Let's Be Fair

Well, I would respectfully like to disagree with Ms. Ochoa's blog titled," Don't Show Me the Money".

I would first like to address the comment, “there would be a decrease in the less skilled and experienced.” In Blue-Collar Brilliance, Mike Rose states, “Intelligence is closely associated with formal education- the type of schooling a person has, how much and how long- and most people seem to move comfortably from that notion to a belief that work requiring less schooling requires less intelligence. Basically, what Rose asserts in this essay is that, just because there are jobs that do not require a college degree doesn't mean that they require less intelligence.

For instance, waiting tables requires much intelligence. You have to definitely be a multi-tasker, always looking from table to table to see what everyone needs, thinking about how long their food is taking, if it is taking long, why? And you don't just address the physical needs of the customer. You have to deal with their psychological needs as well. It's a balancing act, and it's not always easy. So I don't think that it's reasonable to say that raising the minimum wage, especially when a waiter's wage is 2.13 hr, would make them less skilled. It has been said that restaurants would be the hardest hit from a minimum wage increase. When I researched the top 100 restaurants, their profits are in the millions and millions of dollars. Yet, I can tell you that at the end of the year, a restaurant worker's W2 shows that the restaurant itself has paid less than ten thousand dollars for that employee to work full time, all year long. There is no real evidence to suggest that raising the minimum wage will cause these restaurants to stop hiring people.

For example, San Francisco raised it's minimum wage in 2004. And according to a new book written by labor economists titled “When Mandates Work: Raising Labor Standards, employment increased by more than 5%, while others cities surrounding it had experienced decreases in employment. Employment for restaurant workers also increased by 17.7 %, more than anyone else in the Bay Area.

Now, look, I'm not saying that someone who has chosen to have five kids should be able to live off a restaurant job. I understand that's not feasible or fair to ask the government to make sure of that. Raising the minimum wage to 10 dollars an hour sure won't make Americans that much better off than where they are now, but it's a start. But to assert that doing so would result in few skilled workers, I don't agree. Hell, waiters are already skilled in many ways college educated people aren't.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/raising-the-minimum-wage-old-shibboleths-new-evidence/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/03/05/3362681/evidence-minimum-wage-jobs/#

http://nrn.com/us-top-100/top-100-chains-us-sales

The Fight for Equality - Gay Marriage

Gay marriage has been a hot topic for years. On the political spectrum, most conservatives would prefer to keep it banned. Conservatives value freedom over equality, and they also aren't known to promote social change. On the other hand, liberals are fighting to lift the bans already in place. They want equality for every person. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevents federal government from recognizing same sex marriages legalized by the states. The Defense of Marriage act states that marriage is between one woman and one man. Nonetheless, splashed across all media, in June of 2013, the Supreme Court declared The Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, by a 5-4 vote.

Yes, everyone has a right to believe what they want. That's one of the privileges we have living in the U.S. So if you don't believe gay people should be married, well that's fine and dandy. But when your beliefs require taking freedoms away from others, that's the problem. Some people here in this country feel like they deserve certain rights that others don't. Our constitution did not provide much in the way of equality for all. But there are people in the world that are standing up and saying, “we all deserve equal rights,” even our own President. In response to DOMA being struck down, Obama declared:

This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country if better off for it. We are a people who declared that we are all created equal - and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

To date, same-sex marriage has been legalized in 17 states. That's huge. It's a trend that is picking up speed. This last Wednesday something huge happened in a very conservative state. Texas Federal judge Orlando Garcia, out of San Antonio, declared Texas' ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. However, the ban was left in place while an appeals courts decides on the issue. Judge Orlando Garcia stated, “the state's marriage laws demean the dignity of gay couples for no legitimate reason.”

Some citizens thought Texas would be one of the last states to jump on the equality bandwagon. But people are tired of being denied rights on the basis of religion. How is it that we have freedom of religion and yet, we allow others to use that freedom to take away from others? This is a serious fight for equality, one of many.

Sources:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-judge-strikes-down-texas-gay-marriage-ban-n39466

http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004857

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/02/gay-man-suing-for-marriage-rights-is-good-friends-with-greg-abbott.html/?nclick_check=1

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/26/supreme-court-strikes-down-defense-marriage-act

Decriminalizing Marijuana in Texas

This is definitely a national issue that I'm passionate about.  And yes, before you ask, I am not currently a  pot smoker, but have been at times, and I can't say I never will again. This issue was addressed once more, in the Dallas News. Here's the link: Wendy Davis backs medical marijuana, would consider decriminalization. It's written by Rodger Jones, an editorial writer for Dallas News.  For those that don't know, Wendy Davis is a U.S. Senator from the 10th district in Texas.  She is also a democratic candidate for Governor. This article is referencing an interview that Wendy Davis did with Dallas News' editorial board.

 Before we get to the heart of the interview, let me give my position. It's proven that the U.S. has the highest jail population in the world, and yet our country, only represents a small portion of the worlds' entire population. This is due to the fact that most of the jail population is in for non-violent drug offenses. As I started writing this, a Bill Mayer commentary came on the news.  How ironic, I know.  But what he said is true.  Having minor criminal offenses on your record has so many ripple effects in your life.  People with such minor offenses can't get certain jobs, can't get apartments, can't get grants to go to college... the list goes on. And a very important question is this: How do these people move forward? And when they can't get jobs, or apartments, or a college education, isn't the only thing left to support themselves, more crime?

Another important aspect, is just how much does criminalizing marijuana benefit your average American?  Or does it benefit big business?  Marijuana has been proven to be a pain reliever, and actually, it has been shown to have numerous medical benefits. We all know that pharmaceuticals are BIG MONEY for big business and our government. Have you ever thought, that if marijuana was decriminalized and able to be prescribed for pain, that perhaps the pharmaceutical companies would make a lot less money? And where we do we think our politicians get their financial backing? OK enough said.

No on to the interview.  Mr. Jones asked,  "Had a bill gone to the Senate to decrease criminal provisions for possession of small amounts of marijuana, would you have voted for it?" And her response... a systematically, "Yes I would." She was also asked, if an constitutional amendment decriminalizing marijuana was put on the ballot, would she vote for it? On this, she hesitated a bit.  She expressed the problems that Denver is facing in regards to DUI, the fact that if you get pulled over, how can they access whether you smoked today, or five days ago? She basically said she wanted to wait and see how Colorado handles it.  With this response, I felt her hesitate a bit.  But the question does remained unanswered, and it most definitely needs addressing. 

In the end, I think that she's a little on the fence because of an impending election; which really doesn't tell us how she would really vote.  We all know Texas is a red state.  But being a red state doesn't move us forward.  Aren't we ready to move forward??? 

A Bill To Preserve Life

Today, in the New York Times, there is an editorial titled," How To Stop Heroin Deaths."  It was written by Robert S. Hoffman, who is an emergency physician at NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital. We have all heard about Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who recently died recently of a suspected heroin overdose. You would have to really be in another world to not have heard how rampant heroin deaths have become.

What this article poses, is that Naloxone should be available to the public, without having a medical presence there. Naloxone is an opioid antidote that is used to help someone begin breathing again, once heroin has started to repress it. According to the article, it can be administered through a needle, or a nasal spray. Mr. Hoffman suggests that many heroin overdoses occur while someone else is in the room, and that usually, people tend to think that the person is just in a deep sleep. Perhaps, Naloxone, if readily available, could prevent some of these deaths? Currently, Naloxone is purchased by local governments, and then distributed amongst hospitals and city programs. However, you can't just walk into a store and purchase it because you decide you want to party and are trying to be safe about it.

Many are opposed to the idea because they feel it might encourage drug use. How many times have we heard this logic? How about the arguments of making birth control and condoms available to teenagers? Many argue that it encourages sex. But let's get real, isn't more important to have procedures in place to prevent deaths and unwanted pregnancies? Shouldn't we give people the tools they need to prevent such disaster? I am of the opinion, that yes, we should be proactive.

This is where the Government comes in. A bill, that would allow the Naloxone to be readily available, without the presence of medical personnel, was introduced in the New York State Legislature last week. Sponsored by State Senator Kemp Hannon, it has already passed the State Senate Health Committee. The Bill has some to go to become law, but it is on its way and has tremendous support.

I support this for one very important reason. Part of the government's role is to PRESERVE LIFE, and whether or not you feel like addicts should or shouldn't be saved... well, a life is still a life.

A Promise Not Kept: Raising the Minimum Wage

Because I find myself right smack in the middle when it comes to politics, I don't just get my news from one source.  I know various websites lean one way or the other and usually skew their writing to push their agendas. I won't lie to you and tell you that I'm passionate about politics.  Just like news outlets, all politicians have their own agendas, and rarely, are they unselfish ones.  However, there are some issues that I get riled up about, and the way our workers are treated in this country is one of them.  There are many aspects to this, but the one I'm writing about today is the promise made by Obama to raise the minimum wage.

The other morning my nephew and I were talking about gas prices.  Yes, we had the conversation about how things "used to be" when I was younger and what that meant.  I told him I remember gas being 86 cents a gallon when I was in high school.  The minimum wage then was somewhere around 5 bucks.  Today, gas is 3 to 4 dollars a gallon and the minimum wage is less than 8 bucks.  We talked about how while the cost of living has increased dramatically, the money Americans make to live on is not that much more than what it was many years ago.

Whether or not  minimum wage jobs are entry level jobs, seems irrelevant to me. Americans should not have to work three jobs in order to pay their rent.  As far as how this affects me directly, I wait tables in order to put myself through school.  I am a tipped employee, whose wage is 2.13 hr plus tips.  It has been that way for decades. This morning I came across the following article on the FOX NEWS Website: Obama to Raise the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors. The president has decided to sign an executive order raising the minimum for federal contractors from 7.25 to 10.10 an hour.  However, this only applies to new contracts and not the currents ones.  The article goes on to ask a very important question, "how many will this really help?"  Apparently, the President doesn't have the power to raise the minimum wage for the private sector all on his own.  I wonder, has he forgotten his promise in last years' State of the Union speech?  Well, I'm hearing you guys say, "The President has forgotten more than that promise!" Maybe we will reserve those issues for later.

A Small Window into My Political Views

As a child, my mother came from a religious and conservative family. And as most children do, she rebelled, and therefore I wasn't raised with either of those. She did what she wanted and didn't limit herself to the boundaries that her family had tried to impose on her. However, I spent quite a bit of time with my grandparents who would pick me up every Sunday for church.  As a teenager, I was very involved in the Church of Christ.  In certain ways, you can't participate in many religions without acceptance of their stance on politics.  It's almost an unspoken law that your political affiliations coincide with your religion. So, mine did.  I didn't believe in abortion, I believed that homosexuality was a sin, I didn't believe in sex before marriage... and the list goes on.  I was very conservative.  But yet, my life was just starting. I had yet, to really live, to experience things from my own perspective, instead of through the eyes of the people closest to me. During my twenties, my best friend died, my brother died three months later, and subsequently an addiction followed that served a purpose too.  Having survived all of this, and lived to "tell the tale," as they say, changed who I am and what I thought as a young adult.  I mean, how could it not?  So, my political beliefs, today?  Well, I'm sure you're thinking I've totally taken the train left, and that I can't even see the right, but that would be wrong.  I fall somewhere in the middle.  I took the political theology test, and it suggested that I'm post modern. For example, I don't think we do enough for equality of race, of sex, of economics.  I think that we are destroying the environment with our endless list of wants.  I think it's a sad thing that a gallon of gas costs 3-4 dollars, and that minimum wage is barely twice that. I think that people have the right to be who they are, whether that means, gay, straight, or transgender.  This country was founded on the idea of freedom. Who are any of us to take that away?  I don't believe in telling people that they can't carry guns. I believe that certain drugs should be legalized. I do think as a powerful country we should be able to take our forces and put dictators that are hurting the human race OUT of power. I do believe people on government aide should be drug tested and required to further their education.  I also have a big problem with the jail system in this world, and I can't wait to write a blog about it.  This is where I stand now, and I suppose the longer my life gets, the more it could change.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.