Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Good Job So Far Obama!
Four years ago an inspired electorate energized the country with chants of “Yes We Can” and “Change we can believe in.” Barack Obama promised “bold, swift action” regarding the ailing economy and a concentrated effort of cooperation to break the biased grip on Congress, that had divided Washington.
Thanks to the Bush and Cheney era, Obama inherited one of the messiest cleanup jobs of all time, with American troops waged in two wars halfway across the world and the global economy within a sliver of worldwide depression.
Four years later, Americans find themselves doing a reality check.
Do the promises that Obama made in 2008 still ring true today? Has the President done enough to warrant another four years at the helm of the most powerful country in the world?
When asked to grade his four years in office, Obama has answered with a simple “incomplete.” This is fair considering that according to PoliFact.com, of all of the promises Obama has made in his campaign, and time in office, 32% are either stalled or incomplete.
Voters can also take into consideration that Obama has only broken 16% of his promises, and kept 32% of them. The Republicans made Obama work hard for anything and everything he’s wanted to change in office, which they publicly admitted that they were going to do.
The majority of Obama’s plans are set to affect America in the long run, changing Presidents now would be detrimental to fours years of so called progress. But have we really been making progress as a nation? Can you remember how things were four years ago?
Obama Administration Four Year Report Card
Economy
Summary: To many people, this is the central issue of this presidential campaign. Since Obama took office in 2008, the economy as a whole has gotten worse. Gasoline prices, the rate of poverty, food stamp use and federal debt have all gotten worse in the last four years. The price of gas is what irks Americans the most, in 2009, gas was $1.74 per gallon, it has now soared to $4.79 per gallon. Some positives, the unemployment rate rose to 9.7%, but has now dropped to 7.8% and trending downward. The stock market has also gradually improved under Obama.
Verdict: Obama needs more time to prove that can he can bring back the American economy, recent signs show it is trending upwards.The biggest drawback on Obama’s economic plans has been his inability to erase the national debt, which has reached $16 trillion.
Grade: C-
Foreign Policy
Summary: Since Obama took office, the United States has devastated al Qaeda’s leadership, most notably with the gutsy mission that took out Osama Bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The United States has reached a pivotal moment – as we definitively end the war in Iraq and begin to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, we have refocused on a broader set of priorities around the globe that will allow the United States to be safe, strong, and prosperous in the 21st century. Obama’s policy is set on a form of realism that is unafraid to deploy American power but mindful that its use must be tempered by practical limits and a dose of self-awareness.
Verdict: The president has slowly withdrawn our troops from the Middle East, which is a good sign. The mission to kill Osama Bin Laden was extremely risky, but it turned out to be a success and Obama carried out the orders that resulted in disposing the worlds most wanted man.
Grade: B
Health Care- The Obamacare Healthcare bill is a bill enacted to grant more rights to "have not" Americans who struggle to obtain health insurance. Obamacare ensures that Americans will be able to seek medical attention and help millions of Americans who are not provided for under the current health care plan.
Verdict: The Supreme Court deemed Obamacare does not violate the constitution, This is an example of Obama looking ahead for the future of America, which is the theme for the majority of his policies.
Grade: B+
Final Verdict: When the nation elected Barack Obama to be president four years ago it was supposed to bring immediate change and benefits to the American people, this wasn’t realistic considering the condition we were in as a nation. Obama deserves four more years to carry out his policies and prove his positive effect on the American people.
Thanks to the Bush and Cheney era, Obama inherited one of the messiest cleanup jobs of all time, with American troops waged in two wars halfway across the world and the global economy within a sliver of worldwide depression.
Four years later, Americans find themselves doing a reality check.
Do the promises that Obama made in 2008 still ring true today? Has the President done enough to warrant another four years at the helm of the most powerful country in the world?
When asked to grade his four years in office, Obama has answered with a simple “incomplete.” This is fair considering that according to PoliFact.com, of all of the promises Obama has made in his campaign, and time in office, 32% are either stalled or incomplete.
Voters can also take into consideration that Obama has only broken 16% of his promises, and kept 32% of them. The Republicans made Obama work hard for anything and everything he’s wanted to change in office, which they publicly admitted that they were going to do.
The majority of Obama’s plans are set to affect America in the long run, changing Presidents now would be detrimental to fours years of so called progress. But have we really been making progress as a nation? Can you remember how things were four years ago?
Obama Administration Four Year Report Card
Economy
Summary: To many people, this is the central issue of this presidential campaign. Since Obama took office in 2008, the economy as a whole has gotten worse. Gasoline prices, the rate of poverty, food stamp use and federal debt have all gotten worse in the last four years. The price of gas is what irks Americans the most, in 2009, gas was $1.74 per gallon, it has now soared to $4.79 per gallon. Some positives, the unemployment rate rose to 9.7%, but has now dropped to 7.8% and trending downward. The stock market has also gradually improved under Obama.
Verdict: Obama needs more time to prove that can he can bring back the American economy, recent signs show it is trending upwards.The biggest drawback on Obama’s economic plans has been his inability to erase the national debt, which has reached $16 trillion.
Grade: C-
Foreign Policy
Summary: Since Obama took office, the United States has devastated al Qaeda’s leadership, most notably with the gutsy mission that took out Osama Bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The United States has reached a pivotal moment – as we definitively end the war in Iraq and begin to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, we have refocused on a broader set of priorities around the globe that will allow the United States to be safe, strong, and prosperous in the 21st century. Obama’s policy is set on a form of realism that is unafraid to deploy American power but mindful that its use must be tempered by practical limits and a dose of self-awareness.
Verdict: The president has slowly withdrawn our troops from the Middle East, which is a good sign. The mission to kill Osama Bin Laden was extremely risky, but it turned out to be a success and Obama carried out the orders that resulted in disposing the worlds most wanted man.
Grade: B
Health Care- The Obamacare Healthcare bill is a bill enacted to grant more rights to "have not" Americans who struggle to obtain health insurance. Obamacare ensures that Americans will be able to seek medical attention and help millions of Americans who are not provided for under the current health care plan.
Verdict: The Supreme Court deemed Obamacare does not violate the constitution, This is an example of Obama looking ahead for the future of America, which is the theme for the majority of his policies.
Grade: B+
Final Verdict: When the nation elected Barack Obama to be president four years ago it was supposed to bring immediate change and benefits to the American people, this wasn’t realistic considering the condition we were in as a nation. Obama deserves four more years to carry out his policies and prove his positive effect on the American people.
Giants hope to repeat Magical Run
All week long, students could be seen donning the orange and black around the Carlmont campus. It's that time again, the San Francisco Giants will begin their playoff journey at home against the Cincinnati Reds. The Giants (94-68) will play a five game series against the Reds (97-65) to determine who will be moving onto the National League Championship Series.
The Reds were a complete team all year long, with a dominating NL Cy Young cannidate in pitcher Johnny Cueto and powerful homerun threats with mashers Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips. Perhaps the Red's greatest strength is their shutdown bullpen, with Aldoris Chapman known to throw 100 mph consistently.
Giants fans also have their reasons to be confident, MVP cannidate Buster Posey has made a full recovery from his gruesome injury last year. Posey mans a rotation that contains some of the best pitchers in the league. One of those, all-star starter Matt Cain, pitched a perfect game for the Giants earlier this season. The Red's also had a game of brilliance this season, when Homer Bailey (slated for Game Four) pitched a no-hitter against the Pirates.
When asked how he thinks the Giants will do in the playoffs, junior Theo Fedronic said, "I think it will be a tough series, but we will come out on top in five games, the Red's have a shutdown bullpen so its important to get ahead early."
It will be critical for the Giants to win at least one of the two games at AT&T Park, as winning three games straight in Cincinnati will be no easy task. "It's important for the Giants to get ahead in the series, because they never play well in Cincinnati, home runs come easy there," Fedronic stated.
In the coming days, Giants fans will know for sure whether another magical run is in store for the city by the Bay.
The Reds were a complete team all year long, with a dominating NL Cy Young cannidate in pitcher Johnny Cueto and powerful homerun threats with mashers Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips. Perhaps the Red's greatest strength is their shutdown bullpen, with Aldoris Chapman known to throw 100 mph consistently.
Giants fans also have their reasons to be confident, MVP cannidate Buster Posey has made a full recovery from his gruesome injury last year. Posey mans a rotation that contains some of the best pitchers in the league. One of those, all-star starter Matt Cain, pitched a perfect game for the Giants earlier this season. The Red's also had a game of brilliance this season, when Homer Bailey (slated for Game Four) pitched a no-hitter against the Pirates.
When asked how he thinks the Giants will do in the playoffs, junior Theo Fedronic said, "I think it will be a tough series, but we will come out on top in five games, the Red's have a shutdown bullpen so its important to get ahead early."
It will be critical for the Giants to win at least one of the two games at AT&T Park, as winning three games straight in Cincinnati will be no easy task. "It's important for the Giants to get ahead in the series, because they never play well in Cincinnati, home runs come easy there," Fedronic stated.
In the coming days, Giants fans will know for sure whether another magical run is in store for the city by the Bay.
At last, let there be light.
When the Carlmont football team runs on the field Friday night, Carlmont Athletics will start a new era with the unveiling of a brand new stadium overhaul. After years of speculation and build up, Carlmont will no longer be the only school in the Sequoia Union High School district without lights.
“All of freshman and sophomore year I was really embarrassed to play home games [for soccer] because we would never be able to finish our games if it got dark,” said junior Jordan Kiss.
District officials did want Carlmont to have lights, but the mission for them was not an easy one. Rumors swirled for years that lights were on the way, but they never materialized.
However, during the second semester of last year, the school held a series of townhall-like meetings to judge the community’s feelings toward the possibility of stadium lights.
The feedback was mostly positive, but there were also some setbacks; neighbors were concerned that the school getting new lights would surely mean more traffic and noise in and around their neighborhoods.
District officials took the neighbors concerns and crafted a set of guidelines that Carlmont must follow when using the field and lights.
The regulations for using the lights included the following: the lights cannot be used during the weekdays past 8:30 p.m. at night, 10:30 p.m. for football games on Fridays, and cannot be used on either Saturday or Sunday.
Carlmont would also be limited to the number of night football games and field usage by other sports will also have its restrictions.
After being approved by the school administrators and neighbors the district was able to give Carlmont the money needed to buy and install four floodlights.
After being approved by the school administrators and neighbors the district was able to give Carlmont the money needed to buy and install four floodlights.
“School spirit is going to improve with the new lights, especially because night games get everyone very pumped up,” said Varsity Soccer player Jake Retchless, “no matter what sport is playing.”
Four 70-foot tall high-tech light poles have been put in around the field, each equipped with bulbs that emit beams directly on the field which reduces unwanted spillage into neighboring areas. These lights will be used during nighttime sporting events such as football, soccer, and lacrosse.
“Whenever the school rented out lights in the past years people would flood to the games, with new lights everyone is going to all the games from here on out,” said junior, Pasha Minkovsky.
The new visitor stands will seat 456 people and the added visitor capacity will be accommodated with the increased parking spaces adjacent to the field which also serves as additional parking for seniors and juniors during the day and spectators during sporting events.
“The parking spaces for juniors are going to be greatly appreciated, now we won’t have to park far away from school and walk in or wait in traffic and be late to class,” stated Kiss.
When Carlmont Football takes the field for the first official time on Friday, Sept. 21 against Aragon High School everyone on the field and in the stands will be very proud of all the hard work and effort that went into this massive project.
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