President Obama Schools on College Costs - CNN Thursday, August 22 Obama proposes plan to help make college affordable Bus Tour to several Colleges and High Schools Plan has 3 parts – Fed rating system – Payments capped at 10% of income – Students must earn certain # of credits before more aid is given

President Importance – Tuition has gone up 250% over last 3 decades Income up only 16% Avg student has $26,000 debt My Thoughts – College has never been more expensive Necessary to compete internationally Crippling debt is a deterrent Connections: – President can set agenda for nation Only Congress can legislate – Republicans against most of Obama’s plan Too much Gov’t regulation

Congress Clock is Ticking for a Deficit Deal – NYTimes Thursday, August 22 Obama & GOP Congress can’t agree on Budget Congress is on recess – Summer talks have broken down Gov’t could shut down in October – GOP wants spending cuts – Dems want to raise taxes

Congress Importance – Gov’t could shut down – Gov’t could default If debt ceiling isn’t raised – Same crisis from last December/January My Thoughts – We elect leaders to work for America – Opposition is good, but only if it leads to statesmanship Connections – Federal Budget – National Deficit – Division of Powers – Beliefs of Political Parties

War/Military Aid to Egypt Evaluated on a Daily Basis – USA Today Tuesday, August 20 After “coup” removing Morsi from power, US considering withdrawing aid $1 Billion package – $585 Million still not sent Cutting off aid would jeopardize US/Egypt relations

War/Military Importance – If revolution was a “coup”, US not allowed to send aid Sending Aid looks like coups allowed Stopping Aid looks like we back Morsi/Muslim Brotherhood My Thoughts – Rev was a “coup” – Power Vacuum in Egypt Scary for US We could be aiding a potential enemy – Coups can’t exist in a Democracy BUT – we need strong allies in the Arab World Connections – Treaties w/other nations help build alliances – Democratic Ideals Can’t support overthrowing democratically-elected Prez – Rule of Law – Politics Prez in charge of foreign policy

International/Foreign Allegations of Deadly Gas Attack in Syria – FoxNews Wednesday, August 21 Rebels claim Assad Gov’t used chemical weapons Hundreds to Thousands killed – Many women & children Assad claims reports are untrue UN is trying to investigate – Russia and China are blocking UN action

International/Foreign Importance – Over 100,000 killed in 2 years – Chemical Weapons are war crime – Obama said US would intervene if Chem weapons used My Thoughts – We intervened in Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Tunisia Why not Syria? – Are rebels any better than Assad though? Osama Bin Laden – US helped him fight Soviets in Afghanistan Connections – Prez is commander-in-chief Can authorize use of troops – Should we help spread of Democracy – Do Syrians see Assad’s authority as legitimate?

Political RNC votes to exclude CNN and NBC from 2016 Primary – Washington Post Monday, August 19 CNN & NBC plan to air film about Hillary Clinton – RNC object – Feel it is free campaigning RNC Chair threatened networks, but they refused to change plans RNC votes unanimously to not let them cover 2016 RNC debates

Political Importance – Election is 3 years away Campaigning starts early – Relationship b/w parties and media My Thoughts – FoxNews is incredibly biased RNC only hates “bias” against them – Film is about Hillary as first-lady, not candidate – RNC Chair is just bitter b/c his name is Reince Priebus Connections – Media and Politics – Campaigns – Party Organization – 1 st Amendment Freedom of the Press

Economic Obama Asks Regulators to Speed Up Wall Street Reform – Reuters Monday, August 19 Obama meets with Fed regulators to push them to speed up Dodd-Frank Dodd-Frank is Wall Street reform passed in 2010 – Only 40% of rules have been put in place Some warn that Wall Street is doing same thing that led to 2008 crisis

Economic Importance – Dodd-Frank reforms not being done – Economy recovering, but still fragile – Only 1 Wall Street exec convicted of crimes My Thoughts – WTF!!! – These laws were passed in 2010…its 2013!!! – Vast majority of US wants Wall Street reform Connections – Laws Passed by Congress – Bureaucracy in charge of carrying them out – Special Interest Groups – Money and Politics

My Choice Antoinette Tuff Hailed as Hero for Handling Georgia School Gunman – CNN Wednesday, August yr old brought AK-47 & 500 rounds of ammo to Georgia school – Planned to kill many – Prepared to die Front Office worker talked him into surrendering – Discussed her life – Told him she loved him – Stayed with him while he was arrested NO ONE KILLED

My Choice Importance – After Newtown, CT, school security is major issue – Rise of trend in mass killings My Thoughts – Amazing – Truly a Hero – Who else would/could do that under the circumstances? Connections – 2 nd Amendment – Gun Debate – Guns and Background Checks – Lobbyists: NRA

Bizarre News Ted Cruz to Renounce Canadian Citizenship – Huffington Post Tuesday, August 20 Ted Cruz (R) – Texas – Tea Party – Very popular right now – Probably running for Prez in 2016 Born in Canada – Dual Citizen Renounced his Canadian Citizenship

Bizarre News Importance – Could be serious Republican candidate – Is he eligible to be Prez? – Could a Prez be a citizen of another country too? My Thoughts – Remember the “Obama” isn’t a citizen” thing? – Where is Donald Trump? – Hypocrisy Connections – Requirements to be President Article II – Natural Born Citizen – Politics and Campaigning