GI BILL

I am a Student Orientation leader at MTSU, which is a person who helps with the freshman orientation. I was very excited to see someone who was enrolling through the GI Bill in my group. I am very happy that this man served his country and now is going to go to school for free. I hope that many of our servicemen and women will take part in the GI Bill and go to school for free. I think the GI Bill is a great way to thank our them for the work they have done. I hope that we can expand the GI Bill to offer more money and more benefits for our soldiers.

Stimulus Check loophole

When I heard that the government was going to give out stimulus checks, I was very excited. I made over 7,000 dollars last year, which is 4,000 dollars over the minimum. I was looking forward to that check, and was going to put some of that money back in the economy. I soon found out that I am stuck in a loophole. Since I still depend on my parents, I am still filed under my parent’s taxes. Because of that, I do not receive any money. So that leaves me receiving nothing for the work that I did all year, while other people are receiving their checks. Also, my parents do not receive extra money for filing me on their taxes. The government has missed a vital part of the country, the young people. These are the people who are going to be the next leaders of the world, and the government forgot them. I am very disappointed that a program like this has missed so many deserving people. I know that many of my friends would have taken the money and spent it right away, putting more money into our economy. I hope that next time the government has a plan like this, that they remember all the young people out there.

Tax Cuts

Some critics are saying that Barack Obama wants to tax the poor. Let me throw a few facts out there about both candidates that I found in The Tennessean on June 12(Tax plans offer middle-income families a $1,000 break)

- Both candidates want to reduce taxes for the middle class by $1,000
- Families in the lowest 20 percent of income ($19,000) would have a $567 tax cut under Obama’s plan but only a $19 cut from McCain’s plan

- Families in the top 1 percent of income ($ 603,000) would have to pay over $100,000 under Obama’s plan but would get a $45,000 dollar tax cut from McCain’s plan.
- Both plans would add to the national debt, but McCain’s plan would cost 1.3 trillion dollars more than Obama’s plan.

Obama is not going to tax the poor like some critics are saying. These statistics come from The Tax Policy Center.

"Low- and middle-income taxpayers would undoubtedly be paying lower taxes under the Obama plan," said Len Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center.

The DREAM Act, immigration reform

There are many illegal immigrants who were brought to this country at a very young age. I believe that these immigrants should have a chance at legal status. This is why I support the DREAM Act, which is a legislation that would allow long-term illegal immigrants a chance at applying for legal status. These students would have to have a clean criminal record and go to college for two years or serve in the military for two years. It would take these students at least six years until they would be able to apply to be a permanent residence. I believe that this should be one of the many changes in the process of immigration reform. We should not blame these young people who want to go on to college and do something with their lives. If you agree with this, please search the DREAM Act, and e-mail your state representative and tell them to support the DREAM Act.