Terry Gross Interview - Interpreting The Constitution In The Digital Era

Facts:
1. Jeffery Rosen is the co-editor of the new book Constitution 3.0: Freedom and Technological Change.
2. The Constitution cannot regulate social media.
3. None of the existing amendments give clear answers to the most basic questions were having today.
4. Rosen is a law professor at George Washington University.
5. We have to assume that we are being monitored 24/7.
6. There is no expectation of privacy on the street in the U.S.
7. The GPS case has the potential to be the most important case of the decade.
8. We can be permanently tarred for one mistake we made on the internet.
9. Google was blocked in Turkey for a long period of time.
10. The Patriot Act expands the amount of surveillance it can do without a warrant.

Questions:
1. Can the Patriot Act be a good or bad thing?
2. Should it be a violation to monitor people in public?
3. Is anything protected when you put it on the internet?
4. Who watches the public monitors?
5. How is Americans view on privacy different from Europeans view?

Political Cartoon Dec. 16th

Questions:
1. How did abortion come to be such a controversial topic?
2. Will there ever be an end to the constant debate over pro-life or pro-choice?
3. Is the punishment not tough enough for illegal abortion doctors?

National Debt Questions

1. How does our debt compare with other countries debt?
----Out of all other countries in the whole world, the United States has the most National debt at upwards of $15 trillion dollars. Below  us with around $9 trillion dollars in National debt is the United Kingdom, followed by Germany with $5 trillion dollars in debt. Overall, we have a much larger amount of debt then most other countries.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2079.html

2. How does the National debt affect everyday citizens?
----There are many different ways that the national debt can affect everyday citizens. To begin with, the value of the dollar will drop, making it more expensive to purchase imported goods. This includes gas and various household items that we take for granted. Overall borrowing costs will go up, making it harder to buy a home and a car. Interest rates will rise and mortgage rates will increase as well.
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/money/career_money/30389/2

3. Who do we owe this debt to?
----We owe this debt to many different corporations and people. The list includes: banks, pension funds, insurance companies, large corporations, foreign corporations, foreign governments, and various investors.
http://www.greatreality.com/DebtFAQ.htm#WhoOwe

Electoral College Reform

Facts:
1. The smallest number of electoral votes in a state is three.
2. The electoral college is not a college and never meets as a single entity.
3. The electoral college meets every four years.
4. Ten states as of the year 2000 account for 54% of the U.S. population.
5. The electoral college usually undermines third parties, which are unlikely to win electoral votes.
6. A straight popular election would encourage minor party candidates.
7. Gore believed that the electoral college favored small over large states, whites over blacks and Hispanics, and farmers and ranchers over subway riders and commuters in crowded urban and suburban districts.
8. Voting begins the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
9. The president is not directly elected by the people, but by the electors.
10. George W. Bush was the first southern conservative since before the Civil War.

Questions:
1. How are the electors chosen?
2. Does it seem that electors are actually necessary?
3. When was the electoral college established?
4. Why can't we just vote for the president directly? Is there not enough trust in the people?
5. How many people are in the electoral college?

H.R. 2457: Palestinian Accountability Act

Facts about the Palestinian Accountability Act:

1. Status: This bill is now in the second stage. It has been introduced, and has now been reported to committee. The committees it has been assigned to are the House Foreign Affairs, and the House Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia. 

2. In General- No United States Government document may refer to the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority as ‘Palestine’ until the Secretary of State certifies to Congress that the Palestinian Authority condemns terrorism, excludes Hamas, and recognizes Israels right to exist as a Jewish State.

3. This Act limits the amount of money that the United States gives to the Palestinian Authority, based on if they meet the requirements stated above.

4. This Act limits the amount of money that the United States gives to the United Nations if they say they recognize Palestine as a state.

5. This Act limits the amount of money that the United States gives to UNRWA for Palestinian Refugees. 

Questions:

1. How will this bill change the way other countries view our presence in the Middle East?

2. Should the United States just cut off all ties with the Palestinian Authority?

3. Could this bill cause other countries to enact something similar?

New York Times Budget Puzzle

• By the year 2015, I would have saved $414 billion dollars.
• By the year 2030, I would have saved $938 billion dollars.
• 48% came from savings from tax increases.
• 52% came from savings from spending cuts.

-----Reflection: Some of the easy choices to cut included cutting weapons programs, reducing our troops in Iraq, and cutting foreign aid. The U.S. has not had a major threat since 2001, and there is just too much money being thrown away for defense and military. Also, with our economy being as bad as it is, we need to reduce how much we give to other nations, because there are some that really need it but others don't need it as much as we do. This would certainly be much harder to get things done with Congress, because with there being two parties and two different ideologies, it is hard to get people to agree on the same things.

Political Cartoon Dec. 8th

Questions:
1. Is Iran actually that much of a threat to us?
2. Is Iran in any other conflict with other countries besides the U.S.?
3. Do you think any nukes or powerful bombs could be used any time soon?

Campaign Ad Techniques

1. Scare Tactics http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1980/
--- This ad uses dangerous facts and scary numbers about the nations economy and housing in order to scare people away from voting for Carter. This ad gets people afraid to vote for Carter, saying that this is what happen if hes in office.
--- This ad was definitely effective because it drove fear into the people and make them not want to vote for Carter.

2. Put downs  http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008
---This ad insults the candidates opponent.
---This ad is not effective because it doesn't tell what the candidate will do, but mainly what the opponent is doing wrong. Makes the candidate look weak.

3. Cartoons / Humor http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952
---This ad uses cartoons and childish humor to make its point.
---This ad could be effective because if children like it, then it can be a household topic with parents.

4. Relating to average Americans http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1992
---This ad shows Clinton relating to average Americans and saying how he can help them.
---This ad can be effective because average Americans are what runs the country and a President relating to them is a very good thing.

5. Celebrities / Guests http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1980
---This ad has Ford speaking to Americans on behalf of Ronald Reagan.
---I dont believe this ad was effective because Ford lost the previous election, so him campaigning for Reagan probably wouldnt have done much good.

6. Family  http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008
---This ad is all about Barack Obama's family and how he was brought up just like a normal American and how family values are always important.
---This ad can be very effective because it shows that he was brought up just like anyone else and was set with the same values as everyone else.

Assertions:
1. Ads can be very persuasive.
2. Ads do not do much to inform the voters.
3. More advertising does not produce a better democratic result.

Electoral College

Facts:
1. The Electoral College is Undemocratic.
2. States select their own electors by popular vote.
3. Gore received 51 million votes and Bush received 50.5 million votes in the 2000 election.
4. Electors can vote for a candidate who is not in their same political party.
5. Each state gets 2 electoral votes, regardless of the population.
6. Republicans often win more states overall, but Democrats win the larger states.
7. Richard Nixon would have defeated John F. Kennedy in 1960 if it were a direct election not a run-off.
8. The Electoral College questions the validity of a nationwide popular election.
9. If the Electoral College were replaced by direct elections, minority candidacies would be encouraged.
10. Federal judges are not elected at all, they're appointed.

Questions:
1. Do you feel the electoral college is a fair system?
2. Is it fair that a president can lose an election, even if he received more votes?
3. How are electors selected?
4. How long are electors in their position?
5. How can the electoral college be improved or changed?

Taxpayer Articles

Facts Article 1:
1. Our tax dollars helped pay for the show "Diary of a Single Mom."
2. Other production costs on the show paid to different vendors total more than $700,000.
3. The money came through an award by the Department of Commerce to One Economy Corp. for more than $28 million last year to help boost broadband internet service in underserved areas across the country.
4. One Economy is using more than $1.5 million of that money to create programming such as "Diary of a Single Mom" which the group says will help provide an incentive for people to connect to the internet.
5. According to grant reports, One Economy so far has invoiced the government $18.9 million of the $28.5 million awarded under the grant, with 142.47 jobs created.

http://taxpayer.net/resources.php?action=issues&proj_id=5006&category=&type=Project

Facts Article 2:
1. Defense Secretary Leon Pannetta's weekend trips to his California home on government planes are not a major concern to many lawmakers.
2. The cross-country trips raised some eyebrows in Washington after several media reports put the price of each trip at up to $30,000.
3. Pannetta is required to reimburse the government for the price of an equivalent coach airline ticket, but the costs of the flights on sophisticated military jets far exceed those prices.
4. In a series of interviews, lawmakers expressed few concerns when asked by The Hill about the potential of spending $100,000 a month on Pennettas personal weekend trips.
5. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said he "would be reluctant to critique someone who is merely trying to maintain a family, a marriage."
http://taxpayer.net/resources.php?action=issues&proj_id=5013&category=&type=Project

Death Penalty Questions: Answers

1. How many states have banned the death penalty and how many still have it today?

----Today there are currently 34 states that still have the death penalty, including Pennsylvania. There are 16 states that do not have the death penalty, the most recent being Illinois which just got rid of it in 2011.

2. Why does the process of execution take so long?

----As a matter of fact, if an inmate is put to death by lethal injection, the process could take as short as 1 minute and 30 seconds. The preparation part is what takes the longest.

3. How many people per year receive the death penalty?

----In the past year of 2011, there were 43 people who were executed by lethal injection of the death penalty.

Pending Bills

1. Palestinian Accountability Act
To restrict funds for the Palestinian Authority, and for other purposes.
Status: This bill is in the first step in the legislative process.


2. Care Act
A bill to ensure that States have enacted criminal statutes that require individuals to report child abuse to law enforcement or child protective agencies.
Status: This bill is in the first step in the legislative process.


3. Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2011
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to ensure that all dogs and cats used by research facilities are obtained legally.
Status: This bill is in the first step in the legislative process.

Unemployment Political Cartoon

Questions:
1. Does the President have a plan to reduce unemployment or does he think it will just fix itself overtime?
2. How high do you feel the number of unemployed will get to before it begins to come back down?
3. How many people are currently unemployed?