Homework 10/30

In class on Thursday, we'll conduct a discussion about "assisted suicide" in Massachusetts.  Each of you has been given a point of vew and must support it during the discussion with "evidence" research, opinion and value.  We'll begin by developing an understanding of the issue and all of the facets to take into consideration.  Then, we'll debate the issue as it relates to the question facing Massachusetts voters.  We must keep the debate in the context of the Massachusetts ballot.

Resources can be found on the state website delegated to election information and materials monitored by the Secretary of State.  That resource is located on the menu to the left of this post.

Election Topic: Education

Obama:  A program that President Obama has put into place is the Race to the Top policy. This program so far has been extremely effective and will help the education systems immensely. "Awards in Race to the Top will go to States that are leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive education reform. Race to the Top winners will help trail-blaze effective reforms and provide examples for States and local school districts throughout the country to follow as they too are hard at work on reforms that can transform our schools for decades to come (ed.gov.)"  This system also works on a points system and different objectives or accomplishments earn states points as of now Massachusetts is the leader.

Election Topic: Simpson-Bowles

Romney:  Simpson-Bowles also known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was issued by Obama in February 2010. The point of the commission was to study the debt crisis in the U.S. and offer a proposal to solve the problem. The plan was never passed. Mitt Romney did not support the unpopular choices that Simpson-Bowles put forward, but he did like the general idea of the commission. What he wants to do is stimulate the economy. He does not support raising revenue as a way to reduce deficit and promises to not cut taxes on the middle class. Reducing and stabilizing federal spending and fixing the tax code on jobs and growth are some of the areas that he will focus on. Romney also plans on brining fiscal restraint to Washington by placing a hard cap on federal spending. Obamacare will be repealed and Romney will focus on eliminating wasteful government. For spending Romney plans on reducing it from 24.3% last year to with the historical trend between 18% and 20% and wants to close the tax revenue generated by the economy.

Obama:  Even though Barrack Obama was the one who issued the Simpson-Bowles commission Like Mitt Romney he did not embrace the unpopular ideas and choices that it set forward. Obama’s plan for reducing the deficit contains many different aspects. The different parts of the plan include spending cuts in the Budget Control Act and spending cuts to mandatory programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Obama also wants to drawdown the amount of troops in Afghanistan.  Reform of the Income tax and interest savings from pay down of federal debt are also major parts of Obama’s plan for reducing the deficit.

Election Topic: Taxes

Obama:  Obama believes in a progressive tax system that ensures a fair level of taxation for every income bracket. He put forth a tax legislation called the Buffet Rule, which invoked a minimum tax rate of 30% on millionaires. However, the rule failed to pass. In February he signed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. The act extended a two percent Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Obama wants America to return to its original values of fair play and shared responsibility. He believes this will help us protect our people and help the economy. The tax hike on 160 million working Americans needs to stop according to Obama. He understands that people can’t afford $40 out of every paycheck. Obama has said that the millionaires of the country need to be willing to spend a little more on taxes so that we can help grow the economy and invest in important aspects of the government such as education, medical research and a strong military. The tax code needs to change so wealthier people pay their fair share in taxes; it should follow the form of the Buffet Rule that Obama proposed. Obama has said at fundraisers and speeches that the country has tried the tax and spending cuts that Romney proposes and they didn’t work, but we also tried our plan and it has worked.

Romney:  Romney hates how high the current taxes are. He wants to do a flat 20% tax cut on all tax rates for everyone. By decreasing taxes he believes that people will be able to employ more people which would create more jobs creating the snowball effect with jobs. Romney will also cut some of the tax deductibles for everyone to offset some of the federal income for the tax cuts to begin with. Romney also wants to extend the Bush-Era Tax rates for everyone. Romney also wants to cut non security discretionary spending, amount U.S. government spends domestically and subtracting out defense costs, by 5% to reduce the federal debt and strength the manufacturing industry. Finally, he is in favor of the trickle-down effect, to grow the economy from the upper class down. In the end Romney basically wants to decrease the size of the government and decrease the deficit while keeping the taxes low.

Election Topic: Drilling

Obama:  Obama plans to moderate drilling by still drilling for oil and also developing better fuel efficiency standards.  He plans to expand domestic oil production by offering millions of acres, all while improving safety measures to prevent future spills.  He will keep drilling, but only if safety precautions are taken and the land is properly developed.  In developing land and safety precautions, Obama wants to create more jobs and be able to employ more people to do these tasks.  Under the presidency,  the country produced more oil than in the last 14 years, while also while also reaching better energy efficiency.   If President Obama is re-elected, there will be many new jobs in drilling and clean energy companies because Obama plans to expand both.  Obama believes that the country needs to conserve its dwindling natural resources, and will work to make sure the country has alternative energy to fall back on. 

Romney: Romney plans to increase domestic oil drilling in order to create jobs.  He believes many companies and people will benefit from having more oil at a cheaper price.  Romney plans to drill more in domestic areas such as Alaska.  He is also going to allow states to control their oil production, making so states can produce oil more quickly.  States can work together to increase oil production in the country.  He plans to increase off shore and deep sea drilling.  With more drilling sites, Romney believes many more jobs will be created.  Romney’s major goal is to make the country energy efficient by the year 2020.  Drilling for more oil is a key point in his plan.

Election Topic: Entitlements

Romney on Social Security: Governor Mitt Romney wants to modernize Social Security to strengthen it for the future. He will increase the age of retirement as the average lifespan increases. The new increased age for retirement won’t affect those who are current seniors and people close to the current retirement age of 65. Mitt Romney will also continue to grow benefits for Social Security but less for those with higher incomes.

Romney on Medicare:  Mitt Romney’s plan for Medicare will allow the younger generation to chose their own coverage and not change the Medicare plans that seniors or soon to be seniors are currently on. He will increase the quality of the service while lowering the cost of the premiums by making Medicare more affordable in his plan to help fix the economy.

Obama on Social Security:  Obama wants to modernize the Social Security to strengthen it for the future generations. With the help of The Recovery Act: a onetime payment of $250 to people so they can receive Social Security. Also, he believes that Social Security is a protection plan for families who are too old to work and provide for the rest of the family. He wants retirement plans to be set up through the person employers. By doing this it will make it easier for people to save on their own for retirement with better planning and advising for the future. Obama plans on rising the retirement age slowly and increase the payroll tax rate to cover more eligible retirees. Obama also does not want any changes to social security to affect current or near retirees. 

Obama on Medicare: Obama wants to keep the cost of Medicare down around $6,150 a year. Obama also supports quality and affordable health insurance. The Affordable Care Act closes the gap in prescription drug coverage known as the doughnut hole. Obama wants to raise the qualifying age from the current 65 to 67 because people are living longer than in the past. Obama will make sure that Medicaid and Medicare will continue working to help seniors who want to stay in their own homes, instead of going into nursing facilities. Obama also wants to cut the useless costs that seniors pay in Medicare coverage. By cutting these unneeded costs it will also bring down the costs of coverage while having better coverage.

 

Election Topic: The Dream Act

Obama:  The dream act allows illegal immigrants who have entered the country when they were younger than 16 years old, and have lived here for 5 years, to be able to gain citizenship. Obama believes in this Act because it will allow children who were born and raised as an American citizen to remain American. Also, after these immigrants graduate from college and receive a job, they will be able to boast our economy by putting the money they earn back into the market. The concept of allowing the immigrants into the country could strongly benefit our country in other ways as well. Due to the agreement in the Dream Act, the illegal immigrants would have to either enter the military or go to two years of college, which would in turn provide more men to enter the military. It could decrease the United States’ deficit. Most importantly, it could provide a home for the immigrants that came so young that they did not know any better. They came through no fault of their own. Thus, the United States should make them a citizen.

           

Romney:  Romney does not agree with the idea of illegal immigrants to be able to remain in the country. This uses the tax payer’s money to provide education for people who have entered the United States illegally. The allowing of illegal immigrants to enter the United States also sends a message that illegal immigration is accepted in the United States. Once this message is sent, there will be flocks of immigrants attempting to enter the United States. Once they do, taxes would need to increase so that America can continue to fund their education. After the immigrants do earn money, they would not put it back into our economy. They would give the money they earn back to their family in the country that they came from. Because of this, Mitt Romney does not believe it is rational to pass the dream act. The Dream Act has been rejected three times. If Mitt Romney was president he would veto the dream act and continue to deport the discovered illegal immigrants.   

Election Topic: Energy

Romney:  In terms of energy, Governor Romney has stated many times that he wants to be energy independent. This means that he does not want to have to rely on Middle East countries for our oil. This is going to result in more drilling on American soil, which also means that we have to learn how to be more energy efficient. In order to become energy independent and more energy efficient, we will have to do more research and innovate the tools that we use. More research will result in more jobs and also a safer, more efficient way to get energy. Innovation of tools will also lead to more jobs and it will end up costing less to get the energy we need. Governor Romney’s main goal is to boost our economy back to where it was before this recent depression. By becoming more energy independent, he hopes to create more jobs and pay less for the energy that we acquire.

Election Topic: Environment

Romney:  Mitt Romeny believes that protecting the environment is important, but not at the risk of putting our nation at a disadvantage. He believes that instead of establishing mandates on our environmental usage, we should discover new ways to harness our power over our resources and find ways to maximize our usage, without doing damage. He plans on developing, “no regret policies,” in which we lower the level of CO2 in the atmosphere, become energy independent, and decrease the amount of harmful gasses we emit into the environment. Governor Romney truly believes that protecting the environment is extremely important, but he believes that creating more jobs is more important right now. What that means is that he is neither against offshore drilling nor against using renewable energy sources. Using our environment is not a harmful thing unless we make it harmful. Governor Romney believes that we should use our environment, in a safe and organized way, in order to create more jobs and a healthier economy. 

Election Topic: Iran and Israel

Romney:  Romney’s position concerning the situation of Iran and Israel is to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. They should not be able to use nuclear weapons at their disposal because he is afraid it will lead to something catastrophic. He stresses that this is the highest security priority and the United States will need to be careful with how they approach the situation. Romney believes that words will not be enough to stop Iran and they will most likely need to take military action. He wants to increase military coordination with Arab allies in that region and conduct naval exercises. Also, the United States will need to place increasing sanctions on Iran. Romney also believes that the United States should push for diplomatic isolation and indict Ahmadinejad for supporting genocide.

Election Topic: Anti-Americanism

Romney:  Romney is very aware of this problem, the hatred towards America. For example, in Israel, Romney implied that the Palestinians were culturally inferior to the Israelis because of their poverty, without mentioning the decades-long economic blockade that has crippled the Palestinian territories.  The Arab World’s main reason of anti-americanism is U.S. political, economic and military support of Israel, helping Israel to defeat the Arabs and continue its occupation of their land.

Obama: Recently in the Middle East, Anti-American sentiment has been on the rise. Protests have broken out in which Arab citizens burn American flags, and criticize the American Government. The President believes these protests have represented a genuine and liberal democratic rising that might replace regimes. He recognizes that American opposition to these risings might result in the emergence of anti-American regimes in these countries. President Obama believes The United States must embrace the general idea of the Arab risings, however acknowledges that we must be selective in supporting specific cases. The President believes it would be unjust for the United States Military to become overly involved in these protest as The United States has consistently opposed violence against innocent civilians, supported a set of universal rights for the people of the region, and supported processes of political and economic reform.

Election Topic: Middle East Policy

Romney:  The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of protests that have spread through  some of the Middle Eastern countries. Romney wants to send more arms to Syria to support the opposition rebels. Romney also wants to have a strong internationalist role for the United States, to take a more active role in shaping developments in the wake of the Arab Spring. Romney thinks that the US cannot be neutral about the outcome, this is because he is going to support the country which is most beneficial to the US. As a major difference with Obama, Romney will never unilaterally create preconditions for peace talks.

Obama:  President Obama recognizes that the Middle East cannot be monitored only militarily, and wants to  make sure that countries that the United States is assisting are supporting our counterterrorism efforts, and wants to make sure that they are standing by our interests in Israel's security. He also wants to use military force to protect religious minorities and women because he believes that these countries can't develop unless all the population is developing. He also wants to financially assist these select countries in order to develop their economy, however he acknowledges that the United States cannot continue to do nation building in these regions. President Obama would like to slowly deteriorate the funds that go to these foreign nations, and use the money to help the United States economy

Homework 10/15

• What is your view on the Keystone Pipeline?
• How do you stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon with violence?
• How would go about stopping Israel from a preemptive strike against Iran?
• What do you if Iran gets a nuclear weapon?
• Views on tax increase for the wealthy...
• Why would it be better to raise the age of Social Security to 67?
• Would you streamline the visa/citizenship process, especially if you’ve already received a visa?

Assignment:

Write a 200 hundred word maximum response as Obama or Romney.  You should answer 3 questions as Obama and 4 questions as Romney. 

Homework 10/6

Look at the polling data found on the website Realclearpolitics.org.  Define and discuss some of the polling changes that took place in three of the swing states over the course of the last couple of weeks.  Focus specifically on the time before the debate and the time after the debate.  Make specific reference to the polling numbers.

Debate Recap #1

What long term effect will the first debate have on the Election of 2012?

Homework for 9/14

A couple of tasks or questions to consider about the reading.  First, can you define the term demographics and apply it to the discussion about elections.  Why is a study of demographics essential to understanding outcomes in November?  What impact do demogrphics have on elections?  Think about local issues and national issues.  What does it mean if demographics are shifting?

Homework for 9/13

 1. Your group (see below) is to research one of the following elections:

                                Election of 1800

                                Election of 1824

                                Election of 1876

                                Election of 2000

 2. You will have to do a 5-7 slide Powerpoint presentation which explains what happened in the election.  Your aim is to explain the election using what you’ve learned about the Electoral College and the means of electing the president.  (Use the Constitution to help you)  You MUST have a map of the electoral vote included in your presentation.  (A popular vote map may help)

Groups

                I               Centeno, Higgins, Duato Stanton

                II             Coxall, Stern, Michals, Breen

                III            Fradin, Gowland, Love

                IV            Haghighat, Knight, Spotts, McDonald

We'll work in groups for the first half of class.  Then we'll begin the reports in chronological order.

We're Back!

Welcome to the Election of 2012 class at Lawrence Academy.  We're looking forward to a great term discussing ideas and learning about the candidates and issues.  The first assignment (you were given a handout in class) is to read Federalist 68.  It's located at the left of this post. Take a look around and tell us what you think.....

Obama tonight!

After President Obama speaks tonight, we be able to compare the messages from the two major candidates in the Election of 2012.  Which candidate do you feel had the best message for the public?

Welcome!

Take a look at our class blog for the Election of 2012.  Add a couple of comments about your thoughts on the upcoming election.  Also, feel free to make suggestions about what you'd like to see on the site.  We can change it as we go along.