Gov. Paterson's Pay Cut

Gov. Paterson announced on Thursday, March 5, 2009 that he will be taking a 10% pay cut in
his salary. He is putting his money where his mouth is.

He symbolically made the gesture while in a Buffalo attending a town-hall meeting when he was asked by a retiree why the governor can't cut the salaries of lawmakers while others are feeling the pain of the economy. The governor has no plans on making lawmakers take a pay cut. The only thing he wants his for people to do their jobs and have the deficit go away.

It is a nice gesture that the governor is willing to take a 10% pay cut to help the economy, but why he is so relucant to ask lawmakers to do the same. He would rather put people out of work than ask his employees to make a sacrifice, which most can afford to do. He should try re-evaluate his options and ask lawmakers to take a small pay cut temporarily to help the economy.

Schools to Get Stimulus Money

There is finally good news for the New York schools who will be getting their share of the federal stimulus money at the end of this month according to an article. According to Senator Charles
Schumer, schools will get half of their share of the federal stimulus package just in time when the board memebers and mayors are preparing their budgets for the 2009-20010. New York is set to get $24.6 billion over the next two years.

School districts need to obligate 85 percent of their money by the end of 2010 and the balance by the end of September 2011.

This is great schools are finally getting their just dessert. For too many years the schools have been short changed. This will not only save jobs but will give teachers the resources that they need to be able to give their students the best education that they are entitled to. After all,
children are our future, and if our children don't get the best education that they deserve, how
will they compete in a very cmpetitive society.

Hospital Clossings

Two hospitals in Queens have shut their doors. Mary Immaculate in Elmhurst and St John's in Jamaica this coming after their operator filed for bankruptcy in early February.

These closings don't just affect nearly 3,000 employees who are now unemployed but also about two different communties who relied on these hospitals for their health care. What is hard for these communties is that at the moment they have no where to go for their health care.

This reminds me of an advertisement I seen on TV where you have a young couple driving upto the emergency room and the doors are closed. The mom turns back to check on her child and is screaming what do we do now? Is this what our reality is going to be? Where people don't know where to turn in an emergency. If people don't have a hospital near by, how far is the nearest hospital and will they make it on time. Is a though that the people who are in
charge are playing Russian Roulette with our lives.

Obama's Conressional Speech

On Tuesday, President Obama gave his congressional speech. In his speech he touched on several issues but one that I was very pleased to hear was what he wanted for education.

He stated that in today's society a high school diploma was not sufficient. Children need more than just a high school diploma to be successful. We are so far behind and we need to catch up to the rest of the world and be number one again. That he will do whatever he can to make sure that our kids go on to college and become successful.

Working in the educational field, I feel that education begins at home. I agree President Obama that parents need to read with teir children, even if its just 15 or 20 minutes. This makes a big difference in a child's life. It is also very important for parents to attend those parent-teacher conferences. It is so vital that parents be involved in their child's education in any way they can. After all, parents are their child's first teachers. Kids will do as they see and hear.

Support for President Obama

It is not surprising that President Obama continues to have support from the american people.
I feel that they are very aware that it will take years before we see any kind of economic relief I also feel very confident that the President will continue to make decisions that are going to be in our best in our best interest.

Even though President Obama has a rough road of him, he has come in time when people had given up on our government. People wanted a change, someone to hear their voices, and he hasbeen hearing the voices of the people and with this comes change.

President Obama has accompolished quite a bit since taking office, he has accompolished twostimulus packages despite opposition in a very short period of time.

Change may come slowly, but it will come.

youtube video

The video's content suggests to me that technology is advancing at a very rapid pace. There seems to be billions of people that are currently using technology in varies ways.We are a very fast paced society, and we are able to access anything online. From banking, shopping, reading an article, and so forth.

I do agree that while in college, by the third year there is another thing to learn in the world of technology.I feel that the younger generation are at an advantage becuase they are being raised with technolgy skills compare to my generation where we did not have computers, Ipods,text messaging, blackberries, etc. Being that the younger generation are being raised with technology it makes it easier for them to manuvere around more easily than those of my generation.

Is this video xenophobic? No, this video is a fact and reality. Technology will continue to advance. The computer will probably be able to hold as much information as a planet.

The connection to me is that there are more people on the computer compare to back in the 1980's. Presently there are billions of people using computers in one way or another.

Governors Reaction to Stimulus Plan

The Governor's from the nation gathered Saturday to welcome money heading their way, butof course some complained that it was not enough to improve the fiscal crisis in their states.

Those that agreed, said that it was a start in the right direction, while another complained that they were doing all the "heavy lifting" they were still making budget cuts and changes in their programs.

What these Governor's need to realize is that this crisis did not happen over night. It took years for this crisis to happen and it will take years for the country to have some economic stability. This crisis was starting way before President Obama took office.

What these Governor's should be thinking about is how to best serve their states with whatever monies they get, see where they can try and create jobs, whether is infrastruce, education, healthcare, etc.

President Obama can't solve everybody's fiscal problems, he is trying to give a boost to each state and it is up to them to spend the money wisely.