NLRB and the American Jobs Act

As Americans across the country have been suffering from high unemployment and low job creation, our nation's leaders have been charged with finding ways to create and keep more jobs within the U.S. 
Recently congress has been considering two different bills that could both affect job creation in the United States. the first of these is the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act which was passed by the house on Thursday. This bill is in response to the National Labor Relations Board's actions to prevent Boeing's production line for the new 787 Dreamliner, due to alleged misconduct with unions in Washington State. The bill would reign in the NLRB and prevent them from being able to tell a company to close or relocate a workplace.
Democrats argue that this bill would take away much of the real authority that the NLRB has and would eliminate any responsibility that Boeing would have for the said misdeeds and strangely claim that this would make it easier for a company to ship jobs overseas, which seems to be more of what the NLRB is currently doing, discouraging job growth in one state in order to protect workers in another.
While the constitution gives congress the authority to regulate commerce among the many states, I do not believe it should delegate so much authority to regulatory agencies in order to dictate where they can conduct their business. This is something that, if enacted will keep jobs in the U.S. and will make it easier for American companies.
The second thing with job creation is president Obama's 450+ billion dollar American Jobs Act. Which while it will produce some jobs or save some jobs if enacted, and work to improve the infrastructure with roads, etc. It does not do enough to fix the real problems and will increase taxes more than 467 billion dollars. The three things that need to be done are, reform the tax code to simplify it for American companies and individuals, reduce the business tax and regulations against American companies, and work to building our infrastructure including our digital infrastucture.
By doing these things and more, our government can help fuel job growth within the U.S. and continue to strengthen our economy as we recover from a recession.

Independence Day

As we near the day of our independence I wanted to take time to say a few words about our great nation. We live in a nation that was born of a desire to be free. Through representative democracy we have established a nation where the people rule, one of the first of it's kind. Through the blood and tears of men and women we established a nation where we could have all freedoms here including that we should be entitled to the life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Through a Constitution and Bill of Rights which I believe to be divinely inspired we have insured more freedoms. Some of these include the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the right to due process, the right to bear arms, and the right from unlawful search and seizure.
Throughout the history of our nation we have sought for more freedom, including to free slaves, give equal rights of voting, housing, employment, and schooling to all of the people of our nation no matter their race, religion, birthplace, gender or sexual preference.
These freedoms have come at a dear price, from the graves of Gettysburg to the shores of Normandy, freedom has been our goal. We have been called on by many nations to stand in the face of tyranny and injustice and we have fought for those freedoms. The blood of our soldiers both past and present stands as a reminder that the freedoms we now enjoy come at a price.
We must remember as the battle rages on that our nation is a great one and that in order to maintain the liberty we now possess we must continue to make it great. We must remember the words of our former president, John F. Kennedy who said “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
As we celebrate our day of independence tomorrow let us remember what has transpired to make this nation great, let us remember in our hearts the sacrifice of the men and women who have made it great. That we must be "one nation under God indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 
God Bless America

Death of Usama Bin Laden, War on Terror

On Sunday night (May 1st) we received news from the president of the United States that Usama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. military forces in a compound in Pakistan. To address a few concerns that some people have wondered about I decided to tribute this post to answering a few of these questions. The first, is he really dead? Although a very few people are doubting this, and a lack of a public burial/photos of the dead Bin Laden may promote some few doubtful people I have a few threads of thought that several professors I have discussed the issue with support concerning these issues. 1st as to the quick burial, although I have not studied it myself I am told that Islamic law declares that the burial must be done as quickly as possible, and we are told that every islamic rite was followed concerning his death. 2nd if he were brought to another country what country would he be buried in? Would we really want him buried in the U.S., and surely some major event would be sparked wherever he would have been buried. 3rd what benefit could there possibly be for lying? There would be no possible benefit other than a momentary spiking in poll numbers over a year before a presidential election, if Obama were wanting to use this as a lie to bump his numbers, why not wait until next year, when a momentary bump would actually help?
As for the second issue of why the pictures have not been released, I have two concerns. The first is that of proper respect for the dead, as some americans have little respect for other people's practices and surely would have defamed the photo within minutes of it's release, and therefore would enrage his followers and possibly others(ex. the Florida church who burned a Koran and the aftermath in Afghanistan).
The second issue i wanted to address is that of the War on terror. We must remember that this is not the end of the war on terror. While this was one step and one major leader of terrorism we must not stop in our efforts to end terrorism. I believe this begins with education, and an increased understanding of others cultures, customs, and belief systems. It begins with building bridging social capital(for more info see Putnam, Bowling Alone 2000). We must support our government and trust each other, because without trust we can not accomplish anything. United we stand, and divided we fall. This applies not only to our nation, but to the world. If we are to rise up from the dust and seize our potential we must learn to share ideas and work together, seek for ways to help build a stronger world for all. As we seek to rise out of the recession we have been in, we must look for ways to innovate and make changes that will increase our ability to make the world better, rather than to line our own pockets.
IN GOD WE TRUST

-Tim

President's Day thoughts

The last few days have been fairly unsettling to me. With the attacks made on things that are valued by the other party I have been a little disconcerted with the actions of our nations leaders. We have been promised change but instead what we get is the same continual bipartisanship that is dividing this country. More than ever we need to end the divisive actions, such as ending the defense of the DOMA, as well as the attack on state employee unions in several states. These actions show me blatantly what is wrong with our nation. We are continually becoming less trusting of each other, as well as our leaders. If we really want change as the American people we need to start changing things. We need to start working together, learning from each other and get involved in our communities. We need to meet our neighbors, and start developing the bridging social capital necessary to bring our nation together. So my President's day wish is that we return to a president from my parent's days who said "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"

Mubarak Steps Down, Democracy in Egypt

As was announced yesterday, President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down. The Egyptian Supreme Military Council has stepped in as a transitional government and has promised to oversee a democratic transition within the country. They have also pledged to continue the current treaties with other countries. This has been a concern because of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace accord.
Protesters still remain in Tahrir Square, demanding that Mubarak's cabinet, and the parliament step down. However, the military has not done this, but has maintained the idea that later this year democratic elections will take place.
The concern becomes more and more about who will run their country though, and what type of new regime will be in place. There seems to be no main leader for the protesters, and people continue to wonder who will run in the election. Since September is some distance off, there is time for a full election to take place, and for people to get a better look at any candidates that may come forward. We can all hope however that no extremist group gains power, and I do believe that is what the military is stepping in to avoid, some sort of power vacuum that would allow an extremist group to take power.
In an interview with General Wesley Clark on Fox News this morning, he stated that he felt that we would not see an extremist group such as the Muslim Brotherhood. He felt that because Egypt has a higher level of education, we would very likely see a very secular government, rather than an Islamic government.
Also with this, we will see how President Obama will react to the situation, especially as elections occur. The concern that I have mentioned is that an extremist group would take over as in Iran, which spelled out the demise of Jimmy Carter's political career with the Iran embassy fiasco. The best he could do is to encouraging the democratic forces between the military and civilian groups within Egypt.
Overall yesterday's changes I believe will be a step in the right direction for the middle east, and the world. With democratic elections forthcoming, I look forward to seeing what will happen in the next few months.

Thoughts on Healthcare, Necessary and Proper, Commerce Clause

    After reading a few articles this morning I thought I would comment on my thoughts about recent occurrences with regards to the recent vote to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act(A.C.A.) of last year. I will note that from the records, it failed 51-47(two senators did not vote) I am a strong supporter of the idea that if the people wish for laws to change that they should first seek to change it through the legislature, and if that fails, through electing leaders who will make the changes needed.
     The A.C.A. overall has been met mixed feelings by all. Statistics show that overall americans are not in favor of the act, and wish for it's repeal. According to a recent Rasmussen Poll 58% of americans want the healthcare bill repealed. The Washington Post has that a little smaller percentage at 50%. It has been noted by some, that some of those who responded also may be those who believe the bill did not go far enough. Among these would be people who wished for the public option, or further tort reform, the purchasing of insurance across state lines, etc., not just those who don't like the individual mandate or the law altogether. I like portions of the bill, like allowing people to not be turned down for previous conditions, as well as the portion that allows children up to the age of 26 to remain on their health insurance.
    With this being said, we now see that 26 states have filed suit, and with varying result in the Federal District courts, it seems this issue will come before the Supreme Court. The basic argument comes down to this: does the constitution support the idea that congress can mandate that people buy insurance? The commerce clause, which most believe to be the reasoning behind those supporting the A.C.A., states: "The Congress shall have Power....to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."(U.S. Constitution Art 1 Section 8) However, this is the first case of which I am aware of where an act of congress had mandated that people participate in commerce, namely buying health insurance. How can punishing inactivity be found within that clause. The concern comes that if this law is upheld, then congress will continue to push the authority that has been given to them.
    The other argument is that the power to enact this legislation comes within the necessary and proper clause, otherwise known as the elastic clause which reads: "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." I personally do not see that this is a power that has been vested in the congress by the constitution, however, that will be up to the supreme court to ultimately decide.
    This case will determine a number of things, and will be the first major case to affect the understanding of the constitution under Chief Justice Roberts.  From what I have found it is possible for the court to strike down the mandate, and still keep the rest of the law.
click here to learn more about Judicial review.
click here for an interesting summary of the chief arguments
click here for info about Virginia's attempt to take the case to the supreme court.

Egypt Thoughts

Thinking over the last week's events I think it will be interesting to see how things will continue on within the middle eastern world. With Mubarak being ousted, and possibly others leaving as well, the question we must ask ourselves is one of what will be replacing this system? While I would agree that seeing the statistics in the BBC article posted below, we can see that Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, and the other countries that are reported as having similar situations possibly coming within the next few days, all have problems that need redress, namely poverty, unemployment, etc. Now what replaces these systems is the great concern of all political theorists.
Often though I think we(the U.S.) tend to think we have the best system for everyone and that everyone should just adopt our system and everything would just work out. There are several flaws with this system of thought, while I do support the idea that the U.S. constitution is a divinely inspired document, and that it was the best system of government for our nations. I believe Great Britain's system is the best for them. There are some times in world history I believe that a monarchy was the best system for that nation.
I do not believe that we will see an extremist group take power. From some of the reporting I have read, many of the anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square are members of the middle class, educators, and businessmen, not an uneducated mob. They have been sophisticated protesters who had organized using Facebook and Twitter, who are not going to sit by while another dictator gains power. Egypt is not Iran, and I also do not believe that an Islamic state will take power.
So as time goes on I applaud the efforts of President Obama, for making up for a mistake he made over a year ago, when he sat by as a people pleading for change went on completely ignored in Iran. As Egypt is our ally it is much easier for the U.S. to step in. Even ousting an old friend of our nation, who has helped our efforts in the Middle East. But it was the right thing to do, to gain favor with whomever gains power.
My final thoughts are this, that I hope that those countries who have unrest will come to a peaceful, and democratic solution, and that whatever solution they come to, will be the best for that country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12204971
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/03/AR2011020305184_2.html