Judicial Branch

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35813.html  "America doesn't need another liberal judge" REP. Lamar Smith, April 15, 2010





Constitutional Connect:

     


Analysis of the Connection:


              Since Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retired, Pres. Barack Obama has an oppurtunity to replace him with the most liberal judge he can find of the past 35 years with a more mainstream jurist committed to interpreting (not rewriting) the U.S. Constitution. President Barack Obama has already decided that he will fill Stevens' vacancy with someone that has similar qualities. By doing this he will be replacing a liberal justice with another liberal justice. There is nothing that requires a president to think about the political leanings of a departing justice when nominating a replacement. A new liberal justice could lead to future decisions that continue to take away personal property rights, put the Second Amendment's protections in jeopardy, weaken our national security and advance a radical agenda.

              
             A nominee with “similar qualities” to Stevens would likely vote to put restrictions on individual Americans’ Second Amendment right to lawful gun ownership. in past happenings, when the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to strike down the District of Columbia’s prohibition on gun ownership in D.C. v. Heller, Stevens wrote a harsh disconsent concluding, “There is no indication that the Framers of the [Second] Amendment intended to enshrine the common-law right of self-defense in the Constitution.” John Paul Stevens argued that the right to bear arms was only for militias, not individual citizens. Fortunately, the narrow majority in this case disagreed.

             Also Stevens supplied a crucial vote that gave Osama bin Laden’s chauffeur the right to challenge his detention at Guantanamo, and avoid trial before a congressionally created military commission.

The Hamdan opinion which was written by Stevens, expands the judicial branch’s protection of terrorists’ rights and weakens the president’s ability with the help of Congress, to enact national security laws that keep America safe. As our nation continues to face the threat of terrorism, we cannot afford a Supreme Court nominee who would vote to weaken our national security.


            In my opinion, if we get another liberal justice like Stevens, our country will be in even more bad shape than it is now. With the new ideas of another liberal things that congress is trying to surpress can dramatically get passed as laws. By bringing a conservative justice in there migth be a little more caution and thinking before jumping right into action and throwing the traditional laws of the Constitution out of the box. With Stevens gone this an opportunity to either make a very good change or a very bad mistake. I think our President should look more carefully at the facts before making a decison.
             The power of the Executive Branch is vested in the President of the United States, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress and, to that end, appoints the heads of the federal agencies, including the Cabinet. The Vice President is also part of the Executive Branch, ready to assume the Presidency should the need arise. The Cabinet and independent federal agencies are responsible for the day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws. These departments and agencies have missions and responsibilities as widely divergent as those of the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Including members of the armed forces, the Executive Branch employs more than 4 million Americans.

Executive Branch 2

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24033.html  " OPINION: Conservatives rights about nominees" By Christopher L. Eisgruber,  June 23, 2009

Constitutional connection:

           The duties of the Executive Branch is vested in the President of the United States, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress and, to that end, appoints the heads of the federal agencies, including the Cabinet. The Vice President is also part of the Executive Branch, ready to assume the Presidency should the need arise. The Cabinet and independent federal agencies are responsible for the day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws. These departments and agencies have missions and responsibilities as widely divergent as those of the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Including members of the armed forces, the Executive Branch employs more than 4 million Americans.



Analysis of the Connection:

              Executive Branch lawyers Doug Kmiec, Ted Olson and Ken Starr stuck to their principles about executive branch nominations. What Kmiec, Olson and Starr have done is important. In the past few years over nominations to the lower courts and executive branch offices. This trend toward more violent confirmation battles does the country a great deal of harm.  It prevents presidents from forming an effective government, and it discourages good people from serving in public office.

                Nominations to the lower courts and executive branch positions are something altogether different. Lower courts rarely see the politically motivated and unresolved issues that take over the Supreme Court’s docket. Olson Starr and Kmeic agree that if you don’t like an executive branch official, the solution is to vote for the other party in the next presidential election not to destroy of make a riot out of their nomination.

              Personally, I think that these three men are correct indeed. Since the judges and electors have a position to vote people iin or out why not just make it a positive experience and instead of hastling that person just simpily vote for the other party. Since you dont like one candidate or nominee that doesnt mean you cant show respect and just get over your personal feelings for a cause that is way bigger than how you feel. 

Executive Branch 1

Source:  http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/e/earmarks/index.html?scp=8&sq=the%20executive%20branch&st=cse  July 6, 2010




Constitutional Connection:


               The Constitutional duties of the Executive Branch are made within the President of the United States, who also plays a role as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress and, to that end, appoints the heads of the federal agencies, including the Cabinet. The Vice President is also part of the Executive Branch, ready to assume the Presidency should the need arise.

              The Cabinet and independent federal agencies are responsible for the day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws. These departments and agencies have missions and responsibilities as widely divergent as those of the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Including members of the armed forces, the Executive Branch employs more than 4 million Americans.






Analysis of the Connection:


              In December 2007 a bill passes that the use of earmarks could be put on the spending money of  Congress. This would show how cautious congress was on imposing its budget priorities on the executive branch. Earmarking boomed in the last decade, with lobbyists competing for the attention of committee members who control the money. Congress handed out more than $17 billion in awards in fiscal 2008. The budget  passed in December 2007, has earmarks that set aside money for bridges, highways and other public works such as museums, universities and research on topics like grape genetics; bicycle trails and parks; control of agricultural pests like the emerald ash borer beetle; and aid to military contractors producing missiles, munitions, "merino wool boot socks" and many other items used by the armed forces. With this budget cuts it was estimated to represent a 25 percent drop from years before.


              
             By the time 2008 rolled around, earmarks had become majorly bad in politics and were the midpoint in many scandals. Democrats and Republicans began trying to outdo each other in reducing the abuse of earmarks. Democrats taking control over congress since the 2006 elections have taken actions that they say helped bring more transparency and competition to the earmark process, even though outside critics did not always agree. In March 2010, the House leadership banned the use of earmarks.  by forming non-profit corporations under their control to receive new funds.


            Under the new restrictions, not-for-profit institutions like schools and colleges, state and local governments, research groups, social service centers and others are still free to receive earmarks. The new restrictions would still allow the type of award to local governmental agencies that became infamous in 2005 with Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere." And a number of companies responded to the new rules by setting up nonprofits, often at the same mailing address as the company, and sometimes with company executives or relatives on their board of directors. Some members on both sides of the Capitol still defend earmarks, though but more on a hush hush situation. They say earmarks have gotten a bad rap from outside groups and critical colleagues who tend to portray them as poster children for Capitol Hill scandals.




              In my opinion the earmarks would be a good idea if the Democrats and Republicans could get along. If those two parties could get along and work together to make sure no scandals went into play and they both kept an honest outlook on the situation, earmarks could have succeeded.

Legislative Branch 3

Source: "Law makers vow action on abuse report" by Erika Lovely July 13, 2010
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39690.html

Constitutional Connection:
     The role of the Legislative branch is to make the laws discuss them and decipher which ones will come to play and which ones will not. The legislative branc is made up of Congress, which is the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is responsible for approving treaties, confirming presidential nominations, and conducting trials. The House of Representatives powers are established in Article One of the Constitution. The major power of the House is to pass federal legislation that affects the entire country, although its bills must also be passed by the Senate and further agreed to by the President before becoming law (unless both the House and Senate re-pass the legislation with a two-thirds majority in each chamber). Each state receives representation in the House in proportion to its population but is entitled to at least one Representative.



Analysis of the Connection:


               A very serious report released Tuesday by the Office of Compliance gave the congressional workplace a bad look; abused employees have collected an average of $1 million per year in settlements over workplace disputes with their congressional bosses, which most of all includes sexual harassment charges.Not to mention the corruption and enviornment  reports have also revealed an estimated 6,300 safety hazards on the Capitol campus. One of those hazards is a fire hazard in the Library of Congress that will cost nearly $20 million to repair(20 million dollars we do not have). Another fire safety hazard in Russell Senate Office building could be deadly to aides and members if there should be a terrorist attack that involved fire. The reports also showed that the Office of Compliance, (which oversees the workplace rights of congressional staffers under the Congressional Accountability Act),  has not been able to sufficiently educate and communicate with its employees about their rights, including in cases of sexual harassment and other office misdeeds.

              The OOC report can be a scarer to its readers because of all the serious issues it brings up. It can make them feel uncomfortable and unsafe about the enviornment its workers are in. Republican Robert Alderholt says "It is very disappointing that there have been so many employee disputes in House offices, the United States legislative branch should be the national example of appropriate workplace relations and I believe that Congress should address this.”  The minority house leader John Boehner’s spokesman Micheal Steel says that thes problems could have been prevented if Nancy Pelosi had not appointed a Chief Administrative Officer who may have overlooked the email address blockade.

             In my opinion, some things could have been Nancy Pelosi's fault but it couldnt have all started with her. Corruption in the system and abusues in the system have started a long time ago back when the churches and the government were deciding if things like abortion were right or not. Bill Clinton had a mistress and who knows what type of sexual harassment could have been going on.. The main things that need to start happening are the use of religion in the system because right now there is no guuidance.

Legislative Branch 2

Source: "Congress Delays on Whistleblowers" by Erika Lovely  August 17, 2010 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41178.html

Constitutional Connection:

          The basic role of the Legislative branch is to make the laws discuss them and decipher which ones will come to play and which ones will not. The legislative branc is  made up of Congress, which is the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is responsible for approving treaties, confirming presidential nominations, and conducting trials. The House of Representatives powers  are established in Article One of the Constitution. The major power of the House is to pass federal legislation that affects the entire country, although its bills must also be passed by the Senate and further agreed to by the President before becoming law (unless both the House and Senate re-pass the legislation with a two-thirds majority in each chamber). Each state receives representation in the House in proportion to its population but is entitled to at least one Representative.


Analysis of the Connection:

                       Whistleblowers are the people who raises a concern about wrongdoing occurring in an organization or body of people. In this case Congress is having conflicts with its whistleblowers. These people are ratting our the corruptions of Congress and its employes. Whistleblowers usually dont come foward with what they know because of getting put on the spot or loosing their position. Maxine Waters is currently charged with three House ethics violations for her alleged interactions with a bank that received federal bailout money. Her chief of staff, who’s also her grandson, continued interactions with the bank in which her husband had invested after the congresswoman had been instructed not to the charges allege. Rep. Eric Massa (DNY) is exploring his legal options after alerting officials that the congressman was allegedly inappropriately interacting with male staffers.

                  The Senate Ethics Committee is investigating whether Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.) used his power to boost the career of his former mistress’ husband, who worked for Ensign. Reports by the congressional Office of Complianceare finding out that Congress has been failing to apply a plethora of workplace regulations to its own employees, including safety regulations and a law that gives veterans a leg up when applying for government jobs. Whistleblowers are needed to specify the things that arenot happening and to bring them to light so they corruption in the system can stop.In this past year, Congress has called whistleblowers from the financial sector, health insurance and other industries to testify before congressional committees because of the congressman and women who commit these corrupted crimes.

     
                   In my opinion, whisterblowers are a good idea and they need to start being more confident and bring these people out in the open. More and more each day people are noticing all the things that can possibly be going on behind our backs in the system and we are all a part of it even though we may not know it. Even though these whistleblowers might get oicked on and blackmailed the right thing is still the right thing and if the judges that hold the trials for the corrupted congressman and congresswomen are reliable we canmake our system better.






            

Legislative Branch

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39707.html "Hill exempts self from veterans' law"
by: Erika Lovely and Marin Cogan, July 14, 2010

Constututional Connection:     
            The legislative branch is made up of the two houses of Congress; the Senate and the House of Representatives. The most important duty of the legislative branch is to make laws. Laws are written, discussed and voted on in Congress.

             There are 100 senators in the Senate, two from each state. Senators are elected by their states and serve six-year terms. The Vice President of the U.S. is considered the head of the Senate, but does not vote in the Senate unless there is a tie. The Senate approves nominations made by the President to the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, federal courts and other posts. The Senate must ratify all treaties by a two-thirds vote.
           There are 435 representatives in the House of Representatives. The number of representatives each state gets is based on its population. For example, California has many more representatives than Rhode Island. When Census figures determine that the population of a state has changed significantly, the number of representatives in that state may shift proportionately. Representatives are elected by their states and serve two-year terms. The Speaker of the House, elected by the representatives, is considered the head of the House.
         Both parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives elect leaders. The leader of the party that controls the house is called the majority leader. The other party leader is called the minority leader.


Analysis of the Connection:


                 As of right now there are complications in the legislative branch because they dont want to pass a job giving law for war veterens. Congress also put itself out of this law that would aid post-military employment for veterans. Congress has a veteran hiring act that goes into action when ever a veteran needs a job. They give these unemployed veterans jobs because they have good leadership experiance, do quality work, have had training, and know-how. The Congressional Budget Office and some support positions in the House and Senate do not receive this affirmative-action-type boost, potentially preventing veterans from getting jobs. 

            Representative Duncan Hunter says, "It’s incredible that Congress, years after applying VEOA to government jobs, has yet to finalize the regulations for veterans’ employment in the legislative branch. Veterans are some of the most qualified individuals joining the work force today, possessing quality leadership, training and know-how, we have made a commitment to these men and women, and it’s important that we follow through". Representative Lorretta Sancgez agrees with Hunter and says "It’s unacceptable for Congress to exempt itself from VEOA requirements. I believe we have an obligation to honor the service and sacrifice of our veterans, including those who are looking for jobs in government. They have certainly earned the right to every possible advantage". Congressional approval for this law is very important so that veterans can benefit from the accelerations congress was giving them in the first place.


          In my opinion, i agree that Congress should pass this law for veterans because they have surved our country well and sacrificed most of their life to fight for us as Americans. Even though it might not be fair to other citizens of this country because they feel like they got fired because of the budget cuts and they still have to support their family too, veterans have helped this country in many ways and with out them there would probably be no us.