California lawmakers set for 5.3% pay hike 

California still hasn't recovered from the last recession and a couple of California lawmakers decided recently on a 5.3% raise However, controversy has happened because a dozen have said they won't accept it due to the fact that residents are still struggling to recover from the last recession. The base salary for legislators used to be high in 2007 but after the crisis in California it was cut down and since then it hasn't been brought up again. Travis Allen argued that ever since prop 30 was passed in California to raise taxes he didn't expect his salary would raise therefore he ended up denying the raise. With so many unemployed people in California it shouldn't be appropriate for a raise in certain employees such as legislators while they already gain so much money and there is other billions of Americans struggling. Just as their is legislators that put the raise down, their is others that agree with it. Steinberg in a statement he gave said he had always accepted the Independent Citizens Compensation Commission and therefore he would continue to accept the decisions they were making now. With this new raise even, governor Jerry Brown's salary would raise up. With so many teachers being cut off and schools losing money there is really no reason why should legislators salary's raise up. The government has so much debt with all the things occurring right now such as the water debt and a million of other things. In my opinion I don't have anything against the raise of salary's however i would agree for that to wait a little longer. I think before the government starts raising up salaries they should primarily be focused on money issues they have to take care of today. Instead of raising salary's the government should use that money to make more work fields for all those Americans struggling or being unemployed. First thing to do would be manage the government and get things fixed up and then later throughout time they can have there salary raised up with a satisfaction that they have helped fixed things up.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-state-pay-raises-20131129,0,7418152.story#axzz2m61swoNw

John Boehner: Immigration overhaul is not dead

With so many things happening in the U.S government, immigration seems to be the last priority. John Boehner seems to agree to the idea that immigration is being upheld and does not know when the House will address it once again. Although it is being upheld he says it is not dead. Ever since the last election in 2012, he made it clear it was time for Congress to deal with the immigration issue. The Senate's immigration bill on the side of the Republicans has died however the GOP has stayed divided  over providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Many advocates for immigrants have tried sending republican voters in Congress a turkey for thanksgiving in return for a vote. Dreamers have also attended college or joined the military.  President Obama, said he understood the Senate's approach however he would continue with the immigration reform step by step as well as Boehner. In my opinion, the senate should just agree on immigration because no matter how much they push it away, it will still come back every single time to haunt them. Although, there is a lot of controversial things happening in the government at this moment with the whole issue of healthcare, immigration should be taken care of before we start a new year. 

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-boehner-immigration-20131121,0,4205845.story#axzz2ldeH1UNB

Obama facing Democratic dissent on healthcare law

As the end of the year seems to get closer the health care law seems to face more and more struggles. The healthcare website is still not fixed which makes more and more democrats feel disappointed in the president. All those democrats that once supported Obama on healthcare seem to back away since they see no progress in the act. Thirty nine democrats joined up republicans in a 261-157 vote to allow insurers to continue selling individual policies under the affordable care act. As the Obama care seems harsher to be passed Obama hopes his democrats stay strong and support him all the way to the end.The GOP bill was passed by 39 votes to undo Obama care and to keep your health plan. Republicans have described the GOP as the first step to kill Obama care.If things keep going like they are currently Obama care will end up failing and all the hard work of having health insurance for billions of Americans will be a total waste.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-dems-20131116,0,963245.story#axzz2kruWDbh3

Senate passes workplace protections for gay, transgender Americans 

After so much discrimination throughout time on workplaces for gay's and transgenders, the senate finally approved a new bill that would protect them. The majority of Republicans have been against this for a long time however in a vote with Democrats, a 64 to 32 vote proposed the Employment Non-discrimination Act. This act will help them not be discriminated in any type of way and will be hired based on their skills and qualifications for the job. Ever since 2010, Congress had stopped passing new acts for gays besides the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevented gays to participate in the military. However now with this new bill it would prohibit public and private employers and agencies from using sexual identification for decisions on employment. This new bill has brought a lot of positive attention to gay's being protected on the workplace but there is a majority of people that disagree on transgenders. Some people feel there is nothing wrong with gays gaining equality rights in the workplace but feel transgenders violate the dress code. It's a matter of counter and pro arguments. In my opinion i think it was about time there rights on workplace were officially protected, and by this now there shouldn't be no type of discrimination no matter their sex, race, or gender.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-enda-passes-senate-20131107,0,7926414.story#axzz2kBfBstod

United States Department of Agriculture

2013 U.S Capital Christmas tree tour begins

The department of Agriculture is responsible for the natural resources and conservation of the environment.  With Christmas being around the corner , the USDA has to be able to sustain the health and diversity of the nation's forests and grasslands. Washington being a very important place, has already obtained there Christmas tree where it will be decorated and displaced. Just like a tree sent to Washington the department of Agriculture has to protect our forests and trees for future generations. The USDA is responsible for managing 193 million acres of public land of forestry. With billions of people buying Christmas tree the USDA has to find ways and solutions to take care of our nation's forests so they don't die out and will be healthy for future generations. Although many people might not go green and not care about the environment, it is really important for people to visualize and see all this nature wont last long if we don't protect it. If people want to be happy and have bright smiles on a Christmas day , they have to be able to do it knowing the Christmas tree they bought is healthy and secure. The USDA has an important role in our lives and thanks to this agency our environment can be secure from any type of harm.

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2013/10/0205.xml&contentidonly=true