The Supreme Court decided to ease the restrictions on corporate, union, and non-profit campaign spending. I feel that this is doing nothing but going against what America is meant to be: a place where everyone has a right to have their voice be heard. Instead, the wealthy and elite are gaining more influence in ways like these. Special interest groups and lobbyists are getting more power in Washington because they can give larger contributions to congressmen. Since money speaks, the wealthy will be more likely to get their way. Meanwhile, the influence of average Americans will decrease because they will be unable to afford to give more funds to favored candidates. This ruling goes against the Federal Election Commission. Monday, January 25, 2010
Coorporate Campaign Spending Increases Allowed By Supreme Court
The Supreme Court decided to ease the restrictions on corporate, union, and non-profit campaign spending. I feel that this is doing nothing but going against what America is meant to be: a place where everyone has a right to have their voice be heard. Instead, the wealthy and elite are gaining more influence in ways like these. Special interest groups and lobbyists are getting more power in Washington because they can give larger contributions to congressmen. Since money speaks, the wealthy will be more likely to get their way. Meanwhile, the influence of average Americans will decrease because they will be unable to afford to give more funds to favored candidates. This ruling goes against the Federal Election Commission. 
Slight Shift in Focus
President Obama feels he needs to slightly change his focus and put more emphasis on jobs and the economy. He has been attempting to do this, but the Democrat's recent defeat in Massachusetts has showed him the necessity of this task. Therefore, the economy will be the main theme of the State of the Union Address that is coming up next week. I believe that this will improve the president's public image but am unsure as to how long this improvement will last. Americans see that the economy must be turned around and I believe they will welcome his new ideas (not to mention they will probably be overjoyed to hear less about the health care plan.)Saturday, January 16, 2010
Republican Massachusetts?
That's right! The impossible may happen in this very liberal state. A special election is being held to fill Edward Kennedy's seat and as of now, the race is deadlocked. This is a truly remarkable phenomena because a Republican has not won a seat in Massachusetts' Senate since 1972 and in 2008, a Obama beat McCain by 26%. However, the effects of Scott Brown (the Republican nominee) winning the Senate seat could not only be an anomaly. It could also give the Republicans enough votes to kill President Obama's healthcare plan.http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/15/massachusetts.senate/index.html
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2010/senate_race/
House More Liked Than Senate
Overall, Americans don't have a strong negative or positive feeling about the Health Care Bill. However, over half do approve of some sort of bill and they do seem to approve of the House's bill more than the Senate's. This shows a liberal view because the House's plan would be to tax based on the amount of income one recieves. Since, the House bill is liberal, I believe Obama would agree closely with it and this could improve the images of many Congressman in the House. Since over half of Americans agree with a bill, Congressman can gain support from voters by voting for the bill because they can say, "I worked with the president."
Monday, January 11, 2010
Bad News For Obama
Democrats are likely to loose their majority in the Senate at the end of this year due to retirees and the fact that the president's party often loo
ses seats in the House and Senate at the mid-term elections. Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan have both announced that they will be stepping down at the end of this year. This makes it nearly impossible for Democrats to maintain the majority they need to pass Obama's legislation. Currently, the Democrats have 60 seats which is the minimum amount for passing legislation. If the number drops below 60, Obama's plans are unlikely to pass without major support from minority parties.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/06/senate.power.balance/index.html
http://www.zimbio.com/v05gEZAbmuF/Reid+Pelosi+Senate+Democratic+Leaders+Mark/eOuyHqIWaUZ/James+Clyburn
ses seats in the House and Senate at the mid-term elections. Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan have both announced that they will be stepping down at the end of this year. This makes it nearly impossible for Democrats to maintain the majority they need to pass Obama's legislation. Currently, the Democrats have 60 seats which is the minimum amount for passing legislation. If the number drops below 60, Obama's plans are unlikely to pass without major support from minority parties.http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/06/senate.power.balance/index.html
http://www.zimbio.com/v05gEZAbmuF/Reid+Pelosi+Senate+Democratic+Leaders+Mark/eOuyHqIWaUZ/James+Clyburn
We could be seeing even more adds about candidates this year during the Super Bowl and leading up to election season. The Supreme Court is considering allowing unions and large corporations to pour money into elections. I believe this is going against what America has become to be known as. This can be seen because the Tillman Act and McCain-Feingold Act were put in place to control campaign spending and make every voice equally heard. All people are supposed to be able to make their opinion known equally regardless of the amount of money they have. If this law passes, then certain groups of people would be disproportionally heard. This would lead to our country being controlled by a small group of people even more so than it is now. Saturday, January 9, 2010
Improving Obama's Image?
Throughout Obama's campaign he promised immigrant reform would be a priority. However, this has been sidelined because of the health care bill. But now this issue is coming up again; likely because Obama needs improved public relations in order to get his agenda passed. The newest proposal involves legalizing 11 million immigrants. This would increase consumption, raise wages, create new jobs, and generate more taxes. All of these things would also help the economy and improve President Obama's image even more. I am not sure I agree with legalizing this many immigrants but I am pretty sure that it may lead to Obama's approval by many minorities in out nation.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/07/immigration.economy/index.html
Salazar Will Not Leave His Post
Senator Ken Salazar announced that he will not run for Colorado governor. He will remain in Washington instead. Even though I believe Salazar would make a fine governor I am gald with his decision for the same reason he is. When asked why he made this decision he said he wanted to do his job as Secretary of the Interior so he can implement Obama's plan for clean energy and a protected environment.
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