Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Anti Argument

AntiThesis: Cities should not be allowed to seize private property under the laws of eminent domain to give to a private developer for their use.

Cities can sometimes make mistakes in their judgement towards whether or not the use of eminent domain to create new economic development. Much like Gregory Ramirez noted in his article Texas Rice Land Partners, LTD. V. Denbury green pipeline-Texas, LLC: A probability of future use by the public as a key to exercising eminent domain it is up to the affected citizens to stand up to that particular power and fight back for their constitutional rights not to be violated, by private industry (Ramirez). The Supreme Court of Texas overruled the Texas Court of Appeals in the decision that that the seizing of private property for the Denbury green pipeline-Texas, LLC was constitutional. The Texas Supreme Court instead ruled it unconstitutional and the homeowners kept their land. 


Ramirez, Gregory S. "Texas Rice Land Partners, LTD. V. Denbury green pipeline-Texas, LLC:     A probability of future use by the public as a key to exercising eminent       domain."Creighton Law Review 41.1 (2012): 89-114. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.


Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Debate


The purpose of the Jon Stewart v. Bill O’Reilly debate was to present the issues from the 2012 Presidential race to people who would find this form of debate more entertaining. Its motives also include satirical humor, from both players, to strike down one another’s ideas and immediately strike back with your own argument. Bill O’Reilly audience is generally an older crowd so he used more obscure references and even used the cards as a point of focus for his arguments. Jon Stewart, on the other hand, used his talent as an actor and stand up comedian to improvise on the subjects that were brought up because his audience watches comedy central and connects more with humor.  Both parties did become at fault with a misunderstanding or misuse of the information they had memorized. The issue that Bill O’Reilly misunderstood was that most people on welfare do not like being on welfare, nor do they find it an alternative to working. He is making a generalization because there are those few individuals who take advantage of the system and its benefits and know how to play that particular field in a crummy way. This is a small percentage of people within this system.  Jon Stewart's fault came when he misunderstood the difference between our debt and our deficit. This is an example of a non sequitur because he had the information on the deficit correct but failed to have a conclusion that followed the premise of a deficit. I believe the debate was worthwhile because it let people who may not have been following the elections see the issues presented in an understandable way. Debating is necessary and we all do it in everyday life whether we mean to or not. Debating happens when choosing between options.