Notes- 11/6/08

These are the notes for Thursday, November 6th
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Revolving door- interest groups often criticized for a type of interaction with government

known as a "Revolving Door." Through this practice, government officials

--both in Congress and executive agencies-- quit jobs to take postitons as

lobbyists or business consultants. May give an unfair influence to private

interests.



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Reforming Interest Groups
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1. Difficult to put limits on interest groups w/o limiting fundemental freedoms



2. PAC contributions are particularly problematic

A. Agreement is widespread that PAC donations give donors better access to members of
Congress.

B. Congress has required disclosure of all campaign contributions so that the donor can be
identified.

1995, Congress passed law requiring lobbyists to register and to file semi-annual reports disclosing who clients are, $ spent on lobbying, and $ paid to do lobbying.

A. Critics charge that PACs reinforce, if not expand, the inequalities, b/w rich and poor

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ORIGINS/POWERS OF CONGRESS
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1. Our Congress has 2 separate and powerul chambers

A. Bicameral legislature, origins in the Great Compromise

B. Representatives in House based on population. Elected for 2-year term. A census is taken
every 10 years to change the # of seats (Reapportionment- ask Mr. G for clarification)

State legislature draws boundaries following this

1. States drew districts of unequal popuations size. In 1964, the Supreme Court steps
in Wesberry Vs. Sanders, Supreme Court rules Congressional districts must be drawn
so that one person's vote equals any other vote. ("One Man, One Vote")

2. State legislature redraws boundaries to make it easier for one party to win an election
this is called Gerrymandering (aka Shenanigans as quoted by Mr. G)

3. Racial gerrymandering became an issue after the 1990 census. The Justice
Department ordered North Carolina to redraw proposed boundaries in order to allow
for the election of one more black representative. This goes to the Supreme Court,
in Shaw vs. Reno, plaintiffs charge the J.D. with reverse discrimination based on
unequal protection clause of Amend. 14, orders them to be redrawn according to J.D.
standards.

C. Each state has 2 Senators, which serve for 6 years. (They have no limit for re-elections like
Reps in the H of R "The Incumbency Effect")

1. Powers of Congress defined in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution and consists of 14
specific powers (enumerated powers) plus the elastic of necessary and proper clause.
-Could include power to declare war, regulate taxes, or regulate commerce.
-Necessary and Proper must tie into an enumerated power

2. Constitution gives House and Senate essential the same legislative tasks, though each has
its own powers as well:

A. Only the House has power of impeachment. Senate is a court of the
impeachment charges

B. Senate must approve major presidental appointments

C. Senate has sole power to affirm/ratify treatise

D. Revenue bill must start in the House "Ways and Means Committee" which
deals with laws on taxes.

Novemeber 5, 2008

Today was field trip day!
We went to the Newseum up in D.C. and learned about the press and its role in shaping not only the United States but the entire world.

First off, everyone went to the 4-D theatre where we watched a movie about the history of American press. The movie started off with a colonial journalist who smuggled his printing press away from the British so that they couldn’t silence his voice. The movie showed its first cool 3-D trick when a Revolutionary soldier fired on a British soldier and the movie used a Matrix-effect, where it made the bullet go really slow and showed it from all angles. Then, the movie discussed Nellie Bly, one of the first investigative reporters ever. She pretended to be mentally insane in order to be admitted to an insane asylum so she could expose the horrible conditions there. Her article wound up getting the asylum reformed, bettering the conditions for the women there. One of the last things the movie had was a segment about the British used radio broadcasts to gain support from the U.S. in WWII. The movie’s 3-D effects were amazing and the blasts of air from the seat in front of you were used in a way that matched what was going on onscreen without seeming cheap at all.

Afterwards, we all split off and were allowed to roam the Newseum on our own. One of the first exhibits that caught my eye was the FBI exhibit where they showcased some of the most important criminals caught by the FBI and how the press covered them. Being so fresh in my memory, the DC sniper part of the exhibit was especially interesting to me. The mock-up of the car used in the shootings was incredible. Moving on from there my group looked at the parts of the Berlin Wall they had on display, along with a guard tower. The sheer height of the tower was dizzying when I looked straight up at it.

Another interesting exhibit was the gallery of Pulitzer Prize winning photos. A few were upbeat and inspiring, while the ones that I feel stuck out the most were the ones that showed how much horror people are truly capable of. The photos were all there because they conveyed emotion and I truly agree that every one of them belonged there.

The exhibit that stuck with me the most in the whole Newseum was the Tower from tower 1 of the Twin Towers. After looking at the heap of twisted metal and reading a timeline of the events, I went into an adjacent video room. The movie playing showed not only photos of the events of that terrible day with interviews of covering reporters, but also actual footage of the towers falling. Never having seen actual video of it, I became extremely emotional as I watched the video, having difficulty maintaining any composure at all.

In all, it was an informative trip.