Tag Archives: President Obama

Do Now Round Up: Minimum Wage

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Do Now Round Up 65

Should there be a minimum wage? was last week's question in our weekly Do Now. The issue addresses a few points: should there be one at all? Should the Federal Government raise the current minimum wage. Who would be affected by this? Students responded with insightful comments covering the full spectrum of this issue. Most of them identified how a minimum wage increase could be helpful and/or harmful.

President Obama endorsed the idea in his State of the Union address. He called for increasing the federal minimum wage in stages from $7.25 to $9 by the end of 2015, and then linking further increases to the rising cost of living. Right now for most workers it is set at $7.25, where it has been since 2009. This adds up to $15,080 per year which is just about equal to the poverty level for a family of two.

Read student responses below.

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Do Now Round Up: Grading the President

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Do Now #41 looks at President Obama's first term and asks students to grade his performance. See the story below, at the top of our Storify Round-Up. View how students think about President Obama's work in the White House and whether he has done well or what he could have done better.

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Do Now #42: Rate Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential Candidate

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photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr


To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDEdspace and end it with #KQEDDoNow

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Do Now

How do you rate Romney for President? Why? Rating scale is 1….10. In your explanation, you can include what Mitt Romney has done well in his career and what he stands for.


Introduction

Mitt Romney is the Republican presidential candidate challenging President Obama in November. Campaigning on his track record in business, he promises to set the economy on the right path.

Wednesday night’s presidential debate in Denver was the most-Tweeted about U.S. political event to date. More than 10 million Tweets were posted about the event. Romney supporters were pleased with their candidate, claiming he scored way higher than the president. Pundits and polls support this claim.
But when all is said and done about debating skill, how do you rate Romney as a presidential candidate and on what basis?

Mitt Romney is a tried and tested business man who suggests that the economy can better be regulated through lowering taxes and controlling spending. He would reduce debt, especially on social programs, like Medicare and health care in general. In fact he would repeal Obama Care – The Affordable Care Act. Along with the Tea Party he argues for reining in government, limiting regulation as much as possible to allow businesses to thrive free of taxation and the market to find its own level.

Democrats don’t agree at all. They argue that democracy is all about ensuring everyone has access to healthcare and a basic standard of living and the government – and all of the citizens of our country – have a responsibility to make that happen. Taxation is a part of that responsibility. Effective government is about regulation to ensure some kind of equity in society – meaning who pays taxes and how much. Democrats say government should intervene to stimulate the economy and make recovery happen, rather than leave the free market to find a level which may be unfair.

Very different ideas. What do you think? How does Mitt Romney rate?

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