Unit 4: Congress Ken Buck

3/21/2016

Buck is a Republican Representative of Las Animas County in Colorado. He was once a Senator of Colorado and a District Attorney. He is a member of 4 subcommittees. He supports Gun Rights, is against abortion and gay marriage.

Encrypt Act:
I think that Senator Ken Buck will vote against the bill that will allow government to access information from companies like Apple from clients phones. Buck has made previous statements during the USA Freedom Act of 2015, that "while protecting our national security it is most important and necessary to protect the rights of every American. He wants to prevent government overreach, and the Encrypt would be giving the government more access and power, which he clearly does not agree with.

Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Re-authorization Act:
The Republican party wants to reduce government involvement as much as possible, and to reduce government spending. By making the FAA an independent non profit entity, the government would not be putting money into that organization, and would save tax payer money. I think that Ken Buck would vote for this bill. He does not support the raising of taxes, and does not agree with tax payers money going into government organizations, so he would agree with this act.

Sentencing Reform Act:
I think that Ken Buck would support the Sentencing Reform Act. He supports saving money, and not raising taxes. The Reform Act would reduce the amount of prisoners money in his county, which would allow the money to be spent elsewhere.

Unit 3 Political Parties, Mass Media, Interest Groups

3/2/2016
"Never Trump" Movement
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-nomination.html?ref=topics&_r=0


Summary: The Republican Party is becoming more and more alarmed as the Presidential campaign continues. After Trump's big win during Super Tuesday, Republicans are now opening their eyes even more. Trump is clearly the front runner in the Republican party. He has gained more delegate votes than Rubio and Cruz, and has won more states than both of them as well. One of the Republican PAC's, called Principles PAC has released an ad called "Unelectable". This ad is meant to hit Trump hard, to attempt to expose him even more. Keep in mind this is being led by the Republican PAC organizations, and they are spending millions of dollars on just a few seconds on TV. Many Republican politicians have stated that they will not support Trump. They believe that if Trump is elected, their party name would be tainted, and many would believe their party now supports bigotry. Trump is now determined to win over Ohio and Florida. If he does so, the race for the other 3 candidates will most likely be over. To prevent this, Super PAC's who support Rubio in Florida, and Kasich in Ohio are spending millions of airtime on TV ad's against Trump. In hope that they will persuade enough voters in those areas to not vote for Trump. Previous Republican nominee in 2012, Mitt Romney, has recently spoken out about Trump as well. Stating how disruptive Trump would be to the Republican Party.

Analysis: The use of ad's and mass media greatly affect political campaigns. Candidates use the media to persuade the public. The public is extremely influenced by the media, and as technology increases, so does the use of TV ad's and social media. As we have seen in this political campaign, candidates like Trump have taken to social media's such as Twitter. Candidates do this to connect with the public. By connecting with the public they can raise their polling numbers. The reason for the "Unelecteable" ad that will be soon coming out onto TV is to try and ensure that Trump will be gain no more supporters. If this ad fails, it will be more likely that Trump will take this state as well. History shows that candidates who do not campaign and advertise well in certain states, usually lose that state. So it would be in Trump's best interest to campaign and rally more support before these ad's, in hope that he will not lose any supporters.

Unit 2 Blog Post Political Beliefs and Behaviors

2/21/2016
Terrorism and Economy are Top Concerns for Primary Voters
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/26/poll-watch-terrorism-and-the-economy-are-top-concerns-for-primary-voters/?ref=topics&_r=0

Summary: Before Iowa's caucuses took place a poll was taken to determine what likely primary voters think are the biggest issues today. Conservatives are most concerned about terrorism and foreign policy. Liberals are more concerned about the economy and creating jobs. But both parties agree that these are the biggest issues. Candidates such as Donald Trump are addressing certain issues to appeal more to the public's opinion.  Candidates use these polls to get more of an idea of what likely voters want, allowing the candidates to gain more support if they address the issues in a way that will appeal to the voters. Donald has been clear what his beliefs are about terrorism and how America should fight back, this has appealed to many people allowing him to gain support. Hillary Clinton has addressed how she would handle foreign policy, showing that more people trust her than Bernie Sanders when it comes to foreign policy. Although Bernie has many supporters who like his economic proposals. President Obama has supported Hillary throughout her campaign, but has tried to remain unbiased by supporting Bernie as well. Some say that by Obama showing a little more favoritism over Hillary has directed that to support her rather than Bernie.

Analysis: This article accurately described how polls are used by candidates to gain more supporters once they find out more about the public opinion. This poll was not entirely scientific, but what i would considered a straw poll. It was based around gaining the knowledge of the opinions of the people. This poll was not scientific because it was not entirely random. Only likely voters were asked what their opinion was about the most important issues that should be addressed. This poll does do a good job of showing the wide range of opinions between the two parties. The democrats were more focused on economy while conservatives were more focused on terrorism. This greatly affects what the candidates are doing during their campaign and how they will try to appeal to the public to gain more supporters                . 

Unit 1 Article Constitutional Underpinnings and Federalism

2/9/16
This is Your Federalism on Drugs:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/28/this-is-your-federalism-on-drugs/

Synopsis: Marijuana is now becoming legal in several states. Some are questioning if states choosing to make marijuana possession and use for medical reasons is over stepping their rights as a state. There is said to be a fine line between use for medical reasons and recreational use and the pro's and con's of how this could affect a state. Under federal law the use and possession of marijuana is illegal so should states be allowed to choose and make their own laws regarding marijuana? Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has stated that he wanted marijuana to remain legal in Florida, but he also believed that it should be a states decision to choose how they treat marijuana in their own state. This is a states right to make the decision. If a state makes it legal, the federal laws are still in affect, banks and attorneys will have to follow by the federal law, whether their state has legalized marijuana or not. The federal and state government share concurrent powers, allowing both of them to change their own laws.

   

Analysis: This article accurately represents the rules of federalism and what rights the federal government has compared to the state government. By law states do have the right to decide their stand point on things such as marijuana use. Colorado, California and other states have chosen to make marijuana legal, but the federal laws will always be in tact stating that the use and possession of marijuana is illegal. This will continue to be controversial on how interstate regulations and convictions will be handled. As stated before, federal owned and run groups such as banks and attorneys will be required to follow by the federal laws, not the state laws. This follows the Supremacy Clause which states that federal laws are supreme over state laws, this is the act of preemption of federal laws overriding state laws.