In this blog post I will create two showing scenes as practice for my one semester memoir paper. The scenes are going to be an unfamiliar place, as well as a familiar place. They should illustrate a detailed encounter of action during a scene.
 
UNFAMILAR:
Sunday November 22, 2015 I searched the small U shaped parking lot for a spot. My 8 year old is watching the chaos at the door of children spewing in. He wants out of my car, and short of double parking he would have to wait. We drove the parking lot twice with no luck and entered a business complex with every parking spot empty, except for a sign stating if you park here you will be towed. I swiftly pulled into the CVS parking lot, went in and bought a perfume so I could prove I was a customer, and then we proceeded towards the front door of Sky Zone. Children that were once piling in now were inside with their respective birthday parties. We were already 20 minutes late for Cole’s 9th birthday. I entered to smell the putrid smell of burnt cheese, sweaty feet, and vomit somewhere. I was not happy. My son excitedly joined his classmates on a metal bench that reminded me of high school football games.  

I was approached by Cole’s mother:
“Hi Courtney, did you pre-register Anthony on line.”

My reply was simple:
“No.”

She then lead me to a row of computers to begin the 10 minute process before the lady, who obviously hated her job, would take my son’s shoes and give him pretty pink socks to jump in.  I hesitated once I saw a consent that kept them from being held legally responsible if any injury were to occur. What kind of injury? As the all too friendly staff was busy dealing with yelling, rambunctious children, I looked at my son on the bench. He was sitting with the birthday boy and another classmate Mia. His face and body language said he was ready to have fun with his friends that he seldom sees outside of school. I signed the damn form and collected my son’s socks in trade of his Air Jordan’s. The next hour and a half was me following my child through endless mazes of trampolines and initiating small talk with other parents who seemed less interested than me. The smell of vomit dissipated the further we moved away from the snack bar, but sweaty feet smell stayed stuck in my nose for two days.  Anthony and his group finally settled into dodge ball and begged me to come and play. As I entered a pimply faced teenager said I didn’t have a bracelet to have fun on the trampoline. Our group was ushered up a tall staircase to the party rooms. The kids enjoyed pizza and cupcakes, were given a cheap water bottle and goodie bag while being told their fun had ended. Times up!! We walked towards the door to collect our shoes as a new group of children sat almost patiently waiting for their parties to start. I was pushed, stepped on, and finally out the door we were headed back to see if my car had been towed in the two hours it sat at CVS. The car sat peacefully in the last row untouched or ticketed. I willingly hopped in, my son not so much, and took in the aroma of leather as the day started to get better.

FAMILIAR:
Tip toeing quietly down the hall towards the bathroom, I close the door behind me. Take a peak in the mirror and realize my younger beauty is fading, and the face in front of my eyes now carries signature markings of a woman. Brushing my teeth with only a drip from the faucet quietly trying to not wake the children whose bedrooms reside less than 3 feet away. Creek goes the third floor board that I always try to miss, and slowly curl under the covers of my own restful night’s sleep. A slam hits the floor as the sound of nails go scratching against the same third floor board. Remy greets me at the side of my bed and licks my face. As I was scratching her head she whines in my ear. Headed towards the back door, she slides into walls that hold sleeping babies on the other side.

SHHHHH!!!! Remy!!!! A little louder than I like.

Remy heads out and handles her business, but not before tormenting the neighbors rescue dog. Throwing her 65 lb body in a full reckless run, she crosses the .58 acre in less than 5 seconds and slams into the wire fence. I pace for 2 minutes before calling for her, and 2 minutes later I am still calling for her as I take the first steps off the patio and into the grass. At that moment I hear her heading up strong, but cannot see in the surrounding darkness. Before I blink, the dog is at my feet panting. I escort her inside, and get her some water. I begin my tip toe back down the hallway headed for the covers I left unattended. Remy slams into me as she heads for her boy’s room, knocks me to my knees on that same third floor board. It creeks loud enough that it wakes the baby:

“Mommy?”

“It’s ok sweetie, goodnight.”

I curl back under the covers and turn on my right side. Kiss the man that shares this queen size. He reciprocates with a kiss on the lips, nose and forehead. Just as routine as any other night, I roll on my left, plug my phone into charge, check the alarm clock and stare at Family Guy until my eyelids close.

Goodnight. Sleep Tight.
 
 
 

 Home:
Today is the day after my Thanksgiving feast. I was able to take off Wednesday 11/25/15 and my son Anthony and I did all the baking. We made chocolate chip cookies, two pumpkin pies, monkey bread, sweet corn bread, and a carrot cake. The next morning, Thanksgiving Day, my feet hit the floor a little later then I liked, but I was headed towards the kitchen to get the coffee started. I pulled out my 22lb turkey for 30 minutes or so. My mother woke up and started her stuffing. She had to get the neck bone, heart, and liver out. I am in the medical field, but sticking my hand up a turkey’s ass just isn’t for me. As she did that I started the prep on the sweet potatoes. Peeled, boiled, and put them into a pan with light brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and syrup. Covered them with aluminum foil and into the fridge for later they went. After, I started the green beans. I pulled out the two huge ham hocks and put them into my soup pot, poured the beans, special seasons and chicken broth, and then they were left to simmer for the duration of the day. The turkey was finally stuffed, put some season on the big bird, and into the oven at 325 degrees for the next 6 hours. I took a coffee break. It may not sound extensive, but it was early and my head hurt already. Coffee break was over and back to the kitchen I went. My daughter and husband were too busy watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade to miss me. I started peeling the potatoes for mashed potatoes. My mother states you cannot have instant potatoes on Thanksgiving. Put the potatoes into a boiling pot of water and let them cook. As that was finished, I pulled out my ham and put it in the convection oven. I saturated the already marinated ham in brown sugar and syrup. It was already cooked so just needed a heat to help the seasons infiltrate the pig. The potatoes were finished so I dumped milk, salt, butter and chives and hit them with the blender. At that time, my husband made an observation that my mac and cheese with bacon is not in the crock yet. I told him that was not on the menu, so he took it upon himself to do his own mac and cheese. It was fabulous. I started the cheese tray cutting up cheddar, sharp cheddar, and jack. I aligned them perfectly next to 3 rows of regular town house crackers, parmesan cheese pretzel crackers, and plain pretzel crackers. As I put them on the coffee table our first guests arrived. My daughter greeted my aunt and uncle with
“Come on in the party is started.” She cracks me up. One by one our guests arrived and we had a total of 15. My father in-law started getting grumpy so we feed him some bourbon and he seemed to simmer down. All in all two families came together and no one fought…too bad.

In a previous post reflection week 4, I used the following telling language to explain a moment from my life:
A friend of our family has a property that has a huge pond. In that pond lives the biggest, most beautifully colored coy fish I have ever seen. Some with black and white markings, others with the brightest orange and white, one even looks like a tiger with his stripes. There are also two pre-historic large turtles.
Here, I will revise this telling language into a scene that shows readers this same moment from my life:
            Among the murky green pond, live two turtles so large they are almost prehistoric. Sharing the residence of the algae ridden water is coy fish, around 10 of them, with the most interesting colors ever visualized on an aquatic animal.
 
Class:
Well this past week I had my first anxiety attack that did not affect the others around me. I was actually quite happy that I did not go into a full freak out. The amount of work assigned was overwhelming to say the least, but I get why. We were assigned to do the first draft of the one-semester memoir, blogs #20-23, revise both our adaptive mindset papers, and room for debate. AHHHHHHHHH!!!! We went more in-depth with logical fallacies, and thanks to the Purdue Owl website I have a better idea and was actually able to identify some that my partners and I had used. I believe we used some slippery slopes, and post hoc ergo propter hoc. Professor M. was able to provide some help in avoiding using logical fallacies. For example, he kept repeating to stay specific, stick to issues and use precise wording, do the research to back the claims. I guess I did not realize how many times in our paper we state If ….happens, then …will happen. I see it better now. However, my grasp is not 100% as I continue to educate myself, so Ben your my contact! We discussed in class showing and telling writing, as you can see from my previous version of correction I still have some issues identifying the two. As I understand it to be, showing writing is writing that is detailed enough the readers imagination can read between the lines of what is being said, vs the telling writing that gives the vivid details outlining what you want the reader to see. I know in my writing I am very descriptive and in just a few sentences I can show and tell. A good narrative, as explained by Professor M. is 80% showing and 20% telling. Showing consists of strong details, setting a scene, providing action and thinking in terms of images. Telling is providing information, context, and background. Giving the reader what they are unable to discover from showing sentences. We watched a few movies to drive the concept home; Jerry Maguire, Ferris Buhler’s Day Off, and Good Fellas. I love all of these movies, but have never analyzed the scenes using a writer’s lens. Professor M. had us identify showing and telling in the scenes and I got 1 out of 3 correct. I can see both in most writing and visuals. I feel I may struggle with this as sometimes my writing is so descriptive, and through my descriptions I feel like I am showing. I don’t know, but hopefully once I start my rough draft of my one semester memoir I can nail it down. We did discuss the key points to the paper of sorting through our blog posts, picking one event, and developing that moment. Well as he told me in our mid-term conversation I have a lot of material. I have printed my blogs, as I used them for my found poetry assignment, and as I was sorting through I have chosen a few moments that I could very well expand on and easily create a 1000 word essay. The showing and telling part might be a little more of a battle. I have not done the necessary readings for this assignment to date, but plan to read all of them and possibly re-read. I need to be as true to the story as I remember. To create my paper I need to give information with creative writing and keep the reader interested in a moment from my little boring life. At least this is what I think at this point, my writing always seems to change as I start. I will have my little plan and next thing I know I am out in left field. Fortunately, I will be able to re-visit this blog to see where my thoughts were when I was still on the outside of the paper.
 

For blog assignment # 22 we were to review the website  http://www.foundpoetryreview.com/about-found-poetry/ and create two poems based on our own blogs:

My first poem is a "cut-up" found poem from the below blogs:

• Week 2 Reflection
  
• Week 3 Reflection
• Week 4 Reflection
• Week 7 Reflection
• Week 9 Reflection
• Week 11 Reflection

Ode To The Professor Who Challenged My Mind
I have now attended my first two college classes.

I truly believe this was the perfect class with the perfect instructor to re-start my college career. The first week he outlined the class and where he wants to take our minds, if we let him.

I am not a full time student, but full time everything else.

 Professor M. started our class off in a great way.

His method was described on the board as disrupting the fixed pattern of a college classroom.

He grunted, clapped, snapped, my professor still has my complete attention.

In the writing process Mr. M is showing us it’s not just sitting and typing, but giving your mind time to work through the logistics.

Mr. M promises if we work through the process our skills of writing will show our work in the end. I guess I will keep on working.

Professor Mangini continued to show us he is a person just like any of us.

Professor M. teaches and gives examples of situations college students understand.

All semester we as a class have been persuaded by Mr. Mangini to appeal more so to a growth mindset and declare that a fixed is inferior.

My professor excites me with his knowledge of alternate learning.

Efforts are really being given towards Mr. M’s process. I want to be a great writer, and when I get that one story I want to maybe have it published.

I am still learning to question my world and want the knowledge I obtained.

Not just in a critical thinking class, but how to become a critical thinker and question the world around me.

I now have my teacher’s attention.

​
A Growth Mindset

Mindset of growth shape boundless direction.

Educating myself, identify the brain is like a muscle and we can keep working at it to become a more intellectual.

Neuroplasticity exists and challenging the brain will make it grow, I will continue to challenge my mind as I live.

In the way I learn, approached with tough times and truly believe positivity.

God blessed me to see struggles and challenge to work harder to gain knowledge.

Asking questions obviously shows a person of a greater confidence.

Struggles with knowledge as well as a course in mindsets.

Growth mindsets encourage you to make mistakes, learn for intellectual capacity.

My stand point, absorb everything from not only from education, but also my environment.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Home:
It has been a crazy week to say the least. I feel this time of the year I am stretched very thin. Since buying our home in 2012 we have hosted Thanksgiving. The first year I did everything myself for 20 family members. It turned out great, but I was prepping for over a week. Last year, I had everyone make and bring something to help with the stress. Coming from a large family, each one likes to comment to me “don’t let her make that nasty ….”, but they like to make it so I have a hard time saying no. We had way too many left overs, and the raccoons ate great for a few nights. This year, I was hoping to tailor what my family would bring. It started with my crazy Aunt who raised me. “What would you like to bring to my house for Thanksgiving this year?” Her response was classic. “I cannot make anything hot because I like to make my own Turkey and my oven will be occupied. I can make coleslaw.” Ok so now we are going to have a Fourth of July covered dish. Great! “Can you make biscuits?” She replies “I can buy a pack of Hawaiian rolls.” No problem I thought, my grandmother will make something good. My grandmother  has had a bad cut on her ankle for months, and due to her arthritic medications it will not heal. So she decided to stop 3 years of progress on the arthritis medications to help the wound heal. Needless to say she has been in the hospital 3 times this week between her unsealing wound, and pain I cannot begin to imagine. I will not ask her to make anything. This is also the first year my in-laws will join us. My mother in-law was always running the cash office for Kohl’s and had to be in Black Friday at 2am. She would go to sleep by 4pm on Thanksgiving night. I cannot ask her to make or bring anything. My mother currently lives with me so she will be already assisting me in the prep. With no one willing to offer, and me not wanting to ask for assistance, I have decided to do it all by myself.
The Menu:
Turkey with stuffing-Turkey will be brined in citric fruits, salt and water 4 days in the fridge while it thaws. Stuffing will be homemade with cranberries.
Ham-will be marinated in brown sugar, honey, maple syrup and water for 3 days while it thaws in the fridge.
Sweet Potatoes-Baked with brown sugar, maple syrup, nutmeg, cinnamon and topped with marshmallows. A diabetic’s guilty pleasure!
Mashed potatoes-Just plain with butter, milk, and chives
Mac and cheese-Baked with Cheddar and Munster cheeses, topped with bread crumbs for crispiness.
Desserts-All Homemade
Pumpkin Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Carrot Cake-It’s two of my uncles birthdays and my daughter’s a few days later. As we have decided to play hooky for my daughter’s birthday to visit the aquarium, we will not be doing a big party. So we will celebrate all 3 on Thanksgiving.  
Oh and coleslaw and Hawaiian rolls. This is my stressor over the next 2 weeks and will continue until I have cleaned the kitchen Thanksgiving night. I will keep everyone posted on how it goes.
 
Class:
 Professor M. started our class off in a great way. He shared his daughter’s birth story. I love birth stories, babies and well most kids in general. He knew with us missing class last week we were behind, and I could sense his hesitancy in assigning the amount of work he did. We needed to get it done so we do not fall far behind. We spoke about topic sentences, needing a main idea, making a claim, and providing support. This is how each section should be laid out in our Room For Debate paper. We spoke about our sources and creditability. Some people may believe everything on the internet, especially Facebook, is true. Well unfortunately, it is not and we need to use reliable, creditable sources or it makes our papers as respectable as if there were no sources backing our topic.  We touched on fallacies and making overall statements. Mr. M spoke about weasel words to use like seems, plausible..ect. Our sections were explained in a sandwich metaphor. The top of the bun was to consist of a signal phrase, the meat of the sandwich was to give source material, and the bottom bun is to respond to oppositions of the idea. There were parts that we touched on about citing appropriately so we are not plagiarizing. I still do not know how to cite or create a bibliography. I have been working on educating myself in the different formats, as I have never used them before, and I am still lost. This is defiantly something I need to strengthen as myself and co-authors move towards our second draft. I am lucky enough to be with two classmates to share our ideas in co-authoring a paper with. As I said in my home life I am already stretched thin with time, and this week I spent a lot of time working with Art and Kylie on our collaboration. Kylie created a google doc and it saved us all a commute time of being able to work and interact in real time. Thanks Girly!!! We have argued topics, agreed, then completely disagreed with our own previous statement. I feel like the work we put in on this paper could actually become a solution starting point on gun control, and begin moving more towards the middle as a whole country. Not "I am Republican so leave my guns alone" or, "I am Democratic guns are destroying our children", but a common middle ground on background checks and mental health evaluations that could and should be put into legislation. As we did not have class last week the three of us agreed to write the paper by ourselves and meet to fit them into each other and create a collaborated paper. Once we read each other’s papers we knew we were stuck. Each paper was taken from a different perspective and backed by different sources. At that point we needed to pretty much tear up our papers and get the gun control topic sized down. The topic in itself is so controversial and has so many avenues. As Professor M heard us discussing, had to remind the three of us we are not writing a book. It was duly noted, and we chose to narrow our sights on background checks and mental health screens. If you have a moment read the paper it is compelling.
Until next time folks!!!!
 
 
 

Collaborated with Kylie White and Arthur Gandy

Reverse Outline
 
Title: Gun Control Resolution: Finding a Common Ground in Mental Health Screenings and Background Checks
 
Thesis Statement: Though they will not resolve the whole gun violence issue, mental health evaluations and criminal background checks will reduce the frequency of gun related crimes by making it harder for criminals to legally obtain guns.
 
Topic Sentences:

• Background checks: Even though we do not agree with mandatory mental health screens, we do believe for every legal gun purchase, one must have a background check. If, as a whole society, we made background checks mandatory, the number of crimes committed by a criminal with a gun would assumingly decrease. Criminal background checks have been implemented in the United States since 1993. “To strengthen Federal firearms regulations, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 (Brady Act) required the U.S. attorney general to establish the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL) to contact by telephone, or other electronic means, for information to be supplied immediately as to whether the transfer of a firearm would violate Federal or State law.” (National Instant Criminal Background Check System. (2013). Congressional Digest, 92(3), 14-17.)  
• Mental Health Screenings: On the topic of mental health evaluations, let us begin with a quote from Sally Satel in the article Enforce Mental Health Laws, Don’t Add to Them she states “the vast majority of people with schizophrenia, bipolar illness and other psychotic disorders are not violent and most violence is not committed by people who are mentally ill (Satel, “Enforce Mental Health Laws, Don’t Add to Them”). . In the article Require Therapists to Warn Authorities of Danger, D. J. Jaffe, an executive director of Mental Illness Policy org. believes if mental health leaves the privacy of doctor to patient, individuals who did seek treatment for lower level issues will no longer seek help they may desperately need.  So in lieu of requiring the mental health screens, we are suggesting optional mental health screenings, for responsible gun owners, so that individuals suffering from mental illness, don’t use this as an excuse not to get help.
   
  Source Material:

 
Satel, Sally L. "Enforce Mental Health Laws, Don’t Add to Them." NY Times Room For Debate. NY Times, 17 Jan. 13. Web. 9 Nov. 15
 
National Instant Criminal Background Check System. (2013). Congressional Digest, 92(3), 14-17.
 
Fox, “Crackdown on Illegal Gun Trade”
"Gun Control." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2015): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Benn Swann Debates Gun Control On RT. Perf. Ben Swann, Jill Stein, Richard Feldman, and Leah Gunn Barrett. Benn Swann Debates Gun Control On RT. Ben Swann, 14 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Jaffe, D. J. “Require Therapists to Warn Authorities of Danger.” NY Times Room For Debate. NY Times, 29 May 14. Web 9 Nov. 2015.
 
 
Oppositions:

• Most likely, conservative Republicans will oppose the notion of stronger background checks and mental health screenings, out of a fear of “having their guns taken away.”
• The Democratic liberals may agree with mandatory mental health screens
   
  
  

Rebuttal:

• American people are innocent until proven guilty. Mandatory mental health screens would be unconstitutional, as they would infringe upon US citizens’ 4th amendment right. Mental health screenings should be mandated only to those who have lost their right to practice the 2nd amendment, in the efforts of regaining their right after rehabilitation and a lengthy amount of time maintaining a clean record.
• However, our suggested legislation will work to enforce laws that will keep guns out of the hands of those with malicious intent, while protecting the rights of responsible gun owners. Perhaps another method of reducing gun related crimes would be to increase stricter punishment on those convicted of making straw man purchases. Despite our differences in beliefs, in order for other gun control issues to start moving toward each other on the sliding scale, we all need to meet somewhere between criminal background checks and mental health screens.
  
  

As this post could possibly be my framework for the Room For Debate assignment I have chosen a topic I am passionate about, which is gun control. As a blog assignment we were to search the New York Times online forum for the topic of our post, read what the leading experts had to say on the topic, and then base our opinion. I looked through the forum for  up to date debates on the gun control topic and October 2015 is the most recent illustrating how gun control policies have a strong tie to political views.

Alec MacGillis is a political reporter for the ProPublica as well as the New Republic. He states how President Obama tries to use tragedies of mass shootings as a stepping stone for stricter gun control legislation. Going as far as to say “it is entirely likely that neither background checks, restriction on gun ownership by criminals or those with mental health issues or limits on ammunition or particular kinds of weapons would have stopped the Oregon shooter.” He believes any mass shooting will not change control over guns in America as the Second Amendment is constantly used in law. Even with most Americans backing stricter background checks the instances of wanting to attack the Second Amendment fall short in statistics. A senator from Alaska, to appease the majority of his voters, even voted pro-gun because his voting public statically was gun owners. How are politicians basing their own beliefs on policies on the majority of their voters?

Robyn Thomas, an executive director of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence thinks that individuals who support stricter background checks and the NRA are confused, as the NRA opposes background checks. She goes in to speak about how Congress not taking a stand against the NRA is leading the public to believe that they are “invincible”.  However, some states are and they are winning. Some states have taking the power to enact the background checks and have the requirement met prior to purchase of a gun.   Believing that the gun lobby is out of touch with the American general public and their members she goes on to say “American people want smart gun laws.” The trends in voting polls show how the laws are changing state by state.

Lee Drutman a senior fellow in the program on political reform at New America thinks that until power is matched by an organization with the gun lobbyist, the politics will not change. He starts to speak on how the gun control votes are connected with the political parties. Some elected politicians may vote a certain way to appease the general public, but have a different viewpoint on the issue. The NRA is spending a magnitude of money in congressional races and “The National Rifle Association poses a credible threat to any lawmaker who crosses it.” With that being said, lawmakers who are basing their careers in politics are choosing to encourage the NRA’s hand in politics to obtain the necessary votes to keep their seat.

Elijah Anderson a sociology Jr. professor at Yale University stands from more of an inner city perspective. Giving examples on how the “street, an eye for an eye code” prevails in the neighborhood. The power of having a gun holds for some is not just limited to self-protection and self-assertion, but power and credibility as seen by others in the “street”. The accessibility of obtaining a gun in inner city neighborhoods in his opinion is due to the law enforcement relinquishing their control, and the need for self-preservation takes hold. As Supreme Court Judges choose to uphold the Second Amendment, and some cities see their state based laws unenforceable to the general public. Anderson seems to think that if our judicial system and democratic process change it will be solely based on the public’s outrage demanding it.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds a professor of law at University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville thinks that with the proper political and law support the gun lobby is basically invincible. In his expert opinion Americans have a severe distrust in the government. A statement made by Reynolds is “people don’t trust the government to protect them anymore”. In the pew polls, information obtained reflects the level of gun control, and how the public trusts their governmental elected official. With a president stating 8 years ago he does not wish to take guns away from everyone and now supporting Australia in a gun confiscation program trust is going to be a hard for the Obama Administration to regain. Without the regain in trust, voting will never support any harsher gun laws.

Carroll Doherty a direct of political research at Pew Research Center states that the Pew Poll demonstrates that the American population is in agreement with background checks as part of lawful gun purchases. Somehow even with over 80% backing, the Tea Party Republicans opposed a bill that would enforce background checks. Across the Democrats and Republicans there is support for the stricter background checks, but low votes for the legislation to support them. The overall feeling of the non-legislative supporters was that the regulations went too far and could possibly move towards broader restrictions.

In my opinion, we need background checks for all gun sales whether private, shows or at a gun store.  Also, our country needs to go as far as screening for mental illness. Over the last 3 years I have seen media coverage of horrific mass shootings killing innocent children. This hurts to my soul. As a gun enthusiast I have to say if those checks are completed and you are able to purchase a gun, I feel no one can dictate the size of my gun, how much and what caliber ammunition I can have for my gun, and what my clip is able to hold. If I want a damn rocket launcher, sell it to me with extra rockets. I agree 100% with Glenn Harlan Reynolds as I do not trust the government in our country. Before Hitler’s full regime he dictated that the Jewish people relinquish all weaponry to the government, and their inevitable slaughter was met with little resistance.  I will go down fighting. If my president needs 15 armed guards, at every outing, equipped with AR’s holding a 30 round magazine clip for his families protection, why am I frowned upon for wanting the same to protect my babies. It is also discouraging that politicians are voting pro or con on gun control legislation based on what might happen to their congressional seats. This is a topic that will be debated for years to come. I wish some politician could see it my way. I think even the NRA could agree to the background checks, mental stability screens, and freedom to gun ownership. The basic arguing point for most citizens is the Second Amendment, but how many really know the origination of it? It was put in place by our founding fathers that feared a regime so powerful that it could overtake the colonies they had created. IE: Our current Democratic government. The right to bear arms was for every able bodied man to stand against any regime that threated the separation from the English rulers. This is very useful today as our current government wants to use tragedies such as Sandy Hook or Umpqua Community College to get sympathy votes to push for tougher gun laws. The governments we have are not trusted by the American population in my viewpoint, and no gun laws will change until we can all see the greater good in some changes. This will  lead to law abiding citizens obtaining freedoms set by our founding fathers. Once that is set hopefully the career politicians can actually say what they mean and mean what they say.
 
 

As I watched the third Republican Debate I noticed the questions the moderators asked more so than any other debate. They were asking each candidate to publicly humiliate the others in the same party. This was disheartening  and I am glad that several of my parties’ candidates did not play along. A topic that was addressed with anger was how the government has already taken the Social Security money and left IOU's in the account, and how the United States of American has no fiscal balance. Thus creating fear in the American public that the money government has taken from every single paycheck, they will never receive due to overspending by our governmental leaders.

Senator Rand Paul spoke about the current government being allowed to make cuts to social security, but instead of saving the money they are utilizing it towards other spending. IE: Military equipment. The government is currently bankrupting the American people borrowing a million dollars a minute. There is a bill he has created to audit the Federal Reserve to hold them accountable for spending as the American public is held liable for theirs every April. Paul states that every working American pays over 100,000 dollars towards Medicare and Social Security and the recipient currently receives around $26,000. Where has the money gone? He does purpose a bill to fix Medicare by raising the age limit and means testing. This senator is like most in his party and believes that with smaller government the debt will dissipate.

Governor Chris Christie was a little more heated about the topic. He looked in the camera as he was speaking directly to his audience and told them the truth. The money is gone, stole by the same government that if they take the house will ask the Americans to give them more. Governor Christie asks that we start with moral and give the public the truth…finally. Getting really fired up with the moderators during a fantasy football question, he displayed how the real concerns of budgets, taxes, and monies stole are not being address in main line media. Christie does not want the people of our county to send more money to big government to fix the problems. He proposes ideas of increasing the retirement age as Americans are living longer. During some of the questions and answers his outrage illustrated his disgust with Washington wasting money and he wants to change the culture of our government if given the chance.

Governor John Kasich thinks that we need to fix the budget as well. Stating unlike his co-parts he is the only one to fix budgets in his state and it was not through false promises. He thinks we need fiscal discipline, addressing entitlements in a creative and imaginative way, as well as cutting taxes. Governor Kasich made a point to say that the government will spend today and hope the money is there tomorrow. He wants no more “silly deals” on the federal budget, as well as sending the money back to the state and away from big government for education.

Governor Mike Huckabee also addressed the topic of the government stealing from its own people. The money for Social Security is taken from every tax payer’s check. He hopes instead of blaming the recipients we start to blame to government. We need to keep the promise to our senior citizens about the money the government has now stolen. He discredits the means testing proposition other candidates have given for the pure fact that the money should be there. Governor Huckabee believes if we cure the four major illnesses that threatening Americans health we would be able to completely reform Medicare and the millions spent on treating Alzheimer’s, Heart Disease, Cancer, and Diabetes. I think he was the only candidate that became truly passionate while addressing America’s moral in government.

Senator Ted Cruz has similar ideas about how to balance budgets as his competitors. However he believes we should honor our commitment to the seniors currently and have the younger workers start to save for retirement in a different way. Put in what you will need. Democrats want more government which creates more taxes to be taken from middle class America. Senator Cruz backs Governor Paul’s audit the fed. The rich are not seeing increases, but the everyday struggling Americans do as they see their pay remaining the same. He wants to take Washington head on and make necessary changes in governmental structure for future generations.

Senator Marco Rubio is also noticing that small business and middle class America are struggling. He was over $100,000 in debt only 4 years ago. Also not falling victim to attacking other Republican debaters, he shed light on running for president to make conservative finical moves across government structures. With his current tax plan he will increase the child income credit for working families. Senator Rubio addresses the changes in Medicare to take place for future generations and not current. His mother is on Medicare and he wants to do nothing that will hurt his mother. The debt in American is causing the “American Dream” to slip away. With his tax and entitlement reform, he believes he can not only keep the American Dream but also expand it.

Mr. Donald Trump’s past financial discrepancies entered the debate since many bankruptcies entered under investments in Atlantic City NJ. However, he did counter as an excellent business man stating he used our countries chapter laws for profit for his family. Mr. Trump states how he will create a dynamic thriving economy by bringing back factory jobs from other countries. Now, at the third debate, Americans have listened to changes and are expecting details in plans. Mr. Trump did not offer that at this debate.

Doctor Ben Carson has a tax plan that will lead to smaller government which may help balance the budget. He does not believe in having government in every aspect of American’s lives. Doctor Carson states with fewer regulations and regulatory fees poor and middle class American can start to thrive and big corporations can cut costs to offer lower prices. He thinks that offering Americans a private sector option will be better than mandating Medicare taxes wanting Americans to use their intellect vs utilizing the government’s intellect. Dr. Carson knows that people are seeing more into the government and do not like what has been happening.

Carly Fiorina seems to think that by nixing out the IRS and tax preparers the American people can save money all around. She wants her tax reform down to 3 pages so it levels the playing field and everyone can understand. No more loopholes. She believes that big and powerful government only benefits big and powerful business and any outsiders are left in the wake. Ms. Fiorina, like her party, wishes for smaller government and with that fewer issues to fix. The large government, in her opinion creates problems then requests more tax payer’s money to fix that problem. She would want to start with zero base budgeting to know exactly where every dime is going across the board, and make her reforms accordingly.

Governor Jeb Bush thinks Washington is so corrupt that the culture needs to be completely reformed. The Obama administration seems to be increasing taxes without any budget cuts causing fiscal disaccord in Washington. Governor Bush believes with a change in government policies we can reform and gain growth not only financially, but with jobs and market as well. He also believes with a fix to Medicare and encouraging HSA accounts,  SSI could potentially make sure everyone receives 125% above the poverty level. He closed with our country needing a unifier after the last 8 years under Obama Administration, and I could not agree more.  

I agree with the ideas of fiscal changes the Republican Party has illustrated during this debate. I believe there is some great game changing proposals being offered. As a country we do need to offer a Medicare alternative for society. We also need to reform the government aid we offer. There are too many Americans receiving government benefits who should not. If you do not pay taxes in any way, shape, or form you should not receive any of the benefits I pay for. We do also need to look more at the Federal Reserve and know where the tax money is going. I mean Isis is currently riding around in million dollar American military equipment. I think allowing the Obama administration to continue to overspend is a ridiculous notion, and we need to start supporting the American economy before sending our money to other countries to aid them. I watched a Unicef commercial last night and wondered how much is spent here in the United States on hungry children who are not receiving proper nutrition and medical support. As a country we need to take a conservative approach to reserving funds for national security threats only as we build back up to being the greatest country again. For those who believe that America is the greatest country still, you need to look at the statistics across China and Europe. Donald Trump is right we are losing. We can all become proud Americans again with the proper leadership in government and assuming financial responsibility.