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.