CA budget crisis interview

I chose to interview my step-father Xavier Hidrogo, because I wanted to see how it is affecting someone who is on Workers- comp.

Juan Carlos Ulate: How is the California Budget Crisis affecting your life?

Xavier Hidrogo: To me, I don't have as much money to spend as i used too. We have to watch the money we spend.

JU: What changes in your lifestyle have you made because of this crisis?

XH: Trying to get a better education, I am studying for my Real Estate license; trying to get ahead now that people need to have certificates or titles.

JU: What is your opinion on the proposed budget cuts?

XH: If we need them we need them. We should cut where ever we need to cut the budget in order to get the budget where it is supposed to be, including hiking the taxes.

JU: What do you believe is the correct course of action that California should take?

XH: Government should stop spending money they don't have on programs we don't need. We should spend money on education and on health care. We waste too much money on things that we don't need.

Authoritative source

California budget cuts spread the pain: By Jennifer Steinhauer The New York Times

In this article Steinhauer states some of the effects that may be created by these budget cuts. First of all the price on a lot of things we use everyday will rise, another thing is that school are going to be under-budget and more than likely lack the funds for new books and will have to increase class sizes, college students can expect their tuition to rise by about 9 % which is harsh to those of us who work to pay for our tuition and books. I can understand that in times like the ones we are faced with the government will increase taxes and what not to create a larger revinue, but to seriously cut the funds of the educational system seems to be a serious mistake. What bothers me more is not that we would pay more taxes but that we would be 42 billion in debt. I suppose we will just have to wait and see how all of this plays out, the article states that California is also one of the first states that are faced with these problems and that the rest of the states are soon to follow. We should as a state try to deal the with this the best we can. In the end the voters of California will call the shots and in the words of Steinhauer "it will be up to voters to keep the budget package from unraveling."

Article was retrieved from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008764833_calbudg20.html ,and the image from http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/greenberg/archives/qqxsgChainsaw.jpg

quote of the day

my friend said this today " Don't make me Chris Brown you!", thought it was funny and kind of sad thought i would share with you guys...

Rhetorical Strategies

The Audacity of Hope, article;
article uses:

• point of view
• tone
• persuasion
• assumptions

Helps to have the rhetorical strategies on the big screen, Prof. thanks...

Politics summary

Audacity of hope, article;
This article was a speech read at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Obama speaks of his parents and grandparents efforts to better their own life's and better the lives of their children. He speaks of where he comes from and how all this has affected his life and made him see how America really is a land of opportunity for everyone, no matter what the race. He then goes on to say that he supports John Kerry because of his believes and what he would do to better the country. He states that John Kerry will do what ever is necessary to move America forward and will not stagger when the time comes to defend ourselfs from our enemies or any threats. Overall Obama gives his support of John Kerry being chosen as the presidential candidate in 2004. I chose this article because it was the most interesting out of all of the other long, dry, and boring articles that we read..... don't know what to write for the last 30 seconds so yeah.....

Response on Obama's inaugural address

Obama is able to persuade people to believe in him and follow him in this time of need by saying that change is possible. He says that the challenges that we as Americans face may be new but that we will overcome these challenges by pulling together. He also makes it known that he will better any government programs that are working and are bettering our economy and remove and program that is not. Obama also lets people know that he understands how hard times are right now but also tells us that getting out of this hole we are in wont be easy; but, together as a nation by making the right decisions, helping eachother, and not being greedy, we may pull out yet.

-- Yeah I am not to sure as to how much I am supposed to respond to on this blog. haha
--I like this though it gives us a little more freedom in our responses or in the least makes it feel like it.

reflection on class changes

I for one actually like all the new changes occuring with the class. The new room that we are meeting in every so often is actually rather interesting. I like being able to use a laptop to write a whole lot more than paper and pencil, people will actually be able to read my writing=). The only part i dislike is not knowing my grade all the time but it is a change i can adapt to and will only push me to try harder to get a better grade...

Journal 2/12/09

Topics to read and write about:

• major world events
• status of the economy
• advancement in the automotive sector (i.e. concept cars)
• anything interesting that comes up on the news......