Story #12

November 16, 2010

Lame-duck session to begin

Few Democrats, Confident Republicans arrive

By: Andrew Pooch

            The scene at Capitol Hill will see many politicians hobbling in after their defeats in the November election to clean out their offices.  Mostly democrats, those politicians have one session left before their term comes to an end.

            The term “lame-duck” was created to label the politicians that returned after losing elections to participate in the post-election session.  They would ultimately carry no power in conversation and provide little help, thus sticking them with the term “lame-duck” is fitting (Harwood, 2010).

            Congress experienced a shift in party majority after the election and there are many new faces in D.C.  The newly elected positions are being sworn in; learning the rules of decorum and being instructed how to run a congressional office.

            The problem may arise this year as it did in 2006, when there was a shift in party power in Congress.  In these instances, political tempers already running hot, the temptation for lame duck members to vent their frustrations by working to stall good bills, while turning bad bills into worse laws, becomes even greater.

            The main focus on the lame-duck session agenda includes: Bush tax cuts, Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) as well as a repeal for Form 1099 income reporting requirement for small businesses.

            Republican John Boehner is in line to become the new speaker when Congress assembles in January. He told the Associated Press that, “The American people are sick and tired of the ‘Washington knows best’ mentality.  All the power in this town is on loan from the people.”

            The people were “sick and tired,” and they acted on their emotion.  The new Congress will move to make changes to large taxes and try to find the country more jobs.  Not much was done in October when the elections were inching closer; this lame-duck session has an opportunity to get the ball rolling for the January session (Harwood, 2010).

"[Republicans are] still flush with victory, having run a strategy that was all about saying no. But I am very confident that the American people were not issuing a mandate for gridlock," said newly elected Republican Senator Mark Kirk to the LA Times. "So my expectation is … that there are a set of things that need to get done during the lame-duck, and that they are not going to want to just obstruct, that they're going to want to engage constructively."

            In the election year, the scene on Capitol Hill is effortless.  The agenda is slow to move and votes lay in a standstill.  The time before and after the elections are futile – stuck in a slump until January, when the newly elected politicians arrive and fulfill their new duties.


Works Cited
Associated Press
LA Times
NY Times article November 7, 2010

November 16, 2010

Study Guide- Conclusion to Daniel Book

The conclusion to Scandal and Civility highlights the victory of Thomas Jefferson and the revolution of democracy in politics.  Jefferson was able to trump his Federalist counterparts and establish the Republicans at the top of American politics for an important revolution years after the Revolutionary War had ended.  Political and Religious ideologies were present during this time.  Thinking like the monarchy we had freed ourselves from was a scary thought.  Creative minds such as Fenno, Freneau and Bache played key roles in publishing print works during this time that shaped politics for our nation.

Before we were even a country, the press has had the power to inform us and misinform us.  The print during the late 1700’s shaped partisan politics.  Today, Internet, television and print news is carrying on the tradition.  The reporting tries to be objective, but never is with politics.  The press leaves little room for rational thinking and that is what is missing from the media of today.

Governor’s race demands recount

Pawlenty extents stay in mansion

By Andrew Pooch

            The results came in tallying close to two million and the result left Mark Dayton with a 10,000-vote lead over Tom Emmer that accounted for less than one percent difference.  This automatically triggered a recount.

            Polling since the primaries has displayed a toss-up between Emmer and Dayton.  This only predicted that there would be no heavy favorite entering the election.  Nate Silver, creator of the popular poll FiveThirtyEight, predicted the race to be very tight, but Dayton had a large percentage chance of winning.  Now Dayton is reported to have 43.7 percent and Emmer 43.3 percent.

            The close vote will initiate a recount, which is very recent in the memories of Minnesotans.  In 2008, the Senator race was close enough to have a hand-tallying recount which left the senate seat unoccupied for eight months.

            With such a tight margin of victory, many analysts have been pondering if Dayton won the election by accomplishments or had Emmer lost from campaign blunders.

This election bucked the trend throughout the nation.  Many races saw republicans bump off democratic candidates.  The change was seen coming since this summer, when Obama’s approval rating fell.  Around the nation, democrats were blamed for his failures and sought republican replacements hoping for change.

Politics in Minnesota reported that many political observers attribute the outcome to Emmer’s weaknesses as a candidate. “I’m sure there’s a lot of second-guessing among Republican leaders about Emmer’s candidacy,” said Dan Hofrenning, a professor of political science at St. Olaf College. “In such a Republican year, I’m sure they’re kicking themselves.”

Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College, sees the results similarly. “You had a historical Republican sweep here on a lot of levels of the ballot, but not the governor’s race,” Schier said. “It really indicates a tremendous lost opportunity for the Republicans.”

Media outlets throughout Minnesota chose not to endorse Dayton or Emmer.  This focus took votes away from the republicans and the democrats.  Tom Horner, the independent candidate accounted for nearly 12 percent of the vote according to FiveThirtyEight poll.  This took many votes away from the two dominant parties.

            Currently Dayton has been declared the winner.  After the recount, Minnesotans will know who the next governor will be.  If Dayton comes out victorious, Minnesota will have its first DFL governor in 24 years.

            “The voters have spoken,” said Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley to Politics in Minnesota. “I just wish someone could tell me what they said.”

http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/governor

STUDY GUIDE FOR  WEEK 11

Political Journalism

Read one essay in the Flippin book from either the “Economy in Crisis” section or “The New New Presidency”

I am not making individual study guides for each section, so here is a generic one:

1.     Please discuss the significance of the title of the essay.  The title of the essay is “Obama’s Bailout,” by Paul Krugman.  The significance is his interpretation of how Obama handled the stimulus package and bank bailout. Then he looked ahead at the future and how these decisions would pan out.

2.     What is the writer’s point in 50 words or less.   The writers point is that Obama has just begun his work as president.  He has made an early attempt at the stimulus, and hasn’t made a move toward the bank situation yet because of the difficulty.

3.     Who is the writer’s audience? (You may consider the venue in which the essay was published.)  This article was written in the Rolling Stone.  The audience is uninformed readers.  The article is written in a way that anyone reading can learn about the state of the economy.

4.     Do you think the writer does a good job making his/her point? Explain.  Yes, the writer does an excellent job of getting his point across.  The facts are laid out in an organized manner and then he lists his solutions with little confusion of where he stands.

5.     These essays were all written in 2009. Do you know anything now in 2010 that sheds new light on the writer’s observations? How might that change the essay?  As far as 2010, we are still in an economic recession and Obama is losing approval ratings.  He has not made a move to bailout the banks yet, and the stimulus is still keeping the housing market in trouble.

6.     Please discuss at two new things you learned from the essay.  I learned how fast Obama acted once he became president to help our economy.  His actions were quick, but not enough to make a huge difference.  He just did enough to keep the economy from getting worse.

7.     What do you think was most interesting about the essay? Why?  The most interesting piece of the essay was his referral to the Swedish bank dilemma in the 1990’s.  Many feel like this might solve the solution in the U.S. but on the other hand many see it as a socialism act.

8.     Google the writer. Tell me more about him/her. Cite your sources. Paul Krugman is a political writer who has a blog on the NY Times Web site.  He is also a Professor of Economics at Princeton University.  He has also won a Nobel Prize.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/

Democrat Faithful Fading

Republicans Gaining Different Following

By Andrew Pooch

            When Obama won the presidential election in 2008, he managed to persuade most women, Roman Catholics, less affluent Americans and independents to vote Democrat. The latest New York Times/CBS News Poll has Republicans gaining those votes in this election.

            The result of this situation is a concern for the condition of the nation after the 2008 election.  Many voters that are on the fence about their votes are voting for the less experienced candidate or one with extreme views, because they do not want to continue with what is happening in Congress.  The nation once again wants change.

            Democrats have been known as the party that plans to create jobs, but they have failed to follow through.  The economy has been the biggest issue this fall and since the public is noticing the failures of the President’s plan, people are turning to candidates that can create a new majority in Congress.

            Many voted for Obama based on his change, including Judy Berg, an independent from Illinois that was interviewed by the New York Times after a polling session.  “I was looking for a change,” said Berg.  “The change that ensued was not the change I was looking for but something totally out of left field.”

            Since then, Ms. Berg will be changing her vote to Republican.  “I’m pro-life and I am also looking at the immigration issues and the tax issues,” she said.  “I like the Republican agenda on these issues better than the Democratic agenda.”

            This poll is designed to be an accumulation of exit polls from 2008, 2006 and early polling in 2010.  The poll is measuring the elections that are not for U.S senate considering there are fourteen seats not up for election and Democrats seem to continue their control of the Senate.

            These results are similar to the middle of Clinton’s second term in office.  He was under investigation and the voters swung Congress to Republicans and then Bush came in.  According to the poll, most of the disproval rating is contributed to Congress.  Obama has a decent backing, because many still feel that the problems he is facing are temporary.  The reasons they are here in the first place are because of George Bush and Wall Street.

            The speaker of the house is Nancy Pelosi and she has become a liability for the Democratic Party. According to the fivethirtyeight, she has a large chance of winning her election, but will face a loss of her title as House speaker come Wednesday.

            This election will represent the emotions of the voters.  Frustrated with the current state of our economy – they will once again be looking for change.