Opinion
The Tea Party movement should not be ignored by the President
At a recent Tea Party convention Feb. 6 people were dressed up in colonial costumes bearing patriotic protest signs. Photo courtesy of Newsweek.
“Tea Partyers are just a bunch of crazy, right-wing ‘nut jobs’ like Sarah Palin. I don’t know why anyone is actually taking them seriously.” But I know why the populace is recognizing the increasing importance of the American tea party movement—because the people are sending politicians in Washington a message.
T-Mobile’s cellphone tower should be built on school grounds
A proposed T-Mobile cellphone tower on school grounds has triggered plenty of controversy. A group of parents and nearby residents vehemently opposed to a cell tower believes the emitted radio-frequency waves will cause cancer and other health problems over a long period of time. T-Mobile has snapped back, defending their towers with studies and questioning the validity of contrary evidence.
While this debate over cell towers may be confusing, it is missing a simple truth: if we look around us, there are radio wave emissions everywhere, from gigantic radio towers to TV sets. In the big scheme, one weak cell tower would be relatively harmless.
What happened to healthcare?
Graphic by Elena Toumayan.
Is healthcare dead? After more than a year since President Obama took office and promised to socialize healthcare, American voters can only ask this question.
President Obama delivered a strong bipartisan message
On Jan. 27, President Obama stood before the country and delivered a strong, yet surprisingly bipartisan message to the public. The President’s first State of the Union address focused primarily on the economy, an issue as important to Republicans as it is to Democrats.
State of the Union’s focus should have been healthcare
President Obama focused on the economy during the State of the Union last night. Photo courtesy of the New York Times.
After a beginning of mostly empty rhetoric and 86 interruptions from applause, President Obama focused on the economy during his 71-minute State of the Union address Jan. 27. Healthcare remained the elephant in the room, as the President failed to substantially touch on the hot topic during his speech. It was a strange and dangerous move for a president who has put healthcare at the forefront of his domestic agenda for the past six months to suddenly subordinate it to the economy, as if the recession had only occurred yesterday.
D.C.’s Healthy Schools Act needs to change P.E. mandate
There’s no question that the D.C. Council’s recently proposed Healthy Schools Act would seriously improve public schools. Among other things, the bill would mandate that school cafeterias serve more “green” produce, set new nutritional standards for cafeteria food and increase the amount of mandatory P.E. for students of all ages. While D.C. should pass most of the bill, it needs to rethink the P.E. portion because of the strain it places on teachers.
Congress should not have the final say on D.C.’s gay marriage law
Gay marriage could be mere weeks away from becoming a reality in D.C. Legislation permitting same-sex marriage recently passed the D.C. Council, was signed by mayor Adrian Fenty and now only needs to survive a 30-legislative-day review period in Congress to become a law.
Although Congress will ultimately decide the bill’s fate based on their views of same-sex marriage, the review also resurrects the long-standing debate over D.C.’s federal oversight and lack of representation. Congress should acknowledge the legitimacy of such legislation and respect D.C.’s wishes by leaving the bill alone.