Part 1
QUESTION 1. With regard to President George W. Bush's national-security strategy, Howard Zinn agrees that this strategy does all of the following except
A. violate the principles laid out at Nuremberg.
B. repudiate the UN charter.
C. dramatically depart from the historical practice of the United States.
D. shock many Americans.
QUESTION 2. In a debate between Jeff Madrick and Jim DeMint, the former would contend that regulations often make economies work better. For instance, they can make product/service information more open; they can reduce corruption, monopolistic pricing, and anti-competitive policies regarding research, innovation, and new products; they can temper financial speculation, which distorts the flow of capital toward inefficient uses and can often lead to costly corrections and serious recessions, as occurred yet again in 2008. Formulate a two paragraph response you think DeMint might give.
QUESTION 3. Mark Green, who believes that America should adopt public financing of political campaigns, insists that candidates who accept public funds should be required to
debate.
purchase predetermined chunks of airtime.
provide precise accounting of all soft monies.
publish a voters' guide.
QUESTION 4. "Soft money" is money that is
donated anonymously.
contributed with the understanding of quid pro quo.
contributed to individuals.
contributed to political parties.
QUESTION 5. Imagine that you are writing a reform bill for election campaigns. What three items would you include, and why? If you do not believe that a bill is necessary, explain your position with three reasons that support your views. Essay should be no less than two paragraphs.
QUESTION 6. According to Ezra Klein, the filibuster was
an invention of the Founding Fathers.
the brainchild of Speaker of the House Henry Filibuster in 1802.
a nineteenth-century Senate rule-book accident.
known as the "gerrymander" until the twentieth century.
QUESTION 7. A major factor in the U.S. public's lack of confidence in Congress, Lee Hamilton maintains, can be attributed to
the frequent foreign trips taken by members.
a seemingly endless series of campaigns.
the fact that few people investigate candidates' positions before voting.
the perception of Congress being paralyzed by internal bickering.
QUESTION 8. Assuming the position of either George CaramSteeh or Henry Hudson, formulate two paragraphs on the constitutionality of government mandated health care that you think would be the most persuasive message to share with others.
QUESTION 9. Robert George quotes Justice Byron White, who argued that fetal development is
gradual.
continuous.
slow.
incremental.
QUESTION 10. Which one of the following statements most closely reflects Mary Gordon's attitude toward abortion and the most effective way to deal with this issue?
Women should push for FDA approval of the RU-486 pill so they will not have to go to abortion clinics.
Women should be more careful in their sexual practices.
Women must make a morally responsible choice when they are faced with an unwanted pregnancy.
Women should not view an unborn fetus as a human being in order to make the choice to end a pregnancy an easier one.
Part 2
Discussion 1:
If the Jeffersonians had gotten their way, would the increasingly energetic government of the nineteenth century been instead a quietly stagnating government? Without federally imposed tariffs, would the nation have swelled with the building of roads, canals, and railroads? By the time the century ended, the union had undergone a devastating Civil War, the aftermath of which would be characterized by federal initiatives, many of which invested powers in Congress that had previously been the domain of states. Could a deeply wounded postwar America have been revived any other way?
Discussion 2:
Congress
Columnist Ezra Klein contends that institutional deadlock and partisan rancor have paralyzed Congress, causing it to lose power to the president and the bureaucracy. Former representative Lee H. Hamilton contends that many of Congress's so-called flaws are actually faithful reflections of how the American public thinks and feels. Is your opinion of Congress low, and if so, why? What do you believe contributes to the dysfunction of this governing body? If you do not believe that Congress needs reform, how would you support your opinion to someone who felt that Congress is a paralyzed institution? As a result of reading these selections and discussing the issue, has your opinion of Congress changed, for better or worse?
Discussion 3:
When Life Begins
If a fetus is considered a human life, then abortion is murder. But how do we decide when life begins for a fetus? Is the time when life begins a scientific fact, or is it a philosophical question that will forever remain unanswered? In additional to your readings, review the stages of prenatal development. The most basic point of controversy at the heart of this issue has traditionally been this "scientific" angle, whether or not life begins at conception. Robert George briefly reviews past arguments from various scientific, moral, metaphysical, and religious viewpoints, and he concludes that scientific evidence offers the best argument against abortion. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Part 3
Assignment 1:
Government Involvement
How much involvement should our government have in social programs and personal rights? Does the government have a duty to provide social programs for Americans in need, or would this create a ‘socialist' state? Is our current government and polices too influenced by corporate funding? You will write an essay on one of the two topics options listed below. Support your answer with evidence from the selections readings this week, as well as a minimum of one other scholarly source.
Your paper needs to be a minimum of 500 words.
Option 1:
With Ronald Reagan came the model that many of today's conservatives adhere to. This was a model that stood against liberal economic programs and sharply decreased the number of regulations imposed by federal agencies. Reagan's tax cuts were popular, especially among the wealthy, as these cuts lowered the top personal tax bracket from 70 to 28 percent in seven years. On the flip side, government expenditures were not reduced, and the national debt soared. Evaluate these policies from "both sides of the aisle". Is this how future governments should model their policies? Why or why not?
Assignment 2:
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act is one of the most recent controversial mandates upheld by the Supreme Court. Whether or not you agree with the Act itself, the question for this assignment is whether it is constitutional to have the government require Americans to purchase healthcare or taxed.
Using research, address these two questions in a minimum of 500 words.
1. The Constitution does not specify whether health insurance should be required, since health insurance was not around when it was written. Should the American government have the right to require us to buy anything? Did Congress abuse it's right to regulate commerce and what was the Supreme Court's decision on the Commerce Clause?
2. Part of the reasoning behind the Affordable Care act is that without it, those without health insurance are still required to be treated in emergency situations. The cost of stabilizing the uninsured is passed on to those who pay taxes and who do pay insurance premiums. With the new plan, the cost is distributed and Americans are more likely to have insurance in the case of an accident or unforeseen medical event. If Congress required that hospitals provide care in an emergency, regardless of the patient's ability to pay for such care, is also fair for them to require Americans to have insurance in the case of such emergencies? Why or why not?
Assignment 3:
Pro-Life
Using our readings and additional research, write a reflection paper (500 word minimum) addressing the following questions.
Do pro-life supporters address the reality of bringing a new life into the world in their arguments? Can it be argued that the choice not to have a child is as morally correct as bringing an unwanted child into the world? U.S. law allows "justifiable homicide." What constitutes justifiable homicide in the legal sense? Can this concept be extended to abortion? Finally, address if abortion should be allowed to save a woman's life.