Is Democracy a realistic answer?

Growing up in America, I can understand that democracy is a great thing. All around the world people are striving for what we have.
Throughout history, there has been a pattern of the rise and fall of governments. Democracy is no exception. Although many believe that America has hit its peak and is on its way down, there is still time for us to improve.
We have the education and knowledge to prevent history from repeating itself with our nation. Our founding fathers did a great job by starting this country over 200 years ago but now it is time for us to modernize our government. I am not saying that we need to completely rebuild our government from the ground up but we need to take a good look at ourselves and change what needs to be changed. Only through changing with the times and being flexible can this country survive as a whole and prosper.
It is every citizens job to make sure that we elect the right people to give the masses their voice in the capital and it is their responsibility to listen to us and make the changes. by working together, America can see a brighter tomorrow.

week 13 question

It is important that the government be respnsible and balance the budget to make sure that we are only paying for services that need to be paid for. In a recession such as this, even the government needs to tighten their purse strings. What I cannot understand is how the government is taking so long to do the budget..... My favorite idea for cutting spending.......government shut down.... duhhhhhhh.
lets think about this, lets not pay the people how are overseas fighting in a warzone and see what happens.... can we say disaster? That a brillant idea washington, piss on the soldier that has an M1 pointed at YOUR enemy and see if they fire. .......dumb *@$. seriously, if the senate and the house were like any other job in america, they would all be fired. You couldn't get around to do the budget on time????? ohhhhhhhhh too bad, YOUR FIRED!!! It's times like this you actually want Donald Trump as president just so you can watch him walk into the capital and tell everyone that. lol

How does a government facilitate comprehensive care for its constituents without sacrificing equity?

The one main subject that was in almost all the discussions in class was Health Care. Now as an American that is not considered "wealthy", I have to agree that universal health care sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately its not. I believe that because our population is so great, the amount that the government would spend on universal health care would bankrupt the country and lower quality of care.
Although health care may not be a good idea, most of the programs that the government have to help the population are very good. Welfare, when used properly, is a good system. Again unfortunately there are people out there that take advantage of the systems designed to help the needy. If the government would just put more restrictions on who qualifies and for how long, the government would be using the money that freeloaders take up on people that actually need help and want to get out the situation they are in.
With the economy the way it is, I can understand how people think its OK to "cheat" the government out of money. Some believe that they are owed it. But here is the truth for all you freeloaders out there, you are making things worse for everyone including yourselves. Use only what you have too so all of America can pay its bills and get out of this little funk we are having.

Foreign policy in a nation

I believe that the trickiess thing about a government is the development of foreign policy. The reason?.. Well, you kind of have to treat your country like a business with other countries otherwise you won't survive. It we constantly gave our money and resources away with out anything in return, we won't survive as a nation. We give help yes, but only as much as we can afford. If you notice in the news, we give more help to those countries and we trade with alot. It benefits us to help them because in the end is it helping ourselves. Unfortunitly alot of Americans don't want to face the truth that America as a nation is selfish. There is a reason for this, we have to take care of ourselves first then we have more resources to give out.
 Do you think that America is being selfish by helping the Lybia rebels?

To Judge us, means to Judge yourself

Congress in the crossfire

Question: How does the US Congress, as it exists in its current structure, support or limit authentic representation?

Honestly...... Congress is a mess. I'm just waiting for them to break out in democrats vs republicans wresseling match to determine the vote on a bill. There is so much party seperatisim that nothing is getting done. The budget for 2011?.........Not done, IT IS MARCH!!!!!! We are on the verge of a government shut down because these people can't or won't work together.
My solution....more parties. Our country was not always a two or three party system. There were many different parties. Maybe if there were more we wouldn't have this dividing line the house and congress that was ripping our country apart.

My other solution.....NEW PEOPLE!!! We keep voting for the same kind of people to represent us and the same thing keeps happening and we wonder why. America is like a little kid sticking their hand on a hot stove agian and agian wondering why they keep getting burned. Duhhh.......
Congress can be great, but instead they choose to bicker at each other and help the wealthly and failing businesses veruses helping the average Joe get back on his feet.
Isn't the phrase "FOR the people, by the people"
People need to be in Congress because they want to change the country for the better not because they want to sit on their ass and see how much BS the public will take before they kick them out.

Limiting Democracy with the president

Question of the week: In what ways does the US Presidency support or limit the formation of an ideal democracy?

Well, I believe that the President actually limits the formation of an ideal democracy. It seems like the president stopped being about representing the country as a whole and is now just about representing his own political party's agenda. I honestly believe that a president should have no political party bias. This way he can judge get law on its content veruses who wrote it. I understand that one of the major reason why he is there is to be the Commander and Cheif of the Armed Forces, but I honestly feel like he is too involved with the political BS of Congress that it is not helping the country but hurting.

One for all and all for one

How do individuals and groups of people influence the political process?

Every idea has to start somewhere. Mainly these ideas start from a small group of people or just one person. Take unions for example, there are a group of people that influence the decisions of the political system because they agree to work together to get fair treatment in their industry.
In Wisconsin right now people are protesting right in the capital building to influence the political vote! I give these people all the credit in the world for standing in the capital building and yelling at the top of their lungs to make a compromise.
In our democracy one person's good idea is not enough the change the world, but you need to act on it and recruit more people to back you up to really make a difference.
Here is my question to you......
Do you think that a protest like the one in Wisconsin are the best way to change the political vote?

In Egypt, these political protests are necessary to give the people more power over who runs their country and how they do it. The media keeps giving Facebook credit for being the tool to organize these protests. If there were no Facebook, would these north African countries have done this?

Public opinion

In what ways does public opinion influence the formation of a democratic society?
Well, I hope a lot. The old saying " for the people, by the people" is ringing in my ears right now when it comes to this question. Decoracy in this country was formed by the people. Long ago, our ancestors created a government where the people would have a say in how the government was run and who it was run by. Today we have changed it a little. Now every citizen of this great country has a say in the political system.
When we vote, we vote for our future. The government does not work without it's citizens and its citizens don't work without its government. everyone forgets that democracy is a give and take relationship. Unfortunately, I was one of those people. I never voted but always complained about the outcome of an election. The reason way we work as a democracy is the fact that majority rules. You can't please everyone but you can please most of them.
I heard a lot of comments about the media being a big influence on the voting and political front and they kind of sway the decision. Well, I agree with this. We are now a technological society and most of us trust the media to bring us the truth and facts. Unfortunately this isn't always the case, so in response to this I urge everyone to do their own research when it comes to making that vote count.
Has anyone gone to a political campaign speech?
I was just wondering if you do actually learn something about the candidate or if you just stand there and hear what you hear on TV ads.

Should the Government interact with the private sector?

I think after the government intervened with the banks a few years ago that a lot of people are nervous about how interactive the government is getting in the private sector. I agree that the banks needed help to stay afloat to help the American people but I think they could have thought it through a little better. The number one reason why the government gets involved in how the private sector operates is to better the economy for the entire country right? Then why is it that when the banks and mortgage companies got the bail out money, all their CEO's seemed to get a 5 million dollar or more bonus? I think the government should have put better restrictions on how the money was supposed to be spent. This is the problem with the government trying to run both the country and the private sector in it.
Now a days the government has put a lot of controls in place to help the private sector. Some of these are good things, like new account reporting standards to prevent another Enron. But also there are a few that they put out there that makes the average "John Doe"tax payer jump out of their seat and scream at the TV for announcing that their tax dollars are going to a mortgage company that just six weeks ago said they would not help him and put him in foreclosure.
Should the government interact with the private sector? Yes,......I mean no......well.....maybe? It's a tricky question. You want the government to help the people so sometimes yes its necessary, but you still want your own company to have the chance to "be all it can be" without the government telling you how to run your business. After all, this is America. Unfortunately the only why I can really describe what I think of the government in the private sector is like is this analogy :
 The government is a preschool teacher and the US is the students, it only takes one stupid kid to stab himself with a pair of scissors to get them taken away from the rest of the class.
So, here's to all the kids out there running with scissors and eating glue to piss off the teacher enough to get them taken away from the rest of the class.

Power in Economics, Politics, and Government

The three basic elements to every stable country has one thing in common, power. Power of the people, power of vote or power of the dollar. Power is essential to all these things but like anything else, if the balance is off trouble is soon behind it.
In economics the power needs to be in the value of the currency and how it relates to other economies. If the dollar is too weak, prices are high for us and every American, rich or poor, pay the price. If the dollar is strong we buy from other countries helping there economy grow strength.
In politics, power is a dangerous but necessary evil. For example if there were no majority in the house do you think that we would ever be able to pass any legislature? With politicians being so stubborn with voting for their own party, if there wasn't a majority things would never progress. Kind of what is happening now with the majority shifting after the midterm elections.
Government needs power to survive. It must to powerful enough to enforce its laws but when it gains to much power over it's people we see a situation like Egypt. I believe this balance of power is the most important. Countries raise and fall when I Government's power is off balance with it's people. Unfortunately, finding the perfect balance of what the government controls and what the people do is not that easy. It is constantly changing and with it, the government is changing. Look at where America is now compared to what it was 200 years ago. The people have changed so the government has been trying to keep up. But how much power is too much in today's America?

Opportunities and Challenges of a Democracy

With the State of the Union address behind us, it's time for reflection on where America goes now. I agree with the Op-ed article that the president did have a better speech than usual. Unfortunitly it seems that we only get a speech that we can connect with him on if there is a tragedy to talk about. This is one challenge a demcracy has in it.... finding a leader that appeals to all. With so many people enjoying the opportunity to vote in our country, it never fails that the winner of the presidental election does not have the full support of the people. The elected president goes in without absolute full support and he (or she) must gain the respect and trust of everyone who did and did not vote for them. It cannot be an easy job and not everyone is qualifed for it.
How many of us, at one point in our lives, have stood back and disagreed with everything a president has said in a speech? Chances are you have atleast disagreed with one thing in a speech. In a country where we are a melting pot of religion, class and race, we all have a different ideas on how the government should be run. The up side to having a melting pot of people like the US is that with differences comes new ideas. We are fairly young country and we are strong. This democracy has given everyone the chance to vote on how to make our nation strong.
Do you think that America would have been as strong of a country as it is now if we were not such a melting-pot?

Politics for Dummys

Every day in the media we hear about the constant battle in politics. Does anyone actually know what the heck is going on? It's seems to me that politics is like a fraternity, all gossip and pointing fingers but no proof. Throughout this blogging experience I hope to gain more knowledge about what is truth and what is nonsense in the world of American politics and see what all of you have to say about it. I guess you could say that the title for this blog is straight to the point. I want to hear what the actual facts without all the bull crap surrounding it. I encourge all of you to call me out if you disagree with me. After all, this is a learning experience and what better way to learn than to have someone tell you differently.