Political Warrior

Cleavage and Connection: Chinese heir apparent President visits White House

2012-02-15T10:25:00.000-06:00

(From CBS News)

Protesters chanted "Xi is a liar "outside the White House Tuesday as President Obama and Vice President Biden met with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping. He's slated to become leader of China's Communist Party in the fall, and president in 2013.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7398667n#ixzz1mT4CukX6

President Barack Obama welcomed Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to the White House Tuesday saying strong cooperation between the two powers is good for the Pacific region and the entire world.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7398663n&tag=contentBody;housing#ixzz1mT5TuFN3

(From Foreign Policy Morning Brief)

As Xi Jinping, China's vice president and leader-in-waiting, made his rounds in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, U.S. leaders focused on one issue in particular: trade. Vice President Joe Biden raised concerns about intellectual property theft and China's currency, noting that cooperation "can only be mutually beneficial if the game is fair." President Obama expressed a similar desire for everybody to play "by the same rules of the road." Senator John Kerry pledged to tell Xi the story of an American company whose technology was sold to China.

Xi, for his part, argued that any issues between the two countries should be resolved through dialogue and "not protectionism," urging the United States to lift restrictions on high-tech exports to China.

U.S. officials also discussed human rights and China's veto of U.N. action against Syria with Xi. After a State Department lunch, the Chinese vice president explained that China had made progress on human rights in the past three decades, though he added that there was "always room for improvement."

A red-letter day

2012-02-14T10:54:00.001-06:00

From the bottom of my heart, I am glad I told you all to stop reading at the Marxist-Leninist State heading on Pg. 214...re-affirming my belief that you all are of solid, hearts and minds. Good day for you, for me, not so much. So for tomorrow, to complete your Valentine's Day Quiz, blog you answers to questions 5 & 6, from the Hauss reading on the second half of Pg. 214.

(5) Explain the Cult of Personality that was prevalent in Communist systems. What type of legitimacy do these personalities have to lead? Did now President Obama have a Cult of Personality following during the 2008 campaign as some suggested?

(6) Explain nomenklatura in communistic systems. Can a comparison be made to any civic systems in the United States?

Blog your answers here (my preference) or bring me in the answer tomorrow. Enjoy Amanda's contribution of Communist valentine's above, read the rest of Hauss, Ch. 8, and cast your vote on the best valentine above in the comments section of this post.

Happy Heart's Day!

Chinese, Russia window on the world

2012-02-09T18:52:00.000-06:00

As we begin our look into the Post-Communist World, we need to start with the basics in this three part intro assignment:

Part One:

In your C6 (5) CountryGroups, Access the constitutions of current day Russia and China and create a compare/contrast chart with the U.S. Constitution. List and explain a minimum of 5 comparisons and 5 contrasting observations. (similar to what we did for Great Britain).

Russia:
www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/constit.html

China:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html

Part Two:

Read and highlight the first two Chapters of the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels.

http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html

Part Three:

You will write an "I am not a Marxist" essay from the eyes of three leading Communist leaders. I will explain in class.
______________

From Political Warrior (3/1/11)

Unsettling? Foreign Policy reports on how Russia, China...and the U.S. view events in Egypt:

One of the principal bases of U.S. foreign policy under President Barack Obama has been to create as constructive relations as possible with Russia, China, and other great powers. The administration had some degree of success in 2010: notably the Russia "reset" policy and managing inevitable trade and other tensions with rising China. But 2011 looks set to be more challenging as events continue to unfold in Egypt after the mass demonstrations that ousted President Hosni Mubarak and as the United States, Russia, and China all prepare for elections in 2012.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/15/how_russia_and_china_see_the_egyptian_revolution

The Teaching Comparative blog has this:

The populist revolutions in the Middle East are prompting reactions in China. The reactions illustrate the fears of the authoritarians in China.

Well-Oiled Security Apparatus in China Stifles Calls for Change

Two months of upheaval in the Mideast have cast doubt on the staying power of all authoritarian governments. But in China calls for change are so far being met with political controls wielded by authorities who, even during a period of rising prosperity and national pride, have not taken their staying power for granted.

The nearly instantaneous deployment of the police to prevent even notional gatherings in big cities the past two weeks is just one example of what Chinese officials call “stability maintenance.” This refers to a raft of policies and practices refined after “color revolutions” abroad and, at home, tens of thousands of demonstrations by workers and peasants, ethnic unrest, and the spread of mobile communications and broadband networking.

Chinese officials charged with ensuring security, lavishly financed and permitted to operate above the law, have remained perpetually on edge, employing state-of-the-art surveillance, technologically sophisticated censorship, new crime-fighting tools, as well as proactive efforts to resolve labor and land disputes, all to prevent any organized or sustained resistance to single-party rule...

Chinese Move to Stop Reporting on Protests

Chinese police, citing newly enacted restrictions on journalists, have moved to forcefully prevent foreign reporters from covering public protests that have been largely nonexistent, establishing “no reporting” zones in Shanghai and Beijing and, in one case, beating a videographer and injuring two other reporters…

Why China Is Nervous About the Arab Uprisings?

As protests swept the Arab world, toppling two regimes, the Chinese government has strengthened its elaborate security apparatus with crackdowns on human rights lawyers and activists.

On the Chinese Internet, anonymous calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" -- modeled after the pro-democracy demonstrations in the Middle East -- have been squelched by authorities. Words like "Egypt" and "Tunisia" have been blocked on some Web searches and social networking sites have been made inaccessible.

Unlike Arab countries with deteriorating economies, China has experienced rapid economic growth in the past decade. Is that keeping a lid on broad discontent in China? If that is the case, why is the Chinese government so nervous? Could popular protests of a similar scale sweep China in the near future?...

From my Soap Box: Karl Rove, Really?!

2012-02-07T17:51:00.001-06:00

I saw this ad and thought it was Pro-American......but I guess some political operatives don't see it that way.

Guardian Series on the EU....good stuff!

2012-02-07T17:36:00.003-06:00

As The Guardian writes, "The European Union is grappling with its deepest crisis in 60 years, a malaise that goes beyond the euro debacle and the enormous tide of debt swamping the continent. The union seems exhausted. Expansion has ground to a halt. Sluggish EU economies are being eclipsed by rivals in Asia and Latin America. "Brussels" has become a dirty word, no longer only in Britain...

"At this critical juncture, six leading newspapers from the largest EU countries have come together in a joint project to build up a more nuanced picture of the EU and explore what Europe does well and what not so well.

"We begin by investigating the benefits the EU has brought to 500 million people and later today examine the national leaders labouring to steer it out of its current difficulties. Tomorrow we look at euroscepticism and national stereotyping. At the end of the week, you can take our "How European are you" test and see how you and other European readers rank."

The series' home page at The Guardian is at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/europa

The College Board's article on the Challenges of EU enlargement is linked here (thanks to apgov.org)

Challenges of EU Enlargement

The Pint: A battle EU supporters couldn't win

A classic blurb re-run to teach about the European Union and its struggles when its bureaucratic rules, backed up by legislation from the European Parliament, challenge national sovereignty, sparks fly. What's a sovereign nation to do?In this, the latest example involving the EU and its members, the EU bureaucrats, using their wide range of discretion, seem to have backed down.

The defenders of pints, miles, and pounds (as weight, not money) are not entirely satisfied. By the way, those of us not in the UK (or the Republic o Ireland) might not understand that the pint is the most important of these traditional measures.

EU gives up on 'metric Britain'

The European Union is set to confirm it has abandoned what became one of its most unpopular policies among many British people."It is proposing to allow the UK to continue using pounds, miles and pints as units of measurement indefinitely..."Under the plans which have now been scrapped, even displaying the price of fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces would have become grounds for a criminal prosecution."The decision to back down was made by Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen... 'I want to bring to an end a bitter, bitter battle that has lasted for decades and which in my view is completely pointless.

Bono: EU definition lies eight miles away

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601932,00.html

(Sustainable development in Africa may be one the topic choices for our final exam project. Following the lead of my favorite rock star when he read the founding document of the EU, the Treaty of Rome, 2007, we will consider the EU's role in Africa here in this re-run post.)

In saying the West’s (particularly Europe’s) greatest depends on how it deals with Africa, Bono wrote in an essay in Time Magazine:

“Fast-forward 50 years. An Irish rock star reads the treaty with the enthusiasm a child has for cold peas but does uncover what I think technocrats might call poetry. Not much of it--just a turn of phrase here and there. Like Article 177, which summons the signatories to foster "the sustainable economic and social development of the developing countries and more particularly the most disadvantaged among them" and calls for a "campaign against poverty in the developing countries." Not exactly Thomas Jefferson but a glimpse of the kind of vision that might bind us.

Over the next 50 years, we might need a little more poetry. Europe is a thought that has to become a feeling--one based on the belief that Europe stands only if injustice falls and that we find our feet only when our neighbors stand with us in freedom and equality. Our humanity is diminished when we have no mission bigger than ourselves. And one way to define who we are might be to spend more time looking across the eight miles of Mediterranean Sea that separates Europe from Africa.

There's an Irish word, meitheal. It means that the people of the village help one another out most when the work is the hardest. Most Europeans are like that. As individual nations, we may argue over the garden fence, but when a neighbor's house goes up in flames, we pull together and put out the fire. History suggests it sometimes takes an emergency for us to draw closer. Looking inward won't cut it. As a professional navel gazer, I recommend against that form of therapy for anything other than songwriting. We discover who we are in service to one another, not the self.

Today many rooms in our neighbor's house, Africa, are in flames. From the genocide in Darfur to the deathbeds in Kigali, with six AIDS patients stacked onto one cot, from the child dying of malaria to the village without clean water, conditions in Africa are an affront to every value we Europeans have ever seen fit to put on paper. We see in Somalia and Sudan what happens if more militant forces fill the void and stir dissent within what is, for the most part, a pro-Western and moderate Muslim population. (Nearly half of Africa's people are devotees of Islam.) So whether as a moral or strategic imperative, it's folly to let this fire rage.”

The entire text of Bono’s essay is linked at the top. You, of course, can refer back to http://www.data.org/ for more information. The ONE Campaign is an example of a grassroots (really netroots) linkage institution.

As a group, the EU countries have committed 0.7% of GDP to help the poorest of the poor. So far, as the saying goes the check is, well, in the mail. At the end of the essay, the songwriter pens, “What will define Europe in this new era…..Part of the answer lines eight miles away.”

If only it could become a hit.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee and London's Baby Boom

2012-02-07T16:57:00.002-06:00

(From Teaching Comparative blog)
Yesterday marked Queen Elizabeth's 60th year as Monarch, the Head of State, in the UK.

The Queen has visited a school in Norfolk as she marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.

Earlier she said she was dedicating herself "anew to your service" and that she was "deeply moved" by support for the Diamond Jubilee.

The Queen was met by crowds at King's Lynn Town Hall before going to Dersingham Infant and Nursery School.

Gun salutes were held around the UK, including in London and Edinburgh.

The main celebrations for her anniversary will be in June…

During her reign, Queen Elizabeth II has seen 11 UK prime ministers come and go, with David Cameron her 12th.

Mr Cameron praised the "magnificent service" given by the Queen and called her a "source of wisdom and continuity".

"With experience, dignity and quiet authority she has guided and united our nation and the Commonwealth over six varied decades," he said…

The Queen's 60 years as monarch are set to be marked by a series of regional, national and international events during 2012, culminating in a four-day long UK Bank Holiday weekend in June…

In her message to mark the anniversary, the Queen said: "I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the Diamond Jubilee.

"In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign and which my family and I look forward to seeing in many forms as we travel throughout the United Kingdom and the wider Commonwealth."
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London's Baby Boom

The ongoing baby boom in London is creating challenges for government whose capacity has been declining. As the Economist reports:

The changing face of London

LONDON imports the young and exports the old, the theory goes — or went. For decades people have come to the capital to go to university or work, moving out again when their children require more space or education or when they retire. But a startling demographic change has drastically slowed the conveyor belt.

Births in the capital each year have soared by 25% since 2002…

Many parents are now staying put, thanks to a sticky mortgage market that makes it hard for buyers to get a loan and a sticky labour market that makes it hard for anyone to be sure of a job…

This expansion has coincided with the hardest squeeze on government finances in almost a century. So it is small wonder that city planners are scratching their heads over how to deliver services such as education and health care, and wondering where on earth, given London’s long-running housing crisis, so many extra people are to live…

How permanent are these new demographic trends? Will birth rates turn down again as the daughters of immigrants adopt British ways? Will foreigners find greener economic fields elsewhere? Will native Londoners? Flyers touting emigration services are beginning to appear in parts of town.

It’s a frightening time for those planning education or health care or—worst of all—housing…
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Finances of the Super PACs

2012-02-01T20:04:00.000-06:00

Here is a great link on the financials of each of the major Republican candidates' super PACs. It also has who are their largest donors.

Welfare State Analysis

2012-02-01T18:56:00.001-06:00

Friday's assignment (due Monday 2/6) is to review and analyze the British Welfare State:

1) Review the notes in your packet.

2) Click on the BBC link: Among the features, read:

3) Breadline Britain (timeline), Hard Times & Poverty in UK

4) Blunket on Welfare State & State of Welfare (charts) and

5) 1st Time Buyers & Then & Now: A Hospital's Story

When done reading and taking notes, write your own 10 question BreadlineBritain quiz (with questions & answers).

Do Not just copy the quiz that is on the page, although you should take that when you are done. Quiz must be typed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2005/breadline_britain/default.stm

Part Two

In a one-page social and economic analysis, take a side on what the UK should do about its economic slump. From the The Times (UK): "Over the next five years, public spending is set to fall to an eight-year low as a proportion of national income, while taxes rise to a 24-year high."

The eurozone inflation rate fell to 2.7% in December, down from 3% in November, according to revised figures from the EU statistics agency. It had reached 3.2% in January 2009, the highest in the decade.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16594509

In your position paper, back one of two famous ecomonic thinkers.

John Maynard Keynes. Regardless of what other economists say, Keynes' brand of interventionist fiscal and monetary policy have trumped times like these since the Great Depression. The influential writings of Keynes, the British liberal who died back in 1946, still hold court in both Democrat and Republican circles in America and have been foundation of the British Welfare State. Central to his economic theory was the importance of deficit spending. The government is to play an important role in "priming the pump" of the national economy. Laissez - faire is out, active intervention is in. This is now economic dogma here in America. Not quite that far out in the UK.

Milton Friedman. Friedman’s view was that inflation, at the time a serious problem in many countries, was caused by governments pumping too much money into the economy.

At the same time Friedman was convinced that private individuals and companies should be given as much freedom as possible to carry out economic activities. Friedman became the most outspoken economist of his time, promoting small governments, low taxes, free markets and privatisation.He attacked even the dominant theory of the time, developed by the British liberal thinker John Maynard Keynes among others, who espoused capitalism with a softer, more human face.Friedman promoted capitalism in its basic and less human forms, centring on a fundamental belief in the working of markets and privatisation: market fundamentalism.

In 1976 Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics, which gave him the status to impress not only generals like Pinochet, but others including British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1979-90) and US president Ronald Reagan (1981-89).

Poor F.A. Hayek, the conservative economist doesn't get the nod on the blog. But he goes toe-to-toe with Keynes in this popular econ rap. Hayek also had the eye of the "Iron Lady." He received new attention in the 1980s and 1990s with the rise of conservative governments in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. After winning the United Kingdom general election, 1979, Margaret Thatcher appointed Keith Joseph, the director of the Hayekian Centre for Policy Studies, as her secretary of state for industry in an effort to redirect parliament's economic strategies.

How many votes will 15.4 million buy in Florida?

2012-01-31T07:58:00.000-06:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

My guy Chris Matthews finished yesterday's show questioning the democratic principles in playing out today in Florida's GOP primary, where the LA Times reports:

"Mitt Romney's campaign had spent $6.9 million to air commercials on the state's broadcast and cable channels as of Monday morning, while Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting Romney, had spent $8.5 million, according to a campaign source familiar with the ad buys. Newt Gingrich's campaign spent $1.6 million over the same time period, and Winning Our Future, the pro-Gingrich super PAC, spent $2.2 million."

It got me to thinking, in Florida's winner take all contest over 50 delegates, how much would the likely winner (Romney) be spending per vote Tuesday. Please NOTE: Restore Our Future is in NO way connected to the Romney campaign.

Well, according to Bloomberg:

"The Florida election is open only to the 4.06 million voters who were registered Republican as of Jan. 3. Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. Most of Florida is in the Eastern time zone, and part of the state is in the Central time zone.

"Daniel A. Smith, a political scientist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, said Jan. 24 he didn’t expect turnout to match the 1.95 million voters who participated in the 2008 primary, or 51 percent of the 3.83 million registered Republican voters at the time. A similar turnout rate to 2008 would draw 2.07 million voters in this year’s primary."

Just to simplify for my math sake, we'll project 2 million Florida GOP voters casting ballots in today's primary. With that, and a surge to 40 percent in the latest polls, a reasonable accounting would project that Romney will be spending about $19.25 per primary vote in the Sunshine State.

Boy, that would buy some of those voters a nice Surf-n-Turf dinner.

One has to ask, Is it worth it? And, as Chris says in the video above, What does it mean for our Democracy?

Of the Rich, By the Rich, For the Rich????

Labour leader a Boy in a Man's Job?

2012-01-30T16:24:00.000-06:00

(From Ken Wedding's Teaching Comparative blog
Some people think that the reason Labour hasn't reached a position of really challenging the coalition government is because of the leader.

Many thanks to Rebecca Small who teaches at Oakton High School in Virginia for pointing out the Washington Post article.

In Britain, opposition party leader struggles to find voice

For the opposition Labor Party, this should be a shining moment. Under Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, unemployment is up, budget cuts are biting British wallets and the government’s veto of a new European Union economic treaty has left the country increasingly isolated from its neighbors.

And yet rather than Cameron, it is Labor’s chief, Ed Miliband, who is confronting a profound crisis of popularity. Only 16 months after he defeated his brother to win the crown of opposition leader, Miliband’s approval ratings have sunk to record lows. Suddenly, not only his rivals on the other side of the aisle but also influential power brokers within his own party are openly questioning his leadership.

Miliband confronted his critics this week, outlining a new direction for the Labor Party in an effort to revitalize his tenure and hold on long enough to challenge Cameron in elections still three years away…

Yet the problem, analysts say, is not Labor’s message, but the messenger. Miliband, fairly or not, is being pelted with criticism…

Miliband has seemed a round short in the intellectual blood sport of British politics, played out weekly on the floor of Parliament where Cameron and Miliband set their wits against each other in terse, often-biting oral combat.

“I think the simplest way of saying it is that most people don’t see him as a prime minister,” said Peter Kellner, president of YouGov, one of Britain’s largest polling firms. “It’s to do with his manner, his lack of experience, the fact that people don’t see a toughness of character in him. People on some level think being prime minister is a man’s job, and in Ed Miliband, they see a boy.”…

Miliband’s situation looks worse when compared with Cameron’s success. In many ways, the prime minister has defied the odds, maintaining a relatively buoyant approval rating despite his relentless and, according to the polls, largely unpopular crusade against government spending…
____________________________________________________

Can our Labour leader Thursday be more popular?? Time will tell.

This is another example, like the AV Referendum, of how politics have become more personal (Americanized?) in the UK over the past election cycle.

Defeated UK AV vote explained

2012-01-30T14:27:00.003-06:00

A couple of videos posted here to explain the UK Alternative vote referendum that went down to defeat last May. The AV referendum was a manifesto piece of the Liberal Democrats, and despite getting the Conservative coalition partner to promise to bring the referendum, the referendum had PM David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg campaigning against each other. The top video is a good, straight forward explanation piece that promoted a YES vote. The bottom mocks the negative, fear-filled NO campaign that supporters of YES said killed the reform of the first-past-the-post system.

The AV Referendum: What went wrong?

http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/blog/the-av-referendum-what-went-wrong

AV would only have minimally effected 2010 general election results

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7708964/General-Election-2010-how-different-voting-systems-would-have-affected-the-result.html

Prime Minister David Cameron went through a Fact Check when he claimed:

“It's a system so obscure that it is only used by three countries in the whole world - Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.”

David Cameron, 11 April 2011

But today’s Independent labels this claim a “myth”, and argues that we can add at least one more Western democracy to this list: Ireland. The paper writes that: “[AV] is also used to choose the Irish President, in many US mayoral elections and for the Best Picture at the Oscars.”

Leaving aside the Academy Awards and the US mayoral elections (which, like the London mayoral ballot, cannot be considered nationwide polls), the example of Ireland is intriguing.

A glance at the Irish Government’s own guide to its election system might suggest that the Independent has erred: “The President is elected by the direct vote of the people. Voting is by secret ballot on the Single Transferable Vote system.”

However this is not necessarily so. The Single Transferable Vote (STV) system is indeed used by Ireland for most of its parliamentary elections. Like AV, the system asks voters to list the candidates on the ballot paper in order of their preference.

So blog here on whether you would vote YES or NO to an alternative vote system to replace First Past the Post.

Oh Lordy, what about the children?

2012-01-26T08:13:00.003-06:00

(From Teaching Comparative Blog)
Two issues -- one on policy and one on the British governmental institutions are in play in Westminster currently as the Conservative government looks to reform the Welfare State. There are two issues to be alert for here. The most prominent is the argument about the tolerable level of public assistance. That's mostly a policy issue for Brits. The other topic, more for non-Brits to heed, is the role of Lords in shaping policy.

Lords is often overlooked as a player in policy making. It does offer a debating forum for considering policy alternatives, and, as in this case, a force to change policy.

Welfare reform: Lords bid for benefits cap concessions

Peers will press for changes to plans for a £26,000 cap on the benefits families can receive when the measure is debated in the House of Lords later.

Church of England bishops and some Liberal Democrats will push for child benefit to be excluded from the cap - so as not to penalise large families.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith says there are exemptions for some disabled people and those in work…

Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown has said he will vote against the plans, unless there are measures to cushion the impact on those affected…

The changes would affect England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own social security legislation, but it is expected that what is approved at Westminster would be introduced there too.
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Citizens United: On to the Terrible Twos

2012-01-25T11:27:00.000-06:00

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Monday was the 1st anniversary of the landmark Citizens United case that created the Super PAC. No longer the owner of his Super PAC, Steven Colbert sat down with, "The Dissenter" retired Supreme John Paul Stevens to "celebrate" the happy birthday for election's big money interests.

Jessica Levinson of the Huffinton Post sent her thoughs this way to the Birthday...Boy, No Girl....No Corporation.

Birthday note from the Huffington Post

State of the Union Bingo

2012-01-23T17:51:00.000-06:00

Denver poltico Sarah Moss has the best State of the Union Bingo Card, you should print it out and play during the President's annual address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.

This year, though, there are plenty of cards to play along with including those from special interest advocacy groups:

The Center on Global Development has a card, as does The Religious Action Center of Reform Judism, and the Alliance for Excellent Education.

While the National Constitution Center is hosting a viewing party and has advertised bingo cards, those available for download appear to be 2010 editions.

So I would go with the card from Sarah Moss. If you play, and turn in your card 2 points of civic action EC. If you get a bingo, +2 more, and if you get the cabinet member that stays home Tuesday night in case Mars Attacks, +2 more.

Every State of the Union in our History

(From Ken Halla's US Government Teachers Blog)

Of course Thomas Jefferson, a notoriously poor public speaker, choose not to do the State of the Union in person and it was not until Woodrow Wilson that we had our addresses done in Congress again. Here is every one from Washington through Obama.

US Primaries/Caucuses Explained

2012-01-21T21:04:00.000-06:00

(From Ken Halla's US Government Teachers Blog)
This video will help you keep the nuts and bolts of the nominating process in mind while keeping the score of the GOP Road to the White House through the Primaries and Caucuses.

Remember that each state, and each national party, have their own rules of the road. Its a good example of how elections in the US are truly a concept of federalism. Also, how the primaries and caucuses have replaced party conventions in the nominating process.

Newt: "Despicable ME (dia)

2012-01-20T13:19:00.000-06:00

Will the "Blame the Media" pre-primary tactic work for the "conservative, family values" candidate that didn't like being questioned by a watchdog, gotcha media that asked about him asking his second (of 3) wives for an "open marriage?"

I don't know, but listen to the crowd's reaction of last night's GOP debate crowd in South Carolina.

As Politico reported below, last night's scuffle may go down in presidential debate history. Really? I think it may very well help Newt rally to win the South Carolina primary. Despicable. Did the media cheat on Newt's wife while he was going off to speak on family values. Don't cheat on your wife if you want to get through the vetting to be President. Remember, Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry being filmed smoking crack in a hotel room by the media, then claiming media "dirty laundry" ruined his career.

The media ruined his career? How about, "Don't smoke the crack!?"
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Newt Gingrich’s heated exchange with moderator John King at Thursday’s CNN debate may help determine the fate of Gingrich’s campaign for president and could also be a defining moment for King, whose image as a serious reporter is now tethered to a face-off that recalled the famous televised exchange between Richard Nixon and Dan Rather at the height of Watergate.

“This is one of the most explosive moments we’ve seen in debate history,” CNN’s David Gergen said on the air afterwards. “It was also one of the harshest attacks that we’ve had on the press that I can remember in a long, long time.”

Will this help, or hurt, Gingrich's chances in South Carolina forward?

_________

By the way, Gingrich blamed the media for not focusing on what should be real issues. Here's a pretty good presidential compatibility quiz. Maybe you are a match for Newt.......now maybe that's despicable.

2012 Presidential Candidates Quiz - Take our compatibility quiz of 35 questions to find out which candidate is the best match for you. We've updated the questionnaire with 10 new questions on education, gay marriage, immigration, infidelity, Occupy Wall Street, oil subsidies, and the Tea Party.

Why Comparative Politics?

2012-01-17T21:33:00.000-06:00

(From Teaching Comparative Politics blog)
American beginners in comparative politics often start by trying to study non-American political systems in the same way they studied the USA. It doesn't always work.

Henry Farrell, professor at George Washington University points to an example of why both the "Americanist" and "Comparativist" perspectives are important.

Why Is Inequality Higher in America?

[A] Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan article… suggests that we need to look to comparative politics rather than Americanist political science in order to understand the sources of American inequality.

"… the preoccupation of many Americanists with America’s distinctive governmental institutions—Congress, the presidency, the Supreme Court—obscures this inequality and what it means for the US political system. It thus seems to us that Americanists’ ability to analyze American politics would be enhanced by locating these problems in a larger, comparative context."

To bolster this broad argument, they argue that the unusually large number of veto players in the US political system is a major cause of inequality.

"A question thus arises, one both simple and surprisingly understudied by scholars of American politics: From a comparative perspective, does the United States have more “majority constraining” and “inequality inducing” political structures and veto players than other democracies? When we examine our set of 23 long-standing democracies in advanced economies, we ﬁnd that slightly more than half of these countries (12.5) actually have only one electorally generated veto player… There are 7.5 countries with two veto players, two countries (Switzerland and Australia) with three veto players, and only one country, the United States of America, with four electorally generated veto players… In addition to having the highest number of veto players, there are four more constitutionally embedded features of the US political system that, taken together, make that system even more majority constraining and, we believe, inequality inducing, than any other democracy in our set… "

As a comparativist by training, I find the idea that Americanists should think about the US more in a comparative perspective highly attractive. I also think that the veto player perspective is a very helpful lens onto the ways in which the US resembles or differs from other advanced industrialized democracies… Equally, comparativists need to pay more attention to the Americanists whose way of thinking about the world is less immediately congenial than that of those with comparativist training or sympathies if we are to move to the next stage of the debate that Linz and Stepan would (rightly) like to see taking place.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOPA, PIPA protest to stand for the right of liberal democracy

2012-01-15T14:22:00.000-06:00

The Arab Spring revolutions, especially in Egypt were called, "Facebook Revolutions."

With pending legislation in committee mark-up session in the the House of Represenatives HR 3261 many who spead information on the internet are using the "Youdia" to protest what could be a serious threat to liberal or substansive democracy in the United States and around the world. Political Warrior will follow the lead of Ken Wedding's Teaching Comparative Government and Politics in honoring a "No Blog Wednesday" Protest.

The SOPA acronym (Stop Internet Piracy Act) might sound like a good idea, but the fear is that it could fundamentally change the way we have, as Thomas Friedman may say, flattened the world. It is also a great example of the way our Congress works/or doesn't these days. Roll Call outlines the lobbying groups fighting hard to have influence the blocking or passing of this legislation:

Groups Ramp Up Lobbying Before SOPA Vote

David Carr of the New York Times spells out the danger of passing SOPA:

The Danger of an Attack on Piracy Online

The bill's author, Lamar Smith (R-Tx), defends the proposed legistlation here:

Fighting Online Piracy

However, despite the Congressman's claim, foreign websites, inluding Chinese blogs, etc. that are used here to study comparative government and politics could be restricted or censored. As Ken Wedding wrote in his blog:

"On January 18, Teaching Comparative will join Boing Boing, Reddit, and other sites around the Internet in opposing SOPA and PIPA, the pending US legislation that creates a punishing Internet censorship regime and exports it to the rest of the world. Teaching Comparative could never co-exist with a SOPA world.

There will be no blog entry on Wednesday.

If the proposed legislation passed in anything like its current form, I could never quote the contents of another site or even link to another website unless I was sure that no links to anything that infringes copyright appeared on that site. In order to link to a URL on any web site, I'd have to first confirm that no one had ever made an infringing link, anywhere on that site. That would require checking millions (even tens of millions) of pages. Even for an old guy like me with lots of time, that would be impossible. I'd be unable to tell you about potentially valuable teaching material.

If I failed to take those precautions, my finances could be frozen and depending on which version of the bill goes to the vote, my domains confiscated."

Colbert for President?!

2012-01-13T07:04:00.000-06:00

(From APGov.org

Colbert announced he's forming an exploratory committee to consider running for President in South Carolina (and only in South Carolina). A poll this week had him polling ahead of Huntsman (ouch).

Control of his SuperPAC will be turned over to the Daily Show's Jon Stewart. Now to be called the "Definitely not Coordinating with Stephen Colbert Super PAC"

God Bless "Citizens United!"

Check out the turned over Colbert Super PAC and Politico's legit? news story on Colbert exploratory committee announcement.

List of super PACs

2012-01-10T17:48:00.001-06:00

(From Ken Halla's US Government's Teachers Blog)
Above is the most recent (and biting) advertisement by Gingrich's super PAC. Here are all of the super PACs. Super PACs are a direct result of Citizens United v. F.E.C. and essentially are the follow-up to 527s allowing their individuals and corporations to give unlimited donations to one. The key is that there cannot be any collaboration between the candidate and the super PACs - even though they seem to mostly be run by former staffers of the presidential candidate. My question will be will the super PAC people be given key jobs in the next presidential administration, be it Obama, Romney or someone else. The ad above (here is an article detailing it) is possible because of a $5 million donation to his super PAC by one individual and is a huge help to his South Carolina campaign.

What will New Hampshire mean?

2012-01-10T17:40:00.000-06:00

The "First in the Nation" nine primary voters of New Hampshire's tiny village of Dixville Notch casts the first ballots of the contest just after midnight, a tradition since 1960. Since 1960, the village winner has won the GOP nomination. This time, however, there was no Republican winner. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman tied with 2 votes each in the Republican race. President Obama took 3 of the nine total votes.

New Hampshire does not have a closed primary primary, in which votes can be cast in a party primary only by people registered with that party. Undeclared voters — those not registered with any party — can vote in either party primary. However, it does not meet a common definition of an open primary, because people registered as Republican or Democrat on voting day cannot cast ballots in the primary of the other party.

What New Hampshire may show is the strength of independent voters. The percentage of Americans identifying as political independents increased in 2011, as is common in a non-election year, although the 40% who did so is the highest Gallup has measured, by one percentage point. More Americans continue to identify as Democrats than as Republicans, 31% to 27%.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/151943/Record-High-Americans-Identify-Independents.aspx

If you are checking in tonight, blog your thoughts on the second of two important momentum-builidng nominating contests. At stake here, just 12 total delegates to the GOP convention, but does it mean life or death of the campaigns of Huntsman, Gingrich??

Cheers! A toast to Popp (not soda here) Point leaders

2012-01-09T21:08:00.000-06:00

A couple of years ago I found this random advertising map, in which the Department of Cartography and Geography from East Central University (Oklahoma) tracked where people called soft drinks whatever. It is a Blue v. Red country after all, but it’s not a Pepsi winner. The true-blue winner: “No Coke, Pop!” Not surprisingly 50-80% of us in Chicagoland call soft drinks POP. But look how Atlanta-based Coca-Cola controls the language in the South.

Okay, I digress. The point of this post is our Popp Point Scoreboard. ("Popp Points" named after graduate Alex Popp, SS Student of the Year 2006, who helped me create the blog back in the day.) Remember a maximum 10 EC points are available for blogging here till 1/13. Here are the standings as of 1/9. Points have been calculated on posts from 8/25/11 and later. In the spirit of horserase journalism, we have a four-way neck and neck lead, but even the leaders are leaving points on the track.

1. Iman K. -- 6 (bulit early lead and is holding on)
1. Kyle D. -- 6
1. Shilpa S. -- 6
1. Ralf V. -- 6
5. James H. -- 5
6. Nick S. -- 4
6. Justine L. -- 4
8. Chris D. -- 3
8. Carolyn S. -- 3
10. Danielle L. -- 2
11. Jibran A. -- 2
(Jackson E., Taylor B., Max K., Priya T, Jessica C. and Amanda Z. all have 1)

In Case You missed it....

2012-01-08T21:02:00.001-06:00

Along with the PM/AM GOP debates prior to this week's "First in the Nation" New Hampshire Primary, the Obama administration made major news while we, and the US Senate, was on break.

First, the adminstration filed its brief defending the Affordable Care Act -- known in Republican presidential debates as "Obamacare," or the socialist seizing of American democracy. Politico reported Friday:

"The Obama administration on Friday told the Supreme Court that the requirement to buy insurance in its health reform law is well within Congress’s constitutional boundaries — and insisted that legally, the law doesn’t break any new ground.

The 130-page brief is the first the Justice Department has filed since the court agreed to review the law. The Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy accomplishment, will be the centerpiece of three days of oral arguments at the Supreme Court, a modern record, in late March."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71167.html#ixzz1ivNv7Ap3

The U.S. Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli, will argue the case for the adminstration before the Supremes this summer.

http://www.justice.gov/healthcare/

http://www.justice.gov/osg/

Also, on Wednesday, President Obama made a controversial recess appointment of Richard Cordray’s to lead the nation’s new consumer watchdog agency even as the political fallout intensified.

Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, declared Thursday to a packed house at the Brookings Institution that his recess appointment by President Barack Obama — a move that outraged Republicans — is legitimate under the law and would withstand an inevitable challenge. But he also underscored his reputation as a bipartisan bridge-builder, promised he would work with the GOP and emphasized that all share the same goal: serving the American people.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71128.html

As you should have learned, while presidential appointments need Senate confirmation when in session, president's can get around that balancing check, by appointing a director during a legislative recess.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71128.html#ixzz1ivRwFJCm

Presidents since George Washington have made recess appointments. Washington appointed South Carolina judge John Rutledge as Chief Justice of the United States during a congressional recess in 1795. Because of Rutledge's political views and occasional mental illness, however, the Senate rejected his nomination, and Rutledge subsequently attempted suicide and then resigned.

New Jersey judge William J. Brennan was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 through a recess appointment. This was done in part with an eye on the presidential campaign that year; Eisenhower was running for reelection, and his advisors thought it would be politically advantageous to place a northeastern Catholic on the court. Brennan was promptly confirmed when the Senate came back into session. In 1958, the CIA tried to pull off a coup in Damascus. When the Syrians expelled our ambassador, President Eisenhower, in a recess appointment, designated Charles W. Yost as the new ambassador. Eisenhower made two other recess appointments, Chief Justice Earl Warren and Potter Stewart.

According to the Congressional Research Service, President Bill Clinton made 139 recess appointments. President George W. Bush made 171 recess appointments, and as of December 8, 2011, President Barack Obama had made 28 recess appointments.

So was the President showing an unconstitutional contempt of Congress, as was suggested by GOP leaders on the Hill, or was he doing what we expect the Chief Executive to do, lead?

Changing Time (s) in Russia?

2011-12-29T17:36:00.000-06:00

In 2007, Time magazine made Vladimir Putin, then in his last year as Russia's president before becoming prime minister and planning to come back to the throne again, Person of the Year.

2007 Time Person of the Year

This year, 2011, Time chose "The Protester" as person of the Year.

2011 Time Person of the Year

The protests in Moscow over the rigged December elections continue and as outlined by Foreign Policy Russian correspondent Julia Ioffe in a series of articles, the Times in Russia May be a Changing. The series gives good insight into the goings on on the ground in Moscow that will help you when we study Russia next semester. Interesting not only to read the articles, but the opposition comments posted. One needs to be reminded, it is one-thing to be a government-critiquing journalist in a liberal democracy, quite another to be one in still Putin's Russia.

Kreminology 2012

'Tis the Season

2011-12-29T11:53:00.000-06:00

The election season begins Tuesday with Iowa's Caucus. It will be must-see political TV. Since it's been "frontloaded" to DURING our Winter Break, you have to take care of this one on your own.

When you get exasperated at FOX/MSNBC/CNN analyzing the results with holograms and muti-touch gestures, CSPAN has traditionally been live at several caucuses. You should definitely check out what they actually look like.

In the past, I have posted live comments while following the action here, but I will be in the home of Mickey Mouse (insert your own political joke here), but I will be checking out the blog from my smart phone. Post your comments here.
Let's see who gets the "Big Mo'." To break down the polls, Nate Silver on fivethirtyeight.com has Ron Paul still looking good. His read gives you good insight in predicting election outcomes:
I’m not always a big fan of dissecting individual polls — mostly because there are liable to be a plethora of them in Iowa and New Hampshire over the next several days and their errors will tend to be mitigated as more are added to the average.

"Nevertheless, the new CNN poll of Iowa contains a methodological quirk that is worth bringing to your attention and which will probably result in the survey underestimating the support for Ron Paul.

The issue is that CNN’s Iowa poll was conducted by using a list of registered Republican voters and registered Republicans only:

Sample was drawn from the complete list of registered Republican voters provided by the Iowa Secretary of State.

What’s wrong with using a list of Republican voters for a Republican caucus poll? The answer is that it’s extremely easy for independent and Democratic voters to register or re-register as Republicans at the caucus site. Historically, a fair number of independent voters do this.

According to entrance polls in Iowa in 2008, for instance, about 15 percent of participants in the Republican caucus identified themselves as independents or Democrats on the way into the caucus site. Although the way that voters self-identify is not technically the same thing as which party they are officially registered with, this is probably a good proxy for what percentage of voters changed their registration to Republican when they signed in at the caucus location.

Read more

Also, CNN has an interesting take on has the negativity of the 2012 campaign maybe leading to the downfall of the Iowa Caucus and its need for "retail politics" The author fears there migh t be bad moments when citizens come out to publicly voice their support and vote for their candidate Tuesday night.

Could negativity kill the Iowa caucuses?

Political TV pundits have said that this could be shaping up as the most negative campaign in US History. Really? Not quite, check out this video that puts the words of Jefferson and Adams into today's media. The election of 1800, with quotes taken out of context from the NY Times, makes the tiff between Gingrich and Romney over the Lucy Chocolate Factory comment look "sweet."

Set your alarm: Review and Study

2011-12-20T11:59:00.001-06:00

The first 5 minutes or so of this is a really great overview of our course! It is must see TV before the final - nice review "The Great Debate."

The Great Debate

Your Final Exam test is first thing tomorrow morning. Review in you Patterson text First Amendment issues -- we will hit them the week we get back from break.
AP Government 1st Semester Final Exam (U.S.)

60 multiple choice (45 min.); 1 of 4 free response (25 min.)
Free Response:
Media Coverage of Campaigns

 Interest groups and policymaking institutions

 Congressional oversight of federal bureaucracy

 Budget/Policy barriers

Multiple Choice:

Constitutional principles
Checks & balances
Judicial review
Separation of powers
Federalism
Popular sovereignty
Limited government

 Political Parties, Campaigns & Voting Behavior

Political ideologies

Voting behavior (influences on)

Political socialization
Voter turnout
Electoral college
Primaries (open, blanket, closed, runoff)
Special interest groups/PACs/lobbyists
Media coverage
Critical elections

 Congress
Committees
Conference committees
Key pieces of legislation
Incumbent advantage
Rules
Presidential removal
Apportionment, Reapportionment, Gerrymandering
Authorization of spending (oversight of bureaucrac
Legislative process
 Presidency
Role
Constitutional Powers
Nominating Process
Powers (Increase of: “Imperial Presidency”)
War Powers Resolution
Line-Item veto ()why the president doesn't have it, and many governors do)
Cabinet
Appointment of Federal Judges
Vice-President (what presidential candidates look for in a running mate)
Reagan legacy (from a chart)

 The Judiciary
Tenure
Caseload
Strict v. loose constructionalist

Landmark cases: McCullough v. Maryland, Grisswold v. Connecticut, Roe v. Wade, Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona.
Warren Court (from a political cartoon)

Dual court system: Federal/State, Criminal/Civil

 Misc (Bureaucracy, 1st Amendment: free exercise, establishment clause; freedom of expression, symbolic speech; exclusionary rule, Miranda warnings, Civil Rights Act of 1964, 14th Amendment “Modifying Clause” reserved powers

Dual Presidency: Juggling a Sick Congress and Kim Jong Il's death

2011-12-20T09:40:00.000-06:00

Patterson outlines the complexities of a dual presidency, where major foreign policy and domestic issues need to be juggled simultaniously. This week started with delayed news that reported the death of a dictator and the killing of 89-10 Senate passed two-month payroll tax exemption by what amounts to a House filibuster.

(From FP blog and the NY Times)
Kim Jong Un, the third son and successor to Kim Jong Il, visited the mausoleum where his father's body was lying in state on Tuesday. Meanwhile, praise from state media suggested that his transition to power remained on track.

In the capital of Pyongyang, weeping North Korean citizens filled the city's squares and placed flowers at monuments around the capital to mourn the death of Kim Jong Il. China and Russia, North Korea's most important allies, also declared their support for the new government.

South Korea released a statement offering its condolences and expressing hope that the two countries could work together for peace on the Korean Peninsula. It will not, however, be sending an official delegation to Kim's funeral on Dec. 28.

Meanwhile, South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies were forced to grapple with questions of how they knew nothing of Kim's death, even two days after it occurred. The lack of reliable intelligence suggests that the two allies know relatively little about the inner workers of the Kim regime, or how the coming transition will play out.
_____________

And on the domestic front.......cancel that Christmas vacation to Hawaii, Mr. President.

(From NPR)

Rather than holding a straight up-or-down vote on the Senate-approved package to extend payroll tax cuts and long-term unemployment benefits for another two months — a package they oppose — House Republicans now plan to effectively reject the measure without having to cast "no" votes

As The Hill explains:

"House Republicans are setting up a vote on whether to go to a conference with the Senate. They say a vote to go to a conference with the Senate would serve as a vote against the Senate bill. Critically, however, it would be expressed as a vote in favor of going to the conference, and not a vote against cutting the payroll tax."

Or, as Politico says, "House Republicans postponed a planned Monday night vote on the Senate-passed payroll tax cut bill, bowing to pressure from rank-and-file lawmakers to fight the battle in a fresh media cycle, avoid a dark-of-night vote and, perhaps most important, find a way to reject the Senate bill without voting directly against a tax cut."

The vote is expected to happen around midday.

As Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has been saying in recent days, Republicans in the House (which they control) want the extensions to be for a full year, not two months. They don't want to just "kick the can" down the road, he says.

Getting any extension done before the payroll tax cut and long-term jobless benefits expire on Dec. 31, however, may prove impossible. The Democratic-controlled Senate has adjourned for the holidays. And Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said his chamber won't negotiate with the House unless the short-term, two-month extensions are passed first.

Commander in Chief: 'Welcome, Home!'

2011-12-15T12:37:00.000-06:00

(From White House blog)
President Obama traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Wednesday -- home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces -- to salute the service of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines who fought in Iraq and helped to bring the war to an end.

"As your commander in chief, and on behalf of a grateful nation, I’m proud to finally say these two words," he said, "Welcome home."
-------
It was President George W. Bush's executive agreement to have U.S. troops leave Iraq by the end of this year, a promise kept by the Obama administration, whose address was more somber and sober, and welcoming to the troops and the reflection of over 6,200 US lives (over 150,000 Iraqis) lost in the warm, than Commander in Chief Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech in 2003.

Holding Court

2011-12-12T19:54:00.001-06:00

Call this post a full-court press on Supreme Court news and views (article on Stevens "The Dissenter," and "The Incredible Shrinking Court," need to be read by Tuesday):From the NY Times Supreme Court blog:

Justices Agree to hear Challenge to Arizona Immigration Law
1) An example of certiorari being granted in a highly controversial, political and social policy that has been playing out in Arizona.

The Obama administration challenged parts of the tough immigration law in court, saying it could not be reconciled with federal immigration policies.

2) From the 2005 Senate comfirmation hearings of Samuel Alito, political cartoonist Mike Lane illustrated the constitutional conundrum facing the newest justice and the term stare decisis -- lettting the precedent stand unless there are compelling reasons not to -- and a woman's right to choose an abortion.

Alito's mother said, "Of course he's against abortion,'' in a classic sound-byte before during the confirmation hearings. The question is not really what the Alito believes personally, but as NPR reported in 2005 if that Roe v. Wade was settled law.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5012335

3) U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made news recently by speaking his mind, something he's not prone to do while on the job.

As the above data shows, Thomas' silence during Supreme Court oral arguments is legendary. While his colleagues pepper lawyers with questions, Thomas listens. While the other 8 justices force legal teams to perform verbal and logical gymnastics 30 minutes at a time, Thomas often leans back in his large chair and stares at the ceiling.

When he does speak during oral arguments, it's almost always in private conversation with Justice Breyer. (And from the looks at the menus that they swap, those conversations are often about what to get for lunch.)In the past, Justice Thomas has said the oral argument time is not meant for Justices to show off but for the lawyers to make their legal arguments before the Court. But Thomas has recently said--in jest-- that “My colleagues should shut up!”
_____________

4) In the Ny Times article, "The Disenter," gives insight into how the High Court has moved right and now the self-proclaimed conservative, and eldest (and now retired) member of the Supremes, may have been be The Nine's most liberal justice:

"Justice Stevens, the oldest and arguably most liberal justice, now finds himself the leader of the opposition. Vigorous and sharp at 87, he has served on the court for 32 years, approaching the record set by his predecessor, William O. Douglas, who served for 36. In criminal-law and death-penalty cases, Stevens has voted against the government and in favor of the individual more frequently than any other sitting justice. He files more dissents and separate opinions than any of his colleagues. He is the court’s most outspoken defender of the need for judicial oversight of executive power. And in recent years, he has written majority opinions in two of the most important cases ruling against the Bush administration’s treatment of suspected enemy combatants in the war on terror — an issue the court will revisit this term, which begins Oct. 1, when it hears appeals by Guantánamo detainees challenging their lack of access to federal courts.

"Stevens, however, is an improbable liberal icon. “I don’t think of myself as a liberal at all,” he told me during a recent interview in his chambers, laughing and shaking his head. “I think as part of my general politics, I’m pretty darn conservative.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/magazine/23stevens-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

This is one of the two linked articles you need to read by Tuesday.

5) The second article you need to have read by Tuesday is Time's cover story from last October:

The Incredible Shrinking Court

"The irony is that the Court's ideology is playing a dwindling role in the lives of Americans. The familiar hot-button controversies--abortion, affirmative action, the death penalty, police powers and so on--have been around so long, sifted and resifted so many times, that they now arrive at the court in highly specific cases affecting few, if any, real people. And it's not clear that Roberts wants to alter that trend. His speeches on the judicial role suggest a man more interested in the steady retreat of the court from public policy than in a right-wing revolution. Unless the Roberts court umpires another disputed presidential election (à la Bush v. Gore in 2000--a long shot, to say the least), the left-right division will matter mainly in the realm of theories and rhetoric, dear to the hearts of law professors and political activists but remote from day-to-day existence. What once was salient is now mostly symbolic."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1670489,00.html

5) Finally, a re-run post from 2009's 'Global Warming' SC decision:

The world saw former Vice-President being called a “rock star” and getting an Oscar from movie stars for his documentary on the “climate crisis,” and later a Nobel Peace Prize. But with far less glitz and fanfare, the legal definition of whether global warming is damaging US and the world was being argued in the U.S. Supreme Court a few months ago.

The new “swing vote” on the high Court is Justice Anthony Kennedy and his questions during the oral arguments in Massachusetts, et al. v. EPA (05-1120) seemed to indicate that justices may be ready to decide more than the case at bar.

At issue is the states’ (MA. and 12 others, including Illinois) lawsuit challenging the federal bureaucracy’s (EPA) lack of enforcement of an act of Congress (1990 Clean Air Act). The questions the Court is considering are:1) May the EPA decline to issue emission standards for motor vehicles based on policy considerations not enumerated in the Clean Air Act?2) Does the Clean Air Act give the EPA authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases?Breaking down the oral argument, Justice Kennedy seemed to be saying the Court has a bigger, global, question to answer. But not all on the bench seemed to think it was in the Court’s jurisdiction.

From the transcript of the oral argument, Justice Kennedy is questioning counsel for the petitioners, the Massachusetts states attorney:

JUSTICE KENNEDY: At the outset, you made this, some of this perhaps reassuring statement that we need not decide about global warming in this case. But don't we have to do that in order to decide the standing argument, because there's no injury if there's not global warming? Or, can you show standing simply because there is a likelihood that the perceived would show that there's an injury?

MR. MILKEY: Your Honor, especially in this case where none of our affidavits were challenged, I don't think the Court needs to go there ultimately on the merits because we showed through our uncontested affidavits that these harms will occur. There was no evidence put in to the contrary, and I would add that the reports on which EPA itself relies conclude that climate change is occurring.

JUSTICE KENNEDY (later): What is the scientific answer to if global warming exists? I think this Court might have to press for an answer to this question.

(Justice Antonin Scalia’s prides himself as a strict constructionalist, and a Constitutional scholar. He never claimed to have aced Mr. Rosiano’s “Cosmic Journey” class, he chimes in):

JUSTICE SCALIA: Mr. Milkey, I always thought an air pollutant was something different from a stratospheric pollutant, and your claim here is not that the pollution of what we normally call "air" is endangering health. That isn't, that isn't -- your assertion is that after the pollutant leaves the air and goes up into the stratosphere it is contributing to global warming.

MR. MILKEY: Respectfully, Your Honor, it is not the stratosphere. It's the troposphere.

JUSTICE SCALIA: Troposphere, whatever. I told you before I'm not a scientist. (Laughter.)

JUSTICE SCALIA: That's why I don't want to have to deal with global warming, to tell you the truth.The decision in Massachusetts, et al. v. EPA (05-1120), given last June ruled in favor of Massachusetts.
__________________

As we watched the Elena Kagan hearings last June, here are some sites to help you teach the US Supreme Court. First off the Chief Justice always writes a year end report which, among other things, talks about the number of cases appealed to the Court each year and how many were given certiorari. It is a very short document that you can easily digest.OYEZ.org

SCOTUS Blog is another great resource. Here is a link they put together yesterday on year end statistics, graphs, etc. (including how often each judge voted w. each other, the number of 9-0 decisions (more on this than any other) and much more.

Where does Elena Kagan stand on...

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/10/us/politics/20100505-kagan-opinions.html?ref=politics

Families living in cars: Are policies, politicians to blame?

2011-11-28T07:47:00.001-06:00

This 60 Minutes piece Sunday should make us all think. But what is the answer to the problem. Is policy, politicians or the people? Interesting to read the viewer comments on the website:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7389750n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox

What does this say about American Political Culture?

SuperCommittee Primer

2011-11-22T12:33:00.000-06:00

(From apgov.org)

Watch from 1:00-6:00. Learn a little about the "Super Committee" for next week (may have a policy deliberation next Thursday). BTW, the "Super Committee" is a joint (House and Senate) select (members selected by the leaders of each chamber for a specific purpose) committee.

Boehner, Reid Duel Over Super Committee Failure in Op-Eds

(From National Journal)

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., squared off in dueling USA Today op-eds over the super committee's failure to produce a plan to reduce the deficit, each blaming the opposing party for its refusal to compromise.

“I did everything possible to support the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction,” Boehner said.

Republicans, he added, made “good-faith offers,” even when not everyone in the party was enthusiastic about their content. Boehner blamed President Obama and Democrats who “insisted on dramatic tax hikes on American job creators.”

Reid, on the other hand, said that Republicans caved to the “tea party extremists and millionaire lobbyists” in their party. Democrats were ready to make a grand bargain, but Republicans refused to meet them halfway, Reid wrote.

The Senate majority leader said that he would oppose any efforts to walk back the automatic spending cuts that are scheduled to take place since the 12-member panel failed to reach agreement. Boehner said his next effort will be finding common ground with Democrats to address health care costs without tax increases.

Chief Turkeys: A Presidential Thanksgiving history

2011-11-22T12:17:00.001-06:00

(From the WSJ.com, Melanie Kirkpatrick)

Last I checked, Thanksgiving is still scheduled to take place Thursday. The economic news may be gloomy, but unlike President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, President Barack Obama has not tinkered with the date of the holiday.

In 1939, FDR decided to move Thanksgiving Day forward by a week. Rather than take place on its traditional date, the last Thursday of November, he decreed that the annual holiday would instead be celebrated a week earlier.

The reason was economic. There were five Thursdays in November that year, which meant that Thanksgiving would fall on the 30th. That left just 20 shopping days till Christmas. By moving the holiday up a week to Nov. 23, the president hoped to give the economy a lift by allowing shoppers more time to make their purchases and—so his theory went—spend more money.

Roosevelt made his decision in part on advice from Secretary of Commerce Harry Hopkins, who was in turn influenced by Lew Hahn, general manager of the Retail Dry Goods Association. Hahn had warned Hopkins that the late Thanksgiving, Nov. 30, might have an "adverse effect" on the sale of "holiday goods."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704888404574548082613991744.html
This year marks the 64th anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation. Though live Thanksgiving turkeys have been presented intermittently to presidents since the Lincoln administration, the current ceremony dates to 1947, when the first National Thanksgiving Turkey was presented to President Harry Truman.

So while they say not to talk about religion or politics around the Thanksgiving Day table, call this entire post the Political Warrior cornucopia of political/historical/religious/culture info to impress your guest this Turkey Day.

Starting with the 'Chief Turkey.' At right, President George W. Bush pardoned "Pumpkin & Pecan" the two birds that were saved by the president's signature in 2008.

On Wednesday, November 23, 2011, President Obama will pardon two National Thanksgiving Turkeys from Minnesota in a ceremony in the Rose Garden. Both birds will live out their days at George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. The President will celebrate the 64th anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation, reflect upon the time-honored traditions of Thanksgiving, and wish American families a warm, safe, and healthy holiday. If last year's embeded ceremony below, you can watch the TBN (To be named National Turkeys live at http://www.whitehouse.gov/.

Happy Thanksgiving.....I'm thankful for your blogging comments!

Broken Government? Your Job: Fix it

2011-11-22T08:59:00.000-06:00

Mike Adams,the creator of the above cartoon, thinks things are bad at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):"Of all the cartoons we've ever done on the FDA, this is the one that people seem to like the best."

It addresses the issue of FDA conflicts of interest. The Food and Drug Administration, an agency that suffers under the hallucination that it protects the public from dangerous foods and drugs, has actually become the marketing department of Big Pharma. It actually takes money from drug companies in exchange for evaluating and approving their drugs, and the decisions concerning which drugs to approve almost always come down to a panel of "experts" who have strong financial ties to the very companies impacted by their decisions.''

Well, if it's "Broken Government" then it's your job to fix it.

Before you start with your poster/policy pitch assignment due Tuesday, consider this article from US History.org

http://www.ushistory.org/gov/8d.asp (take note or the merit system and bureaucratic accountability).

Have one person from your stake your claim for an agency in the comment section starting 11/22. Also, list the 3 or 4 members of your group.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

EPA Chief: Enviroment should be above partisanship. Do you agree? Also, would Richard Nixon (before Watergate) make it in the current GOP. Afterall, it was his administration that created the EPA in 1970.

Posting of last week's assignment

2011-10-25T08:55:00.000-05:00

Go to http://www.congress.org/ (Type in your zip code)

Who are they? What party? When were they elected?

What percentage did they win by in the last election?

What committees are they on?

Go their webpage: What legislation are they currently working on? (2 or 3 examples)

Redistricting Game
http://www.redistrictinggame.org/

1st, Click on “play the game.”

Go to: Mission 4: The Voting Rights Act

Go to: Learn More

2nd, Read about the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Explain the purpose of the Voting Rights Act and how it relates to redistricting.

3rd, Have fun! See if you can “win” the game - redistrict the State of Hamilton.

______________

Post your result in the comment section of the redistricting game post below

Obama: 'Long and painful chapter' is over; New Book to be written in Lybia

2011-10-21T08:04:00.000-05:00

(From CNN)

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Thursday called the death of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi both the end of a "long and painful chapter for the people of Libya" and the hallmark of a successful U.S. foreign policy.

In the first official government remarks on the killing of a longtime foe who was behind terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens, Obama pledged his government's support as Libya builds a democratic system from the ruins of dictatorship.

FULL STORY

With regime change in Lybia, what needs to happen next for the revolutionaries to create a democratic government. Are you optimistic, or pesimistic about the future of Lybia?

A Big Victory Shout Out

2011-10-21T07:56:00.000-05:00

This site allows allows you to type in a member of Congress and see how many bills he/she has introduced, how many earmarks he/she have asked for and received. The site does not give its definition of earmarks, nor tell if the bills are for one's entire career (I suspect it is), but nonetheless, it is an interesting starting point.

Judy Biggert (R) our representative from the 13th District has just two bills to her credit as of 2010. She was first elected in 1998. She won re-election in 2010 to a seventh term with 64% of the vote.

But she has given a big shout out to WVHS. I found the above video on the Warrior's Back-to-Back State Champion Women's Soccer Team Website. A couple of summers ago U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert gives her one-minute shout out to the Tribe. While we make fun of these "One-minute resolutions" legislatures use them to make constituents feel happy and proud. I did when I saw it.

Do we like our lawmakers doing this type of constituent service for us, or is it really a waste of time when there are more important matters at hand?

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=595320026

Elephants, Donkeys and Gerrymanderers, Oh My!

2011-10-20T08:15:00.000-05:00

Here is a way for you to continue your education, win or lose, on the world of Congressional gerrymandering.

The Redistricting Game is designed to educate, engage, and empower citizens around the issue of political redistricting. Currently, the political system in most states allows the state legislators themselves to draw the lines. This system is subject to a wide range of abuses and manipulations that encourage incumbents to draw districts which protect their seats rather than risk an open contest.

By exploring how the system works, as well as how open it is to abuse, The Redistricting Game allows players to experience the realities of one of the most important (yet least understood) aspects of our political system. The game provides a basic introduction to the redistricting system, allows players to explore the ways in which abuses can undermine the system, and provides info about reform initiatives - including a playable version of the Tanner Reform bill to demonstrate the ways that the system might be made more consistent with tenets of good governance. Beyond playing the game, the web site for The Redistricting Game provides a wealth of information about redistricting in every state as well as providing hands-on opportunities for civic engagement and political action.

The Redistricting Game was created at the USC Game Innovation Lab - part of the USC School of Cinematic Arts', Interactive Media Division.

Play the game here: http://www.redistrictinggame.org/index.php

Redistricting Game for Real in Illinois

In January, it was announced that Illinois will lose a congressional seat, the U.S. Census Bureau said; following the 2012 elections, Illinois will send 18 members to the House of Representatives, down from the current 19.

Lynn Sweet of the Sun-Times wrote about the redistricting, re-apportionment, possible gerrymandering and the political wrangling that will be going on in Springfield. To an earlier post with the re-districting game, how would you draw Illinois' new 2012 Congressional map?
___________

WASHINGTON--Illinois will lose a congressional seat, the U.S. Census Bureau announced on Tuesday; following the 2012 elections, Illinois will send 18 members to the House of Representatives, down from the current 19.

Nationally, the reapportionment favors Republicans: states that vote Republican gained the most seats, which has implications not only for the balance of power in Congress, but in the 2012 presidential campaign, because the the electoral votes are based on the new census counts.

In Illinois, Democrats will take the first stab at drawing the new district maps at a time when the GOP just picked up four seats. Presumably, the Illinois Democrats will mull whether they can throw together in a fight for survival any of the 11 Illinois Republicans who will be sworn in on Jan. 5 with GOP Reps. Joe Walsh, Bob Dold, Adam Kinzinger, and Bobby Schilling potentially the most vulnerable.

Illinois remains one of the top five most populous states in the nation, with a new official population total of 12,864,380, according to the new Census figures.

The Tuesday announcement just deals with reapportioning the 435-member House of Representatives. Starting in February, the Census Bureau will start announcing the state-specific numbers that are needed in order for redistricting. In Illinois, the Democratic controlled Illinois General Assembly will try to draw new boundaries for House, state legislative, city wards, judicial and other districts--though if there is not agreement, the job is kicked over to a commission.

The reapportionment favors Republicans: Texas picked up the most seats--four, with Florida gaining two and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington gaining one.

In all, ten states lost seats. Eight of them are states that vote Democrat: New York and Ohio lost two seats, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are down one.

Missouri and Louisiana are also down a seat.

Illinois has been loosing congressional seats since 1930. Here's a recap on the number of House members Illinois has been sending to Washington each decade:

2010: 18

2000: 19

1990: 20

1980: 22

1970: 24

1960: 24

1950: 25

1940: 26

1930: 27

In Illinois there will be a political struggle over whether a new congressional map drops a seat from northern Illinois or Downstate. There also will be internal wrangling between GOP and Democratic incumbents who would not be threatened with losing their seat because of population shifts--but would want to improve or enhance political viability by having new district maps include neighborhoods that would be reliable Republican or Democratic votes.

If the census shows a big Hispanic population increase in Illinois--and if that growth is not scattered across the state--Illinois Democrats may be under pressure to create a second Hispanic district. The first Hispanic district in Illinois was drawn following the 1990 census--a convoluted "C" shape district that includes Hispanic neighborhoods on Chicago's North and South Sides wrapped around a district running from the lakefront to the near western suburbs drawn to yield an African American representative.

Following the 2000 and 1990 census, in Illinois, the GOP and Democratic House incumbents got together and cut deals with each other in order to try to protect their own seats in the wake of the musical chair scenario where it would be impossible for all of them to return to Congress. Still, they could not all save their seats. The remap after the 2000 Census saw Democratic Rep. David Phelps and GOP Rep. John Shimkus running against each other in the same district. Shimkus won and has been re-elected ever since.

State Sen. Kwame Raul (D-Chicago), who chairs the state senate reapportionment committee, told me on Monday the legislature will try to seize more control of the congressional remap process because it is their "responsibility," he said. Redistricting reform measures Raul backed never won state legislative approval.

View the current Illinois Congressional map, with its represenatives here:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=IL

Cup and Saucer

2011-10-18T10:45:00.000-05:00

(From CBS 2 School)
Cup and saucer is a metaphor used to differentiate the roles played by the House of Representatives and United States Senate.

Thomas Jefferson once expressed his doubts about the usefulness of the Senate. “Why did you pour that coffee into your saucer?” George Washington asked. “To cool it,” Jefferson replied. “Even so,” Washington declared, “we pour legislation into the senatorial saucer to cool it.”

Our bicameral legislature was divided for reasons other than compromising between big states and small states. Each house represents the people, yet they also possess remarkably different responsibilities. The House, modeled on the British House of Commons, represents the passions of the people. The Senate, modeled on the British House of Lords, responds to these passions with reason. James Madison saw the Senate as an “anchor,” a “necessary fence” against the “fickleness and passion” of the people. The Senate is to “cool” House legislation just as a saucer was used to cool hot tea. Today, with the advent of directly elected Senators and the 24/7 televised news cycle, it is more difficult to discern between the passions of the House and the Senate. You could say two overflowing cups now characterize our Congress. Who is going to clean up the mess?

Alexander Hamilton while speaking to a group of foreign visitors observing action on the floor of the House of Representatives said, “Here Sir, the people govern.” For this reason our legislative branch continues to be our democracies most prized possession.

Know how these terms empower the U.S. Congress:

Incumbency

Necessary and Proper

Special orders

Franking

Gerrymandering

Leadership

Logrolling

Constituent Service

Commerce Clause

A tough case to make?

2011-10-17T12:27:00.001-05:00

(From Political Warrior, Jan., 2011)
I should cry, but it's healthier to laugh. So as any meaningful filibuster reform went dead in the Senate, the Onion News Network reported on how lawmakers may have forgotten how to pass laws even with big, or unanimous majorities.

For real, the Washington Post's Ezra Klien reports on how it will continue to be true that a simple majority will not get bills passed in the 112th Congress.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/01/wonkbook_filibuster_reform_dea.html

Yet, both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did make some changes in the stalling process. The broad agreement is the most significant change in the chamber's rules in 35 years. That's really saying something about the saucer chamber, because other than dropping the confirmation process for about 400 federal agency nominees, it seems like it will be more like business as usual than "Change We Can Believe In," on Capitol Hill.

Lee Hamilton makes the case for Congress

http://kropfpolisci.com/congress.hamilton.democratictheory.pdf

Make sure you read Hamilton's article, as well as 301-317 in the Patterson text, possible quiz??
After the filibustered block of the American Jobs Act last week, Politico reports that Teachers will come (or go) first in the first stage of the pieced together jobs plan:

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will begin breaking apart President Barack Obama’s jobs bill with a vote on the provision that helps states pay teachers and first responders, his office and the White House said Monday.

Reid will hold a press call Monday afternoon “to announce the introduction of the first individual component of President Obama’s jobs bill,” his office said in an email to reporters soon after White House press secretary Jay Carney alerted journalists aboard Air Force One. “The Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act will help states and local governments keep teachers in the classroom and police officers and firefighters on the beat.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66144.html#ixzz1b3qRNOKm

The F-Word Senate takes in-action, again

2011-10-13T11:08:00.001-05:00

WASHINGTON – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and a group of Senate colleagues went to the Senate floor Wednesday to speak out against the Republican filibuster of the American Jobs Act. Levin and Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Richard Durbin of Illinois spoke to highlight the Republican decision to thwart the will of a majority of the Senate and prevent a bill designed to address the nation’s jobs crisis.

In Senator Levin's remark's take note of key terms in play in the delaying legislation techinque: policy; filibuster; bully pulpit.

In CBS News reporting of the the filibuster that was to happened, why is the key number to pass a bill in the 100-member, 112th Senate 60?

Blog you thoughts on the merits of the filibuster in the comments section.

Filibuster and Cloture

Using the filibuster to delay or block legislative action has a long history. The term filibuster -- from a Dutch word meaning "pirate" -- became popular in the 1850s, when it was applied to efforts to hold the Senate floor in order to prevent a vote on a bill.

In the early years of Congress, representatives as well as senators could filibuster. As the House of Representatives grew in numbers, however, revisions to the House rules limited debate. In the smaller Senate, unlimited debate continued on the grounds that any senator should have the right to speak as long as necessary on any issue.

In 1841, when the Democratic minority hoped to block a bank bill promoted by Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, he threatened to change Senate rules to allow the majority to close debate. Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton rebuked Clay for trying to stifle the Senate's right to unlimited debate.

Three quarters of a century later, in 1917, senators adopted a rule (Rule 22), at the urging President Woodrow Wilson, that allowed the Senate to end a debate with a two-thirds majority vote, a device known as "cloture." The new Senate rule was first put to the test in 1919, when the Senate invoked cloture to end a filibuster against the Treaty of Versailles. Even with the new cloture rule, filibusters remained an effective means to block legislation, since a two-thirds vote is difficult to obtain. Over the next five decades, the Senate occasionally tried to invoke cloture, but usually failed to gain the necessary two-thirds vote. Filibusters were particularly useful to Southern senators who sought to block civil rights legislation, including anti-lynching legislation, until cloture was invoked after a fifty-seven day filibuster against the Civil Right Act of 1964. In 1975, the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from two-thirds to three-fifths, or sixty of the current one hundred senators.

Many Americans are familiar with the filibuster conducted by Jimmy Stewart, playing Senator Jefferson Smith in Frank Capra's film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but there have been some famous filibusters in the real-life Senate as well. During the 1930s, Senator Huey P. Long effectively used the filibuster against bills that he thought favored the rich over the poor. The Louisiana senator frustrated his colleagues while entertaining spectators with his recitations of Shakespeare and his reading of recipes for "pot-likkers." Long once held the Senate floor for fifteen hours. The record for the longest individual speech goes to South Carolina's J. Strom Thurmond who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

(From Polictical Warrior archives)

Your text defines filibuster as a procedural tactic in the U.S. Senate whereby a minority of legislators prevents a bill from to a vote by holding the floor and talking until the majority gives in and the bill is withdrawn from consideration.

Like Rodney Dangerfield, this Congress doesn't get much respect. Just Unlucky? Congress Job Approval at 13% Americans rate it slightly above sludge, but below President Obama and former president George W. Bush, the least admired president in the history of polling.

Who gets the blame for the so-called "Do Nothing Congress?"

Well, as the chart from Secretary of the Senate, a record number of cloture motions were filed in the 110th Congress, and the non-momentum didn't stop in the 111th. Majority Rule?

Did this week's inaction show just more of the same?

Majority rule has essentially been repealed by the F-word Congress. Without the super-majority of sixty votes to end the filibusters, the accomplishments of the 110th Congress were limited (GI-Bill, Children's Health Care and minimum wage as riders as notable exceptions to Progressives; continued stimulus packages to all Americans a victory in the conservative column). The 'Do Nothingness' was reinforced by over 131 veto threats by President Bush (who never issued a veto when Republican majority Congresses ran up record deficits on Capitol Hill).

So the question for the 112th Senate is should it move to remove the filibuster? Or is the procedure a needed part of the Cup and Saucer dance that is currently like a slow Washington waltz? A 51-vote majority to pass a law seemingly has been replaced by the super majority 60.

In our texts, of civics and history, we note how Strom Thurmond (he who served in the Senate till he was 100 years old) filibustered for 24 straight hours to block civil rights legistlation. It was rare, historic and self-hurting (Thurmond sat in the sauna the entire night before so he wouldn' t have to lose his podium to take a pee). And the procedure worked. Now the F-word has been so common, that the minority party can just make a resolution to block. They don’t have to read newspapers and phonebooks and sit in a sauna the night before to pull one off.

With 40 votes to block, minority Republicans have kept the Democrats at bay at the end of the 110th Congress. On the American Jobs Act that was just blocked from being debate or voted on, the majority Democrats needed all 53 of its members (counting Independent Joseph Lieberman) plus 7 GOP members to debate the bill. No up or down vote on the Jobs Act, just more procedural theater. There has been no vote on immigration legislation, or Don't Ask, Don't Tell, for that matter, on any real important governing policy. Governing is Hard, Politics is Easy. The 110th, 111th and so-far the 112th has mostly been a do-nothing Congress -- some may say filibustered to death.

When the Republicans were in the majority they devised a "nuclear option" to consider outlawing the procedure, when Democrats threatened to filibuster several of President Bush's judicial appointments. Now it seems to be their only winning play in the Senate.

Jimmy Stewart filibustered and become a populist hero in the classic film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Those were the days...

EC Movie Night Thursday 6 pm Rm 156

2011-10-11T12:41:00.000-05:00

(From PBS Independent Lens)

When Jeff Smith, a 29-year-old part-time political science instructor, decided to run for Congress, his friends and family members thought he was joking. “I don’t think a person with the mind that he has should waste it on politics,” quipped his grandmother, Ida. But as the race to replace former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt heats up, Smith mobilizes an army of nearly 500 volunteers in a grassroots campaign that is low on funds but big on passion, threatening to shake up Missouri state politics. CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE? follows the Smith campaign in the months leading up to the election, charting this political underdog’s efforts against the leading candidate, State Representative Russ Carnahan, the scion of Missouri's most powerful political dynasty.

Bring popcorn or whatever.....but bring your minds......this is a great documentary that bridges political campaigns and Congress.

PBS Independent Lens

'Sweet' Influences on lawmaking

2011-10-11T08:09:00.001-05:00

(At the end of this week, we will start our study of Congress. To give you a sweet taste of an instituion that has sour public approval ratings, here are a couple of interesting posts. First, the Tribune reports on the important desk Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk is manning. Second, a look in on the influence candy makers had on the treat of moving the end of Daylight Savings until after Halloween.)

WASHINGTON — Here's a sweet story from the nation's capital, a tale devoid, mostly, of its political knife fights and grenades.

Sen. Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, maintains a Senate tradition dating to 1965, back when he was in kindergarten at Fairmount School in Downers Grove.

He is assigned to Desk No. 95, which is near the Senate's most heavily used entrance, making it perfect to serve as the chamber's "candy desk." Kirk, his aides and Illinois candy manufacturers keep it stocked with treats for senators and staff. It's loaded with confections such as Jelly Bellys, bite-size Snickers bars and Ferrara Pan chocolates.

"Senators, being older, can get kind of grumpy in the afternoon, and have this tradition of being able to reach into this desk to get a treat," Kirk, 52, said.

Chocoholics in the chamber need not worry because Kirk won't name names. It's partly discretion, partly the nature of his calorie-laden cache. Rather than staying at his desk and minding the store, Kirk is often buttonholing colleagues on the Senate floor.

"I'm deep in the well (of the Senate) talking to 15 members about 14 things," he said. "The desk kind of runs itself. I can't tell you individual (candy) preferences. It's a 'drive-by' pickup they do … a pretty stealth swoop."

His own weakness? When sugar-free Orbit gum won't suffice during a "hypoglycemic dip," Kirk chooses chocolate.

For more on how the Illinois Republican handles this informal leadership spot:

Kirk's Sweet Desk

The Senate, more than the House of Represenatives, is associated with evolving traditions of (worthy?) of the Upper House. Here's the skinny (really?) on the history of the candy desk.

Since 1965

(Was it a Trick, or a Treat? This was big news at Halloween and the influences on lawmaking on Capitol Hill four years ago. This post origninally posted on Political Warrior in Nov. 2007)

Last year's Trick-or-Treating was different. Because Congress in 2007 moved Daylight Savings time back to the first Saturday in Novemeber, my son went to a record number of doors in the Sunlight. (In 2008, I think he set a new record).

"I got lots of candy more than ever before,'' said then nine-year-old Patrick. "It should have been night, because night is cooler going trick-or-treating, and the houses are more lit up . But I probably wouldn't have got as much candy."

Hmm. Despite the fact that Patrick did get tooth paste at one house, the load of his loot may have been due to influences on Capitol Hill. The New York Times City Room Blog says the candy lobby gave an influential push for a rider to the 2005 Engergy Policy Act.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Policy_Act_of_2005 NYT story on the influences on federal lawmakers to shed more light on Halloween night (child safety was also a legitimate concern) is linked here:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/an-extra-hour-of-daylight-thank-the-candy-lobby/index.html?hp

Caucusing is EASY......

2011-10-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

This is really a well done Clinton campaign video that was posted in 2008 before the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucus. It is a must see.

I do agree with the Clinton campaign that caucusing is not as hard as exercising. But more importantly, it is a great party builder, a grass roots organizing tool AND a way to meet your democratic neighbors! People meet "caucus" buddies, both Clinton and Obama supporters in 2008. In 2008, WV grad and former Youth & Government president Sarah Sampson was part of the ground game for the Obama campaign, offering baby sitting services for parents who went to caucus.

Remember.

Exercising is hard.

Singing is hard.

Dancing is hard.

Caucusing is easy!

(Just a take-off of the 'Governing is HARD, Politics is EASY...Caucusing in retail politics and all politics is local pulled together in a festive atmosphere that can build campaigning momentum.)

Our Caucus is Tuesday:

For Tuesday,

1) produce a slick-looking campaign book;
2) produce or download a television ad;
3) try to get our class to vote for your group as the best campaign staff after your 8-minute presentation

Book It (what needs to be in the book):

 Slick-looking cover – Though if you pick Michelle Bachmann, be careful of a crazy-eyed Newsweek portrait. Cover should have at least one of the candidates’ mottos.

 Platform/finance tracker – brief descriptions of main issues of the campaign and list tracking campaign donors. Who is enjoying the most “Mother’s Milk of Politics” can be found @ (http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/summary.php)

 Script of a campaign ad – either that you produce or that the candidate’s campaign produces. You need to bring the ad to show.

 Position paper – 3-page policy piece highlighting your candidate’s “Reagan Rule of 4” – the four top positions you and your candidate.

 Copy of a speech. A member of your staff will give the speech on caucus day.

 Propaganda – not necessarily in the book, but brought into the caucus. Can be posters, buttons or food stuffs.

Another example of political efficacy

2011-10-04T12:22:00.000-05:00

This is another example of political efficacy without giving money or voting for politicians. Sent to me from my guy, Bono.

Dear Chris,

I've been known to drop the occasional expletive, but the most offensive F word to me is not the one that goes f***. It's F***** - the famine happening in the Horn of Africa, mainly Somalia.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch ONE's new video "The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity" and in doing so sign the petition:

http://act.one.org/go/136?akid=2622.297800.MtVv1y&t=3

Dear Members of Congress,

The famine in Somalia has killed 30,000 children in 3 months. In 2011 we have the opportunity to make famine a thing of the past. Lives are in your hands. Please fully fund Feed the Future and help break the cycle of famine for good.

The reasons for the famine in the Horn of Africa are complex and solutions are difficult, especially in Somalia, but we can’t lose sight of some simple facts:

1. 30,000 children have died in just 3 months. Thirty thousand. With over 12 million people at risk.

2. Famine is not a natural catastrophe – drought doesn't have to lead to famine. It can be prevented, as we have seen in much of Kenya and Ethiopia.

In the 21st century, it's an obscenity that people are dying because they can't get enough food to eat. Every one of those 30,000 children is part of a family – a son, a daughter, sister or brother. We can't imagine what it must be like to starve to death, but most of us know what it's like to lose someone we love.

Please watch the film and make use of the voice you have -- sign the petition. It will make a difference in putting pressure on world leaders to do more to help those in need right now, and live up to promises already made to invest in the things proven to work – early warning systems...irrigation...drought resistant seeds… and of course, peace and security.

Thanks for reading.

Bono

Three Stooges 2012?

2011-10-04T11:06:00.001-05:00

(From APGov.org)
Are you ready for some football? Hank Williams Jr. isn't.

Questions.....Should Hank Williams, Jr. be taken off of MNF for what he said? Is there bias in the way CNN reported what was originally broadcast on Fox News, or bias in Fox News giving Hank Williams, his Soap Box? Or, is it all just Dirty Laundry ' Infotainment.?'

Again, is this why, "We Hate the Media?"

For the record, Fox News clebrates its 15th birthday on Friday and MSNBC is also 15 this year. James Fallows wrote his article 15 years ago, when the cable news stations and their viewers (Fox, 102 million, MSNBC 78 million) had far less influence. By the way, CNN (100 million homes, almost 1 million domestic hotels and availability in 212 countries and territories) was the first 24-7 news station. It was founded in 1980.

On the campaign trail, can money buy you love?

2011-10-04T10:34:00.000-05:00

(From Ken Halla's US Government Teachers Blog)

Money -- "The Mother's Milk of Politics." Later this week we will talk in class about campaign financing. With McCain-Feingold (BCFA, 2002) we now are seeing changes in donation levels for individuals every campaign cycle. Now an individual can give $2500 (unless there is a primary and then it is $5K) and a PAC can give $5000. Here is the FEC page with all the other donation rules.
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Love (or Hate) and why/why not -- a site from Gallup Poll which shows "the state of the states" and includes changes in political affiliation, the economy and even health from 2008, 2009 and 2010. You can use this data in part to decide what states to target with what type of plans (hint, focus on Iowa and Illinois for our caucus). If nothing else, this is a great example of the data professional polling organizations offer to candidates and campaign handlers.

How to read a poll

2011-10-03T14:06:00.001-05:00

In its traditional media role of scorekeeper, we will see more and more polls reported between now and the beginning of caucuses and primaries in Jan. These days, it seems there's a poll for everything. In this episode of Congress.org's D.C. Decoder, host Craig Crawford shows you how to tell if a poll's results are legitimate.

www.rollcall.com/cqpolitics/dc_decoder/48423-1.html

Roberts Rules

2011-10-03T10:50:00.002-05:00

("The 2 Teachers" preview the 2011-12 Supreme Court Season and invite you to Supreme Court Fantasy, From CitizenU)

On Monday October 3 the high priests of our sacred temple of justice arrive to render their services. October 3, 2011 marks the day when “the Nine” Supreme Court Justices return to work in order to provide judgments in the most pressing issues of our time. In our political arena, hardly any issue passes without some sort of judicial decision.

Though we boast, “justice is blind,” Court decisions today all too often appear politically predictable. Greater access to information combined with more and more scrutiny have made our Supreme Court Justices look more like political actors then Platonic guardians of timeless principles.

When John Roberts became Chief Justice, back in 2005, he hoped for a less partisan Court. Unanimous Court decisions continue to be our Court’s most popular. During Roberts’ tenure the Court’s unanimous decisions make up just over 40% of their decisions. Yet today the conservative and liberal blocs continue to be clearly defined. Over 20% of all Court decisions end in a 5 – 4 decision.

Under Roberts' rule the conservatives often find themselves in the majority. According to the SCOTUS blog Stat Pack the conservative Justices clearly vote with the majority more than the others. Justice Kennedy, often the swing vote, sided with the majority 94% of the time last term. The other conservatives; Roberts, Thomas, Scalia and Alito, sided with the majority close to 88% of the time.

The leading liberal on the Court, Justice Ginsberg, agreed with Justice Alito only 62% of the time. Contrast that with Chief Justice Roberts who sided with Alito 96% of the time.

This widely perceived Court partisanship might play a role in the upcoming presidential election. Both conservatives and liberals alike have called upon the Supreme Court to address once and for all the constitutionality of Obama Care. There will be other cases of note but none bigger then if the Court rules on the controversial individual health care mandate provision of Obama Care.

Both President Obama and Chief Justice Roberts pledged to rule in a post partisan fashion. As we welcome back the Court on Monday Roberts’ rule has been anything but post partisan. Political circumstances have put Roberts’ rule on a “collision course” with the Obama Administration.

To “the Nine” we say, “Welcome back.” We look forward to your rulings. The conservative to watch this year may not be running for President. The conservative to watch may be Chief Justice John Roberts. 2012 looks to be Obama’s rule versus Roberts’ rule.
________________________________________________

For our Court enthusiasts we invite you to join our Supreme Court Fantasy League. Follow the guidelines below.

United States Supreme Court

2011 Fantasy League

Rules

1. Research both the Court case and the views of each Supreme Court judge. Predict the Court’s decision by checking which judges will side with the majority.

2. Score 10 points if you are able to predict the Court’s final decision. Give yourself 5 points if you predict the Court’s vote total.

3. Give yourself 2 additional points for each judge you predicted would be in the majority and 1 point for each judge you predicted would be in the minority.

4. Draft one judge (Draft selection will be determined by lottery. Trading will be allowed). Every time that judge is in the majority give yourself 5 points.

5. Person with the most points at the end of the term wins.

6. Keep track by printing out the scorecards linked here.

Better or Worse? Old vs. New Media

2011-10-03T08:07:00.000-05:00

Why, exactly, has the media establishment become so unpopular with so many people? Here are just a few examples of what provokes American anger. They suggest that the public has good reason to think that the news media are not doing their job.

Browse the pieces of the PBS Frontline Website on an episode they did on, "Why America Hates the Press." Make sure you read the Fallows article (linked) for discussion and a possible quiz.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/press/

The Atlantic blog commented on how things have stayed the same, or have gotten worse since the article was first printed.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/06/from-the-archives-why-we-hate-the-media/240854/
Also, after two weeks some mainstream media is covering the Occupy Wall St. protesters in New York City. Is this a story that should be covered or "gatekept" away from the mainstream public? Thanks to Danielle L. for sending along sever pictures from Flickr another new social media part of the Youdia.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/03/national/main20114601.shtml

Danielle's favorite pic

As our social media correspondent, she reports:

"They're also fairly organized, and it's interesting that they have communal kitchens and even "libraries". "

Occupy Wall St. pic 2

Also check out the interesting video and information on the organizing group's website:

http://occupywallst.org/

The video where the kid asks people -- potesters and police -- to state why they are there in one word is interesting.

Compare this to Tea Con 2011, held in Chicago over the weekend.

Tea Con 2011

How would you define Occupy Wall St. and Tea Con, are they grassroots movements, astro-turf movements or something entirely different? This are also examples of citizens practicing political efficacy.

Is never-wrong pundit stupid this time?

2011-09-08T12:33:00.002-05:00

President Clinton advisor James Carville is credited with the political catch phrase, "It's the Economy, Stupid." Nothing else matters, but the state of the economy. If that's true, then one of the strongest predictors of presidential electoral success might be at risk in 2012. But if the formula is right, President Obama may still be the Pick to Click.

As US News and World Report blog Washington Whispers reports:

Allan Lichtman, the American University professor whose election formula has correctly called every president since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election, has a belated birthday present for Barack Obama: Rest easy, your re-election is in the bag.

“Even if I am being conservative, I don’t see how Obama can lose,” says Lichtman, the brains behind The Keys to the White House.....

Lichtman developed his 13 Keys in 1981. They test the performance of the party that holds the presidency. If six or more of the 13 keys go against the party in power, then the opposing party wins.“The keys have figured into popular politics a bit,” Lichtman says. “They’ve never missed. They’ve been right seven elections in a row. A number that goes way beyond statistical significance in a record no other system even comes close to.”

In 2005, Lichtman also hit a home run when he said that the political stage was looking so bad for Republicans that Democrats could pick a name out of the phone book and win in 2008, the year a little known first-term senator became the first African-American to win the presidency.

Now Lichtman’s predicting a repeat performance by Obama.

Below are each of the keys and how it falls for Obama.

1.Party mandate: After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than it did after the previous midterm elections. Says Lichtman, “Even back in January 2010 when I first released my predictions, I was already counting on a significant loss.” Obama loses this key.

2.Contest: There is no serious contest for the incumbent party nomination. Says Lichtman on Obama’s unchallenged status, “I never thought there would be any serious contest against Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.” Obama wins this key.

3.Incumbency: The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president. Easy win here for Obama.

4.Third Party: There is no significant third party challenge. Obama wins this point.

5.Short term economy: The economy is not in recession during the election campaign. Here Lichtman declares an “undecided.”

6.Long-term economy: Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms. Says Lichtman, “I discounted long term economy against Obama. Clearly we are in a recession.” Obama loses this key. [Read: Seven Ways Obama Can Gain Credibility on Jobs.]

7.Policy change: The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy. “There have been major policy changes in this administration. We’ve seen the biggest stimulus in history and an complete overhaul of the healthcare system so I gave him policy change,” says the scholar. Another win for Obama.

8.Social unrest: There is no sustained social unrest during the term. Says Lichtman, “There wasn’t any social unrest when I made my predictions for 2012 and there still isn’t.” Obama wins a fifth key here.

9.Scandal: The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal. “This administration has been squeaky clean. There’s nothing on scandal,” says Lichtman. Another Obama win.

10.Foreign/military failure: The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs. Says Lichtman, “We haven’t seen any major failure that resembles something like the Bay of Pigs and don’t foresee anything.” Obama wins again.

11.Foreign/military success: The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs. “Since Osama bin Laden was found and killed, I think Obama has achieved military success.” Obama wins his eighth key.

12.Incumbent charisma: The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero. Explains Lichtman, “I did not give President Obama the incumbent charisma key. I counted it against him. He’s really led from behind. He didn’t really take the lead in the healthcare debate, he didn’t use his speaking ability to move the American people during the recession. He’s lost his ability to connect since the 2008 election.” Obama loses this key. [See political cartoons about President Obama.]

13.Challenger charisma: The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero. Says Lichtman, “We haven’t seen any candidate in the GOP who meets this criteria and probably won’t.” Obama wins, bringing his total to nine keys, three more than needed to win reelection.

Just to be sure, the President laid out his jobs plan before a rare mid-year Joint Session of Congress address on Thursday night, blog here to share what you like/disliked about what you heard.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/08/30/never-wrong-pundit-picks-obama-to-win-in-2012?s_cid=rss:washington-whispers:never-wrong-pundit-picks-obama-to-win-in-2012

The Revolution Will NOT Be Televised

2011-09-08T12:10:00.000-05:00

When he ran in 2008 and had the most Facebook friends of any GOP presidential candidate, followers called it, "The Ron Paul Revoultion." Apparently, in 2012, as Gil Scott-Heron wrote and sung in protest in 1970, the 2012 version of the Ron Paul Revolution will not be televised....at least as much as other candidate competitors.

The FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) blog reports:

Washington Post ombud Patrick Pexton dedicated his column this weekend (8/29/11) to addressing complaints about the skimpy coverage of Republican presidential contender Ron Paul. It's hard to argue with the numbers he's gathered:

Still, the Post’s coverage of Paul looks thin compared with its stories on Bachmann. In the past six months, the Post has published online or in print 34 staff-written stories plus 12 wire service stories on Bachmann, who has served not even five years in the House, and that doesn't count the blog posts about her on the Fix or Glenn Kessler's Fact Checker pieces. The Post published 19 staff-written stories on former House speaker Newt Gingrich in that time, plus one wire story and many blog posts. On Paul, a congressman for more than 20 years, who was No. 2 in fundraising after Romney in the last report, the Post has published just three full stories, a couple more that had large sections on him along with other candidates, two wire stories and the Fix blog posts.

Bachmann has a 46-5 advantage over Paul--that's pretty stunning (and it doesn't even count Bachmann's appearances in the Fact Checker column, which is a place you're likely to read about her). A Post editor assures that more coverage of Paul is forthcoming, and that Gingrich got more coverage because his "campaign imploded when most of his senior staff walked out in June." You don't normally hear journalists talking about the need to thoroughly cover campaigns that are in complete disarray.

http://www.fair.org/blog/2011/08/29/ron-paul-in-the-post-by-the-numbers/

Madison v. Screech: Which T-Shirt Would They Wear?

2011-09-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

(This is a re-run Classic Poltical Warrior Post)

James Madison might not ever imagined Bayside High School, but he described it perfectly when he wrote Federalist No. 10.

In his effort to promote the ratification of the Constitution, Madison helped write the Federalist papers to describe the theoretical underpinnings of this unique government.

Besides describing how the concept of Separation of Powers (Federalist No. 51) would work, he also spoke of how this new government would help to contain the archenemy of democracy: factions.

Madison argued that cliques are a natural part of society but were particularly detrimental in a democracy where the majority faction would naturally try to punish the minority factions. He argued that this oppressive situation was most likely to occur in smaller regions.

For instance Bayside High School-- with a student population of 10 -- had a majority faction led by Zac and the gang who ran the school. They led the football team. They ran the school newspaper. They even dictated the policies of their principal Mr. Belding...never considering the impact on the oppressed minority--the Geeks.

A large republic is like a large high school. No one faction can ever dominate. In a large republic, multiple factions have to unite behind common interests to enact public policy.

For instance, in order to win the electoral votes in a state like Florida, candidates vie to win support from the elderly, from Cuban-Americans, from African-Americans, and from the NASCAR crowd. Thus, candidates must tailor their message to unite groups that might have widely different interests.

So, when you were asked to read Federalist No. 10, you should have been sure to also watch a re-run of Saved by the Bell to gain fuller appreciation of the system that Madison was trying to prevent.

Saved by the Bell WVHS style

While the size of Waubonsie Valley, Madison would maintain, has kept any one faction from succeeding in a power grab, several sub-groups of Warrior seniors have tried separated themselves from the rest of the student body. No less than four "Senior" T-shirts have been worn by faction models in year's past. Senior Mean Girls, Senior Princesses. . . then there's the student council senior T, and the many AP faction statements.

Screech and his crew would be all about making the best T-shirt. It would probably make Madison simply want to scream. Linked is Federalist No. 10 for those of you want to get ahead of the bell.

http://www.thisnation.com/library/books/federalist/10.html

Globalization and Fair Trade: An Issue to Deliberate

2011-09-01T07:54:00.000-05:00

In response to market globalization, should our democracy provide "fair trade" certification for coffee and other products?

(From Deliberating in a Democracy)

Globalization has resulted in stunning changes around the world. Everythingâ€”from making shoes or growing wheat to preventing terrorism and promoting democracyâ€”is affected, because everything is connected. The speed and extent of globalization are viewed by some as wonderful and by others as threatening. In many democracies, ordinary citizens have sought ways to exercise greater influence and control over global decisions of governments and corporations, particularly in matters of trade. An example is the fair trade movement that tries to certify a fair exchange between producers in poorer countries and consumers in richer countries for a variety of products.

Your assignment for deliberation:

In response to market globalization, should our democracy provide "fair trade" certification for coffee and other products?

Money the Mother's Milk of Politics

2011-08-31T10:47:00.003-05:00

The Senate: Lawyers, Drugs, and Money

SECTOR
# OF MEMBERS

Finance, insurance, and real estate 57

Lawyers and lobbyists 25

Health 5

Agribusiness 3

Labor 2

Energy and natural resources 2

Miscellaneous business 2

Communications and electronics 1

No money raised 3 (clear)

Some fodder from Mother Jones:

What if members of Congress were seated not by party but according to their major business sponsors? We gave it a try.

Politics makes stange bedfellows.....this piece in liberal Mother Jones was collected and posted on Republican, ultra conservative, presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Corporate Sponsors of Congress
More on the early money race for 2012, now that Hurrican Irene has passed and the debt ceiling crisis has been kicked down the road:

Here is a great article from yesterday's NYTimes on the impact on Citizen United v. FEC. It gives a good overview on how presidential candidates can raise unlimited amounts of money in addition to the normal FEC funds.

And,

In June, the second fundraising quarter came to a close. And with it, political fortunes were made and crushed for the men and women running for president in 2012.

Money is seen as an early indicator of momentum — the more you have of the first, the more you are likely to have of the second.

So who will win the cash dash? We explore that question in today’s “Fast Fix” episode:

Fast Fix: Campaign Cash Dash

Lessons Learned? Federal Response Post-Katrina

2011-08-30T08:01:00.000-05:00

"FEMA is a four-letter word," --critique from residents of New Orleans six years ago.

Was the response of all levels of government this past weekend to Hurricane Irene an examples of lessons learned? CNN reports, "Six years after "Katrina" became shorthand for a botched response to a crisis, authorities at all levels of government are winning praise for their handling of Hurricane Irene."

You will write a formal essay analyzing federalism in response to Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill in the next unit, so it is probably helpful to take a systems approach to the response of government (local, state and national authorities) in a federal system in real time.

Did the government (s) work better this time, or was Irene just not as mean as Katrina. Irene death toll: 40-ish; Katrina: 1,700.

Will FEMA's budget get cut?

Constitution Smonstitution

2011-08-26T08:06:00.001-05:00

We get into the foundations of American Government and the Constitution next week. But is the Supreme Law of the Land too static? The early leader in Republican primary presidential polls apparently thinks so. As the Ticket reports:

Rick Perry has many ideas about how to change the American government's founding document. From ending lifetime tenure for federal judges to completely scrapping two whole amendments, the Constitution would see a major overhaul if the Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate had his druthers.

Perry laid out these proposed innovations to the founding document in his book, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington. He has occasionally mentioned them on the campaign trail. Several of his ideas fall within the realm of mainstream conservative thinking today, but, as you will see, there are also a few surprises.

Seven ways Rick Perry wants to change the Constitution

Friedman: Pie in the sky view of Globalization?

2011-08-25T10:47:00.000-05:00

(From Political Warrior, 2008)

The author of The World is Flat, which many of you read last summer, was making remarks that responding to climate change will make America "stronger, more innovative, [and] more energy secure." He was greeted by protesters and a shamrock-colored whipped cream pie.

The Providence Journal (by way of Huffington Post.com reports):

Not everyone agrees with Friedman's vision that innovation is the path to climate and energy salvation. Just seconds into his speech, he was interrupted by two environmental activists, who stormed the stage shortly after Friedman stepped up to the microphone, tossing two paper plates loaded with shamrock-colored whipped cream at him.

Friedman ducked, and was left with only minor streams of the sugary green goo on his black pants and turtleneck.

He stood in bewilderment and mild disgust as the young man and woman bolted from the stage and out the side door, throwing a handful of fliers into the air to relay the message they apparently were not going to deliver personally.

"Thomas Friedman deserves a pie in the face...," the flier said, "because of his sickeningly cheery applaud for free market capitalism's conquest of the planet, for telling the world that the free market and techno fixes can save us from climate change. From carbon trading to biofuels, these distractions are dangerous in and of themselves, while encouraging inaction with respect to the true problems at hand..."

Here's story of Friedman pied:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/24/thomas-friedman-pie-in-th_n_98367.html

For the weekend's reading, first Benjamin Barber's Jihad vs. McWorld. This comparative government classic essay, by the title itself has a less optimistic view of globalization than Friedman. We will have a quiz on this reading and Ch. 1 in Hauss on Tuesday.

Jihad vs. McWorld

Second, as America looks out at the rest of the globe today, what big challenges does it see. Read and blog any others you see facing US.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f011810_challenges

Breakdown of AP Scores Tweeted

2011-06-21T15:05:00.000-05:00

AP Trevor (Trevor Packer) has been posting score breakdowns of the various Advanced Placement tests on his Twitter account. So here's how your scores will compare with the National Averages:

"AP US Gov&Pol (and AP Spanish Lit teachers) have preserved scores very similar to last year, despite now serving approx. 20,000 more students.

AP US Government & Politics scores, 2011: 12.6% = 5; 14.0% = 4; 25.1% = 3; 24.3% = 2; 24.0% = 1."

"AP Comp Gov/Pol students struggled with basic, core concepts like UK judicial systems and Nigerian federalism in the free-response section.

AP Comparative Government & Politics scores, 2011: 17.3% = 5; 21.7% = 4; 20.3% = 3; 21.6% = 2; 19.1% = 1. (May shift slightly.)"

In case you were wondering....

Students ARE the Government in WA School District

2011-06-10T10:17:00.001-05:00

Neat story about a group of students in Lake Stevens, WA who got the school board to approve AP Gov as a course that meets social studies requirements. (The article didn't say whether it was just U.S. or U.S. and Comparative.)

http://www.lakestevensjournal.com/news/article.exm/2011-06-07_high_school_students_step_up_to_create_curriculum_change

High School students step up to create curriculum change

"It was an unusual sight at the weekly Lake Stevens School Board meeting last month when over 20 Lake Stevens High School students walked in the door with the hope of addressing the school board on the subject of a curriculum change..."
________________

BTW, as part of our first semester current events journals, you will cover two government meetings (like a school board meeting)....extra credit, maybe, if you take it to the next level and get on the agenda.

Finish in a 'Grreat' way

2011-05-23T21:37:00.003-05:00

So right here, following Chris Matthews' 'Let Me Finish' segment, give me your closing thoughts......comments, critiques, advice for future AP Government & Politics students. What did you like? Dislike? I will use your feedback, and it will be your final 5 points of the semester.

BTW, Justices, 5-4, Tell California to Cut Prisoner Population

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/24scotus.html?hp

Would have been 'Super' to see before the test

2011-05-22T11:40:00.002-05:00

From the AP Government list-serv as teachers break down the test:

"Question #3 might have tripped up some of my students; in trying to squeeze as much as in as we could for the 2nd semester kids, we didn't focus on superdelegates or the specific differences between Republican and Democratic primaries. But as luck would have it, just two days before the exam, we had covered the details of open primary v. closed primary v. caucus, so hopefully they'll at least dominate part (a)!"

"My students felt the same way but they mentioned that super-delegates were in the FRQ and if I addressed this on the class it was brief if at all."

"I think that FRQ on caucuses/primaries, superdelegates was an important one. And yes, some books are out-of-date, but the FRQ was trying to show how the system has changed over time. I would recommend folks share the Ari Berman article on Superdelegates, and there was a good quick video clip I showed to my students about superdelegates from Katie Couric's show. I found it on Youtube, and it was a fairly humorous way of showing how the system works."

Take a look at the above video, and blog if you thought you nailed the question on Superdelegates, or got nailed.

An uneasy peace

2011-05-20T17:08:00.003-05:00

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried on Friday to put the best face on evident tensions created by Obama’s remarks a day earlier, when the president outlined his vision for an eventual peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

“Obviously, there are some differences between us in the precise forumlations and language, and that’s going to happen between friends,” Obama said after a 96-minute-long, one-on-one meeting with Netanyahu in the Oval Office. “But what we are in complete accord about is a true peace can only occur if the ultimate resolution allows Israel to defend itself against threats.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55362.html#ixzz1MvuSQXyR

Read the President's full text of his Middle East speech here (he seems to support our class group's proposal):

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55305.html

The F-word Senate: Stop the Vote, Continue the Oil Subsidies

2011-05-19T14:50:00.002-05:00

When you fill up your car this weekend, think of the additional fuel Big Oil profits will continue to get through Congressional subsidies, thanks to......you guessed it, the Filibuster.

(From Credoaction.com)

On Tuesday night, 48 Senators, including three Democrats and all but two Republicans, put Big Oil before the American people and helped defeat a bill that would have ended tax breaks for the five biggest oil companies.

How could anyone vote against a bill that would have kept $21 billion of American taxpayers' money out of the pockets of cash-rich oil companies?

One big reason is oil money in our political process. A lot of it. Oil and gas companies spent $39.5 million lobbying congress in just the first quarter of this year, and have donated nearly $18 million to the 48 Senators who voted to protect oil subsidies - five times more than to Senators who supported ending them.

Senators Opposing End of Oil Subsidies Received Five Times More in Big Oil Campaign Cash," Oil Change International, May 17, 2011

Senate rejects bill to cut oil tax breaks," The Hill, May 17, 2011

Here are the 48 Senators who voted against ending Big Oil subsidies:

Alexander (R-TN), Ayotte (R-NH), Barrasso (R-WY), Begich (D-AK), Blunt (R-MO), Boozman (R-AR), Brown (R-MA), Burr (R-NC), Chambliss (R-GA), Coats (R-IN), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Grassley (R-IA), Hatch (R-UT), Heller (R-NV), Hoeven (R-ND), Hutchison (R-TX), Inhofe (R-OK), Isakson (R-GA), Johanns (R-NE), Johnson (R-WI), Kirk (R-IL), Kyl (R-AZ), Landrieu (D-LA), Lee (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Moran (R-KS), Murkowski (R-AK), Nelson (D-NE), Paul (R-KY), Portman (R-OH), Risch (R-ID), Roberts (R-KS), Rubio (R-FL), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Thune (R-SD), Toomey (R-PA), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)

The War Powers Act Libya deadline

2011-05-19T14:38:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow, May 20, marks the 60th day since the US joined NATO allies in bombing Libya. This NY Times story deals with the War Powers Resolution and the US involvement in Libya.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/world/africa/13powers.html?_r=1

An iron, revolving door

2011-05-16T16:57:00.003-05:00

"People should be outraged about this kind of blatant revolving-door activity, where one day you're supposed to be a public servant, and the next day you simply go to work advocating for these big companies. "

- Craig Aaron, president of the media advocacy group Free Press

This story on NPR about an FCC Commissioner leaving to lobby for Comcast, after she approved the merger of NBC and Comcast is a Good (or Bad) revolving door or Iron Triangle story.

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/12/136250400/for-government-employees-revolving-door-continues

Live chat review simulcast

2011-05-09T15:51:00.002-05:00

From Dan Larsen, one of the "2 Teachers" and along with former WVHS teacher Andrew Conneen, did the C-SPAN CRAM for the EXAM show on Saturday (it is linked at the side of the Political Warrior blog, under CITIZENU):

"We will also be running a real-time review ONLINE @ ustream.com Monday night May 9 from 6-11 PM EST. On the ustream.com website search for the channel CITIZENU and/or the program name "Cram for the Exam 2011."

Both review sessions are guided by student-generated questions. Encourage your students to CRAM for the EXAM this weekend."

I will be here on-line tonight simulcasting the discussion. Hopefully I will not be talking to myself in the comment section.

Remember, US test is at 7:25 AM tomorrow (Rm 156 by the pool; 6:30 breakfast review in Rm 250).

-- 60 MC questions, 45 minutes
-- 4 Free Response Questions (more than enough time) 100 minutes

(About a 1/2 break for lunch)

Comparative test is at 11 AM

-- 55 MC questions, 45 minutes
-- 8 FRQs, 100 minutes

Presidential Approval Rating Bump

2011-05-04T08:02:00.003-05:00

Following the presidential announcement of the killing of Osama bin Laden, the slumping Obama approval ratings recieved a bump, around 11 percent on average. Will it last? Why/Not?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700132502/President-Obamas-approval-ratings-up-11-percent.html

Or will approval fall, after the White House decided, "We don't need to spike the football?" President Obama says he decided not to release photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse because they could put national security at risk and serve “as a propaganda tool” for extremists.

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0511/denouement_7743118c-9268-4719-9213-4bf19f61b19a.html

An MSNBC internet poll showed 66% saying, YES, releasing the photos would silence conspiracy thorists.

Finally, the debate over the legitimacy of targeted killing ordered by a liberal democracy is laid out in the Economist:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/05/targeted_killing&fsrc=nwl

Non-public oppression

2011-05-02T14:23:00.002-05:00

(From ken Wedding's Teaching Comparative Blog)

Freedom House says Mexico does not have a free press. But the government is only indirectly responsible because the government lacks the capacity to guarantee the freedom.

Mexican press tagged 'not free' amid drug war violence, self-censorship

In March, major media outlets signed a pact that, among other things, promises to de-glorify drug trafficking by refusing to print or air grisly photos and menacing messages.

In a culture where children role-play as Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Mexico's most-wanted fugitive, and where telenovelas, folk songs called narcocorridos, video games, and even a new opera are based on drug exploits, some call the move a noble one. But it also raises questions about censorship as press freedom has declined sharply in Mexico.

Freedom House, in its annual report released today, says that Mexico is facing one of the world’s most radical declines in press freedom, as journalists are killed and intimidated and newspapers are forced to publish press releases from criminal groups as if they were pure news. Navigating the drug conflict in Mexico has dogged every institution, from the presidency to the local police, and it is proving no less complicated for journalists and media outlets across the nation…

Press Freedom Index: The top 10 worst countries

Correspondents Dinner 2011

2011-05-01T20:55:00.002-05:00

(From AP Gov.org)

This dinner occurs yearly and is a roast of politicians and the media. See how many of these jokes you get. The more you get...the better attention you pay to current events.

BTW, Trump gets BLASTED.

Obama's Speech

Seth Meyer's Keynote Address

Gracias!

2011-05-01T20:36:00.003-05:00

(Katy B. found this interesting photo and the very comprehensive AP Comparative Review site. I can't imagine needing more review materials, but just in case, I will give you more this week. Remember Mexico packet quiz on Monday. Thanks, Katy and Mr. Cartwright for his great review site!)

(From Stumbleupon.com)
A small fence separates densely populated Tijuana, Mexico, right, from the United States in the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector. Construction is underway to extend a secondary fence over the top of this hill and eventually to the Pacific Ocean.

(From Brad Cartwright's AP Comparative Review site. Mr. Cartwright is at the American Nicaraguan School)

https://sites.google.com/a/ans.edu.ni/ap-comparative-government-politics/ap-exam-review-material

Must See TV: Royal Wedding Broadcast by 300 International Networks

2011-04-29T07:39:00.005-05:00

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/royal-wedding-broadcast-by-300-183655

A $100 million wedding, and the British loved it. Why? Why was the Royal Wedding such an international celebration of pride in London? Blog your thoughts.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/Royal_Wedding/royal-wedding-2011-prince-william-kate-middleton-kiss/story?id=13485553

Don't let the facts get in the way of a "good" opportunity

2011-04-29T07:19:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday, the White House did it again -- released the President's birth certificate -- after "birthers" like Donald Trump continued to do it again, and again.

(From White House.gov)

In 2008, in response to media inquiries, the President’s campaign requested his birth certificate from the state of Hawaii. The state sent the campaign the President’s birth certificate, the same legal documentation provided to all Hawaiians as proof of birth in state, and the campaign immediately posted it on the internet. That birth certificate can be seen here (PDF).

That birth certificate can be seen here (PDF).

When any citizen born in Hawaii requests their birth certificate, they receive exactly what the President received. In fact, the document posted on the campaign website is what Hawaiians use to get a driver’s license from the state and the document recognized by the Federal Government and the courts for all legal purposes. That’s because it is the birth certificate. This is not and should not be an open question.

The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn’t good for the country. It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country. Therefore, the President directed his counsel to review the legal authority for seeking access to the long form certificate and to request on that basis that the Hawaii State Department of Health make an exception to release a copy of his long form birth certificate. They granted that exception in part because of the tremendous volume of requests they had been getting.

____________

As I post this, some (mostly male) Americans question the legitimacy of the hoopla over the Royal Wedding.....the British just took cultural pride, no questioning the pomp and cirrcumstance.....I guess that makes us truly American -- we'll question anything even our President's birth certificate.

Finally, can this nonsense be over?

A Failing State?

2011-04-25T14:25:00.005-05:00

With a handicap of not reading Spanish, one might think it difficult to find news of government and politics in Mexico. However, when looking at recent headlines from reports in the Los Angeles Times, there's a pattern that does not bode well for either government or politics in Mexico. (Even with the media tendency to report on conflict and violence before other things.)

Mexico City an unlikely draw for those fleeing drug war violence
Calderon replaces Mexico attorney general
Ciudad Juarez's top police official accused of rights abuses
Thousands across Mexico protest drug violence
Mexican officials find 59 bodies in mass graves
13 more bodies found in Mexico mass graves

The BBC reports:

The discovery of at least 116 bodies in mass graves in the north-eastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas has become the most gruesome incident in the country's four-year war against drug cartels.

The city of San Fernando, about 150km (93 miles) from the border with Texas, has previously been hit by drug-related violence on a massive scale and efforts to control the situation there appear futile.

Last August the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants were found on the outskirts of the city.

The migrants, making their way to the border, were killed by drug gang members after they refused to work for them.'Haven for traffickers'
The federal government deployed hundreds more troops in the area and promised to improve the security situation.

But less than eight months later an even deadlier massacre has taken place in the same spot, allegedly after passengers on long distance buses were kidnapped by the Zetas, one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels.

Criminal groups are more effective at collecting 'taxes' than Tamaulipas' own government”End Quote Alberto Islas Security analyst, Mexico City. These tragedies, along with the targeted killings of top officials and members of the security forces, are fuelling thoughts of Tamaulipas as a possible "failed state" within Mexico - a haven for drug traffickers, people smugglers and criminals of all kinds.

The federal government strongly rejects this view.

But state governor Egidio Torre Cantu recently said the violence was not only a threat to the people of Tamaulipas, but also "a situation that affects Mexico's internal security."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13061452

http://current.com/shows/vanguard/89845362_narco-war-next-door.htm

Sanctifying the leadership

2011-04-25T14:18:00.002-05:00

(From Nan Wright, St. Thomas' Episcopal in Houston & Teaching Comparative Blog)

When Ali Khamenei was chosen as supreme leader in Iran, he was not the first choice of the Assembly of Experts. Other, more renowned and revered ayatollahs did not want to be involved in politics. Most Shiite ayatollahs regard political involvement as beyond their religious duties.Khamenei, a secular politician and former president, was only named an ayatollah after the death of Khomeini. His choice as supreme leader was controversial. Now, it seems, his religious credentials are being polished.

Khamenei said ‘Ya Ali’ at birth

Unlike most babies who cry at birth, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei improbably voiced the name of the first Imam of the Shiites immediately after he left his mother’s womb, the Friday prayer leader of the Iranian holy city of Qom said.   Ayatollah Mohammad Saeedi appeared in a video, circulated by the Iranian opposition, in which he is telling an audience that Ayatollah Khamenei’s half-sister said that the supreme leader said “Ya Ali” right at birth. The midwife responded saying, “May Ali protect you.”

Ali refers to Ali ibn Abi Taleb, a cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. Ali is believed to be the first Shiite Imam…

Ayatollah Saeedi was appointed as the leader of Friday prayer in Qom by Ayatollah Khamenei following the controversial presidential elections in 2009, which led to the country’s worst social unrest in three decades.Ayatollah Saeedi also leads Qom’s cultural council and the committee to revive “the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice.”…

On scene reports from Nigeria

2011-04-23T22:07:00.002-05:00

(From Teaching Comparative Blog)
Melody Dickison who teaches at Wayne HS in Ohio found a treasure trove of videos about the Nigerian elections and their aftermath. Thank you.

Storyful channel at YouTube
There are 131 videos (9 hours of video) "posted by Nigerian users and media outlets during the 2011 National Assembly, Governorship and Presidential elections…" The clips range from network news reports to amateur video. If each student looks at one and reports on it to your class, the class can attempt generalizations about the coverage and the events.

Here's a sample:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/on5gKE6xJBU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Comparative Review on Facebook

2011-04-22T20:38:00.002-05:00

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72773040132

Study on Facebook (over 600 friends) for the AP Comparative Government & Politics exam.

2010 High School AP U.S. Government Exam Review

2011-04-22T17:48:00.002-05:00

(From C-SPAN Classroom)
Andrew Conneen and Daniel Larsen, teachers from Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, talked with high school student callers only who are preparing for the Advanced Placement Government Exam. They talked about the exam and previewed sample questions from the test. They also responded to electronic communications from students. This year's preview show will run on Saturday, May 7.

CitizenU scores!

2011-04-22T11:47:00.003-05:00

The "Two Teachers" (Andy Conneen, formerly of WV and Dan Larsen) are once again doing a great job of given AP govt students tools to prepare to score on May 10. Linked at right is the CitizenU site, which has video reviews of all aspects of key categories on the US test, including the Civics TERM-ament. Knowing how much you enjoyed our Bracketology last month, now its time to get after it again).

(From CitizenU.org)

Link below and vote for your favorite AP Government and Politics words. Played just like the NCAA Tournament, 64 words have qualified and been seeded into 4 regions.

In each round winners will be tabulated, based upon most votes, and moved on to face their next opponent. Before the AP Government and Politics Exam on May 10 our 2011 Civics Term-ament winner will be crowned.

What government and politics word would you like to see win the 2011 Civics Term-ament?

Vote NOW in the SWEET 16.

Check out the East Regional Bracket

Check out the West Regional Bracket

Check out the Southwest Regional Bracket

Check out the Southeast Regional Bracket

The Home Stretch

2011-04-22T11:25:00.002-05:00

As we hit the home stretch to the May 10 high stakes tests, the first one to answer in the comment section the answer to the question: "What is Horse Race Journalism?" will win a prize to be presented on Tuesday.

As you work on your take-home exam, you may want to check out the College Board Briefing papers on Nigeria and Iran.....also the Mexico briefing paper for next week would be a good idea.

Briefing Paper - Nigeria PDF document

Briefing Paper - Iran PDF document

Briefing Paper - Mexico PDF document

Practice Exams (10 EC points a piece) will be given on the following dates/times:

US #1 -- Tuesday, 4/26 -- 6 pm
Comp #1 -- Friday, 4/29 -- 2:45 pm
US #2 -- Tuesday, 5/3 -- 2:45 pm
Comp #2 -- Wednesday, 5/4 -- 6 pm

Entitlement Reform

2011-04-20T12:06:00.003-05:00

Here's a multiple choice stumper from one of the practice tests that await you the week after next:

Which of the following programs are entitlements?
I. Medicaid
II. Medicare
III. food stamps
IV. Social Security

(A) I and II
(B) I, II, and III
(C) II and IV
(D) I and IV
(E) II, III, and IV

C is the correct answer because Medicaid and Food Stamps are means-tested programs whereas entitlements are not.

Entitlement (also called social insurance) - Gov't benefits that certain qualified individuals are entitled to by law, regardless of need.

Means-tested - Gov't programs available only to individuals who qualify based on specific needs.

Here's how this can get real confusing, even when entitlement reform is a huge part of the current budget/deficit battles on Capitol Hill. From Susan Milligan of US News & World Report:

"For long-term fiscal health, the nation needs to do entitlement reform. But first, there has to be sense-of-entitlement reform.

Entitlements, of course, are those popular federal programs meant to address basic human needs and maintain basic human dignity. Social Security keeps senior citizens from crippling poverty. Medicaid provides healthcare to the poor and disabled. Medicare is a federal healthcare plan for the over-65 crowd. The cost of the programs represents a huge chunk of the federal budget, and there is really no way to balance the budget without addressing those long-term costs. Certainly, the budget cannot be balanced merely by cutting spending that is not part of the entitlement programs. The idea that this can be done without cutting defense spending, either, is just laughable." [Check out a roundup of political cartoons on the budget and deficit.]

Sounds like she wasn't reading her Patterson text. Make sure you review it.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2011/04/18/reform-tax-entitlement-before-gutting-medicare

Goodluck, Jonathan

2011-04-19T13:16:00.002-05:00

Here's the text of Jonathan's acceptance speech. What issues does he outline for his new term? What obstacles does he foresee? What promises does he make?

Acceptance speech by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

My dear Country men and women,

This is a new dawn! 

 Our nation has spoken. At the end of intense and hard fought campaigns by all the political parties, our people spoke through the ballot. In every city, town, village, ward and voting unit, Nigerians stood in the sun, some in the rain, some walked long distances and all waited patiently, to vote.

With a heart full of gratitude to Almighty God, I want to thank Nigerians for the great sacrifice and overwhelming national mandate you have just given to me, to preside over the affairs of this nation for the next four years…

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5691039-146/acceptance_speech_by_president_goodluck_ebele.csp

For more:

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/west/Nigerian-Senator-Elect-Says-Strongest-Presidential-Candidate-Won-120216774.html

Federal Tax Payer Reciept

2011-04-19T12:20:00.003-05:00

(From US Government Teachers Blog)

The White House just released this tool to see where the money you pay in taxes actually goes. You can put in your actual numbers or choose an income level.

President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, paid $453,770 in federal income taxes in 2010 on $1.7 million in income, according to tax returns the White House released on Monday to coincide with the national income-tax filing deadline.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704004004576271151230600960.html

Rachel Maddow did a long segment on her show last night about the waining influence of the Tea Party, the group that had previously drawn thousands to their tax day rallies, but could barely get hundreds to show up at most of them this year.

"I'm not saying that the Tea Party has never been strong, that is had always been a weak movement, that they never had any energetic political mojo, but judging by their public events, which is what we used to judge them by when we said they were strong, the Tea Party seems to have peaked. It seems to be over.

"Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/rachel-maddow-tea-party-kardashians-2011-4#ixzz1JzW1eLVA

Would you have guessed...

2011-04-19T12:16:00.001-05:00

(From APGov.org)

Nationalism and its discontents

2011-04-19T11:58:00.003-05:00

The BBC reports on a Nationalistic party movements throughout Europe. Remember at the start of this course when we considered Nationalism as a hurdle to globalization:

"The eurosceptic and anti-immigration True Finns have taken nearly a fifth of votes in Finland's general election, reflecting a trend across Nordic and Western European countries.

The phrase "rise of the far-right" has been used - though in each country the parties concerned have their own characteristics and do not necessarily fit the conventional "far-right" description.
Here we record the electoral status - and political influence - of some of the most succesful nationalist/ anti-immigrant parties in Europe."

For more:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13115454

2011-04-14T21:15:00.003-05:00

So what's the deal?

2011-04-13T08:08:00.005-05:00

Question: What is the difference between fiscal and monetary policy?

Answer: Fiscal = budgetary choices of taxing and spending

Monetary = federal reserve decisions on interest rates and monetary supply.

Question: Where are the cuts in last week's government 'saving' budget agreement?

Answer: Spelled out in the middle of the night budget bill, PBS reports:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3tLgzzJk7A&feature=player_embedded

The ONE issue.....

2011-04-12T07:58:00.010-05:00

Before Bono started the ONE campaign in the United States, the oranization formed was called DATA: D ebt A ids/hiv T rade A id effectiveness, development assistance https://www.one.org/us/issues/ In your group, you will take ONE of these issues a prepare a short presentation on why this is the number ONE issue facing Sub-Saharan Africa. Crumbs From Your Table -- Poverty Assignment Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqMxAw49-sc Poverty Message, One, at United Center 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6SSjAny7_M&feature=related

Facebook a political obsession in Youdia Age

2011-04-11T20:35:00.004-05:00

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=1752879649&startTime=1804&endTime=2591 What do Barack Obama, George W. bush, David Cameron, Mir Mushavi and Goodluck Jonathan have in common? Lots of Facebook friends. In this segment of CNBC's "Facebook Obsession," Lester Holt examines the political influence of Facebook from Obama's historic "Facebook Election," to the challenge authoritarian regimes in Iran and China will have trying to contain the emerging Poltical Warrior.

Judicial Review....by the Nigerian Senate

2011-04-11T19:48:00.003-05:00

(A re-run from a 2008 post, this week's results may show that the Nigerian voters did not approve of this legislative judicial review, as the ruling party appears to have lost seats)

In the US, by stare decisis we have the constitutional principle of judicial review. In Nigeria, it is the Constitution that once again is being reviewed -- by the Senate.

There are many people in Nigeria who argue that the 1994 constitution was undemocratically imposed on the country by military and political leaders. Critics argue that it's illegitimate and flawed. The reasons for dissatisfaction vary widely, but the coalition of reformers has enough clout to "study the problem" nearly every year.

So far, efforts at constitutional reform have stalled because of political differences among the constitution's critics.The newspaper Leadership in Abuja reported on the latest review. The billion Naria budget for the study would be about $120,000 US. http://allafrica.com/stories/200805020399.html

Review the Nigerian Constitution here. Notice its Federal system, with provisions for Sharia State Court law.

http://www.nigeria-law.org/ConstitutionOfTheFederalRepublicOfNigeria.htm

Shutdown approval ratings

2011-04-11T19:36:00.002-05:00

Although the government shutdown has been averted, the crisis allowed us all to take a look back at the two shutdowns during the Clinton administration. Here is an article that looks at how the shutdowns impacted approval ratings. Nate Silver at it again, testing and maybe debunking a popular political science myth of the Bill Clinton "Comeback Kid" legacy.

So far, so good in Nigerian elections?

2011-04-11T14:39:00.004-05:00

(From Comparative Government and APGov.org blogs

Nigerian Elections: UPDATE UPDATE: The INEC bumped back all elections by a week.

The new schedule: Legislative: April 9
Presidential: April 16
Regional: April 23

You can "like" Goodluck Jonathan's campaign for president on Facebook

Pleased and hopeful

Those seem to be the initial words used in reporting on the Nigerian election. Early reports of results indicate that the PDP's dominance may be weakening. Inec Expresses Delight Over Large Turnout of Voters

The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Kogi, Plateau and Nasarawa States, Dr Abdulkadir Oniyangi, has expressed delight over the massive turnout of voters for Saturday's National Assembly polls.

Oniyangi who spoke to newsmen after monitoring the election in Lokoja, Okene, Ogaminana, Adavi, Itakpe and Osara on Saturday, was particularly happy over the peaceful and orderly conduct of voters at all the polling centres visited… Imnakoya, a Nigerian living in the US, expresses optimism about Nigerian elections based on reports from friends and family in Africa. This is from his blog, Grandiose Parlor.Elections 2011: Is the tide turning?

From the Oyinbo-land I live in Upper Midwestern U.S, one could easily be made to believe that the election in Nigeria on Saturday April 9 may not be any different from previous ones marred with widespread violence and electoral fraud. This may not be the case this year. It does appear the violence is limited to just few areas, and the election has been relatively free and fair.Earlier today, I did get word from the home country that many polling stations in Ondo State that recorded blatant fraud and violent disturbances were peaceful. People came out to vote, voted, and even waited for the votes to be counted, without being intimidated by gun-trotting hoodlums, as was the case 2007.

This appears to be the case across most South-western region of the country. This is a significant shift from the last election… [T]he ground may have shifted, positively, in greater parts of Nigeria. And I must say also that this is expected, given the intense efforts that went into sensitizing the public, intellectually and psychologically. It is a delight to see at last the use of social media in election process. Several of the candidates featured pages on Facebook and authored blogs. Perhaps, the most significant of these efforts, is the use participatory media and crowd-sourcing in news reports and election monitoring… Are these activities traces of a new dawn for Nigeria? I do hope so, and I’m excited. While the few evil–mongers may want to throw all the bombs they can, in Nigeria, the tide will certainly turn for the better, just a couple of elections to go…

Comic relief for those with some Nigerian knowledge

2011-04-09T12:43:00.003-05:00

In The Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex

On his blog, Ken Wedding found this clip from the Onion News Network in 2007. I'm posting it here for any of you who feel unsure about anything about Nigeria before we get started next week, know that you are not alone.

I hope you enjoy the humor, and understand that you will be more knowledgeable than most Americans -- at least about one topic by the time we get done

It's a satire of Sunday morning panel discussion shows where the panelists who have no idea what's going on in Nigeria, are expected to carry on a discussion anyway. One of the panelists quickly looks up Niger on his Blackberry and proceeds to describe Nigeria as a country whose economy is dependent on cattle exports. Later, panelists begin to argue about the merits of Nigerian leaders they've never heard of. (The moderator isn't always much more knowledgeable than the panelists.)

Unfortunately, electoral complexities continue in Nigeria currrently with elections, originally scheduled for April 4 being delayed until this past weekend amid concerns of fraud and violence (See above post).

Blogs: A Revolution within a Revolution in Iran?

2011-04-09T12:25:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Anu for finding this insightful video. When considering Iran's regime and the media, not that the regime is authoritarian on traditional media sources, but is seemingly unable at this point to supress the Youdia.

Iran video links from Thursday

2011-04-08T15:19:00.002-05:00

Post Election Protests June 2009: http://tinyurl.com/y8vjk7k Iranian Dress code: http://tinyurl.com/y8w7j9u Right after the disputed election 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHT8-ps64w&feature=related Neda, Martyr of the Protest, clips from BBC documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kamDi6GkNoM

If Government Closes, What will stay open?

2011-04-08T15:06:00.004-05:00

If Government shuts down, without a budget approved tonight, what will stay open? ABC News Reports: As Democrats and Republicans bicker over $30 billion, thousands of government employees fret over whether they can go to work on Monday. After the current continuing budget resolution expires at 12:01 a.m. Friday, all "nonessential" government employees will be sent home until Congress passes and the president signs a budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2011. The problem is, no one knows exactly who is considered "essential." A senior administration official said about 800,000 federal employees would be prevented from working in the event of a shutdown. These furloughed workers would not be paid during the shutdown, zapping $1.1 billion out of the economy in unpaid wages for a week-long shutdown. ABC News has rounded up information from as many agencies as possible to find out who stays home who goes to work, and how it might affect you. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/government-shutdown-agencies-stay-open-close/story?id=13309873

Read E-Ran Chapter Over Break

2011-03-25T13:07:00.000-05:00

Screening Room >> CNN.com - Eraq - Boards

The Iran Thought Hive and Blog presentations will be Friday, April 8.

Here are the full videos from Wednesday in class:

Tiananmen Sq documentary 1 hour+

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9A51jN19zw&feature=fvst

20 years later, 7 minutes Aljeezra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AXqFoRkxwU&feature=fvwrel

Present Arms

2011-03-24T08:10:00.002-05:00

(From Economist.com)

THREE-QUARTERS of global arms exports were supplied by just five countries between 2006 and 2010, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a think-tank. The volume of such exports rose by almost 25% compared with 2001-05. SIPRI counts the deliveries of large conventional weapons, each of which is assigned a value according to cost, strategic importance and other criteria. The two biggest importers of arms over the past five years, India and China, both bought over 80% of their weapons from Russia. The third- and fourth-biggest importers, South Korea and Pakistan, favoured American-made items.

The First Comeback Kid

2011-03-17T07:50:00.003-05:00

(A classic Political Warrior Re-run post from 2008 during the U.S. presidential election)

St. Patrick may be the patron saint of Ireland, but he comes in as a close second as the patron saint of politics. Look around at the celebrations today and you will see the residue of our political arena.

The color green is everywhere today.

Green is the official color of politics in America, a lot of green. The money being raised and spent on this presidential campaign is incredible. Before it is all over, it is estimated that the candidates for president will spend over $1 billion dollars. Green issues have also become the rage in our politics. Both Barack and Hillary claim promoting green friendly jobs can repair our economy.

Then again many are already green with envy for this whole process to end.

St. Patrick’s Day is also about parades, shamrocks and being Irish.

Politicians love parades. No better place to shake a lot of hands, look popular, secure votes and endorsements then at a good parade. Look for your elected officials to use this holiday for their own personal gain. The ever-popular shamrock, the three-leaf clover, reminds us of our three branches of government. The separation of powers flowers best when divided by threes. Today, everyone is Irish. 2008 was the first election where both presidential candidates were Irish . . .. . .
McCain and O’bama.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek&feature=bf_play&playnext=1&list=QL&index=1

St. Patrick himself was quite a politician in his own day. Born into a Roman family, he was kidnapped by Irish marauders and held captive for years. Upon his escape, he later returned to Ireland as a missionary of the Church. His public approval ratings have never been higher. We all love a great story.

St. Patrick was one of our first “comeback kids.”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day - a holiday in which people feel at liberty to do just about anything they want. Another reason why this is a day politicians love.
(From CitizenU.com)
____________
Two other Irish connections to the rough and tumble game of American politics:

Finley Peter Dunne was a Chicago-based writer and humorist. He published Mr. Dooley in Peace and War, a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley sketches. The fictional Mr. Dooley expounded upon political and social issues of the day from his South Side Chicago Irish pub and he spoke with the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant.

From Dunne's Dooley works comes one of our endearing government and politics quotes:

"Politics ain't beanbag: 'tis a man's game, and women, children 'n' pro-hy-bitionists had best stay out of it."

In Chicago, Irish immigrants became ward-bosses and later aldermen. Meanwhile, Italian immigrats had to get jobs though the Irish gate-keepers. Many later found other ways to make money (illegal?) to get around the legal, but corrupt Chicago Irish politicans. A famous ward-boss, Johnny Powers (Irish) had his substantial house in the middle of what is now Little Italy. There was an old joke that if you wanted to clear out the Irish-ladden City Council chambers, you would go in and yell, "Your tavern is on fire!"

Change in Plans....Flip Book presentations Thur. & Monday

2011-03-15T16:49:00.005-05:00

We will move your Flip Book presentations to Thursday and Monday. With a chance to fine-tune your art, consider NY Times syndicated cartoonist Jeff Danziger's take on press freedoms in Russia (above, 2005) and China (below, last week) and his reflection on his industry during the this You Tube interview. Notice how many Putin cartoon's appear in the 4-minute video.

Megalomaniac Fashion

2011-03-13T08:49:00.001-05:00

(From APGov.org blog)

Check out Mubarak's $25,000 threads!

Look closely @ the pinstripes.