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My name is Garrett and I am studying the big political question today, is Obama a Socialist. I chose this topic because I feel that many people are uneducated in what makes someone Socialist or not. I am Republican and I might not agree with Obama, but I think a lot of people are jumping on the "Obama is Socialist" bandwagon without thinking much about it. So thats why I chose my topic.

The best parts of my blog, I think, is my five short sources. I chose from an array of sources to broaden my knowledge. I would be hypocritical if I didn't want to look at both sides, so I tried my best to do so. I also used my small sources to teach the reader of the purpose of government, the different types, and what we are answering to now.

I began this project thinking that Obama was socialist. This project showed me how to detect a Socialist and what to look for in government. In my opinion, Obama is not a Socialist, just not the greatest president. He has helped and hurt just like other presidents, which is why i have now wanted Federalism beliefs to be implemented. This project has showed me more about Federalism and its the government I want to see more of.

All I can say I want to do differently is that I want to speak with an actual elected official. I didn't get to this time because of procrastination on my part. Talking to an elected official would help me so much, or someone such as Glenn Beck or Mark Levin. It would be exciting andf cooler to talk about.

Republicans and Democrats need to work together.

Rob Bishop, in his article "The Case for Federalism", fights for the implement of Federalism by both parties. He states what Federalism is, he says, "its government closer to the people." (Bishop) So its not less government, just more power is given to the people. This allows local government to shrink and grow according to the wants of its people. He goes on to say that this process of transition is a long one and has to be well thought out. He firmly believes that "it (Federalism) is the only constitutionally based, effective, and theoretically consistent means to bring about the systemic change of government that people want." (Bishop) Bishop believes we need to work towards this belief and away from Conservatism and Liberalism.

I agree with Bishop. Mainly because I also think that Federalism was the type of government the founding fathers were aiming for when they wrote the Constitution. Federalism allows "We the people" to play a role in government. I think that, lately, we have been picking the lesser of two evils, when in reality we need to change things up. It is said that if you do the same thing over and over expecting to see different results, then you are crazy. So to see the results we want, we must stand for what we believe and make sure our voice is heard. When the lesser of the two evils fails , we just switch to the other. This, to me, is not going to make the nation stronger. This is why i think we need to implement Federalism.

Bishop, Rob. "The Case for Federalism." NRO. NRO, 6 May 2010. Web. 13 May 2010.
federalism/rep-rob-bishop?page=2>.

Views from a Socialist Himself

When John Blake, from CNN, asked Billy Wharton (the co-chair of the Socialist Party USA) if Obama was a socialist, he replied saying that “Obama isn't a socialist. He's not even a liberal” (Blake). In this article, Billy says that’s Obama is trying to protect the richest five percent of America. To Wharton, socialism means that “to the workers and consumers affected by economic institutions should own or control them” (Blake). Blake also says that, according to Van Gosse, America already has socialistic institutions such as: Pell Grants, public education, unemployment benefits, and social security. Conrad Quagliaroli has an argument for all of this. His argument is that Obama made a promise to “spread the wealth” and his associations with radicals make him a socialist.

I agree with Quagliaroli when he says that socialism breeds mediocrity and capitalism breeds excellence. This is one of socialism main fault. To have representatives of socialist parties deny some one of being socialist is a big deal. They carry a very strong argument, saying that most of what Obama is being blamed for came from before him and that he is, in actuality, trying to protect the wealthy five percent. They (the socialist in the article) say that socialist want to instill democratic features to reduce inequality. To me, the fact that he has passed a bill ensuring everyone health care seems to be an attempt to diminish inequality. Both sides are hard to argue though.

Blake, John. "Ask the card-carrying socialists: Is Obama one of them?."CNN Politics. CNN, 15 Apr 2010. Web. 13 May 2010. .

What political party am I?

The survey asked a total of ten questions. They ranged in topics from "should there be higher tariffs?" to "what do you think of the Patriot Act?" (renegaderay) The quiz was noticeably split up. it wasn't hard to decipher between the answer to see which one was which party. It also wanted to know your opinion on affirmative action and on gay marriages.

Taking this quiz, I was well aware of how unprofessional it was. I am not saying any of this is the greatest way to see what political party you are, but it is a very quick guesstimate. It said i was Republican which I partially agree on. I also know that there are more topics that should be considered that are not on the quiz.

I learned that I do lean more to the right, which you probably would have guessed from all my posts. I also learned that its hard to make an fair quiz that would be accurate enough, but take less than ten or twenty minutes. To meet these requirements, it would take hours.