Happy Holidays

There are two things that i hope all of my readers will take into mind as the holiday is quickly approaching. We are lucky to be guaranteed the freedom of religion by our first amendment of the constitution. Christmas is a wonderful holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ but should also be a time to enjoy the freedoms we have in the U.S.A. to gather as we please with our families and friends. It is all of our responsibilities to pay attention to how the political system affects our rights and liberties. I encourage everyone to make a new years resolution to join a group that supports a cause that you are very passionate about. it could be a group that supports gun rights (NRA), the rights of minorities and immigrants (Amnesty International) or one of my personal favorites, a group that is trying to help in ecological efforts to preserve our natural environment( Union Sportsman's Alliance). Joining a group or organization that lobbies for and fights for your cause can expand your political power. representatives almost have to listen to large groups because it shows an interest by voting citizens to protect their rights. if the representatives do not listen there is a possibility that they will not be re-elected. so exercise your political muscle and do something good for the new years. Merry Christmas to all and to all a grand new year.

Where is your money going?

There are some simple reasons why every individual should take a personal interest in their politics. For example on my most recent paycheck i paid a little over 13 percent of my gross pay in taxes. When was the last time that you looked to see how much of your pay was going into social programs and into the federal and local budgets? The money that amounts to 13 of every hundred dollars is distributed to pay for things from roads, to schools, to national defense and to my subject today, social security. Today over half of the money spent in the United states on social programs goes to social security, medicare, and prescription drug plans. All of these programs are to help take the financial burden off the elderly. the amount divided amongst the younger generations for low income subsidies, college grants, first time home buyer programs, and many other important programs is extremely small in comparison. Every time you are asked to participate in the political system by voting, you have the chance to determine where the funds go. The key reason the elderly have such a strong showing is because of their likeliness to vote and their participation in groups like The American Association of Retired Persons or the AARP. Elected officials are responsible for replying to the needs of their constituents. constituents have the responsibility to tell their representatives why and how they think things should be done. If a senate member is in a district that houses more than 1 million constituents the people that make the effort to get their opinions heard are the ones who will see results. no person in the U.S. should complain about the system unless they are actively involved in the politics of it. The next time that an election is happening in your area I challenge all of you to take part in voting or for the ultimate experience get involved in one of the parties campaigns. you have the ability to put your money right back into your pocket instead of into a failing system that is paying to retirees more than they put into it.

welcome to my blog

Welcome to all of you who are joining me in the exploration of our political system and how it affects your everyday life. My name is Travis and I am a political science major at the University of North Texas. My aspiration is to become active in the political system very soon and do my part to change the system however possible to influence real popular opinion in the United States. I look forward to writing my posts for you and i encourage feedback and questions about anything you see here or elsewhere. My philosophy is based in the fact that we are all Americans and that we must do our part to ensure that we maintain our rights and freedoms through political action and most importantly participation. In recent times our political system has become ridiculously skewed and people are mislead to think that they must conform to extreme liberal or conservative view points. When was the last time that you read a party platform and agreed with each and everything that was there? if the answer is close to never then you are like most every American out there. Unfortunately, the system is set up in such a way that it only allows a two party system to operate. The political labels of Liberal and Conservative have become derogatory in our society and Americans are splitting into two radically different groups. Our country fell into a civil war when two radically different view points were left unchecked and allowed to spiral out of control. The reason we allow these issues to spiral out of control is because they are sticky issues and no one in Washington wants to get sticky. The truth is that if people on both sides of the issue were to sit at the same table and talk about what they want, we would realize that we have a lot in common. through the months I plan to explore how you and I fit into the political system what we can do as voters to help bring about positive change in Washington and at home.