Guardian Series on the EU....Good Stuff!

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.

AV vote was "bitter blow for people who believe in the need for political reform."

In just the second UK-wide referendum in history over the Alternative Vote, the UK voted overwhelmingly last May to reject changing the way MPs are elected - dealing a bitter blow to Nick Clegg on top of heavy Lib Dem poll losses. It was clear British voters chose to ignore process, wanting the government to focus on progress. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and the Lib-Dems the strong supporters of electoral reform, also felt his side felt the wrath of voters' backlash of austerity measures. The BBC reported:



Officials say 19.1m people voted in the second UK-wide referendum in history - a higher than expected turnout of 41%.

The final result put the Yes vote at 32.1% and the No vote at 67.9%.

It comes as the Lib Dems suffered a rout in English local elections - and the SNP scored an historic victory in the Scottish Parliament poll.

A debate that was often about the complexity of electoral systems ended in the simplest of results.


The No campaign won, overwhelmingly.

The rush to attribute blame, or grab the credit for that result, begins here.

Those who favoured the Yes campaign will argue they were defeated by the Prime Minister's campaigning power, a largely hostile press and a tough opposing campaign.

Those who backed a No vote will say they won the argument for the merits of the status quo, and persuaded people the alternative vote was complex and unnecessary.

The voters, of course, needed only to mark crosses on ballot papers. They did not have to explain their reasoning.

So campaigners who devoted months of their lives to this argument will never know what difference, if any, they made to the result.

Read Ross's thoughts in full

Bitter blow for Clegg, Lib-Dems

Words to live by?

President Obama delivered his second inaugural address Monday. Below, a word cloud showcases the top 100 words in Obama's speech, with "must" and "people" taking the top spots. Obama started many phrases with "We, the people."  

 

 

_______________

____________________________________

Speech Was 'So Gay' It Was Historic
President Barack Obama on Monday became the first president to use the word “gay” in an inaugural address in reference to sexual orientation, making two references to gay rights as he began his second term.

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law — for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” Obama said during his speech.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/first-inaugural-use-of-the-word-gay-86499.html#ixzz2IfCoKbld

Inauguration Speeches Throughout History

Below is an aggregate of many recent inauguration speeches. If you want to see the actual video of Franklin Roosevelt through W. Bush, go here. Here are the words from every single one and above is the speech from the first inauguration of Obama.

________________

Of course, constitutionally, the president and vice-president officially as constitutionally mandated took their formal oaths of office yesterday in the Oval Office.
_______________

Henningsen: Second Term Curse

NPR had historian Vic Henningsen on to explain the "Second Term Curse" that has dogged re-elected presidents, good and bad. From George Washington to George W. Bush. Listen above, read below.

"There's an historical axiom, "Today's solution is tomorrow's problem" that President Obama might consider as he begins his final term - as many second terms have resulted in the shipwreck of presidential hopes and dreams.

The so-called "Second Term Curse" began with George Washington. Re-elected unanimously in 1792, he virtually fled from office four years later, denounced as a dictator for crushing the Whiskey Rebellion, for his pro-British foreign policy, and for supporting big business and commerce at the expense of small farmers and laborers. Thomas Jefferson threw the nation into depression during his second term when he imposed an economic embargo to keep the country out of the Napoleonic Wars. Andrew Jackson took re-election as a mandate to restructure American banking and set the country up for one of its worst depressions. Woodrow Wilson's second term collapsed in a failed effort to bring the U.S. into the League of Nations after World War I. Richard Nixon, of course, never finished his second term because of Watergate; Ronald Reagan became enmeshed in the Iran-Contra scandal; Bill Clinton was impeached; and George W. Bush got clobbered when he tried to privatize Social Security after winning another term in ‘04. "
NPR Second Term Curse

Smoking Gun? President Obama's 23 executive orders on guns

 

 

United States Presidents issue executive orders to help officers and agencies of the executive branch manage the operations within the federal government itself. Executive orders have the full force of law,^[1] since issuances are typically made in pursuance of certain Acts of Congress, some of which specifically delegate to the President some degree of discretionary power (delegated legislation), or are believed to take authority from a power granted directly to the Executive by the Constitution. However, these perceived justifications cited by Presidents when authoring Executive Orders have come under criticism for exceeding executive authority; at various times throughout U.S. history, challenges to the legal validity or justification for an order have resulted in legal proceedings.
In other countries, similar edicts may be known as decrees, or orders in council.

From Slate.com:
The second Joe Biden suggested that the White House might enact "executive actions, executive orders" on guns, the gun lobby smashed the glass and hit the alarm. The Drudge Report illustrated Biden's quote with portraits of Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler, who (among arguably worse things) restricted gun rights. There were surprisingly few questions from Republicans about what the executive orders might actually be.

Here's the list, via the White House. (I did not engage in complication reporter-fu to get this. It's the general fact sheet.)

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
 

And these are the legislative ideas -- i.e., the ones the president wants to push through Congress, starting with the more pliable Senate.
 

Require criminal background checks for all gun sales. (a.k.a. closing the "gun show loophole.")

Reinstate and strengthen the assault weapons ban.

Restore the 10-round limit on ammunition magazines.

Protect police by finishing the job of getting rid of armor-piercing bullets.

Give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime.

End the freeze on gun violence research.

Make our schools safer with more school resource officers and school counselors, safer climates, and better emergency response plans.

Help ensure that young people get the mental health treatment they need.

Ensure health insurance plans cover mental health benefits.

 ______________________

Are these orders imperial, or tyranically as Senator Rand Paul called them, or simply examples of the chief executive doing his constitutional duty -- enforcing, or executing the law?

Great Britain or Little England?

From the Ethel Wood Comparative Politics Study Guide (one of the recomended):

"At the beginning of the 20th Century, Britain was undoubtedly the most powerful country in the world. Truly the name "Great Britain" applies to its many accomplishments.

"Yet many British subject refer to their homeland affectionately as "Little England." Perhaps their is some "David and Goliath" appeal -- the little island that conquered the world! At any rate, the two names aptly defines Britain's dilemma in the early years of the 21st century."

As a unitary system of government....by whatever name you call it policy on Westmister may go from deciding to send troops to Afghanistan to figuring out how to remove a random 4 inches of snow from the streets of London.

How long, How long must they sing this song??

 

 



Recent events in Belfast seem to threaten a replay of the 1970s. Does the economy (then and now) have anything to do with the protests and violence?

Belfast long way away from solving sectarian struggles

Northern Ireland’s leader,First Minister Peter Robinson, is warning that the recent violence in Belfast is taking a heavy toll on the city’s economy and shows that the province is far from resolving its sectarian struggles.

“The peace process in which we are involved was never going to be some straightforward linear progression to peace. There were always going to be bumps along that route,” said Mr. Robinson. “And anybody who simply closed the chapter and thought that was the end of the story I think is wrong. There is still a lot of work yet to be done.”

Belfast has been gripped by almost daily protests for more than a month, with images of masked men throwing rocks and firebombs at police broadcast around the world…

The protests started after Belfast city council, led by Catholic republicans, voted to fly the British flag atop city hall only on 18 days per year instead of every day. Catholics argued the decision was a fair compromise because the Union Jack is a divisive symbol. But Protestants saw the move as a rejection of 103 years of history and a slap in the face. Many have been protesting ever since.

“I can understand that a lot of people [around the world] will be scratching their head and finding it difficult to understand,” said Mr. Robinson, whose position is akin to a provincial premier [in Canada]. “The flag encapsulates the identity of a community and we had a very peaceful Belfast city council for many decades.” A Protestant, he blamed republicans councillors for provoking the issue. “Nationalists and republicans decided to poke unionists in the eye by pulling down the flag simply because they could, and that has had consequences – consequences that you’ve seen on the streets.”

But he also acknowledged there are bigger issues at play, in particular the growing disconnect between working-class Protestants and their political leaders. Many believe Mr. Robinson and others are out of touch and too complacent. And some are turning to a new radical group called the Ulster People’s Forum that is leading the protests…

So far, there is little indication anything is quelling the fury. The protests have battered Belfast’s economy, which was already struggling with a recession. Business at some downtown shops and restaurants has been down as much as 40 per cent since the protesting started and foreign investors have started to become wary of investing in the city…

________________________
We will spend a day this next unit on Britain's Peculiar Problem or "The Troubles." I was in Belfast last summer and took in how this was still a cleavage among the older generation and when hit with economic issues, it can become a re-inforcing cleavage. A protestant unionist tour guide took us on the Black Taxi tour the day the Republic of Ireland was playing Italy in the World Cup. The driver, a fan of England, said he would be pulling for Italy (which won, 3-0), and hoped it poured rain on the outdoor viewing party planned at the Belfast city hall (it did).

It brings up the the feelings and the themes in this song was written by the best band in the world:

Climate Change: The Hot and Cold Political Game

(Video, ABC News, Text NBC News)

If you found yourself bundling up in scarves, hats, and long underwear less than usual last year, you weren't alone: 2012 was the warmest year on record in the contiguous United States, according to scientists with The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The average temperature for 2012 was 55.3 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.2 degrees above normal and a full degree higher than the previous warmest year recorded -- 1998 -- NOAA said in its report Tuesday. All 48 states in the contiguous U.S. had above-average annual temperatures last year, including 19 that broke annual records, from Connecticut through Utah.

NOAA: 2012 was warmest U.S. year ever

___________________

If the weather was the hottest ever in the U.S. in 2012, how come climate change got the cold shoulder through most of the 2012 presidential campaign, or on Capitol Hill?

There was this brief exchage about the weather between the candidates at their party's conventions:

Romney:

"President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet," Mr. Romney told GOP delegates in Tampa, a smile on his face. "My promise [long pause – audience laughter] is to help you and your family."

Obama:

"Yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet – because climate change is not a hoax," the president shouted to delegates in Charlotte, N.C. "More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke. They're a threat to our children's future. And in this election, you can do something about it."

But other than that, talk of climate change has been quiet like a setting sun. Does it seem too quiet? Is there a reason......

John Cook, a Climate Communication Fellow at University of Queensland says the reason for supression of climate communication is the communications giant, Fox News:

"Climate change has been significantly absent from the US presidential election campaign. President Obama, who made climate change a key plank of his 2008 campaign, has not been anywhere near as vocal in this race.

Republican nominee Mitt Romney, recognising the active disbelief in climate science among his party base, only raises the issue to sneer at it as the obsession of a deluded middle class.
But how did we arrive at this point? Why is the defining issue of the age so pointedly absent from the most important political decision making process? Where are voters getting their information – or lack thereof – from?

Fair and balanced?

The News Corporation-owned Fox News is by far and away the most popular news channel for Republicans. And its coverage of climate issues leaves a great deal to be desired.

An analysis of prime time programs on Fox News has found that 93% of their coverage of climate science in 2012 was misleading. The report, published by the Union of Concerned Scientists, analysed six months of prime time segments covering climate change in early 2012.

The Wall Street Journal, News Corporation’s other media flagship, didn’t fare much better. The report also included WSJ opinion pieces over the last year and found 81% of their climate change coverage was misleading.

To characterise this coverage as biased doesn’t capture the magnitude of their treatment of climate science. News Corporation is promoting an inversion of reality. For the past several decades, there has been a strengthening scientific consensus that humans are causing global warming."

What happened to Climate Change? Fox News and the 2012 election

Civil Rights Act of 1965

(From apgov.org blog, a great lesson from Mr. John U-F, that we will assign answers posted on the blog here in the comment section by 1/13 at midnight....it will be the last grade of the first semester)

 

Note: If the videos don't post on my blog, access videos on the apgov.org blog linked on the right margin.



We won't have time in class to cover this very important law.

Here's a mini lesson to help you learn about the VRA

(it is regularly featured on the AP Exam).

If any of the images are too small, click to embiggen.

 

1. Watch this video for background about the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

 

icue.nbcunifiles.com/icue/files/nbclearn/site/vide...

 

 

2. Read this .pdf about what the Act said.

 

How does this map relate to the VRA?

 

 

3. Examine this graph. How effective was the VRA?

 

 

 

4. What effect did the VRA have on the number of black legislators who were elected in the South?

 

 

 

 
The Senate now has its first black southern Senator since Reconstruction.

Senator Tim Scott was chosen in 2012 to replace Jim DeMint

by Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina.

5. The Voting Rights Act was reauthorized in 1970, 1965, 1982 and 2006. In each instance, Congress looked at evidence that showed that African Americans’ voting rights were still in danger in the states identified in the original 1965 law.

 

 

In 2009, the Voting Rights Act faced a challenge in the Supreme Court.

 

icue.nbcunifiles.com/icue/files/nbclearn/site/vide... 



 

http://icue.nbcunifiles.com/icue/files/nbclearn/site/video/widget/NBC_Learn_Video_Widget.swf?VIDEO_ID=1364493

 

6. On what grounds was the VRA challenged? Why did the Supreme Court uphold the law? With what reservations? Do you think any of the reasons for challenging the law are legitimate?

Now's the Time

 

(From Fixthesenatenow.org)

 



Before the start of the 112th Congress, in December 2010 and January 2011, the Alliance for Justice, the Brennan Center, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Common Cause, the Sierra Club, United Auto Workers (UAW) and Voices for Progress led a broad coalition of progressive organizations, dubbed Fix the Senate Now, to support the Senate rules reform effort championed by Senators Merkley, Udall, and Harkin.

Broad support for change took the form of more than 40,000 calls to Senate offices, more than 100,000 petitions signed and delivered to the Senate, and dozens of supportive editorials from national and state outlets coordinated through the coalition.

Now, recognizing that the modest “gentlemen’s agreement” package of reforms agreed to at the start of this Congress hasn’t changed the rampant obstructionism in the Senate, the Fix the Senate Now coalition is re-engaging, making the case that substantial Senate rules reform in the next Congress is still needed.

The Alliance for Justice, the Brennan Center, CWA, Common Cause, the Sierra Club, UAW and Voices for Progress are among the organizations involved in renewed conversations to back substantial Senate rules reforms. Other organizations and academics will likely join the effort to support rules reform and to back substantial reforms similar to those backed by Senators Merkley, Udall, and Harkin at the start of this 112th Congress.

Dead Russian Parliament Member Votes 31 Times

There's just no way to get some people to vote and no way to keep some people from voting.

For One Russian Lawmaker, Bequeathing 31 ‘Aye’ Votes

Vyacheslav K. Osipov, a governing party lawmaker, was absent on Wednesday but still cast 31 votes in the lower house of Parliament, all of them ayes.

You might say he was in an agreeable mood, except that he was dead.

While it was not known exactly when Mr. Osipov died, his colleagues in the Russian Parliament held a moment of silence in his memory at 5:39 p.m., a little more than an hour after he was recorded as voting in favor of banning American adoptions of Russian children. Mr. Osipov, 75, a United Russia party deputy from Mordovia in central European Russia, had been ailing for some time…

[W]hile proxy voting by absent Duma members is relatively common, it was not immediately clear that the rules permitted voting by the deceased. In any event, United Russia members said they stopped voting on Mr. Osipov’s behalf as soon as they were informed of his death…

The primary reason Congress sucks

 John Green's videos are informative and entertaining (albeit a bit nerdy) on his World History blog. This week, John weighed in the the "Fiscal Ciff" nonsense. It mainly deals with redistricting and why legislators are marginalized in the House. In 'safe districts' they are fearful of being primaried. Also think of how the 'Youdia' has led to a weakened Congressional leadership.

1st Amendment vs. 2nd Amendment

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57562190/outrage-after-ny-newspaper-publishes-gun-holders-names-addresses/

(From APgov.org)
Did you hear about the newspaper that mapped out registered handgun owners? I find it interesting and ironic. Your thoughts?

POTUS Obama II: It's official

It's official. Barack Obama is now the president-elect! On Friday, Joe Biden (VP @ President of the Senate) confimed that he and his presidential running mate officially, won the White House, 332-206. By the way, with a 51% to 47% popular vote advantage, Obama became the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to garner more than 51% of the vote in two elections.

Happy New Year's Cheers to Popp Point Leaders

 

 

As a teacher of sociology, this linguistic map that popped up a couple of years ago in the NY Times, which tracked where in the country do people call their fizzy drinks, "Soda," "Pop" or "Coke," was of interest to me:

http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/the-soda-vs-pop-map/

Why am I posting this now? Well, later in the second semester we will examine the difficult concept of governing in a country with over 500 languages (Nigeria), but for the here and now it gives a visual that helps me give credit to the Blogging Points leaders of the first semester.

I call these Popp points in honor of the student that helped me create the first AP Government Blog WV grad Alex Popp. So here they are the extra credit popp point leaders for blogging this first semester (10 pts max.):

 

Popp Point (blog posts) Leaders as of 1/4/13:

 

1. Karan A. -- 8

2. Jessica S. -- 7

2. Emma B. -- 7

2. Shivani D. -- 7

2. Rashi G. -- 7

6. Taylor H. -- 6

7. Alyson B. -- 4

7. Jordan Q. -- 4

7. Rohan R. -- 4

7. Nate S. -- 4

7. Dale d. -- 4

 

Others receiving points: Cameron V. 3; Maddie Z. 3; Ben KW 3; Sydney S. 3; Nadia G. 2; John K. 2; Parker N. 2; Latimer F. 2; Krysia D. 1; Mary S. 1; Mark K. 1; Aleks 1.

 

EC point opportunity runs out on 1/9/13, for the first time since I started the blog, nobody has yet to qualify for maximum Popp Points. So this weekend, make a resolution to pop the lid on your ideas and share them here for points.

113th Congress by the numbers

(From Pew)
The new, 113th Congress includes the first Buddhist to serve in the Senate, the first Hindu to serve in either chamber and the first member of Congress to describe her religion as “none,” continuing a gradual increase in religious diversity that mirrors trends in the country as a whole. While Congress remains majority Protestant, the institution is far less so today than it was 50 years ago, when nearly three-quarters of the members belonged to Protestant denominations.

Catholics have seen the biggest gains among the 533 members who are scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 3.¹Catholics picked up seven seats, for a total of 163, raising their share to just over 30%. Protestants and Jews experienced the biggest declines in numerical terms. Jews now hold 33 seats (6%), six fewer than in the 112th Congress, where Jews held 39 seats (7%). Protestants lost eight seats, though they continue to occupy about the same proportion of seats (56%) as in the 112th Congress (57%).

Perhaps the greatest disparity, however, is between the percentage of U.S. adults and the percentage of members of Congress who do not identify with any particular religion. About one-in-five U.S. adults describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” – a group sometimes collectively called the “nones.”But only one member of the new Congress, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), is religiously unaffiliated, according to information gathered by CQ Roll Call. Sinema is the first member of Congress to publicly describe her religion as “none,” though 10 other members of the 113th Congress (about 2%) do not specify a religious affiliation, up from six members (about 1%) of the previous Congress.²This is about the same as the percentage of U.S. adults in Pew Research Center surveys who say that they don’t know, or refuse to specify, their faith (about 2%).





(From NBC) A record-breaking 20 women will serve in the Senate—and, the Granite State is once again “First in the Nation.” New Hampshire is becoming the first state in history to send an all-female delegation to Congress.

113th Congress: Can't get much worse, can it?

The 112th Congress adjourned when the House of Representatives final passed the Senate version of the "Fiscal Cliff" bill on New Year's Day night, but failing to take action on Hurricane Sandy relief funding it was fitting.

This may go down as the least productive Congress in U.S. history. I hope you students were wondering why this 'Fiscal Cliff' bill started in the Senate. Aren't all taxing and spending measures supposed to, by rule, start in the House of Represenatives (the People's House). Well, yes. But for the dysfunctional 112th House, the Speaker has to pass that job to the Senate, a Senate that has set the Congressional record for most filibusters.

As Adam Garnett on the Hardball blog reports:

With Thursday’s swearing in of the 113th Congress, many Americans are asking themselves a simple question: Will the new Congress be any better?

If it’s anything like the 112th Congress, the answer does not look good.

In terms of passing bills having them signed into law, the 112th Congress was the least productive legislature in our history—by far. The 112th passed only 219 pieces of legislation in it’s two years in the Capitol. By comparison, the 111th Congress, which was also considered an extremely unproductive governing body, passed 383 bills.

As Ezra Klein pointed out in an op-ed for Bloomberg.com Wednesday, the 112th was nearly responsible for a trifecta of disastrous outcomes. It “almost shut down the government and almost breached the debt ceiling. It almost went over the fiscal cliff (which it had designed in the first place)”. Perhaps it was this reckless governance that had something to do with the approval rating of the 112th Congress dropping to an all-time low of 10% in both February and August, according to Gallup.

“The overarching strategy [of Republicans in Congress] to thwart all things Obama was to eventually thwart Obama himself, fulfilling what Senate Minority Mitch McConnell once referred to as his top priority,” Klein said on Thursday night’s Hardball. “If the overarching strategy was to make nothing happen in Washington and have people take it out on the Democrats, that didn’t quite work out for them.”

So, what does the ineptitude of the 112th Congress portend for the incoming 113th installment of the U.S. legislative branch? Let’s start with the fact that a politically weakened Boehner was re-elected as Speaker of the House. The Ohio Republican garnered 220 votes, enough to hold his position, despite some resistance from the Tea Party faction of his party. In fact, Rep. Louie Gohmert,R-Texas, and Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., cast their votes for outgoing Rep Allen West, R-Fla., the conservative firebrand who was defeated back on Nov. 6.

“What today’s vote tells us is that Boehner is going to have a very tough time moving forward controlling his caucus and they showed that today, many of them are willing to vote against him,” said the National Review‘s Robert Costa on Hardball. Costa did actually retain a shred of optimism for the 113th Congress, pointing out that Republicans did in fact re-elect Boehner despite the opposition from the conservative wing of his party. He also pointed to the fact that “85 members of his House Republican caucus voted to support the Senate fiscal cliff deal”, something that was bi-partisan in nature.

Costa’s glass might be half full, but Klein admitted that he “pretty much doesn’t have any water in my glass at all” at this point. “If this fiscal cliff deal is what we are calling success now where we just create traps for ourselves and almost walk into them and then create another one for two months later, that is not a good way to govern,” Klein concluded.