Succession Research

Pick two people on the Presidential Success list and research them for 20mins.
Give a brief description of each person in your blog.   Their title, responsibilities, life...etc.

Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr.  is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama. He was a United States Senator from Delaware from January 3, 1973 until his resignation on January 15, 2009, following his election to the Vice Presidency.

John Andrew Boehner is the 61st and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Boehner previously served as the House Minority Leader from 2007 until 2011, and House Majority Leader from 2006 until 2007. As Speaker, Boehner is second in line to the presidency of the United States following the Vice President.

The Role of Presidency

Take 15mins and research the Internet on the role of the presidency.
Then copy and past four links of the research you found.
Provide a paragraph summary of each link that you found.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4683
The president is the living symbol of the nation who stands for the highest values and ideals of the country. Some of the things they do are: awarding medals to the winners of college scholarships, congratulating astronauts on their journey into space greeting visitors to the White House making a patriotic speech on the Fourth of July.

http://www2.smumn.edu/deptpages/~instructtech/institutional_planning/role_president.htm
The President is the chief spokesman articulating the value and importance of strategic planning. He also provides leadership and makes strategic decisions.

http://dawn.thot.net/board_chair.html
The president's job is to make sure the board works as a team and show them leadership but not have complete control.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/agencies/a/presbrief.htm
The president has a cabinet under him who is supposed to advise him in all the decisions he makes.

Economy Assignment

With the help of your textbook and Ch 23, please explain the differences among capitalism, socialism and communism.   Then explain the pros and cons that each hold.


In Capitalism the means of production and distribution are in the hands of the individual. In Socialism the means of production are in the hands of individuals, the means of distribution is in the hands of government. In Communism the means of production and distribution are in the hands of government.
Pros of Capitalism:

Capitalism promotes economic growth by providing an open competition in the market. It provides individuals with far better opportunities of raising their income and thus achieving economic growth.

Cons of Capitalism:

Capitalism makes an economy money-oriented. Business corporations look at the economy with a materialistic point of view. Profitability remains their only primary business goal. Business giants take over smaller companies. Employment rights are compensated with the sole aim of higher productivity.

Pros of Socialism:

In Socialism the wealth of the people is distributed evenly.

Cons of Socialism:

In Socialism the government is too strong in some aspects.

Pros of Communism:

There is the same standard for everyone, there is little crime because the law is strictly enforced, eliminates local cultures and hereditary elites, and a lot of communist countries invest in education.

Cons of Communism:

There is too much focus on the group, instead of the individual, you can't raise your standard without being corrupted and active in politics, no personal freedoms.

Ch 22 Foreign Governments

1.  Pick two countries in Chapter 22 and provide an in depth paragraph on their government and how it operates.Great Britain has a government just like the United States, a democracy. Therefore they handle their government and nation in basically the same way we do.

Japan has a judicial system that's based on the system that the United States uses. On the regional level Japan is divided into 47 political subdivisions. These subdivisions govern over themselves in terms of taxes for roads, hospitals, and police protection. They also have control over the high schools in their region.

2. What are some of the similarities of the countries that are in Chapter 22?All the countries have history of bad governments but have changed and now have governments that are more for the people of their nation.

3. What are some of the differences of the countries that are in Chapter 22?Each country has their own type of government, none of them are exactly the same.

4. Which country in Chapter 22 do you believe has the strongest government and why?
I think Great Britain does because they are really focused on the people and won't try to force a bill through if there is strong resistance against it.

5. In what ways does the U.S. government relate to the methods of governments listed in Chapter 22?

The United States government has a democratic government where people vote on things and have rights to their freedom. Most of the governments have now taken parts of the government that the U.S. has to make their government better.

Britain Government

Both fight to expand the police state at all cost. Also they both allow endless immigration.
The United States government is a federal government while the British government is unitary. Britain runs under a system of Parliament while the United States falls under the President.

Britain would like to replace its trident nuclear deterrent program for political reasons only. This is because they want to sustain their rank as a nuclear member of the U.N. Security Council.
I don't quite know why anyone needs nuclear weapons since they probably aren't going to be used anymore after knowing the damage that they cause.

Gary Pugh, Scotland Yard's forensics director, wants police to be able to take DNA samples from children 5-12 years old that exhibit behaviors that suggest they might commit crimes later on in life.
I think that this could be helpful in some ways but personally I think the better way to go about it is just have everyone profiled and "in the system" in general that way it would be easier to find anyone even if they didn't exhibit certain behaviors when they were kids.

HB1012  plans to change the terminology for mental retard, mentally retarded, mental retardation, and other similar terms in statute and to provide for the change in printed materials and signage.

HB1014 plans to revise certain provisions regarding the purpose of the 911 emergency surcharge and to provide rule-making authority to the 911 Coordination Board to establish allowable recurring and nonrecurring costs for the operation of a public safety answering point.

Quiz

1. Explain how a bill becomes a law:
First the bill is thought up.
It is then assigned a name and number.
It is sent to a committee.
The committee thinks up all the parts of the bill.
The bill is read over.
It is voted over.
It is read over again.
It is then sent to the House or Senate (which ever it wasn't in already).
It is read over and some possible changes are made.
It is voted over.
Read through again and then sent to the governor.
The governor can either pass it or reject (veto) it.

2. What is a committee and what purpose does it serve?:
A committee is a group of people that is put together to write and put together a bill.

3. Read the following link and share your opinions: 1 paragraph  http://keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=109027
I think that it's good that Noem was excited to get to work and start fixing the things that are wrong and I like that they are being "palms up" with us so we do know what is going on in our government.

4.  Read the following link and find a story and give a reflection on it:1 paragraph  http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/
American Sauce: Three things missed about the new Congress: I think it's very interesting that this congress has the most freshman voted in as ever before.

5. Read the following link and give a reflection on it: 1 paragraph   http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/01/05/worried-about-national-debt-put-it-your-credit-card?test=latestnews
I don't think that citizens should have to pay back the government when they had no say in the government's spending. I realize that it would help relieve our nation's debt but causing our citizen's to pay for it isn't the answer if you ask me. The government needs to learn how to spend their money and not get in debt in the first place.

6. Read the following link and give a reflection on it: 1 paragraph
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40925203/ns/politics-white_house/
I think it's a good idea that Obama is trying to change his administration so that everything gets done faster and won't waste time.