Obviously one of the largest concerns in politics today is the economy. The economy is very important, and not just here in The United States but also around the world as uncertainty mounts. With so much instability in the world it is essential that here in American we gain our footing today as well as for the future. Some of the past legislation being passed by Congress and then President Obama has put the country in a difficult and binding situation for years to come. A giant hole has been dug and has left us as college students, and someday our kids to dig us out of this seemingly ever deepening hole. The President has his own agenda in how to pull us out of this mess that is our economy and to that most democrats have agreed with his solution. On the other side their are the republicans who have been against his policy on the economy since day 1, but have not been able to shoot it down because of lack of numbers. So because of this some things have been passed which will place me and my children in some crazy amount of debt that will leave the nation unstable. In order to solve this their must be some bi-partisanship action in order to keep the spending in check.
Finally that bi-partisan action is taking place and the spending might finally come to halt. Democrats have now voiced their opinion, and have left the agenda of their party behind to stop another possible spending bill. They have looked at what would be the best thing for the nation and changed their way of thinking in order to reduce the amount of debt that has already been placed upon our shoulders. Moderate Democrats are realizing the best thing is to place the agenda aside and do what is right for the American people.
If they are finally taking a serious look at defeating some legislation that will make us dig deeper into the pit of debt we are in maybe it is also time to take a look at the Republican spending proposition that may benefit the country. The difference is that the legislation they wish to pass would never be passed, simply because they lack majority, as well as a president who would not think of passing it. Which I really cannot understand because it would cut taxes, and who could possibly complain about that. Maybe for President Obama it is time to take a harder look at what the American people feel is best for the country, after all they are the ones that voted him in. Also it is time to think like he did when proposing bi-partisan politics, and look at both parties for advice on governing this country.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Electoral Mandate & President Obama
Barack Obama did win the election last November and with that came many honors, and the privilege of running the country according to an agenda that he and his party agree upon. With the Democrats holding congress the legislation they wish to pass will be much easier with a Democratic president in office. With that the Democrats do hope that they have the backing of the American people who voted Obama into office as the try and pass the legislation. Hopes were high when President Obama took office that he would have the mandate to push ahead the agenda he feels is right for America.
The question does still reamain whether or not president President Obama has elecotral mandate? Yes he was voted into office by a fairly large majority of the citizens of the American people. This alone gives him some mandate simply because he was choosen by the people of America to be their leader. With this comes the responsibility of caring for the country, and along with that passing legislation that he believes will help the citizens of America. By being elected into office the American people have placed him as their figurehead, and have shown their support for them as their leader. Because the vote him as their leader they also in a sense vote for the policy he feels is best, which gives him that mandate.
Currently Barack Obama does still have mandate in the country because he is our elected leader. At the same time he does not hold all the power, and when the people stop backing him that mandate is no longer viable. He does not have the full support from the people and without that his power is limited. He loses that mandate. On the same token the amount of people who vote also has to be taken into consideration when thinking about what power the president actually has. Taking into consideration the lack of numbers when voting all people are not actually giving their backing to the elected official. In that sense the President does not hold a electoral mandate because he does not have the support of all people.
The question does still reamain whether or not president President Obama has elecotral mandate? Yes he was voted into office by a fairly large majority of the citizens of the American people. This alone gives him some mandate simply because he was choosen by the people of America to be their leader. With this comes the responsibility of caring for the country, and along with that passing legislation that he believes will help the citizens of America. By being elected into office the American people have placed him as their figurehead, and have shown their support for them as their leader. Because the vote him as their leader they also in a sense vote for the policy he feels is best, which gives him that mandate.
Currently Barack Obama does still have mandate in the country because he is our elected leader. At the same time he does not hold all the power, and when the people stop backing him that mandate is no longer viable. He does not have the full support from the people and without that his power is limited. He loses that mandate. On the same token the amount of people who vote also has to be taken into consideration when thinking about what power the president actually has. Taking into consideration the lack of numbers when voting all people are not actually giving their backing to the elected official. In that sense the President does not hold a electoral mandate because he does not have the support of all people.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Exit Polls and Politics
What I feel exit polls do is they show how the American people felt about the former president and the party that he was affiliated with. It shows a lot of the time also how that president was perceived and what kind of job the American public thought of him. It also shows how the people look at the new president and the party that is exiting the White House along with the new one coming in.
While looking through the exit polls from the New York Times a couple of the questions along with their answers really caught my eye, although I felt as if all of the questions were relevant, and showed accurate thoughts of the American political system. The questions that caught my eye as listed in the link are questions 6, 7, and 8, but question 6 is one that really stood out to me. The people are asked in that question whether or not they think that President Obama is working with republicans well. And the overwhelming majority of the people have stated that they did feel as if the President was working very well with the Republicans in trying to include them in things. We see now that is the furthest from the truth because legislation has been passed with nearly none of the votes coming from the Republican party. I do not know how people can say that President Obama has worked well with Republicans when that is not the case at all. I think a lot of this still also stems from the fact that the Bush Adminstration had left the country in bad shape, and their is still resentment from people, which blinds them from the truth.
In questions 7 and 8 I feel that the party of the Bush Administration that being the Republican party is being looked down upon. The people feel as if the Republicans are doing nothing to work with the Democrats. This again I feel comes from the low approval rating which is still carrying over into todays policy and viewing on politics in American. Because on the other end of that people see the Democrats as working fairly well with the Repulicans. But that as well is not true, I do not understand how shutting out Republicans from a meeting on a billions of dollars stimulus bill is working well with the opposite party.
People need to stop being blinded by the celebrity that is the Democrat party, which is probably celebrity because so many pop-culture stars support it. It is time to see the facts and look pass the star power.
While looking through the exit polls from the New York Times a couple of the questions along with their answers really caught my eye, although I felt as if all of the questions were relevant, and showed accurate thoughts of the American political system. The questions that caught my eye as listed in the link are questions 6, 7, and 8, but question 6 is one that really stood out to me. The people are asked in that question whether or not they think that President Obama is working with republicans well. And the overwhelming majority of the people have stated that they did feel as if the President was working very well with the Republicans in trying to include them in things. We see now that is the furthest from the truth because legislation has been passed with nearly none of the votes coming from the Republican party. I do not know how people can say that President Obama has worked well with Republicans when that is not the case at all. I think a lot of this still also stems from the fact that the Bush Adminstration had left the country in bad shape, and their is still resentment from people, which blinds them from the truth.
In questions 7 and 8 I feel that the party of the Bush Administration that being the Republican party is being looked down upon. The people feel as if the Republicans are doing nothing to work with the Democrats. This again I feel comes from the low approval rating which is still carrying over into todays policy and viewing on politics in American. Because on the other end of that people see the Democrats as working fairly well with the Repulicans. But that as well is not true, I do not understand how shutting out Republicans from a meeting on a billions of dollars stimulus bill is working well with the opposite party.
People need to stop being blinded by the celebrity that is the Democrat party, which is probably celebrity because so many pop-culture stars support it. It is time to see the facts and look pass the star power.
Less Troops not Cause of Attack
I really like how the White House has "dismissed suggestions that two recent bloody attacks in Iraq were a reaction to President Barack Obama's decision to pull out most combat troops by August next year."
Of course the President is going to come out and say that it is not because of the decision he has made that the people of Iraq are in more danger not to mention the troops that are still there. Now there is not really evidence saying that these attacks are directly correlated with the statement that troops will be pulling out of Iraq, but I sure do hope this is a wake up call. I hope it shows the people what they are actually facing with a pull out of troops from Iraq.
Not to mention there has been an increased level of violence in Afghanistan, showing that these countries are not stable for a even a change of command, let alone allowing a large number of troops to leave the area. The two countries are not in a stable condition, and giving up on them now would be disastrous.
The country is now in need for some bi-partisan legislation. The parties need to realize that the best thing for the country is to keep the world safe and in doing that keeping the country safe. In what seems to be a more an increasingly more violent world it is time for the parties to bond together and think in terms of the safety of the people they represent. With North Korea preparing to launch what could be a test missile, and at the same time threatening war to whoever threatens it, the world is getting more unsafe. With that we have a very new President who does not have much experience and is leading the country into some very uncertain times. We as a people need our elected officials to unite as one and help to protect this country rather than divide it down the middle over politics less important than our lives.
Of course the President is going to come out and say that it is not because of the decision he has made that the people of Iraq are in more danger not to mention the troops that are still there. Now there is not really evidence saying that these attacks are directly correlated with the statement that troops will be pulling out of Iraq, but I sure do hope this is a wake up call. I hope it shows the people what they are actually facing with a pull out of troops from Iraq.
Not to mention there has been an increased level of violence in Afghanistan, showing that these countries are not stable for a even a change of command, let alone allowing a large number of troops to leave the area. The two countries are not in a stable condition, and giving up on them now would be disastrous.
The country is now in need for some bi-partisan legislation. The parties need to realize that the best thing for the country is to keep the world safe and in doing that keeping the country safe. In what seems to be a more an increasingly more violent world it is time for the parties to bond together and think in terms of the safety of the people they represent. With North Korea preparing to launch what could be a test missile, and at the same time threatening war to whoever threatens it, the world is getting more unsafe. With that we have a very new President who does not have much experience and is leading the country into some very uncertain times. We as a people need our elected officials to unite as one and help to protect this country rather than divide it down the middle over politics less important than our lives.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Link Post: War on Terror Bad Decisions
The more decisions President Obama makes the less confidence I have in him, it seems like every day he comes up with a new way to weaken the country. With all of the economic problems that are facing the country he continues to make bad choices, and is setting us up for even greater economic problems in the future. I just want to know when the star power of this man will fade away and people will start to realize he is inexperienced and is not making the changes that are for the better which he promised. The Bush administration would have been torn apart for saying some of the things Obama does and making those same decisions. Its time to take the halo off of President Obama and criticize him when necessary and stop praising him for his decisions.
Something that has been talked more recently is his policy towards "The War on Terror" which is a term he has clearly avoided. But now he is looking at pulling troops out of Iraq, but still leaving 50,000 of them there. What does that accomplish? It leaves those that are there less protected, but for some reason it pleases the people calling out for the war to end. He also talks about releasing the terrorists, which then what was the point of what the troops have previously accomplished. How can we let the protection of America lay by the side just to end the war, not to mention the safety of those troops fighting and erasing the accomplishments of those who have already died defending us.
The Republican party has to fight for those rights of the American people to be protected, to defend against another September 11th. At the same time they need to convince Democrats that they need to follow in the best interest of those that voted for them, question whether or not they truly would feel safe with terrorist released and the war stopped. They need to be convinced that defending this country is of the utmost importance so they can influence President Obama to reconsider what he has previously set as a timetable for removal. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTMyNTY5YTk1ZDJhOGY2MWI0NGE1ZmU3ZTgwYWZkODE=Tuesday, March 3, 2009
United States Congress and The Minority Party
In congress their will be a party that becomes the minority, which makes it increasingly more difficult for that party to pass laws, and prevent the other party from acting upon their agenda. In our congress now as stated in the lecture notes the republican party is currently the minority, with the democrats then taking the majority. This majority from the democrats has helped President Obama immensely in passing his policy, including some major government stimulus package, which had little to no backing from the republican party. So then as the notes from class ask us what then really does the minority party do when it comes actually doing work.
I look at it like the minority party is there basically just to show their opposition, and give their reasons why. The minority party I think helps to inform the American people of what current policy or bill up for vote really contains, and usually points out the suspect portions of that bill which people may not support. What this then does is allow for the the people to openly voice their opinion, which could then result in more support against the bill than for it. From this activity against the bill the majority power could start to lose some of the members that are on the fence on an issue, and make them vote on the other side against their party. Also I feel the minority party is their because that is their job, they were voted into office many times because of what they stand for, now they have to stick to those morals that established and stand by the people who voted for them.
Where does this leave people then who are calling for bipartisanship? Well I feel they need to realize that bipartisanship really is not the best thing for the government. If everyone agrees on an issue I still feel you leave out some viewpoints of the American people. I also feel the country does not get fully informed of the true goings on in the government because they will on not take the time to be educated on the policy being discussed, but with an active group against what is being done they get informed of some of the negatives of the policy, which allows them to form an opinion.
We have seen much of this being done in the last months with Obama taking office and the majority of Congress being Democrats it is a great time for their policy to be passed, and it has happened quickly. At the same time the Republican minority in Congress have done a wonderful job of stating their opposition to the policy while also making sure to point out their reasons why. And now with more spending bills coming up their will be more promotion of it from the Democrats while the Republicans oppose.
I look at it like the minority party is there basically just to show their opposition, and give their reasons why. The minority party I think helps to inform the American people of what current policy or bill up for vote really contains, and usually points out the suspect portions of that bill which people may not support. What this then does is allow for the the people to openly voice their opinion, which could then result in more support against the bill than for it. From this activity against the bill the majority power could start to lose some of the members that are on the fence on an issue, and make them vote on the other side against their party. Also I feel the minority party is their because that is their job, they were voted into office many times because of what they stand for, now they have to stick to those morals that established and stand by the people who voted for them.
Where does this leave people then who are calling for bipartisanship? Well I feel they need to realize that bipartisanship really is not the best thing for the government. If everyone agrees on an issue I still feel you leave out some viewpoints of the American people. I also feel the country does not get fully informed of the true goings on in the government because they will on not take the time to be educated on the policy being discussed, but with an active group against what is being done they get informed of some of the negatives of the policy, which allows them to form an opinion.
We have seen much of this being done in the last months with Obama taking office and the majority of Congress being Democrats it is a great time for their policy to be passed, and it has happened quickly. At the same time the Republican minority in Congress have done a wonderful job of stating their opposition to the policy while also making sure to point out their reasons why. And now with more spending bills coming up their will be more promotion of it from the Democrats while the Republicans oppose.
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