Last post of the tri!

Watch or read the State of the Union which President Trump will deliver on 2/5/2019.  Answer one of the following prompts:

- If you were to give the Democratic response what would you say and why?
- What were 2 proposals Trump makes in his speech?  Do you think he will be able to get those initiatives accomplished in 2019?  Why or why not?
-  What efforts did you see in the speech to try to persuade moderates and Democrats to support his initiatives? Do you think he was persuasive to people outside of his base of supporters?  Why or why not?

Your response should refer to specifics in his speech.  You should use a minimum of one other source in addition to the speech.

This is due by Friday, 2/15 and will be our last post for the tri because we are a little tight thanks to the polar vortex.

I look forward to reading what you will write!
- Meredith

Link to text and video of the SOTU
NPR:  Fact Check of the SOTU

Post 2 - Due 1/14

Following up on our examination of polling data this week and the president's address to the nation on 1/8/2019 please answer the following prompt:

Do you think President Trump should declare a state of emergency to secure funding for a border wall?  

Your answer must include at least:

• 2 news sources
• refer to 1 recent poll
• refer to a specific part of the US Constitution

Due on Monday, January 14th.

Articles to consider using:
Why Trump can't simply build his wall.
National Emergency Powers and Trump's Border Wall, Explained

Marco Rubio warns against Trump declaring a national emergency over border security, arguing that one day a Democrat could declare one over climate change

Polling Data:
http://www.pollingreport.com/

Response to Post 1

As the NPR article from post 1 explained,
"The case has attracted extra attention because of Trump's comments that he could possibly pardon his onetime campaign chairman Paul Manafort and other Trump associates who have been — or could be — convicted in prosecutions brought by Mueller.  Presidential pardons, it should be noted, only apply to federal crimes. So, under current law, a state like New York, for example, could go after Manafort for the same crimes under state laws.  These concerns, he noted, extend from the president down to governors or local prosecutors. They could "bestow great gifts upon friends or family by rushing to prosecute them for certain crimes," Saltzburg pointed out, by obtaining minimal punishments.If the Supreme Court were to bar dual prosecutions, "there is a concern that a president of the United States could pardon an individual for all federal offenses" and it would effectively be a "pardon for everything," said George Washington University Law professor Stephen Saltzburg, who served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan and Bush administrations.  That would be "cutting off" the ability of the federal government to bring prosecutions, for the same conduct, particularly in corruption cases."

Your follow up question to post #1 is:
What can keep a president from misusing or overusing their pardoning power? Are their enough checks in place to keep the president from misusing their power to pardon?

You are not required to do additional research for this post.  

Please post before Saturday, 12/22.  Thanks and have a nice break!

Respond to Post 4 - 2/27

Please pick a classmate to respond to off the Post 4 thread.  Be sure to include new sources in your response agreeing or disagreeing with your classmate.  You should have at least 2 sources in your post.  Be sure to be clear about who you are responding to and to what points in their post you are responding to.

Please respond by February 27 by the end of the day.

Post 3: Due October 7th

What topic do you think deserves more time/attention in the presidential campaign and in the debates?  Why?  Justify your answer with supporting research to convince your audience that this issue should be more central in the minds of voters in November.  You need to cite at least 3 sources for this post.

Post is due by the end of the day on Friday, October 7th.

Post #1: The Candidates and their Attempts to Persuade Us

Pick a speech by either the Democratic candidate, Hilary Clinton, and the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, and answer the following questions:

• Who was s/he speaking to?
• What did they articulate as their vision for their presidency?
• Did you find their speech to be persuasive?  Why or why not?
• Pick at least two facts that they used in their speech and fact check them.   What rating would you give their speech on a Truth-O-Meter? (1 being a total lie and 5 being totally honest.)

Please include the link to the speech you picked and to articles you find to fact check the speech.  When you cite the resources you used you can use hyperlinks or you can put a (1) after the point and then make a numbered list of sources at the end of your post.

Your post is due by 8 am on Friday, September 16th.  Please post your response by clicking on the little pencil beneath my post so your response can be on the same thread as your classmates.  I look forward to what you write/think!

Post 8: Due 2/9 or 10

February 9th is the date of the New Hampshire primary.  After there is a clear winner of the primary answer the following prompt:

Based on the results of the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary, what type of candidates do the voters want for the general election?  Why?  What do these results mean?  Are these results representative of the country's views?  Why or why not?

You have until midnight on Wed 2/10.  I look forward to reading your insights.  ;)

Post #1 for 2015!

Presidential elections are always a fun and important part of studying American government. Read up on the 2016 presidential election and answer at least one of the following prompts in your post. Please use complete paragraphs, cite your information and proof read BEFORE posting. Your post should include a minimum of three media sources in it and not depend too heavily on the candidate's own website or on one media source.  I look forward to reading your first posts!

*  What candidate running for president (or flirting running) are you the most excited about? 
*  Who are you the most frustrated or outraged by? Why?

Due by 7:50 am on Fri 9/11/15.

Post 4: Due Friday 2/21

After the 2012 presidential election many people believed that Congress would take immigration reform more seriously because of the growing demographic and strategic importance of the Latino vote.  However, recently Speaker of the House Boehner said that despite his previous claims this year the House would not be considering any immigration bill.

Is immigration reform a significant public policy issue?  What is the fate of immigration reform?  If it's dead now, when will it be a viable issue?  Do you think Congress and the president should put immigration reform higher on their agenda for this year?  Why or why not?

There has been a lot of coverage on this issue but right now sometimes it is hard to find with all the Olympic coverage.  I recommend doing a Google search for "immigration reform".  There are a lot articles on this topic currently.  See me if you need help researching.  Your goal is to have somewhere between 3-5 sources please.

Due Friday, 2/21st

Post 3: State of the Union

Last night President Obama gave his State of the Union address to Congress.  Everyone in the media this week is reacting to his legislative agenda and the tone he took on his relationship with Congress.  Write your own reaction to the president's speech.  Your reaction must include a minimum of one quote from his speech and must include a minimum of one quote from someone else commenting on his speech that you can agree or disagree with. 

Things to consider in your post (but you are not required to answer):

• Did the president emphecize the correct themes?
• Will this speech help his relationship with Congress? With the American people?  
• Did he spend the right amount of time on domestic v. foreign policy?
• How does this year's speech compare with last year's?

Note:  If you are a more auditory learner you can watch the president's speech on youtube.  Otherwise I have a link to his speech above. 

This post's due date has been pushed back to Tuesday, February 4th so as to give you more time to balance all your work with the crazy winter weather.  I hope that helps. 

Last post for Tri 1! - Due Fri 11/8

This is your last post for Tri 1!  It is due on Friday, November 8th.

Last week you answered the question, "Does Obama have the popularity (with the US public, the US' allies, &/or with Congress) or support to get more of his agenda accomplished and if so what should he be focusing on and why?  If Obama does not have enough popularity to get much done, what should he do to try to regain support?  What's your advice for the president?"

Pick someone to respond to for this post that you have NEVER responded to this tri.  React to how they answered the prompt.  Use at least 1 piece of new research in your answer.  Remember Wikipedia is NOT an academic source.

At the end of the Tri you will pick 1 original post and 1 response post you will submit as your best examples of your writing.

Thanks for an engaging conversation about current events this trimester.

Post 6 - Due Nov 1

Since this summer the news has been buzzing with the leaks from Edward Snowden and the revelations that the NSA has been gathering more data than the public had previously realized.  Next trimester we'll be examining the 4th Amendment so this post isn't focusing on the Constitutional privacy debate but rather the issue of presidential credibility.  The Obama administration has hard a tough month between Syria, the Congressional shutdown, the website problems with Obamacare and more NSA leaks.  President Obama is one year into his 2nd term and will soon become a "lame duck".

For this post assess where the Obama administration is at.  Does Obama have the popularity (with the US public, the US' allies, &/or with Congress) or support to get more of his agenda accomplished and if so what should he be focusing on and why?  If Obama does not have enough popularity to get much done, what should he do to try to regain support?  What's your advice for the president?

Your post is due on Friday, November 1st.  This is your 2nd to the last post for the trimester.

PS.  Happy Halloween!

Post 2: Congress, the president & the budget showdown

The federal government is about to run out of money.  If Congress doesn't pass and the president doesn't sign a continuing resolution which gives the federal government money to continue to operate by September 30th there will be a government shutdown.

As you know the House of Representatives is controlled by the Republicans and the Senate and the White House are controlled by the Democrats.  In order for a continuing resolution to be passed it would need bipartisan support.  Some members of the Republican Party are using the tight timeline to push for something they have long wanted - the defeat of the Affordable Care Act (ie. Obamacare).

A lot of political commentators are speculating on the upcoming showdown.  You will join your voice in this national debate:

• Do you agree with the strategy of some Republicans to use this showdown as an opportunity to try to defund the Affordable Care Act ?
• If there is a government shutdown who should get the blame - the Republicans or the Democrats and why?  
• Do you think a government shutdown is or is not a responsible outcome from this showdown?

Please post your answer with a minimum of 3 sources backing up your argument.  See me for help if you are having trouble finding articles you can use.  Please cite your research and integrate your citations into your argument.

If you need an introduction to this topic I suggest this article from the Washington Post.

This post is due on Friday, September 27th.

Post 1 for 2013!

Please answer the following prompt by class time on Friday, Sept 13th. Your answer should be well explained and use sources to support your argument. You are expected to cite your sources but you are not required to use MLA formatting. Please include links to internet source. Your goal is to use at least 3 sources in your post. Please proofread before posting. Your post will be read by me, your classmates, and even potentially others. :) A great place to look for arguments you might want to use is the opinion section of any major newspaper.  See me if you need help researching or writing your post. I look forward to reading what you have to read.

The US Congress will vote soon whether to give the president the authority to conduct military strikes on Syria. If you were a member of the Congress would you vote yes or no to authorize the president's plan and why? 

If you watch the Congressional debate(s) on CSPAN on this for your government observation paper you can use them as a source for this as well.

If you need background considering the topic I would recommend the following resources to familiarize yourself with the situation in Syria:

• BBC: The BBC has put together a page with articles on Syria & key background
• From the Washington Post "9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask" See me if you need more help
• From PBS "Your Cheat Sheet to the Syrian Conflict"
• From NPR "Which Bad Syria Option Do You Prefer"

Please don't use the articles I recommended as your own research.  You still need your own research.  Thanks.

Note:  you will be graded on how & whether you back up your opinion with evidence.  You will NOT be evaluate on your opinion.

Post 2: Due 9/30

What are President Obama's main hurdles in his reelection campaign? How do you think he could best try to overcome these hurdles? What could the Republicans do to help or hurt his campaign ambitions? Do you think trying to sabotage Obama could backfire?

Please use complete paragraphs, cite your information and proof read BEFORE posting. Keep in mind feedback I gave you and feedback you got from your classmates from post #1.

Post #1: Due 9/16/2011

Presidential elections are always a fun and important part of studying American government. Read up on the upcoming presidential election and answer the following questions in your post. Please use complete paragraphs, cite your information and proof read BEFORE posting. I look forward to reading your first posts!

*What candidate running for president in 2012 are you the most excited about? Who are you the most frustrated or outraged by? Why?

The leading candidates' webpages are below. They could be helpful to you. However, I want your post to use media sources and not just the candidates' propaganda in your post.

*Michele Bachman (R)
http://www.michelebachmann.com/

*Jon Huntsman (R)
http://jon2012.com

*Barack Obama (D)
http://www.barackobama.com

*Ron Paul (R)
http://ronpaul2012.com/

*Rick Perry (R)
http://www.rickperry.org

*Mitt Romney (R)
http://mittromney.com

Post 6 - Presidential Campaign Choices for 2012

Now that the midterms are over, people are starting to seriously consider the question, "Who should the Republicans put forward to challenge Barack Obama in 2012?"

Here is a link to the Washington Post's discussion:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/21/AR2010112103779.html?hpid=topnews

Do your own research and consider who the WP puts forward but don't forget also about Huckabee, Palin, Pawlenty, and Romney.

Then answer the following questions for your post:
1. What should the Republicans do (and what should someone wanting to run for president do) to gear up for the 2012 presidential election?
2. Who should the Republicans put forward and why?
3. Which Republican candidate do you think Obama would have the easiest time beating and why?

Due on Friday, December 3rd. Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!