Contact Your Government Representatives

December 11, 2008

Stopping the Genocide in Darfur

Peace in the Middle East

Better Health Care

Financial Reform

The War in Iraq

The Environment

Whatever it is that you are passionate about, you have the right to contact your elected officials, and tell them how you feel. It is not so difficult to get in touch with them, and they do take what they hear into consideration when they are making decisions.

Now is the time to reach out to anyone who has been elected to a new position. The new Congress people have not been sworn in yet, and they are still preparing to take their positions. It is now that they will be forming their policies, and it is now that you can have your voice heard before they are fully engaged in their day-to-day responsibilities.

Phone calls, emails, and letter writing are all good ways to get in touch with the people that represent you in government. The more time you have to spend (writing a letter and mailing it is harder than sending an email), the more impact that item will have.

So take the time send a hand-written letter or postcard to your newly elected or re-elected officials.

You can find information about contacting your Senator, your Representative in the House, and your state Governor. More information can be found online to contact other elected officials.

The transition team of President-Elect Barack Obama has made it very easy to give input. Their website, www.change.gov, asks Americans to submit stories, videos and questions, and to share their thoughts with the transition team. They are making it very easy to get in touch with the people crafting the next administration.

So take the time, think about what you care about, and take Action. You can contact the Obama transition team above, or write to them at the following address:

President-Elect Barack Obama
Presidential Transition Office
Kluczynski Federal Building
230 S. Dearborn St.
38th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604

I sent my postcard out the other way, whats on your postcard?

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Posted by eimatai

Is torture (sometimes) okay?

August 11, 2008

For the last couple of years, a debate has been brewing about the military’s treatment of terror suspects. There has been evidence of prisoner abuse, complaints of innocent people being held without trial, and questions of whether water-boarding is considered torture.

The root question of this debate is how we balance the rights of individuals versus the protection of the American public from potential harm. Do we have the right to treat someone in an inhumane way in order to prevent a terrorist attack?

The question becomes – how big of an attack must be prevented in order to justify the torture of someone? Do you treat a major attack similar to 9/11 the same way you would an attack that might kill 2 people?

When, if ever, is torture justified? What do you think?

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Posted by eimatai

Get Involved in the Democratic Process

July 23, 2008

A few months ago, I wrote a post about how those who are under 18 can get involved in the the political discourse that is going on right now in this country. Today it is easier than ever to affect the outcome of November’s election without even stepping into a voting box.

It’s already old news that spreading the word through facebook, myspace, twitter and a dozen other social networking sites can help the effort. Posting about news and policy statements made by the candidates can really get people excited about a candidate.

But if you are a supporter of either of the major party candidates, there is a whole new level of involvement out there.

John McCain has launched McCainSpace which is an online forum that allows you to create your own MySpace-like page, recruit friends and family to the cause, and track upcoming events featuring Senator McCain. There is also a feature on the site that identifies key blogs (both liberal and conservative) that the McCain campaign wants supports to post comments to. (So far the EimaTimes hasn’t made the cut)

Barack Obama has a feature on his site very similar to facebook. My.barackobama.com is a place for supporters to connect with other Obama supporters, find local events they can become involved in, and setup fundraising challenges for friends and family.

The Obama campaign went one step further, however, with regards to letting any American help the campaign. Supporters are asked and encouraged to volunteer for the Obama campaign phone bank by making calls to people across the country from their home phone. A script is provided, along with contact information for a fellow citizen. (Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party Presidential nominee, has a similar option on her site)

The bottom line is that there are many ways to get involved in the political process. The key thing is always going to come down to education and awareness. To learn more about the nominees, check out some of these sites:

Project Vote Smart – Research voting records of political candidates, and see which candidates are supported by which lobby groups.

YouTube Face the Candidates – To see where the candidates stand on various issues, check out their pages on YouTube which feature videos of John McCain and Barack Obama speaking about the issues they care about. Hear it in their own words!

Indecision 2008 – If you take your politics a little less seriously, check out this site which is Comedy Central’s coverage of the election mostly featuring John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

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Posted by Aaron

Under 18 for Election ’08? Get in your two cents.

March 31, 2008

If you have been thinking a lot about who the next president is going to be, but are not going to be able to vote in the upcoming election, you might be really frustrated. You have an opinion that is valuable, and your voice should be heard just like anyone else’s!

Well now there’s a place for you to share your thoughts on the upcoming election with friends, family, and teens under 18 from across the country. My Two Cents for Change is a great website that gives teens the opportunity to share their thoughts on the issues that are relevant to the upcoming presidential election.  You can even have your comments automatically send to the Presidential candidates themselves!

So what do you think about the war in Iraq? What do you think about Universal Healthcare? What do you think about what’s happening in Darfur? How would you like the next president to address poverty in this country? Get your thoughts out, and get yourself educated on the facts.

If you are going to be 18 for the upcoming election, make sure you register to vote here, here or here. Voting is your way of showing the leaders of this country that you care, and that you matter.

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Posted by eimatai

Race in the 2008 Presidential… Race

March 26, 2008

As the 2008 Presidential Campaign inches forward, the focus has been squarely on the two remaining candidates for the Democratic nomination: Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama. In the midst of this, a question of race has been raised. Are Americans ready for a non-white president? Will Americans elect a non-white president?

Obviously it is not good to vote against someone because he’s black, but It’s just as bad to vote for him because he’s black. People should vote based on how they think that person would perform in office. But if we were to assume all things were equal aside from race, is that still a factor in the mind of Americans?Clearly Barrack Obama hopes it is not. Last week for the first time, Senator Obama addressed the issue of race head-on in a speech he gave in Philadelphia. He explained that an America that is distracted by issues of race would never be able to tackle healthcare, the economy, or the war in Iraq. He explained that it is time “to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native-American children…” Obama is trying to remove race as a factor in the election.

In 2000, the Jewish community was amazed that Senator Joseph Lieberman seemed to overcome his minority status when he was pegged by Al Gore to serve as his Vice Presidential running mate. Lieberman was the first Jew ever to run on a major American party presidential ticket. There was a time when it would be unfathomable for a Jew to achieve such a position in the government, and in 2000 the issue was barely a blip on the screen.

But we know that racism in this country has a long and ugly history that may not quietly disappear overnight.

In 1968, the same day the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed, Senator Robert F. Kennedy had the following to say:

“In this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are, and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black… you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization – black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.

“Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.”

We have come a long way since 1968, and race is far less divisive in this country than it once was. The question we have to ask ourselves is not whether Barrack Obama should be nominated by the Democratic Party or elected by the American people. The question right now is not about Obama’s policies, beliefs, or anything about him at all. The success of his campaign so far simply gives us the opportunity as a nation to do a little introspection and soul-searching. Therefore the questions is:

Do you think America is ready to not care about the race/ethnicity of the President? Post your opinion or comments here.

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Posted by eimatai

Why is everyone talking about Sub-Prime Mortages?

October 30, 2007

Over the summer, you couldn’t turn on the news without hearing about the sub-prime mortgage crisis. So what exactly happened?

Simply put, when someone wants to buy a house, but can’t pay for the whole thing, they can take a loan from a bank called a mortgage. If they have good credit, or they can make a large down payment, they can generally get a competitive interest rate that will not change until they pay off their loan.

A sub-prime loan is what is issued to many people who do not qualify for a standard mortgage. Sub-prime mortgages have higher rates, and will often be Adjustable Rate mortgages (ARM) which means they can raise the rates after 5 years. The banks were taking a risk by lending to people with poor credit, and the borrowers were taking a risk by hoping the interest rates wouldn’t rise beyond their reach.

What happens with mortgages is that banks loan out tons of money, and they begin to run low on cash. So the banks sell the loan to third-party investors. Those third parties can then be invested in based on those loans that were made. Basically, they spread out the loan so that many different people and companies are relying on the loan being paid off.

When a borrower cannot pay off his mortgage,  he defaults on his loan. The bank eventually evicts the person from their home, and assumes ownership of the home.

For a number of reasons, the rates rose very high, and it turned out that many people could not afford their mortgages. This has resulted in many thousands of families being evicted, and over 2 million unoccupied homes in the US.

The question now is “What role should the government play in resolving this crisis, and preventing any future crisis?”

On the one hand it seems as if a lot of people made poor decisions that the government may have prevented. On the other hand people are free to make their own decisions, and who is the government to tell them that their risk is unwise? Should the government be buying some of these 2 million homes and renting them out to low-income families?

What do you think?

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Posted by eimatai