The Constitution grants the president certain enumerated powers. Some of these powers include the presidents ability to enforce and maintain laws already set in place. Any bills that are in the process of becoming laws that the president does not approve of, he has the unique ability of vetoing.
Spending that is not affected by budget cuts is called Mandatory spending. This means that when deciding what budgets to cut, certain programs are out of the question. The president must provide the necessary funding to such programs to keep them running.
Although one group may identify themselves a certain way, there may also be differences within the group that are not agreed on. When this happens, it is called Party Polarization. For example, although you may be a democrat, your view on how congress should be run or your view on the war may be different from another fellow democrat.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_us_gopo_q2.pdf
2008-2)A number of factors enable presidents to exert influence over Congress in the area of domestic policy. However, presidents are also limited in their influence over domestic policymaking in Congress.
-The Constitution grants the president certain enumerated powers. Describe two of these formal powers that enable the president to exert influence over domestic policy.
-Choose two of the following. Define each term and explain how each limits the president’s ability to influence domestic policy making in Congress.
*Mandatory spending
*Party polarization
*Lame-duck period
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Essay 13
Congressional reapportionment is conducted every ten years and is very important to ensure power is evenly distributed based on population and to make sure some states aren't over represented while others are underrepresented. When the Census is done, it is found that the population of each state changes. Some may gain people while others may lose people. Since the population changes, the amount of representatives must also change to better represent the people. Since congressmen aren't added or removed, they must be reappointed. This happens when the congress men or women from one district are moved to another with more people. This way the area with a higher population is better represented while a area with a lower population isn't over represented.
Congressional redistricting is the process of drawing new lines to create different districts where one party is the majority. This eliminates any one party becoming the minority and being unfairly represented. These lines can be cleverly drawn and are changed every ten years along with the census. If each district has a clear majority, and all the districts compete, an accurate representation of the states stand as a whole can be made.
The goal of politicians when they gerrymander is to re-do districts to give certain parties clear advantages. By drawing very unusual and complicated district lines, politicians can put all the under represented parties in one district, giving them a voice. Another way politicians use gerrymandering to their advantage is to hinder another political party or group. These groups can be based on religious or class groups, however cannot be because of race or wealth.
There are several limits to the districts when they are reappointed. To begin with, districts cannot be drawn solely based on race. This means districts can't be drawn so that one race is dominantly in control. Also the redistricting cannot dilute minority voting strength. Another limit to redistricting is that each district has to be of equal population. Even though the lines can be drawn however they want, if they are not continuous or if the population inside each district is different it does not work.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_gopo_us_sgs.pdf
2008-1) Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted, politicians often engage in gerrymandering.
(a) Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states.
(b) Define congressional redistricting.
(c) Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting.
(d) Describe two limits that the United State Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting.
Congressional redistricting is the process of drawing new lines to create different districts where one party is the majority. This eliminates any one party becoming the minority and being unfairly represented. These lines can be cleverly drawn and are changed every ten years along with the census. If each district has a clear majority, and all the districts compete, an accurate representation of the states stand as a whole can be made.
The goal of politicians when they gerrymander is to re-do districts to give certain parties clear advantages. By drawing very unusual and complicated district lines, politicians can put all the under represented parties in one district, giving them a voice. Another way politicians use gerrymandering to their advantage is to hinder another political party or group. These groups can be based on religious or class groups, however cannot be because of race or wealth.
There are several limits to the districts when they are reappointed. To begin with, districts cannot be drawn solely based on race. This means districts can't be drawn so that one race is dominantly in control. Also the redistricting cannot dilute minority voting strength. Another limit to redistricting is that each district has to be of equal population. Even though the lines can be drawn however they want, if they are not continuous or if the population inside each district is different it does not work.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_gopo_us_sgs.pdf
2008-1) Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted, politicians often engage in gerrymandering.
(a) Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states.
(b) Define congressional redistricting.
(c) Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting.
(d) Describe two limits that the United State Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Trouble in the Gulf
The Frontline we watched on "The Spill" gave a much needed insight as to what is happening in the oil industry today. There are many major oil companies in the United States and beyond, one of which is BP Oil. BP is the youngest of the oil companies and is facing many problems. One of the reasons for all these problems is BP want for profit over safety. To maximize profits and continue to run the oil refineries without breaks, BP decided it was fine to leave 20 year old plus machines to take on the incredible demand, even after being advised to replace the outdated and potentially dangerous machinery. BP put the importance of money over the importance of human life. One day, an important piece of the oil refinery failed, creating a massive explosion and killing several people. This marked the uprising in problems for BP. Even after this event, BP didn't claim responsibility, nor did they change. They claimed the problem was unrelated and said they didn't know about it. To cover themselves, BP paid people off, hired lawyers, among other things to avoid having to change. This type of mentality has lead to continued problems for BP. From the world famous Gulf Spill to oil leaks and explosions in Alaska, and more.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pbs+frontline+oil+spill
BP has created an oil empire, unfortunately that has come at the cost of many lives. Rather than slow down and make sure its safe before preceding, this oil company cuts corners and places risky bets all for money. This occurred when "The Deep Water Horizon", BP's safest oil rigs suffered a severe malfunction and sunk, killing 11 workers. If the deep water horizon was the safest of BP's many oil rigs what does that say about the safety of BP oil operations. By cutting corners and making sacrifices, BP is costing people their lives. The worst part is, they don't seem to care, nor are they doing anything about it.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blowout-the-deepwater-horizon-disaster-16-05-2010/
The main reason terrible events keep happening on BP's watch is because of their poor management. The individual workers are not the reason BP keeps experiencing problems. In an effort to save money, BP cuts corners. They stopped inspections of alaskan pipelines in an attempt to save money. This resulted in a failure that caused 200,000 barrels of crude oil to leak into the ground and ice near the alaskan pipeline. Things like this happen all the time with BP, so much in fact, that its starting to become a trend. If BP doesn't focus on their management and run the oil company like exxon or some of their other competitors, not only are there pockets going to suffer, but their company as well.
http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/bp-and-public-issues-mismanagement#.U1RFI14VTHg
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pbs+frontline+oil+spill
BP has created an oil empire, unfortunately that has come at the cost of many lives. Rather than slow down and make sure its safe before preceding, this oil company cuts corners and places risky bets all for money. This occurred when "The Deep Water Horizon", BP's safest oil rigs suffered a severe malfunction and sunk, killing 11 workers. If the deep water horizon was the safest of BP's many oil rigs what does that say about the safety of BP oil operations. By cutting corners and making sacrifices, BP is costing people their lives. The worst part is, they don't seem to care, nor are they doing anything about it.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blowout-the-deepwater-horizon-disaster-16-05-2010/
The main reason terrible events keep happening on BP's watch is because of their poor management. The individual workers are not the reason BP keeps experiencing problems. In an effort to save money, BP cuts corners. They stopped inspections of alaskan pipelines in an attempt to save money. This resulted in a failure that caused 200,000 barrels of crude oil to leak into the ground and ice near the alaskan pipeline. Things like this happen all the time with BP, so much in fact, that its starting to become a trend. If BP doesn't focus on their management and run the oil company like exxon or some of their other competitors, not only are there pockets going to suffer, but their company as well.
http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/bp-and-public-issues-mismanagement#.U1RFI14VTHg
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Essay 12
A divide government is when different parties take primary control over the house and senate. For example, if the House of Representatives is ruled by Democrats and the Senate is ruled by Republicans, a divided government is created. A divided government is not beneficial to either party or the people. Checks and balances is a system that makes sure no one party can completely take over and pass any law they want. In order for a law to be passed, it has to be accepted by the other two branches of the system. When one party predominately controls the house and senate; laws get passed, promises fulfilled, and efficiency of the system is optimal. When a divided government occurs, policy grid lock ensues and trust in government is lost. This is all due to the fact that when neither the House nor the Senate agree on an issue, they have to hash it out and even if they do decide on a mutually beneficial agreement, the law still has to be approved by the executive branch. This makes congress extremely inefficient and nothing ends up getting done. Because of this, trust in the U.S. government is constantly declining. People want their congressmen and congresswomen to get bills passed that benefit them, thats the whole reason they voted for their representative after all. If none of the beneficial bills get passed or if no bills get passed in general, people see congress as a huge joke.
As the years progress, it takes more and more money to run a successful campaign. Although not always true, the person who spends the most normally walks away victorious. Politicians know this, and do what ever it takes to secure their position, primarily from campaign contributions. Most of these campaign contributions come from Political Action Committees or P.A.C.S. They donate to try and get their respective representative into office. Once they do, the politician feels a certain need to payback the P.A.C.S. He does this by listening to their problems and passing laws that benefit them. In essence, The P.A.C.S are buying the politician and this is no secret. In fact, much of the population of the U.S. knows about these sly and underhanded tactics. The American population feels a deep disconnect when they vote. They feel that no matter how they vote, or where their politician stands, laws will be passed that benefit the P.A.C.S rather then the people. This problem in the U.S. political system has led to a decline in trust and confidence in government. If the people don't trust their government, things are not in good shape. The political system needs peoples participation to stay legitimate. Without it, all the congress is, is a group of people who make changes to and add new laws. In addition, if people don't chose to vote due to the belief that policies are out of their hands, the government can spiral out of control and loose the democracy that we know and love today.
2004_4
3) Trust and confidence in government have declined in recent decades.
(a) Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government. Be sure to include a definition of divided government in your response
(b) Explain how the increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government.
(c) Explain two specific consequences of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior.
Scoring Rubric:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/ap04_sg_gopo_us_37090.pdf
As the years progress, it takes more and more money to run a successful campaign. Although not always true, the person who spends the most normally walks away victorious. Politicians know this, and do what ever it takes to secure their position, primarily from campaign contributions. Most of these campaign contributions come from Political Action Committees or P.A.C.S. They donate to try and get their respective representative into office. Once they do, the politician feels a certain need to payback the P.A.C.S. He does this by listening to their problems and passing laws that benefit them. In essence, The P.A.C.S are buying the politician and this is no secret. In fact, much of the population of the U.S. knows about these sly and underhanded tactics. The American population feels a deep disconnect when they vote. They feel that no matter how they vote, or where their politician stands, laws will be passed that benefit the P.A.C.S rather then the people. This problem in the U.S. political system has led to a decline in trust and confidence in government. If the people don't trust their government, things are not in good shape. The political system needs peoples participation to stay legitimate. Without it, all the congress is, is a group of people who make changes to and add new laws. In addition, if people don't chose to vote due to the belief that policies are out of their hands, the government can spiral out of control and loose the democracy that we know and love today.
2004_4
3) Trust and confidence in government have declined in recent decades.
(a) Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government. Be sure to include a definition of divided government in your response
(b) Explain how the increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government.
(c) Explain two specific consequences of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior.
Scoring Rubric:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/ap04_sg_gopo_us_37090.pdf
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