Campaign Financing Cases

Fredreka Schouten of USA Today discusses campaign financing laws and 2010 midterm election. She brings up two court cases that influence campaign financing. The first being McCain Finegold law, which tried to regulate corporation and interest group donations to a candidate. The next case is the Citizens United bill. A group called Citizen’s United wanted to air a documentary about Hilary Clinton before the elections. They were not permitted to advertise it on national television because of limitations set on campaign financing and corporate donations. The decision of the Citizens United case was that the corporations’ free speech rights were violated.

Unemployment and Reelection

                    A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that President Obama’s job approval rating has hit an all-time low. According to the poll, 53 percent of those surveyed disapprove of President Obama and the biggest issue hurting him right now is the unemployment rate and economic situation (Balz and Cohen). A remarkable 60 percent of those surveyed in the poll disapprove of how the president is handling the economic downturn (Balz and Cohen). So how will the job crisis and economic situation affect Obama’s chances of being reelected? Many people are saying that the job crisis is the key factor affecting President Obamas chances of winning. But is that really true?

                  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent, which translates to roughly 14 million people. President Obama is trying to deal with the issue with his “American Jobs Act”, which he sent to Congress urging them to “pass it immediately.”  The main goal of this bill is to put Americans back to work. According to the White House website it plans to do this in a variety of different ways. First, the bill would prevent 280,000 teacher layoffs (www.whitehouse.gov). Second, thousands of workers would be put back to work rebuilding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.  Third, it would provide tax cuts to businesses hiring unemployed workers. In addition, the bill aims to extend unemployment insurance to prevent Americans from losing benefits. Overall, it is estimated that the bill would put approximately 1.9 million Americans to work (Raum). The $447 billion price tag on this bill is not cheap though. Obama says he plans one paying for the bill with tax reform for the rich (Stein). As it stands, the bill still has not yet been introduced in the House (Oliphant). 

                     Critics have different issues with the bill. Some are criticizing it for being too small. As mentioned earlier the bill would put almost 2 million Americans back to work. However that would lower the unemployment rate only by 1 percent (Raum). Also as Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, pointed out in a Forbes article the jobs created by the bill would only be for the year 2012, the bill does not tackle long term unemployment (Raum). Critics on the Republican side, say that raising taxes on the rich is “class warfare” and that spending more money in a recession will only worsen the economic situation (Memoli). It also goes back to the question of whether or not Keynesian economics is the answer?

So back to the question of whether or not the jobs situation will hurt Obamas chances of being reelected. In a June 2011 a New York Times article pointed out a bleak fact. “No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent” (Applebaum).  The article shows the examples of Jimmy Carter and George H.W Bush who both had a higher unemployment rate and did not win reelection. It also brings up the example of Ronald Reagan. Reagan won reelection with a 7.2 percent unemployment rate. From reading the article you would think that there was a direct correlation between unemployment and chances of reelection.   However, as Nate Silver points out in his FiveThirtyEight New York Times blog, there is not enough data to prove a direct correlation between high unemployment rate and a president’s chance of being reelected. The unemployment situation is subjective. Some people blame the current administration, some the last and all just want the situations fixed. We will have to wait and see what happens in 2012. I believe that if the jobs bill passes then the President has a good chance of being reelected because they country will see that the situation is improving.

Works Cited

"American Jobs Act." The White House. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/jobsact#overview>.

Applebaum, Binyamin. "Employment Data May Be the Key to the President’s Job." Www.nytimes.com. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/business/economy/02jobs.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>.

Cohen, Jon, and Dan Balz. "Obama Ratings Sink to New Lows as Hope Fades - The Washington Post." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-ratings-sink-to-new-lows-as-hope-fades/2011/09/05/gIQAIytZ5J_story.html>.

"Current Population Survey (CPS)." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.bls.gov/cps/>.

Memoli, Michael A. "Obama Embraces GOP's 'class Warfare' Attack - Los Angeles Times." Featured Articles From The Los Angeles Times. 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/21/news/la-pn-obama-warfare-20110921>.

Oliphant, James. "American Jobs Act Republican | House Republican Offers His Own 'American Jobs Act' - Los Angeles Times." Featured Articles From The Los Angeles Times. 15 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/15/news/la-pn-house-gop-jobs-act-20110915>.

Raum, Tom. "Small Dent in Jobless Rate Seen from Obama's Plan - Forbes.com." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/09/24/general-us-obama-apos-s-jobs-shortfall_8698689.html>.

Silver, Nate. "On the Maddeningly Inexact Relationship Between Unemployment and Re-Election - NYTimes.com." Election Forecasts - FiveThirtyEight Blog - NYTimes.com. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/on-the-maddeningly-inexact-relationship-between-unemployment-and-re-election/>.

Stein, Sam. "White House Outlines $467 Billion In Savings To Pay For Jobs Act." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/12/obama-jobs-bill-payments_n_958560.html>.

Congressional Approval Rating Hits an All-time Low

What’s lower than President Obamas approval rate? That would be the Congress’s approval rating. In fact it is the lowest it has ever been in history. A New York Times/CBS News poll shows the Congressional approval rating to be just 12 percent. The Republicans approval rating is 19 percent compared to the Democrats 28 percent (New York Times). The current public discontent comes from Congress’s inability to put aside party differences and do what is best for the country. I understand that they have different opinions of what’s best, but their refusal to compromise has only hurt them as indicated by the poll. There have been several major instances that have made Americans lose their confidence in the legislative body, but the most public one was the debacle with the debt ceiling.

             This summer I interned in Senator Mark Udall’s office, so I got to hear firsthand the opinion of everyday Americans about the debt ceiling. What were these average people saying? Some wanted to raise the debt ceiling, others didn’t. But what all of the callers would say was that they were tired of lawmakers putting their party beliefs before the welfare of their constituents. Many callers said, and I would have to agree, that these educated men and women were acting like kids at a playground. If you don’t remember, this is what happened with the debt ceiling. Our nation’s money was about to run out and we had bills we needed to pay.  We had to raise the debt ceiling before August 2 in order to avoid the first American default in history. However, neither of the sides could agree about how to go about that. We heard about meetings and discussions in which key players would just walk out of the room. The Republicans wanted more cuts to programs and the Democrats wanted to close loopholes and increase taxes on the rich. Both of the sides said raising the debt ceiling is a must, but they would not do it in an irresponsible way. However there were some people, looking at you Tea Party members, who said we should not raise the debt ceiling and default on our debts. They said the warnings of what would happen if the country defaulted were just a scare tactic. Both sides present their own version of a debt ceiling bill, remember Cut, Cap, and Balance? The standoff finally came to an end when both sides agreed on a bill. In the end we got cuts to programs and not an increase on taxes for the rich or closing of loopholes for corporations. The bill established a super committee that would try to work together to resolve the long term debt issue. The bill was signed into law Tuesday August 2, the last day before default. It was very frustrating and scary to wait and see who would blink first. I can’t believe that people actually walked out of talks that affect every person in this nation. What happened to the times when representatives would sit down and talk through issues instead of walking out because they did not get their way? I think that lawmakers forget that they need to be working with the interest of their constituents back home in mind. It is us who elects them and us who can elect somebody else.

Now we hear of another standoff this time concerning funding for FEMA. As the New York Times/CBS News poll shows only 6 percent of people believe that the reelected representatives are doing a good job, while 84 percent want to elect somebody different (New York Times). This refusal to compromise and stick to party lines is obviously not working, at least for those representatives that want to keep their seats in the next election. I believe that the confidence of people in their representatives has hit such a low that at the next elections we will see many new representatives elected in office.

                                                         Works Cited

Kopicki, Allison. "New York Times/CBS Poll Finds Record Low Approval Rating for Congress - NYTimes.com." Politics and Government - 2012 Presidential Watch - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/approval-of-congress-matches-record-low/>.

Campaign Financing

Brooks Jackson of the Wall Street Journal discusses campaign financing. He believes that especially Congressional candidates have been receiving more and more financing from special interest groups. What I found interesting is that a PAC, which is a political action committee, can only give $5,000 to a presidential candidate.

President Campaign Financing

Meredith McGehee, of the Campaign Legal Center, discusses the presidential campaign financing system. She thinks the systems needs to be updated for public financing for presidential campaigns especially since the Citizens United vs. FEC case. What I did not know was that President Obama decided not to receive public funding; therefore, he was not limited in how much funding he received.

Electoral College Ritual Discussion

Discusses the electoral college ritual on the Senate floor for the year 2001. Al Gore, as Vice President,will preside over the ritual. It is interesting because he lost the election due to the electoral college. Al Gore was the candidate with the most popular votes.

Whatever Happened to Shared Sacrifice?

The term “shared sacrifice” gets thrown around a lot. Whether it is cutting the pensions on civil service workers or lying off teachers, shared sacrifice is used to try to comfort us about the decisions made. Shared sacrifice implies that we are all giving up something; the sacrifice is divided among all of us. However, this August something we all knew to be true was made public. The rich are excluded in this so called shared sacrifice. Earlier last month, Warren Buffett issued a statement asking Congress to “stop cuddling the rich” (www.nytimes.com). Buffet said in the letter, “While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks”(www.nytimes.com).

While the mega rich are enjoying the lowest tax rates in years, the Census Bureau reported that more that 46 million Americans lived in poverty in the year 2010 (www.cnn.com) According to Kohn that is the highest number of Americans living in poverty in 52 years (www.cnn.com). As stated in the letter, Warren Buffet and his mega rich friends pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries. Kohn says that in 2007 the mega rich paid around 17 % of their federal income tax while the middle class paid close to 25% of their income tax (www.cnn.com). The question all Americans keep asking is why does Congress believe that the middle class can afford to sacrifice a quarter of their income on taxes and the mega rich cant?

 The explanation the Republican Congress keeps giving us is that higher taxes will hinder job creation and keep the rich from investing. As Puzzanghera reported House Speaker Boehner said "It's a very simple equation. Tax increases destroy jobs"(www.latimes.com) However, Warren Buffet says that is not true. In his letter he says that higher taxes on potential profit have never scared him away from a good investment. As  he points out in 1992 the top 400 earners paid a tax rate close to 29%  (www.nytimes.com). He also adds that “ And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000”(www.nytimes.com). While the rich are enjoying the lowest tax breaks in years the national unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent as reported by Becker (www.thehill.com). Therefore, the claim that lower taxes on the rich will create more jobs is absurd.

            In September in front of both chambers of Congress, President Barack Obama presented his “American Jobs Act.” In the Act, one of the things he proposes is to close the loopholes that allow corporations and the mega rich to enjoy such low tax rates. This upcoming Monday, President Obama will propose a new tax standard on the rich as way to pay for his proposed jobs act. Kuhnhenn reports that President Obama plans to “set a minimum tax rate for taxpayers earning more than $1 million”(www.huffingtonpost.com) He plans on calling this the “Buffet Rule” after the man who asked to be included in the sacrifice felt by so many us.

Works Cited

Becker, Bernie. "Unemployment Rate Inches up in Presidential Swing States." The Hill. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <Unemployment rate inches up in presidential swing states>.

Buffett, Warren. "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich." The New York Times. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html>.

Kohn, Sally. "Time to Raise Taxes on the Rich - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/14/opinion/kohn-tax-the-rich/index.html>.

Kuhnhenn, Jim. "Obama Debt Reduction Plan To Be Proposed." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/18/obama-debt-plan_n_968378.html>.

Puzzanghera, Jim. "Obama to Propose Millionaire's Tax to Cut Deficit - Latimes.com." Los Angeles Times - California, National and World News - Latimes.com. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-millionaires-tax-20110918,0,7251514.story>.

Save the Congressional Page Program

I was sixteen years old when I learned that I would have the opportunity to be a part of the Congressional Page Program. I had the opportunity to be a page for both a summer and a fall semester. The things that I learned from being in the program were not something I could’ve learned in any classroom. Whether it was attending a constituent’s breakfast with then Senator Barack Obama, or going on a field trip to the CIA, I did things most sixteen year olds only dream of. This August, I was deeply saddened to hear that Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi had decided to put an end to the 200 year old program. I was upset not only by the fact that no other student would have the opportunity to live and work on Capitol Hill, but also by how the decision was reached.

According to House of Representatives website, boys known as “messengers” took part as early as the First Continental Congress in 1774 (http://pageprogram.house.gov). The term “page” was first used during the 20th Congress in 1827. At first only boys were allowed to be pages, however, in 1939 the daughter of a Congressman served as the first female page (http://pageprogram.house.gov). Since the beginning, the members of Congress would appoint and sponsor a page, which is still true to this day. The process by which a student is selected to be a page has changed over time. During the present time, a student fills out an application with the Congressional Representative. The application includes an essay question and minimum grade requirements. By 1925 the pages were required to attend school while participating in the program. In 1949 the Page School was established in the attic of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress (http://pageprogram.house.gov).
The pages have a special uniform which makes them very recognizable to all the other Congressional employees. This uniform includes gray slacks or skirts, white collared shirt, navy blazer, and a striped tie. Pages are paid for their services and live in a dorm not far away from the Capitol. The dorm has curfews to ensure the safety of the kids. The school starts around 7 in the morning with assembly and ends by noon. After school the pages head to the house floor for work. The average day of a page ends around six; however, documentarian pages might stay at work longer depending on the length of the session.
There are numerous jobs pages perform. The first job is a documentarian, which are called docs by the pages. These pages sit in a desk next to the speaker. Some of their duties include raising and lowering the flag that flows above the capitol and refilling the water glass of the clerks. The next job is a cloakroom page. Both of the parties have their own cloakroom. The cloakroom pages deliver messages to the representatives when they are on the floor. Next are the runners which simply pick up things from the office building and deliver them to the cloakroom. The other jobs are flags, door, voting, and floor. The flag pages deliver flags from the Capitol to different representatives. The door pages open the door for the speaker at the beginning of session. The voting pages take records of the day’s votes and make copies and deliver them to the cloakroom. The floor pages sit on the house floor and pick up a representatives speech when they are finished speaking.
According to Stolberg, the Speaker and Minority Leader sent out a letter to their colleagues informing them that the program would be ending this summer (www.nytimes.com). They cited technological improvements and the $5 million cost as the reasons for their decisions. Although, I understand that $5 million is a substantial amount in a hard economic time, the experience of a being page is priceless. The Page Program was the beginning of many lawmaker’s careers in politics. The other fact that really irked me is that the other representatives were not consulted, even though, this decision directly affects them. It just shows that in our political culture decisions that directly affect us are made every day without our consent
John Dingell, the longest serving House member and former page, told Stolberg, “There was no consultation by the leadership with the members” (www.nytimes.com). Some members of Congress are prepared to fight for the program they so deeply believe in. According to Newhauser, Representative Dan Boren along with Representative Dingell and Representative Henry Cueller, have introduced a piece of legislation that would reinstate the program (www.rollcall.com). The bill presents an idea for an oversight committee that would make the program more cost efficient. As Newhauser reported John Dingell said the following, “While I understand the fiscal constraints currently facing our nation, we must not forget the value this program brings to young people and the House of Representatives as a whole. Getting young people engaged in public service is certainly valuable”(www.rollcall.com). The members hope to pass the resolution and reinstate the program as fast and as efficiently as possible. In the meantime, people who wish to see the program reinstated can contact their congressional representative and urge them to support this resolution.

                                                          Works Cited
Newhauser, Daniel. "Members Fight End of Page Program : Roll Call News." Roll Call. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. .

Page Program, U.S. House of Representatives. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. .

Stolberg, Sheryl. "House Shuts Down Its Page Program." Http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/us/politics/09page.html. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. .

The Process of the Electoral College

Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institute once again discusses the electoral college. According to him we participate in the electoral college because of two reasons. The first being because we have a legal obligation to do so, as stated by the Constitution and state laws. The second is because it is a tradition in our political culture. We have been practicing this for so long that even when there are calls to change the process to a popular vote we still stick to the electoral college. He brings up the idea of the “unit rule”, which simply means that the candidate with the most popular votes in a particular state receives that state’s electoral votes. What I found to be very interesting is that this practice of “unit rule” is not in the Constitution. In every state, besides Maine, the “unit rule” was first a tradition that eventually became part of state law. Since this video was aired in 1989, it was very ironic to hear that as Vice President George Bush would be presiding over the ceremony which would announce his own presidential victory. This situation last happened in 1837.

Electoral College: Brief History

Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institute talks about the history and reasons for the electoral college. He presents the idea that the founders were afraid of a populist leader, which is interesting and also shows how the founders did not want power to be concentrated with one person. He also says that the South was afraid of the popular vote because the African Americans would count in the electoral votes. Also he discusses of how the process of the electors takes place. I thought it was interesting that their votes are mailed to the Senate and that the Vice President counts the vote and has to announce the winner.