Chapter 14 The Supreme Court Justices

Interesting Backgrounds

I find the extensive legal exposure of all Justice's to the legal system very interesting. All have graduated Law School and have served some duties in the Judiciary Systems of the U.S. This makes them very qualified and informative in the Laws of the Land. 

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the court in Abbott v United States. I agree with the decision that the "except" clause covers only conduct offending § 924 (c). Although the clause might have been more meticulously drafted the "grammatical possibility" of a defendant's interpretation does not command a resort to the rule of leniency if the interpretation proffered by the defendant reflects "an implausible reading of the congressional purpose." 

Judicial Review

I believe the Judicial Review is exercised on a regular basis and this is why. The Supreme Court has a major role in dividing authority between the nation and state, between Congress and the President, and between governments whether state or local, and the people. This power is in constant need for protections of equality in the nation.

Framer's of the United States

I feel the job of the High Court should apply The Constitution in light of the intent of the Framer's (strict construction) because The Constitution is one set of laws that every American citizen has to stand on. It is a set of laws that are consistent with a few additions, but over the nation's founding set of statues The Constitution should not be something that changes or is allowed to be changed in any dramatic way. The United States Constitution is the "rock" in which we all stand upon to protect us from the government whenever Justice should be followed. 

Chapter 12

Presidents and the Qualities of Greatness

Although there is no single set of qualifications or experiences that will guarantee success as President the following things are essential to being a great president. One must be trustworthy, accountable, responsive to needs, and implement the laws equally to all citizens. 

Two Great Presidents

Democrat Lyndon Johnson (1963-69) was very successful in passing his domestic policy agenda in large part due to his experience as a House Member, U.S. Senator, and Senate majority leader. His experience taught him crucial negotiating skills with members of Congress; he used his skills to the fullest extent. 

Democrat Barack Obama (2009-current) was the first African American to become President of The United States of America.

Three Things Learned

Democrat James Buchanan (1857-61) was only unmarried president, graduate of Dickinson College, was tall and stiffly formal. He was fairly effective as he was a gifted debater, elected five times to the House of Representatives. His service abroad helped to bring him the Democratic nomination in 1856. Buchanan reverted to policy of inactivity that continued until he left office. In March 1861, he retired to his Pennsylvania home where he died seven years later. 

Chapter 11

Senator's & Congressman

Each State has 2 Senator's, thus the Representatives for the State of Tennessee is Republican Lamar Alexander and Republican Bob Corker. Serving the State of Tennessee is Congressman, John J. Duncan Jr. as well as Diane Black, Steve Cohen, Phil Roe, Marsha Blackburn, Jim Cooper, Scott DesJarlais,  Stephen Fincher, and Chuck Fleischmann.

I have to agree with Tennessee Congressman Duncan on his argument about the "mind - boggling" amounts spent in the Iraq war was not Conservative of the Republicans in any way. 

I also have to agree with him we lost many soldiers and way too much money in the war. I agree with the statement he gave "the Constitution does not give us the authority to govern Iraq, yet that is exactly what we have been and are currently doing."

I do not usually agree with most Republicans however, upon researching this topic this is one I strongly agree on. I think the war in Iraq was a total waste of man power and National monies we did not need to wage war on Iraq, it was outrageous and idiotic.

Chapter 10

Bush v Gore 2000 Election

I think Gore was cheated out of the election of 2000, he won the popular vote with 50,999,897 votes whereas Bush only had 50,456,002 votes. No wonder people even though short - term lost hope in the election process, the election was a joke to the democracy our country is supposed to have! I felt Gore won as did the many Americans that voted for him. He was treated unfair and it was a direct violation of the Constitution, therefore, I do not agree the dissenting opinion. It was unfair and wrong because the majority of votes went to Gore and Bush won the election you cannot be any clearer than that!

Election Fundraising  

I think fundraising with a national deficit at an all time high is the craziest thing American's can stand by ans let happen. I think if we would spend more time in raising funds for American citizens maybe we could see the light at the end of the blacked out tunnel on the deficit. If you add all the monies the government has spent on elections and placed them in the national treasurer I honestly think we would not be up to our elbows in debit! Raise money for the starving children and homeless in our country! I honestly feel that Framer's would smirk at the cost of election these days however there are plenty of things they would smirk at in our society. I feel good candidates are prevented from running of course it does.

Voting 

There is only a few pinpointed reasons why there is apathy in the voting ways of Americans. There are several factors that determine the turnout of voters during elections. The economy I feel has a major part in this, people are looking for someone to make money and if they think voting someone in office will change this then they will get out and vote to support their beliefs. There is no way to really rectify the fluctuation being that it has been an ongoing occurrence since voting began in 1976.

  

Political Parties and Platforms

I mostly indentify with the Democratic Party because my family is for the most part Democrat’s. I do not disagree with the platforms because they’ve been in place for many decades and have been run smoothly. However, I do feel that some change is always good to some extent also I feel that too much change is bad for business.


Political Parties are main resources for elections without them it would be difficult to “keep track of” all the many streaming and networking of the current election process. I do not like the idea of the Electoral Vote holds more power than People’s Choice. That to me is not a Democracy it states that the government has rule over the people and not the other way around as it proclaims.

I tend to agree with the Antifederalists, I feel we do need less centralized government and more of what American’s want. I believe we have lost our voices in a lot of the political issues, we are made to do things a certain way and/or comply with certain rules that if we stand against some of them we are scalded for our beliefs. I don’t feel this happens in every aspect of government but do think it happens too much in the current processes. 

Chapter 7

"Mass Media"

First, does objectivity still exist in the media coverage of politics? I can only say of course it does most certainly it is there as much as the stations themselves do not support the opinions of expressed objectivity it is still  there through independent personal opinion.

Honestly, I do not watch the political stuff on television as I do not have the time to sit down and watch television because I work, go to school, and raise three teenagers alone. So, lol there is no time for watching television. 

Second, I have to say here to I just do no listen to political news of any kind. I know that sounds and may even be a little strange but I just do not have the want to, to hear what the media has to report and when I do listen to these things I think they are just stating their own opinions and they do not have an any effect on my way of thinking. 

Third, I guess that media objectively reporting has always been important to many in the past but I feel it is not going to be that important as times forwardly progress into the Internet media reporting. I feel the polls they do on the Internet media news referring to politics is going to become more and  more important because due to the high technology demands and the faster paced lifestyle. It's gonna be easier for the newer generation and they're gonna wanna look at the numbers compared to sitting through and entire speech or lecture or even debates. The faster the media is at reporting the new and hot topics and the easier it is to interpret and read by the viewers is what's gonna make it through the new generation on media reporting. 

Chapter 6

"Media Polling & Reporting"

News media polls are a great way to keep the people informed, but do they represent how the public really feel? I think the answer is, for the most part, Yes. I don't think they are too dependent because they do the polls and report the findings and in our democracy government I feel it is a great way to know what & how the people feel. Even though there is some polls are misleading for the most part most Americans know that polling is not 100% true on how every American feels. 

Of course it is appropriate for news agencies to create polls and report them - It is the public opinions they are seeking and reporting. We should be aware as well as the government how the public feel(s).It is very crucial to the way our democracy country is ran.

"Political Party Identification" 

Honestly, the "Importance" of political identification has lowered with me then with my parents and grandparents all Democratic political ideology. I have followed and do vote primarily in the same as they do but I feel if the person running for office has more experience and is better qualified for the office they are running for, then they should get the job. It shouldn't really matter what "party" they are in but I also understand that the party they are influenced by will have alot to do with the way they run the office and will act in the ways the political party believes. 

Sadly, most of my friends do not have many political views and I rarely get caught up in political talks with them I think it is because I am very liberal in my beliefs, I think if someone believes a way I shouldn't interfere with their belief's, sort of an idea of "to each their own". 

"Influences"

Certainly, both economic and social issues have an influence on my opinion in politics - These have ways of touching and dealing with every aspect of American life, as long as they are informed correctly. To me I would tend to know more on both of these influences then say, someone my age whom has not attended college and only works 40+ hours a week on a job. I tend to think economics would be more important to them but I guess it just depends on what their self - interest is. They could be a hunter and then gun control ( a social issue) would be more important to them. It all has to do with lifestyles of Americans but primary I feel both aspects has to touch every life in some sort of way. 

Chapter 5

The issue of race:

I do feel the government does and has done great things as far as the way they handle racial issues. I feel the government is not closed minded to these issues and has evolved with massive changes in a very short while.

The issue of gender:

I believe the government could do more concerning this issue simply because of the slow paced movement with the salaries of working men and women. Having been an employee on several construction jobs I have seen first hand the way the show is run by many separation issues concerning male/female orientation. I have heard men say "because woman make the same wages they should be required to do everything the man is capable of doing". However when something needs to be swept or cleaned the female(s) are largely the ones who are required to do the "household duties".  A great amount of males will plainly say "sweeping or mopping, well that's a woman's job" even though they are both required to do the same job(s) males, generally get tougher jobs as female(s) the easier, light weight jobs. With the gender issues, I feel the government could do more to create an equal environment because both genders are capable of sweeping and mopping, thus people that have certain training for a job should be allowed to carry out those they are trained to do. Just as women are just as capable of being block layers, roofers, heavy machine operators if the training is there then the pay should be equal and the jobs should be open to whomever. These types of gender issues are so common that no one really stops to think how wrong they are. They are mostly passed off as "jokes" and are never really discussed on serious levels. I suppose the laws between the two are mostly equal as far as age limits and such but the equality laws decrease when you talk about equal wages.

The issue of Sexual Orientation:

I think the Constitution has many provisions that were written for every American as far as Privacy and Freedoms..... of Religion, of Speech and such as Sexual Orientation. I feel in America we have many freedom rights, the right to specific relations should be based on the individuals beliefs. Even though it is more common now than say twenty years ago, the laws that allow same sex marriages and civil unions all has to do with people speaking out on their beliefs. This day in time, I feel the laws concerning these issues have upgraded relatively faster than most other issues the government is faced with on equality.

Chapter 4

Freedom of Speech
Considering that this civil liberty has held it's importance through time of trials and tribulations I consider it to be important. It is a liberty that cannot be taken away and can be stood upon by any American in the United States. The freedom can be taken too far, yes. I think some people push this liberty to its limits because its such a well known Constitutional right. Most think it means the right to say anything no matter what and under any circumstances.
I think all Speech should be protected because everyone should be allowed to say whatever they want and state their opinion however there also should be restrictions on them in certain places.

Freedom of Religion
I'm not so sure if there is a separation of the church and state. To me they are almost the same things with different relations of course because a person's belief makes a church. Wasn't the Constitution and the adopted rights after that about people's belief's as well? It seems the only separation there is between the two is that the church doesn't have the power to "make people abide by the rules".

Criminal Procedure
A defendant's rights are all one has against being treated wrongfully or unfair. Sometimes just being a defendant doesn't mean a state of being guilty. So one's rights are they have to stand on pending they need them, and if they are then the right's will also punish them. There is a good in bad in systems and the ability to decide what is good and bad should be relied on by the right's of every defendant. 

Chapter 3

The powers should be shared to keep the balance leveled because the two governments have different responsibilities that cover different layers of authority and while keeping them separate make them very much in need of the the other. Thus, one keeps the other from overpowering the other and maintaining and equal balance.

National power increased during the Great Depression because the stock market crashed in 1929 and the people wanted national action to help aid the economy thus when the market began to pick up and grow around the time of Nixon's administration a few things took place and changed the way the money was handled and/or distributed. Such things as New Federalism shifting powers back to the states then when Reagan took office in 1981 he sought to reduce the power of government because he was a strong supporter of New Federalism. He cut grants replacing them with flexible block grants that set fewer restrictions on how the money could be spent. He also implemented general revenue sharing which gave monies to the states and could be spent however the states decided to spend it. Reagan's Chief Justice, William Rehnquist also put together pro-state majorities in two series of decisions interstate commerce and sovereign immunity. The commerce clause basically enforced the equal protection of the laws under the 14th Amendment, while the sovereign immunities basically limited national authority over the states to keep states from suing a different state in federal court. Also implementing several different federal labor laws to balanced what was know known as the New Deal.

The regulation of Education should be left just the way it is now, because as the passage from the text Gateways to Democracy, states "Federal Aid to the states is influenced by a large number of factors, including equal representation in the Senate." Basically this means the national government would balance out the disproportionate amount of aid between small and large states. So this to me a very fair way to regulate education.

Chapter 2

The Articles of Confederation was the very first set of laws the people had from 1781 - 1788. They weren't really laws but more like "powers" granted and extremely limited. These set of powers also made governing difficult and lacked any taxing authority. These Articles had many deficiencies that led to predictable problems.
In 1787 The Constitutional Convention met to revise The Articles and ended up proposing an entirely new constitution all together. The Constitution would take among the states that approved it when ratified by nine of the thirteen states. The Articles had required unanimity of state delegations for amendment, but the Constitutional Convention sought out approval from a higher authority, the people of The United States. Thus, the Constitution gave rights to the people to institute new government in the name of "We the People of The United States."

The Bill of Rights are the first ten Amendments of The Constitution and the provide basic political rights to every person in The United States of America. The Rights gave the people rights that Congress could not take away, such as freedom of speech or religion.

My response to the reading in Gateways to Democracy is simply this, there must of been some sort of conflicting thoughts in Congress towards Capital Punishment otherwise they would have never put a halt on it for review. I personally feel that Capital Punishment is a violation to The Constitution and should not be allowed. Being from a Christian background myself, I believe in forgiveness and that Jesus says to forgive those who do wrong to you and/or others. I do not feel that people who commit serious crimes such as rape, murder and child pornography should be let free to re-commit they should serve the rest of their life in prison and made think about the crime they committed.
The thing about Capital Punishment is that not everyone has the same set of rules, at least that is the way it appears to me, because they're people who have been executed under the Capital Punishment law(s) and they're people that still remain in prison for committing the same identical crime. Thus, to me Capital Punishment is cruel and unfair punishment simply stating this: To put one to death for a crime is inhuman no matter how that person has reacted and then letting another person who has been convicted of the same sort of crime remain locked away in prison for life is just unfair and a violation of Human Rights, period.


 

American Government Blog 1 Assignment

I feel most Americans do take Democracy for granted, because they do not participate in the voting. To be a "pure" democratic country all people most take part in the elections and have a voice. However, most Americans do not vote they sit on their couches and complain about how the country is being run but still yet they will not register to vote, go to the polls, or cast their vote. They sit around moaning and complaining and want everything done for them that is the way of us Americans, we are so spoiled we expect everything to be done with little or no help from our self, and things to be done right. When things do not go the way we expect them to, we cry about it and blame everyone we can and find every reason wrong for why it didn't go right.

Separation of Power is very important thus to keep the laws organized and controlled also it adds structure to the responsibility to each branch of government so that one does not over run the other.

I will have to say I am mostly populists because if more people would adhere to traditional moral values, well isn't that what America was founded on to begin with? 

:)