America has long been held up on this pedestal as the land where the streets are paved with gold, but the mere idea of that is a joke now. Where I live, in the state of New York, Governor David Paterson wants to solve our $15.4 billion budget crisis by instating additional taxes on basically everything that costs money. His solution would call for an increase in taxes on items and services such as downloads on iTunes, movie tickets, taxi fares, beer, soda, massages, cable and satellite TV, gym memberships, even haircuts. He also proposes to remove the tax-exemption on clothing costing less than $110, which for most people is all of their clothing. According to State Conservative Party Chairman, Michael Long, all this would be doing is sending more business to New Jersey, and driving tourists as well as New Yorkers to different areas for shopping due to lower taxes, and while they're there they'll fill up the tank too. There is currently a law that puts a cap on gas tax at 8 cents per gallon, which could go up under the Governor's new plan. Another state resident amenity that is particularly convenient in these tough economic times is the SUNY and CUNY school systems having much more reasonable in-state tuition prices, but under Paterson's plan, SUNY admission would go up $620 per year, with CUNY admission going up an addition $600.
Obviously the entire country is in a very serious economic situation, but this is not the way to go about solving the problem. You will only be lowering tourism and making the people of your own state go to other states to get the things they need, which will ultimately cause a new economic problem for the state as well as hurt the local businesses. The Governor's plans also call for almost $700 million in reductions in school aid, lay-offs of over 500 state employees, the closure of 7 state agencies, and cutting about three and a half billion dollars of health care savings. None of these proposals would be helping the people of the state of New York.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, however, does not agree with the Governor's tax proposals and stated that these cuts would end up costing the city money, as well as hurt the school systems with larger class sizes and a decreased number of services for students. Those that stand strongly opposed to Paterson's plans to cut education and healthcare aid suggest an increase in income tax on the wealthiest New Yorkers. His response was "This is where we are. We should have thought about this when we were depending on what we thought was inexhaustible collections of taxes from Wall Street, and now those taxes have fallen off a cliff."
Any level-headed person in this economic time and climate can say that we all need to do our share and make some sacrifices. Any level-headed person, but that apparently does not include David Paterson, whose administration laid out $37,741 for new rugs to be put into the Governor's Albany mansion. Ken Brynien, President of the Public Employees Federation (the organization whose employees were asked to forget about raises due to increased budget cuts,) Brynien was told, "we took up the 50-year-old carpet that was in there, it was junk, frankly." by the commissioner of the New York State Office of General Services, John Egan. Maybe new carpets were necessary, but I don't think that two "Turkish patchwork" rugs coming in at a grand total of $21,000 were remotely necessary, especially for our "we need to make some sacrifices" Governor. The rugs were purchased from Stark Carpets, according to state records. Stark Carpets donated $8,000 to former Governor Eliot Spitzer's campaign. David Paterson was Spitzer's running-mate in 2006. His administration claims that there is no correlation, and Stark Carpets had no comment.
Rapper Lil' Wayne had planned on releasing his first single, "Prom Queen," off his upcoming 'Rebirth' album (due out April 7th) on Tuesday, but whether by accident, or as a ploy to create buzz and boost sales, the single has already hit the internet and radio. The hype about this single though, is not its early release, but it's sound. Weezy took a giant leap and has gone "rock" on this single, complete with electric guitars and lots of drums. A lot of hardcore fans are very upset with this single and feel that it doesn't represent his true sound and wonder if all of 'The Rebirth' is going to sound like this. Interestingly enough, the often less than humble rapper's lyrics express his undying interest in a particular girl in school, who turns out to be the prom queen. He quickly retorts with a description of "her loss" recognition once "the prom queen is crying, sitting outside my door / you never know how everything could turn out..."
Of course the record wouldn't be Wayne without a lot of auto-tone; it's still there, not just as strong as usual. There have been mixed reactions circling around the web, but mostly they've all been negative. If you sell millions of records both online and in stores, and have billboard hits like "Lollipop," "Got Money," "A Milli," as well as collaborations with artists such as Kanye West, Kevin Rudolph, T-Pain, Juelz Santana, and many others, why would you think you should change your sound? If you haven't heard the new track yet, take a listen.
This is the first entry of many to come, and the focus of this post will be the inauguration. Although the topic for this entry will mainly be politics, this will not always be the case. This Tuesday was a day that will be forever be embedded in United States history. Not only did the country witness the inauguration of its first African-American president, but January 20th marked the end of an 8-year fascist tyranny by George W. Bush and his administration. The country has experienced many different reactions to this shift in government, and for the most part there has been an optimistic response. Throughout Barack Obama's campaign, we've heard one word more than any other, "change." Change is definitely something that this country has needed, but we need to be realistic about it too. If we're all looking for "change we can believe in," then we need to be that change. Ghandi said "be the change you want to see in the world," and I think that's exactly what we have to do.
I'm very excited about our new president, but I'm trying to be realistic about the situation that we have in front of us. Change would be great, but in order to bring about widespread change, we all need to do our part. One of the main focuses that President Obama has been stressing lately is the need for people to get involved and lend a hand in their community. This is something that I personally am going to do. There is a center for mentally disabled adults right near my school that I volunteered at last semester for a "Community Connections" day at school and I plan on putting in some time there. Last time I was there I learned so much, and met some incredible people with unbelievable stories.
As I mentioned earlier, there have been mixed reactions to our new president. Overall people seem to be happy and hopeful, but as always, you can't please everybody. The right-wings are not happy. Rush Limbaugh, in an interview (video below) with Sean Hannity, admits that he wants Obama to fail. See I can understand that everyone has their own views and I completely respect that and I'm glad that we live in a country that you're allowed to have your own opinion, but if Limbaugh were a "true American" then despite the fact that he didn't vote for Obama, he'd want Obama to succeed and bring this country up from the deep dark slump that it's currently in. After Limbaugh goes off on a rant about how Obama won't succeed in any of his plans, Sean Hannity praises him. Once again we can thank Fox News for this bias right-wing banter.
Hannity mentions the "Obama worship syndrome" and to a certain extent, I do agree with him. I voted for Barack Obama and I very much hope that the words he said and stances he took that won him this elections will be upheld, but I think that the hype surrounding Obama has become unhealthy in some cases. There are infomercials and TV shopping network specials selling everything from Obama plates to underwear. I like the guy, but I don't want to look down at my dinner and see his face; it's just not necessary. He is an excellent public speaker, an intelligent man, a man of values, morals, and promising aspirations, but he is not a God, he is a human being like you and I. I just hope that people remember that.
President Obama has wasted no time and has already made some big decisions, like signing a bill to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within a year. His reasoning being to "restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great even in the midst of war, even in dealing with terrorism." Now granted, we need to know more about the process that will be taken in terms of trials, releases, relocations, etc. but I think this is a step in the right direction. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, called the order to close Guantanamo "a first key step in restoring America's image and credibility in the world." Not much is known about the future of these detainees though, in terms of where they'll be relocated and what their legal status will be.
Another recent announcement from President Obama was the plans for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which he hopes will give the economy a boost. The plans need to be finalized and discussed with Congress, but they include an outline to expand electric grids, provide stable healthcare for those in danger of losing it, securing ports, renovating schools, and increasing the number of science fellowships. It's refreshing to see that the new president hasn't wasted any time in laying down plans for improving conditions for the country, but we're still in a serious recession and we'll need a lot of legislation and time to get through it.
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