Analysis Paper 2- The Fall of America Inc.

The article, The Fall of America, Inc. was written by Francis Fukuyama and published on October 13, 2008. Fukuyama gave his opinion mainly on the current state of the U.S. economy. In his opinion, the economy is in bad shape by relating to the history of the U.S. and how the next U.S. president will handle the situation for the future of the country. Therefore, Fukuyama wrote this piece as an opinion on bad decisions for the U.S. economy.
In his article, he refers to U.S. history on how the economy was in bad shape during the Reagan administration. He describes how Reagan was trying to create a capitalism that would bring about low taxes, light regulation, and a government that would be in charge of the economic growth of the U.S. However, Fukuyama states that Reagan’s plan backfired which created deregulation that had a huge affect not only on the U.S., but the world. Fukuyama also uses the term “Reaganism” that describes how governments can expand their authority. Also, this term was used to describe how Reagan tried to make tax cuts so that the government and wealthy people would be receiving the money while everyone else struggles to maintain a balanced budget.
Fukuyama also describes how President Bush messed up the economy by stating that between 2002 and 2007, the countries Europe and Latin America viewed the U.S. economy as a, “cowboy capitalism.” In other words, Fukuyama is blaming President Bush for creating havoc in the Middle East by invading Iraq and raising the prices of oil and gasoline so that he could use American dollars to fund his war. Therefore, Fukuyama is stating that the Bush administration put the U.S. economy far more in debt with the funding of the war in Iraq. Money was printed and sent to the Middle East instead of being used to stabilize and support the US economy.
Fukuyama then starts talking about the future of the U.S. economy with the upcoming presidential election between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. He states that Obama wants to make better political relations with the countries of Russia and China by way of diplomacy. Obama believes that if the U.S. pulls its troops out of Iraq and focuses on bringing the gasoline and oil prices down, then the economy will recover from severe debts, but not all at once.
However, Fukuyama states that McCain is like Teddy Roosevelt because the last few debates, McCain has been saying that if the U.S. leaves Iraq, it will be a failure. Fukuyama also stated that McCain has been calling out against the Wall Street and SEC chairman, Chris Cox because Wall Street received a 700 billion dollar bailout to avoid a bankruptcy and possibly another depression. Therefore, Fukuyama is criticizing both candidates because Obama’s policy is not considered an ideological process and McCain’s policy is not considered intelligent, but trigger happy.
Finally, Fukuyama states that in order for the U.S. economy to change, the country must live under a democracy. Fukuyama believes that a republic is a bad way of governing a country because President Bush wasted billions of U.S. dollars on Iraq and has done nothing to help the economy. In other words, Fukuyama illustrates that Bush did nothing to help his own people, but he certainly had time to spend a lot of money for his war in the Middle East. Also, Fukuyama related how the Bush administration is similar to the Nixon and Reagan administrations by explaining how each president handled the economy by trying to cut taxes which took a lot of jobs away from the citizens living in the U.S. In return, foreign countries, such Russia and China are noticing that Bush is really destroying not only the U.S. economy, but the world economy as well because almost every country relies on the U.S. dollar.
In this writer’s opinion, Fukuyama is one hundred percent accurate about the U.S. economy being in very bad shape. One reason why this writer thinks that Fukuyama is right about the U.S. economy being in bad shape is that he read in the article about the 700 billion dollar tab to help Wall Street avoid a stock market crash. In other words, this writer thinks that Fukuyama did a good job explaining how the 700 billion dollars can put the U.S. in greater debt, but also make it a challenge for the person who becomes president.
Second, this writer thinks that Fukuyama did a good job comparing both the Nixon and Bush administrations based on foreign policy because Fukuyama illustrates how both Republicans were focusing on handling both the Vietnam War and the War in Iraq. Basically, both men were more focused on how to spend money for Iraq and Vietnam, but also how many troops should be deployed to war. Therefore, Fukuyama has a very strong point about both presidents ruining the U.S. with their foreign policy overshadowing the economy.
Finally, this writer thinks that Fukuyama is right about the Republicans ruining the U.S. economy whenever a Republican is President of the United States. He explains how Reagan, Nixon, and Bush ruined the economy by asking for billions of dollars to help each of their egocentric foreign policies. In other words, each president did not care about the economy because each of them erroneously thought that the U.S. economy was in great shape.
Based off this third reason, Fukuyama thinks that living under a republic is worse than living under a democracy. For example, Fukuyama illustrates that President Bush uses the term democracy as a military action against countries that are ruled under tyranny. Basically, President Bush uses democracy as an excuse just to start a war in the Middle East. Therefore, these three reasons illustrate why this writer thinks that Fukuyama is one hundred percent accurate about the U.S. economy being in bad shape.
After reading and analyzing this article, Fukuyama clearly states that the U.S. economy is in terrible shape due to previous U.S. history and the current administration funding the War in Iraq. Therefore, the next U.S. president must focus on rebuilding the economy to help every American live in a country of peace and prosperity.

COMM 337- Mark Danner review

I am in class today.

Mark Danner's article is well written because it is discussing the 2008 election from the beginning that makes it a feature story. I think he does a good job comparing McCain to Bush because McCain has the same foreign policies as President Bush while Obama is focused on the economy. Also, Danner does a good job of using words that replaces profanity. I think people should not hear profanity because it gives a bad image to society. Therefore, this article illustrates how both candidates plan to run the U.S. with their policies.

Analysis Paper 1- The Politics of Water

The Milwaukee Magazine published a political article titled the “Politics of Water” on March 3, 2008. Barbara Miner, the author of this article, reviewed the Great Lakes in the Midwest of the United States by explaining a little history about the lakes, illustrating a disaster scenario, and mentioning how the lakes can shape the future of the United States and the world. Therefore, this article is a chronological piece that describes the past and the present.
Miner started the article by describing some U.S. history of the Great Lakes dating back to the late 1800s. She describes how Waukesha which is also called Spring City played a huge role with the Great Lakes because it has sweet- tasting spring water that many tourists all over the nation would come to taste and drink it. Basically, Miner is describing how this city is a tourist attraction just because of the spring water.
Another part of the history Miner used was the year 1965, which is the year when the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers studied the water of the Great Lakes to relieve droughts in the Northeast. In 1981, the U.S. government paid 2.2 billion dollars for a pipeline from Wyoming to the Great Lakes designed to carry coal slurry. These two dates show how the U.S. government is trying to preserve fresh water for the future.
Miner illustrates a disaster scenario of the Great Lakes by using the Aral Sea as an example. The Aral Sea is part of Russia which has been polluted for many years and over that time, the seas began to drought. The reason Miner used the Aral Sea as an example of the Great Lakes is that it used to be the fourth largest lake in the world.
She also discussed global warming as a disaster scenario because it is changing the world’s climate rapidly. With global warming rising at an alarming rate, the salt waters will expand because the glaciers are absorbing and holding the fresh water hostage which is a valuable resource for the United States and the world. Therefore, Miner shows how global warming can have a bad affect on the Great Lakes.
Finally, Barbara Miner goes into detail about the Great Lakes and discusses methods that can be used to shape the future of the United States. She explains how important the lakes are because they provide a fresh water supply for the Midwest and they are part of a tourist attraction. Miner explains that the fresh water supply shapes the economy of the Midwest in the U.S. by being a useful resource for farmers to plant the crops such as corn and soy beans. It also allows tourists to explore the different sites by boat and travel to different states by going across the lakes instead of taking an airplane or driving long miles across state borders. These examples show how Miner is illustrating the importance of the lakes in the United States.
Also, Miner illustrates how the Great Lakes are being referred to as a resource for the nation. She states that the water of the Great Lakes will be the new oil in the future, and she gained this information from water experts who stated this as a prediction. A method Miner would probably use would be where car dealerships are switching from gasoline and oil to water. Basically, dealerships can provide cars and trucks that get better mileages without the use of oil and gas as a necessity which will put oil and gas companies possibly out of business. Therefore, oil and gasoline will become obsolete in the future when humans will figure out how to run cars on water.
Another thing that Miner discusses about the Great Lakes that can shape the future of the United States is that the U.S. government is trying to establish a long term water supply by 2010. In other words, the government is trying to maintain a consistent water supply for every person in the United States by trying to prevent droughts from occurring in the Midwest and in the Gulf Coast. Also, the government is trying to bring global warming to a halt by trying to quarantine pollution from factories. Miner illustrates how Congress is trying to establish some new federal laws that will regulate the water of the Great Lakes because the lakes are starting to lack amounts of fresh water for the people due to drought and global warming. Therefore, this information she used illustrates how the Great Lakes are being regulated by the U.S. government.
Ms. Miner states that Waukesha is the villain of the Great Lakes for two reasons. One reason is that the city of Waukesha has hotels for travelers that can find a place to stay for a couple of days or weeks which allows the people to tour the city rather than the Great Lakes. Basically, Miner is saying that the city is becoming a tourist attraction which is taking a lot of water supply from the lakes. This reason shows how Waukesha is affecting the Great Lakes.
The final reason why Waukesha is a villain to the Great Lakes is that the city has major sites for tourists to visit. These sites are making tourists stay in Waukesha longer than normal because they are taking a huge amount of water supply from the lakes for the city’s water parks, restaurants, and buffets. Basically, entertainment parks and food businesses are using large amounts of fresh water to make tourists feel welcomed to the city and providing good water for hungry people. Therefore, the city is a huge tourist attraction that uses a lot of fresh water from the Great Lakes that some people would state that the city is a villain to the lakes.
This writer thinks that Miner’s writing is well written for a few reasons. One reason is that she explained the history of the Great Lakes and how they affected the United States. Another reason is that the use of fresh water not only has a national effect, but an international effect that can put oil companies out of business by using water as a resource for an alternative fuel for vehicles. The final reason is that Miner uses suggested solutions for the Great Lakes to prevent droughts in the near future. These reasons show why this writer understands why Miner did a chronological piece to make a report for a magazine.
Therefore, this article is presented in a timeline so that Miner could explain to readers how the Great Lakes have a big affect on the United States and how they are important to people and the future because of the fresh water the lakes provide.

COMM 337- Market Ideas

RHS Football: Beckett Media and Riverton Register

NFL and College football: The Bulldog

College football rankings: Sharing the Victory

COMM 337- Georgia Bulldogs bumped to No. 3

Chip Towers reported that in college football, the Georgia Bulldogs who were ranked number one at the beginning of the regular season are now ranked at number three with USC at number one and Oklahoma at number two. The way Towers reported the story was that he spoke to the head coach of the Bulldogs, Mark Richt along with Ralph Russo who is a college football writer for The Associated Press. He asked simple questions that Richt could answer and Richt simply told him that Bulldog fans should not be worried because the team still has many games left in the regular season in which they could jump back into first place.

Russo provided Towers with examples about other teams that were ranked number one, but then dropped to number three. Russo also told Towers that there is plenty of time for the fans to vote for the Bulldogs to be number one at the end of the regular season.

COMM 337- Obama and McCain Speeches

After reading both speeches, Obama's speech was better than McCain's because Milbank used important examples that referred to human history. For example, Milbank included how Obama referred to the Legend of Troy as well as Greek Mythology. Also, Obama's speech had a lot on how he was going to develop a health care plan and pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.

On the other hand, McCain's speech didn't not sound trustworthy because the writer of the article made McCain's image as a "cowboy." Basically, the writer only included material that would fit McCain's background. Therefore, Obama's campaign speech had a greater positive outcome than McCain's speech.

COMM 337 Discussion Questions- Answers

1. Reporters come across something unexpected in a story (Murray); I think it is something that happens without any suspicion.

2. It reveals a new plot to a storyline or it could be additional information that provides more detail to a story.

3. The relationship between reporting and writing is that they both involve a story which is written into words, uses many facts, and described by many perspectives.

4. You look for what isn't at an event as much as what is at an event.

5. Murray means that craft is a special skill for a person. I think craft can be a special skill, but also a special kit for what job a person has skills at. The difference between craft and art is that craft is a skill and art is human creativity.

6. The relationship between craft reporting and writing is that reporting has the five w's and gives a distinct story. As for craft writing, it makes the writer write important information, facts, and details of the event.