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?