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.