tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36453485384175448152024-02-08T07:46:03.318-08:00Julia's AP Government BlogJuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-58759940796253953742016-04-01T05:44:00.000-07:002016-04-01T05:44:03.114-07:004.2 Religious Freedom Restoration Acts1. <span style="color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: 13px;">LGBTQ advocates fear that business owners will use it as a way to legally discriminate. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: 13px;">2. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">Section 4 protects religious nonprofits from having to provide services that violate their faith, unless they agreed to do so in a contract or grant application. Section 5 protects the rights of religious nonprofits to hire only people who support and practice their faith. These both would allow for discrimination. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">3. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: 13px;">Atlanta has laws in place that ban discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, which Georgia's laws would overpower. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: 13px;">4. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: x-small;">RFRA's have been in place for 25 years to allow discrimination in different states, but there have hardly been any legal cases regarding the discrimination. RFRA's don't give individuals or organizations unlimited religious power against the law. They only allow for reasonable accommodations if the government can't prove it has a compelling interest to enforce a law or regulation in a certain way. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: x-small;">5. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">They allow people to challenge undue burdens on their faith that result from laws and policies, but only if the government can't show that it has a compelling interest to apply the burden and a reasonable accommodation isn't available.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">6. Religious minorities benefit from these laws. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">7. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: 13px;">Businesses cannot be forced to provide birth control to their employees if it goes against their religious views. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: 13px;">8. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: enriqueta, serif; font-size: 13px;">The protection of LGBTQ people is not explicitly stated in the Bill of Rights, but their equality is important legally which goes with civil rights. </span><br />
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Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-23514609786328836882016-04-01T05:35:00.002-07:002016-04-01T05:35:46.190-07:004.1 Religious Freedom and Health Care Laws1. <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">The outcome will probably be even with 4-4, which would take the decision back down to the lower courts. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">2. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover all forms of contraception without any copays.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">3. Social conservatives like Catholics do not believe that birth control is okay, so enforcing it violates their religion. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">4. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">They said that churches and houses of worship are exempt and as is any nonprofit that is not religiously affiliated. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">5. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">Closely-held for-profit corporations should also be exempt from providing contraceptive coverage if the owners object because of their religion. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">6. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">They should not be made complicit in something they strongly oppose and they should not face a penalty if they do not comply. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">7. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">Five of the eight justices are Catholic, so they are more likely to be willing to help the nuns out. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">8. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">The insurer is a third party and a separate entity from the plaintiffs, so what the government requires them to do shouldn't matter as long as the plaintiffs don't have to pay for or administer the plans including contraceptive coverage.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">9. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">If the Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, it will open the door to a limitless number of religious exemptions that the courts have no way to truly evaluate, and this would weaken the idea of religious exemptions as a result.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">10. It could open the door to employers refusing to buy plans that cover PrEP, which many gay and bisexual men take to prevent HIV, or doctors refusing to treat a transgender woman with breast cancer.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">11. It would defeat the government's purpose, which is to make sure that women have seamless access to birth control coverage and are more likely to use it. It would lead to an inconceivable administrative headache for women seeking coverage, insurers, and the government, and it would require women to have two different insurance plans that might not even cover the same doctors-assuming that any insurance company would agree to offer such an impractical plan in the first place. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">12. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">Respecting the religions of bosses may actually intrude on the religious freedom of the employees by denying them access to care other citizens receive. </span></div>
Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-54695590871865201252016-03-09T06:45:00.000-08:002016-03-09T06:45:28.062-08:003.9 Health Care Policy in the USA1. Drug makers decide what price to charge based on how desperate people are to find a cure.<br />
2. Insurance companies ration access. Coverage is limited to the population with the highest risk of complications.<br />
3. Insurance companies can decide what is medically necessary.<br />
4. Medicare and Medicaid also tend to decide what is medically necessary and only treat people who really need the treatment. It is very similar to the way insurance companies do it.<br />
5. Countries like Britain negotiate with drugmakers to get better prices. Since a country is buying it for less, insurance companies can give it out for less.<br />
6. The law will not let Medicare and Medicaid negotiate prices.<br />
7. It's crazy and I don't know..Trump?<br />
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8. The taxes would replace many visible and invisible ways we now provide to support a health sector that consumer more than 17 percent of our economy.<br />
9. This would cover every legal resident. The government would mail a Medicare card to everyone so everyone is covered.<br />
10. If single payer was implemented, the biggest winners would be relatively disorganized low-income people in the greatest need of help.<br />
11. The losers would include workers who now receive generous tax expenditures for good private coverage, and affluent people who would face large tax increases to finance a single-payer system.<br />
12. Community hospitals, medical groups, pharmaceutical and medical device companies worked to prevent the public option from being added to ACA.<br />
13. The Supreme Court would struggle with the propriety of an expansive federal government that seeks to regulate and humanize a national health care market.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-89104470484177897302016-02-26T06:39:00.001-08:002016-02-26T06:39:59.177-08:003.8 Nevada and South Carolina1. 2/3 of 2008 Nevada caucus voters participated in the 2016 caucus.<br />
2. Lower and middle class voters did not show up for Sanders :(<br />
3. The Democratic turnout was much higher in 2008. However, the Republican turnout was much greater this year than in 2008.<br />
4. Sanders thinks Obama failed by not converting enthusiastic voters into an organized force. Sanders wants to keep the energy behind his campaign and push it through the White House.<br />
5. Jeb's voters will most likely turn to Rubio and help him get more votes than Trump.<br />
6. Cruz really thought he would do well in the South, so not doing well in the first southern state could be detrimental to his campaign.<br />
7. Rubio needs to win northeastern states.<br />
8. He thinks he can take Jeb's voters and win northeastern votes on Super Tuesday and win votes in the Michigan primary.<br />
9. Trump has not cared enough yet to try to attack Rubio, and Rubio knows that if Trump attacks him, his campaign may suffer.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-78112987801334179242016-02-19T06:35:00.003-08:002016-02-19T06:35:25.665-08:003.7 The Fight Over Scalia 1. The debate was shifted from the level of liberalism of Obama's choice to a debate about the reflexive obstructionism of the Republicans in Senate.<br />
2. It is certainly a possibility that Trump wins the Republican nomination and that Republicans will be in great danger of losing the Senate majority. If that happens, Republicans will wish they had settled on a Supreme Court justice with Obama, someone not too liberal, before the Senate gets filled with more Democrats.<br />
3. They have to be able to compromise with Obama or risk the loss of the presidency and Senate majority.<br />
4. He looks like a messed-up uncle on a cartoon on TV.<br />
5. Thrice have supreme court justices had to be replaced in election years.<br />
6. For the past eighty years, a Supreme Court justice has not been appointed in an election year. Most of what he says is not true, but it is true that a nominee has not been appointed during an election year in that period of time.<br />
7. The situation has not happened recently so it is unfair to say it is a normal situation.<br />
8. Reagan's first choice was shut down by Democrats in the Senate.<br />
9. Compromise and cooperation is now much more difficult.<br />
10. Waiting for the next electionJuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-78996172736935484362016-02-19T06:24:00.001-08:002016-02-19T06:24:49.511-08:003.6 Will Republicans Block Obama?1. He means that the next justice should not be appointed by Obama but instead by the next president. The American people are electing the president who should be picking the next judge.<br />
2. The democratic Senate derailed Bork in 1987. :(<br />
3. The Democrats in the past wanted to use their power to prevent a Republican Supreme Court nominee from becoming a justice. Now the Republicans are trying to do the same.<br />
4. The Court will deal with abortion, birth control, voting rights and a ton of other issues.<br />
5. Cruz thinks that if Obama picks the next justice, the second amendment will be taken out of the Constitution, enforce unlimited abortion, and take away religious freedoms.<br />
6. The Democrats (Obama administration) denied the Senate's vote to filibuster the Iran Nuclear Deal and the filibuster was also weakened on a different occasion.<br />
7. The Senate can check President Obama to keep him from choosing someone completely crazy!!Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-75767091149212427432016-02-16T06:29:00.001-08:002016-02-16T06:29:49.719-08:003.5 Revolving Doors1. Fewer senators retire each year than representatives.<br />
2. Most legislators do not want to register as lobbyists. The number only represents the lobbyists who are actually registered.<br />
3. Congressmen who were party or committee leaders or were on the Ways and Means Committee or Senate Finance Committee are most likely to end up as lobbyists.<br />
4. Congressmen can sell to multiple ideas, which makes them more hirable and gives them more money. They should be knowledgeable on a range of issues.<br />
5. 63% of the time, the side with more former government officials get policy passed.<br />
6. For every one dollar spent by public interest groups and unions, corporations spent thirty-four dollars.<br />
7. Former government members should use their connections and experience to represent general public interest lobbying groups.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-32671476878531350282016-02-04T06:35:00.002-08:002016-02-04T06:35:49.289-08:003.4 Iowa Before and AfterFinal Democratic Polls:<br />
1. Hillary is ahead by 3% as the most popular candidate. Bernie is ahead by 2% for the second most popular candidate.<br />
2. Bernie is very liberal, and Hillary is more moderate. This could lead Hillary voters to not want to vote for Bernie and for Bernie voters to not want to vote for Hillary. This would leave O'Malley with extra votes.<br />
3. The authors think first time caucus goers will vote for Bernie.<br />
4. She is beating Bernie by 10% in these areas, a much larger gap than in other areas.<br />
5. The margin of error is 4%. They know that O'Malley will lose by a lot. :(<br />
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Final Republican Polls:<br />
1. Trump was beating Rubio by 13% and Cruz by 5%.<br />
2. You either strongly support Trump or don't support him at all. If you agree with him, he will be your first choice. If you don't like him, he will never be your second choice.<br />
3. In early January, Cruz was beating Trump by 3%.<br />
4. First time caucus voters will vote for Trump.<br />
5. The margin of error is 4%. Trump and Cruz will get most votes.<br />
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Actual Results:<br />
1. Bernie and Hillary came very close and O'Malley lost by a ton.<br />
2. Donald Trump- Cruz shocked the world and won!!<br />
3. O'Malley, Rubio, and Carson<br />
4. Rubio, because he did better than people thought. Bernie was so close that he almost won.<br />
5. $2,800Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-39354104723879624862016-01-14T06:48:00.000-08:002016-01-14T06:48:03.270-08:003.3 State of the UnionSOTUS<br />
1. The longest spoken State of the Union is Bill Clinton's speech in 1995.<br />
The longest written State of the Union is Jimmy Carter's work in 1981.<br />
2. 1973 was the last year a State of the Union was written.<br />
3. Bill Clinton and Obama both liked to use lots of words in their speeches, making their ideas complex instead of short and sweet.<br />
4. Carter wrote and spoke his State of the Unions, while modern presidents no longer write out their State of the Unions.<br />
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Bully Pulpit<br />
1. The bully pulpit is the way in which presidents are given the most powerful voice and place to persuade the American people and politicians to support their policies.<br />
2. No member of Congress or the Supreme Court and stand alone and speak his or her mind like the president can.<br />
3. Although Obama has made many more public comments than any 19th century president, the pattern is still the same. Even with the bully pulpit, public opinion about the president is going to decline throughout his or her term. Congress is not easily persuaded by the president.<br />
4. The media greatly influences the public. Journalists filter through the president's comments and present them to the people.<br />
5. Leaders could not alter public moods in their favor. They could only contribute to and benefit from the moods that already existed.<br />
<br />Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-17907012085216489282016-01-07T05:51:00.002-08:002016-01-07T05:51:21.785-08:003.2 "The Boss Wants Gun Control"1. The Attorney General is the head of the US Department of Justice. He or she is the main legal advisor to the government and represents the country in legal proceedings.<br />
2. If there is a Republican president next term, he will likely reverse Obama's actions right when stepping into office. Lawmakers will challenge new executive actions in court. A congressional Republican even threatened to block funding for the Justice Department to stop the executive actions.<br />
3. Guns can easily be purchased at gun shows. Many people can sell guns without a federal license. People can also purchase a gun from a friend. <br />
5. There are not many people helping running background checks. People purchasing firearms through a legal entity are able to avoid background checks.<br />
6. The changes can tighten the gun show loophole and increase the efficiency of the federal background system to avoid cases from falling through. Obama's actions will not stop all people from purchasing guns illegally, but it can at least stop some people.<br />
7. Many Republican congressmen are not interested in getting any gun laws passed, so it is difficult for any lawmaker to pass laws about gun control. The NRA also plays a role in keeping Congress from passing helpful gun laws. The bills are too heavily negotiated and will not pass.<br />
8. States have their own budget issues, so they do not fully comply to the federal background check system and some aspects of gun owners' past may not turn up in reports. States have not taken very much action, because they are afraid that their citizens will not agree. There are some states that have tried getting stricter gun laws, but other states have made gun laws looser.<br />
9. It would take decades for the mild gun control measures proposed to make a significant impact.<br />
10. To have a more immediate impact, the US would have to find a way to quickly remove the number of guns in circulation.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-60075062789247389302016-01-07T05:26:00.000-08:002016-01-07T05:26:24.559-08:003.1 Congress in 20151. They changed the main federal statute governing K-12 education and the federal disability insurance system and settled the federal highway funding and Medicare payments. There were many tax changes.<br />
2. There were many Democrats in Congress, and Obama was president. This allowed more bills to be passed and for the Congress to work together better.<br />
3. The leaders have stopped trying to make Obama look bad, because they are running against Hilary Clinton, not Obama. The Republican leaders do not really like the GOP candidates, so they are not super interested in helping them.<br />
4. Policies can be successful on both sides. If both Republicans and Democrats are getting things accomplished, both sides win.<br />
5. Republicans won business tax victories that were important to them, while Democrats won tax cuts for the working poor that they wanted. Both sides had to let the other side push up the budget deficit, but neither side cared much about the deficit.<br />
6. He says that lawmaking in Congress has been behind closed doors with much secrecy.<br />
7. Policy makers have made sure nobody on the outside knows what deals are being discussed. Consequently, outside groups have less opportunity and incentive to act as spoilers or draw red lines. People often do not know about deals until the vote is held.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-84574686513943805272015-12-10T05:36:00.004-08:002015-12-10T05:36:56.374-08:002.10 Running for Congress1. Miller did not know how to start a political campaign, and it could cause problems for him at home.<br />
2. Wendy Gruel had name recognition from a past mayoral campaign, and she had many strong supporters.<br />
3. Miller needed one million dollars in order to contend.<br />
4. The money would be spent primarily on cable TV ads and direct mail.<br />
5. Miller would need a media strategist, a direct mail consultant, a fundraising consultant, a campaign treasurer, an election lawyer, and other day-to-day campaign staff.<br />
6. Consultants wanted him to play up his Jewish faith.<br />
7. Likely voters were senior citizens 65+ because a quarter of registered voters would show up and they would probably not be millennials.<br />
8. In the first few days, he raised $130,000.<br />
9. The newspaper endorsement helped him raise identification 61% among Democrats and pushed him to fourth place, only three points behind third. It increased fundraising a huge amount and gave his campaign a new burst of energy.<br />
10. He raised $517,000. He lost with 12% of the vote.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-23042374078013205942015-12-10T05:24:00.004-08:002015-12-10T05:24:23.123-08:002.6 Trump on SNL1. The NBC affiliates are required to offer rivals twelve minutes and five seconds of air time, the exact time that Trump received.<br />
2. Trump's rivals can request an equal opportunity to appear on-air for free to deliver their message to voters.<br />
3. NBC may not rerun the episode, because that doubles Trump's time. This gives the other candidates almost a half hour of free TV as well.<br />
4. The equal time doctrine does not compel networks to cover candidates, but once one is covered others have the opportunity to be covered as well.<br />
5. An unintended consequence of the equal time provision is that stations are hesitant to cover candidates because they do not want to waste time having to cover other candidates. These minor candidates could cause them to lose viewers.<br />
6. Bona fide news events are debates and appearances on major night time television shows.<br />
7. The FEC could handle the appearance like a campaign contribution or expenditure that would require contribution limits, disclosure requirements, and possible fines.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-43700999252976815302015-12-04T10:12:00.001-08:002015-12-04T10:12:50.480-08:002.9 Gerrymandering Fun :)1. It took me ten minutes and one second to complete all the puzzles.<br />
2. There is a nonpartisan state agency in charge of redistricting.<br />
3. The 13th district has 14% Republicans and 86% Democrats. The 14th district has 16% Republicans and 84% Democrats.<br />
4. District 1 is the most even between Republicans and Democrats.<br />
5. The 12th district of North Carolina is the least compact congressional district in the country, allowing Republicans to take more House seats.<br />
6. Five of the thirteen house seats went to Democrats, but Obama won Pennsylvania by five points in 2012.<br />
7. Democrats control District 3, 9, and 13 in Ohio.<br />
8. Ohio's 8th district has 100% Republicans and 0% Democrats.<br />
9. John Boehner represents Ohio's 8th district, so they need to make sure those voters would be voting Republican to support Boehner.<br />
10. Pennsylvania was the most annoying to put back together.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-62844469407370668362015-11-30T11:11:00.001-08:002015-11-30T11:11:14.269-08:002.8 Refugees in AmericaFirst Article<br />
1. They fear that the US isn't doing enough to screen refugees before they enter the country and that ISIS will come to the US.<br />
2. Very few refugees have made it to the US, and US governors are refusing to take in refugees.<br />
3. Refugees must submit a written application, go through a security background check, and the US must have a face-to-face interview with a refugee official.<br />
4. The US suspects the refugees of being part of ISIS until they go through the procedures proving that they are simply freeing Syria to find a home.<br />
5. The US is worried about national security and fears that refugees could be terrorists looking to hurt Americans.<br />
6. I think the US should let more refugees into our country, because America is supposed to be a tolerant melting pot. If these Assyrians go through the process to be admitted to the United States, they should be let into the country. Our country prides itself on liberty and justice, so it should extend those amenities to people simply trying to flee their war-torn country.<br />
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Second Article<br />
1. The states that have said "no" to refugees are all lead by Republican governors.<br />
2. States don't have the authority to prohibit refugees from settling on their land, but they can ask the State Department to not allow it.<br />
3. Many of these governors fear Islam and do not trust that most, if not all, of these refugees are good people looking for a place where they can be free. These governors are listening to the people, who are also scared of the unknown refugees. People are afraid of what they are not comfortable with, so any foreign people who are not Christian are not deemed trustworthy.<br />
4. The governors are saying that it is an issue of national security and they are protecting the people in their states.<br />
5. Yes; I think that refugees should be accepted all throughout the United States. If I was fleeing my country and trying to find a new home, I would be angered to learn that I was being turned away based on my religion.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-45807689506606168342015-11-30T10:46:00.001-08:002015-11-30T10:46:24.198-08:002.7 Democrats Don't Want You to Watch1. The Democratic National Committee organizes and schedules the party's primary debates.<br />
2. TV ratings are lower on Friday and Saturday nights, so typically, parties do not like to schedule debates on these days. Ratings are high on Thursdays, and Democrats only have one debate on a Thursday.<br />
3. Republicans scheduled their debates on days that historically receive high ratings, while Democrats scheduled most of their debates on unpopular days for viewership.<br />
4. Democrats planned a debate on a Saturday six days before Christmas. Another debate is planned for the Sunday night of Martin Luther King weekend.<br />
5. It keeps her from being shown too much, so voters may choose her based solely on her name and political experience instead of what she says to the public.<br />
6. It negatively affects Sanders' campaign, because he is not as popular of a candidate as Clinton. This being said, he needs all the exposure he can get. The debates help get his name out there and show how he compares to Clinton.<br />
7. Sanders' campaign heavily involves young people who can keep up with him through social media.<br />
8. It gives Martin O'Malley very little exposure, and he is not going to be seen as much if the debate is scheduled on a night of poor ratings. Since he is not very well known, debates are his time to draw attention.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-84690598083841388922015-11-05T08:22:00.001-08:002015-11-05T08:22:33.214-08:002.4 Jeb Is Sad :(1. Jeb Bush has the most endorsement, the most money in the bank, the best name recognition, and a good poll standing.<br />
2. Bush has struggled with trite questions and has had weak arguments. He is not the best politician.<br />
3. Rubio is a better speaker than Bush. Rubio has the exact same policies as Bush, but he expresses them better. He is also a gutsy political risk-taker.<br />
4. Bush cannot understand how Clinton's campaign is a political retread, because his family name has also been greatly involved in politics for many years.<br />
5. Rubio is more dynamic than Bush, and Rubio has the same views as Bush. Rubio is better at politics, and he can also share his wealth if Bush chooses to help him. It helps Bush the most, because if he drops out now, he could still be seen as a dutiful politician to the Republican Party.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-47097742738589924492015-11-05T08:11:00.002-08:002015-11-05T08:11:35.639-08:002.5 Parties Vs. Media1. The Republican National Committee believed that the moderators were trying to be mean-spirited and embarrass the candidates.<br />
2. RNC could let another media organization hold the next debate instead of NBC.<br />
3. I thought that John Harwood's comment about Trump's presidential campaign resembling a "comic book." His idea to build a wall to keep out the Mexicans does seem absurd.<br />
4. Many journalists in the media believe that asking tough questions to Republicans is their job. They think that Democrats are normal and Republicans are not.<br />
5. Republicans are using their control over the Republican debate schedule to pressure NBC to treat candidates with respect.<br />
6. American Republicans have been convinced for years that the media has been hostile to them.<br />
7. The Republican Party cannot actually boycott the media, because centrists and independent voters watch the mainstream media. The Republican Party wants to reach those voters, so they need to cooperate with the media.<br />
8. No. The candidates need their air time and will do anything to voice their messages to the people. If they are at odds with NBC, other media outlets could follow suit.<br />
9. The star power of some of the candidates could encourage viewers to not watch NBC.<br />
10. Candidates could lose supporters if they limit their broadcasts to certain media outlets.<br />
<br />Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-13745122918454688132015-10-29T18:22:00.001-07:002015-10-29T18:22:22.082-07:002.3 New Speaker1. Hard-liners want the House Democrats to use routine and critical pieces of must-pass legislation as leverage to secure ideological concessions from the White House.<br />
2. Pragmatists do not expect Obama to compromise his core values in order to maintain the basic functions of government. Republican demands that he do so brings the GOP into disrepute. <br />
3. Paul Ryan wanted family time and relief from the speaker's traditional fundraising obligations. Ryan also wanted the backing of all GOP subcaucuses and he wanted to curb the use of a procedural motion.<br />
4. Several dozen members of Ryan's caucus fundamentally disagreed with him about strategy, and dozens more wouldn't publicly admit that they disagreed with him.<br />
5. Paul Ryan's reputation as a Republican will be that he helps Democrats after he will pass a must-pass bill.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-87749537685792777452015-10-29T17:31:00.002-07:002015-10-29T17:31:52.049-07:002.2 Future of the Democratic Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
1. Republicans make up 70 percent of state legislatures, more than 60 percent of governors, and 55 percent of attorney generals and secretaries of state. </div>
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2. The Republicans are sure that they will not lose power in the House and are craving an argument about how to use the power they have best. </div>
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3. State legislature elections run the redistricting process for the House of Representatives, so the greatest level of electoral entrenchment is possible. </div>
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4. Seven states are completely in control of Democratic governments. They have Democrats in both houses of state legislature and have Democratic governors. </div>
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5. Republican controlled state governments have restricted abortion rights, spread union-hostile "right to work" laws, curbed voter rights, and laid off teachers and other workers.</div>
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6. 24% of the US population is under Democratically controlled government. </div>
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7. Republicans are likely to continue to control legislature, because the natural distribution of population in the United States tends to lead the average House district to be more GOP-friendly than the overall population. Most incumbents are Republicans, and they have large advantages in House elections. </div>
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8. The Democratic agenda is dead on arrival at the federal level. The Republican agenda is to change nothing and just hope for better luck or to shift left on immigration to appeal to Hispanics. </div>
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9. Hispanic votes could add a new demographic to Republican voters and secure their party even more in some new states. </div>
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10. The Democratic party is becoming more liberal on the issues of same-sex marriage, gun control, and raising minimum wage. </div>
Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-65438280686365869362015-10-22T20:00:00.001-07:002015-10-22T20:00:38.717-07:002.1 Trump and Bernie1. The party decides who the nominee for president will be. Specifically, party insiders have a say in who the nominee will be.<br />
2. During the first debate, FoxNews wanted to discredit Donald Trump by using the debate as a trap for Trump.<br />
3. In the election polls, Republican voters are motivated by a desire to go against the elites of the party. The party insiders usually decide the nomination, but voters want to decide for themselves.<br />
4. Romney was the one most likely to win the nomination, so he won. He had political endorsements and had run in the 2008 election as well.<br />
5. Endorsements showed that party insiders clearly backed one candidate before Iowa, and that candidate always won the nomination. Endorsements were the best predictors of presidential nominees.<br />
6. In this nomination season, the Republican elites are backing Jeb Bush. However, the number of people backing him is relatively low.<br />
7. The major determinant in who becomes the nominee is the status of the candidate. The candidate is typically holding an office in the party or is a national figure.<br />
8. To influence primaries, parties can influence the primary calendar, change ballot qualification requirements, and limit the number of debates. Parties can also back candidates with financial resources.<br />
9. Republican voters do not think that their party is doing a good job of representing their views on major issues.<br />
10. Early polls aren't always predictive, and voters tend to get more reasonable as the primaries begin. Trump's volatile personality could easily get him into trouble with voters. In the end, the Republican insiders will not back Trump, and that could make it difficult for him to win the nomination.Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3645348538417544815.post-72447721695277090762015-10-08T14:15:00.001-07:002015-10-08T14:15:48.093-07:001.1 Why Boehner Resigned 1. Boehner is stepping down because of the chaos in the House that is difficult to control. Boehner did not want to have to deal with the fight about a possible government shutdown, so he basically got out while he still could. <div>
2. There is an election in the House to choose a replacement for Speaker of the House. </div>
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3. Conservatives believe that Boehner was unable to deliver conservative policies despite huge electoral gains. Boehner wanted to avoid extreme tactics. Conservatives wanted more than what Boehner would provide for them.</div>
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4. The coming government funding showdown revolves around Planned Parenthood. Federal money is going to Planned Parenthood to reimburse them for health-care services, but Planned Parenthood may use that money for other things. This angers many Republicans, because they do not like that the government is indirectly paying for abortions.</div>
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5. The Tea Party has teamed up with some Republican conservatives, so they can can promote a Republican to lead the House.</div>
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6. Boehner believes that House Republicans already accomplished what they could realistically achieve. They would not push the boundaries that the conservatives desperately wanted to push.</div>
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7. Kevin McCarthy, a Californian Republican, is the most likely choice to replace Boehner. I think he may not do a great job, because he is stuck in the same situation as Boehner. He has similar views to Boehner, so the conservatives will be unhappy with him.</div>
Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07473371161050426916noreply@blogger.com0