Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Ron Wyden
Biography
Ron Wyden was born in 1949 to Edith and Peter Wyden in Wichita Kansas. A son of jewish parents who had fled Nazi Germany, Ron spent his days in Palo Alto California, playing for his high school basketball team. After high school, Wyden went to the University of California, Santa Barbra, before transferring to Stanford. Wyden continued on to receive his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oregon school of law in 1974. In 1980, Wyden ran for the House of Representatives, defeating his opponent, Darrel Conger, with 71% majority vote, an amazing feat considering Wyden was only 31 at the time.
Committees
Committee on the Budget
Committee on Finance
Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness (Chairman)
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (Chairman)
As Chairman, Senator Wyden is an ex-office member on all subcommittees.
Select Committee on Intelligence
Special Committee on Aging
Joint Committee On Taxation
Position
Environment
Senator Wyden has done many things to help conserve the natural beauty of Oregon. From protecting old growth forests, to reforming federal government land management practices. Wyden has also added hundreds of miles of Oregon rivers to the Wild and Scenic Rivers system. He suggests that oil and coal companies should pay there fare share for the damage they do to the environment. Wyden does this by imposing royalties on major companies that may be underpaying taxpayers.
Technology
Wyden is also an advocate for free and open Internet. He has passed several acts to ensure no one can setup online "Tollbooths" or be held responsible for user-generated content. With this, Wyden has paved a road for major companies like YouTube and Face book over the past 10 years. Voted "The 50 Most Important People on the Web" by PC World, Wyden is truly making his mark on the world of technology, today.
Questions for the Senator? A: What advice do you give a student thinking about being in politics?
B: What allows you to stay on the leading edge of technology, often stopping problems before they occur?
C: What are your feelings towards the use of domestic drones by companies such as Amazon( Amazon Prime Air)?
Essay 6
A: Ones age and education have a lot to do with how one votes, if they even vote at all. As people grow older, politics become more and more important to them. When before they might have been too busy, or maybe just didn't care enough to vote; now, they suddenly find themselves with much more time on their hands and are much more opinionated. At a young age, we are influenced by our parents in the way in which we vote. As we grow older we become more and more independent. Although we normally stay on the same side as our parents, this isn't always the case. In addition to age, education plays a huge role is your likeliness to vote. On average, the more educated the person is, the more likely they are to vote. This is because educated people tend to pay more attention to politics, and are more concerned with the outcomes of elections. This isn't to say that an uneducated person doesn't care at all, they are just less likely to know the consequences of their decision.
B: The requirement to register before you vote has been one major federal requirement that has decreased voter turnout. When it comes to voting, many Americans are just plane lazy. They don't want to have to stand in line and fill out pages of documents just to vote. In this way, requiring voters to register has decreased voter turn out. Some states now offer registering while voting. This means you no longer have to submit a separate form just to vote. This technique has raised the voter turnout in select areas.
C: Media is the most influential linkage institution in the 21st century. Through media is how most Americans find out about the presidential nominees, what they stand for, and who's winning. Without the media, many americans would be left in the dark. The fact of the matter is that if media didn't exist, our already minuscule voter turnout would be almost inexistent. The media also completes the circle by not only supplying information from candidates to citizens, but also from citizens to candidates. This creates a more tailored government; by the people, for the people. The media also plays a part in how we vote. Because of recent advancements, we can now vote from thousands of miles away from the capitol. This allows anyone to vote, not just people who live in Washington D.C.
B: The requirement to register before you vote has been one major federal requirement that has decreased voter turnout. When it comes to voting, many Americans are just plane lazy. They don't want to have to stand in line and fill out pages of documents just to vote. In this way, requiring voters to register has decreased voter turn out. Some states now offer registering while voting. This means you no longer have to submit a separate form just to vote. This technique has raised the voter turnout in select areas.
C: Media is the most influential linkage institution in the 21st century. Through media is how most Americans find out about the presidential nominees, what they stand for, and who's winning. Without the media, many americans would be left in the dark. The fact of the matter is that if media didn't exist, our already minuscule voter turnout would be almost inexistent. The media also completes the circle by not only supplying information from candidates to citizens, but also from citizens to candidates. This creates a more tailored government; by the people, for the people. The media also plays a part in how we vote. Because of recent advancements, we can now vote from thousands of miles away from the capitol. This allows anyone to vote, not just people who live in Washington D.C.
Essay 5
Part A: Different intrest groups use various methods for getting what they want. Through litigation; grassroots lobbying, and campaign contributions, intrest groups will do whatever it take to pass a bill or get a certain official elected.
Litigation is an interest groups way of getting what they want. They use the law as there secret weapon. Sometimes, they use portions of various laws to further their cause, while other times they use it as a threat against their opponents. In the 1940s and 1950s, the NAACP sued several segregated school districts. This ended in the Brown v Board of Education decision in 1954. Apart from this particular example, many other special intrest groups used litigation to get what they wanted.
Yet another method is through campaign contributions. This method is faster than grassroots lobbying or litigation, but equally as effective. When a special interest group donates to a certain official, they are in a sense, buying there way into the campaign. When they want something passed or not, they can play the "I donated lots of money to your campaign" card. This forces the leader to make influenced decisions in fear of losing funding. This form of "bribery" is also illegal to some extent. As the federal government wants all of its elected officials to be there own person rather than puppets of major corporations.
Grassroots lobbying is the final way intrest groups. This technique only works on certain issues that the majority of people are concerned about. It does not work on issues that are too complicated for the majority to understand, or on issues that few people care about. Grassroots lobbying is a face to face form of lobbying. Special interest groups send out "foot soldiers" to spread the word and make more people vote. When it comes to the time where the decision is to be made, the pressure of the masses force a decision.
Part B: The American Medical Association uses campaign contributions as the primary way to get what they want. With a huge number of members and tons of access to money, this way just makes the most sense. Using Grassroots lobbying takes too much time and effort. For each item the AMA wants passed, they would have to get too many members in order for it to work. The American Medical Association doesn't prefer to use litigation, because they want to be on peoples good side, and suing is not the way to do that.
Litigation is an interest groups way of getting what they want. They use the law as there secret weapon. Sometimes, they use portions of various laws to further their cause, while other times they use it as a threat against their opponents. In the 1940s and 1950s, the NAACP sued several segregated school districts. This ended in the Brown v Board of Education decision in 1954. Apart from this particular example, many other special intrest groups used litigation to get what they wanted.
Yet another method is through campaign contributions. This method is faster than grassroots lobbying or litigation, but equally as effective. When a special interest group donates to a certain official, they are in a sense, buying there way into the campaign. When they want something passed or not, they can play the "I donated lots of money to your campaign" card. This forces the leader to make influenced decisions in fear of losing funding. This form of "bribery" is also illegal to some extent. As the federal government wants all of its elected officials to be there own person rather than puppets of major corporations.
Grassroots lobbying is the final way intrest groups. This technique only works on certain issues that the majority of people are concerned about. It does not work on issues that are too complicated for the majority to understand, or on issues that few people care about. Grassroots lobbying is a face to face form of lobbying. Special interest groups send out "foot soldiers" to spread the word and make more people vote. When it comes to the time where the decision is to be made, the pressure of the masses force a decision.
Part B: The American Medical Association uses campaign contributions as the primary way to get what they want. With a huge number of members and tons of access to money, this way just makes the most sense. Using Grassroots lobbying takes too much time and effort. For each item the AMA wants passed, they would have to get too many members in order for it to work. The American Medical Association doesn't prefer to use litigation, because they want to be on peoples good side, and suing is not the way to do that.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Philippine Disaster Relief
Part 1: The money raised for the foreign aid of the Philippines, should be used to provide the people with basic needs everybody needs to survive. Those basic needs are things such as clean drinking water, healthy and wholesome food, temporary shelter, and medical care. With almost 4 million residents displaced from there homes, help is needed immediately. The longer the people go without help, the higher the possibility of acquiring a disease. As the disease rate goes up, casualties jump tremendously.
Part 2: Charities are the most effective way to provide relief in situations such as this. When a natural disaster hits, many people want to help, but few know how. Charities provide venus for people to donate their time, money, or goods. After all the goods are gathered and collected by volunteers, they are shipped off to areas in the most need. By a charity donating through the collection of small contributions, they are able to buy thousands of bottles of water, for example, rather than a few at a time. The one major downside to charities is, despite all the good they do, most of the money goes back into the charity to pay full time employees and to pay for facilities. The remaining money, goes to the charity. Despite this downfall, donating to a charity for disaster relief is one of the most effective ways to help those in need.
Part 3: UNICEF is "There For The Philippines." Being one of the biggest relief charities for the Philippines, UNICEF vows to stay after everyone else has gone. Being such a big charity, they can give unparalleled amounts of supplies to the victims in the Philippines. UNICEF is a main supporter of children, providing clean drinking water; specialized medicine, and basic medical kits, and protection for kids againest traffickers. Celebrity backers like singer Rihanna and MLB athlete Robinson Cano, not only donate a lot of money themselves, but also bring additional donations, after their fans find out they donated to UNICEF. Although the biggest, UNICEF only donates $.14 of every dollar. Still, with so much money coming in per month, this is still a considerable amount of money being donated.
Part 4: My invention would be a disaster relief 72 hour pack. Even with todays modern technology, many survivors of disasters still have to wait days for help to arrive, and by that time, it could be to late. My pack would be handed out to countries most prone to natural disasters. the pack would be rather small so users could carry it with them when ever they need it. Inside, a "LifeStraw" water filter would provide cleaning drinking water from and water source. A small emergency medical kit would contain bandages, medication, and a few other much needed medical supplies. In addition, food rations would be included in small bags. This food would be similar to food used in the military, and would never expire or go bad. Finally, a small light weight tarp and rope would be included. This could be used to make a shelter, gather goods, carry around personal belongings, or anything else the user could think of. Although not a permeant solution, my 72 hour pack would help survivors to survive the few days they need to before help arrives.
Part 2: Charities are the most effective way to provide relief in situations such as this. When a natural disaster hits, many people want to help, but few know how. Charities provide venus for people to donate their time, money, or goods. After all the goods are gathered and collected by volunteers, they are shipped off to areas in the most need. By a charity donating through the collection of small contributions, they are able to buy thousands of bottles of water, for example, rather than a few at a time. The one major downside to charities is, despite all the good they do, most of the money goes back into the charity to pay full time employees and to pay for facilities. The remaining money, goes to the charity. Despite this downfall, donating to a charity for disaster relief is one of the most effective ways to help those in need.
Part 3: UNICEF is "There For The Philippines." Being one of the biggest relief charities for the Philippines, UNICEF vows to stay after everyone else has gone. Being such a big charity, they can give unparalleled amounts of supplies to the victims in the Philippines. UNICEF is a main supporter of children, providing clean drinking water; specialized medicine, and basic medical kits, and protection for kids againest traffickers. Celebrity backers like singer Rihanna and MLB athlete Robinson Cano, not only donate a lot of money themselves, but also bring additional donations, after their fans find out they donated to UNICEF. Although the biggest, UNICEF only donates $.14 of every dollar. Still, with so much money coming in per month, this is still a considerable amount of money being donated.
Part 4: My invention would be a disaster relief 72 hour pack. Even with todays modern technology, many survivors of disasters still have to wait days for help to arrive, and by that time, it could be to late. My pack would be handed out to countries most prone to natural disasters. the pack would be rather small so users could carry it with them when ever they need it. Inside, a "LifeStraw" water filter would provide cleaning drinking water from and water source. A small emergency medical kit would contain bandages, medication, and a few other much needed medical supplies. In addition, food rations would be included in small bags. This food would be similar to food used in the military, and would never expire or go bad. Finally, a small light weight tarp and rope would be included. This could be used to make a shelter, gather goods, carry around personal belongings, or anything else the user could think of. Although not a permeant solution, my 72 hour pack would help survivors to survive the few days they need to before help arrives.
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