Blog Post 2.9 "Democrats & Obamacare"

Read the following article from The Atlantic about incumbents in Congress and their reactions to the Obamacare rollout.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/the-threat-of-democrats-turning-against-obamacare/281593/

1. Why is the successful implementation of Obamacare so important to Hillary Clinton?
2. Describe current public opinion about Obamacare.
3. What does the article mean by "red state Democrats"?
4. If Congress passed a bill repealing Obamacare, and President Obama vetoed it, what options would Congress have?
5. Describe the midterm election situation for Democrats in the Senate in 2014.
6. Is Obamacare more or less likely to be repealed as the election appraches?  Why?

Blog Post 2.8 "Referendums!!!"

Read the following article from Time Magazine about an election taking place in lovely New Mexico and how interest groups got involved.

http://nation.time.com/2013/11/18/vote-lands-albuquerque-at-center-of-abortion-battle/

Write a paragraph summary of the article and answer the following question.

1. What tactic are these interest groups using at the beginning of the article when they are advertising to the people?
2. Will this particular referendum have any effect on voter turnout?  Why?
3. What tactic are these interest groups using later when they "pour hundreds of thousands of dollars" into this election?
4. This referendum was organized by anti-abortion interest groups.  Why do you think they would try to do this at the city level instead of the state or national level?
5. What do you think the next steps will be (for the interest groups) if this referendum is successful?

Blog Post 2.7 "Interest Groups Writing Laws"

Read the following from NPR (the government funded news radio station) about interest groups drafting laws for members of Congress (think iron triangles)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/11/11/243973620/when-lobbyists-literally-write-the-bill

Write a one paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

Citigroup is one of the largest banks in the country.  Dodd-Frank was Obama's Wall Street reform law passed at the beginning of his first term that limited the types of investments that banks were able to invest in.

1. This bill was written by an interest group and given to a Congressman on a committee to propose.  Do the other Congressmen know this is happening?
2. Besides writing the words of the bill, what else do the lobbyists in the story do to help get what they want?
3. Is there a way for us (the people) to know when this is happening?
4. What does this quote from the article mean?
    ""this is just another tick-tock on a story that's been developing for a long time — that Congress has basically outsourced its policy expertise to the private sector."

Blog post 2.6 "Obama's Approval Ratings"

Read the following report from the Pew Research Center

http://www.people-press.org/2013/11/08/obamas-second-term-slide-continues/

Write a paragraph summary of the report's findings and answer the following questions.

1. What is the sample in this poll?
2. How does Obama compare to other recent presidents at this point in their terms?
3. How do independent voters feel about Obama right now?
4. What implications does that have for the 2014 midterm elections?
5. What have been the highlights of Obama's time in office according to this poll?
6. Compare Obama's approval ratings among the three different blocks of voters.

Blog Post 2.5 "Interest Groups"

Read the following article from The New York Times about an interest group started by investors, the Koch Brothers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/us/politics/koch-group-has-ambitions-in-small-races.html?ref=politics&_r=0

Write a two paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. Why is Americans for Prosperity focusing on electioneering local elections?
2. How might these actions in local races in 2013 help the organization in 2014?
3. How do most citizens in the area respond to Americans for Prosperity getting involved in their races?
4. What has the interest group done to help the candidates it supports?

Blog Post 2.4 "Party Strategies to Control Congress"

Read the following article from The Daily Beast about the Democratic Party's strategies to gain seats in the Senate.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/31/democrats-march-on-the-south-to-hold-senate-majority-in-2014.html

Write a paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. Describe the majority currently held by the Democratic Party in the Senate.
2. Why do we predict Senate election results by looking at the most recent presidential elections results?
3. What strategy should Democratic Senate candidates use to appeal to Southern voters?
4. What impact do Tea Party challengers have on Republican candidates in primary contests?
5. Southern Progress Fund is an example of a PAC.   How will they impact elections?
6. What type of voters do Democrats need to focus on in "get out the vote" activities?
7. How do Republicans describe the impact of the Democratic Party in the South.

Blog post 2.3 "Conflict within a party"

Read the following article from The Atlantic about the uneasy relationship between the Tea Party and the Republican Party.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/the-conservative-war-on-the-gop/280637/

Write a paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. Why are conservative opinion leaders upset with the Republican Party?
2. Why are the conservative voters upset with the Republican Party?
3. What does Glen Beck want people to do instead of give money to the Republican Party?  Why would he want them to stop giving to the party that is his best option??
4. How would you describe the current public opinion of the Republican Party?
5. What would happen to the Republican Party if the Tea Party split off of it?
6. What does Gillespe say the effect of the Tea Party running as a third party would be??
7. What does Tim Pawlenty say is to blame for minority voices being so loud in the parties?
8. What do you think the future of the Republican Party will be?

Blog Post 2.2 "Public Opinion & the Govt. Shutdown"

Read the latest public opinion polls from USA Today about the public's opinion of  how elections can be changed in order to solve the problems in Washington.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/10/14/americans-election-policy-usa-today-bipartisan-policy-center-poll/2983159/

Write a one paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. Why would we consider these poll results to be valid?  What do you call the number given by the pollsters?
2. How has California addressed the problem of unfair redistricting?
3. How would candidates for office have to change their approach if they did not have "safe districts"?
4. How would adding independent voters to the party primary electorates change the primaries?
5. How do Democrats and Republicans feel differently about voter ID laws?
6. What proposed reforms could make voting easier? How would each do that?

Blog Post 2.1 "Changes to the Electorate"

Welcome back!!!!

For your first blog of the second nine weeks, look at the following maps that analyze the results of the 2012 presidential election.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/election-map-2012/analysis/

For each of the maps: DESCRIBE two conclusions you could draw from each of the maps.  You should incorporate your knowledge of demographics and likely voter ideologies.

Also, answer the following questions.

1.What is the impact of the increasing number of Hispanic voters?
2. How is the idea of "pocketbook voting" reflected in the second map?
3. What areas are experiencing downturns in voter turnout?  What areas are increasing?
4. How were the results different in Shelby & Davidson County in Tennessee different from the rest of the state?  What do you know about voter demographics that explains this?

1.4 "Voter Turnout in Local Elections"

Read the following article from The Atlantic about voter turnout in local elections.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2013/09/why-voter-turnout-mayoral-elections-always-so-abysmally-low/6845/

Write a paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. What are the expectations of voter turnout in these elections?
2. What are some of the reasons people aren't showing up?
3. How can you describe voter turnout during the 2012 presidential election?
4. What has the turnout in mayoral elections been like historically?
5. When does turnout for local elections typically increase?
6. Why are local leaders and potential candidates unlikely to work hard to increase voter turnout?

Blog post 1.3 "Voter Turnout"

Read the following article from The Huffington Post about voter turnout in the 2012 election.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/28/black-voter-turnout-2012-election_n_3173673.html

Write a paragraph summary of the article, then answer the following questions.

1. How would the 2012 election have been different if voting patterns from 2008 had been the same?
2. Which states were identified as battleground states in the 2012 election?
3. What was unique about African American voting patterns?
4. How would you describe the voter turnout of Hispanic voters?
5. Why is African American voter turnout important in the 2014 midterm election?

Blog post 1.2 "Statehood & secession"

Read the following article from Time magazine about statehood issues in Colorado.

http://nation.time.com/2013/08/22/red-state-blue-state-old-state-new-state-northern-colorado-tries-to-secede/

Write a one paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. What does Article 4 say to prevent these citizens from forming their own state?
2. Who would they have to get approval from to do so?
3. Why do you think those in the Senate would want to prevent a new state from joining the union?
4. Why do these secessionist groups usually want to break away?
5. Congress is made up of members of political parties.  Why do you think they want to keep new Congressmen from becoming a part of the legislature?

Blog Post 1.1 "Checks and Balances'

Read the following article from The Atlantic about president and his relationship with Congress.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/the-authority-to-declare-war-a-power-barack-obama-does-not-have/279212/

Write a two paragraph summary of the article.  Then, answer the following questions.
1. What constitutional expressed power would give the president the ability to commit US troops to Syria?
2. What is the legislative check that is supposed to limit the president's ability to use the troops?
3. Why have past presidents argued that they do not need Congressional authorization to commit US troops to action?
4. How would Syrian intervention be different from past situations?
5. What war powers did the Framers give to the legislature?
6. Why did they want to make sure there was a check on the president's war powers?

Welcome Class of 2014

Hey everybody,

This is the blog you will go to in order to find your blog assignments.  Each week, there will be 1 or two articles posted here.  You are to read each article and post a 2 paragraph summary to your own blog, as well as answer any questions that are a part of the blog post here.

Blog Post 3.13 "SCOTUS: Voting Rights Act"

Read the following article from Time magazine about an upcoming case the SCOTUS will hear about the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/25/will-the-supreme-court-open-the-door-to-voter-discrimination/

Write a two paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. Summarize the plaintiff claims in Citizens United V FEC and  Shelby County V Holder. (you'll have to click the links)
2. What is "preclearance"?  How is it different than the way the government looks at the legality of most other laws?
3. Under what part of the Constitution does Congress have the right to pass civil rights legislation?
4. How does the author of this article criticize the justices for taking a role in policy making?
5. What are the negative consequences for minority voters if this law is struck down by the Court?
6. If the SCOTUS strikes down the Voting Rights Act, what will have been the lasting impact of the Roberts Courts on elections in the United States?

Blog Post 3.12 "SCOTUS: Gay Marriage"

Read the following article from the Los Angeles Times about media coverage of the SCOTUS.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gay-marriage-20130222,0,1391299.story

Write a 2 paragraph summary of the article and then answer the following questions.

1. How have groups urged the Obama Administration to get involved in this California case?
2. What is Obama doing when he states his personal view on the situation?
3. What precedent did the Circuit Court of Appeals set?
4. What would be the impact of a SCOTUS decision striking down Proposition 8?
5. Why would this impact be limited?  Where in the Constitution would you find the basis for this limit?
6. What federal law will be challenged in the Court next month?
7.  If that law is overturned, what would the impact be nationwide?
8. How is the Obama Administration expected to get involved in that case?

Blog post 3.11 "SCOTUS: Free Speech"

Read the following article from the New York Times about a case that the SCOTUS will be hearing soon regarding political campaign donations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/us/politics/supreme-court-to-hear-campaign-finance-case.html

Write a two paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. What was the Court's ruling in Citizens United V Federal Election Commission? (you'll have to look it up)
2  What did the Court decide in Buckley V Valeo? (you'll also have to look this up)
3. What are the contribution limits that are currently in place?
4. What are the two ways people can get around those limits?
5. How are campaign contributions interpreted as part of civil liberties protected under the First Amendment?
6. In what two ways did the SCOTUS recently expand the protections of the Fourth Amendment?

Blog post 3.9 "Obama's Domestic Policy"

Read the following article from The Atlantic that compares Obama's domestic policy initiatives with those of Lyndon B. Johnson.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/obamas-lbj-moment-the-war-on-inequality-is-the-new-war-on-poverty/273165/

Write a 2 paragraph summary of the article.  Then answer the following questions.

1. What were the similar themes of Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address and Lyndon Johnson's 1964 State of the Union Address?
2. How are Obama and Johnson's approaches to dealing with Congress different?
3. Why would Obama want to avoid comparisons with the big government 60s?
4. How is Obama relying on federalism to help him come up with policy ideas?
5. Why might letting states create their own programs problematic?
6. What do we call it when the president is using his position to try to convince the average voters to support his policies and pressure their lawmakers?
7. In what ways does the author suggest that Obama needs to be more like LBJ?

Blog Post 3.8 "Social Security Problems"

Read the following article from the New York Times about the problems facing the Social Security program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/social-security-its-worse-than-you-think.html

Write a two paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions

1. What has happened for the first time to Social Security ?
2. What will happen to the Social Security Trust Fund?
3. How are assumptions made by the Social Security Administration wrong?
4. How have prediction methods changed since Social Security started in in the 1930s?
5. What are the four options that keep Social Security from running out of money?
6. Why do you think these options would be unpopular with the public?
7. What makes consensus on a solution unlikely?

Blog Post 3.7 "Fiscal Policy"

Read the following column from the New York Times about taxes and military operations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/opinion/a-tax-to-pay-for-war.html?hp

Write a two paragraph summary of the column and then answer the following questions.

1. What has been the trend in defense spending since 2009, and why?
2. How much does the US spend on defense, and how much of GDP does that spending account for?
3. How does America's debt crisis impact future military plans?
4. How have past wars changed America's tax money?
5. What is the Budget Control Act?  (you'll have to look it up)
6. How would a tax tied to military operations change the way the President had to think about committing troops overseas?
7. What potential problems can you see with this tax proposal?

Blog Post 3.6 "The Federal Budget"

Read the following "Times Topics" Summary from the New York Times about the 2013 federal budget process.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/federal_budget_us/index.html

You can stop once you get to the timeline.

Write a 3 paragraph summary and answer the following questions.

1. Who are the key players in a fight between Democrats and Republicans over the federal budget?
2. What exactly was the "Fiscal Cliff"?
3. Why was the problem just delayed instead of resolved?
4. Why would the CBO warn against letting all of the tax cuts expire?
5. How did the results of the 2012 elections shape the debate over the budget?
6. Why might Obama & Boehner working by themselves possibly be more successful than if their parties were involved?
7. What is Obama's budget plan?
8. What is the plan proposed by the Republicans in the House?
9. What is in Obama's new plan for spending cuts?
10. Why do Republicans mainly want to deal with spending cuts? Why do Democrats mainly want to deal with raising more revenue?
11. How did taxes change January 1, 2013?
12. What are some possible options that could produce a balanced budget?

Blog post 3.5 "Gerrymandering, Again!"

Read the following article from the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/the-great-gerrymander-of-2012.html?pagewanted=all

and the following Info-graphic related to the article

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/03/sunday-review/imbalance-of-power.html

Write a 2 paragraph summary of the article and answer the following questions.

1. How can you describe the popular vote across the nation for the House of Representatives?
2. How are the seats actually distributed?
3. What was the Republican party's two step plan for controlling the House of Representatives for a long time?
4. What is unique about the way Arizona handled it's redistricting?
5. How did California tackle the problem of gerrymandering?
6. How does gerrymandering lead to disenfranchisement?
7. Why are proposals to change the way electoral votes are delegated to candidates dangerous?
8. How has our boy, the swing voting Anthony Kennedy, prevented reform of redistricting?
9. What does the author recommend as a solution?

From the infographic:
10.  Which states' delegations are most drastically skewed?
11.  What can you infer about the makeup of those state legislatures?
12.  How do you know this is the case?

Blog Post 3.4 "Senate Rules Reform"

Read the following articles from the New York Times  & The Atlantic about filibuster reform and rule changes in the 113th Congress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/us/politics/bipartisan-filibuster-deal-is-reached-in-the-senate.html?_r=0

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/how-senate-graybeards-killed-real-filibuster-reform/272495/

Write a one paragraph summary of each article and answer the following questions.
From the NYT
1. What rule changes were actually decided upon?
2. Explain why filibusters today aren't really like filibusters than people are familiar with.
3. What has changed about the motion to proceed?
4. Senators who voted for these very minor changes are acting like they are a big deal.  Which lessons from Hardball do these actions seem to correlate with?

From the Atlantic
1. What are the proposals that were not adopted?
2. What problems did real reforms encounter?
3. Why are Senators unwilling to get rid of the opportunity to filibuster?
4. What did the majority party gain?
5. What did the minority party gain?

Blog Post 3.3 "Obama's 2nd Term"

Read the following article from the New York Times about what Obama can realistically accomplish during his second term.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/us/politics/the-first-year-of-the-second-term-is-key-for-obama.html?hp&_r=0

Write a two paragraph summary of the article, then answer the following questions.

1. Why is the Democratic Party worried about Obama emphasizing gun control?
2. What issues are at the top of Obama's policy agenda?
3. Who has ultimate control over Obama's policy making agenda?
4. What will happen to the media focus on Obama after the first year of his second term?
5. Based on what he has done, what approach will Obama take in dealing with Congress?
6. Why do you think Obama must try to accomplish so much in the first year of this term?
7. What other political issues will dominate the rest of his term?
8. Why might Democrats in Congress treat him differently before and after the coming 2014 Mid Term elections?

Blog Post 3.2 "The Politics of Cabinet Nominations"

Read the following articles from the New York Times about Obama trying to fill vacancies in his Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense positions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/us/politics/obama-expected-to-name-kerry-as-secretary-of-state.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/us/obama-expected-to-select-hagel-for-defense-post.html?hp&_r=0

Write a two paragraph summary of EACH ARTICLE.

Then, answer the following questions.

From the article on Secretary of State

1. Why did Susan Rice withdraw from consideration for the appointment?
2. What are the problems with the demographics of Obama's national security team, if Kerry replaces Clinton?
3. How would you describe Obama and Kerry's relationship?
4. What would be the foreign policy priorities Kerry would have to deal with in Obama's second term?


From the Secretary of Defense

5. Why would Obama select Hagel if he is a Republican?
6. Why might Hagel's confirmation as Secretary of Defense be difficult?
7. What are some of Hagel's attitudes about the US role in foreign policy towards the  Middle East?
8. What problems do conservatives have with Hagel?
9. What problems do liberals have with Hagel?

Blog Post 3.1 which will never go away until you do it!!! "Obama and Congress: policy making"

Watch the following episode of PBS Frontline about President Obama trying to get health care reform passed back in 2010.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamasdeal/view/

Write a three paragraph summary of the documentary and answer the following questions.

THIS POST WILL ALSO COUNT IN BOTH YOUR BLOG AND HOMEWORK GRADE CATEGORIES


1. What was Rahm Emmanuel's job in the Obama Administration?  What are the roles of that job?
2. Why did the Obama Administration decide to go after health care reform immediately upon assuming office?
3. How were Bill Clinton's attempts at health care reform defeated?
4. What kind of people was Obama hiring to work in his administration to get reform passed?  How would this approach be useful?
5. What did the interests groups for private insurance companies demand that Obama include in his health care reform plan?  Why?
6. How was the Senate version of the health care bill written?  Using what you know from reading House and Senate, how was this allowed to happen?
7. Why did the Obama Administration have to ensure that the pharmaceutical interest groups were on his side?
8. During the "summer recess", how did public opinion turn against health care reform?
9. How did the death of Ted Kennedy change the debate over the issue?
10. What happened during the President's State of the Union address that increased the intensity of the debate?
11. How did Obama use his "bully pulpit" against the insurance companies?
12. What were the results of the first vote on the bill?
13. How did the death of Ted Kennedy change the makeup of the Senate?
14. Why is the 41st vote so crucial for Republicans in the Senate?
15. How did Obama respond after Democrats lost their super-majority in the Senate?
16. What new approach did Obama and Nancy Pelosi take with the House of Representatives?
17. What was the result of the vote in the House?  How did both parties vote?

18.  Using what you know, and what you saw in this case study, n ONE PARAGRAPH, explain the process by which a president gets major legislation enacted.