On Tuesday, March 30, 2010, Barack Obama signed a bill which, unbeknownst to many, will benefit numerous students nationwide; democrats, libertarians, and republicans alike. Along with the Health Care and Education Reconcilliation Act of 2010, our government has granted us landmark student aid reform.
To quote the Delaware Democratic Party, “Over the next decade these reforms will save taxpayers $68 billion by ending wasteful subsidies given to banks and middlemen who handle student loans. The money this program saves will expand and strengthen the federal Pell Grant program and make college more affordable for millions of middle class Americans.”
The act passed by the House and Senate is a huge step forward for students and the American Economy. This isn’t just one of your ordinary bills, passed by Democrats, which fit like a puzzle piece into their agenda. This act will affect numerous students, easing the stress of their financial burdens, and even aiding in beginning to ease our nation’s financial deficit.
Years ago, the United States had the highest concentration of graduates in the world, however, in the past decade, we have begun to lose ground, and are now ranked ninth or tenth in the world. With a greater number of well-educated people, America will be more skilled as a whole, and this will allow us to better compete in the 21st century. President Obama has set a goal to regain our top spot by 2020, and with this new bill, that goal is made even more feasible.
It gets harder every year for students who rely on federal loans and aid to make ends meet, and when students can’t afford higher education, the entire nation’s economy suffers. These subsidies which are being taken from private bankers will be redirected to Pell Grants… Pell Grants that will make college more affordable, and ease the stress on students who must attempt to balance full-time jobs and college courses just to stay afloat.
According to the Governor of Virginia, Tim Kaine, this is the single largest investment in higher education in US history. For those of you who are just entering the financial aid scene, here’s a recap on what’s going to be changing.
According to CNN, for the 2009-2010 school year, the maximum Pell Grant awarded to students was $5,350. Without this reform, that would have been more than cut in half per student, and would have been $2,150 per student. With this, the grant will grow to $5,975 by 2017.
Community college students will see a lot of the benefits from this as more money will be allocated for competitive grant programs, and they also will see the benefits of the Pell Grant increase.
For those of you who have already taken out loans in the past, you’re also affected.
The monthly payments will be capped at 10% of your discretionary income, allowing you to get a more stable base beneath you, and maybe even save up more for your future. Something else that you may see appearing is the decrease of interest rates for student loans, with the switch over to completely direct lending.
I’m sure, though, that some of you are still unconvinced.
As Katie Naranjo, president of the College Democrats of America said, “We’re lucky to have a president and congress who listen to young people and our issues. Today, many students will have the opportunity to receive a better education, and the next generation of young professionals now have a manageable stystem to pay back their loans.”
What about easing the concerns of the Republicans who are understandably leery of increasing government spending at a time when our economy is faltering? The deficit and spending are being reduced through this bill! It’s going to save taxpayers $68 billion from the subsidies that were going to be paid to financial institutions, and $10 billion will be paid towards our deficit.
“I didn’t stand with the banks and the financial industries in this fight – that’s not why I came to Washington – and neither did any of the members of Congress who are here today,” President Barack Obama said to a supportive crowd at Northern Virginia Community College, the location of the signing. “We stood with you. We stood with America’s students.” I would say that it’s a great feeling to know that our future is indeed important to our government.

When Roy Ashburn, the Republican Congressman from California, was outed by receiving a DUI while leaving a gay nightclub, it was oddly…not surprising at all.  Ashburn, whose anti-gay voting record continues even after the incident, merely joins a long line of conservative, homophobic politicians who have been outed in a homosexual scandal of some sort.  Whether meeting up with their favorite hustler or enjoying leather night at the local gay bar, the far right never ceases to amuse, enrage and shock the general public with secretive homosexual antics.  Why is it that the most actively homophobic leaders are the ones exposed in these scandals?  If those making the principle arguments against homosexuality are any indicator of the integrity of anti-gay rationale, I’d say the future is bright for the gay and lesbian community.
I would like to take this opportunity to address those who are disappointed and angered by Ashburn’s recently revealed sexual orientation.  Perhaps you should be more concerned that he was roaring drunk on a weekday, rather than the fact that he’s gay.  Of all the opinions offered on this scandal, nearly no one has addressed the Congressman’s apparent drinking problem.
However, when the sensationalism of the event wears off, how are we to view these hypocritical, double-life leading politicians?  Many, both left and right, condemn them for lying to constituents.  Some take pity on them and denounce the homophobia that has forced these people, mainly men, to lead a double life.  Either way, Ashburn’s dilemma presents a fascinating ethical dilemma.  How exactly should the gay, lesbian and straight ally community receive the news of Ashburn’s scandal?  Should they reach out to their new, however homophobic, community member?  He is, after all, the recipient of the same discrimination which unites them all.  Or should they denounce him as a hateful, twisted politician who persecutes the very group he identifies with?
Admittedly, my first reaction upon hearing about Ashburn’s DUI-outing incident was pure, unbridled amusement.  There is supreme satisfaction when such a fervent anti-gay politician reveals the hypocrisy that underlies so much of the homophobic rhetoric; his personal website declares him a “champion of openness [and] accountability”.  Years of personally promoting a homophobic agenda lost all of its legitimacy the night he was arrested.  Now, by his own admittance, he is merely a vehicle for the majority of his constituents, despite having personally experienced the repercussions of his legislation.  I’m guessing then, if the majority wished to legalize sacrificial cat killing, Ashburn would actively promote it.  Who cares about the cat owners: minorities don’t need to be fairly represented, right? Ashburn, along with Mark Foley, Bruce Barclay and Troy King, create a sometimes sad, sometimes humorous collage of undercover gay Republicans.  Like an absurd, dark comic strip, conservative men-in-power relieve us from their predictable politics with the scandalous color of secretive homosexuality.  It is a classic scenario, the politician fallen from grace, that so deliciously entertains us.
After I had a good laugh (and forwarded the news to all my friends) I began to consider the incident more closely.  When I thought of the deep confliction Ashburn must have been experiencing all the years leading up to being outed in such a public, humiliating fashion, I did pity him.
The hypocrisy that now surrounds Ashburn is a testament to the complex and dangerous monster of homophobia.  Although Ashburn’s justifications for his politics may never be fully understood, it is all too easy to make the connection between his anti-gay efforts and the persona he assumed to hide his sexual orientation.  It’s also encouraging (or perhaps disturbing) to consider how many other vehement anti-gay activists may be facing similar struggles with their sexual orientation.
However, it has been shown time and time again that no amount of anti-gay activism can truly change a person’s psyche; it only makes their struggle more painful and ultimately more damaging.  The closet is not a place of healing; it offers nothing but comfortless solitude.
When we see Roy Ashburn’s political role reduced to a puppet of a destructive majority, his family forever transformed, and his credibility beyond recovery, it requires us to respond with compassion.  It isn’t precisely known what extreme societal or familial pressure Ashburn faced throughout his life caused him to repress his sexuality.  The amount of guilt and fear he felt cannot be measured.  To label Ashburn as a hypocrite or bigot is to oversimplify the complexity of human emotion.
And yes, politics are emotion.  Values are emotion.  To separate emotion from any human activity is to absolve that very activity of its humanity.  Roy Ashburn could not make this separation and the fact that he professes to be able to legislate without the foundation of emotional and moral commitment is pitiful.
All of this caused by a bizarre, unnatural aversion to gay people.  The closet has never looked darker.

Saturday night posed a tremendous victory for President Barack Obama as the House unanimously passed a 220-215 vote in favor of the Health Care Bill. Obama regarded the event as being “historic,” given that it has been more than 40 years since either the House or the Senate has passed an inclusive health reform measure.
With months of defiance within the two chambers of Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was especially euphoric and equated the event to the passage of Social Security in 1935, and Medicare in 1965. Many others have also expressed their satisfaction with the feat.
Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao from Louisiana is a long time supporter of health care reform and the only republican representative to contribute to such a pitch. Cao considered this move to be of great beneficial importance to the individuals who are without health care. “I have always said that I would put aside partisan wrangling to do the business of the people. My vote tonight was based on my priority of doing what is best for my constituents,” Cao remarked.
The bill, unfettered by an individual’s current health and/or income, plans to cover 96% of Americans, according to Michigan Rep. John Dingell. “It offers everyone the peace of mind that comes from knowing they will have access to affordable health care when they need it.” The legislation would also require that Americans provide federal subsidies that would insure those who are not covered under the plan.
Changes within the current health care system would include the inclusion of those with pre-existing medical conditions, as well as the abolition of the tradition of imposing high premiums based on gender and medical records. Moreover, the new system would accentuate federal anti-trust legislation encouraging competition within the insurance market. According to President Obama, this would drive the quality of health industries up and bring prices down.
What happens next will depend on how the two chambers of Congress plan to pay for universal coverage and design a government-run insurance plan. An anti-abortion clause which states that elective abortions will not be covered under the insurance policy will also be voted on by members of the House. President Obama, however, only mentioned that the bill would reach his office soon.
The bill is estimated to significantly reduce the federal deficit by about $104 billion within a decade. To pay for expansion coverage, the bill will cut Medicare’s projected spending by about $400 billion within the next decade. It will also place a 5.4% tax rate on individuals with an income of over $500,000, and families with incomes of over $1 million.
Critics of the plan expressed their objections through extensive debates on the legislation. Opponents of the bill included 176 Republicans and 39 Democrats. Critics also include a number of pro-choice supporters who are against the antiabortion policy included in the bill. Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky stated that, aside from the inclusion of a pro-life stance, there were a myriad of other benefits for women outlined in the bill. “Women need health care reform,” she said whilst addressing her position on the House floor.
Overall, the bill demonstrated a significant step towards real legislation reform, and marked a historical event that has not been carried out by legislation for over a generation.

Last Wednesday, participants organized by Taxed Enough Already Concerned Citizens of the UP gathered at the Houghton County Court House for a demonstration coinciding with others around the country rallying against financial policies of the state and federal government. A number of picket signs conveyed disagreement with the recently-passed stimulus bill and policies of the Obama administration.

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In the midst of the recent inauguration of President Barack Obama, we have learned a lot about the shape of the current Republican Party. Obviously, there has been much guffawing from the republican side over the past couple of months, most notably the “tea parties” that took place in numerous locations around America. Many conservatives feel that Obama is a uniting influence within the party (uniting in opposition, anyway); however, I see a party that is in complete disarray.

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