February Blog

In George Washington's Farewell Address, he made a few warnings to America.  He said that a strong central governemt works best and that political parties are distracting.  He said that religion was important to have in the government.  He also warned against having premanent foreign alliances and an over powerful military.

In a New York Times article about Andrew M. Cuomo, the separation of church and state is taken much too seriously.  Cuomo, governer of New York, did not respond to a call from a Vatican advisor who said that Cuomo chould not take communion in Mass the weekend of his inauguration because he lives with his girlfriend and supports abortion rights and same-sex marriage.  Andrew Cuomo just responded that though he is Roman Catholic, his religion is a private matter that does not need to be disscussed in politics.  By saying that, that is keeping religion out of our government which is not what George Washington advised America to do.

In Dwight D. Eisenhower's  Farewell Address, he made warnings to America.  He said to put national intrests above politics.  He also said that crisises, like the economy and terrorists, cannot be easily fixed.  He said we should not spend beyond our means and that a balaced approach has to be used to help the economy.

In a Newsweek article, it shows America not listening to Eisenhower's warning about over spending.  This article said that the Obama administration wants to build a high-speed rail.  They think it would benefit our nation, but the history of Amtrak shows that it would not be profitable.  The government wants to spend $53 billion over 6 years to construct it, but it would cost $500 billion over 25 years in subsidies.  The government made Amtrak with the idea that it would make a profit but Amtrak took more than $35 billion in subsidies and it is increasing by more than $1 billion every year.  Therefore, this would be a waste of money on the governments part.