CE : Unemployment and Economic Independence

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/09/2011983341818860.html

Ever since I planned to take AP Gov, I had to follow political news over the summer. Due to this, I was able to better understand the problems the are plaguing the U.S. currently such as the debt ceiling and unemployment. In this article, the Repulican candidates Mitt Romney and rick Perry are debating over jobs because it is currently the number one problem American families are facing. Romney and Perry are addressing jobs to show that they will do something about the problem that Obama has not been able to solve, but has made even worse. With unemployment at 9.1%, it is unlikely that Obama will be re-elected since no president has ever been reelected at at a time where unemployment was over 7. something%. Also, Obama has increased the national debt by trillions and has been unable to fulfill many of the promises for change that he had made.

Recently in government class, we split up into groups to look into important parts of several sections in the textbook. In the fourth chapter, American Political Culture, there was a table showing that only 23% of Americans believed that it was the government's responsibility to take care of the poor who couldn't take care of themselves and 63% believed that hard work guarantees success. It also said that This shows that Americans believe in economic independence. When Perry attacks Social Security, he is demonstrating this belief that Americans should not have to rely on the government especially when they are truly capable of taking care of themselves. That reminds me of an article that I read in the summer that over half of all Americans receive benefits from the government and I am positive that not everyone that receives it is really in need.