http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/us/18memo.html?emc=eta1

Since the President is the person who appoints Supreme Court Justices, there isn't really a way for citizens to know about the person being appointed. Most information on the Supreme Court Justice nominees come from the media. The media usually gives bias information, which won't help U.S. citizens decide if they would like the nominee or not. According to this article, most people who are appointed to the Supreme Court(including Republicans) have leaned more towards the left side of the aisle, except the four Republicans who are currently in the Supreme Court.

I think that having an independent judiciary system is very important because it separates the courts from the influence from the legislative and executive branches. We need a Supreme Court so they can interpret the constitution as how it was originally written, without having the influence of politics in our court system.

An independent judiciary system is important for the country because if Congress were given the power the courts have, it would become easily corrupted. Congress would have too much power given to them, and politics will get involve in the decision making.

The article says that there are "fewer surprises" in the judiciary system, because there has been a pattern that many of the justices have strayed towards the left in the political spectrum when they are appointed to the Supreme Court. Since this is starting to happen, the judiciary system does not seem as independent as it used to be. More and more court justices seem to be influenced by the left side of the political spectrum. Although recently, the four conservatives in the Supreme Court seem to be resisting the influence from the left.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june10/whitehouse_03-29.html

In today's world with so many sources to gain information, from television to radio to the internet, it would be very advantageous for Presidents to start using these sources; most of all the internet. The U.S. has the greatest amount of internet users than any other country and this would be the best possibly way for the President to communicate with the citizens. Any given day on the UC campus, you'll see hundreds of people using the internet for news, entertainment, or communication. Since so many people use the internet in our generation, it would be logical for the President, and political parties, to use this as a means to reach us.

Probably the most effective tool today would be the internet. During President Obama's campaign, he used Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to reach U.S. citizens, especially the younger generations. Obama set the stage for a new wave of getting information directly from the people involved in the government. Since Obama started this, many other politicians have done the same thing. Obama has a Twitter account to update what is going on in the White House every day. He also has a Facebook page, with millions of fans.

The main source of news for me is the internet, since i'm on it at least once every day of my life. I usually get it from MSNBC.com, since I feel that that is a news station that I like the most. Sometimes I will watch the news on TV, but i'd rather go to the internet first. The main source where my parents get the news is from the TV and talk radio. My father listens to very conservative radio hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, and also watches the Fox News Channel.

The way we learn of news has changed drastically from the sources that were available ten years ago. Back then, the internet wasn't what it is today and people got their news mostly from the TV. The Internet provides a relief from TV, where people can read and hear many different people's opinion instead of the opinion of just one news anchor.

I think the White House has finally realized that to get their message to the younger generations, they need to go above and beyond just using television. Most young people spend probably at least ten minutes on the internet daily at the least, and many spend hours. Using the internet is the best possible way for the White House to communicate with U.S. citizens, since this is a changing world. This greatly helps the White House relate with the younger generations who have grown up using the internet.

Some risks would be that too much information may be out in the internet about our government, which could hurt our country in the long run.

This coming election for Congress in November could be the most important election in more than twenty years for both Democrats and Republicans. Republicans could take over the House and 1/3 of the Senate, which could force President Obama to become more bipartisan. In the article by Rich Lowry, Lowry explains compares Obama's current predicament to what Bill Clinton faced in 1994. When Bill Clinton was President in 1994, Democrats were voted out of Congress and were replaced by Republicans. This is most likely what will happen in the coming election in November. Many people have become angry, and even violent over the health care bill that was just passed. U.S. citizens more than likely won't put Democrats back in power in Congress.

The president needs Congress to pass bills, like the Health Care Bill. Without Democrats in Congress this will kill many of Presidents Obama's plans for this country. Lowry believes it would be better overall for Obama if Republicans take over the Congress. I see this as a way for Obama to work bipartisanly like he desperately tried to when passing the Health Care bill this year.

In the article by Jill Lawrence, she talks about how Rep. Chris Van Hollen believes that the Democrats will keep their majority in the Congress. In don't agree with this at all because many people are upset about what the Democrats did in Congress. Many Representatives even received threats from angry citizens who didn't agree with the passing of the health bill.

Overall, this is probably one of the most important elections for Republicans. They need this to gain an advantage over the democrats. I think that they should also try to work bipartisanly instead of working separately. Congress would get a LOT more things done if both the parties learned how to work together.

Obama's Best Hope: A GOP Congress

Obama's Best Hope: A GOP Congress

Mike McConnell is a chief example as to what is wrong in Washington today. People like McConnell who get rewarded by companies whose policies they push into the U.S. government are everywhere. Mike McConnell switched back and forth from working in the government, to working for Booz Allen, and back again. Many people in Congress also do this, as well as our former Vice President Dick Cheney. Our government is starting to get very corrupt.

After 9/11, the Bush Administration passed an intelligence bill that took away the privacy of American citizens. It basically gave the government, and private corporations such as Booz Allen, the power to spy on American citizens. Everyone was so frightened after the terrorist attacks that they submitted to whatever the government wanted to do to "protect" us. McConnell used his influence in Washington to help his company Booz Allen get government contracts which in turn rewarded McConnell when he returned to Booz Allen.

This corporate involvement in the government is skewing the line between the public and private sectors which poses a threat for our government. Corporations getting involved like this makes one think at how much power us citizens actually have in our government and if the government is just controlled by corporations. People like Mike McConnell should not be in our government. Laws should be put in place that doesn't allow people in our government to be given bribes to push certain policies. We need to stop this.

Mike McConnell, the WashPost

Mike McConnell, the WashPost & the dangers of sleazy corporatism

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