Issue 2- Boosting the Minimum Wage

Living below the poverty line is difficult and unhealthy, it is not okay that so many people are still living in such conditions were they have to decide are they going to send their child to school or are they going to eat lunch today. The minimum wage was raised from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 but that is still not enough, families can apply for benefits such as food stamps and earned income tax credits even then people still can't seem to stay afloat. I make more than the minimum wage and I know that I couldn't support a family on my income without help, so I can understand how these people struggle to even have just the necessities.

Many people say that the minimum wage earners are high school and college students only, sadly that is not the truth. Most of the minimum wage earners are single parents, hence why we need so many support programs and financial aid. Below I have a picture that represents the working class struggling to make ends meet and I also have linked to other students blogs. Enjoy!

Putting Welfare to work

All things being unequal

10 Killed in 3 Weekend Crashes in Minnesota

About the article:


The title is pretty self explanatory. I believe of those 10, 6 of them were teens, any people who die from a car crash is unfortunate, but myself, also being a teen think that it is scary how many people are in car accidents. The sad reality is that about 1 in every 3 teens will be in a car accident and about 1 in every 5 of them will die or have serious life altering/ limiting illnesses after that, just about a year ago I had a friend, Jesse that was in an accident, an older man side-swiped him on ice and caused his truck to roll into the lake in the middle of winter, plunging through the ice, ultimately plunging to his death. He was "lucky" his truck became hung up on the bottom of the embankment in a gnarl of trees, he was trapped upside down in his truck for four hours before he was noticed and help could arrive. Jesse now is a quadriplegic (he is paralyzed from the neck down) and has some severe brain damage, he is living in a nursing home at the age of 24 and will never again be able to walk or breathe on his own will, he lives off of a ventilator and relies on a feeding tube, he is able to talk in short sentences that appear to make no sense, but to Jesse's family and friends it makes perfect sense, he "left behind" a wife and an unborn daughter, as Traci, his wife puts it "essentially Jesse is dead to the world, as morbid as that sounds he has no idea who Ayden (his son) and the rest of his family are. He lives off of machines, two seconds without them and he will be existing no more."
That is a tough thing for anyone to think about but especially for Ayden, he will be growing up never knowing who his father is.
The idea of so many young people losing their lives because of the actions is unfair and very sad, but what can you do? their is not alot. We do have laws that say 16 Year olds cannot drive with more than one person in the car and cannot drive between midnight and 5 AM and we all know that teenagers cannot legally drink, but the girl driving one of the cars had just gotten her license three weeks or months prior, and the smell of alcohol was pouring from the car and she was driving at two in the morning, what did save her though was her seat belt, with all that she has to face in the days to come, she probably won't want to live and move on... the mistakes you make once will be with you forever.














http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=848758&catid=14

"Infections in Hospitals get worse, Despite Safety Focus

About the article:

Nearly 100,000 deaths from infections in hospitals yearly... doesn't make you want to go to the hospital very badly do you? True but if you need help what are you going to do? Tough it out? Go to a different Doctor? What will you do? My hope is that you would get the help you need, but not be afraid that you could get sick and maybe even die. The article goes through the formality of sharing information that the Health Department has created and observed. The information is supposed to be true and accurate as to date, however, many believe that the Health Department surveys are only out to find the negative of a Health place, which is not true, but many people do not see the side that shows what places are the best hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics but also health care professionals. The Health Department surveyors are responsible for creating and compiling these lists.



http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/04/patient_safety_in_hospital_rem.html

"Need Cash? Some Thieves Are Taking The Whole ATM"

About the article:
With the economy in a slump people are in desperate need of money and will go to extreme lengths to find the money that they need, including stealing an ATM machine, no not just the money bin, the whole thing! It seems ridiculous to steal a whole machine, doesn't it? well No, according to detective Greenat, "if thieves take the whole machine there will be no fingerprints left just a bare spot that once was a source to get money." Makes sense, Yes, but why would you want that big machine just chillaxin in your living room? It's a sign of prestige says Greenat, in the "gangster" community stealing is the norm but the bigger the item and more worthy the better you are if you were able to successfully steal it. Also a valid point, but how would your conscience rate if you were convicted of stealing no not, a car, not a person, not a few groceries, but yes, an ATM machine. The logic behind the theft is completely stupid, seriously? dude come over, check out my ATM machine! NO! nobody would do that. I am not saying that stealing is right but seriously if you want the money that bad, take it. But don't take the whole d*** machine! People these days, get a life, go for a walk without coming back with things that you did not buy or you "found" they are someone Else's and you with your dirty little mitts need to leave it alone. Stop it. You are not cool. Not at all.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125621359