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The Voice of the College at Florham

"News is the first rough draft of history." - The Voice of the College at Florham

Tag Archives: politics

Students, faculty debate possibilities of going to war with North Korea

MONIQUE VITCHE
News Editor

Members of the Department of Social Sciences and History gathered in the seminar room in the Mansion on April 15 to have a discussion about what is happening with North Korea. It was hosted by John Schiemann, department chair and associate professor of political science.

Schiemann said that the North Korean regime is one that is extortionist in nature and that the current leader, Kim Jong-un, is “not necessarily pushing it farther” than Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung did.

He explained that there is not much known about Kim and he is most likely trying to “shore up constitutency” as one of the things a leader in a closed regime is likely to be worried about someone coming after him and take his seat of power.
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Opinion: America’s presidents should not be imperial presidents

TOM STROWE
Contributor

With debates over the budget deficit, gun control and immigration policy dominating political discussion in Washington, D.C. and across the nation, another important political issue, the Imperial Presidency, has not been receiving the attention it deserves.

The Imperial Presidency refers to the idea that the Presidency of the United States has grown too powerful and has exceeded its constitutional limits.
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Newark Councilman Ras Baraka speaks to students in Lenfell Hall; Plans to run for mayor of Newark

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JOE CASTILLO
Photo Editor

On Feb. 14, following a speech on civil equality, Newark Councilman Ras Baraka said he will run for mayor.

Before a group of more than 40 College at Florham students and numerous faculty and staff members, in the lavishly decorated Lenfell Hall, Baraka was welcomed by the FDU gospel choir, Melodies of Heaven, which sang a medley of uplifting classics.
Freshman psychology major Evelyn Bailey gave an eloquent and heartfelt introduction to Baraka, who is also a poet. Bailey spoke of his parents, Amina and Amiri Baraka, and their involvement in Civil Rights activism during the 1960s. She went on to explain that his parents’ experiences during the Civil Rights Movement shaped Baraka’s views and inspired his political career.

Baraka took the stage to roaring applause from the audience. He opened with a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and followed it with a few words of his own concerning the issue of civil rights.
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Opinion: Fierce inequality supported by the Republicans

CHRIS BEDELL
Columnist

With the impending issue of our nation’s deficit, there are a couple of important aspects related to the budget that people need to be reminded of.

Unfortunately, conservatives just don’t get it.

Getting rid of loopholes and lowering tax rates for corporations and the wealthiest of Americans just isn’t fair.

The Warren Buffett analogy, which has been discussed by the media, holds true. Until Buffett pays a higher tax rate than his secretary, the tax system will never be fair.

Obviously, loopholes for wealthy Americans and corporations might be an issue worth examining, but that doesn’t mean that the tax rates should automatically be lowered once you eliminate most loopholes.

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Opinion: Why are we still talking about Benghazi issue?

CHRIS BEDELL
Columnist

Over the last few months the Benghazi issue has been blown way out of proportion. The sad thing is that the liberal leaning parts of the media (such as MSNBC, for example) are the only ones to realize that.

What about the Iraq War?

That was a war that didn’t need to happen but it happened anyway. A lot of people just seemed to turn a blind eye to the fact that George W. Bush’s administration lied about weapons of mass destruction.

Super-conservative Republicans such as Rush Limbaugh love to accuse Obama of being a fascist or a communist but the fact is that Bush was the one who had a cult of followers with personality mentality – the reason it took so long for people to speak up against the war.

That’s sad that a fair amount of people just blindly accepted what George W. Bush’s administration did and also the fact that if you were against the war you were un-American, which is totally untrue.
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Opinion: The time has come to throw out current tax code

THOMAS STROWE
Contributor

The 2012 Presidential Election has ended, but the road to rebuilding America is far from over.

Many Americans remain unemployed and underemployed, and economic growth remains slow. Politicians in both parties have begun to discuss tax reform as a means to addressing some of America’s problems and the fiscal cliff.

But unfortunately, the plans coming out of the Washington establishment only tinker with the problem, not fix it.

The tax code is so broken that you can’t fix it by making little changes here and there.

Instead, we need to throw out the current tax code and replace it with something simple, fair and transparent.

Thankfully, the plan America needs has already been written. It is known as HR 23/S13, or, by its common name, the FairTax.
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Opinion: One more false step for Republicans

CHRIS BEDELL
Staff Writer

The upcoming fiscal cliff problem is clear.

The poor and middle class should not have to make any more sacrifices.

The fact is that the average American has been paying for the mistakes of the rich while the rich get by unscathed (economic meltdown).
And say what you want about Bill Clinton’s personal life, but at least America was prosperous during those years. He wasn’t the president that ruined our country while some people turned a blind eye.

Reforming the tax code and bringing down rates on the rich is just not enough. Until Warren Buffett’s secretary pays less taxes/lower tax rate than he does the tax system will never be fair.

It is immoral to go after the Big Three (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid). You cannot call Social Security and Medicare entitlements if people pay into those programs.

So it isn’t more free welfare despite what the Republicans think.
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Campus community reacts to President Obama’s re-election

MONIQUE VITCHE
News Editor

On Nov. 6, America re-elected President Barack Obama with 332 electoral votes and 51 percent of the popular vote, according to the Associated Press. An informal survey found that campus reaction to the results has been mixed, with some students being happy with the results and some being disappointed.

Anastasia Noce, a senior accounting major, said that she didn’t vote for either candidate, but was very surprised when Obama was re-elected. She was told when the economy isn’t doing well, people vote for change. Noce continued by saying it doesn’t take four years to fix things.

With regard to the two candidates’ stances on the issues, Noce said she thought about other people – not just herself – when it came to issues such as Medicare, abortion and gay rights.

Peter Carille, a senior political science major, recalled the events of election night. “Florida, as usual, took a long time. I thought the race was close,” Carille said.
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Opinion: Wise American public gives Obama four more years

CHRIS BEDELL
Staff Writer

It was really a relief to see that the American people made the right choice on Election Day and re-elected Barack Obama. After several debates Mitt Romney failed to improve his image and continued on about the same old nonsense. He failed to offer the American people any clear specifics.

On Election Day it really hit me, though: Romney didn’t deserve the American people’s support on the simple fact that he didn’t feel that he owed it to the public to tell them where he stood on the issues. And, if he can’t even do something as basic as that, he has no business running for President of the United States.

One of the highlights of the election was something that Al Sharpton pointed out in one of his commercials for his “Politics Nation” show on MSNBC: “this election is not about Obama, it’s about your mama.”
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Opinion: Biological, emotional and political truths about our rights

ALEXIS CAMARENA
Senior Editor

Sometimes, I think I’m way too young to be this angry.

But the thing is, listening to the way some people talk about contraception and women’s rights, I’d say there’s a lot to be angry about.
It’s common knowledge that Mitt Romney wants Planned Parenthood defunded.

Planned Parenthood, which gets about 40 percent of its funding from federal and state governments, provides women and girls with an array of amenities related to sexual health: pregnancy tests, HIV and STD testing, birth control, emergency contraception, and safe and legal abortions.

This issue of “women’s rights” and each candidate’s stance on the matter seems to have risen to prominence lately, given that Election Day is on the horizon.

But frankly, my beef is not with just Romney.
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