I know it has been awhile...VRA

So what has the GOP been up to? Well, they are holding up the Voting Rights Act. Apparently there are some conservative lawmakers wondering why their states are singled out in the legislation (Section 5). The recent Supreme Court decision on the redistricting in Texas provides a reminder of why certain states are singled out. In the 23 district of Texas about 100,000 Latinos were gerrymandered out of the district. I think it’s funny that in order for a Latino republican’s district to be gerrymandered in his favor Latinos have to be removed from the district. It was acts like this, along with pole taxes and various biased test requirements that got Texas along with Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia listed in Section 5 of the VRA. Those states are listed for a reason and judging by the implementation of the republican agenda (i.e. the redistricting mentioned above) they still need to be listed and the Voting Rights Act needs to be renewed immediately.
This leads me to ask the following question. Why is the opposition always “hating on” people? Women and ethnic minorities, those on the lower half of the economic ladder, and the GLTB community can count on conservatives to create barriers. When it comes to policies that make it easier for all citizens to pursue the American dream they oppose them. They oppose policies like affirmative action. Affirmative action gets applications read. It has allowed many women and minorities to get opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t because they are not allowed in the country club.
Look at Federal student aid. The opposition raided $12 billion dollars from federal student aid programs and they are also planning to raise interest rates on student loans. Currently about 2/3 of all college students have loans so this policy affects all demographics. This makes it difficult to get an education and move up the economic ladder. Personally, I believe student aid should shift from being focused on loans to grants. When people graduate the last place their income needs to go is to banks to pay off student loans. That new income is better spent going right into the economy (new clothes, cocktails at a trendy bar, electronic goods like MP3 players, retirement accounts, investments, food that isn’t ramen noodles, etc). Don’t worry about the banks they will get their money in the form of auto loans (shiny new car that runs!) and eventually mortgages.
Well, back to the lecture at hand. Now it is an election year so the republicans need distractions. Distractions like Gay Marriage. I think it is interesting that conservatives go on and on about how intrusive big government is on everybody’s lives yet they are the ones that support legislation that interferes into the most private and intimate parts of our personal lives. I say treat it like common law marriage. In some states there is common law marriage (with varies from state to state). Those are recognized by the government and you get all the rights and privileges associated with a legal marriage. Now you have equal rights, however, getting those marriages recognized by a church, now that’s another story.
What part of “We the People” doesn’t the opposition understand? Why are they always trying to deny equal access to the great American Dream? Regardless of race, gender, socio-economic background, sexual orientation, or religion we are all a part of society. In order for the individually to truly prosper the entire community must be able to prosper, and vise versa.