Blog Entry #4

http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/300167/extremist-newsletters-haunt-paul?CSAuthResp=1324931610%3A4ae6l5h0l9ssfbu82uqq7gs457%3ACSUserId%7CCSGroupId%3Aapproved%3AD750EB96FC61454264AF4F52EF895FBC&CSUserId=94&CSGroupId=1

The title of this article is, “Extremist newsletters haunt Paul,” and was written by Ben Leubsdorf. It was published on December 24, 2011 on concordmonitor.com, one of New Hampshire’s newspapers. This article is about how Ron Paul wrote different sorts of newsletters regarding his racist and homophobic views. These letters were also brought up during his campaign in 2008. One of his letters that was reviewed by The New Republic contained racist words when discussing the federal holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. day as, “Hate Whitey Day.” He also said things about AIDS patients that “enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick.” These articles are from the 1970s and even earlier. Paul told the public that he disowned the newsletters and that he does not know who wrote those articles. Paul is saying that he is not responsible for what was said and that he takes no credit in writing them. However, it is said that Paul wrote an eight-page letter encouraging people to subscribe to his newsletters. One of the warnings in this letter was, “the federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS (my training as a physician helps me see through this one).” Similar to before, Paul’s spokeswoman told the public that he did not write this one either. These letter have come into the light more recently because Paul has a significant chance in winning the January 3 Iowa GOP caucuses. As of now, he has a lead over Mitt Romney who happens to be his nearest rival. This is significant because if someone is able to prove that Ron Paul in fact wrote these letters, it could show that he is a racist and a homophobe. This could also demolish his chance of winning the GOP caucuses because many people would not vote for a racist or a homophobe. It is also significant because during elections, secrets from the past tend to come to the surface. With Herman Cain’s past, it ended with him dropping out. If this turns out to be true, Ron Paul may have the same fate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/us/politics/for-obama-payroll-tax-victory-was-aided-by-republicans.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=politics&st=cse

The title of this article is, “A Victory Considerably Aided by the Other Side,” and was written by Jackie Calmes. It was published on December 22, 2011 on nytimes.com. This article is about whether or not Obama can actually win the 2012 presidential election. Some are worried that he may not win because in 2010, Republicans have gained control of the House and a share of power in Washington. It is threatening to Obama’s prospects for re-election, especially after the summer fight over the nation’s debt limit. With this in mind, in September the White House decided to change the image of Obama to a determined voice of economic populism which started with a job-creation plan. Obama would either pass his plan, which was unlikely because of the Republican opposition, or he would get political credit and therefore increase his popularity as well as show that the Republicans would be completely against anything he proposed. Ironically, Republicans actually helped Obama with anything the White House and Congressional Democrats did. However, Obama did win in the way that his approval ratings raised in the polls. Congressional Democrats were nervous that Obama was more eager to make deals with Republicans, such as reducing Medicare and Social Security, in order to get a grand budget bargain. However, this win gave Obama somewhat more respect from the Congressional Democrats. Many Republicans believe that Obama would give in rather than having the blame put on him if payroll taxes went up for millions. Overall, it seems that Obama is figuring out how to fix the economic crisis. This is significant because if the people realize that Obama is actually fixing things, especially something as important as the economy, then he may actually be re-elected as president in 2012. However, if Obama cannot continue with his path of improving things, than people may decide to get him out of office.