Blog 4.6 "New Sec of State??"

1. The committee is almost evenly divides, with eleven Republicans and ten Democrats.

2. Since Republicans only have a narrow majority in the Senate, they also have a slim majority in the committee since seats are allocated proportionately.

3. Rand Paul has said he will not vote for Pompeo.

4. Nothing, except that Pompeo will not have the approval of the committee. If he wins the floor vote, he can still become Secretary of State.

5.  The two Democrats represent states that voted Trump.

6. He was a West Point and Harvard Law School graduate, a US Army veteran, and a three-term Congress member, while also having experience on the House Intelligence Committee and the Select Committee on Benghazi.

7. Pompeo is a Trump supporter accused of distorting facts in order to make the President and himself seem more favorable.

Blog Post 4.5 "It's Lammy!"

1. Lamar Alexander tried to sponsor a bill to stabilize the insurance marketplace created by Obamacare. However, Trump officials worked to undermine it while Democrats were driven off by the antiabortion demands the bill engendered.

2. Alexander's background is in a more moderate version of politics, where pragmatism and avoidance of populist extremism was expected.

3. Alexander felt that being a leader in the midst of political fray was not as constructive as being a top policymaker.

4. Alexander walked across the state for his winning campaign in the 70s.

5. His aids consider Obamacare evil and terrible.

6. Alexander does not try to publicly call out Trump, but goes for more personal meetings with the president.

Blog 4.4 "Protests & Town Halls"

1. 20% of Americans have participated in a protest or rally since 2016.

2. Women's interests was the issue that drew the most protesters.

3. Many protested Trump-related events and policies.

4. Those who participated in marches are more enthusiastic about midterm elections than those who did not.

5. The goal of Town Hall for Our Lives is to get all 435 Representatives to host town halls that address the issue of guns and shootings. 

6. The Town Halls show that young people are getting involved in politics, especially elections and are more interested in voting.

7. Town Halls were used to rally and convince people to support Obamacare and oppose its repeal in 2017.

Blog Post 4.3 "This Week in Civil Rights"

 "more information is always good..."

1. In 2020, there will be a new question about who is a citizen in each household.

2. The government says it wants more information since more information is better; furthermore, the question is not new or unprecedented- it had been asked prior to 2010.

3. The question will scare illegal immigrants away from filling out the census, resulting in them being underrepresented when voting districts are redrawn, funds are given out, and research conducted.

4. If the immigrants answer the Census, the state will be able to get more funding and representation. 

5. The Census cannot share information about individuals with other government agencies.

6. The question had not been mandatory for decades and was only feature on some Census forms, so Trump critics are right when they say the question is novel in nature. However, the question has technically been a Census question every Census year besides 2010.

7. It wants to collect better data on eligible voters so the Voting Rights Act can be better implemented.

8. Recent budgets have not given the census enough money for rehearsals in preparation for the next Census.

9. If there is data on who is a citizen, districts can be redrawn to only account for citizens, which would give Democratic-leaning districts fewer representatives.

10. The Census is sent through the mail to places believed to be homes. Then Census workers are hired to canvas places where there was no response to the mailed questionnaire.

11. Ethnic minorities such as blacks and Latinos.

12. Republicans have not placed must importance on the census, there have not been many studies analyzing the possible impacts of the question, and the 2020 Census is already far in development and cannot accommodate changes as well as it could earlier.