GIANT SURGE IN THE GOP

Today, Santorum took 3 states: Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado. He won by double digit percentage in Missouri and Minnesota. He ran an extremely close race in Colorado with Romney, being only a couple percentages off. This surge has set the stage for a battle that may have left Newt on the sideline. Romney now has a tough competitor for the presidential nominee. Next up are Maine, Arizona and Michigan. Is Newt still in it? Will Romney regain strength? Will it be a close race between Romney and Santorum? So many questions as this election season is starting to heat up. Who is your pick?

Will 2012 Decide Our Fate?

We are already in 2012...the year the Mayan Calendar says there is going to be a big event, possibly the apocalypse?

Aside from that misunderstood tidbit that people twist around so much, is 2012 are pivotal year for humanity. Well, let us take a look at the big topics, issues and decisions that will need to have an answer this year.

1. European Debt Crisis -> the ever growing debt of several countries in the EU have caused somewhat of a crisis in the world market, most notably Greece. The EU must decide on an answer this year or the problem, if not already, will be too big to solve for the EU, possibly spelling it's end, or at least the end for some of the countries.

2. Iran -> the escalating threat of Iran is almost at a tipping point. Israel is strongly hinting of attacking Iranian nuclear facilities, while the U.S. and other nations keep shoving sanctions down Iran's throat with little avail. Meanwhile, China and Russia kind of just want to let Iran run wild. If Israel does end up attacking Iran in the coming months, then who knows. We could end up with another WW in the Middle East with Egypt and Syria already imploding on themselves, too. Attacking Iran will definitely set off worldwide fears and could possible end up in another, larger-scaled all out war, which hopefully if that does happen will not involve China or Russia. If they get involved, then WWIII will be on the horizon. Let's hope not

3. Climate Change -> Yes, the debatable topic of climate change. So many republicans deny climate change even though the science is right in front of their faces, kind of sad. This year will be the hinge year that will decide if we take steps to improve our climate, or make no changes and let the problem escalate. Already the effects can be seen throughout the world today, it is just a matter of countries coming together willing to come up with effective, drastic solutions. 2012 will definitely be an important year for us deciding whether we will do something, or let it get worse. It has come to a point where we can see and measure what is going on, and more accurately predict what will happen in the future.

4. President -> The presidential elections are this year in case you didn't know already. This will set the stage for the next 4 years for our country. The economy is doing better, but still is not where it should be. Unemployment is slowly lowering, but is still high. Our debt is over $14 trillion, too. This year will decide who tackles the problem of the growing deficit and debt. The people need to elect the right person who will balance the budget, spend under deficit, and lower the debt. If the elected president does not, than we are in for a bumpy ride for our future and it will eventually end up in disaster.

New Support for a Disturbing Reality

Vast parts of Europe have been thrown into a deep chill with record temperatures and snowfall that have left many dead. What is the probable cause of this phenomena? - Shrinking of the polar ice caps.

Researchers from the NOAA and at the Alfred Wegner Institute in Germany say the cold snap is due to an abrupt change in the Arctic Oscillation. This wind current brings the warm air that ha risen in the Arctic down to Europe, while keeping the cold air up in the Arctic. As the polar ice caps melt, which this summer they have seen their lowest amount of ice coverage in 3 decades, the sun is reflected less and less, and is absorbed. This warming of the Arctic has disrupted the Oscillation that forms basically a wall between warm and cold air during winter months. This effect is being seen throughout Europe.

This is yet just more proof that climate change is happening and we need to act. 97% of scientific researchers that actively research in the climate field agree man is causing/contributing greatly to this recent climate change. There are studies that I will hopefully get up that actually show the temperatures should actually be declining now going into a cool period, but records and data have shown that average global temperatures have been rising over the past century.

This another reason why investing in renewable and clean alternative energy choices are pivotal to our future, not just economically, but for our survival. People may not see the greater effects of climate change now or in the next decade, but we need to take note of the smaller, rapidly growing threats that are happening right now. This issue should not be argued over party lines, but should be agreed upon by all. It is time to start taking note of science, dropping the paranoia that it is government made, and do something now because it is real and it is happening. Denial will not make it go away, it will just make the problem worse. Denial will not hide the fact the temperatures have been rising, man is contributing greatly by adding billions of tons of GHG's into the air, the polar ice caps are melting, and millions of people have felt the effect already of our changing climate. The time to act is not when there is a major disaster, but before. We have as a country acted too many of times after the fact, less often being proactive. Be proactive and take a stand.

Nevada Caucus

Mitt Romney wins again. Most candidates didn't even bother campaigning in Nevada because it's high Mormon population. Will it be so easy for Romney in Colorado and the other states? Santorum is laggin behind, Newt is losing steam, and well Ron Paul has always been where he is at for the most part. Could there still be an upset in the primaries?

WWIII in 2012?

A report Panetta has either heard of or was told directly was reported in the Washington Post by David Ignatius saying there is a strong likelihood Israel will attack Iran in April, May, or June. Needless to say Panetta refused to comment on the subject. he said, "What I think and what I view, I consider to be an area that belongs to me and nobody else."

Could this be true? What implications would this have? Would the U.S. get involved?

The Romney Misstep

"I'm in this race because I care about Americans," Romney said. "I'm not concerned about the very poor.  We have a safety net there.  If it needs repair, I'll fix it."


He told this statement to a CNN morning reporter today (2/1) after winning the Florida primary. Now I can see his intentions in this statement, and the statement is exactly what it means. Their is no alternate side around it, he simply cares about the middle income citizens the most, and is actually almost all concerned with them. How do you take this statement?

DECISION FLORIDA

Romney comes out with a second primary win in Florida. Does this secure his for the nomination or is it to early to tell? He has won 2 key states. Do the other candidates have a chance?

Freedom of Speech or Freedom of Piracy?

Back to the SOPA/PIPA issue! I very important question that should be underlined in this debate is should people have the freedom to pirate materials online, even though it is illegal in the physical world? This bill is/was not trying to censor people and what they say, but protect companies and businesses from having their material and ideas stolen. This is a law in the physical world, why shouldn't it be one on the internet? Is it freedom of speech when we take material from other sites and use them to our own benefit without permission?

This bill is not related to China, and should not be compared to policies in China because they censor media/the internet that contradicts their teaching. SOPA/PIPA were aimed at solely protecting businesses and companies from piracy, they do not impose censorship on originality or individualism.
Also, if you wanted to use a video or other material from a site, as outlined by this bill, you can use them as long as you have permission.

Should we ask before we use someone else's stuff, or is the web a public domain that no one has control over? Is their a line to what should be protected online, or should everyone do what they want?

Most Important Issue Poll

So the poll has been closed, and most put the Economy as the most important issue, though there was a vote for the environment and national debt.

First off, I will discuss national debt. I think that is closely related with the economy, but I also think that to fix many economic problems, the debt must be reduced and stay that way until we reach a equilibrium. Once that has occurred, we must be careful to maintain that, then, and only then, will we truly prosper. The debt is pivotal to many economic issues, and fixing that will fix a lot of our problems. It will take sacrifice from all citizens, but it is highly worth it in the end.

Second, I will go over the economy. Yes this is a major problem we are dealing with today and it needs to be fixed. The economy ties into all the different sectors of society. Fixing the economy would most indefinitely be repairing the American dream.

Third is the environment. With the increase of warming around the globe (a proven fact that can be seen through research and data) has wide-ranging effects from draught to more intense weather patterns. It is most likely we will be increasing our disaster aid in the coming decades to this warming trend. And for those of you who are not good with science, an increase in temperature increases evaporation in areas that usually tend to get rainfall, increase draught conditions in areas where they get some-little rain, and an increase in temperature of the water which feeds hurricanes and melts glaciers, which in turn melt and do not reflect the sun's energy as much. Hopefully that was not too confusing. In short, not focusing on environmental issues such as destruction of wetlands and other natural habitat will cost us billions down the road. Wetlands in Louisiana protect the area around it from some of the strength of hurricanes, mitigating effects of waves and wind. This is only one habitat though that helps us. There are countless others we are destroying that will prove to be a negative for our society. And with climate change, we will spend billions in the coming future paying for disasters. Turning over a new leaf now, right now, will lessen some of the effects and save us countless of dollars and possibly even human lives. Whether you think these people are alarmist or tree huggers that think this way, there is more scientific support from the science community than the reverse side. Ignoring science is a huge misstep that no one should take. This is a topic I will discuss in a future post about many of the GOP candidates
Helping the environment will help our economy and other crisis around the world.


There you have it. Disagree? Well comment below!

The Evaluation...What's Around the Corner?

Stay-tuned this week for an evaluation I am sure all of you would like to read, the Evaluation: Obama. This will outline several points (good and bad) or his presidency and what we can look forward to him doing if elected again. Right after giving this evaluation, I will state my preferences for the presidency, including my nomination for the GOP candidates. This will be interesting to say the least, hopefully you will find it interesting, too.

Evaluation, next on Bite-Size Reality! (insert Jaws song here)

Blog ^date!

So last week has been busy and I haven't been able to get much up; that should change this week. Also, don't forget to vote on the "Most Important Issue Listed" to the right of the blog, it ends today! I will put a post up about that most likely tomorrow hopefully. also you can now follow the blog via email or gmail user to the right of the blog also! Please follow so you can stay up-to-date about Bite-Size Reality as it continues to grow!

Regards,
Matt

GOP Primary...Losers and Should-Be Winners

With the Florida Primary tomorrow, the front-runner for that primary is Mitt Romney, then Gingrich, then Santorum, then Paul. Now, I won't argue about Paul because he is where he belongs. Mitt Romney, along with Santorum had very strong appearances at the Florida debate, with Gingrich having a very weak appearance. He was attacked and could not get back up, because he simply had nothing to back anything up with. Mitt Romney was hit hard on his state's health plan by Santorum, and somehow voters did not connect his government run program as being extremely similar to Obama's. It seems to me, now tell me if I'm wrong, that Republican voters (the majority of them at least) have NO IDEA who they want, and who they think they want they don't know anything about. Again, the ignorance of the people hurts the people.   Santorum did not get nearly enough credit from the debate. If people actually matched up the candidates and saw that debate, Gingrich's numbers would be in the toilet. Santorum, in my opinion, was the strongest person to come out of that debate.
It seems now though that there is finally a mass gathering around Mitt Romney. Funny though, one of the main issues people have with Obama is his healthcare, but they are to blinded to see that Romney MADE a GOVERNMENT RUN healthcare system.

My vote still lies with Santorum, but that is not official just yet.

Attack on Religion, Attack on the People

This excerpt was taken from the Peoria (Illinois) Journal Star Newspaper released on 1/26. This is not the only diocese resounding this message, but the whole Catholic Church throughout this nation, as with other religions. The contraceptive legislation that would require every business/institution who provides insurance to cover contraceptives, one thing Catholicism vehemently opposes. Is this an attack on freedom of religion?

"The Obama administration’s requirement that most health insurance plans must cover contraceptives could close down “every Catholic school, hospital, and other public ministries of our Church,” Bishop Daniel Jenky of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria said Thursday in a news release.

Calling the recently clarified ruling an “unprecedented governmental assault upon the moral convictions of our Faith,” Bishop Jenky urged area Catholics to oppose the rule by “every means at our disposal.”

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced final details of the rule Jan. 20. The rule’s religious exemption language does not apply to religious employers who serve or employ large numbers of people of different faiths, as many Catholic institutions do.

The rule takes effect Aug. 1 for employers and insurers that do not already provide coverage of contraceptives. Church-affiliated organizations, such as the Catholic Church, have an additional year to comply.

In a signal that the church is ready for a war, Bishop Jenky asked that the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel be prayed in every church in the diocese over the weekend.

The prayer:
'Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host —
by the Divine Power of God —
cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.'"

Obama's State of the Union Address

Obama had some pretty strong points in his address. Some being: some millionaires pay less taxes than the middle class, tax credits being given to companies that move oversees, ending subsidies for big oil, increase tax credits and incentives for companies providing new American jobs and innovation. He also supported his actions by proof that the economy has been recovering and over 3,000,000 jobs have been created. His rhetoric is often very convincing, but do you think giving him a 2nd term will do good? Do you think his presidency is the reason why our economy has recovered. GM is the top auto producer in the world, and unemployment is going down?

State of the Union

It is showing now on every news channel. I am unable to watch it though I really wanted to. I will watch the re-run so be ready for a post in a day or 2!

Foreign Aid: Yay or Nay?

One key issue that we have faced for decades now, mostly since WWII, is foreign aid. Who should get it? Why should we give our money away when we could use it here? Why should we help? 

In 2009, we gave a total of about $45 billion. Countries like Russia received $223 million, Egypt $1.2 billion, Ethiopia $550 million, Israel $2.6 billion in 2010. For a full comprehensive list, see http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1297.pdf.

Foreign Aid Given as %of GDP

Granted, included in this price-tag is USAID as well as other agencies price-tag, is their a real necessity to all of this, or are we just throwing our money out without no benefit?

Here are some answers to discuss about:
U.S. funded countries in the Middle East, such as Israel and Egypt have need of such aid in order to maintain a position of strength and reliance for the U.S. since there is a history of conflict and violence in that area. Here are few key benefits Israel gives us in return as told by the historian Dr. Steve Carol:

• Israel heads calls for military integration from the U.S., such as in the Cold War.
• In 1967, Israel defeated a pro-Soviet, Arab offensive that led to the capture of vital intel that the U.S. was able to have access to.
• Israel stopped Syrian advanced into Jordan in the 1970s at a time the U.S. was unable to intervene.
• 1970s-present day Israel provides access to the Middle East for the U.S. via ports and airfields.
• 1981-present day Israel acts in unison with U.S. and many other countries to prevent nuclear weapons from being created by the wrong people, as seen in 1981 in Iraq and with present-day Iran.
• Israel is a strategic command base for the U.S. and U.N. in the Middle East and Asia.
• Israel shares intelligence, research, and military developments that would cost the U.S. billions of dollars.
• There is no need to have a military base with U.S. personnel on the ground in Israel because of the strength and intelligence of Israel, which alone saves billions of dollars.

In stark contrast to what many may think, Israel seems like a very good investment considering the flop-side where we would be spending 5 times that amount everywhere if we weren't giving the aid to them.

As for other countries such as Russia and 1st world nations, funding should be nearly cut to $0. They have an ability to help themselves, just like we do. In times of natural disaster and a disaster such as 9/11, giving some sort of aid is almost a responsibility among the strongest nations, and it is also human to be able to help in some sort of way those who are suffering.

What is your stance? Do you agree or disagree?

January 22: Roe v. Wade

January 22 marks the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal in this country under the pretenses the women have the right over their body, thus having a right of an unborn fetus/zygote. This is a very strong topic, passionate topic for so many people. What are your stances on abortion and why? Should women have the choice to eliminate a zygote/fetus that they are carrying even though the fetus/zygote has a different set of DNA and at 5 weeks, their heart begins to beat?

What's coming next?!

This Week's Subjects and Posts:


Evaluation of Obama
Republican Voters
Climate Change - most important crisis of the present-day
Foreign Aid - yay or nay?
World War III - question of when, not if
Evolving conflict in the Middle East

Stay tuned for these topics and comment on this post if you have a topic you want to see be discussed and I will post it.
This week will be busy for the blog due to the current changing faces of the blog, new users coming in, and some big topics, so this week should be filled with excitement as this blog goes into bloom.

Bookmark this blog!

S.C. GOP Primary

Newt Gingrich came out on top by nearly 15%! Do you think this means anything in regards to the other primaries?

What's Happening!?

So as you may notice they are some changes to the page...this will be happening for the next couple of weeks until I can get the page looking good. Take a look at the Transform Page at the top right of the blog to read further details. Don't forget to spread the word about this blog so the debate and discussion can be more diversified with much more people. The bigger the bite the better! Also, bookmark this blog so you don't forget to comeback often ;) Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for a brand new Bite-Size Reality page with hopefully more followers to join in the fun of debate and discussion.

Regards,
Matt

P.S. I tried to post this early and it didn't show up, so if there is a similar post like this ignore it, this one is better :p

Weekly Political Humor

http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/9/P/4/Romney-Road-Trip.jpg

Just some healthy weekly political humor comic (I didn't pick it, it's just this weeks picture...I think!)

Keep subsidies for oil?

Here is an actual debate question with none of my input: Should we keep subsidies for oil, get rid of energy subsidies, or transfer those subsidies for alternative and renewable energy uses?

Comment what you think

Climate Change...a Disturbing Bite of Reality

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-01/did-global-warming-destroy-my-hometown-0

Above is an article out of Popular Science magazine about the tragic Joplin tornado that struck the town of Joplin, Missouri killing many and destroying the lives of countless others. Take the time to tread the full article and then continue reading the rest of this post.

As in the article, no one weather event can really be proved to be caused by climate change, but rater a long chain of events. As it said towards the bottom, 2010 and 2011 were both years of extreme weather, which is very uncommon in terms of weather patterns. Consequently, 2010 was a year when the annual amount of carbon dioxide released into the air dramatically increased from other annual averages.
Now to sit there and say that the input of 2ppm into the atmosphere yearly by humans contributes nothing whatsoever to our climate would undoubtedly be an outright lie. On the other hand, to say it is the main contributor to our warming climate would be not that truthful. Let us take a look at some indicators that our climate is going through that might support man-made climate change:

The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere as increased more than significantly since the industrial revolution; before that levels remained relatively low, around 280ppm. Bette Otto-Bliesner, a scientist from the National Center for Atmospheric Research took part in the study that actually suggests the Earth should be going through a cooling period. Looking back at the various cycles of Earth's climatic history, the next period of cooling should be within the next couple-a few thousand of years, which means the Earth should be going through a cooling cycle. Simply stated, it is not. The Earth's average temperature is increasing and the Arctic continues to melt at an alarming rate. The glaciers in the arctic help reflect the sun's raise, and without glaciers, more rays warm up the Earth and water, melting more glaciers and causing a global temperature increase, which can be seen present day.
An indicator of the overwhelming amount of CO2 in the atmosphere can be seen by the increasing acidity of the ocean. This happens when carbon dioxide is dissolved into the ocean and creates a higher concentration of hydrogen ions, which in turns raises the acidity. This can be seen off the shores of Alaska as proven by studies done by marine biologists and by the decrease in coral reefs, which are especially sensitive to an increase in acidity.
http://www.nature.com/news/acidic-oceans-threaten-fish-1.9607
The article above has two links to scientific articles that shows studies on the acidification of oceans.

Back to weather patterns, the extremity can already be seen, and is only bound to get even more extreme as there is an increase in warming. Some events include the wettest spring in early 2011 in the Midwest, including Illinois, having record warm temperatures last decade along that have surpassed many other years, record drought in Texas that is going to continue well into 2012, extreme tornado outbreaks as seen in 2011 and an increase in hurricanes and there intensity. These are only some events that have occurred with many more not listed.

The facts of the matter are is that: 1. CO2 has and is increasing 2. The Earth is warming. These two are undeniable facts that cannot be disputed.

I don't know about you, but I trust science. A scientific poll performed by climatologists out of University of Illinois at Chicago showed that 97.4% of active researching climatologist agree that man is playing a significant part in the present climate change. http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf
Because someone is a scientist does not mean their stance matters on every scientific matter. If they study that matter day in and day out, they are more likely to give the most accurate answer compared to a scientists who has studied it  couple of times.

So I ask, what is your stance on climate change and why so? It is perhaps the single most important factor leading into this century that has the possibility to affect our entire global economy, and more importantly, human life as we know it. Where do you stand?

My humbly biased opinion

I know, the evaluation posts were biased towards my view, so tell me what you disagree with and start a debate! Thats my opinion, what is yours? These are the GOP candidates, I will eventually post one about Obama also and finally will endorse a GOP candidate and also a presidential nominee. Of course I will have an explanation, so stay tuned for that, will be interesting to see how these primaries play out. Also if you noticed that I had more detail in some evaluation, I purposely got the information only from the candidates website just to show the amount of information, and the quality, each candidate puts up. My description hopefully reflects that, if not let me know and I will revise! I will say as of now how I will rank the candidates. 4. Ron Paul (never) 3. Newt Gingrich 2. Mitt Romney 1. Rick Santorum. Not the official candidate pick, but as for now that is how I see them. Give me your feedback on the evaluations and keep checking the blog for responses! (I will most likely actively respond to almost all comments)

Evaluation: Mitt Romney

Cons

• Is not consistent throughout his record for decision-making
• He made a health-care plan as governor for the state of MA that has a very similar foundation as Obama's healthcare bill. 
• Similar views with the other candidates in regards to energy and drilling. 

Pros

• He wants to lower corporate income taxes
• He has been in the sector of business for over 20 years and has experience on the workings of small business as well as the government, being governor for a few years as well.
• He is for open markets and free enterprise between the U.S. and other countries which would benefit the consumer and business.
• He also wants to cap annual spending
• He wants to prioritize boarder security as a main concern

Evaluation: Rick Santorum

Cons

• Page Not Found for his energy issues link
• He wants to eliminate energy subsidies. This is good if it were for oil, but renewable and alternative energy need subsidies to further innovate and become efficient and cheaper so that they can compete with oil. Once they can do this with a high profit margin, then drop these subsidies.
• He wants to eliminate farm subsidies. Countless small farms across the U.S. depend on these subsidies to even stay in business. Selling corn, grain, etc. would not be enough for several farmers to stay in business. This is an essential part to the welfare of the American agricultural system and we cannot afford to cut these subsidies. 

Pros

• He wants to require businesses to use the E-verify government computer check system to ensure job applicants are legal. This prevents illegals from stealing jobs from honest Americans.
• He opposes amnesty.
• He wants to freeze defense spending for 5 years. This is a good idea because we can no longer afford to raise it like we have been yearly, but neither can we really afford to lower it. What we can do is eliminate billions in wasteful spending and impose stricter oversight of defense spending and contribute the extra money to veteran programs.
• He wants to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment that would cap government spending annually at 18% of GDP. This is good because it ensures that the government will not spend over a certain amount to put us further into debt. This is a regulation put into place for the growing debt that needs to be controlled.
• He would sell unproductive and wasteful government properties. That money can be put towards the budget so the government would not have to borrow as much money. There are plenty of wasteful properties the government maintains just as a presence, but does less than the money that is being put into it (excluding national parks, monuments, etc).
• He wants to increase the research and development tax credit. This is great for innovation because it promotes it by lowering the cost companies have to pay to come up with new technologies.
• He wants to negotiate at least 5 free trade agreements which would be great for the American economy. That means traded goods that are being imported would cost less to consumers and the goods being exported would cost less which would make American goods more competitive oversees.

Evaluation: Ron Paul

Cons

• He wants to end the Federal Reserve. Who would regulate inflation and provide a central system to control currency and interest rates? The Federal Reserve is essential to our nations. Thomas Jefferson vehemently opposed the Fed when it was being passed through Congress, but later came to realize its importance to the country and supported it.
• He wants to eliminate income tax. That is bad because income tax accounts for the majority of government revenue, without it our national debt would raise substantially and would not help anything what so ever.
• He wants to remove the EPA (refer to Newt's evaluation for explanation)
• He wants to remove restrictions on drilling. Then there would be no regulations in place for safety, which would raise the risk of oil spills. We all know what happens when that regulation goes away as evident by the BP oil spill. There would also be no limits on where to drill, potentially endangering very fragile ecosystems and species.
• He wants to abolish the Patriot Act. Today, the greatest threat of terrorism to our country is homegrown terrorism. The Patriot Act combats that and eliminating that would open the date for that kind of terrorism. The facts are is that some terrorists are hiding in our own backyard.
• He wants to abolish the TSA. First off, they are the security agency regulating air travel. With the inclusion of the body scanner in early 2011, this last year was the safest year for air travel. Being put through that screening is not a violation of any rights, the only right being violated is to those who want to be safe while flying by those against the body scan. Private parts are covered and people don't sit behind those and make fun of others. I have been through it and it was easy and is a great piece of technology.

Pros

• He would want to veto any unbalanced budget
• He would refuse to raise the debt ceiling
• He supports to amnesty for illegal immigrants. There are legal ways to be apart of this country, we should not punish taxpayers to pay for illegal immigrants who come here illegally. They break the law, there should be a punishment. It is like breaking into someone's house, it is called burglary/home invasion.
• He wants to provide tax credits to alternative energy resources. This is an area that needs to be invested in to start to waive our dependence on oil all together and move to a not only cleaner energy nation, but a cheaper one.

Evaluation: Newt Gingrich

Cons

• Newt wants to make a series of several tax cuts already combined with cuts in spending. Unfortunately, most of the revenue our government gains is from income tax. Cutting that would raise our debt, not lower it, and also will cancel out the spending. You can't cut taxes and cut spending expecting to lower the budget, it does not add up. 
• He wants to keep charitable contributions Charitable deductions should not be left on the tax returns. People should give to charity out of their own volition, not thinking they will get money back, that is not how it works. 
• He wants more deductions on tax returns. No more deductions should be given to Americans. There are already plenty of deductions, and if anything they need to be more restricted due to cheating on tax returns.
• He wants to remove the EPA and wants to create a "responsible" energy agency. In other words an agency that supports big oil and gas (not to be bias but that is the truth). That regulatory agency needs to be there because without protecting the environment, people's health suffers, our environment suffers, and the economy will eventually suffer when we have to clean up toxic, polluted messes that without the EPA would be present. EPA is there to protect the environment, which may seem to prohibit some growth for businesses, but ultimately helps our economy by protecting the people and the money that would be spent trying to clean up messes. EPA was created in the 1960s in light of a need to regulate businesses because of their hazardous wastes lifestyles and the danger it posed to public health. It cost the government billions of dollars to clean  the nation up, and eliminating this agency will no doubt cost us billions more in the future.
• He wants to end the ban on oil shale. Oil shale involves time and a lot of equipment to get out of the ground, causing pollution and a disruption in local ecosystems which harms them. It is relatively speaking somewhat cleaner to burn, but is still not a viable solution to our energy needs that will last us into the distant future.
• He wants to give incentives for offshore drilling. Oil companies are already receive about $4 billion a year in federal subsidies. Just to paint a picture, Exxon Mobile made a record $11 billion in profits during its first quarter, and exxon doesn't even get the full $4 billion in subsidies. In short, they can easily afford drilling without the government's help!

Pros

• Flat Tax of 15%. All Americans should pay an equal tax and one tax rate does just that. People should not be punished for making more.
• Reform the Federal Reserve because we all know it needs it!
• No-limit charter school system. Let the school manage there own staff and curriculum (following state standards in testing and assessments). Also, TEACH AMERICAN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT. So many people don't even know about their own government and history, so how are they informed enough to even vote. Teach them what it means to be American.
• Border Security needs to have top priority over most other international problems until it is fixed. 
• Expand and lower restrictions on EB-5 (http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=facb83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=facb83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD) ...to promote foreign companies to come to the U.S.
• Require English to be the official language of the government 

S.C. GOP Presidential Debate

Follow it live now on http://www.cnn.com/

SOPA and PIPA

http://www.pcworld.com/article/248298/sopa_and_pipa_just_the_facts.html

Above is a link that describes the 2 SOPA and PIPA bills being overviewed by Congress. Now, aside from sounding like something you might yell during a greek wedding, is SOPA all that bad, or is it absolutely horrible? The main thing many media companies want to do is to stop copyrighted material from being spread throughout the web. Now here is the downside, I would not have been able to post the above link to this blog if the bills pass because I did not obtain approval from the website itself for using its material. Take a look at almost every part of the internet and there is bound to be some form of copyrighted material. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter would no longer be fun aside from just posting boring words with no "funny picture of the day" or music videos and so on. Sites like Wikipedia would not be as large as they would be taking into consideration editors use information from other websites that they don't necessarily have approval from. So in the fight against online piracy, are bills like SOPA and PIPA really aimed at destroying our freedom of speech, or do they seek a more necessary purpose to protect rights that companies and organizations have outside of the WWW world?

Elephant (GOP) Races

The race for the presidency! Perry just dropped out today, and with Huntsman out, Romney is still the frontrunner. Santorum and Gingrich are still trying to beat out Romney, but will it happen? There has been spitballs being thrown back and forth, especially with the South Carolina primary coming up. If Romney wins this one, it could mean no more presidential race for Santorum and/or Gingrich.
It is rather funny if you notice that the GOP candidates running now (excluding a few) have ran before, but have been the ones, like Gingrich and Paul, with the low poll ratings. Funny how they now have double digits ratings above 15-20%. Romney was the only close candidate last election to being nominated.

 The "backrunners" for past races are now the frontrunners for this race. Is that good? Is there truly a good GOP candidate? What's your pick?

First Bite!

This blog will have posts shortly (within the next day)! Just some background for this blog. This blog is for debate about reality (politics and etc.), stuff we all just love to talk about, and thanks to freedom of speech, we can! So stay tuned and fill up on bite-size reality!