bandana’s covering their faces, passing out packets often filled with grammatical errors and loosely worded paragraphs”. Readers are confused at his statement because it lacks background information why of young men are wearing bandanas over their faces or what the packets were about. Rosario leaves his readers with questions such as: the grammatical errors and loosely worded paragraphs are of what significance to the movement or us? What did the packets have inside them? Rosario needed to explain in detail how the packets the young men were passing out related to his amazement with the Occupy Wall Street movement.


     Rosario states, “It amazes me that in my time I would see a movement such as Occupy” and does not further explain why it is amazing. It would be to his advantage if he told his readers why Occupy Wall Street is important and not just compare the Vietnam protests to it. He goes on to say, “One of the biggest differences I noticed in this article was the anticipation leading up to November 17^th…”. Beside his sentence being too long he states their was a difference he noticed. Readers do not know what the difference is because they are not told what other event he is thinking of. I assume he meant an article on a Vietnam protest.

     Rosario ends his blog telling readers that the movement gains interest and publicity every day. He says the article he is blogging about inspires him to look further into the cause and success of the Wall Street Protest, yet he does not offer any links or websites with sources of reporting about the movement. Rosario left his readers with a link to the article he read, a brief recollection of speaking with a leader in the Austin movement and not much else.

As Our Country Continues to Die Congress Remains Stubborn about Taxes

     The November 23rd deadline is coming soon enough. Congress has been ordered to “to cut at least $1.2 trillion from federal spending. The real deadline, though, is Monday, when the Congressional Budget Office needs to put a price tag on any offer.”
Democrats and Republicans in the supercommittee have yet to reach a compromise on a 2012 budget. The problem is taxes. Republicans are laughing at the Democrat’s claim to have “met their offer on revenue”. Both parties are holding firm in their proposals. Democrats saying, “it has to be fair to the American people and done in a way that doesn’t put the burden on working families and addresses the issues of getting people back to work. We are waiting for them to accept that.” While Jeb Hensarling
argues, “I am unaware of any offer or any idea from any Democrat that did not include a minimum of a trillion dollars or more of tax increases.” Defending the Republican force and attacking the Democrats claim, Speaker John Boehner said, “You need to understand that there’s been exactly one proposal on the table in the committee. And that proposal came from the six Republican members – House and Senate. Where it was outlined what we’d be willing to do. There have been discussions among individual members but it’s very clear to be that there’s never been a Democrat position. Not one. Not one time have they coalesced around a plan that will address this issue.”
    
     The Democrats and Republicans plan to aggressively work on an agreement and prove they have made changes in their proposals accommodating the other party. With all the previous efforts to reach a compromise ending in stubborn resistance, there is little hope for Congress to agree this time. The Democrats believe they have adjusted the budget enough for Republicans to accept their proposal. Republicans say they have not seen any altering of the proposals from the Democrats. If one or the other does not put party affiliation aside and work for the American people, there will be no compromise.
Sources:


　
　http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68604.htmlhttp://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/17/8864413-supercommittee-deadlocked-on-familiar-issue-taxeshttp://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68604_Page2.html#ixzz1e11ywWQ5http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68604.html#ixzz1e10ClJGJ

"Perry's Campaign Decision"

     I hope not to sound harsh, but I find Mrs. Yessica Martinez’ blog dull. The title lacks an attention grabbing phrase. Presidential campaigns are a current issue, however; our focus in government class should be on important issues. The campaign style of a presidential candidate falls far behind the importance of what is happening in Congress. With the recession, the failed Obama administration legislation, the occupy- wall -street protests, the bank’s criminal activities, there is so much more to report on and discuss. What I found interesting in her blog was the statement of how “These debates are just a way to discredit each other in front of the American people.” I found this worth reading because it reminds the American people of how we choose our leaders. Yessica simply offers her disappointment with how current political campaigns compare to those of the 19^th century, noting the old use of “stump speeches” where citizens could become more personally familiar with the candidates. Again, Mrs. Martinez’ blog lacked valuable news and research. She offered the blog readers a link to a website to read more about Perry’s decision to remove him-self from debates instead of paraphrasing and including a hyperlink to her research.  

     After reading her entire blog three times I found myself thinking, “I already knew that campaigns are not run fairly or for the purpose of showing what a candidate is made of behind the scenes.” If I were to revise this blog I would research how and why presidential debates affects our perceptions of them and what could happen to Perry’s votes  once he stops debating. Still, I wouldn’t use this blog for our government class because we are asked specifically to blog of politics in a critical thinking manner and this article would be that if there were more details about how the 2012 campaign dynamics would be affected.

 Mrs. Martinez' blog can be read here:

 

http://ymartinezaccgovt2305.blogspot.com/2011/10/perry-ignites-discussion-over-debates.html