Raise Taxes in Austin for UT

Paul Burka writes the Burka Blog for Texas Monthly. He is a very well known journalist and I stumbled across this article he wrote called "Taxes for UT?" about the possibility of taxes being raised in austin for the expansion of its new medical school. He is obviously speaking to the general population of Austin that is eligible to pay taxes because he discusses how the University of Texas is wanting to have local property taxes raised $107.40 per household (this being an average number) in order to pay for their medical school. Reading this, I just think it is outrageous, but then I was comforted to find that Burka tends to agree that this might not be so easy to pass in Austin.

Burka suggests that UT should have done some major fundraising efforts as soon as they knew they were going to have to expand this school. I have to agree with him. Property taxes in Texas are so unstable anyway, without even taking this into consideration. I have been told story after story about people's property taxes/mortgage increasing $300 a month or $600 and without warning and there is nothing you can really do about it. Fortunately, I was informed by a friend in real estate that it looks like they have begun to change some of those laws and add more restrictions, but STILL. And in a situation like this, for the University of Texas to know they want to expand or update this department and not have it in the budget to do so, to have the gaul to even propose an increase in property taxes- and of such an extravagant amount- without even trying to pull some weight on their end with fundraising efforts is just absurd. In my opinion it's insulting to the community that they would try to "sneak one passed us". They are a very prestigious school and they are fully capable of doing fundraisers and finding different means of bringing in extra funds. Taxing the community is not the way to go about it. Especially when the vast majority of the Texas population couldn't or wouldn't be accepted to the school if they wanted to (because of being land locked and the top 10% rule in the state of Texas).

9-11 and the War with Iraq

The article I am critiquing is an article about 9-11 and our country going to war thereafter. "Willfully Blind to a System 'Blinking Red'" was written by Jody Seaborn on September 11, 2012. The particular portion of this article that I would like to discuss is the portion where Seaborn proceeds to discuss the neoconservatives "pushing us into a war that we didn't 'need'".

...Those same neoconservatives would, 18 months later, carry the nation into an unnecessary and unwarranted war with Iraq.

Seaborn is a journalist with the Statesman, and she does include links to other articles and commentary throughout her blog, but this statement is completely derived from opinion. If you were to ask the  average person, to whom she is writing, back in 2001-2002 what their stance was, most, republicans and democrats, would say we cannot stand idly by and do nothing while this country wages war on us.   During 9-11 was when the country really began to come together in a time of crisis and most people were in support of the war under the circumstances, though their normal political views would say otherwise. Reason being, nothing about 9-11 was normal. Nothing about the war with Iraq was unnecessary or unwarranted. When people from another country come onto your turf and devastate some of the most important buildings and places of business to our country and our economy and they kill thousands of innocent civilians, you don't just do nothing. Especially being Americans, who at the time had a very good reputation of strength and power in the world. You cannot allow other countries to make a pointed attack on your people and not retaliate. Doing so would show a serious weakness, a lack of care for the people of your country, and may even open doors for other "enemies" to attempt something similar or even worse. To say that the war on Iraq was unnecessary and unwarranted is ignorant, selfish, callous, and insensitive. This event totally changed the course of our history, but it also brought about such change and closeness among the American people that can never be taken away. We were and still are united as a country. No one will every forget what happened that day or the men and women who laid down their lives to make things right for us.