Who shares your values?

According to a new Pew Research poll, it shows the president has a 45% approval rating from millennials.  Before the president's 2nd inauguration, his approval among millennials was 67%.  I can't explain the drop in his numbers from this demographic.  It seems understandable though given the challenges he's faced this past year.  There were many scandals the administration had to tackle.  The IRS was unfairly targeting groups based on their ideology.  Personally, that scandal was blown way out of proportion by the Tea Party groups themselves because liberal groups were also targeted.  The NSA surveillance on Americans was another big scandal.  It's understandable as to why the NSA is using these tactics, however the NSA has gone totally overboard with the power it has used.  Most people think the NSA's broad powers were authorized by the Patriot Act and therefore it should be repealed.  It's true the Patriot Act authorizes things such as roving wiretaps, random searches of records without a warrant, and many other different things.  What many don't realize is that the Patriot Act also has things like: Making sure intelligence agencies share information, provisions against terrorist money laundering, provisions related to border security, and section 5 of the Patriot Act removes obstacles to investigating terrorism.  The Patriot Act was passed by an overwhelming majority in both houses of congress.  That doesn't mean that there weren't any dissenting votes though.  It's true the Patriot Act should be reformed to protect civil liberties; it doesn't mean that it's okay to throw out the entire law just because you disagree with one part of it though.  Just because you disagree with one provision of Obamacare doesn't mean it should be thrown out entirely.  Another reason the president might be losing popularity among millennials is the ACA.  It's true the president promised you could keep your existing insurance plan if you liked it.  I believe he should keep the promise that he made.  The administrative fix he gave was nothing more than band-aid though.  That's why it's critical for congress to pass the Landrieu bill proposed in the senate to allow people to keep their plans.  Unlike the Upton bill, the Landrieu bill grandfathers your health plan, but it doesn't say insurance companies are still allowed to sell those existing policies.  The Landrieu bill also requires insurance companies to point you to the health insurance exchanges that are set up by the ACA.  It also requires insurance companies to tell consumers why their old plans don't meet minimum standards.  Poll numbers go up and down all the time.  Polls don't always give you an indicator of what might happen in the future.  It's critical though for millennials to understand which party is advocating for them in congress.  The Democratic Party will continue to be the advocate for young Americans because the party has always shared their values.

Footnotes- Obama Loses Millennials,
HowStuffWorks "How the Patriot Act Works", Landrieu Introduces Bill To Ensure Individuals Can Keep Health Plan if They Like It,  Looking back at NSA revelations since the Snowden leaks | PBS ..., IRS inspector general: Liberals also on target list - CNN.com