Privatizing Social Security

In the beginning, I considered myself to be a Republican. Now, I still feel the same way, being more conservative on social issues and more liberal on fiscal issues. However even though I still have my same beliefs, I have a better understanding for others' views. I believe that a person cannot fully have a strong opinion unless they fully understand the other side of the argument, and this class has helped me understand where my other classmates are coming from.

In full session I obviously felt the strongest about my bill, "Privatizing Social Security". I felt this way not just because it was my bill, but because I really wanted to get my classmates to understand what will be coming to them in the future and to see where my group members and I were coming from. I was so serious about my bill partly because I wanted the apathetic students to start thinking and caring about what the decisions they would have to make with their money once they have a job. Although I am really disappointed that my bill failed, I still feel a sense of accomplishment since all the Republicans voted yes, including the few that my group members and I had to work at getting their vote.

Besides my bill, I felt very strongly about the same sex marriage bill. At first I felt that in some sense I had to talk about this bill because it was very controversial and as a Republican I had to vote against it. In the end, I am very glad I spoke about this bill so I could share my thoughts about same sex marriage and emphasize the importance of the traditional marriage.

The frustrating part of this class is that no matter how strong our arguments are, or what bills are passed, it does not make an immediate difference in real Congress. We can argue until we are blue in the face, but if we just keep our views in the classroom nothing will be changed in the real world. But in the real world there are several conflicts that everyday people are facing. In the Chicago area, we are dealing with problems every day. One of the biggest problems we are facing is the crime rate. In Chicago as of 2009, there are 176,490 crimes annually (neighborhoodscouts.com 2009). These both include property and violent crimes. There are more crimes that occur in the city of Chicago than there are in the whole state of Illinois. I believe that if the Police were more concerned with security and keeping people safe rather than filling their quotas by giving out traffic tickets, then we could have a safer city with less crime. Another solution is trees. Although this may sound a little ridiculous, studies show that the environment affects behavior. According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, trees lower crime rates and this is why Chicago has already planned to invest 10 million dollars in planting them.

Chicago is not the only concern of Illinois. In Illinois, one of the biggest problems the state faces is dealing with the department of education and its money. Basically every school in Illinois is struggling financially, yet education's officials' salaries are on the rise. This does not make any sense whatsoever. An article from March of 2010 in the Chicago Tribune stated, "The average salary and benefits of Illinois ' top school executives grew 3.7 percent last year, about nine times faster than raises enjoyed by other wage earners in the Chicago metro area, according to state data. A record number of superintendents -- 150 -- earned $200,000 or more." (Banchero, 2010). It is frustrating to attend a school that needs the most money it can get, while superintendents and officials act as if there is no problem and they get paid more, while we can't get all the supplies we need. For a solution, I think it would be smart to have the officials' salaries not increase as more and more schools need money. This could happen if the government and board of education would actually pay into teachers' pensions instead t saving the money. The money eventually would go to the teachers and schools, instead of the higher officials, therefore helping that problem of their rising salaries. Schools are doing everything