Republicans rewriting state election laws in ways that could hurt Democrats

Summary: The Democratic leaders are upset with the Republican leaders who are trying to make it harder for everyone to vote. The Republicans are trying to pass new laws – which would require proof of a valid photo ID at the voting booths. A certain percentage of the Democratic Party does not have valid government-issued photo ID. This would reduce the amount of qualified democratic voters; which could potentially have a toll on the outcome of the election.

Analysis: This is unfair because the percentage of democrats whom do not have valid photo identification cannot afford it. The Republicans claim that they are trying to “prevent voter fraud and make elections more fair”. However, there doesn’t seem to be many cases of and fact of voter fraud to support their objective. This is a good example of how one party is trying to get ahead of the other party.

Perry's Social Security Take: Boon For RIvals, Bane For Party

Last week’s Republican debate proved that Social Security is going to be a major topic of controversy throughout the 2012 election. Governor Rick Perry, Republican front-runner in GOP election, immediately became a target for this particular topic and drew a lot of attention from the media when he referred to the program of Social Security as a “Ponzi Scheme”. The Pew Research center released a recent survey and found that 87 percent of Republicans think Social Security has been a good program for the U.S. The Center next found that most Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to be left alone and are in favor of “reducing federal budgets”. Governor Perry’s stance on Social Security has drawn challenges from his fellow candidates including Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. On September 12, 2011, Perry and the other Republican candidates will participate in another debate and again discuss the Social Security issue.

Social Security is a controversial issue right now and there are many opinions on what should happen with the program, and how it will affect us in the long run. This topic has come up increasingly lately due to the debates of the Republican candidates and the over all opinions of candidates running in the coming up election. In the debates, the candidates all voice their opinions about Social Security and one that stands out is Rick Perry. He has called the program a “Ponzi Scheme” and “unconstitutional.” His opinion is one that people and other candidates, like Romney, do not understand. I do not completely agree with what Rick Perry has been saying about the Social Security program in these debates and I believe that he hasn’t even made up his own mind. In the first debate he sounded as if he wanted the program abolished and now he tells Romney that he had no intentions on getting rid of Social Security? Governor Perry is right to a degree; the Social Security system is not completely where it should be and may need a small bit of tweaking. This raises the point though that surveys are showing majority of republicans to not want to see changes with this program. With this said Perry’s statements could either help or hurt him. In my opinion, it was not the best idea to make. By calling social security a “Ponzi Scheme” he made an attack on a major topic of controversy, opposed majority of the people’s opinions, and since he said this he cannot take any of his statements back. Governor Perry, being the front-runner, also makes the Republican Party look bad or get a bad rep due to his attack on opposing this program. This will just lead Democrats to be all over the issue and bring this controversy to the Republican Party, using it against them. This leads us to addressing what needs to be the big change here: “reducing federal budgets” and “funding fixes.” These two things are what majority of the people want, especially republicans. Maybe Perry should make his over all decision and think about the voter’s opinions towards the Social Security issue and present his narrowed down ideals to us in the coming up debate.

In reference to the book Hardball, Rick Perry “hangs a lantern on his problems” when he tries putting the discussion of social security to rest. Click here to read the article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/story/2011-09-11/Rick-Perry-Social-Security/50362610/1

Link to article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/09/13/140427394/perrys-social-security-take-boon-for-opponents-bane-for-party

In the last Republican debate, each candidate had to respond to a question which they were asked. Rick Perry, Governor of Texas and leader in the polls, was criticized and questioned on his beliefs of mandatory vaccinations, and Social Security. Perry claimed, based on the negative response he got from the way he handled the vaccination of girls, he would have handled the situation differently. Michelle Bachmann and Mitt Romney both aimed to create the public to feel uncertainty towards Perry’s ideas. Romney did this by seeing if Perry would stick by his controversial words and ideas about Social Security. Perry spun his situation by clarifying his idea of Social Security. He explained the people that are getting Social Security or paying for it will be covered by the current program. However, he added that the younger age group would have to take responsibly for helping the Untied States in its time of need by paying for this Social Security.

The political debates let the viewers see the ideals of each candidate, as a president how they would function, and how the candidates handle their opponents. The political debates will determine which candidate will be the final Republican candidate by eventually weeding Republicans out of the GOP. In this debate many political strategies were used. Candidate Perry was targeted with many questions of his controversial views. He used spin to be make all viewer see his views as appealing and agreeable. These are extremely important to determine how the candidate will get their points across and overall determine how their ideals will come across to the America people. The person that will come out ahead will be the candidate that knows how to play Hardball.

President Obama Is Called Up To The Plate As Chief Diplomat

President Obama was served a full plate regarding the recent Israel-Egypt clash. As chief diplomat, Obama stepped up to the plate and responded to the challenges that the United States was faced with in result to the recent Middle Eastern instability. One of the things that tested our Chief diplomat was the complicated matter of the upcoming vote for Palestinian statehood in the United Nations. The President responded to this matter with a threat to the UN of vetoing the proposed Palestinian statehood if the vote appeared in front of the United Nations Security Council. Obama being aware that this is the best move for America because if the statehood is granted thru a UN vote, relationships will be altered and thus our position in the Middle East will be altered and we could potentially loose power we currently hold. However, President Obama did make this threat in confidence that the vote would not make it to the United Nations, for if it did the reputation of our country around the world would go down the drain and all eyes would go to us as the ones who vetoed the Palestinian statehood. In addition to the stressful United Nations chaos, Turki al-Faisal stated that his country "would no longer be able to cooperate with America in the same way it historically has" if Palestinian statehood was vetoed by the United States. With the crucial diplomatic factors of our countries position, reputation and source of oil at stake, President Obama and his executives scramble to maintain peace and stability across the world.

Many of our class themes appear in this recent diplomatic uprising. If we narrow in on the presidency and executive aspect, the theme of Hardball politics is inevitable to ignore. The strategies that Chris Matthews states in Hardball are fully seen in action at full speed in the responses of President Obama to the Middle Eastern and United Nations crisis. President Obama's threat to veto the Palestinian statehood is a great example of how Obama has used hardball politics in the recent situation. The rules of the United Nations are set, and the president (who is the player of the game) manipulated the rules in a strategical way in order to succeed in the game. ‘Dance With the One that Brung Ya’ is another hardball aspect that applies to this article. The Middle East ‘brought’ the United States, so it is crucial that we stay loyal to them. The US executives notion of bringing Palestine to statehood is a strategy of our loyalty. However, a manipulation of the ‘rules’ are also being seen here; while the United States maintains loyalty to the Middle East by supporting statehood, we are still making sure America is in the best boat possible by avoiding the UN at all costs and preferring negotiation to reach statehood. Click here for more info on the relationship between the Middle East and the United States. Big time hardball politics is going to be required of Obama when dealing with the threat from Turki al-Faisal. The United States depends on the Middle East for a lot of major important resources. A large amount of America's oil and gas happen to be included in these resources, therefore it is very important for the United States to maintain allies and in cooperation with the Middle East. All of Americas cars, machines etc. run on gas or oil, with a cease of relations with the Middle East, our oil and gas quantity would be severely shifted and could potentially lead to a major American economic crisis.

original article

The Jobs Plan and New Orleans

Summary:

This article talks about how the ideas that President Obama is coming up with to help administration in our country, will not work for New Orleans. Governor Jindal wants to have a better energy sector, and then there would be a better energy environment, which can lead to more jobs. Since Katrina, we have had a better rate of employment, but it is still around 2 percentage points lower than the nation average. The nation itself has lost around 4.5 percent of jobs due to the economy. Michael Hecht thinks that what the nation needs is a better base of jobs that can give people middle class mobility.

Analysis:

Due to the economy, there has been a big increase of unemployment and according to the most recent data; the nation has lost 4.5 percent of jobs. President Obama has a plan to create jobs but Governor Jindal worries that the administration’s plan for jobs might not work in Louisiana. Post Katrina, there has been more need for employment which raised our employment percentage, but it is still low and the rest of the nation is suffering. Jindal thinks that in order for a better employment rate, Washington needs to get the energy sector working again so we can have a better energy environment. This is important because the post- Katrina recovery jobs will not last forever and it is important that before the economy loses money again, there can be a steady base of great jobs. But there is a difference of opinion over how to do this. Governor Jindal, who is a Republican, believes that it is not about government but about the use of the private sector to create jobs. President Obama, who is a democrat, disagrees and believes that the only way employment rate will go up, is to work with the government so that the money people give will be able to eventually help the economy.

Plan to Decrease Murder Rates in the New Orleans Area

Mayor Mitch Landrieu is trying to lower the murder rates in the city of New Orleans. The city of New Orleans has a murder rate that is 10 times more than the national average of murders that occur in one year. Mayor Mitch Landrieu is trying to put this unusually high average to a stop. He is holding a meeting at the UNO Lakefront Arena on Saturday from 10 am – 12 pm. To help with the decrease of the murder rates, Landrieu hired James Carter (former city councilman) to work with police officers to pinpoint what exactly is causing this violence and murder. Landrieu secured $4.2 million to help in the decrease of the murder rates in this city. Landrieu and Carter came together to make it a goal to reduce the murder rate in New Orleans by 5% in only one year (2011). A study that was recently done shows that murderers don’t kill victims because of drugs or alcohol usage, but actually because of arguments that the two people got into in the past. Mayor Mitch Landrieu can most definitely bring the murder and violence rates down in New Orleans, but he needs help from the community as a whole.

This article is about trying to lower the crime rates down in the city of New Orleans. One strategy that Mayor Mitch Landrieu was to take the elections pathway of actions. If he makes the public aware that one of his main goals throughout his term is to decrease the crime and violence rates, then people of the New Orleans area will support his ideas because that is one of the things that community members want. Another thing that comes to mind is the theme of all politics is local. This comes to mind because Landrieu is holding a meeting for the public to attend. The public has a chance to speak up and tell him what their opinions are on the murder rates and how the citizens of New Orleans can come together to make a plan to reduce these problems in their city.

Current Elections 2012

During the second Republican debate, Michele Bachmann attacked Rick Perry on his HPV program in Texas, attempting to damage his reputation and his front runner stance. In the first debate, Bachmann was quiet and didn’t speak up much, but in this debate she got feisty and really gave Perry a run for his money. In 2007, Perry made an executive order that requires Texas school girls to receive vaccinations against the sexually transmitted HPV virus, Bachmann argued that he did this for pure political reasons. Bachmann points out that a big drug company made billions off of the executive order and that “at the time of this executive order Perry's former chief of staff was a top lobbyist for Merck, the manufacturer for the HPV vaccine." The drug company gave thousand of dollars in political donations to the governor," Bachmann said. "And this is just flat-out wrong." The CNN moderator was about to switch the focus to someone else but instead he gave Rick Perry a chance to respond to this attack. "The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them. I raise about $30 million. And if you're saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I'm offended," Perry replied. Bachmann could have kept going on this but decided to let the debate go on. For the rest of the night Perry was trying to defend himself and not let anything get out a hand but in the end he kept his title as front runner.

In the primary phase of a presidential election, it is important to stand out because you are running against people that are very similar to you in your beliefs. In this debate, Representative Bachmann uses the tactic “Spin” from Hardball. In order to make herself stand out she finds out something about Governor Perry---his HPV program---and points out all its flaws. She successfully points out that someone else is making money off of the executive order he signed creating this program and calls attention to it. She also makes giving a vaccine to young girls sound like the government is jabbing needles in your arm and there is nothing you can do about it.

To view a video of the exchange between Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry click here.

"Obama backs off tough clean air regulation"

On September 9, 2011, President Obama decided to back off clean-air standards in order to avoid contributing to unemployment. Republicans didn’t like what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggested for the reason that stricter environmental regulations would slow down job development. The US Labor Department said that in America there were no new jobs created in the month of August. This is a main concern to unemployment, which President Obama is trying to decrease. At first Obama told the EPA to tighten up air regulations, but then he realized that if he did so, the unemployment number will keep rising. If Obama mandates the EPA to tighten up the regulations on clean air, companies will end up spending more money on disposing items correctly. This will result in people being laid off; unemployment. Obama’s main concern is unemployment; he wants to fix it by the end of his presidency and to do so he has to halt the plan to increase clean air standards.

To become president of the United States in 2008, President Obama used Lyndon Johnson’s style of retail politics. American citizens voted for him; using the election pathways, knowing that he would be accountable for all the decision he makes throughout his presidency. According to a daily poll, 39 percent of people strongly disapprove of Obama; his popularity has fallen slowly from 70 percents to now under 50. A large portion of this is due to the unemployment rate staying high. Now American people are taking this issue into their own hands by grassroots pathways; signing petitions, trying to impeach and form marches. Due to this, Obama’s economic adviser Austan Goolsbee stepped down from his position. Obama also needs to remember that all politics is local and for many people around the country the most important local issue is their economic situation not clean air. Obama is now coming to realize that continuing to destroy the economy will destroy his chances for re-election. Obama is now telling the EPA to back off of air regulations. It’s a domino affect; air regulations affect unemployment in a large way, and if the unemployment rate continues to rise it will continue to affect Obama’s chances of winning the next election.

Qualifying Ends with Many Incumbents Getting Free Ride

The fall elections are coming up and there are many people concerned about the politicians in Louisiana that don’t have any opponents in their races. More than half of state senators and 40% of the house members have won their races without competition. One reason is that many of politicians with their own money don’t end up running. Another reason is when running in an election, there are many financial sacrifices you have to make to run and since the economy is not at its best, it is hard to get the money. It is also hard to convince people to run because there are so many tough decisions that they would need to be made. The other reason is because governor Bobby Jindal is so popular and it is hard for Democrats to compete against Republicans when there is a very popular Republican governor. The many concerns of the people are not because of the candidates themselves but because of the health and democracy of the state of Louisiana. If there is no other competition, the candidates will have a free race and the people of Louisiana will not be able to elect the person that they want. Unless that person does something unlawful, the people will not have a say in whether they want that person to be in office anymore because there won’t be another competitor to take their spot.

Analysis

This article is related to the pathway of elections. In order to get elected, politicians need to campaign and get public support. In order to get support and campaign, the politicians need money. Since the economy is low, many of these politicians don’t have the money to run or gain the support. The politicians also have a lot of responsibility when it comes to running in an election. Even if there is no one to run against, politicians have to worry about many things such as the voter’s preferences to help other members of their political party. Even though some politicians don’t have a competitor, they will always have to keep up their innovation because there is no debate or discussion of the issues.

http://www.wwltv.com/news/politics/Qualifying-Ends-Many-Incumbents-Get-Free-Ride-129560608.html