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