Title: Supreme Court Upholds Limits on Judicial Fundraising

Student Blog

Title:  Supreme Court Upholds Limits on Judicial Fundraising

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/29/politics/supreme-court-ruling-judicial-fundraising/index.html

Author of Article:  Ariane de Vogue

Date:  May 11, 2015

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

On Wednesday, April 29, 2015, The Supreme Court upheld a Florida rule that said that judicial candidates cannot personally raise money while they are candidates. Chief Justice John Roberts said, "Judges are not politicians, even when they come to the bench by way of the ballot.”  He went on to say, "A State may assure its people that judges will apply the law without fear or favor—and without having personally asked anyone for money."  This just goes to show that judges can’t be bought.  I totally agree with this ruling because I would not want a judge who received a large donation from someone to vote in their favor.  That would go against what our Constitution says.  

As of now, 39 States use an election to pick some of their judges.  Thirty of these States limit the way in which candidates “themselves” ask for money.  This ruling is a loss for Florida’s judicial candidate, Lanell Williams-Yule.  The state of Florida’s disciplined her for breaking its Judicial Code of Conduct for doing a mass mailing in which she signed a letter requesting campaign funds to support her race.  Such requests from candidates can create distrust in our judicial system.  There is plenty of distrust in our Executive and Legislative branches so it is very important to project our Judicial Branch from such opinions.  

The vote was 5-4.  Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Alito and Thomas wrote the dissent opinion as they did not agree with the decision.  Scalia said the ruling, "wildly disproportionate restriction upon speech."  

This article relates to what we are learning about in class regarding the Judicial System.  This case relates to what we learned because the Judicial Branch is seen as the fairer place to protect our rights.  Plus, it says that the dissent opinion was written by those Justices that did not agree with the ruling – as I learned from the chapter.

Is Baltimore the new Ferguson?

Is Baltimore the new Ferguson?

http://cnnuslive.cnn.com/Event/Baltimore_Riot?Page=0

Yesterday, the Baltimore Orioles played the White Socks in a game that will be written in the record books...because there were no fans at the game.  Is is due to the frighting death of 25-year old named Freddie Gray who dies of an unexplained spinal cord injury.  This sparked rioting, which was peaceful at first and then it quickly escalated into a violent brawl resulting in 10 arrests. Because of this Maryland’s gov. declared a state of emergency, called in the National Guard, and the city’s mayor set a curfew.  This sparked such a wave that even president Obama spoke out on this matter saying that the U.S. has to do some sole searching over the pattern of black deaths recently.  Also, that everyone in the riot were thugs and criminals.  This connects to Ap Gov because it relates to the constitution on the matter of freedom to assembly and the court case Brandenburg Vs. Haze. 

Senate Confirms Loretta Lynch as Attorney General 166 Days After Nomination

Student Blog

Title:  Senate Confirms Loretta Lynch as Attorney General 166 Days After Nomination

Source:  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-confirms-loretta-lynch-attorney-general-166-days/story?id=30527905

Author of Article:  Arlette Saenz

Date:  April 23, 2015

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

The Senate narrowly approved Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, Loretta Lynch.  President Obama originally nominated Lynch back in November 2014.  It took the Senate 166 days to confirm the North Carolina native.  In a tight vote, 56-43 (Senator Ted Cruz was absent), the first African American woman was confirmed as the country’s newest Attorney General.  

Many Senate Democrats felt that the majority led Senate put her nomination on the back burner.  However, the Senate Republicans say that the President’s executive immigration action and an anti-human trafficking bill took priority over Lynch.  

President Obama was excited about her confirmation today and said that “America will be better off it.”  He also stated that as head of the Justice Department she will oversee many different areas including, counter-terrorism, voting rights, public corruption, white collar crimes and much more.  

This relates to what we are currently studying because the Attorney General’s Office (also known as the Department of Justice) is a Cabinet position in which the President nominates a person and the Senate confirms him or her.  That is exactly what happened here.  Obama chose Lynch because she had some of the same ideologies as he.  The Senate carefully examined and questioned her record and past decisions before confirming her.  This is a great example of how our checks and balances system works. 

Title:  Can Rubio, Bush Both Compete for the Latino Vote?

Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/politics/election-2016-marco-rubio-jeb-bush-

latinos/index.html

Author of Article:  Nia-Malika Henderson

Date:  April 13, 2015

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

Two presidential hopefuls from Florida want to be President.  They both speak Spanish, they’ve

both served in government and they are both Republican candidates.  Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush

are in a battle over who will be able to get the most Latino votes in the 2016 election.  Rubio is

the son of Cuban immigrants and Jeb Bush is married to a Mexican woman.  Each has loyalties

to the Latin-American community.

Although Bush hasn’t officially announced that he is running, the fact that they are both

candidates from Florida with similar stances on issues is making it awkward for FL activists and

donors.  Rubio is a Bush protégé and he running against Bush is risky because the Latino vote

may be split.

Jeb Bush has always been a proponent of immigration reform.  He is respected and adored by the

Latino community in Florida.  However, they see Rubio as living the American dream as he was

born to Cuban parents to immigrated to the US.  Both are strong candidates and voters will

struggle with who to vote for.

The GOP will have two Latin-American (Rubio and Cruz) and one Latin-American by marriage

(Bush) to pick from.  This should help the Republicans change how they are viewed by

Democrats in terms of getting the Latino vote.

Many analysts feel that Jeb Bush will have more pull with the Latino community because the

Bush family has always supported and courted them in past elections.  Rubio will have his work

cut out for him.

This article relates to our current study of the Presidency and how important it is to court

minorities as they are starting to represent a large percentage of the voters.  Unlike in the past,

the typical Presidential candidate is not middle-aged, Protestant, white man.  It is inspiring to see

people how people from all backgrounds have a chance in America.

Shooting in Kenya

Somali Militants Kill 147 at Kenyan University

Live link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/world/africa/garissa-university-college-shooting-in-kenya.html 

In recent news, Somali militants burst into a university in eastern Kenya killing about 150 students in the worst massacre since the bombing of the United States Embassy.   About five to ten militants roamed the halls, going door to door, class to class, asking students if they where Christian or not.  If the happened to be Christian they were executed on the spot.  By the time reinforcements arrived the killers were shot, they had already killed 147 people and were on the top story of the school.  Some survivors stated "All we heard in the moments leading up to the attack was distant gunshots."  Not only was this a tragedy to the families and the country; but this further damages Kenya's tourist attraction, in turn creating economic struggles amongst its citizens.

This connects to Ap Gov because it goes hand and hand with the department of Foreign Affairs and how the U.S. has installed a department of Homeland Security incase another mass murder occurs in the U.S. again. 

French Plane Crash

French Plane Crash

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/25/europe/germanwings-crash-main/ 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32063587

By: Drewv Magan

In recent news the co-pilot of a Germanwings flight started, what was is suspected to be a ten minute decent, into the side of the French alps.  Co-pilot Andreus Lubitz was left alone in the cockpit of the plane while the other pilot went to the restroom. Upon the pilots return the co-pilot would not let him in, nor uttered a word in response to the pilots screams and attempts to break down the door.  Since 9/11 most planes are equipped with bullet proof doors without a key.  The rule is when a pilot leaves the cockpit and flight attendant must take his place.  This was not the case on this flight.  Also, the pilot may have overrode the planes onboard computer because if he had not the plane out not have decent into the mountain.

This connects to Ap gov regarding foreign affairs and how they affects the U.S. indirectly.  Tho this os not a direct threat this affects the United States mass media. 

Blog – March 19, 2015

Article:  Obama Talks Up Transformative Idea:  Mandatory Voting

Article by: Steve Benen

Website:  http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/obama-talks-transformative-idea-

mandatory-voting

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

Dozens of States in the US are guilty of curtailing voting rights or blocking Americas’ access to

polls during elections. However, Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown and President Obama are huge

proponents of automatic voter registrations and mandatory voting.  The President cites that if

Americans are worried about the influence that money has on elections, the country should

consider mandatory voting.  Obama noted that mandatory voting works in countries like

Australia and it could work here too.

“President Barack Obama on Wednesday suggested that if American voters want to “counteract” the

role of money in politics, it may be worth making voting mandatory.”

“It would be transformative if everybody voted,” Obama said during a town hall event in Cleveland,

Ohio. “That would counteract (campaign) money more than anything. If everybody voted, then it

would completely change the political map in this country.”

The President said that only 36% of Americans actually come out and vote during elections.  It is

the older, wealthier, mostly white population that votes.  Immigrants, minorities, younger and

low income people are the ones who don’t come out and vote.  Many proponents of mandatory

voting feel that this would encourage many of these folks to come out and vote.  Opponents of

such a requirement feel that voting is not a duty but a privilege.  Americans should take personal

pride in voting and not be forced to do it.  This connects to Ap Gov because it stress our rights as well

 as the constitution's meaning, as we studied this week.

This will be a subject of debate for many years to come.  It is something to think about and

consider.

Ferguson Shooting

Ferguson Shooting 

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_KILLINGS_BY_POLICE_FERGUSON?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-12-05-13-07

It seems as though every other day tragedy strikes in Ferguson.  Wether its riots or criminal actions in this case the Ferguson community was taking part in a peaceful riot.  This was no big deal for the police to handle, the citizens were simply exercising their right constituted in the first amendment.   But out of no where, the seemingly peaceful protest quickly went down hill.  Muzzle flashes were seen about 120 yards away, soon after two officers were shot down one of which being 41-year-old Country officer, and other being 32-year-old officer from Webster Groves.  After being rushed to the hospital the police began their search for the perpetrators.  Although they have not yet located the shooters, the search is on.   This connects to AP Gov because most of the people in Ferguson were utilizing their freedom of speech as well as their freedom of assembly which is stated in the constitution.  Personally, I think there is way to much unnessesary violence running rampent through Ferguson. 

Hilary Clinton's Emails

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/05/hillary-clinton-emails-state-department/24417671/

In recent news, Hillary Clinton has requested that her emails be released to the public, ALMOST 5,000 of them.  State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the department will review the emails provided by Clinton, but it may take a while.  She has spoken about this topic on her Twitter multiple times.  But there's two sides to every story, Clinton also created a separate, private email and secure email server for business purposes.  Although she may not have been doing anything corrupt, it leads republicans to believe that it might be the case.  The creation of a separate email for business is not permitted due to that fact that every email needs to be saved in a database in case anything were to come up, in regards to that matter. She has released many of the emails sent on the alternate account(5,000), but only the ones of her choice.  I believe that thought she may have not done anything wrong, it sure does set the stage for some issues.  This connects to AP Gov because it shows how manipulative politicians can be, as we talking about with the media.

Obama Vetoes Keystone Pipeline Bill

Source Site:  http://www.cnbc.com/id/102420827

Date:  February 24, 2015

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

DC politicians are at it again…this time for Obama’s veto of the Keystone Pipeline Bill.

On Tuesday, February 24, 2015, President Barak Obama made good on his promise and vetoed the Keystone XL Pipeline legislation.  Earlier in the month, the Senate led Congress passed a Bill approving the construction of the 1,179 mile pipeline which would connect pipelines from Canada all the way to the Gulf Coast.  Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate will decide by March 3 if they want to override the President’s veto.  Many insiders think that the Senate will not get the 2/3 majority vote it will need to overthrow the President’s veto.  House Leader, Boehner called the veto, “a national embarrassment” and said that the President is too close to the environmental extremist than the people of the United States.  The White House says that the Pipeline may not create as many jobs as the Republican’s think and that the State Departments evaluation of this project hasn’t been completed yet.  Obama says because Congress circumvented the State Department, he vetoed the Bill.  This bill pertains to our class and AP Gov because the president exercised his rights to vote and use checks and balances.

The new Congress has vowed to continue to change the language as necessary to gain the votes to pass the Bill.  Jeb Bush said, “Keystone is a no brainer. Moves us toward energy independence & creates jobs. President Obama must stop playing politics & sign the bill.”

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming months. 

Obama Vows to Abide by Immigration Court Order

Article source:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/politics/texas-obama-immigration-

injunction/

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

Date:  2/19/15

Summary of article:

President Obama received a setback this week when a federal judge from Texas blocked his

executive action order on immigration.  Such news has upset 26 states.  Judge Andrew

Hanen sighted a little known rule called the Administrative Procedure Act.  The judge ruled

that the Obama administration did not give provide a long enough notification and

comment period.  This ruling has temporarily setback around 5 million illegal immigrants

who are seeking to become legal.  The White House has strongly said that they do not agree

with the ruling and they will appeal the decision.  They said that the President was well

within his powers to enact the executive order.  As for now, the White House will abide by

the court order.  However, Obama has told his staffers to continue to move forward with

the planning process as he is certain that this ruling will be overturned.  The National

Immigration Law Center is telling the immigrants not to let this deter their plans.  A rep

advised that they need to still get their documents and all paperwork ready to file as soon

as the law is overturned.  While many Democrats see this ruling as unethical and

unconstitutional, Republicans see it as a victory in the sense that Obama cannot just use

executive action when he pleases.

Bobby Jindal rolls out education agenda as he eyes 2016 presidential bid

Date of Article:  February 9, 2015

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

Source of Article: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/9/bobby-jindal-rolls-out-educat/

Bobby Jindal has had great success being Governor of Louisiana for the last 2 terms. Since Jindal cannot run for another term, it looks like he has set his eyes on a possible presidential run in 2016.  All signs are pointing to  the fact that the Governor is looking to enter the already crowded race.  With heavy hitters like Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Rand Paul, Jindal’s chances seem bleak at this point in the game.  

The Governor was in Washington, DC on Monday where he took the stage to announce his plan to strengthen the country’s educational system, primarily repealing the Common Core standards that many states have adopted.  He believes in letting parent’s and their local government decide what is the best education for their child, not the federal government who thinks one size fits all.  He feels that proponents of Common Core are positioning themselves with bureaucrats and against parents who want a louder voice in their children’s education.  Jindal says that it comes down to trusting local government, local parents, and teachers in making decisions about education.

While speaking at the a couple of meetings on Monday, he also laid out a plan that outlines what his focus will be on once he completes his term as Governor.  He said he would repeal Obamacare, build the Keystone Pipeline, present a strong foreign policy that focus on stopping Iran’s nuclear program.   Many thought that Jindal is saying too many  of the right things and that he is trying too hard to be liked.  As the polls show, he isn’t faring very well among the other candidates.  Jindal says that he doesn’t care what  the polls and Washington insiders say, he cares what the people say.  He also said that Governors made for better Presidents as they know how to lead and manage.  

Mitt Romney Decides Not to Run in 2016 Presidential Election

Mitt Romney told supporters and the media that he will not run for president in 2016.  His decision came after finding out that many of his big donors from 2012 would not commit to supporting his campaign.  Many of those key donors are signing up with Jeb Bush instead.  Insiders believe that Republican supporters and donors have moved on, they want to see a fresh face run in 2016. The GOP wants a candidate who will be able to challenge the well-funded Hillary Clinton.  Dozens and dozens of very wealthy donors are now supporting Jeb Bush because they feel that he is the only one who can defeat Hillary Clinton. It will be interesting to see how this plays out on the national stage in the coming months due to the fact that sadly funding may make or beak your campaign.  

By Drewv Magan

Website:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/mitt-romney-2016-presidential-election.html?_r=0

Ap Gov #1

January 28, 2015

By Drewv Magan

http://trak.in/tags/business/2015/01/28/obamas-india-visit-top-9-business-takeaways/

President Obama’s 3-day visit to India – January 25-27, 2015

On January 25, 2015, President and Michelle Obama arrived in India for a 3 day state visit.  This was a historic visit because Obama was the first US President ever to be a State Guest at the annual India Republic Day Parade held in New Delhi.  Prime Minister Modi and other State Leaders welcomed the President and Mrs. Obama.  The Obama’s watched the military might of India and took in cultural events during their visit.  The mission of this trip was for the two countries to renew their relationship and see how each country can help the other.  

Several important business and financial deals were negotiated during this quick trip. Highlights of some of the deals were:

• Increase in bi-lateral trade between the countries.

• The US government will give $1 billion in assistance to India for the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s).

• The US will give $2 billion to be used by India in the field of renewable energy.

• Obama promised to look into the H1B visa issues which have been giving Indian companies a difficult time in trying to expand their business to America.

• Great progress was made by both countries regarding Civil Nuclear deals and rules that support them.

• India aligned itself closely with America and promised its support against terrorism.

• India is also going to get rid of some of the red tape that hinders US companies from doing business there.

The Obama’s had to cut their trip short by one day in order to attend King Abdullah’s funeral in Saudi Arabia.  The trip was considered a huge success by both countries!