Pick on the following three articles: cannabis, immigration,or budget . Based on the article you chose answer the following questions: What legislative issue does of the article focus on? How will the respective political parties approach the issue? Why might some members of congress differ on their opinion from follow party members? What, if any, are the potential pitfalls for the respective parties regarding the issue?
27 Comments
Cooper Rockwood
10/23/2013 02:44:54 pm
The legislative issue this article focuses on is the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Democrats will want to be pro-legalization in order to gain voters, because such a large majority of Democratic voters are for the cause. It can even possibly end up as a part of the next presidential election. Republicans will mostly be against legalization even though a couple Libertarians might become pro-legalization. Some members of Congress might differ from other members of their party in order to win the primaries(mostly Democratic). They must either distinguish themselves one way or the other. Some pitfalls are that even though it can win them the primaries, it may lose them the general election. They need the support of independents to win, but most independents lean republican. Even though they may be pro-legalization, most are tea-party Libertarians that wouldn't vote for a Democrat. Another pitfall is that this issue could eventually lead to a bigger separation between parties.
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Josie Wheeler
10/23/2013 03:31:20 pm
In Donna Cassata's article, "Speaker Hopeful of Immigration Action This Year" she depicts the different views the Republicans, Democrats, and congress have on the issue of immigration. The Republicans believe that the United States should not give citizenship to illegal immigrants who broke the U.S. immigration laws to be in this country. The Judiciary Committee Chairman, Robert Goodlatte, and the Republican party hope to pass a legislation that would allow the children with illegal parents but who were born within the United States to gain citizenship. A bill passed by congress to limit illegal immigration is favored by Republicans but disliked by many Democrats. The Democrats believe the United States should allow citizenship to the eleven million illegal immigrants even if they broke the U.S. immigration laws to come here. Groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, labor unions and religious organizations agree with creating a immigration legislation, many members of these groups are planning "a concerted lobbying effort on Capitol Hill next week" to gain immigration legislations. Members within congress may disagree with creating immigration legislations because they may be a Democrat or believe in giving illegal immigrants citizenship. Overall, immigration is a major issue within the United States, and Cassata's article gives us a deeper insight to the different aspects the parties have about immigration laws and legislations.
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Jeanne Oberschulte
10/23/2013 03:41:28 pm
The article "Cannabis in America: Choom Gang Rising" focuses on decriminalizing marijuana and legalizing it in the other 48 states of America for recreational use. Due to the liberal parties favoring the legalization of marijuana, majority of Democrats are not contrary to the subject because of the serious role that it could play in the 2016 election. The GOP still see's the plant as a drug, but are making steps to decriminalize it and lessen the sentences given to law violators with a non-violent record. Although there are conservatives, as well as Republicans in the house, that are out numbered by Democrats and liberals whom have pro-legalization opinions; Republicans have the independent parties on their sides who would never vote for a Democrat representative which will create a real struggle when trying to win the legalization of marijuana votes in the general election. American politics have always been defined as red vs. blue but a major pitfall of this issue is that it could lead to a severe separation between parties. In some ways, political parties matter less than they once did, but party identification is one of the most reliable indicators of how someone will vote on Election Day. The "Post-Kaiser study" breaks down the two parties into nine groups of voters: five groups who call themselves Republicans and four who call themselves Democrats.
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Heri Rios
10/24/2013 08:04:51 am
This is depicting how long and many struggle have to happen to actually get anything done in the white house nowadays. This is unacceptable. Our leaders should careless about their ego and about their ignorant believes and get together and embrace plans and resolutions that would allow this country to move forward for once. If we cant resolve things within deadlines it means this country isnt going at the pace and rate it should be going in. We have really high potential and this immigration bill has been going around for years now and we're still throwing this back and forth. It is time we man up to our positions and do the right thing and solve this once and for all and then we can more efficiently move on to different problems which are more adverse and longer to solve
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Verenicce Raya
10/24/2013 10:08:31 am
This legislation focuses on the long time issue of immigration. Speaker John Boehner is currently focused on addressing the issue as soon a possible. The current goal is to propose a bill to be voted on in the next five weeks. Some representatives like Mike Coffman, David Valadao, Eric Cantor, Robert Goodlatte are beginning to draft a bill in which children who have been brought to this country illegally would gain citizenship. There are other bills being created but it is no easy task. The bill to pass needs to acquire both support from the Republicans as well as the Democrats. Republicans especially need to put more interest in this situation, like they mentioned, if they wish to remain in congress. This is why some Republicans are now going against the opinion of their own parties stand point. Other parties may also lose support or members who do not support their own standpoint. If the different parties do not agree on a single bill soon problems could emerge in the future just like the recent government shutdown. The time to proposed a bill is running short this is why representatives need to get on task if they want to accomplish their goals.
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Carlos Reyes
10/24/2013 12:00:16 pm
The article about immigration the legislative issue it focus on immigration and the need of being able to do something this year so it can move forward also by fixing the immigration cause. The parties will plan on a lobbying effort also Democrats are pressuring on the House GOP for them to be able to gain a vote on the comprehensive legislation and to pass a bill so that It can make a path for the immigration to gain citizenship. Some members will have a different opinion because there not convinced and question for the people that have broken laws and gaining citizenship. The pitfalls there could be on the issue could be the House of Republicans for not allowing for the immigration to move forward and being fixed.
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Verenice Portales
10/24/2013 12:56:35 pm
Well the article focuses on the legilatation of marijuana. For rebubliacans, only 35% suport the legalization, while 62% of the Democrats suppoprt it. Its hard choice to make on what to do next, since going for the law or against it can help them win or lose. The Republicans are still against the ligalization of Marijuana. Some more libral Republicans may want to legalize, but the more conservative will not. While many Demorcats want to at least lessen the strictness surounding the drug, like Mr. Brooker. While other who dont support the drug at least want to losen the sentence on a person for the drug. They tend to differ because they want the individuals vote, and they know to get it they may need to change their tactics. A pitfall would be that this situation could make a bigger bridge in the parties.
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Sergio Saldana
10/24/2013 03:26:56 pm
The legislative issue this article focuses on is the legalization of marijuana. The Democrats and Republics will battle it out in order for them to win. Democrats are going to want to legalizes it because it will give them much more voters, because such a large majority of Democratic voters are for the cause. Republicans will mostly be against legalizing marijuana because they have a hint of what could happen to our world if it passes. Some members of congress will differ from one in other because they all have different views on things. There all trying to see what will be best for our world. Some downfalls are that it can win them primaries, but it may lose them the general election. They need to support each other. One pitfall is that the issue could lead to a bigger problem between the parties
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Becky White
10/26/2013 12:47:43 pm
Donna Cassata’s article, “Speaker Hopeful of Immigration Action This Year”, focuses on the legislative issue of immigration reform. Now that the government shutdown has ended, congressmen are determined to see a house vote on the subject by the end of the year. Democrats and Republicans are once again fighting cutthroat on each perspective side; Democrats are continuing to put pressure on the GOP to vote on legislation that would allow citizenship for eleven million immigrants living here illegally, while the Republicans are more stubborn than ever on this topic after losing a different battle during the recent government shutdown. However, not every Republican is agreeing with the tea partyers’ stubborn refusal, and some are urging a vote on the legislation right along with the House Democrats. Cassata noted in her article, “There are notable exceptions. Reps. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., and David Valadao, R-Calif., joined immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children who want to join the military at a Capitol Hill news conference.” Some Republicans are starting to realize the necessity for this vote in order to help make a change in this country for the betterment of the citizens and non-citizens alike. While the majority of the House Republicans note the importance of this legislation, very few have come forward in support of it. However, as labor unions, religious organizations and business groups continue to speak out in support of this reform and plan lobbying efforts, the higher the likeliness of House Republicans being swayed. Republicans are likely to face the biggest pitfall on this topic. If the Republicans continue to begrudge Democrats for the “Obamacare” debate, and continue to bring it into other issues, such as immigration, there is a possibility they will lose voter support in the next election.
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Peeka Zimmerman
10/26/2013 04:02:46 pm
In the article "Speaker Hopeful of Immigration Action This Year," Donna Cassata focuses on the legal issue of dealing with immigration. Speaker John Boehner is optimistic that stalled efforts towards improving immigration will resolve themselves and has raised the possibility of the House voting on the issue. Boehner believes immigration "needs to be addressed," as the House only has five legislative weeks left. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and labor unions are notable supporters of changing legislation for immigration and plan to meet on Capitol Hill next week, though Tea Partyers have made it clear they do not want anything to do with supporting Obama. Tea Partyers would rather pressure the House to vote on a similar Senate-passed bill that gives 11 million illegal immigrants citizenship and tightens boarder security. Republicans do not want to compromise and are remaining firm in preventing immigrants from being rewarded for illegally crossing the border. A handful of Congress members are looking to improve action taken towards sections of the illegal population, including children that want to become members of the military, and attempting to compromise on a smaller scale. Many people appreciate taking steps towards establishing a justified way to handle illegal immigrants- steps that do not offend citizens as they clearly support the safety of America. Many Republicans face the issue of insulting families of illegal residents and preventing people from trying to find a home in America. The Republicans can be viewed as not acting with compassion and forgetting about the accepting nature Americans desire to attain, which will cause Republicans to potentially lose support in elections. Although it may seem contradictory to reward illegal immigrants with citizenship, there are millions of people that are illegal and have just as much knowledge and national pride invested in America as current United States citizens do. Boehner predicts a change on the horizon regarding illegal citizenship and he, similarly to many Americans, is waiting for the day that immigrants find a place to belong and assimilate into the diverse backgrounds already rampant in the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”
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Julie Williams-Reyes
10/26/2013 04:45:38 pm
The article, "Cannabis in America: Choom Gang Rising" proposes the legislative issue on the legalization of marijuana and the recreational use. Democrats and Republicans are both concerned and prepared for this issue to become apart of the next presidential running, in which case the party that supports the legalization would have the biggest chance of succeeding. In this case that would be the Democrats. The Democrats would be pro and Republicans would be against but it would still be a hard match. In reality both party's are against the legalization, but the percentage for Democrats are changing, evidence is from the polls. Some members of Congress differ from majority Republican members, which have kept to themselves about certain issues, but on this particular one they would speak out. Even if they did, there are so few it would not cause an impact. Potential pitfalls for the parties will be the way the Independents vote. Independents usually sway towards Republican than Democratic, so Democrat candidates are at a disadvantage and will lose their libertarian independents if they don't show compromise or an open mind to the legalization. But if they do show an open mind then they might lose their other important older voters who do not support the legalization at all. And having to choose between to very different party's will force voters to choose sides when they have been in the middle, separating the party's even more. But in the end every vote matters, and the decision the candidate makes should be best for the majority of the people.
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Karina Velazquez
10/27/2013 08:20:03 am
The legislative issue that the article focuses on is the legalization of marijuana and recreational use. Democrats and Republicans have to get prepared for the next primaries. Many of the Democrats are for Legalization of marijuana and there is a smaller percent of republicans who support the legalization of marijuana. It is a risky issue for the democratic because pro-legalization independents may be tea-party libertarians who would not vote for a Democrat. A Democrat could possibly lose votes from some of the older ones for coming out of legislation.
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Carlotta Sainato
10/27/2013 12:15:45 pm
“GOP Pollster: What Went Wrong, And Why” by S.V. Date focuses on the political party conflicts in Congress, and how that may hinder progress in the government. It discusses the Republican attempt to defund Obamacare and how that attempt caused them to lose support, as shown by their plummeting approval ratings. It also notes that while Democratic approval ratings nationwide are higher than their disapproval ratings, their approval ratings in Republican districts are extremely low. Date explains how these factors, as well as the fact that many members of Congress are relatively new, and therefore lack experience in congressional affairs, are causing some standstill in congressional agreements. However, Date concludes by describing that the shutdown should not affect the 2014 elections for the Republican Party, as other events may change approval ratings. In response to this issue, Republicans will most likely approach it with care and thoughtfulness. While some may stand by their actions against Obamacare, most Republican representatives will be more careful to think through their congressional actions and consider plausible consequences to any extreme actions they may take in the near future. The Democratic Party will continue to work to keep approval ratings high throughout the nation, though they may consider attempting to raise approval ratings in Republican Districts, particularly while Republican approval ratings are so low. Some members of Congress may differ in opinion from others based on how extreme their beliefs are. Should a member of Congress be an extreme Democrat or Republican, they would be less likely to negotiate with the opposing party in order to come to an agreement for the nation. Those who are moderate are more likely to do so. Extreme Republicans may defend the shutdown and maintain the opinion that Obamacare should be completely defunded, while more moderate Republicans may admit that the shutdown was too severe an action, and that negotiation could have been a better solution. A major potential pitfall for both the Republican and Democratic Parties is that in this competition for approval ratings that will influence election results, both parties may easily fall into focusing more on what the majority of people want, rather than what would benefit the nation the most. In an attempt to please the needs of the majority, both parties not only ignore the voices of many Americans, but also ignore the possibility that the majority’s predilections may not be the most beneficial for the nation. Potential negotiation between the needs of the majority and the needs of the minority will be less common if a political party is trying to sway the votes of one group of people. This “gray” area of negotiation may be more beneficial to and more widely accepted by the nation than what the majority thinks is best. However, this problem-solving could be lost should the Republican and Democratic Parties aim their focus towards percentages and numbers from data rather than listening and responding to their people.
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Jennifer Sanchez
10/27/2013 12:26:22 pm
The article, "Speaker hopeful of immigration action this year," is about the controversial topic of immigration in America. Many different types of groups are all pushing for immigration legislation as well as Speaker John Boehner. Speaker John Boehner is said that immigration reforms are very important and that he looks forward to presenting his bill within the five legislative weeks. Representatives like Linda Sanchez and David Valadeo have been pushing him to speed up his process. Valadeo argues that he is that only one that can turn this controversial topic into a vote with his bill. It has been so controversial because many argue that these 11 million people have broken the law and that they should not be rewarded for this even if some were brought here when they were mere children and others who have lived in the U.S. the majority of their life who truly are devote to America. The big debate is whether immigrant should be granted citizenship.
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Julia Torres
10/27/2013 12:43:57 pm
In the article, “Cannabis in America: Choom Gang Rising”, the legislative issues focuses on the legalization of marijuana in American states for recreational use. Most Democratic voters support legalization of marijuana, tempting the Democratic candidates to be pro-legalization to gain more votes. However, Republicans are against the idea of legalizing marijuana. This issue could be part of the 2016 election. If one of the parties if for the idea of legalizing marijuana, then they could have a higher chance of winning the election. In this matter, the Democrats would be pro-legalization. Potential pitfalls for the parties will be Independent Voters. Most Independents lean on the Republican side rather than Democratic, causing the Democratic’s to lose their libertarian independents. If Democrats completely support legalization of marijuana, they would still lose votes from people who are against it all together. This could lead to an issue of separation between the parties.
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Jason Varozza
10/27/2013 01:00:55 pm
In the article "speaker hopeful of immigration action this year" tells how speaker John Boehner is hopeful to pass new immigration bills in the next few weeks. Many business groups, labor unions and religious organizations are hopefully for the new bills to be passed. The democrats want a bill that will allow the 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States to be able to become citizens. Most republicans argue that they shouldn't be allowed to become citizens because the broke U.S. Immigration laws. Many of the immigrants that have been here since they were young are devoted to the United States and want to join the military but need to become a citizen first.
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Willie
10/27/2013 01:50:21 pm
In the article, "Cannabis in America:Choom gang rising" issues discussed are on legalization of marijuana in the United Stated for recreational use. Democrats lean towards the recreational use of marijuana because such a large group of people back it up. Democrats can have an upper hand over the Republicans eho only support it by 35 per cent. Some pitfalls are that Democrats will need the votes of Independents to win, but since they lean towards the Republicans side it does not look as if the Democrats will get the independents vote even if they are pro-legalization.
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Vanessa Ramirez
10/27/2013 02:14:37 pm
The legislative issue the article "Cannabis in America" focuses on is the legalization of marijuana. The topic arises post many changing percentages in the legalization of marijuana, this past year there was a 10% rise in the legalization of it. Each political party has a different stance, while the GOP are much more likely to pose harsher anti-legalization of the drug, the democrats seem to much more consider a lean on the issue. Members of congress differ in opinion because the issue affects them differently than it does the political parties. There are several ways this issue could go, but it is apparent that the issue will come to light much more following the next presidential election. As of right now, Obama has little to act upon, and following the Washington and Colorado laws, did not choose to harshly oppose them. With growing percentages in pro-marijuana legalization the question becomes, should the upcoming presidential candidates shift gears, and also become pro-legalization?
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Noah Simons
10/27/2013 02:47:41 pm
The article, “Speaker hopeful of immigration action this year” focuses on the issue of regarding the rights to allow illegal immigrants citizenship. Democrats would like to allow citizenship to the 11 million illegal immigrants in this country, while Republicans don’t want to give citizenship to people who have broken immigration laws to be in this country. There are some Republicans who want to introduce legislation that would allow citizenship to children growing up in the US who enlist in the military. Another group of Republicans propose legislation to allow citizenship for just the children. The Democrats are probably never going to be able to get their comprehensive citizenship legislation passed in the House because House Republicans will disagree. Basically unless Republicans and Democrats can come together for some of these partial measures, new immigration legislation probably won’t get passed.
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Griselda Salazar
10/27/2013 03:10:56 pm
In the article "Cannabis in America: Choom Gang Rising", is about the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Both Democrats and Republicans are prepared for this to come up in the next presidential running. The Democrats are for legalizing it and Republicans would be against the legalization of marijuana. Some congresment would differ of opinion from one another because they all have their own beliefs and ideas on the pros and cons after the legalization. A pitfall in this issue would be that this issue could make a bigger problem between the parties.
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Sofie Pearson
10/27/2013 03:14:18 pm
This article focuses on immigration as a legislative issue. The republican party, specifically members of the tea party, oppose the idea of legalizing immigration. However, businesses like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, and other religious organizations show support for legalizing immigration. The Democrats on the other hand demand a comprehensive vote on legalizing this legislative issue. People are hesitant towards this comprehensive approach and many disagree with offering citizenship to immigrants who broke US laws to be in the country. Although there is still debate on this issue, there doesn't seem to be much motivation in the Republican party to deal with the issue. Republicans Cottman and Valadao are currently working on a legislation to offer citizenship to children that is still no where near a final resolution. Democrat Diaz-Balart is also contributing to solving this issue with his bill. To make this bill successful he would need the majority of the Republican party's support and some Democratic support as well. The pitfall here is that neither party is getting the necessary Republican support for either a bill or a legislation to be successful in legalizing immigration.
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Selene Robledo :)
10/27/2013 04:31:33 pm
In the article "Cannabis in America: Choom Gang Rising" it focuses on legalization of marijuana for recreational use. They talk about how they want to legalize it in the rest of the 48 states. Republicans will be strongly against legalization. But Democrats will be pro-legalization so that they can gain voters. But Libertarians might go against Republicans and go pro-legalization. This can be a big scandal when it comes to the presidential elections in 2016. Members of congress react to this issue differently than political parties because it affects them differently. Obama is not making the legalization of marijuana a big issue. He is focused more on other issues at this time.
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Ruthie Sager
10/28/2013 02:07:41 am
The legislative issue of the "Cannabis in America: Choom Gang Rising" focuses on the legalization of marijuana for a recreational use. As Americans support legalization of smoking marijuana by a 58% to 39% margin, the numbers were increasing over the decade and jumped 10%. The political parties see this as a "war" with the democratic party with only 35% of the republican party in favor of this issue. For Obama and the executive branch, the percentage of enforcing rules and regulations on smoking weed has been much smaller and getting decreasing over time. The potential pitfalls for the democratic party would be exploitation on the legalization and residual strength of the anti-drug sentiments GOP, it would make elections for some more difficult, and a wedge between the republican libertarians conservatives would start to form.
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Kayla Smith
10/28/2013 03:04:57 am
The legislative issue this article focuses on is immigration. Hoping to have voting sometime in the next 5 weeks, Republicans want to make immigration laws stricter and not help the immigrants that are currently here to become legal citizens. Democrats, on the other hand, want a vote on comprehensive legislation similar to the one that would help 11 million immigrants already here become citizens while also tightening the border security. The opinions of congress may differ from fellow party members because they have more important issues to take care of because of the recent government shut down and things like immigration are not as important and can wait until the government is fixed. One pitfall for both party's wanting to get anything passed is trying to find a compromise with the Republican view and the Democrats view in such a short amount of time; the small amount of time they have is possibly their biggest obstacle.
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Jonathan Sanchez
10/28/2013 08:10:26 am
The legislative issue of "Speaker hopeful of immigration action this year" focuses on is immigration. The Republican party believes that immigration is one of the issues of top priority, and they don't want to give immigrants who have broken American immigration laws citizenship; whereas the Democratic party are keeping their pressure on the GOP to vote on a bill that will grant citizenship to 11 million people who are here illegally. Members of Congress might differ from the Republican stance because they might want to keep their positions in power. If the GOP go to the extreme with the immigration position and try to follow through with it, they might have another huge blow in the running for the next big election like they just had with their numbers dropping significantly with when they shut down the government
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Gabe Thuma
10/31/2013 04:55:11 pm
Congress doesn't seem to be able to reach an agreement on the funding of Obamacare and the whole nation is feeling the consequences. The GOP's move to shutdown the government in an attempt to fight the healthcare law has resulted in a huge drop in voter support. While voters shifted towards a democratic congress, Obama is losing support as his term reaches its final year. Members of congress are consistently becoming less moderate regardless of party. "Paralysis" is what Bill McInturf used to describe congress' current productivity and because members of either party are die hard republicans or die hard democrats nothing is being agreed upon. While the shutdown sparked anger and possibly cost the GOP voters for this year, between now and election time this issue may not even resonate in voters heads any longer.
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Patty Zepeda
11/5/2013 02:41:34 am
i goofed opps
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