Rather than fight the same tired battles that have dominated Washington for decades, it's time to try something new. Let's invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt. Let's meet our responsibility to the citizens who sent us here. Let's try common sense. (Laughter.) A novel concept.To do that, we have to recognize that we face more than a deficit of dollars right now. We face a deficit of trust -– deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years. To close that credibility gap we have to take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue -- to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly; to give our people the government they deserve. (Applause.)That's what I came to Washington to do. That's why -– for the first time in history –- my administration posts on our White House visitors online. That's why we've excluded lobbyists from policymaking jobs, or seats on federal boards and commissions.But we can't stop there. It's time to require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my administration or with Congress. It's time to put strict limits on the contributions that lobbyists give to candidates for federal office.With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests –- including foreign corporations –- to spend without limit in our elections. (Applause.) I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. (Applause.) They should be decided by the American people. And I'd urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to correct some of these problems.I'm also calling on Congress to continue down the path of earmark reform. Applause.) Democrats and Republicans. (Applause.) Democrats and Republicans. You've trimmed some of this spending, you've embraced some meaningful change. But restoring the public trust demands more. For example, some members of Congress post some earmark requests online. (Applause.) Tonight, I'm calling on Congress to publish all earmark requests on a single Web site before there's a vote, so that the American people can see how their money is being spent. (Applause.)
Martin Gavin on 20 Nov 09this article gives us a lot of information on media literacy. it is divided into 4 parts the definition of media literacy, building on experience, the current landscape, and toward a media literacy movement. in the first part of the article it focuses on the idea of media literacy being different for everyone and that people of all ages use media literacy to understand media for all different reasons. but it does summarize that almost all use it and it is useful for all. as for the second part, it talks about how media literacy is a challenge in the United States of America but there is always some kind of new device or way to spread media literacy and make it more common in the USA. the second part also talks about how media literacy is spread/used in Germany and Canada and how its starting to be used and spread in the USA. part three talks about the challenges that the spread of media literacy has, not allowing it to spread as much as it should. in addition it takes these problems and states some opportunities that come out of them for the spread of media literacy. the fourth and final section of this article talks about the future and what people need to do if media literacy is going to be spread. after stating the needs that media literacy has in order to spread it then supplies the approaches that one/a nation should take in order to overcome these problems. overall this article attacks the problems that media literacy is facing that prevents its expansion but not only does it do that it also gives us many many many ways in which we can approach these problems a fix them, making media literacy a national and one day global ability.
