Cut The Deficits, But Not My Program

The majority of Americans agree that the federal deficit needs to be reduced, but we seem unable to decide just how to do this. Most people (65%) think that the way to do this is to cut major programs and increase taxes. However, people can't agree on which programs to cut or reduce funding for. It is obvious that people really don't want taxing on employer-based health care, increased gasoline tax, national sales tax, or reduced funding of roads or education as these were the main ideas objected. Most people did support the raising of the social security cap and the freezing of federal employees' salaries.

It doesn't surprise me that 93% of Americans think the federal deficit is a major problem. It also doesn't surprise me that our country is having difficulty deciding which programs to cut. I think this is a very sad issue, especially when it comes to the issue of cutting school programs. One main program that's usually considered worth cutting is the music program. I know many people, including myself, who live for the music programs. If I had to choose between my sports and the music programs, I would choose the music programs in a heartbeat. I am in support of freezing federal employees' salaries and I don't think a national sales tax would be a horrible idea. Also, I think certain items should be more heavily taxed. For instance, our country's also dealing with obesity problems. One way to help solve this is to heavily tax junk foods--kill two birds with one stone.

Prison Blaze Kills at least 83 Inmates in Chile

Early this morning (6:30 A.M. our time), in Santiago, Chile, there was a fire in the prison. It was set off intentionally in the very early morning hours, and was finally put out three hours later. It killed at least 83 of the inmates, with 14 others severely injured. One of the inmates notified national television using an illegal cell phone. Since Wednesdays are visiting days, family members were hysterical outside the prison after they learned people had been killed in the fire. The article describes the conditions of the prison as "extremely inhumane" with over 1900 inmates living in a space that was designated for only 700. Apparently, guards were laughing and taking pictures of the inmates that were puking because of the smoke. Firefighters weren't even let in for awhile.

This story makes me very sad. Although all the prisoners obviously did something wrong to be put in prison, it's not fair that their living conditions were so horrible. The point of prison is to keep criminals away from other people in order for them to pay for their mistake, but not to torture them. Like one woman standing outside the prison said, "There aren't animals in the prison, there are people who made mistakes." I also think it was extremely barbaric for the prison guards to simply laugh at the prisoners who were in danger. I think it could be considered more of a crime to torture these inmates than what the inmates actually did to get into prison.