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.

Blog 4.2 "Due Process!"

"Their responses, edited for clarity and style..." 

1.  According to Scheindlin, due process is only a requirement that the government has to follow, while others are free to act on accusations by their own judgement. 

2.  Legal action consists of charges, proof, and judicial decision.

3.  The government must inform you of charges before its tries to act on them; you must be given a chance to give your own account to a neutral "fact-finder".

4. Due process places restrictions on the government in order that an accused individual may be knowledgeable of his situation and defend himself to some authority.

5.  A journalist should try to cover both parts of the story and only present findings after extensive research of reputable sources.

6. Legally, due process is the right to be heard, while culturally it is seen as responsibility to not blindly accept accusations (or as an excuse to delay judgement).

7. Moore was correct in saying that the accusations should be substantiated (preferably in a court setting) before they are accepted as truth; however, believing that he should be shielded from judgment was a stretch and not covered by due process.

8. The court has required that the government should allow the accused to be heard in court, and any actions the government seeks to take against the accused should be subject to a number of standards (balancing test).

9. Substantive due process is relatively constant in every situation, while procedural due process can vary according to the circumstances of the case and are often determined by subjective or unclear standards.

Blog Post 4.1 "Midterm Predictions"

1. The result of the Pennsylvania elections was a surprise win since Lamb was able to defeat the Republican candidate (whose campaign had received large donations and an in-person Trump endorsement) in a place where Trump had won by a large margin.

2. Democratic swing is the difference between how a constituency voted in a special election results and how much the constituency leaned towards a party in the previous two presidential elections.

3. Alabama, Kansas, Pennsylvania have had the largest Democratic swings.

4. The Democratic lead according to the polls is much less than the Democratic lead shown in the results of the special elections, perhaps due to differences between the sample surveyed and actual voters.

5. Democrats are specifically more interested in midterms than Republicans.

6. They had donated 9 million USD, Trump had attempted to endorse Saccone a few days beforehand, tax cuts were promised, sanctuary cites replaced tax cuts as the main issue at stake.

7. They have improved by four percentage points.

8. I think it shows that voters may like Trump more than they like the Republican party and meant their votes in 2016 for Trump, not the Republican party.

Blog Post 3.4 "EPA"

I think the difficulty of removing environmental protection laws (and really any law in general) is a non political issue that could have serious negative consequences. In later years the provisions of such laws may become unsustainable (e.g. Social Security and Medicare) or age poorly (e.g. immigration laws of the early 1900s). Furthermore, claims of "public consensus" used to prop up "untouchable laws" are nearly always ambiguous or prematurely declared; most decisions made in government are more likely to be the product of interest groups and the personal beliefs of those with power. If we must consult the public, that is best done through referendum. Vox is tapping into the politics of anger that will only encourage divisiveness among Americans in a very insidious way- that is, in the guise of standing up for a "loud majority" who want to create a more inclusive America. In fact, Vox is just like other .com "news sources", providing an echo chamber that does not acknowledge the actual diversity of opinions, As a result, readers (who have chosen Vox) only become further indoctrinated, and become part of the slathering mass of degenerates pushing politics into a mire of partisan deadlock, from which no one can exit satisfied. 

1. Pruitt must find a flaw in current rules to justify removing or changing them. This is met with resistance from courts, lawmakers, and interest groups.

2. The Trump administration has tried to get rid of regulations by removing them through conventional means, barely enforcing them, cutting funds and staff, and ignoring them.

3. Investigations must get permission from headquarters first in order to take place.

4. He has tried to remove 19.

5. The benefits of environmental regulations are diminishing since they cost businesses and individuals who may be compelled to cut or refrain from creating jobs.

6. They have blocked his proposals. On at least one occasion, the courts have ordered the EPA to meet a deadline for a project which Pruitt has tried to delay.

7. States are suing the EPA and Pruitt so that new proposals are blocked.

8. Senate Democrats are planning to challenge Pruitt during hearings while planning a new agenda for the EPA in case they manage to do well in midterm elections.

Blog Post 3.5 "Trump & Circuit Courts"

1. The appellate court is higher up on the federal court hierarchy and oversees the districts which districts courts have jurisdiction over. 

2. It tends to be more liberal than other district courts that often contradict conservative consensuses across other courts. 

3. Carter appointed many liberal judges, some of which are still serving today.

4. The Ninth Circuit Court has ruled against California's ban on same-sex marriage and the "under God" phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance (in the grounds that it is unconstitutional). 

5. They are overturned.

6. Tenth, First, Fourth, Sixth, Eleventh Circuit courts

7. No, the some of the courts whose decisions have a higher overturn rate are moderate and conservative courts.

Blog Post 2.3 "Media Coverage of Trump"

1. Media outlets closer to Trump's position on the political spectrum cited a lower variety of  sources, were less likely to feature reporters that would challenge Trump and his administration, and reported more favorable stories about the Trump administration than negative ones.

2. Stories from left-leaning media outlets were more likely than right-leaning media to include two or more types of sources as well as sources from the opposite side of the spectrum.

3. Left-leaning outlets were 42% more likely to be critical of Trump.

4. Trump's words were refuted seven times more often by the left-leaning media than the right.

5. Most media coverage regarding the Trump administration was about  stories about the president’s political skills (17%), immigration (14%), presidential appointments and nominations (13%), U.S.-Russia relations (13%), and health care (9%).

6. Journalists were more likely to cover Trump's character, since that is what the public is interested in regardless of political leaning. Discussions of policy are too boring or technical for Americans to follow.

7. Most most frequent sources: Trump and his administration, other news outlet/journalist, members of Congress

8. Positive evaluations of Trump tended to use fewer sources.

9.  A tweet from the President was featured 16 % of the time

10. Coverage of Trump has focused on his character over policy to a greater extent than previous presidents.

Blog Post 2.5 "Lisa Murkowski"

1. Murkowski (Alaska) and Collins (Maine) have hesitated to support the bill.
2. She may be using her support for the tax bill as a bargaining chip to keep aspects of Obamacare in place, with her hints for the GOP leadership about the healthcare issue coinciding with quickly-retracted offers to vote for the tax bill.
3. A provision opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and natural gas drilling
4. She has been a longtime supporter of such a provision, and receives lots of money from oil and natural gas companies. Her constituents would also get more money if oil and natural gas profits increased, reducing the outrage over lower payments from the Permanent Fund.
5. Many of her constituents depend on Obamacare for their health insurance.
6.  Drilling has not happened since 1960, when the refuge was created. Later years have seen legal disputes delay drilling, even after 1.5 million acres were officially opened to drilling.
7. They get a check from the Alaskan sovereign wealth fund, the Permanent Fund.
8. Delegate: Murkowski votes for the tax bill to get the drilling provision and continues to fight against the complete repeal of Obamacare, since this would give Alaskans more money and healthcare, fulfilling the immediate concerns of her voters.

Trustee: Murkowski holds back from supporting anything until she gets the optimal set of conditions for herself and other Alaskans when other Republicans bend over backwards to get her vote. This way, Murkowski is deciding what she thinks is best without necessarily following what her constituents want.

Partisan: Murkowski votes for the tax bill and Obamacare repeal because that is what the GOP wants.