Andrew Yang is most known for his universal basic income idea. This means that every US citizen above 18 could opt into a program where they would be given 1,000 dollars every month by the government. At first I was really skeptical about this idea mostly because I believed that this would drive the price of almost everything up and cost the government about 3 trillion dollars. After learning more about this topic I've realized that this isn't the case. Giving everyone 1,000 dollars a month could benefit our nation's economy tremendously. For example giving an ex inmate who was just released from jail 1000 dollars a month could get them off of their feet and keep them from committing a crime just to have food and a roof over their head. Independent studies have shown that this could drop the incarcerated population by 10-20 percent. This would save our government billions of dollars every single year. The next way that universal basic income could help us is in regards to the emergence of AI. The top 5 jobs in the US right now are call center workers, retail and sales, food service and food prep, truck driving and transportation. People who work these jobs make up half of the country's workforce and it is estimated that in the next 10 years AI will be able to do all of these jobs. In order for us to survive as a country when AI is doing these jobs we need to re invest in our country. Giving someone an extra 12,000 dollars a year can be life changing.
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The Electoral College has been in place since the birth of our nation, but does it truly represent everyone fairly? The electoral college was originally put in place by the founding fathers to give small states equal representation to the larger states. This system is outdated and actually gives the smaller and less populated states more power. An example of this is the relation between Wyoming and California. Wyoming voters have 3 times the power than California voters. It is unfair for your vote to be more or less because of the place that you live. Another unfair part of the electoral college is that if you live in a republican state and vote democrat or vice versa it is like your vote doesn't even matter because of the winner take all system. Let's also not forget all of the power that swing states are given. Swing states have so much power that in recent elections up to 80 percent of votes had no real impact on the election (fairvote.org). Since the year 2000, 40 percent of the time the winner of the election hasn't won the popular vote. As we grow as a nation and become more educated we must adapt and update, just like we do with everything else. Whether adapting means abolishing the electoral college as a whole or changing it in some way like abolishing the winner take all system. At a certain point the question needs to be asked, Does the electoral college truly reflect and represent the american people and their needs?
4 million 17 year olds will turn 18 before november, therefore making them eligible to vote. These 4 million teenagers can literally change the fate of America. Who knows what could happen with another 4 years of Trump. In 2016 Hillary won the popular vote by almost 3 million and that still wasn't enough. These 17 year olds have to take action and register the vote. As Joe Biden said on his twitter, we must ignore the polls and register to vote. Hillary was the heavy favorite going into the 2016 election and we all know what happened. 4 million votes does not seem like a lot, but when you take into account how close this election is supposed to be it can make a huge difference. Having Trump in office for another four years will be catastrophic, knowing that he doesn't have to worry about his approval rating and re election he will do whatever he wants. He will ruin our nation.
Whoever Joe Biden chooses as his running mate could make or break his presidential bid. This could be one of the most important VP picks in recent history. Many names have been thrown out for who people believe that Biden should pick, but there are only a few select people that I believe will really push the Biden campaign forward and give it that boost that it needs. Biden has already said that he will choose a woman as his running mate and it is very likely that he will follow through with that promise. There are three women who I believe that Biden should pick. The first person that I believe could help Biden is Kamala Harris. She herself ran for president in the early stages of the 2020 election but then dropped out knowing that her chances were very slim. Always conducted herself with the utmost respect and held her own on the debate stage. She is a phenomenal speaker and agrees with Biden on most political issues. Pence would not be able to handle his own with Harris on the debate stage, She would tear him apart. This pick would also satisfy the people who want Biden to select a woman of color for the ticket. This next person I do not think that Biden should pick but I could see it happening. This is Elizabeth Warren. I could see him picking her because of the large support that she had during the democratic primary. They do see almost eye to eye on major political issues and get along just fine. I do not think she would be the best possible pick for Biden because lots of his supporters would like him to pick a woman of color. Warren does have lots of experience on Capital Hill and seemed to have a plan for almost everything during the democratic race, I just don’t think her voter appeal is there. The final possible running mate for Biden is an underdog. Her name is Keisha Lance Bottoms, she is the mayor of Atlanta. She made her first national appearance during the protest in Atlanta and every since then she has been loved. An amazing speaker who is constantly advocating for BLM and social injustice. Many of her political stances are unknown besides the fact that she is a democrat. She could do for Biden what McCain was hoping Palin could do for him. She has that high upside capability. All three of these possibilities have their positives and negatives. It should be very interesting to see who Biden picks if any of these. This choice could make or break Biden’s presidential hopes.
How is that in America there is 1.7 trillion dollars of student debt. The average student loan lasts 21 years. For an average of 21 years you will be paying off a loan for an education that in order to get a steady job you are required to have a degree. In my opinion there is no solution to student debt and i'm not sure if there will ever be. A plan that I would in place would essentially freeze student debt for people who are making less than 40,000 dollars a year. For the next 10 years they would give 10 percent of their income to the government which would then go back into the education system. They are giving the 10 percent before taxes and the 10 percent isn't taxed. After the 10 years their student debt is forgiven. They must have been out of college for at least 5 years and this does not apply to any type of graduate schools. This is a phenomenal option because it is half of the average student loan and will most likely end up paying less with the 10 percent then they would paying student loans. These people are also re-investing in the future by putting back into our education systems. Now this isn't a solution to student loans and student loan providers are ultimately going to lose out but this definitely does help the people who need it the most. Citizens of a free country shouldn't have to be paying off their student loans in their mid forties. It isn't fair and something must be done about it. We are better than this as a country, our students and our future should not have to suffer.
Donald Trump doesn't care about our earth and environment and it shows. I would love to know how the Paris Climate Agreement affected us negatively in any way. It provided us with accountability, transparency and support when it comes to climate change. Climate change isn't something that is going to change without accountability and action. As a country we are doing nothing on the national level to help with Climate Change and that needs to change very soon. We only have on earth and we can’t keep sitting here and watching it slowly deteriorate. The Paris Climate Agreement allows all of the countries that are a part of the UN agree on the fact that climate change is driven by human behavior, and it is. It has been proven scientifically. As a first world country we must be in the forefront of this and be an example for other countries. It doesn't look good when the most powerful man in the world is calling climate change a hoax and saying that global warming is fake and does not exist. As a country we will not be affected as much as small islands and second and third world countries will be and are being affected right now, but we still have to be leading through this crisis. In a future post I am going to be going into the logistics of the 32 page document and going over why leaving this agreement makes absolutely no sense for the U.S Just moments after dropping out of the 2020 democratic primary election, the crowd in South Bend Indiana was chanting “2024”! Pete Buttigieg conducted himself like no other candidate throughout the election. He was always respectful, never got in yelling matches and was a people person overall. Going from a mayor in Indiana to raising comparisons to Obama and winning the Iowa caucus is something special. Not many people could pull that off. He had a support base better then arguably anyone else in the election. I just think that it was too early for mayor Pete. Being 38 on a debate stage with candidates who are all over 50 and having zero national political experience is extremely difficult. The only thing candidates were able to attack him for is his lack of experience and his billionaire wine cave. I truly do believe that Pete will be president one day, he just needs to get experience under his belt. The way he speaks and handles himself at rallys and on the debate stage is something that you can not teach. Everytime he speaks everyone in the room listens. The comparisons to Obama are understandable solely because of how they both command the room and a crowd. Politically wise Pete was always spot on. Candidates would come at him for his experience yet he knew the answer to every single question that came at him during the debates. Now what is next for Pete Buttigieg, who knows. He has an opportunity for senate in Indiana in 2022 or in 2024. Personally I think that is the best bet for him so when he does make another run for president he can do it the right way and ultimately end up successful.
“Tearing each other down because we have a different plan to me is unacceptable. I have seen this script before.” - Cory booker. What our current president fails to do is provide a sense of unity. With everything going on in the country the president's goal still seems to divide the country. Instead of bringing the country together in a time of crisis the president has somehow found a way to take a side and declare war on the protesters, peaceful or not. We can’t take another term of this division. We are all the same, we are all part of the same country but for some reason the president doesn't want that to be the case. One thing that stood out to me during the democratic primary debates was Cory booker's message. His message of unity. In every debate that he was in he pushed that we needed to come together, not just as a party but as a country. Whenever candidates were arguing he would chime in and remind them that we are better than this and they are feeding into what Donald Trump wants them to do. This message of unity has never meant as much as it does now. America is split in half when America should be together as one to put an end to racism. From calling the protesters thugs, and claiming that terrorists took over the city of Seattle Donald Trump doesn't want to see his country united and it is evident. To him it is always a left versus right war when really it should be everyone together fighting against racism. Whether it is Cory Booker or not, the next leader that we elect has to put the people first. Instead of using the protests as a photo opportunity he should be out marching with the people and fighting with them. Whether you agree with Donald Trump politically or not the question needs to be asked. “Is everything that he is doing for the people, or for himself? |
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