Unit Six: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

“Taxes, end Obamacare: House Republicans unveil summer wish list”

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/25/politics/gop-congress-wish-list/index.html

Synopsis: House Republicans have released their summer goals. One of these is a vote on extending the Bush-era tax cuts that are to expire at the end of the year. The plan for the Bush-era tax cuts is to renew the current rates for some period and lay framework for tax reform the lowers rates across the board. Other goals include, job creation, the economy, reducing spending, decreasing the size of the federal government “while protecting and expanding liberty.” Another issue that Congress has to deal with is spending cuts to federal agencies. Republicans do not want to affect defense spending but make deeper cuts to domestic programs. However, the Republicans’ goals are not without opposition from Democrats in both houses of Congress.

Analysis: This article is about the Republican Party and their agenda setting for the summer. In their agenda, Republicans are staying true to their party platform.  Republicans are known for advocating tax cuts and their opposition for tax increases. Their agenda reflects this because they plan to keep the Bush-era tax cuts and hope to cut taxes across the board. In the agenda, the federal bureaucracy is mentioned by saying they want to decrease the size of the federal government and because of spending cuts to different federal agencies. One of the main criticisms of the bureaucracy is that it is too big and the Republicans are acting on this criticism. Also, with the spending cuts, the article illustrates how Congress can check the bureaucracy because all appropriations and revenue bills originate in the House of Representatives which would determine the funding that each agency in the bureaucracy receives.

Unit Six: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

“AP News Break: 22 States Join Campaign Finance Fight”

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=18941618&ps=1017&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

Synopsis: Montana is fighting to keep its state laws that restrict corporate campaign spending. Twenty-two states have joined Montana in its efforts to prevent the Supreme Court from ruling against them. The Supreme Court will most likely use the controversial court case Citizens United as its basis for reversing a state court’s decision the upheld the Montana law. An interest group called American Tradition Partnership wants the Supreme Court to rule without a hearing because they believe that the state law conflicts with the Court’s previous ruling in Citizens United. However, Montana and the other twenty-two states supporting them say that the ruling in Citizens United does not apply to them because it only applies to presidential and congressional elections. Also, Montana’s law does not ban corporate political speech, but regulates it by requiring corporations to create political action committees (PACs).

Analysis: This article illustrates how the Citizens United court decision has continued to spark controversy in politics. In the decision the Supreme Court ruled that money equals free speech and that corporations could donate money to presidential and congressional campaigns. There are those that believe that this unlimited corporate campaign funding could cause corruption in the political system. The Montana law is in conflict this decision because it makes corporations donate to campaigns through PACs. Also, this article shows how interest groups try to influence court decisions in their favor. In this case, American Tradition Partnership is trying to influence the Supreme Court to rule against Montana in the case. It is probable that this interest group wrote an amicus curiae brief to argue their opinion and to convince the justices to rule that way.

Unit Six: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

“Obama urges students to pressure Congress on loan rates”

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/04/politics/obama-student-loans/index.html

Synopsis: President Obama is urging students and their parents to contact members of Congress to prevent the interest rates on student loans from doubling. This is in response to a bill that Republicans in the House of Representatives passed which solves the interest rate problem but cuts money from a health care fund that promotes preventive care.  Obama and Democrats in the Senate want to keep the interest rates at their current level by eliminating some corporate tax loopholes. President Obama plans on vetoing the bill passed by the House and the Senate plans on voting on its version within the week and then both the Senate and House will try to negotiate a compromise.

Analysis: In this article Obama is encouraging students to lobby and to influence their legislators. This proves just how much influence voters are able to have if the President of the United States is encouraging them to lobby. Also, the article introduces the idea of a conference committee because the Senate and the House of Representatives have to come together to compromise to come up with one bill to vote on and send to President Obama to sign. Congress does not have the time to filibuster and have these bills die in committee because the interest rates will automatically rise in July.

Unit Five: Public Policy

“GOP ignores veto threat, passes student loan bill”

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=18915738&ps=1017&cat=&cps=0&lang=en&page=1

Synopsis: Republicans in the House of Representatives led a vote that passed a student loan bill. This bill would keep the interest rates down for subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent and not the 6.8 percent that they would jump to if no action were to take place. Even though this bill will solve the student loan problem, the White House is planning on vetoing the bill because it will eliminate a preventive health care fund that is part of President Obama’s health care law. This preventative health program has initiatives such as breast cancer screening and children’s immunizations. Since Democrats control the Senate it is unlikely that the bill will pass. However there is a different version of the bill in Senate that would raise Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on high-income owners of privately owned companies to cover the costs. An interest group called, the Club for Growth, pressure Republican lawmakers to oppose the bill because they thought that the government should not subsidize student loans.

Analysis: This article shows how Congress influences economic policy. In this bill, lawmakers are trying to decide what programs they need to cut, or what taxes they need to raise in order to make college more affordable. Also, it illustrates how interest groups influence legislation as well as public policy by the Club for Growth’s opposition of the bill. Also, social policy is being formed in this legislation as well because of the cuts of funding for President Obama’s preventive health care fund. The article also shows how we have a divided government and the two party platforms. Republicans are not in support of Obama’s health care law and in raising taxes. Democrats on the other hand think the opposite; they do not mind raising taxes to fund other programs.  

Unit Five: Public Policy

“House Passes GOP Small Business Tax Cut”

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/19/politics/house-tax-vote/index.html

Synopsis: The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a small business tax cut bill. The bill would provide deductions to companies with less than five hundred employees that would be worth up to 20% of their income. Republicans insisted that the bill would help to boost the economy. The Democrats opposed the bill because they thought that it was “a deficit-busting giveaway to the wealthy.” The bill hardly has a chance of making it through the Democrat controlled Senate and even if it does it will most likely be vetoed.

Analysis: This article illustrates not only the workings of Congress, but it also represents the two different party platforms. For example, Republicans are known for their support of tax cuts and their hatred of raising taxes. This bill illustrates this because Republicans are advocating the tax cuts to small business owners. This article also shows how even though a bill passes through the House of Representatives it does not guarantee that it will become a law. This bill has to pass through the Senate where it is put into another committee to be dissected and amended. Then it goes to the floor to be debated on. If it does pass a vote in the Senate then the President has to sign it or veto it. Finally, this article is an example of divided government. Right now the House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans and the White House and Senate are controlled by the Democrats. This bill does not have Democratic support so it will most likely die in the Senate.

Unit Four: Institutions of National Government

“Romney Assures N.R.A. of Support for Gun Rights”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/us/politics/mitt-romney-assures-gun-rights-group-of-his-fealty.html?_r=1&ref=politics

Synopsis: Romney tried to win votes from conservatives in the general election by talking to the, National Rifle Association, an interest group. This demographic has not always been supportive to Romney because he has supported legislation that has threatened their view of the 2^nd Amendment’s “right to bear arms.” Also, the group was skeptical of Romney because he exaggerated his hunting experience in the 2008 election. However, Romney won over the group with his criticism of President Obama and by involving the possibility of the appointment of new U.S. Supreme Court justices within the next four years. However, there is no evidence that any justice plans on retiring soon.

Analysis: Romney is looking for support that will help him to win the general election from conservative voters that help to make up the interest group, the National Rifle Association.  He does not have a very good standing with these voters so he has to try to appeal to them in every way possible. Besides the usual criticism of his opponent, President Obama, Romney introduced the idea of the U.S. Supreme Court. Currently, there is a divided court in which there are four justices that tend to vote liberal, four justices that tend to vote conservative, and one justice that votes either way, called a swing vote. Romney talked about the possibility that some of the older Supreme Court justices could end up retiring within the next four years. If this occurs a new justice would be appointed. If President Obama is re-elected he would nominate a liberal justice and cause the divided court to become a more liberal court. This would be bad news for the members of the NRA because their second amendment right to bear arms could be threatened by a liberal court and that previous landmark cases that supported this right could be reversed.

Unit 4: Institutions of National Government

“White House approves new sanctions on Iran”

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/30/10944314-white-house-approves-new-sanctions-on-iran

Synopsis: The Obama administration approved further sanctions on Iranian crude oil exports after determining that oil supplies were adequate to justify the new penalties. These sanctions were written into law by Congress and are to take effect at the end of June. These sanctions will bar foreign banks from doing business in the U.S. if they buy or sell Iranian crude oil. The President’s Press Secretary Jay Carney, stated that the administration believes that “the oil market became increasingly tight over the first two months of 2012” and “that tightness remains today,” there still “appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to significantly reduce their import of Iranian oil.” Out of the 23 countries that publicly import Iranian oil, the State Department announced exemptions from these sanctions last week for 11 of those countries. They are Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Japan. These countries have taken steps to significantly reduce their imports of Iranian crude oil.

Analysis: This article brings up to roles that the president has, that is the role of Guardian of the Economy and Chief Diplomat. This article illustrates President Obama’s role of Guardian of the Economy because with these sanctions on Iran he has to make sure that he does not allow gas prices to go up to the point where Americans cannot afford oil or that they run out of it. The article represents President Obama’s role as Chief Diplomat because he is making decisions that deal with foreign policy with Iran.  The President’s staff and Cabinet are also mentioned in the article. His Press Secretary releases a statement and the State Department does research on the countries that should be exempted from the sanctions.