Autism is real

I was shocked when I heard that syndicated talk show host Michael Savage said 99 percent of autism cases is a brat that hasn’t been told to cut the act out. I can’t believe that a man of his stature believes that autism is a fraud. Autism is very real, so real that 1 out of 150 people children are diagnosed with autism. Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (autismspeaks.org). Last summer I worked with two autistic kids for four weeks. I can guarantee you that they were not brats who needed to cut the act out. These children had a real disorder, and needed help. On September 13, 2008, there will be a fundraising event at the Nashville Speedway. Walk Now for Autism is a family walk and fair to raise awareness about autism. Also, Walk Now for Autism is an event to raise money for the ongoing research on autism. I ask all of you to look up this event and walk to raise money. I will be there that day, and hope to see many or you there.

Thank you myspace

Everytime I get on the computer, I always check all the regular news sites. A few days ago I saw that there was an amber alert and read what was going on. Later on that day, I logged onto myspace, and the same amber alert was right there on myspace. Myspace uses the information that is on your profile to send out amber alerts that are in your area. I think this is a great idea and I hope that other social networking sites will follow Myspace and add the amber alert. With the way more and more young people are using these sites, we could locate and save many more missing children.

We are not whiners

For the first time in years, the Iraq war isn’t the most important issue in this election. The most important issue for the voters is the economy. With the price of gas and other food rising, the voters want to see something different this next presidential election. Phil Gramm, a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, said that the American people who believe the economy is the most important issue are whiners. Mr. Gramm thinks that we are in a “mental recession” and we are a “nation of whiners.” If we are in a “mental recession”, why is the dollar the lowest we have seen in years? Why are prices of eggs up 45% in the past year? Phil Gramm has insulted the 44 percent of Americans who think that the economy is the most important issue in this election. I do not think we are a nation of whiners, but an intelligent nation who knows when something is going wrong in our country. I hope that the next president will have the answers to these economic problems.

Patriotism

If I do not wear a flag pin, does that make me unpatriotic?
If I sit and enjoy the star spangled banner without my hand on my chest, does that make me unpatriotic?
How can someone who is running for president of The United States of America be unpatriotic? How can someone give up so much of his life to be president, and not care about this country? When people say that Barack Obama is unpatriotic, I loose respect for those people because they actually believe those ludicrous statements. A flag pin does not show how patriotic you are to your country. Standing up for what you believe is right for this country, is patriotic. So I ask you, have you been patriotic lately? I show my patriotism every Sunday here in The Tennessean.

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.