Now it's time to say goodbye!

Well, I hope that you have gotten something useful out of this blog!  I had fun writing about my interpretations of the American governement and learned a lot through this class.  My eyes have been opened to differnet ways of thinking and have been able to explore the inter-workings of politics.  I set out with the goal of trying to hold an intelligent conversation with friends about what is going on with our governement without overstepping boundries that are so personal to many.  I feel as if I accomplished my personal goal and feel confident in the discussions that I have.  My classmates have been amazing in their support of my beliefs and pushing my beliefs to make me more open and understanding to other views, so thanks guys!  So, I hope that everyone starts to participate a little bit more in their involvement with our governement that is designed to reflect the views of all of its citizens.  Cheers, to the end of the semester, and good luck to all!

"Be curteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence."
George Washington~1st President (1789-1799)

Thanks Vetrans!

Our military gives us our daily freedom.  We often take these freedoms for granted.  We go about our daily lives not even thinking about how much others are thinking about our freedom.  How much others devote their lives to protecting ours.  Our military defends the foreign policies that our government puts in place to defend our nation and help make prosperious relationships with other countries.

Thank you to the men and women who risk their lives and sacrifice their time so we can live our lives with peace of mind.  Thank you to their families who love them and support them and sacrifice their time and memories so selflessly.  I find it amazing that others care so much about my feedom that they fight to defend it.

November 11th is Vetrans Day.  Make sure that you thank our military service men and women for their sacrifices and the work that they do.

"America is not anything if it consists of each of us.  It is something only if it consists of all of us."
     Woodrow Wilson~28Th  President (1913-1921)

"One for all and all for one!"

Our country has a need to take care of its people.  We as a nation strive to do well.  To do well as a nation, there must be policies in place to help those who need it.  There are many programs available to people who need it.  Many of these programs are paid for by our taxes and through social security (we are paying it forward so to say).  There are many poisitives to the different social programs available.  There are a lot of regulations to quilify for these programs to ensure that people who need them get them and that they are not up for grabs by anyone.  As with everythin there are loopholes and some programs leave room for improvment.  I feel that there are many people right on the cusp that could really benefit for government assistance to get them one step closer to not living paycheck to paycheck, but because of the strict qualifications, they are left with no assistance and to fend for themselves.  Yet there are people who are very comfortable living on government programs and have found ways to make it a lifestyle.  With every thing in life there are people who try to do better and use what is available as a stepping stone and those who are more than ok to do nothing about their situation and have everyone else take care of them.  We as a nation look to help everyone and especially those who want it.  I dont know about you, but I can't turn my back on someone needing help especially if it is because they need it to better themselves.  We all need a little help sometime!

"I am concerned about the whole man.  I am converned about what the people using their government as as instrument and a tool, can do toward building the whole man, which will mean a better sociaty and a better world."
     Lyndon B. Johnson~36th President (1963-1969)

Digging Deep in Economic Policy

Making an economic policy that provides service and is sustainable is a complicated process.  Economic Policy is comprised of two "teams".  The first "team" is fiscal policy and is headed up by Congress and the President and the second "team" is monetary policy that is controled by the Federal Reserve Board, the Fed.  I am going to try to break it down some to make economic policy a little less complicated.

Fiscal Policy stimulates the economy by running a budget deficit and takes money out by budget surplus, which discourages investments and consumption.  Governments "income" comes from taxes.  Government spending, is the government spending our taxes, providing police, Social Security, and State Welfare.  Taxes are confusing and often seen as unfair.  Everyone seems to have their own opinion on what would be the best way to tax.  Fiscal policy is decided by Congress and the President in efforts to try to stabilize the economy and help it grow.  Fiscal policy is how government decides it is going to spend our taxes to have the most effective influence on our  economy.

Monetary policy influences the economy by adjusting interest rates.  By the Fed setting the interest rates higher, it tends to slow down spending because everything is now more expensive.  When interest rates are low, spending increases, it is easier and more affordable to invest and to borrow money from banks.  The ability to influence interest rates helps the government react to inflation and recessions and impliment actions to correct the economy.  Monetary policy also controls the amount of money in circulation.  Bonds can be bought and sold to increase or decrease the money supply as well as printing more money. 

"Policymakers use fiscal and monetary policies to create a predictable environment of stable prices and high employment levels, so that economic actors can plan with some certainty about the future" (p. 309).  As with everything in government, economic policy is complicated and complex.  It is never perfect, but it has been built with room to change when changes are needed.  It has to be pretty intimidating to be in charge of a whole countries economy.  Not sure that I would want to do that job!  Would you?  Because economic policy is complicated and complex, it is the backbone to keeping our economy stable and providing service to the nation.  Do you believe that the economic process that our counrty uses works?  Do you have ideas that would make it better or smoother?  Do you know of another countries economic process that works better?  Would love some feed back on this one, I really would enjoy knowing more about this topic!

"Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets."
     Ronald Reagan~40th President (1981-1989)

This isn't your typically Judge Judy!

WOW!  There is a lot more to the judicial system than I thought!  I know that I am not going to be able to cover it all, but I will hopefully be able to give you the basics.  The judicial system has a dual court system which is divided into state and federal systems of justice.  First we will talk about the State Courts.  This is what most of us are fimiliar with.  The State Courts are the working horse of the American judicial system.  This is where traffic violations, small claims, custody, divorce and so on are heard.  State courts hear about 98% of all cases in the American judicial system.  That is over 103 million cases for the 15,500 state and local courts to hear each year.  So next time you get a traffic ticket, be on time, they're busy!!

Next we are going to talk about the Federal Courts.  Here the courts are broken down into 3 tiers.  First, District Courts.  There are 94 district courts.  Full trials happen here with witnesses, jury, and evidence that is not called exhibits is entered into record.  District Courts are the base of the Federal Court System.  They hear about 370,000 cases a year.

Next, we have our Courts of Appeal.  These guys are busy.  The Courts of Appeals is broken up into 10 circuits.  Cicruits are like judicial districts, each circuit includes a couple of states and their ruling affect only those states within their circuit.  Thr Courts of Appeals hear about 28,000 cases a year.  The Appeals courts usually has the final say because so few cases are actually taken to the next level which is Supreme Court.

Lastly, we have the Supreme Court.  This is the highest level of our judicial system.  The Supreme Court only hears about 100 cases a year.  The cases that are presented to the Supreme Court are reviewed by what is called the rule of four.  The rule of four means that at least 4 of the justices must want to hear the case.  Chief Justice William Howard Taft, in reference on how cases were chosen was quoted saying "That involve principles, the application of which are of wide public inportance or governmental interest, and which should be authoritatively declared by the Court" (p. 259).  When the Supreme Court makes a ruling, it does not just affect the individual, or the circuit or the state, it is now federal and affects the whole country. 

I am unable to cover everything about the judicial system but hopefully you get a better idea of how it is broken down and how it operates.  "Judges are like umpires.  Umpires don't make the rules, they apply them" (p. 249)  I think that our judges and our judicial system play the most important role in American freedom.  They interprut the laws and rule on judgements that affect all of us.  But I also think that the citizens play  a pretty big role too, know the rules and laws and follow them.  Hopefully you won't have to consider being late to court!

"Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity."
     Herbert Hoover~31st President (1929-1933) 

Hello, Congress, let me in!!!

Our question this week was  how does the U.S. Congress, as it exists in its current structure, support and/or limit authentic representation? Ahhh.  I don't think that Congress authentically represents in its current structure.  There is no way it could.  Congress is supposed to be the most accessible branch of the federal government, yet it is often the least trusted by the people.  There are two branches of Congress; The House of Representatives which is elected by popular vote and the Senate which is made up of 2 members representing each state and are elected by various state legislatures.  Congress is supposed to represent the people and is critisezed for not doing so.  I am not sure that I want the average American making decisions that they know as much about what is going on in the world as I do.  I would rather have someone that went to a top school and devotes their time to learning about the history of our country, the issues going on in the world, and has experience in Washington.  I think that Congress should be filled with experts that listen closely to the American public to properly represent them, and I don't believe that is the case.  Once again, it comes down to the dollar.  Congressman are representing the wealthy, lobbyists, and special interest groups.  Afterall, these are the people that keep them in office and living a very comfortable life where they don't even have to pay for their gas, our tax dollars do.  By the way, they make a lot more than I do, but I pay for my own gas!  Another way that Congress limits its representation, is by its turnover.  Congress was designed for quick turnover, but because of all the extra benefits in addition to the great pay, many are making Congress their career.  With little turnover, it is very hard for new ideas to be heard and changes to be made.  It seems like the more that I learn about government, the more it is proving to be corrupt and just ideal, not attainable.  Am I wrong here?  Am I missing the part that Americas government really does work the way it was set out to?

"A government is for the benefit of all the people."
     William Howard Taft~27th President (1909-1913)

Lets All Get Along

How is it that the seat of our President can be so contradictory?  The President is able to both support and limit the formation of an ideal democracy?  The President is elected by an Electoral College and not by popular vote, which does not support an ideal democracy.  In 2000, "Al Gore received 550,000 more popular votes than George W. Bush but lost 271-267 in the Electoral College" (p. 177).  On the other hand the collabration between the three branches of government, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, through Checks and Balances.  Checks and Balances support the ideal of democracy because they help ensure that one branch does have complete control over all of governement and makes all of the branches work together to serve the citizens of the United States of America.

The relationship between the President and Congress can shape the democratic process in a few ways.  Congress is responsible for writing the bills and the President then either passes or vetos the bills according to his beliefs and those of the citizens.  Also, when one party (Democratic or Republican) rules the majority of Congress and the Presidency they can work together to accomplish more as opposed to wasting time fighting against each other.  When the two branches are able to work together they are more likely able to better represent the people

"One man with courage makes a majority."
     Andrew Jackson~7th President (1829-1937)

How are you going to make a change?

In our chapter this week we discussed Interest Groups, "organizations that citizens form to influence policymakers" (p.137), and Social Movements,"a group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals" (p. 137).  I feel like this chapter made me have an ah-ha moment.  I started to understand what Lobbyists do and who they are supporting.  I started to see historical events from their roots of social movements and be able to put together the final results.  Were the original founders of our country involved in a social movement?  I had always thought that social movements were radical protests and unruley and people getting pepper srayed and taken to jail.  In my head it seemed like they were not very effective.  It always seemed like the way to go about getting results was Interest Groups, but I didn't know all that goes into the special interest groups.  Like everything else that we have seen with politics, businesses make up the largest interest groups and the largest number of groups.  They spend billions of dollars of year on hiring experts to influence policymakers.  While Interest Groups tend to be more organized than Social Movements, they both want basically the same thing, to influence policymakers and to motivate other voters to vote on their behalf-to be heard!  I guess I never thought of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks to be social movements because of the massive effect they had.  It is amazing how much work one person can do when backed by many!  The grouping of people bound with a similar belief can be like a pebble in the ocean creating waves. 

"Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in which they exist."
      Richard M. Nixon~37th President (1969-1974)

Oh, Government and the Public

Public opinion influences the structure of government in many ways.  When white southerners that had been previously Democratic switched to supporting the Republic party, it was due to the support the Democratic party was giving to the black southerns.  The white southerners did not support civil rights legislation and liveral social programs.  While these movement drove white southerners away, black southereners have dominantly voted Democratic. The swing at the time gave the Republican party the majority for the first time in the 20th century.  So, the opinion of the public can sway the direction the government goes. It is not just opinion of the everyday citizens that affect government. When a candidate is voted into office, they often feel obligated to support the views of their affluent financial supports and their party activists. Mark Hanna was qouted as saying " There are two things that are important in politics.  The first is money, and I can't remember the second."  I think that statement is something that all Americans think of when they think of politics. 
Technology plays a huge part in politics and the informaiton that gets out to the public and how the public interacts with the government.  Technology has been named the primary reason Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential elections.  Obama took to blogging, twitter, and personally emailing potential voters.  Radio, television and the internet help get the candidates word out to the people.  I believe that candidates start out with the best intention and want to help out the people the want to represent, but campaigns are corrupt.  It is solely about winning and they do it best by bashing the other candidates.  They stop telling the voters what they can do, but what bad things the other candidates have done.  The voter ends up not knowing what they are voting for, but more likely voting for agianst what they don't want.  This part of the government is where I start to get confused and frustrated.  I get lost in the information that it provided through the media and don't always take the time to do my own research on the issues and candidates.  How many more voters would vote if we all took the time to do our own research and learn the real truth?  Would government then represent the desires of the public?

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.  We are the ones we've been waiting for.  We are the change we seek."
      Barack Obama~44th President (2008-Present)

Shaping America

Are we able to pinpoint historic events that shaped the country into what it is today?  I think so.  I think that there are many events that impacted our country, the one I want to focus on is the Great Depression.  Weak banking, overproduction, and a bursting credit bubble can all be blamed for the Great Depression.  When Franklin D. Roosevelt became President in March of 1933, the country was in desperate need for change.  Franklin D. Roosevelt promised the American people "A New Deal".  Roosevelt and his advisors studied the works of John Maynard Keynes a British economist.  Keynes believed that the way to fix the economy is to increase spending.  By increasing spending, it creates demand, demand creates a need for more production, which creates a need for more workers to produce the demanded products, creating money for the people for them to spend and improving the economy.  Roosevelt increased government spending, created outlines for welfare to help people in need, Social Security was created, child labor laws were put into place, minimum wage was established and labor unions grew.  These policies he implemented changed America forever.  President Obama has tried to implement the same theory by increasing government spending to increase consumption.  The idea of you have to spend money to make money.  It worked back then and the country was incredibly prosperous for 25 years. Why would we not try a formula that had such great results again?!  I know that there is so much more that accounted for the recovery of our country during those incredibly rough years, but I feel like it was President Roosevelts brave actions and determination to rebuild our country that was crutial in turning the economy around and shaping the United States into what it is today!

"I do not look upon these United States as a finished product.  We are still in the making."
     Franklin D. Roosevelt~32nd President (1933-1945)

Opportunities and Challenges

     Happy Labor Day weekend all!  This week I am diving into the opportunities and challenges of democracy and the opportunities and challenges of capitalism in democracy.
     The opportunities of democracy starts with the involvement of the citizens in decisions.  The power to vote.  Democracy also provides protecion of the rights of the citizens.  There are checks and balances in place to make sure that one person cannot make all of the decisions.  Making government agencies work together.  A challenge is that there is not 100% particiation of the citizens.  When everyone des not participate, everyone is not represented.  Democracy is also plagued by inequalities.  The wealthy have more pull and seem to be more protected by the government while the poor participate less and laws seem to fail that are set out to procect them.
     With all of the opportunities that Democracy has, it provides a perfect platform for capitalism to flourish.  Capitalism promotes competition in the economy.  Prices are set by the price the producers are willing to sell for and the consumer is willing to purchase.  If prices are too high, consumers won't buy the product, and if another producer is selling the same product for less, the consumer is going to buy the less expensive product.  This promotes competition in cost and quality.  Because government regulation is limited it allows capitalism to grow.  Growth in the economy is the best way to measure the well being of a society.  Capitalism needs regulation to survive.  To keep one company from having a monopoly, rules are in place to keep an open market.  To make sure the foods are safe for consumers to consume, rules are in place.  A challenge that capitalism in democracy faces is that the American people hold the government accountable for a poor economy and high unemployment,  but retaliate when government gets too involved in business.  Another big challenge is that corporations spend a lot of money in donations to campaigns and through lobbying influencing the government to act with their best interests in mind and not always the interest of the general population.  So a balancing act is created to find the right amount of government involvment to keep the capital model true and for the well being of the society.

I am not sure if my views are right, but that is the greatest thing about this country, I have the opportunity to voice my opinion and learn more through the opinions of others!!

"I like the noise of democracy."
     James Buchanan~15th President (1857-1861)
    
    

So...this is me!

     Hi! I'm Heather.  I am a wife, a mother of 4, work part-time and am a full time student.  I am currently enrolled in an American Government course, it is a required class and it is a 1000 level course.  With that being said, this is the class that scares me the most!  I have veryh strong opinions about everything but usually keep my mouth closed when it comes to politics.  For a couple of reasons; I feel like there are people that are incredibly passionate about their views and are unwilling ot listen to another point of view, so why bother speaking?; there are people that know SO MUCH about politics that my two cents sounds ignorant; and the people that know just as much about it as I do se we just share a smile and find something else to talk about!
     So while this class scares the living daylight out of me, I am also really excited at the possiblity to learn enough about the American government to be able to understand it and confidently hold my own in a conversation!
     Please pardon my "simple" talk in these first few posts, hopefully I will soon be a lot more intersting, informational and you might just get a laugh here and there!
                
                                Heatherb

"Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."
                                                                                     John F. Kennedy