J1

With recent mass shootings there has been a heated debate on gun control laws- just this week the Senate failed to pass a law for background checks. Senator Dianne Feinstein led the push for the assault weapons ban in 1994 and has tried to gain support to bring it back. She has not had much luck in getting fellow democrats to help and said that a huge change from 1994 to now was that the NRA is much more powerful and influential, making it harder to pass any new gun laws.

What are a few things the NRA can do to influence the public and senators? What makes them so powerful?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/us/politics/for-feinstein-gun-control-measures-defeat-was-personal.html?hpw

H6

1) Judicial review is the court's power to determine if acts of Congress and the Executive branch are Constitutional.
2) Judicial review gives the Supreme Court power over the Legislative and Executive branch because it checks up on them by making sure they are following the laws of the land and it is balanced because this does not give the Court the power to make or pass legislation.
3) A writ of certiorari is an order a higher court issues in order to review the decision and proceedings in a lower court and determine whether there were any irregularities. The Supreme Court issues a writ of certiorari when they are deciding whether or not to take the case.
4) Justices rely heavily on previous decisions and if a lower court has reached a stare decisis, meaning "let the decision stand", a Justice could decide to uphold that. Judicial activism is a judicial philosophy in which judges make bold policy decisions, emphasizing that courts can correct pressing needs. If a justice sees that the people are lacking essential legislation, they could use judicial activism to change that.

H3

1.
a) Three characteristics of Supreme Court nominees are ethical behavior, competence, and partisanship.
b) All three characteristics listed above are politically relevant because Supreme Court Justices serve for life and everything they do reflects somewhat on the president who nominated them. Presidents have to be very careful in their nominations because it lasts a lifetime.
c) Elena Kagan proved to Obama that she had ethical behavior because of her former job as Dean of Harvard Law school, he also knew she was competent because of her work as Solicitor General and she was a left-leaning lawyer.
2.
a) Interest groups with ideologies different from Kagan's voiced them to the public and raised money by doing so. Interest groups in favor of Kagan's confirmation made ads that supported her while bringing to light  their agenda.
b) The website of NARAL Pro-choice America told it's followers to urge senators to look into Kagan's stance on Roe v. Wade which influence liberal senators to vote for her confirmation. The Judicial Crisis Network used social networks, which senators have access to, to get the word out about Kagan's extreme left-wing views.
c) Elena Kagan would be one of three women Justices on the Supreme Court which liberal interest groups who specifically work for women's rights would bring to light and help push for her confirmation.

H1

1) Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic justice and third female justice to serve on the US Supreme Court.
2) She is very liberal in her rulings and stands up for inequality in the court system. (While cross-examining the defendant, who was implicated in a drug deal but said he didn't know that that's what was going to happen in his friends' hotel, the prosecutor said: "You've got African-Americans, you've got Hispanics, you've got a bag full of money. Does that tell you--a light bulb doesn't go off in your head and say, 'This is a drug deal?'")
3) Sonia takes cases involving minorities, like the case of the Voting Rights Act.

G15

(a) A balanced budget is a budget with equal revenues and expenditures.
(b) Federal entitlements are guaranteed benefits for people who meet requirements.
(c) One entitlement is social security. Because it is guaranteed no matter how large our governments debt is they have to provide this entitlement, which puts us in more debt because we spend even more money that we don't have. This puts a barrier on the federal government achieving a balanced budget because entitlements make us spend more than we have.
(d) A consequence of a large budget deficit is that we won't have money for government funded programs that are not entitlements.
(e) The GDP for 2013 is 16,335, it is projected we will spend 3808 billion dollars and take in 2902 billion making the deficit 901 billion. In 2012 our revenue was 2469 bil. and we spent 3769 bil. making the defecit 1327. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/tables.pdf

(f) Our nations total nation debt is about $16,532,994,976,487 and counting. http://www.usdebtclock.org/

G12

Substance: The POTUS had a lot to say tonight. Among those things, I felt he mostly stressed 3 things: Medicare, creating new jobs and climate change. He emphasized that he would accept reforms for medicare but would not take away the right of the elderly receiving proper and fair care. Although Medicare focuses on the elderly, Obama was able to connect it to "the children" (which is always a crowed favorite), and recognize that if we create a strong, stable system now then children now will have a promising future when it comes to health care. The POTUS also put emphasis on new jobs. Not only did he announce that big companies such as Ford and Apple were bringing jobs back to the US from foreign nations but also that he wants to create new jobs. He discussed climate change and brought up the fact that recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy and the many wild fires, are not coincidences  There is hard evidence that there is a cause and we can either ignore it or make it stop. He went on to press that in becoming a more climate-aware nation we could create many, many jobs in the clean energy sector. Benefiting our economy and earth.
Style: Obama is famous for his hand gestures, which were of no lack tonight. He uses his hands to animate conflicting subjects and stress the importance of change but also to recognize progress. I noticed he used the word "our" when describing the nation and government, making him seem more approachable and show that he does not think everything is about him. He used long pauses to create a dramatic effect and leave an impression. He phrased things in ways that didn't show bipartisanship, like when he talked about climate change he never said "global warming", a term disliked by many republicans.
Response: The POTUS received many standing ovations and it was interesting to see the way Joe Biden and John Boehner reacted to what he was saying because they were both directly behind him. There were many times when Biden would be on his feet applauding and Boehner just sat there, emotionless. The camera focused in on many different Congress people, a lot of whom were Republicans and most of their faces, not surprisingly  were also emotionless, like Boehner's. The camera also showed Harry Reed, Senate Majority Leader and the FLOTUS with her guest, the mother of a teenager who had been a victim of gun violence in Chicago. The camera also showed Guests like Tim Cooke, the CEO of Apple, who was all smiles after Obama said Apple would be making Macs in the U.S. once again.

G10

1. What seems to be the most important to the president is Social Security and Health Care. He is probably most concerned with these policy areas because Congress is so split on how they should be handled and Obama wants to stress the importance and highlight how much it would benefit the people to put the most money in social security and health.
2. The most notable changes in spending are Social Security and Medicare. Taking care of people's future seems to be of greater need now more than ever. With millions of troops returning home we won't need to spend as much money on the military and can use the money for the populations well being instead.
3. Congress will most likely oppose the spending cuts to the Agriculture Department and Defense Department, which Republicans (who hold the majority in Congress) are generally against. Congress will also not be happy about the estimated $901 billion dollar deficit.

G9

1. If I were given the job to reduce the budget deficit I would cut spending and raise taxes. I would cut spending in areas such as research for nuclear weapons and raise taxes on aotumatic gun sales. I would try to reduce the number of troops in foreign wars and give them jobs at home, reducing spending for the military and boosting the economy. Raising taxes on gun sales would hopefully decrease the amount that are bought and also help boost the economy. I think it is important to protect  programs that benefit a large portion of our country, like Planned Parenthood.

2. I wasnt able to cut enough spending or raise enough taxes to succesfully balance the deficit. I was a little confused on whether I was cutting or selecting proposals to be put in action.

G7

1. (a) Two reasons Congress gives agencies policy-making discretion in executing federal laws are 1) The people who work for an agency usually specialize in the area they work in and are much more knowledgeable on how laws should be carried out in that area than Congress is and 2) Congress does not have the time to look closely at each agency and the problems they come upon because there are so fewer Congressmen and women than there are bureaucratic agents.
1. (b) "It is up to the highway patrol officer who stops you yo choose whether to issue you a warning or a ticket (488)."
2. (a) The EPA makes regulations on  pollution. The FCC makes laws and regulations on media and communications.The FRB make laws and regulations on banking.
2. (b) The EPA regulates air emissions under the Clean Air Act. The FCC gives licenses to media owners. The FRB decides which banks it works with.
3. (a) Congress can take money away from tge agency or investigate the agency to ensure that agencies follow legislative intent.

G4

1. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/us/politics/obama-issues-call-for-immigration-overhaul.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hpw)

2. On Tuesday (Jan. 29) President Obama voiced his efforts to a group of Las Vegas high school students, most of whom were Hispanic, towards new immigration policies. Even though Congress is still debating on what should be implemented, they are ferociously working to agree on immigration laws that will benefit both "old" and "new" Americans.

3. A formal, enumerated power of the President is has to address Congress with a State of The Union, a speech on what policies he would like to focus on and which are most important. In the upcoming State of The Union address, President Obama could/most likely will put a strong emphasis on immigration laws, highlighting the importance of that policy.

4. An informal power of the president is that he is extremely popular and admired among the American people. Because he has the support of so many Hispanic voters he will be able to show Congress that new immigration laws are important to the people.

G2

A) Two formal constitutional powers of the President in making foreign policy are that the president has the power to nominate ambassadors and make treaties with other nations.
B) Two formal constitutional powers of Congress in making foreign policy is that they have the power to declare war and a majority in the Senate confirms the appointments of ambassadors.
C) Two informal powers that the President has over Congress in making foreign policy are: the president is the most well known/associated with the U.S. which influences how other countries view the U.S. They pay more attention to what the president says and the president can make executive agreements; informal treaties with other heads of countries.
D) Being the face of a nation gives you a lot of power. The president has this power, where even in our own country people are more influenced by and pay more attention to the president than congressmen and women. The power the president has of making executive agreements gives him power over congress because it isnt like a treatie which has to be approved by the senate.

Amendments and Questions

For Rep. Courtney- Amendment: In section VIII (b) replace the words "$17.6 billion" with "$17.6 million". Question: Would you consider providing larger tax incentives for small businesses?
For Rep. Sorensen- Amendment: In Section 5 add the actual plans of the Act. Question: The problem with sorting after everything has been thrown away together is that recyclable materials such as cardboard and paper get contaminated and therefore cant be recycled, could  you make separation mandatory from the start?
For Rep. Irving- Amendment: In Section 4 delete the words "If such an operation is not financially doable". Question: Because so many people depend on the bus how will seat belts be added to buses that are in use now without keeping them from being used for too long?
For Reps. Wangjor and Lin- Amendment: In section 5(a(1)) delete the word "enforce better teacher performance" because you are only providing an incentive to improve student performance, not making it mandatory and the focus is on the students improvement. Question: Wouldn't it make more sense to make the bill effective the beginning of a new school year after the president signs it?
For Reps. Merricks, Schulman, and Brenig-Amendment: In section 6 (a) replace the words "each state" with "'each company" because it makes more sense to carpool to the same place. Question: One issue with wind farms is that there are often long periods of little to no no wind, would you consider putting the mills in the ocean where there is undoubtedly more wind than on land?
For Rep. Carter- Amendment: In section 3 replace the words "having the right to continue high school" with "having the right to an education and completing high school." Question: Isn't it illegal to not pay someone for labor? Change the Academic Probation from receiving no pay to limiting the amount of work hours per week.
For Rep. Davis- Amendment: In Section 4 delete part (c) and just focus the bill on fracking. Question: Are there any safe ways of retrieving natural gas and if so could you propose an alternative method to fracking?
For Rep. Angle-Davis- In Amendment: Section 4 (2) replace the word "pediatricians" with "free clinics". Can a girl who did not get a shot in sixth grade get one in seventh or beyond, or will it be mandatory in sixth?
For Rep. Edwards- Amendment: In section 4 (b(5)) replace the words "are going to be placed" with "shall be placed". Question: You define child pornography in section 4, shouldn't you define it in the definition section?
For Rep. Lee- Amendment: In section 6 add the words "and all cases after the president signs this bill into law" to "This bill will be applied to all cases being presided over currently." Question: Because you state "This act requires the judge to formally view and interpret all evidence in both a civil and criminal case." shouldn't you define "evidence"?
For Rep. Devine- Amendment: In Section 5 (1), change “viewing” to “witnessing”. Question: Could you allow for three citations that would have smaller fines and after they litter a fourth time have to pay a $5,000 fine?
For Rep. Holland- Amendment: Define “tipping” from Section 2 number 3. Question: Because the cost of disposal takes bag volume into consideration could you establish new guidelines for trash bag companies, such as how big they can make their bags?

For Rep. Murphy- Amendment: In Section 4 (a) replace the words “7.8 grams of wood alcohol” with "5 grams of wood alcohol". Question:  In order to minimize states setting too small of a sales tax on products containing a legal amount of aspartame could you establish a minimum sales tax states can use?
For Rep. Shaffery- Amendment: In Section 4 (2) replace the words "there shall be the same age restriction, 18 and older" with "no one under the age of 18 shall be permitted to buy or sell guns." In Section 5 (b) what is the purpose of creating The Committee of Wind Energy?

F6

I. The Problem
Guns in the U.S. have become a huge issue, especially over the past year. There are over 300 million guns in the hands of civilians and at the rate they are being produced there will be more guns than people in the U.S. in 2018. There were sixteen mass shootings in 2012 in the U.S. (http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-dead#) and the only way to prevent more from happening in the future is to ban assault weapons, restrict ammunition and put tighter laws on guns for the use of hunting and sporting.
II. Existing laws
The Second Amendment gives the right to bare arms.
-In District of Columbia vs. Heller the court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm; unconnected to service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. 
-In McDonald vs. Chicago the court ruled that the Second Amendment limits state and local governments to the same extent that it limits the federal government.
-Under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, assault weapons were banned in the US, but the act was not renewed in 2004
III. Proposal
I propose that there first be a nation wide buy back of all assault weapons and ammunition (otherwise a law won't make a difference since the guns would still be out there). Next, all assault weapons would be banned, if there are no assault weapons then no one would need one to protect themselves from someone else with one. There would also be a restriction on how much ammunition a single person would be allowed to purchase, with the intention to limit the use of fire arms or at least only make it possible for there to be ammunition for guns used for hunting and sporting. If an individual wants to have guns for the purpose of hunting or sporting they must keep the  guns locked at a shooting range or other gun sporting club while not in use. If they wish to keep them in their house the ammunition must be kept in a place other than their home.
IV. Committee
Homeland security
V. Sources
http://www.care2.com/causes/5-things-about-guns-the-uk-could-teach-the-us.html
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/mass-shootings-investigation