In the court case, Loughrin v. United States the issue at hand is bank fraudulence and committing fraud against an account holder of the bank. The plaintiff argues that the court's interpretation of the fraudulence laws are too vague and ambiguous. The plaintiff is arguing that the court is picking and choosing it's definition of a bank and choosing when to step in and take action. The Supreme Court reasons that the title of a financial institution has limitations and has justly taken action when necessary. The plaintiff uses past court cases illustrating his practice of JUDICIAL RESTRAINT; however the court is setting their own standards and not following precedents demonstrating JUDICIAL ACTIVISM. I think that the Supreme Court should review their decisions because unless it is a major humanitarian issue then the court should practice judicial restraint, this case included; therefore, I side with the plaintiff.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-voting-rights-speech-national-action-network-summit
In an examination at the injustices at the voting polls, President Obama responds with anger and determination. Obama accuses the republicans of limiting voting and only making the voting process convenient for fellow republicans. For example, Obama points out that people of the democratic party are forced to wait in long lines and have restricted voting hours whereas the Republicans don't have to face these problems. Obama also frequently makes references to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and believes it to be outrageous that we are still combating a law that was put into effect nearly 50 years ago. This current event reflects the controversy over the 15th amendment giving everybody enfranchisement. Even though the 15th amendment was focused on race it is expanded over the dominion of all US citizens no matter what the party affiliation is. This topic relates to unit 5 in the way of the executive having to enforce the laws drafted by Congress and in this case, the Voting Rights Act. The executive gives the government it's backbone and if it is not able to enforce the laws the government is weak and is subject to failure. Overall, if these reports about the Republican party are true I think Obama should investigate into these claims. I did the fantasy congress for week, so you said I could just use that as one of my blog posts for a unit so here it is:
Week 1 3/10: On C-Span 1 on Sunday, March 9 at 11:15 until 11:45 I viewed the rebroadcast of the Lois Lerner question and the dispute between Darrell Issa and Elijah Cummings. The purpose of the questioning was the investigate the legality of the IRS in granting tax exempt status to certain citizens and targeting conservative groups. Issa explicitly debriefed Lerner of her "supposedly" waving her 5th amendment right; however, Lerner continued to exercise her 5th amendment right by refusing to answer any questions. Frustrated Issa adjourned the hearing due to Lerner's lack of cooperation, cutting off Rep Cummings in questioning the witness resulting in a heated dispute arose amongst Issa and Cummings over the organization of this council and its investigation tactics. Jan Brewer, from Arizona, vetoes a gay discrimination law that would have prohibited the services provided to citizens based on sexual orientation and religious views. Strong LBGT activists were outraged at the bill so Brewer concluded that the bill would cause more problems than it would solve so she vetoed the bill from going into effect. Senator John McCain backed Brewer along with Hillary Clinton because they feel that the state must move forward from this problem.
This political fight put up from the LGBT activists demonstrates the political efficacy and the strength of public opinion. Also this activism exemplifies the power of interest groups to Congress. For example in the lobbying process the interest groups present their experts to the Congressmen in order to get them informed on the issues and to try to get legislation to be passed. This reflects the concept that we studied through this unt pertaining to interest groups and their political power. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/arizona-bill-controversy/arizona-governor-jan-brewer-vetoes-anti-gay-bill-n39666 In the Vote Match Quiz my results were all over the place. My top result was Hilliary Clinton but then I had John Huntsman and then Roseanne Barr, so the majority of the results were leaning left. I expected this result because I consider myself leftward leaning, but I can have conservative tendencies. Then in the I Side With quiz my results were overwhelmingly liberal. The hierarchy was: liberal, green, and then libertarian. This is what I expected, this is also very similar to my family's political ideology.
All Americans know too well that taxes are inevitable in this prestigious and elite nation. However, just where does this money go and why so much? Well the New York Times addressed this problem writing a detailed article with a breakdown of how much money is spent in specific areas. The motivation behind this article was to address the complaints by Americans at Congress passing a $1.1 trillion budget for the US Government in 2014. Same selected values (per resident) are: $61 Child School Lunch ($19.5 billion), $8 Food and Drug Administration ($2.5 billion), and $0.001 Presidential Compensation ($450,000). Some other expenditures mentioned in the article include values that are part of mandatory spending or others are not considered mandatory allowing for some leeway for the US government.
This controversy over the budget in US politics dates back to 1787 when the Constitution was conceived. Even though this is a timeless battle with in Congress the issue will never come to a proper compromise, which is a good thing. It gives the government forever flexibility within itself to amend to the modern day challenges. This current event relates to the need for a Constitutional power to tax. When America first formed as a nation, it feared a strong central government because of the tyranny of England over them. Therefore, their first plan of government was the Articles of Confederation. This document had no backbone, it gave no power to the central government: no power to draft, no power to tax, no supremacy by the federal government, no real power with the president, no regulation of interstate commerce, and amendment must be unanimous. Consequently, the Articles failed leading to the Constitution and empowering the government to tax. Thus, the budget is designed by the federal government all Americans must follow the taxing process. Link: nyti.ms/1mCuGQf At a recent United Nations meeting in Geneva there was an article written by the United Nations Rights Chief. In the article the author elaborated on the issue of the gender inequality still being a prominent feature of the modern world. This is a disheartening fact because we have advanced so far in society to believe that women are still subordinate to men. In the article the UN commissioner, Navi Pillay speaks out that we must work together if we are to bring down this ignorance of our world. Pillay proposes that by the end of 2015 we will have abandoned all sex discrimination and "fully integrate [gender equality] into the post-2015 agenda".
In the article we see the underlying principle of the 19th amendment, enfranchising women. However, the article holds a deeper meaning that relates to the Constitution: "We the people" not we the men, people is a universal term and applies to all humans not just men. In addition this article, relates to the current unit's focus of political socialization and campaigning. For example, child born in a feminist environment would be more likely to support the goal of integrating gender equality into our society. Finally, this relates to the campaign to advocate for what you believe in; if you believe in gender equality you will take initiative to make it happen. |