Realistic Democracy

What is the future of democracy? Is it a realistic option?

I am concerned with the future of democracy. I feel like instead of making leaps and strides we are taking 3 steps behind. Our country has a foundation, but we have lost that foundation and trying to help and support so many countries that the U.S. is struggling and losing focus on what is important. We need to keep things into perspective and find a way to build this economy again.
In my mind I do not agree with not drilling oil, and I think that with that concern our country and leadership is not being realistic. Obama’s response to the increasing prices in gas was “people need to buy smaller cars and fuel efficient cars.” The last time I checked our unemployment continues to increase, people are still losing their houses, so how can people afford to buy a fuel efficient car when they can barely survive to feed their family each day. It astonishes me that our leadership responds with something that is almost impossible for most people right now. That is not a realistic answer. There are thousands of people who are commuting an hour to and from work just to make $10 an hour and save their family from being homeless. Being realistic is coming up with a response that gives Americans hope and changes our future as a country.

 

Here is a video I have attached about how Democrats and Republicans worked together this past week in Colorado to give 90 million back to Education.  If these two parties can come together like this more often then I think our democracy will grow together in the future, ad I believe it is realistic.

 

http://www.9news.com/video/#/Education/K%2D12+cuts/49906872001/50624635001/910576749001

 

Can both parties come together and make decisions as one for our future in America?

 

 

Economic Policy

What is the process to develop an economic policy that provides services and sustainability?

Looking at the process to develop an economic policy we need to dig deep into what this really is. The economic policy should have an impact on natural resources, like ecosystems and the environment. This would provide sustainability for the stock and flow of benefits and costs that come from these assets. Another thing that creates services and sustainability is the distribution of costs and benefits amongst people. In other words and economic policy is put in place by having each citizen pay taxes. If Americans did not pay taxes how would we pay our teachers to teach our children? How will Americans receive welfare or government assistance? How will be pay for street repairs or city clean-up? This is why I look at the economic policy as social welfare. I change my mind many times when I think of our health care for example. At times I do not think it is fair that there are illegal immigrants that U.S. citizens are paying for their health bills through taxes when that tax money should be used for seniors, or hard working citizens that have lost their insurance and benefits. This is why we need to develop a policy that creates sustainability by distributing taxes evenly and using taxes for our schools and unemployment befits and other benefits for the people.

How will the new budget plan discussed this week help the American people and how will it hurt American people?

I have attached a video that talks about medicare that is a HOT topic in the 2012 budget cut.

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/04/15/exp.tsr.bash.budget.cnn

Equity

How does a government facilitate comprehensive care for its constituents without sacrificing equity?

This question brings up many mixed emotions. I think it is a wonderful thing that our country has the opportunity to give assistance to those who need it. What I do disagree with is that there are many illegal immigrants that get free assistance and do not pay taxes while people like my grandma who is 76 years old and still working today who has to support illegal immigrants and barely gets any assistance. What about the women in this country that keep having babies, when they could use proper protection to avoid it? This is why this question brings up many emotions for me. Don’t get me wrong I love that I live in a country that is free and supportive, but I believe we need to give assistance to the elderly who have lived in this country all their life and worked hard their entire life, and give assistance to those who try to be better citizens.

After participating in this week’s discussion I wanted to do some more research on how much money our government spends on illegal aliens.  I came across a report from the GAO Government website and it states how much money goes into funding hospitals and support of health care for the “illegal aliens.”  One part of the article talks about bad debt that has incurred by non-paying patients.  I find it astonishing how much money our country spends on illegal immigrants and many people born in the U. S. are losing everything they worked hard for.  Here is the link to the article as well as the reference to finding many more articles.

http://archive.gao.gov/d29t5/134152.pdf

http://www.gao.gov/index.html

Should the government continue to help illegal immigrants or should the focus be shifted on provide more help to those who are born a U.S. citizen?

Foreign Policy

How should a nation-state develop its foreign policy in accordance to its values and in connection to the development of its domestic policy?

First it is important to understand foreign policy and it includes the military and economics. We make the largest military and it is the most powerful. The U.S. along with Britain was the one of the first countries to industrialize. A nation-state should develop a foreign policy that is not only going to protect the American citizens, but also make this country strong. When dealing with foreign policy it is important to remember that we need to continue to develop domestic policy. When dealing with foreign policy and intertwining with other countries the U.S. gained many investments.

The United Sates has a struggling economy and each day I notice that we are focusing so much on other countries and helping other countries when in reality we should be focusing on our country and making it stronger. There a millions of Americans without jobs, but because our outsourcing and promises to other countries (foreign policy) we cannot give the citizens who live here a job, someone in the Philippines has to take over a call center.  I mentioned the call center issue, because I just had a friend lose his job at T-Mobile, because they shut the Denver call center down and moved it to the Philippines.  This is very upsetting to know that our economy continues to suffer, but because we are a country with many values we continue to support other nations.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/106023/20110128/telstra-shuts-down-victorian-call-centre-79-workers-lose-their-job.htm

Are we involved with too many nations?

Katznelson, Ira, Mark Kesselman, and Alan Draper. The Politics of Power: a Critical Introduction to American Government. Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education, 2006. Print.

Judges and our Judicial System

What role do judges and the judicial system play in supporting freedom?

First it is important to know that we have a dual court system. The federal court handles criminal laws that deal with the federal laws. Not only does the federal court hear the criminal laws, but they also hear civil or noncriminal complaints in more than one state. The other court is the state court that hears all the rest.

The Supreme Court is at the top of our judicial system. It supports our freedom by protecting our businesses from government regulation, but they also limit the reach of antitrust laws and restricted the ability of unions to organize and to strike.  There are seven judges that are often call justices that sit on the Supreme Court.   The Supreme Court deals with the specialty cases.  The Supreme Court does help protect the citizens by deciding what is wrong and right.  For example in the South there was a lot of segregation and when it went to the Supreme Court it was decided that this was wrong to treat citizens of different color this way.  The judges are appointed that are not normally sitting in on specialty cases and are chosen by the President. Traffic tickets, small claims, municipal, and family cases are handled by the State Judicial.

When I think of judges and our judicial system I think of playing by the rules and deciding what action to take.  I believe our judicial system has been set in place for a long time, and remains the same.  When dealing with federal courts which was established by the United States and limits what kind of cases can be brought in ant federal court.

How can the federal court help support our freedom more?

Here is a picture of the first Latina appointed to the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor.

Congress

How does the U.S. Congress, as it exists in its current structure, support and/or limit authentic representation?

First it is important that we understand what Congress does and how it is represented. The Congress has a certain structure represented by the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Senate represents the states and this where each state elects a senator and the House of Representatives represent the districts that are within the states. The House of Representatives serve 2 years and Senators serve 6 years. Within both of the chambers there is a different election process for instance the House of Representatives is elected by popular vote and the Senate is elected by the various state legislatures. The book states that to this day the Congress is mostly responsive to groups with wealth and power and I believe this is a huge frustration amongst the American citizens. What I also found disturbing is that Congressional candidates are asking for money, appealing to lobbyists, and attending fundraisers. I think that the current structure should be changed to support the needs of the American people and open their eyes to more than just wealth and power.

With this being said about Congress I want to shift gears to a topic where it is sad and really makes you think about Congress and Washington today.  Friday March 11^th, 2011 JeffCo School District announced a 40 Million budget cut.  This budget cut will take 3% away from each teacher’s salary and at the end of the school year 110 teachers in this district alone will be jobless.  There will be a few elementary schools closing and programs will be eliminated.  Each student who uses the school’s bus system will be charged $150.  They say there are many more budget cuts to come in the next three years.  Here is the video:

http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=823019899001

Why are teachers increasingly losing their jobs, but NFL players and owners are arguing about money?

In what ways does the U.S. Presidency support and limit the formation of an ideal democracy?

The presidency as an institution expanded when corporate capitalism developed and federal government grew in both power and size. This led to federal government increases in that federal law could regulate the firm’s behavior that now operates nationally. The federal government became in charge of economic management. Third the federal government created a welfare state and lastly federal government grew in response to the global character of corporate capitalism and how the US became globally powerful. The President contributes to the federal government and makes decisions. The U.S. Presidency has power amongst members of Congress, their standing with the media, and their popularity amongst American citizens. The President of the United States is both head of state and head of government. The President also manages the executive branch which helps influence how federal policy is interpreted and implemented.

The President has a major impact in foreign policy.  First he is the still the Commander in Chief of Armed Forces.  Second the President can uses crises to focus attention on Congress and their office where this does not allow the Congress to challenge it.  Third the president is still in control over foreign affairs and information regarding foreign affairs.  Lastly the President has huge staff resources that can help defend him to the media. 

Resources:

Katznelson, Ira, Mark Kesselman, and Alan Draper. The Politics of Power: a Critical Introduction to American Government. Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education, 2006. Print.

The Electoral College is America’s voting system and even if a candidate wins popular vote he or she must win the state’s electoral vote to be the next President.  Here are a few resources that show what states are mostly Republican and Democrat and what their electoral vote is.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/historical.html

What are your predictions for the 2012 Presidential elections?  What states will change parties or grow with their current party?

What Influences Political Process?

How do individuals and groups of people influence the political party?

First we know that the main groups are made up of what party you affiliate with such as Republican or Democratic Party. In the book in chapter 5 it goes in to great detail about the two different types of parties and how it affects the voters on how they choose their candidate. Electoral votes influence these two groups and determine who is elected in the presidential election. Money has the power just like we discussed a few weeks ago and money can lead to particular groups and individuals who influence the political party. Groups such as media also influence the political party, especially before primary and presidential elections and use mostly ads and commercials to influence the voters. Chapter 5 talks about what types of groups support each Democratic Party. For instance Union members influence the Democratic Party and also other members such as women, Jews, urbanites, singles, and low-income influence the Democratic Party.

 

In the book Politics of Power chapter 5 discusses what really influences the Political Process and in my opinion it is that media, money and power that influences the process.  Here shortly we are going to start hearing about the 2012 election and who is going to run from each party.  What campaign will collect the most money and have the best advertisements.  Think about all the money that goes into creating advertisements to win American citizens votes. 

Does the media influence the American people, or do Americans still vote based on what party they are associated with?

Public Opinion

Where would be if there were no public opinion? Public opinion is an important aspect of democracy and it has allows American people to have many freedoms.

Public opinion is giving us the right to vote for candidates of your choice and choose whatever party you want to be affiliated with. Not only is our voice heard on a national level, but also a state level. Our government, state elected officials, as well as ways to improve our society is public opinion. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press and freedom of expression is influenced by public opinion. Campaigns are supported by the American people and the media has a huge voice in influencing public opinion. There are many countries that do not have a democracy like we do, and those countries do not have any public opinion influences. They cannot be different religions, or have a say in who will be elected to run their society. America is blessed to have the advantage of public opinion.

 

The new budget cuts announced this week was very disturbing.  Candidates will do anything or say anything to win public opinion to be elected in office.  Our Governor this past election promised that education would not see anymore budget cuts and won the public opinion.  Now he is in office and just announced the largest education budget cut in Colorado's history.  Disappointing to see that our children will now suffer in the classroom and more hard working Americans will be with out a job.  I came across an article that upsets me more about this budget cut.  A bill still has not been passed to ban welfare cards at strip clubs.  Here we are supporting people on welfare, but they spend that money at strip clubs?  How does that make sense?  here is the URL to the article
http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=181427

Private sectors are groups that are not controlled by the state. They are private groups or individuals who enterprise for profit, whereas public sector is part of the state. In the US the private sector is the majority of our workforce. It is what drives our economy. The government is there to regulate and control the states. In most cases these two intersect in regards to money. Many people believe that the government spends too much on temporary jobs, and there is not enough money available for the private sector to create more technologies and build more businesses that in turn create long term jobs for this struggling economy. Our government does intersect with the private sector by helping out the workforce and supporting US citizens.

How can we as a country come together if our government and private sectors cannot work together? Federal spending is getting out of control and with the help of private sectors there can be an increase in jobs and an improvement in our economy. The government needs to find a balance in our states and support those states in creating new businesses. What we cannot forget about is that our government has done a great job in creating laws and helping to regulate these laws, which help protect Americans and businesses.

 

I must say for some reason I had a challenging time discussing private sector and government and how they intersect.  Some countries so not have a say in their jobs, and may not have the opportunity to advance to different positions.  The private sector give employees an opportunity to work in different positions and allow more opportunity to grow in the company.  Since the company can make their own decisions it is easier to be more flexible and gain pay raises.

What can the government do in order to create more businesses to help the American people with their employment?

The role of POWER

Power plays a role in our government in many ways. In our book I was reading chapter three and it talks about how expansion happened and how the government was involved, how it changed our economy and the politic s behind it. We all can agree that power=money in all three areas, but where would we be if we did not have power. Many may look at it as a bad thing, but I believe this makes America what it is today. We are the land of the free, and our government and politics help keep that freedom for the American people. Transportation marked the first revolution for our economy, development of new power sources led to the progressive era which both of these revolutions gave power to politics and the government and made for a powerful economy. Power also helped businesses expand which led to new construction and increased labor productivity, and this came from the power that the government was gaining and the political powers to empower America.

How will power in the US impact the politcal fight in Egypt?

Intelligence vs compassion

I would also have to agree that compassion is put second in our lives and there is more focus on our intelligence.  We are always comparing who has the highest IQ or who is more intelligent in the classrooms at a young age and not focusing on what happens in real life once you walk out into the world.  Our children are taught the skills of reading, writing, math, science and social studies and we measure how much intelligence they have on assessments tests and their performance, but never look at them on how they think about the real world.  When we look at politicians we pick them apart.  Many times we base our opinion on their religion, family background, previous work experience, and education, but do we look deep down into what they are passionate about or how they are going improve our government.  Compassion makes you evaluate one’s feelings on topics such as immigration for example.  My husband is Mexican, but born in America and is a US citizen and he feels that sometimes he is judged as being an illegal immigrant, but also works very hard to pay for health insurance and pay his taxes, whereas illegal immigrants do not pay taxes and in most cases receive health care, and sometimes kills innocent people just like last week on the hit in run.  If we based everything on intelligence than topics such as immigration, education and unemployment would not come from the heart and there would be no compassion.

Is Obama more of an intelligent or compassionate president compared to other presidents?  Is he both?

Page 31 in the book “The Politics of Power” talks about the mobilization of bias and capitalism.  There is an undemocratic private government and democratic politics and influenced by capital organization.