Sunday, November 27, 2011

4th period: Current Event due 12/2

This week in C&E we will continue our study of the Legislative Branch. Find and write about an article that deals with our legislative bodies at either the state (General Assembly) or national (Congress) level. You may write about a piece of legislation, a particular representative or any other article that deals with our legislators. Check out the News&Observer for state level government or any national news site for updates about Congress (click on POLITICS to find out more). Yay, Article I! Have a great week. :)

24 comments:

  1. Nate Montano/ Pd. 4
    What's next after 'super committee' failure?
    By Ted Barrett, Kate Bolduan and Deirdre Walsh, CNN
    updated 5:15 AM EST, Tue November 22, 2011
    http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/22/politics/super-committee/index.html

    Uncertainty lingered Tuesday about what the continued fallout would be from the failure of the congressional "super committee" to forge a deficit reduction deal.
    Monday's announcement about the committee's failure was followed by a dip in the Dow Jones Industrial average. The Dow fell 248 points Monday, with a minor recovery after being down more than 300 points earlier in the afternoon.
    President Barack Obama and congressional leaders traded blame Monday for the failure and called for Congress to work out an agreement before painful automatic budget cuts take place in 2013.

    I find it pretty hilarious that the so called " super committee " failed at something. I always thought that they were the best of the best. Guess I am wrong, but I blame them for the dramatic drop in the Dow Jones Industrial average. But at least they did something right since the average recovered partially. At least the president and congressional leaders also took the blame. If they would just work together and no bicker about it they could get something good done rather than have the country suffer in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pd. 4
    Title: Legislators Squabble over Extending the Payroll Tax Cut
    Author: Tom Cohen
    Date: 11.27.11
    Source: CNN
    http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/27/politics/congress-payroll-tax-cut/index.html

    Republicans have incessantly resisted the Democratic stance on taxation toward millionaires because of their strong consensus against tax increase. If they oppose it again then it will provoke a proposal extending payroll tax cuts and imposing surtax on those who make over 1 million dollars. The only negative aspect is that it has failed to create employment which has been a significant predicament in our country for the past few years. The existing concern is whether to increase the payroll tax from the current 4.2% to 6.2% on the first $106,880 of wages into Social Security. If it is not extended it would cause a raise in taxes during a difficult economic period, and extending it the cut is one of the “most straightforward” ways to “reduce some of the coming fiscal restraint.”

    In my opinion, the Republicans have been hard-headed and illogical in terms of tax increase. People who earn more money should be taxed more heavily because they have more to give than lower and middle-class tax-payers. It will provide the government with more money which will contribute toward a steady national debt decrease.

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  3. Anna Baynes Period 4
    Barney Frank to Quit House After 30 Years
    Abby Goodnough
    The New York Times
    Monday, November 28, 2011
    http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/barney-frank-to-quit-house-after-30-years/?ref=politics

    In November, in Newton, Massachusetts, 71 year old Barney Frank decided to retire from the House of Representatives in 2012 rather than in 2014 as was planned. Frank is a Democrat from Massachusetts and has been in the House of Representatives for 30 years. The districts have been redrawn in Massachusetts to Frank’s disadvantage so it will be harder for Frank to become reelected. This reelection would have distracted him from his priorities. Frank is very convincing in the House. His closest contest for election was against Sean Bielat and Frank still won by ten percentage points. Frank was one of the first openly gay members of Congress and believes it has helped him in his reelections. Frank was the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee until this year. This is important because the Dodd-Frank act could be in trouble when Frank retires. Also, a chair is the House is open and either Democrats or Republicans could fill it.
    I think it may be good that Frank is retiring because he is getting old. However, it may be bad because his Democratic seat may become Republican. It is also not good because he is gay and the diversity will not be as big when he leaves. There will be less views being represented in Congress. In class we are talking about the legislative branch and the standards members of Congress have to meet. How would being gay help someone’s reelection when most people either ignore or do not believe in gay marriage?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alex Adams
    Period 4
    11/28/11
    URL: http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/27/politics/congress-super-committee/index.html
    Title: “GOP senator calls for changing automatic spending cuts”
    By: CNN Wire Staff
    Summary: Republican Senator, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who was a member of the “super-committee”, is calling for the automatic spending cuts to be changed. The committee did not meet its deadline for finding a compromise for budget cuts, which put sequestration into effect. Sequestration is the process of cutting budgets for all government programs equally. The cuts will take effect in 2013, which gives congress a year to find a consensus. President Obama has threatened to veto any attempt to lessen the severity of the cuts, which leaves very few options for congress.
    Response: I’m a bit disappointed by the result from the super-committee. Politicians need to forget about party lines and start getting things done in times like these. There are things that need to get done and congress is running in circles. This article relates to congress because congress is the governing body that needs to get these spending cuts written up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Casey Molina
    Period 4
    11/30/11
    Congress looking at lawmakers insider trading
    11/30/11 WRAL
    Larry Margasak

    On account of a CBS 60 minutes story, which pointed out that law makers can legally trade stock based on non-public knowledge, the Senate Homeland Security and Government affairs Committee will hold a hearing Thursday. In this hearing a bill is being proposed that would inhibit the trading of stock by Congressmen based upon non public knowledge. Senator Scott Brown is the chief sponsor of the bill. Similarly Representative Louise Slaughter has been introducing a bill to ban insider trading by Congressmen since 2006. The CBS news story has increased sponsors from 9 to 118. The bill proposed by Brown would ban members and employees of Congress and executive branch officials from using nonpublic information to trade stock. This is called the STOCK Act for the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge. The House Ethics Committee memo states that the congressmen are held accountable for their actions regardless of if they obtained information as part of their jobs or not and could be considered barking law. Spokesman Drew Hammill said that 60 minutes left out that Pelosi supports the STOCK Act and that 60 minutes is wrong for accusing her of blocking a financial bill in 2008, which came out of committee a day before regular session (making it difficult to take a house vote).

    I think it is interesting to see how the Congressmen are exposed at finding loopholes through the society that they help set up. Is it even legal or fair to have them be the ones to make decisions about the bills proposed to restrict them. It seems interesting that they are exposed for unmoral acts but they continue to stay in office and make decisions about their own behavior. This article also demonstrates how the tactics used by congress to prevent a bill from being passed, such as not releasing a bill out of committee in a timely fashion, can be used to falsely represent lawmakers. It seems that there are always two sides to political battles and that loop holes are still a major part of our lawmakers’ conduct.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Max LeMoine/period 4
    Barney Frank not seeking re-election in 2012/Alan Siverleib
    CNN.com/ 11/28/11
    http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/28/politics/barney-frank/index.html

    Massachusettes representitanve has said that he is going to retire. After 16 terms of service he says he will miss the job but he won’t have to pretend to be nice to people he doesn’t like. He is known for many things including the 2010 Dodd-Frank plan which passed the house without GOP support. He is also known for being one of the only openly gay members in the house. Franks district is mostly democratic but when he retires nobody know what might happen. Finally Frank has made huge contrubutions to the house and democrats and he will be missed.

    I think that Frank was a great politician and he will be hard to replace. Frank had been chairperson of a committee and without him a republican will have to be put as head. In the end, I think Frank will be missed and the ddeocrats are taking a big hit by letting him go.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Justine Lockhart
    Period 4
    NC legislature will come back into session Sunday
    News Observer
    Date: 11/26/11
    http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/26/1672806/nc-legislature-will-come-back.html

    On Sunday the North Carolina General Assembly is scheduled to come in session for the possible repeal of two new bills. The first one is the death penalty law, in which a letter to repeal this law was signed by 43 of the 44 state's elected district attorneys. The second one is a gasoline tax bill, the gasoline tax is currently 35 cents, but because of the higher wholesale prices, the Legislature expects it to be raised to 39 cents. These two bills are on the list of items the lawmakers to be taken up in the mini-session that is supposed to occur on Sunday. In this years legislative agenda, a once in a decade event will occur to redraw the boundaries of the districts. This is the reason the legislators need to make repeated trips to Raleigh.
    I think it's cool to be informed about the legislative branch and the bills that possibly will be repealed. After learning about it in class, I realized how complicated and interesting the lawmaking process is, it's cool to see an article about this subject. However I disagree with death penalty personally, so hopefully that bill with either be replaced or killed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gabrielle Pura/ period 4
    Title: Perdue says lawmakers need to fund extra days
    Author: N/A / Dec. 1, 2011
    Source: charlotteobserver.com
    http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/01/2817961/nc-school-board-to-vote-on-5-more.html

    Since the summer of this year, the NC School Board planned to extend North Carolina public schools by five days for the 2012- 2013 school year. There have been complications towards this, with questions including if lengthening the school year by five days will actually be effective. In addition, the budget would be a major concern. With five extra days, they would have to pay more for school bus fuel. In relation to the General Assembly, the General Assembly gave power to the state school board to make adjustments in June. Today, Governor Perdue has asked the state school board that they postpone their decisions due to waiting for a majority opinion from school districts. She stated that the process should be held up pending action from the legislature. State school board Chairman Bill Harrison has also planned to be involved with the legislators by hoping to meet them before they resume their decisions in February.
    On another article from The Charlotte Observer, comments towards the article include a majority of teachers and students focusing on the effectiveness of adding five days. I would agree with those who commented about the unsure outcome from this plan. In some classes, time is just wasted and if this is how the five days are spent, then a lot of money and valuable training time for the teachers have been wasted. If the state school board ended up adjusting the school calendar, then I think that they should just extend the length of a school day. If part of the school board’s goal to lengthen the school year is because of wanting more time in preparing student’s for their final exam, it would be futile to include some of the extra five days after the exams. This NC school plan is not the worst idea though since it could have its benefits for the student’s. Governor Perdue’s decision on delaying the NC school board on this topic was a smart move. More time would be helpful for not only the school board, but for NC school districts too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Charles Wang / 4th Period
    Republican leaders shifting stance on payroll tax cut
    By Tom Cohen / December 1, 2011
    Cnn.com / http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/01/politics/congress-payroll-tax-cut/index.html
    The Republicans have agreed with the Democrats that extending the payroll tax cut will help the economy. However, they are still divided on what to cut for the money. There will be a vote on Friday to extend the tax cut that will expire at the end of the year. This will target the richer people who earn upwards of $1 million in income. The Republicans oppose the tax increase however, and want to cut federal jobs and increase Medicare costs for richer people. They are now arguing on how to raise the money instead of whether or not to do it. They are both planning to target the very wealthy people who have incomes of $1 million and higher. This will let the middle and lower class live better without an additional tax imposed on them.
    I feel that they should just agree on something already. The Super Committee did not work out because all the people have different view on things. I think that they are going in the right direction of targeting the highest 1% of people in the United States because they earn like five times what a normal family earns. There are also ways for them to try to get out of the tax such as putting their money in other accounts in other countries. There is one question that I would like to ask the senators because they seem to not make up their mind. Why don’t think just hurry up and agree on a compromise. I think that the country is more important than their personal disagreements that they would earn a bit less money.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Annie Wilcosky/ Period 4
    Senate Approves $662 Billion Defense Bill/ The Associated Press
    NPR
    December 1, 2012
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=143029733

    This Thursday, the Senate approved a defense bill that would require the military to hold suspected terrorists, including those captured on U.S. Soil. This bill would increase the role of the military in dealing with terror suspects, and lessen that of the president. The Senate approved the bill with an overwhelming majority (93-7), but the president has threatened to veto it. The bill authorizes money for military personnel, weapons systems, national security programs, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The legislation requires military custody of suspected members of al-Qaida or its affiliates who have been involved in terrorism (excluding U.S. citizens), and would allow the government to hold an individual indefinitely without a trial (possibly including citizens). Civil rights group fiercely oppose the bill, and there is concern that U.S. citizens could be held indefinitely, thereby testing citizens' rights as addressed by the Constitution.

    Although this bill could aid against terror, it has some negative aspects; the idea of indefinite confinement with trial seems completely unfair and unreasonable to me, and I do not believe that we should utilize it. Also, the U.S. has spent an exorbitant amount of money on the war, and this $662 billion will only help to perpetuate our conflicts and involvement in the Middle East. The bill is about our policy of dealing with terrorists, but it includes an enormous sum that will be directed into weapons systems and the wars. I'm also surprised that the bill passed with such a high vote, as Congress is having so much trouble being productive these days. This article also mentioned a bill backing sanctions on Iran due to fear of its nuclear weapons program; the vote was 100-0, which seems incredible. I'm glad that some things are able to move along in the Senate, and that we are making some progress with compromises.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Shelby Casabura
    4th Period
    Shelby Casabura
    4th Period
    By Jeff Engelhardt, Daily Chronicle
    December 1, 2011
    http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2011/11/30/horse-butchering-for-food-gets-johnsons-pritchards-nod/al8fphw/


    Congress’ decided to lift a 5-year ban on funding horse meat inspections which now allows horse slaughterhouses to begin again. DeKalb was the last plant in Illinois before it closed in 2007. Illinois became the second state to ban the practice when so in 2007. State Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Hinckley opposed the ban and said producing horse meat for countries around the world is an economic institution for the area. Congress in 2006 stopped funding for horse meat inspections. Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill signed into law Nov. 18 which is supposed to help government stay balanced until December. Slaughterhouses could open in Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota or Wyoming in 30 to 90 days with state approvals they could slaughter up to 200,000 horses a year. Most of the meat would be shipped to countries in Europe and Asia, including France and Japan.

    My opinion is that horse slaughter is gross and unneeded in our country since we don’t eat it. Also most of the reason this was passed is to keep the government balanced because of tax cuts.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hannah Hodge
    Period 4
    Congress bickers toward compromise on extending payroll tax cut and long-term jobless benefits
    Washington Post
    Date: 12/1/11
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/ap-sources-house-gop-drafting-bill-to-extend-unemployment-benefits-as-well-as-payroll-tax/2011/12/01/gIQAnJS4GO_story.html

    Congress is, once again, caught in a fight that seems to be halting our government’s effectiveness. The issue at hand is the job crisis. Republicans and Democrats have been arguing over the best approach to this issue for a good while now. As the year comes to a close, the Senate is trying to wrap up some bills and get bills that have already been passed by the House, finished and signed. However, to know one’s surprise, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats have so far been unable to reach a compromise concerning the job crisis. With the National unemployment rate at 9%, it has become a question that is in great need of an answer. The democrat’s solution includes increasing taxes for the people in the million-dollar (or above) tax bracket. This typical left wing solution seems reasonable to many people, but the Republicans are very unwilling to agree to this, arguing that those tax brackets are small business owners. Without the promise of a solution anytime soon, there’s concern about funding for unemployment benefits and Medicare costs. Hopefully, between the Whitehouse, the Democrats and the Republicans, there can be a plan set into motion that can help the people instead of the Senators’ reputations.

    Every time I turn on the news or hear about politics, I hear about a legislative branch that has proved itself inadequate and ineffective in the last year. I’m disappointed that our elected leaders are unable to get past party ideals to find a compromise that could actually get something done. Compromise is a skill that most people learn in elementary school. Children are able to learn at a very young age that if neither of two arguing parties concedes at all, nothing will get done. There must be something in the D.C. water that is forcing our Senators to lose this skill. I think that neither plan is ideal but if there was collaboration, we could make a dent in this issue. The Republicans have said that those million-dollar tax brackets are small business owners. I find it hard to think that in this economy small businesses are thriving. We need to put more of the tax burdens on the wealthy and create a plan that will increase benefits and jobs. It seems to me that Congress is playing tug of war with each other, moving back and forth, both unrelenting but ultimately not moving anywhere. I hope Congress proves me wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Caroline Stanton
    12/1/11
    Senate approves $662 billion defense bill
    Author: N/A
    msnbc
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45517917/ns/politics-capitol_hill/#.TthGYFa1Zdg

    On Thursday, the senate approved a bill costing about $662 billion defense bill. Although, the cost of the bill is $27 billion cheaper than the one that President Barack Obama had proposed. The bill is to require that the U.S. Military hold suspected terrorists, even ones on U.S. Soil. The bill is also stating that it will be authorizing money for the military, weapons, and national security departments. The senate originally had a vote of 93 to 7, but after concerns were made about the enemies developing nuclear weapons the vote was 100 to 0. Of course the bill still needs to pass through the house and then to the President whom has already threatened to veto this.

    This article fits well with what we are discussing in class because it is about a bill being passed through legislation. We talked about how you can add things to the bill on the floor which is what happened here and drastically changed the vote. This bill is not done with its process yet because it still faces house arguments and changes as well as possible presidential veto.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Connor Smith
    Period 4
    12-2-11
    Congress looking at lawmakers insider trading
    WRAL
    Larry Margasak
    http://www.wral.com/news/political/story/10442816/

    It has recently come to the attention of Congress that many congressmen have attempted to increase support by participating in insider trading. This issue has been brought to the light as a result of a CBS 60 minutes story that suggested that insider trading was completely legal for members of Congress. A House memo was sent essentially to refute these claims, and to lobby for a bill to make insider trading illegal. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., has tried to introduce her bill outlining the same principles many times in the past, though it was met with little support. Now, with the controversy fueling current debates, the bill may have a chance.

    I think that passing this bill would be a great step in eradicating the possibility of corruption in the senate. It is ridiculous to think that insider trading should be legal in Congress. I hope that the bill passes, these loopholes in our law system should be closed as quickly as possible. The notion that lawmakers should be permitted to do something that is illegal in most factions of society epitomizes the hypocrisy of modern politicians.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Garrett Young-Wright
    Period 4
    Plans to extend tax break fail
    News and Observer
    Date: 12/2/11
    http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/02/1684670/plans-to-extend-tax-break-fail.html

    The Senate said "no" to thoughts of extending a tax break that is temporarily in place for American workers. Most Democratic leaders voted for the democratic proposal as expected. But many of the Republican leaders surprisingly voted against their party's proposal. President Obama has been arguing with people of legislative branch over the break. The tax break, which reduced the payroll tax by about 2 percent, is scheduled to expire December 31.

    I think that the tax break should be allowed to expire. The government obviously needs the extra money to pay off all the debt that we're in and it would be hard to pay for more tax breaks. If Americans payed a little more tax and a bit more on their paycheck that we can try to dig out of the immense debt and challenges that we are faced with.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Eli Grobin
    Period 4
    House votes to cap state gas tax
    https://sites.google.com/a/chccs.k12.nc.us/ms-logan-s-class/
    By Bruce Sliceoff

    This article talks about how the house voted to cap the sales tax on gasoline. The tax is currently determined on a sliding scale based off of the price of crude oil. This bill would make people pay less for gas at the pump but it would also cause people to buy more gas and lose the state money. This senate has not yet voted on this bill.
    I think this is a terrible bill. Gas taxes are already incredibly low in North Carolina when compared to other countries. The state also needs money in this time of economic hardship and I think that this bill will do more harm than good. It also shows how when one chamber thinks something is good it might not happen even if thats the general feeling. Another flaw of our legislative system.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Desaree’ Johnson
    Pd 4
    35 New State Laws Take Effect Today
    Gary D. Robertson
    News&Observer December 1, 2011
    http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/01/1681789/35-new-laws-take-effect-today.html



    Along with 35 other criminal laws made this year, the fetal protection law will go into action today. An example of one of these laws is a pregnant woman can file charges against one who attacked her. If the unborn baby was killed or born with a severe injury or premature, the defendant can be sentenced to a life in prison. People have been waiting for this to be made into a law for decades. The people who have wanted this law passed are extremely excited for the fact that finally consequences can be given to people who hurt unborn children and women bearing those children. More laws were passed simply about self protection and rights to the people.

    These passed laws seem very beneficial to the community. I think this law is very important because many crimes harming unborn babies have been done with no charges being put on them. I am happy to see all these laws be put in place. Now there are more laws to protect people because a lot of crimes harming other people have happened. Now this can be stopped!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Laura Buczek
    4th Period
    12/2/11
    Corzine on MF Global
    BBC News
    Author: N/A
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16009074

    Mr.Corzine is the ex-senator for New Jersey and will now have to testify before Congress under oath, because it is estimated that about 1.2 billion is missing from his MF Global’s accounts. According to the article “MF Global was the first US casualty of the eurozone debt crisis.” MF global is headed my Mr.Corzine and has made multi million dollar bets on eurozone debt. Mr.Corzine resigned from the company on November 4th this year and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcies after making bets on the European sovereign debt.
    I don’t really have a specific opinion on this issue because I feel that I don’t understand enough about both topics in order to. I don’t know about the eurozone debt crisis but the article is very convincing towards the belief that the testimony should happen. The article states that the testimony is “essential to fulfill our objectives” said by the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. I think that anything to do with bankruptcy should be investigated, as the article suggests. This relates to the legislative branch because Senators and the House are both heavily involved.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Casey Mickunas
    4th Period
    12//1
    Congress looking at lawmakers insider trading
    WRAL
    Larry Margasak
    http://www.wral.com/news/political/story/10442816/

    It has recently come to the attention of Congress that many
    congressmen have attempted to increase support by participating in
    insider trading. This issue has been brought to our attention in a CBS
    60 minutes story that suggested that insider trading was completely
    legal for members of Congress. A House memo was sent essentially to
    refute these claims, and to lobby for a bill to make insider trading
    illegal. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., has tried to introduce her
    bill outlining the same principles many times in the past, though it
    was met with little support. Now, with the controversy fueling current
    debates, the bill may have a chance.

    I think that passing this bill should have been done a long time ago.
    Insider trading is wrong as should be percieved as corrupt politics.I
    feel that insider trading is wrong as should be made illegal for all
    people, including the House and Senate.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Danielle Bailey
    Period 4
    12-2-11
    Senate Declines to Clarify Rights of American Qaeda Suspects Arrested in U.S.
    The New York Times
    Charlie Savage
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/us/senate-declines-to-resolve-issue-of-american-qaeda-suspects-arrested-in-us.html?_r=1&ref=congress

    The Senate on Thursday decided to leave unanswered a momentous question about constitutional rights in the war against Al Qaeda: whether government officials have the power to arrest people inside the United States and hold them in military custody indefinitely and without a trial.After a passionate debate over a detainee-related provision in a major defense bill, the lawmakers decided not to make clearer the current law about the rights of Americans suspected of being terrorists. Instead, they voted 99 to 1 to say the bill does not affect “existing law” about people arrested inside the United States.

    I think that this was going to be a very confusing law to pass. I don't think someone should be labeled just cause where they came from. Everyone should be able to have a trial, but there saying that they could be held in military jail without trial. I think that's messed up because everyone should be treated fairly and get the same treatment as everyone else, and not be labeled by what there country has done, and how they've portrayed themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Marc O.

    Kildee accused of sex abuse, alleged victim talks to TV5
    By Julien Novog-Desrayaud, Nov. 27th, 2011
    http://www.wnem.com/story/16088148/congressman-dale-kildee-accusations?hpt=po_bn6

    Dale Kildee, who has been a congressman in Michigan for 34 years, is accused of sexually
    abusing a family member about 50 years ago. Patrick Kildee, Dale’s second cousin, accused him
    of sexually abusing him on multiple occasions when he was 15. Years later, Dale apologized
    to Patrick during a car ride. Patrick was about to forgive him when Dale told him that Patrick
    was coming on to him so it was mutual. Patrick then got out of the car and left. Dale Kildee
    continually declines allegations and refuses to be interviewed.

    This article caught my eye because this must be about the tenth accusation of sexual abuse that
    I have seen in the past. There is of course the big one involving Jerry Sandusky but this one is
    only the second one that I have seen outside of sports. And of course, this article has to do with
    the Legislative branch because it involves a congressman!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Nakeisha R. /4th

    Additional budget cuts could force House committees to lay off staffers/ Debbie Siegelbaum

    The Hill/ 11/30/11

    http://thehill.com/homenews/house/196345-additional-budget-cuts-could-force-house-committees-to-lay-off-staffers

    The house has approved the fiscal year 2012 Legislative Branch Appropriation Bill that is cutting 6.4 percent of leadership, committee and personal office budget. On Wednesday, the house of Committee had a public hearing from different members of the committee and some agreed with the cuts and other disagreed knowing it can affects them when the bill comes. Committee Chairman John Kline stated “I have serious concerns that additional cuts could threaten our ability to conduct rigorous oversight while carrying out our legislative responsibility.” The Different House committees could be affected by the additional budget cuts. Some of the staffs make be laid off, eliminating position, and ability to attract and keep qualified staffers if the new budget cuts are made.
    House Administration Committee Chairman Dan Lungren was excited about the cuts because it showed the committee is working hard and wants a more fiscal environment. This relates to what we talk about in class with the Legislative Branch and the right the committees have with the bills that are trying to be a law. The Committee should be happy because they still have a good and make good money; it makes no sense why they are getting mad because they need to visit the people that barely getting by day to day and maybe they will stop complaining.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Sean Dawson
    4th period
    11-30-11
    newsandobserver.com
    “Legislation would let all breweries hold tastings, sales” by John Frank
    http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/30/1679600/law-boosts-states-pre-eminence.html

    In North Carolina, beer is very important to many residents. There has been a small change in the alcohol laws for the state. The legislation before Bev Perdue is trying to get other big brewing companies in Western North Carolina, such as Sierra Nevada and New Belgium. The local bar managers and people agree with this. They say that having a wider variety in their alcohol selection can only attract more customers. This is part of the House bill 796 and the legislature has approved it. If this law is passed, it will make all breweries in North Carolina give tastings for any type of their beer. This also applies to beers that are not brewed in North Carolina.
    I have no preference to this law, as I am not old enough to make that decision yet. Since the people are happy, then I feel the same about it. I work at a restaurant with a bar, and I’m sure this would attract more people. The only thing I could see going wrong is people taking advantage of the tastings and just getting them for free. It should work out well though.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Maddie Mesaros

    Period 4

    Title: Obama, Democrats begin push to expand payroll tax holiday

    Author: Aamer Madhani

    Source: USA Today

    Date: 11/28/2011

    URL: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/11/obama-democrats-begin-push-
    to-extend-payroll-tax-holiday/1?loc=interstitialskip

    President Obama will soon begin his push for Congress to halve payroll taxes for most workers. This
    would be paid for by taxing the harder working Americans more. Senate Democrats are voting later this
    week to cut payroll taxes next year for most workers. Democrats are predicting their plan to be blocked
    by Republicans voting against it. Senator Jon Kyl, Representative from Arizona said on Fox News that he
    would oppose the payroll tax. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said "But what they seem not to
    believe is that millionaires and billionaires ought to pay a little extra in order to -- in order to ensure that
    middle class Americans get a payroll tax cut."

    I disagree with the whole article. First off, they make Republicans seem like evil people that
    don’t want America to be peaceful. Second, this article makes Democrats seem perfect when in reality
    neither party is perfect. I don’t think the tax is reasonable. Maybe taxing celebrities a little more since
    most have so much money they won’t even notice the difference; but taxing hard working Americans
    that earn their money fairly? That’s definitely not okay. My dad works hard almost every day out of
    the year but if this tax happens his small business will be affected and he might be put into the
    population of people without jobs.

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