Response to Post 1: Due January 4th

Please only post before January 1 IF Congress and the president make a deal to avoid this fiscal cliff. Otherwise please wait until the deadline so your info is up to date. Pick someone in the other class period to respond to. Critique the argument of the post now knowing the deal or lack of deal that occurred. Next respond to the decision that Congress and the president made. Do you agree or disagree with their decisions on the fiscal cliff? Why? Thanks for getting our trimester off to a good start!

Post 1 for Tri 2! Due 12/14/12

So everyone in Washington is discussing...the gender of Kate & William's baby, right?  Just kidding the Fiscal Cliff obviously!  This trimester we focusing on public policy for the blog.

My suggestion is to do some reading about the fiscal cliff discussion (especially if you don't have a background to this issue) and then compose a post which answers the following prompt questions:

**Do you think that Congress will go over the fiscal cliff?

**If you were a leader in Congress (not the White House) what would you push for and why in the negotiations?  (You can be from either the Democratic or Republican Party and in either house.)

Aside from your personal agenda, what do you think that the president and Congress should do for the good of the country on this issue (offer a specific proposal - don't just say they should make a deal and get along).  Explain what you think they should vs. should not give up in negotiations.

I look forward to reading your posts.  There is a lot of writing on this topic so there shouldn't be any trouble getting evidence to support your argument.