Richard Nixon: Not So Bad?

After having gone through the problems that people tend to ignore with Ronald Reagan, I have now decided to look into the good that Nixon did that is often overlooked. While it is true that he was involved with the whole Watergate Scandal that tarnished his career, he actually accomplished many aspects that impacted the United States for the better. Even today, these policies are still enacted leaving a large impact on the country as a whole. First of all he ended the draft for the wars resulting in many of the riots over the drafts for wars ending. He then was able to knock the federal deficit down by seventeen billion dollars making the economy of the United States far from as bad as what it was. The final major impact that Nixon left was that he was able to end desegregation throughout the south even though he was a major racist and it went against his views. Along with these three key impacts, Nixon made other impacts that can be read here.

Is Richard Nixon a terrible president? Leave a comment saying why or why not.

Misconceptions of Taxes

After having ended the State of the Union, the United States is beginning on a new look towards how to treat the country. One view within the State of the Union is making the rich more accountable for taxes. However, this is a large misconception within the United States as, prior to contrary belief, the rich contribute to a large portion of the taxes. Over the past thirty years, the percentage of taxes contributed by the wealthy has steadily risen over the years from being a slight majority of the percentage to being over seventy percent of the tax burden. To learn further about this common misconception, click here or view the chart below. The reason that this misconception is commonly viewed by the public is because a majority of the rich are a member of the Republican party. This results in many Democrats attempting to target the public against the rich as it also makes it targeted against the Republicans.

Why do you believe that the United States views the rich with such tax burden? Leave a comment.

State of the Union

With the State of the Union having just occurred, the president has outlined many aspects of his platform that the public will expect him to have implemented. However, this is a large misconception by the American public for several reasons. Among these reasons, the biggest misconception is that the president will be able to even implement a majority of these policies due to Congress being republican in both the House and the Senate. Since both the House and the Senate are republican, they will be very reluctant to pass most of Obama's agenda as they have largely different views on how the country should be handled. So while most of the policies that Obama suggested in the State of the Union will not be passed, the public will still be largely misconceived as they believe that the president has the ultimate determining of the nation's policy while it is truly Congress that creates the nation's policy. For a full transcript of the president's State of the Union click here but be warned as not all or even many of these policies will be likely implemented.

How much of Obama's policy will be answered? Comment with your answer below.

Reagan Misconceptions

After having obtained some research about the political parties views on college education and how the people misconceive this, I have begun my next topic on which I would like to research. The area I have decided to look into was the idea of Ronald Reagan's presidency being overly glorified even though he had numerous skeletons in his closet in terms of his presidency. While Reagan was indeed a quality president for being a pivotal figure in ending the Cold War, there were plenty of other acts that Reagan engaged in that should lower him in the eyes of many people. For arguments against Reagan's presidency that many people do not look when they view his presidency, view the link here. For a few key points, however, Reagan in fact was a main contributor to the federal deficit as he created a tax cut resulting in him having to increase taxes in an effort to work out of the debt. He also caused the unemployment rate to greatly increase due to the tax cuts that he enacted at the beginning of his presidency. He even went and illegally sent weapons to Iran resulting in the Iran-Contra affair as he provided funds to an anti-Communist organization even though Congress did not approve which should greatly mar his presidency. In the end while Reagan was a decent president, the people of America have created a misconception within their eyes as they often only view his accomplishments but not his numerous failures as president.

Do you believe Reagan should be as highly ranked of a president as he was? Leave a comment as to why or why not.

Political Misconceptions on College Cost

Since I had decided to switch my topic from college to political misconceptions, I have realized a common link between the two: the differing views between the political parties on the idea behind education which affects the college atmosphere. For students seeking a cheaper more affordable education for their college years, they must examine each party to determine which is more feasible. While most people do in fact believe that the political leaders are not attempting to solve any problems faced by college tuition, they in fact have each laid out plans as to what they hope to do solve this problem. By clicking here, you can view each of their plans to lower the cost. To sum up the main points that each possess, the democrats hope to make college affordable for all by increasing the Pell Grant investments, increasing the nation's minority institutions, and by increasing an emphasis on community college while the republicans provide more of a focus on improving the classes of the institutions and addressing the rise in college costs with plans that involve job opportunities to lower the burden felt by students. Ultimately, while most Americans do not believe the government is attempting to address college concerns, they have in fact laid out plans for this exact problem.

Which plan would be better: Democrat or Republican? Leave a comment saying which and why.

Change In Topic

After several months of engaging in the idea of whether or not college was worth it, I have lost all the passion that I had for the topic. However, I have reached a new topic on which I have found a vast amount of desire to put my effort into. That topic is in the idea behind the United States' political misconceptions and why it is that way. Ultimately I will examine the misconceptions that both political parties face in the bills that are passed by the legislator, such as the idea of Obama Care versus the Affordable Care Act. I will also look into the way that people misinterpret the acts done by political officials, such as Ronald Reagan, in how they are viewed as great but have many hidden secrets behind their actions. After examining all these factors I will look into the supreme consensus as to why these phenomena occur to the American public.

Why does America confuse its politics?

Rate of College Increase Lowering

As I wait to hear back from people that have engaged in various career paths following high school, whether it be pursuing further education at a college or university or choosing a varying path from that, I have looked further into the cost of education. Astonishingly, I have found through my research that although the cost of college continues to "rise more rapidly than the rate of inflation, the rate of increase has slowed" compared to previous years ("New College..."). While this is excellent news to hear, it is still hard to believe that the rate has continued to rise in such a way larger than that of the rate of inflation. However, while the rate is still larger than that of the rate of inflation, students have found ways to compete with this by having Pell Grants increase "from 3.8 million in 1993-94 to 5.1 million in 2003-04 and to 9.2 million in 2013-14" as well as having "undergraduates receive an average of $14,180 in financial aid" which allow for students to have a greater chance at affording the price of college ("New College..."). Ultimately, until the rate of college price increases reach that of the rate of inflation, college will still be questioned to its ultimate worth by the people of America. To read further about the happenings to colleges in the past year, click here.

Money under the cap. Are colleges worth more than that?

Work Cited

"New College Board Trends in Higher Education Reports: College Prices Increase at a Slower Pace While Student Borrowing Declines for the Third Consecutive Year." The College Board. College Board, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.