On the Border

With Obama spelling out his plans to use executive action on immigration, many critics on both sides of the aisle are making their voices heard. Two of the largest critics of the President's immigration policy are Michele Bachman and Steven King.

In a recent trip to look at the security of the borer,  Senator Bachman actually captured a video of a woman illegally crossing into the United States on her cell phone.

Senator King, presented an idea for securing the border in 2007 that is not only economical but also feasible.

With much opposition, it will be interesting how the executive action plays out with Republicans taking control of Congress at the beginning of next year.

Looking to the Future

With the midterm elections behind us, the leaders of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee are beginning to look ahead. Since the Republicans will soon be taking full control of Congress, the Democratic National Committee is looking for who is going to be their breakout leaders of the party. MSNBC has done a great job of compiling a list of key Democrat and Republican Senators.

Key Democrat Senators

Key Republican Senators 

These Senators are the ones to watch for the next two years, as these lists are not only people they see as being key players for each party, they also contain potential Presidential contenders for the 2016 election.

The First in a Long Line?

In a story that is being overlooked by the media, Senate Democrats are starting to express "regret over how Democrats handled their large majorities following the 2008 election in passing ObamaCare when they should have focused first on economic issues to address the recession." Chuck Schumer, the Senate's #3 Democrat, is one of the first to step into this spotlight.

According to an article by the National Journal,

While Schumer emphasized during a speech at the National Press Club that he supports the law and that its policies "are and will continue to be positive changes," he argued that the Democrats acted wrongly in using their new mandate after the 2008 election to focus on the issue rather than the economy at the height of a terrible recession.

“After passing the stimulus, Democrats should have continued to propose middle-class-oriented programs and built on the partial success of the stimulus, but unfortunately Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them,” Schumer said. “We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem—health care reform.”

With someone this high up in the Democrat Party stepping out of line, will he suffer the same consequences as Hagel, who "resigned" after disagreeing with the Presidents policy. Or is Chuck Schumer the first of a long line of Democrats looking to separate themselves from Obama as his term starts coming to an end?

What You See is What You Get

As people start looking towards the 2016 Presidential elections, one potential front runner is already trying to gain the support of todays younger generations. Rand Paul has been busy touring colleges in different states, getting to know the young people and hearing their concerns. In addition, Rand Paul has been accepting every interview he has been asked to do. With a pivotal Presidential election looming, Rand Paul is doing everything he can to start the momentum rolling in his direction.  As can be seen in the article by CNN, Rand Paul is not holding back in taking an unconventional media strategy. Through this strategy, Rand Paul is finding support in many places including "...support in Berkeley, of all places." 

As 2016 draws closer, what does the future hold?

Dumb and Reckless?

As I was scanning the Politics page of Fox News today I couldn't help but to read an article titled:

Reckless move: The NY Times publishes Darren Wilson’s address

I was pretty much in disbelief. A journalist publishing the address of Officer Wilson is plain careless and reckless behavior. Now that Officer Wilson's address is out there nor he or his wife are safe. This goes back to the idea that some journalist are so intent on getting their stories into the headlines for their own "15 seconds of fame" that they forget the integrity that they are supposed to have. 

No Trial

Tensions ran high Monday as the grand jury came back with "no true bill" or no indictment against Officer Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown. Pretty much as soon as the decision was read, the violence started. Although people pressed for nonviolent protest no matter the decision, even the President could not stop the violence.

As the President spoke, the split screen showed the violence erupt in Ferguson. In the following hours, protest broke out in many cities across the country. Although there are police officers killed all across the country, such as the officer killed Monday night in Akron, Ohio. Why does one shooting get more media attention than another? I found an article from the Akron Beacon Journal asking the same thing.

As I looked through FOX News today I found a second article that relates to Furgeson. This article shows "How a false media narrative made Ferguson worse."

Looks Like We Might be Heading into Overtime

As election day looms over us, I stumbled across an article on Politico that looks at the close races and spells out the four most likely scenarios that will play out tomorrow night.

1. Republicans Win Out

Republicans turn out in a wave and wrap up the elections before bedtime. "With almost-certain pickups in Montana, West Virginia and South Dakota, the party can lock up the Senate with wins in six of the eight competitive states that don’t have runoffs: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire and North Carolina."

2. Kept Waiting for Alaska

Because of the massive rural populations in Alaska it could be days or weeks before all of their votes are in and counted. “In Alaska, in rural parts of the state, the reality is the ballots won’t be cast for four or five days...” 

3. Going for the Long Haul

With tight races in bot Lousiana and Georgia, if neither candidate reaches a majority then they would be forced to a runoff.  This runoff would mean, "Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy would continue battling until Dec. 6." This runoff is brought even closer to reality since parties are already preparing for overtime. 

Georgia is in the same boat. ...If neither Democrat Michelle Nunn nor Republican David Perdue gets to 50 percent plus one, they would keep campaigning into 2015, with a runoff slated for Jan. 6 — three days after the start of the 114th Congress."

4. Recount

"Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is running for a second term on Tuesday, even though he didn’t serve a full first term. Franken wasn’t sworn in until July 7, 2009 because of a protracted recount with then-GOP Sen. Norm Coleman. (Franken prevailed by 312 votes.)" Although Franken is projectyed to win, as is with any tight race, a recount is not out of the playbook.


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