Issue of the Week- The Keystone Pipeline

1. What exactly will the pipeline do?
The pipeline will transport synthetic crude oil from Canada to different parts of the United States.
2. Is it necessary?
With the amount of energy we use, it is important for us to use our natural resources. This will help us reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
3. How much money will it cost?
$7 Billion
4. Will the pipeline help job creation?
The labor agreement for the pipeline would create 13,000 new American jobs.
5. What are the cons of the pipeline?
The only main reason people are opposed to it is environmental reasons.

After looking into the pipeline, I honestly can't believe the Obama administration would be opposed to it. He says he will do anything to create jobs, but heres a great project that would create thousands of jobs and he doesn't want to anger the environmental people.And aside from jobs, the project is actually necessary for us to progress towards energy independence. I think it just shows how out of touch Obama is with Americans, when unemployment rates are terrible, yet he would oppose something that will create jobs just because "it's bad for the environment".Why do people take these crazy environmentalists so seriously?







Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-keystone-pipeline-rejection-is-hard-to-accept/2012/01/18/gIQAf9UG9P_story.html
http://www.transcanada.com/keystone.html

Political Cartoon

1. Will Obama keep blaming Bush in this coming election?
2. Why does he think spending more money will get us out of debt?
3. Where are the results of his stimulus?

20 Truths

1. It is very hard to be elected as a 3rd party canidate.(-)
2. Freedom(+)
3. Checks and Balances(+)
4. Constitutional Rights (+)
5. Illegal Immigration is overlooked(-).
6. The President has to be a natural born citizen(+).
7. States rights are not always protected(-).
8. Too much power put in the hands of the supreme court.(-)
9. Our government doesn't favor personal responsbility.(-)
10. Special interests groups heavily affect our laws.(-)
11. Passing bills is a long process. (+)
12. Our national government's powers have expanded signifcantly over the years.(-)
13. Political Cortectness is taken too far. (-)
14. The media can be very biased. (-)
15. People seldom realize that nothing is really "free".(-)
16. Bills are often hundreds of pages long.(-)
17. Capitalism gives everyone equal opportunities to succeed.(+)
18. The president can veteo legistlation. (0)
19. Members of Congress vote on party lines.(-).
20. Strong National Defense(+)

letter

Dear Representative Bachmann,

             My name is Samantha McCarthy and I am currently a senior at Haverford High School who is studying AP American Government. Just like you fight to preserve traditional American conservative values in Washington, I try to do the same thing in my very liberal classroom. Although I live in Pennsylvania and am not a constituent, I was a supporter of your presidential campaign. I am currently reading your book, Core of Conviction and just finished the very frightening chapter on Obamacare.

            I commend you for sponsoring the H.R. 3130: Heartbeat Informed Consent Act and hope it will pass through congress. I cannot believe something like this isn’t already in place. Maybe if women were given the chance to see the heartbeat of their unborn baby, they would reconsider committing the heartless act of abortion. However, I hope you will vote against the Stop Online Piracy Act. The bill is a violation of the first amendment, and is frankly another example of the government attempting to overstep the boundaries of the Constitution. The bill is also written very poorly and is too broad about what is considered "piracy".

Thank you for reading this letter and I wish you success in your future political endeavors.

Sincerely,

Samantha McCarthy

Left,Right,Center-Third Parties

Facts/Questions/Opinions:
1. 58% of Americans believe we do need a third major political party.
2. Democrats fear a third party would hurt Obama's reelection chances.
3. How could a third party be successful in this country?
4. The populists and the progressives were integrated into the democratic party.
5. The tea party integrated into the republican party.
6.Obama's jobs plan is said to create 1 to 2 million jobs at best.
7.I think we have definitely strayed from the founding father's purpose of government.
8. The US was the real big economy left standing after WW2.
9.Both parties struggle to find a real solution for our economic crisis.
10.Special interests dominate both parties.

Terry Gross Interview

Facts/Details:
1. Rosen wrote Constitution 3.0: Freedom and Technological Change
2. These developments are predicted to happen around 2025.
3. The supreme court is currently considering the case the United States vs Jones
4. This case concerns whether people can be secretly monitored via GPS.
5. This case has the potential to set the precedent for the constitutionality of new technologies and privacy rights.
6. Most of these technological concerns deal with the 4th amendment.
7. YouTube has been under government pressure to remove terrorist videos from YouTube.
8. In 1967, the court overruled Olmsted vs the United States
9. The Constitution cannot regulate corporations.
10. There is a Geo-Locational Privacy bill currently pending in Congress.


Questions:
1. Are these new developments in technology constitutional?
2. Is it constitutional to monitor citizens in public spaces?
3. Have cases regarding technology and privacy reached the supreme court in the past?
4. Is it promoting terrorism by allowing us to view their videos or is it simply free speech?
5. Where is the line drawn as to where gov. surveillance is taken too far?

The Republican Party(sam + nataley)

Facts/Details
1. In 1856, the Republicans became a national party.
2. The party started with the common interest of abolishing slavery
3. The republican party is known as the "GOP" -Grand Old Party
4. President Ronald Reagan's national defense stragety is "Peace through strength"
5. This stragety put an end to the cold war and successfully confronted the Soviet Union.
6. This includes defending America, and staying strong against ther countries and global problems.
7. It requires a full commitment from Anerica's armed forces.
8. The armed forces have to stay modern, agile and adoptable
9. It also requires us to develope and maintain alliances.
10. We should always make sure to protect our vital national interests