Blog Post 3.10 "Obama & Environmentalists"

President Obama has had a rocky relationship with environmentalists over the past couple of years, as the administration seemed to be currying favor with utilities, the oil and gas industry and business leaders in preparation for a tough reelection battle this fall. When industry critics warned that a new air-quality rule forcing plants and manufactures to sharply reduce smog-producing ozone would cost millions of jobs, the president last September asked the Environmental Protection Agency to delay action and rewrite the rule. Weeks later, the EPA announced that it would miss a deadline for setting greenhouse gas emissions for coal-fired power plants and refineries, another setback for the effort to combat global warming.


In March, Obama further infuriated environmentalists with an Interior Department decision to open 7,400 acres of Wyoming’s picturesque Powder River Basin to destructive coal mining. Environmental leaders say the president’s decision to block the pipeline project demonstrated that Obama was finally listening to them. Obama unveiled his fiscal 2013 budget blue print that includes cuts in the EPA budget, especially funds for Super Fund toxic waste cleanups, and a revolving fund to maintain states’ water pipelines, purification facilities and vital waterways. The budget would encourage the construction of more energy efficient commercial buildings, and would support the Interior Department’s program of allowing new renewable energy projects on public land.

1. He has had major problems with environmentalists in the past.

2.  He announced his decision to open 7,400 acres of Wyoming’s picturesque Powder River Basin to destructive coal mining.

3. Implementing new rules that will double automobile fuel  efficiency by 2025 and Signing legislation that sets aside two million acres of  wilderness area across the country

4. Cuts in the EPA's budget,especially funds for Super Fund toxic waste cleanups, and a revolving fund to maintain states’ water pipelines, purification facilities and vital waterways.

5. Proposals to spend $6.7 billion on clean and renewable energy projects.

6.  Cap and trade programs establish a cap throughout an economy on emissions of a substance considered a pollutant.
7. The increase would encourage the construction of more energy efficient commercial buildings, and would support the Interior Department’s program of allowing new renewable energy projects on public land.

Blog Post 3.9 "Inflation"

Inflation is up there with unemployment as one of the main ills you don’t want an economy to come down with. But in fact a growing number of economists are arguing that rising prices are exactly what we need to cure our the current economic maladies. It may not be the best answer, but it could be the easiest one to achieve.  The argument for inflation is two-fold. One, inflation would shrink the value of the debts both the government and borrowers have to pay, improving our collective balance sheets. Higher salaries would also make it easier for borrowers to pay back their loans helping banks. Two, and this might be the more important reason now, inflation pushes people and companies to spend money. If you know prices are going to drop or stay flat, then you will delay a purchase. 

1. Because Consumers would use extra money to pay off debts.

2. Inflation would shrink the value of the debts both the government and borrowers have to pay

3. Inflation pushes people and companies to spend money.

4. It could raise interest rates.

5.  The stimulative effects of inflation are short-lived, but the damage of higher prices can last for a long-time

6. He suggests that government spending should boost the economy and institute a delayed consumption tax. that would  end up causing a boost in demand.

7. It could raise money for the government.

8 .It could make things more expensive.

9. The Fed could raise or lower inflation and they would not have to go through Washington to raise or lower inflation.

Blog Post 3.8 "Spending and Infrastructure"

This blog is basicall talking about how House Republicans unveiled a highway spending bill stuffed full of red meat for their conservative base. The bill would would gut funding for Amtrak and nix high-speed rail projects, and it would pay for its $260 billion price tag partly with royalties from expanded offshore oil drilling. This drilling proposal alone probably makes this bill dead-on-arrival in the Democrat-controlled Senate.  the federal government has maintained a Highway Trust Fund, paid for mostly by taxes on fuel, that helps cover the repair and construction of our country's mass transit, bridges, etc. 


Two new challenges have come because Americans  started caring about the fuel efficiency again, and the recession struck, and penny-pinching drivers logged fewer miles to save on gas. The White House has recently proposed fuel economy standards that are far more ambitious than anything the commission imagined. Transportation buffs have suggested moving to a system that charges motorists based on the number of miles they drive, rather than the gas they burn as a way of solving this problem

1.  It would gut funding for Amtrak and nix high-speed rail projects.

2. A transportation fund which receives money from a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel and related excise taxes.

3. It is basically saying that inflation kills itself to a third of its value.

4. It is good because congress does not have to worry about people asking for bills to help lower gas.

5. HTF Baseline Forecast vs. Conservative Forecast

6. The Annual Federal Revenue Needed to Maintain Current Highway  and Transit Program Purchasing Power

7. Congress would have to make sure that current system's funding would be obselete.

8. Moving to a system that charges motorists based on the number of miles they drive, rather than the gas they burn.

Blog Post 3.7 "Obama's critics are right"

The author of this article completely disagrees with Andrew Sullivan from the previous blog. Whereas Sullivan thinks Obama has dome so much for the country, David Frum thinks that Obama is the worst thing that has happened to the nation in a while. Frum agrees with all of the critisims that Obama has. 

Frum believes that Obama is spending way too much federal money. Frum also believes that Obama is a Kenyan socialist who is reorienting the country toward more dependence on the federal government. He feel that Obama is saying "this job is too hard for me, " because of the Senate not approving his nominations to the Federal Reserve Board. David Frum does not feel that Obama is a very good president. 

1. He says the Obama adminstration has caused alot of unemployment causing people to be on welfare.

2. More judges and administrators must be hired to hear the vast number of disability cases that are now coming up.

3. Frum says Obama is raising taxes on important products and the letting consumer choose how to conserve that product.

4. He says that Obamacare is causing the government to spend more money on healthcare that what it`s been spending.

5. Tony Blair of Britain was trying to get more government involvement just like Obama now

6. Obama should have hired more Federal Reserve Board members to deal qith the monetary problems or recession.

7. He has influenced it by trying to add more members to it since the president appoints the members of the federal reserve board.

8. Germany’s unwillingness to work with or trust Obama's administration’s ideas for saving Europe from itself.

Blog Post 3.6 "Obama's Critics are Wrong"

Obama, being in his last year of his first term, is being critiqued unmercifully by Republicans and Democrats. This happens to all presidents but author Andrew Sullivan believes that the critisims are wrong. The far right believe that Obama is a socialist and is trying to change the way America handles things. The far left believe that Obama is "a hapless fool of Wall Street a continuation of Bush in civil liberties, and a cloistered elitist unable to grasp the populist moment that is his historic opportunity." Sullivan believes that even though he has not agreed with everything Obama has done during his time in office, Obama has delivered in a way that the "unhinged right" and the "purist left" have not absorbed or been able to understand.

1. They will always get attacked by his partisan opponents and feistier members of his base.

2. They think he`s attempting a "fundamental transformation" of the American way of life.

3. America was in a recession.

4. They feel as if Obama has done nothing but make the recession worse.

5. Obama caused a lot of government job loss.

6. It was viewed as increasing the deficit instead of decreasing it.

7. Majority of Obama`s senate members are republican and he cant really get anything to pass if he`s democrat and majority of his senate members are republican.

8. He generally shows his accomplishments and not generally talks about them.

9. Sullivan says Obama has a moderate-liberal response to problems.

10. He says that Obama has waged a war based on a reading of executive power & he has made a lot of promises since 2008 that he has not kept.

Blo"g Post 3.4 "Obama & the Bureaucratic Agencies

[applesause:) (For Breanna cause she thinks it's funny)

 President Obama announced a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government. It is more noticible for its political challenge to a hostile Congress rather than it's actual purpose, to fight against the bloat that has been embraced by every modern day president. If he got approval, Obama says that he would start by downsizing the Small Business Administration and five other trade and business companies that would become one agency under the Department of Commerce.

No one is sure whether or not Congress will approve the legislation. The Republicans believe that it was more to help the campaign and reelection of Obama rather than actually reducing the size of government. The Democrats also expressed concerns about "folding" the Office of United States Trade Representative into a large bureaucracy, saying it would do more harm than good to American trade policy. Government efficiency experts are very happy about the inititive, saying it was over due. Speaker of the House John A. Boehner says that streamlining the government was a laudable goal and that Republicans would take a look at the plan.  

1. He is asking Congress to shrink the size of federal government.

2. The Small Business Administration and some other trade and business agencies.

3. He says they`re not to different but they`re different enough.

4. The Republican party.

5. Most people are expressing misgivings about these cuts because a lot of people would be left jobless

6. He`s trying to turn it into his own advantage.

7. Congress is made up of mostly republicans and republicans would not approve of cutting government.

8. It will alter public opinion since one party is for the change and another is against it

Blog Post 3.3 "Redistricting District 9"

Article 1:

Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey (Speaker of the Senate) released details of the statewide congressional redistricting. He and Beth Harwell (Speaker of the House) both have agreed on the details for the redistricting. The state legislature convened to approve the redistricting maps and there are some changes. The majority of Shelby County makes up the 9th District. The ninth district is very democratic and is led by Congressman Steve Cohen. The new district lines give the western 2/3 of the county to district nine and the eastern part is given to district eight, which is led by Republican Stephen Fincher. District nine stayed Democratic but District Eight has become even more Republican. 

1. It is now represented by Chancellor Arnold Goldin. 

2. It occupies the entire western two-thirds of the county, from north to south, leaving the eastern third to the 8th congressional District, now held by Republican Stephen Fincher of Frog Jump in Crockett County.

3. 8th District would now extend from the Tipton County line to the Mississippi state line, taking in Shelby County's eastern suburbs. The 7th District has seen its western border advanced all the way over to Hardeman County, with Fayette County also absorbed into the 8th District.

Article 2:


Steve Cohen is not happy about the new district lines. Stephen Fincher, the Congressman of the Eighth District, now is over a majority of what was formerly a big part of Cohen's district. Cohen is also upset about the fact that he is "redistricted out of contact with all four Jewish Communities in Shelby County." Being Jewish himself, we is not happy about the way the new lines are drawn. The bad thing for Cohen is that the new district lines are definately in favor of the Republican Congressmen. 

1. They control both chambers of legislatures as well as governorship.

2. The Republicans are gerrymandering because the control the legislature and the process.

3. The rights of minorities African Americans in Tennessee can not be abridged or reduced in the determination of district lines.

4. It`s demographics will be completely different.

5. He could end up losing reelection due to the change in demographics.

6. He feels as if Cohen thinks that one race should only be represented by a person of that same race.

Blog Post 3.2 "Bureaucracy & Courts"

In 2007, Micheal and Chantell Sackett bought property in Idaho and began the process of building their house. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sent them a letter telling the Sacketts they had violated the Clean Water Act by building on wetlands and not acquiring a permit. The Sacketts challegenged these claims and the case went to the Supreme Court.


Chief Justice John Roberts and the Supreme Court seems to rule in favor of the Sacketts. They say a hearing should be held in an earlier stage, when someone wants to challenge a compliance order and haven't been fined. The official ruling should be given at the end of June, when the Court recesses. 

1. The Sacketts

2. The EPA has ground to sue because it`s their property well it was their property from the start.

3. Order issued by the EPA

4. The plantiffs could be fined $75000 daily they could also lose the right to buy a house.

5. The EPA is trying to regulate or control where the Sacketts are trying to live.

6. The Court is expected to rule in favor of the Sacketts.

7. A bureaucracy is involved in the actual court case.

8. An Environmental Group and the could possibly bag the EPA up since they defend natural resources.

9. The compliance order is violating the Sacketts legal right to own a piece of property that they would like to have.

10. The Central Issue is the location of where the Sacketts are trying to build their house.

11. The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution.

12. The lawyer says the couple should have talked to the EPA before trying purchasing the land.

13. The bureaucracy requires them to follow rules they think they do not need to follow, or that they think they should be exempt from.

Blog Post 3.1 "Iowa Caucus Results"

January 3, 2011 was the date for the 2012 Iowa Republican Caucus. The results were surprising because of the 8 vote lead between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.  The vote count was 30,015 votes for Romney and 30,007 for Santorum. Ron Paul came in third place with 21% of the vote and Newt Gingrich came in fourth place with 13% of the votes. 

The candidate responses were varied although the top four geared up for the New Hampshire Primary. The losers were easy to acknowledge as well. Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann came in fifth and sixth place respectively. They both put all of their resources into Iowa and their losses confirmed their doomed campaigns.

1. It was only an 8 point victory.

2. Romney and Santorum

3. Paul and Gingrich

4. Santorum will try to "get America to work" and Romney will "go to work to get america to work"

5. He's going to start responding in kind to negative ads.

6. He use to try to decry negative ads.

7. I think they are because they caused Gingrich to lose horribly.

8. Two debates, hours of TV ads, and countless campaign events leading up to the Granite State Primary

9. He has already one the Iowa caucus meaning people no more of him and he has a lot of votes to be the Republican candidate

10. Primaries are less likely to change than caucus.

11. South Carolina is more of a Conservative state than New Hampshire and Iowa

12. Democrats, independents, young people and genuinely excited volunteers

13. Rick Santorum will probably run ahead of Mitt Romney or they will be neck and neck for the entire race. 

Blog Post 2.8 "More Great News!"

There are people who are upset with Congress for lifting the ban on killing horses for food. They are depressed and people are just sending horses to Mexico to be slaughtered anyway. Some people have the same issue about ducks. 

1. They were sent to Mexico where slaughter was legal anyway.

2. People have the right to do what ever they want to. If they decide they don't want to eat something that is fine but do not try to tell me i am a bad person for eating what i want.

3. He laughs at their stupidity. He wishes they would worry about real problems.

4. People proclaim that Ducks live peaceful lives before being slaughtered.

5. Ducks suffer when tubes are shoved down their throats to swell their livers, but horses can lead a good life and die peacefully in an abattoir. 

6. This entire issue is irrelevant in the scope of government. There are so many more pressing issues that need attention. THIS IS NOT A BIG DEAL!!!!!!

blog post 2.6 "Balanced Budget Amendment FAIL"

1. two-thirds majority vote.

2. They believe that such a requirement would force Congress to make devastating cuts to social programs.

3. yes

4. The national debt is how much debt we are in or money we owe as a nation.

5. Congress could cut billions from social programs during times of economic downturn and disputes over what to cut could result in Congress ceding its power of the purse to the courts.

6. He is important because he`s over the House Rules Committee and they must often vote for bills and bills must often come through them.

7. National security and defense spending.

8. Budget spending

Blog Post 2.7 "Great News for America!!!!"

Obama legalizes horse slaughter for human consumption. People can now eat horses. Apparently the only thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on during these trying times is eating horses.

1. Uhhh It doesn't really matter to me if this is awesome or not....

Blog Post 2.5

1. What is a financial - disclosure record? A record or history of what type of investments Legislators make.

2. Why do we need those? They show what type of investments Legislators make.

3. Which one of John Kerry's jobs in the Senate is mentioned? What does that mean he is responsible for? His job as the Massachusetts Senator and  chairman of the health subcommittee of the Senate’s powerful Finance Committee. He is heavily responsible for the stock market part of the Finance Committee.

4. What was John Boehner doing during health care reform debates? Investing “tens of thousands of dollars” in health-insurance-company stocks

5. What is insider trading? Insider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities (e.g. bonds or stock options) by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company.

6. What do the House and Senate ethics rules say about congressmen's stock ownership?  a member’s recusal from a vote affecting his or her stock portfolio “might be denying a voice” in the process

7. What suspicious activity did former Speaker Nancy Pelosi take part in? Her husband made a big play—between $1 million and $5 million—on Visa, the credit-card company when she was Speaker of the House.

8. How will the Tea Party and Occupy movements likely respond to this book? They will have a lot of negative things to say about this book because it goes against their interests.

9. What does the author (of the book) say is his main problem with politicians? The fact that the political elite gets to play by a different set of rules than the rest of us.

Blog Post 2.4 "Pork Barrel Legislation!"

This article was written by Daniel Stone. It is talking about the Tea Party and why they are upset about the budget. It also talks about the pork projects being requested by House leaders and other Representatives. It also shows how some of the GOP candidates are using pork barrel and trying to cut the bdget at the same time. Basically, the whole thing is abut how on the outside, most of the Tea Party congressmen want to cut the spending but privately want more spending in their constituency.

1. He is supposed to help the Speaker of the House and lead his party in the House of representatives.

2. Because his constituency is in Virginia and not in Nevada.

3. Because the members of the House have to simultaneously help thier constituents and do work in Washington, the budget isn't really getting cut and the Tea Party members are upset that the budget isnt being cut.

4. Both John Boehner (The Speaker of the House) and Darrell Issa (The Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman) both asked for pork projects.

5. Because pork projects have nothing to do with the party as a whole. Pork projects are for a Congressman's constituency.

6. because he is a very far right person, he believes that all spending should be cut and asking for pork projects is a direct contradiction of that belief.

7. Republicans are outwardly opposed to the stimulus package but are orivately happy about it because they can can put it in their constituency.

8. It's kind of a "does this out weigh that?" thing. They are not acting on their beliefs but they are benefiting from it.

Blog Post 2.3 "Congress and Potential Policies"

The article is written by Chris Good. Good talks about the GOP candidates and why their plans wouldn't work or only have a slight chance of working. It also talks about the discord in Congress and how unwilling all parties are to work together to pass laws that would actually do the country some good instead of run it into the ground. Especially in the Senate where the Democrats have the mojority. At the end of the article there is a slideshow of the GOP candidates's plans and why they would never work or only have a slight chance of working.

1. They believe that if the Republicans win the Senate Democrats will be very unwilling to cooperate and won't repeal Obamacare and the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.

2. The president can't make or even really introduce laws. Thats is Congress's job.
3. 33 Senate seats will be up for the 2012 election.

4. 11 seats could actually change hands.

5. In order to get anything done in the Senate, you have to have atleast 60 guarenteed votes.
6. By allowing younger citizens to not have Social Security it would lessen the ammount of people on it and therefore more money would be avaliable.

7. Because Perry and Cain havent said anything about repealing Obamacare, their plans are more aggreable than Romney's plan.

8. Obamacare can only be repealed if the Republicans can get more than 60 Senate seats and keep their House majoity. Even then it will still be tricky because people refuse to acknowledge that Obamacare is socialist medicine.

9. Republicans don't like it because Grover Norquist doesn't approve and everyone else doesn't like it because it actually raises taxes for certain people. It hurts poor people.

10. Mitt Romney because I know him the best (other than Rick Perry but seriously, who has land named that??) and because he wants to repeal Obamacare.

Blog Post 2.2 "Republicans and Chris Christie"

This column was written by Thomas L. Friedman.  He writes about the country's upcomming election and how Chris Christie has decided not to run.  He also mentions a Grand Bargain and tells us that it needs to happen.  Friedman has also atated his opinion about the presidential race and said that both the far left and far right would do serious damage to the country.

1. He feels that the Republican Party has become a danger to the country.

2. Something that provides more near-term investment in the economy that spurs job growth, combined with a credible long-term plan to increase tax revenues and trim entitlements so the country’s debt-to-G.D.P. ratio stays in a safe range.

3. Lower spending today means lower taxes tomorrow, and limiting the future path of government spending does limit future taxes.

4. Promising never to raise taxes, without reaching a deal on spending, really means a high and rising commitment to future taxes.

5. President Obama’s latest budget plan is moving away from entitlement reform and embracing multiple tax increases on the wealthy.

6. No. He left the country with no credible, long-term fiscal option before it now.

7. They would cut the debt by $3.9 trillion by 2020 — through raising tax revenues, cutting defense and increasing the age at which people would qualify for Social Security and Medicare.

8. Democrats

9. Obama has left a gap for a sane Republican or independent candidate.

10. Because he seemed ready to tell hard truths that Obama has started to shrink from.

11. It is a race between the Democratic left and the Republican right.

12. He seems to be fairly moderate because he is pointing out that the extremes would be very bad for the country.

Blog Post 2.1 "Occupy Wall Street"

Occupy Wall Street is a movement that is spreading fast in cities. It has started recently but it is already struggling to maintain its focus and identity. The future of Occupy Wall Street as a political force may well depend on how well it conveys its message and mission. The group says they cannot wait any longer and let corporate greed and corrupt politics run the nation. The group calls themselves "The 99%." This means that 40% of the nations wealth is in the  hands of the richest 1% of the population.

 

1. It can get confused about what it really stands for and may change without meaning too.

2. OWS means they are the 99% of Americans. The 1% of Americans are wealthy and hold 40% of the nation's wealth. The 99% is every other American and is not wealthy.

3. Protest

4. They are taking the media's attention from the major parties

5. OWS is upset because they do not want him to run because they feel he has done nothing and should be kicked out of office

6. They would like to see change in the economy, corporate corruption of our political system, and the negative effects of corporate personhood

7. I think it has they potential to flourish and make change but only if it can get its bearings straight.

Blog Post # 8: "Transformative Presidents"

Andrew Romano is the author of this week's article. He talks about Chris Christie and how she is attacking Obama's administration. The article also compares Obama's administration to FDR and Regan's administrations. The article also talks about the US needing a savior for the government and how at the first sign of imperfection the American people turn away from the "savior"

1. Everyone wants to run him

2. 1/5 of the population is unemployed or looking for another job

3. They came during an economic crisis

4. they opposed a vulnerable administration, then “cut the knot, raised a new standard, and promised to restore to American government

5. He experimented with a lot of different reforms and restored the American government during a time of crisis

6. He passed the largest income tax cut in history and was credited after the economy was rejuvenated

7. He kept harping on his reconstructive storyline. Yes, both presidents made reforms which went wrong. After the economy is restored Obama will just say he planned that.

8. How are Obama's accomplishments in his first term different from these reconstructive presidents?
Obama is just surviving bill by bill

9. Obama is being too lax about the situation which makes him come off as if he doesn't care.

Blog Post #7 "Political Parties and Safe Districts"

This Article was written by a collection of authors. Anthony Weiner's congressional seat wa lost to the Democrats.

1. Joe Crowly may be campaiggning in New York because New York is one of the few states that changes between democratic and republic.
2. The recent incident with Anthony Weiner could possibly be a reason for the cack of turnout among Democratic voters and volunteers.

3. Labor Unions usually lean to the Democratic side.

4. Labor Unions feel as though more people would vote for in an election for a candidate for a house seat rather than in the presidential election.

5. Weiner showed that in federalism, congressman can do as they please and basically not get in trouble for it.

6. The 9th Disctrict voters have voted against Obama.

7. Crowley has a very important role in dealing with anything concerning the Democratic party.

8. The 9th District has been known as a Democratic district for a long time.

9. People are probably moving out of the district and population in the district`s census is probably getting lower.

Post #5 "Obama & Public Opinion"

This article was written by Daniel Stone covers the release of information right before the 9/11 weekend. The Obama administration released a lot of bad news concerning the welfare of the nation because they knew not many people were like to read the Saturday paper because of it being a holiday weekend.

1. A new employment data release showing no job growth, Obama not stopping the approval process for an oil pipeline, and the management of federal response for Hurricane Irene and the earthquake being more difficult than was supposed to.
2. They would do that right before a holiday weekend because people would be less likely to pay attention.

3. 9/11 commemorations and the GOP presidential debate

4. Obama's agenda are currently to jumpstart his stalled presidency and unveil his jobs agenda

5. This story shows how the Obama administration tries to take control of public opinion so that the media does ot control it by showing how the Obama administration gave the bad news so that the media would not be able to swing public opinion in disfavor of the Obama administration.