Hi again Cadets. Great job with your first blog. I can hardly wait to see how you will handle this assignment. Everyone always says "If I Were King", so this is your chance. If you were the President of the United States, what law would you like to pass or remove from our society. Explain your reasoning, be specific and post your information along with the website where you found your information. Remember part 3 to also comment on other Cadet's work. Good luck and I look forward to reading your responses. I would like to pass a law that limits the term limits for Congressmen to two terms, just like the President of the United States. I believe that this would reduce the gridlock in Washington and reduce the Good Old Boy issues that exist.
Here is my link and notice that there are more PRO's than CON's for limiting Congresses time
in office. http://www.balancedpolitics.org/term_limits.htm
1SG Lewis
Here is my link and notice that there are more PRO's than CON's for limiting Congresses time
in office. http://www.balancedpolitics.org/term_limits.htm
1SG Lewis
A.Lee 7
ReplyDelete1SG, I can see your point where limiting the number of terms for Congressmen many allow for new ideas and allow for change to the failure of a Congress we have now. However, there are some flaws to this argument. While it can be argued that "Term limits lead to a citizen Congress", this is not necessarily true because lawyers and "career politicians" will still have significant advantages over other citizens. Also, as stated in the article you had mentioned "Every job has a learning curve, and Congress is no exception." Putting inexperienced greenhorns in a position where the fate of the country is in their hands can potentially lead to disaster. While the idea of term limits sounds plausible, one should not "Change horses midstream" (Franklin Delano Roosevelt).
If I were President of the United States, I would repeal many of the gun control laws we have in place. The fact of the matter is that taking away guns from law abiding citizens will not protect them from those who do not follow the law. "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun" (Wayne LaPierre). In addition to repealing gun control laws, I would station armed police officers in every school and allow concealed carry. If there were armed officers in Sandyhook Elementary the day Adam Lanza launched an assault on the school, there would have been a chance that he could have been stopped. Also, at Luby's Massacre, Suzanna Hupp (Former member of the Texas House of Representatives) was at the massacre that day. She watched as both her parents were shot and killed that day. Because concealed carry was banned, she did not have her gun with her that day. If she did she could have stopped the shooter.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/21387/gun-control-laws-10-better-ways-the-government-can-reduce-violence
http://www.balancedpolitics.org/term_limits.htm
A.Lee 7
DeleteWhile I disagree with setting term limits, I do believe that there should be less benefits for Congressmen and public officials. I do not believe that Congressmen should not receive lifetime healthcare or early pensions or receive salaries as high as they do.
Good response Cadet Lee. I may have been a little unclear on who would be running for Congress. I believe that the person would have to be elected by the citizens to represent them. Therefore they would have to have some prior knowledge of the laws of our land and also have a good understanding of how our government works and functions. Having said that, I believe that there would be less of a learning curve issue and that they should be a quick study to take on the task at hand. After all, that is why they were running for the office of Congress to begin with. You have a very sharp mind and a very good opinion. Keep it up and thanks for being the first to answer this blog from class.
Deletei agree with you Andrew Lee i too think that taking away guns from citizens wont to anything but harmful things. For example in Australia when the govermnment there forced the citizens to surrender there firearms to be destroyed crime rates dident actully go down as was thought to happen but actully crime rate rose drastically only within months.
DeleteIf I was givin the opportunity to be president and had been givin opions on laws that are already in place but are having trouble and problems throughout this country if recognize the problem down to its origin talk it out through each section of our government and resolve the problems and make sure that all is fair to those who stand beside me or against me. Because it's better to shake hands with the enemy rather than call them your frenemy which is not what we would want
ReplyDeleteJeremy Garcia let 2 the one above is mine
ReplyDeleteM.Torres 7
ReplyDeleteIf I was the President I would take down the stand your ground law. This law gives an individual under the situation the right to use deadly force to defend themselves without first attempting to retreat from danger. The point of this law is to remove any confusion about when the individual can defend themselves and to eliminate prosecutions of people legitimately used self defense even though they had not attempted to retreat from the threat. I think this law should be removed because people abuse this law and get away with it. The George Zimmerman trail is a good example. George Zimmerman followed Trayvon Martian out of his own property to kill him because he was suspicious that he had a gun in his hand. Trayvon Martian had skittles and a Arizona Ice tea. George Zimmerman got was with murder.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/stand-your-ground-laws.html
A. Lee 7
DeleteI see your point and concur, before physical force is used, actions to avoid the confrontation or try to stop the confrontation from becoming violent must be made otherwise a physical response would not be self defense, but aggravated assault.
I see your point Mr.Torres, but i do not agree with you. This law should stay, and be left alone because say the situation had different circumstances, and one had to fight for their divine right to live. Its human instinct to survive, and in some situations you cannot flee, you have to stand your ground, and defend yourself.
DeleteN.Macareno 7
ReplyDeleteif I were president of the united states I will make sure that everything is equal and fairly in our society. I will make sure that immigrants get the same amount of help as U.S citizens. immigrants play a big role in society and they should not be mistreated
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/08/03/immigrants-have-big-role-mass-economy/j0wrij151NXQbE8HW6NOXN/story.html
N.Vera
DeleteI agree with you on what you are trying to say. Everyone does deserve to be treated equal and the government will do that, but not all the people in the country will. Not all citizens would treat others equally since they have freedom and can choose to treat people they don't like. So it's not that the government has to change, its the people of this country who have to change
I do agree with you and thanks to you Noe cause you did say what I want to say.
DeleteN.Vera 8
ReplyDeleteIf I were the President of the United States I would make all things fair for everyone obviously. The number one law I would like to add is to make smoking illegal. Smoking not only kills the smoker, but worse of all it kills the innocent people beside them. So, it would actually save a lot of peoples lives, although smokers says it helps relieve them from stress. You can find a better way to relieve stress like working out, playing sports, help others and etc... This article I found shows it is bad and we should have made it illegal a long time ago.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/30/newman.tobacco.ban/
M.Conrad
DeleteI agree to some degree. Making smoking illegal might make citizens make healthier decisions, but looking at how much of the population smokes, I don't know if the citizens will like the new policy.
A. Gaudet 8
DeleteMaking smoking illegal will not stop people from smoking. Take marijuana for example; yes it's illegal but quite honestly that doesn't stop anyone. Unless the government finds a way to completely get a hold of every single bit of the drugs that we have in the United States to dispose of it, simply making it illegal will not do much.
While your argument sounds plausible, it is flawed in several aspects. First off, in banning smoking, the Federal Government would lose millions of tax dollars gained from the sales of cigarettes.
DeleteSecondly, this will not stop people from smoking and will cause people to resort to more extreme measures to receive the sensation of smoking. They might resort to dealing with shady salesmen or they might even make their own cigarettes which might be even more detrimental to their health. This was shown during the Prohibition days where the 18th Amendment which had banned the production, sale and transportation of alcohol. During the Prohibition days, people resorted to buying alcohol from gangsters such as Al Capone and Bugs Moran. People even made their own "Bathtub gin" and often went blind from the consumption of it.
In these ways, outlawing cigarettes might very well prove worse than allowing the sales of cigarettes. By doing so would cost the Federal Government millions of dollars, which would instead fund gangsters and dealers. Also it would become more of a hazard to the people and cause the sales of cigarettes to go outside of government control and would not be regulated. In these ways outlawing the sales of cigarettes would be a disaster.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/prohibition_and_the_gangsters.htm
R.Colca 8
ReplyDeleteIf I were President of The United States, i would try my hardest to get the congress back into shape. My first order of business would be to remove the N.D.A.A which is also known as the National Defense Authorization Act. Which states that any and all United States Citizens thought to be a terrorist or even thought to be suspicious of any form of terrorist acts can be not only arrested, but can be sentenced with No form of a Court case of anything involving it and automatically sentences the suspect to time in a Government correction facility, in which you may never see the light of day again if a government agency such as the F.B.I, C.I.A Or the N.S.A, feels you are a threat. I would remove this because it is unconstitutionalized and tricks the public into believing it is helping us, but it is only fighting to infringe on Our privacy and everything we once thought was free.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/20835/why-the-ndaa-bill-is-even-scarier-than-you-thought
M. Conrad 8
ReplyDeleteIf I were to become the President of the United States, I would pass a law that would require gym classes to get the students to exercise regularly. Instead of the students just sitting down on the field or just walking the track, students will be required to do daily exercises during their gym class. With this I hope to promote exercise within thin students and get them in the habit of keeping their body healthy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/kids-lack-of-exercise_n_2489346.html
A. Gaudet 8
ReplyDeleteIf I were the president of the United States, I would pass a law that would enforce a nation-wide curriculum that would require all states to provide the same education standards for all students. With this law, the transition between one school to another would be easier even if the schools are in two completely different states. The confusion that usually exists when transferring schools, such as what classes the student should be taking or how the grades transfer over, would be limited. As of now, each state has their own state test and requirements to graduate. With my law, this would be eliminated because if the requirements between two schools are different, then it's possible that the student would have to take certain classes over again. This would be wasting the students time when the student could possibly be furthering their education with classes that they have not taken yet.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/14756-opposition-to-obama-backed-national-education-scheme-grows
A. Lee 7
DeleteWhile I agree that it would be much easier for the average person, making this change would go against the Constitution. Making a national standard would infringe upon the 10th Amendment, whereby "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." (US Constitution 10th Amendment). Since the right to regulate schooling is not delegated to the Federal Government, this right falls to the State, who may decide their Education Standards as a Reserved Power.
Furthermore, the different States might have different education standards because of the different prospective jobs in that area. For example, in a State with a large agricultural economy based on farming, some States might not require the same caliber education standards.
Either way, regardless of whether it would be more appropriate for a national curriculum, the power to regulate education is a Reserved Power and would fall to the State, not the Federal government.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
http://www.pbs.org/tpt/constitution-usa-peter-sagal/federalism/enumerated-powers/
I completely agree with this, as a student who has moved several times & has had to transition with several different standards & curriculums, it always either puts me ahead or behind, it changes what certain schools may expect of you because of the different tracks or orders that the state has set up for the county you may live in or just the state in general. Creating a nationwide curriculum will stop putting kids behind or putting kids too far ahead , because sometimes, when one moves to another state, they have to retake an entire class, or get put in lower class than they really deserve because they haven't taken a test to the states standards, etc.
DeleteN. Tzavelis 8
ReplyDeleteIf I was president i would like to pass a law regarding immigration. I think that it should be like it used to be. I think that they should pass a law saying in order to pass into this country you have to have a predetermined job ready for you so you can go to work. And also should have a health screening before entering the country so there isn't any chance of a person bringing in a diseases. This would benefit the country significantly.
http://www.fairus.org/facts/us_laws
J. McZeno 10
ReplyDeleteIf i were president a law that I would pass in all states in our great nation is legalizing marijuana. Though most people may look at this topic with prejudice the legalization of this is to some very important. The govt. has no right to regulate us or limit us from doing things we simply enjoy. As stated in the link i posted obesity is a national epidemic. Yet you dont see the govt saying its illegal to eat as much as you wish to.
http://legalizationofmarijuana.com/pros-and-cons-of-marijuana.html
A. Lee 7
DeleteAll things considered, although I disagree with the use of the substance, I concur that it would be a good decision to legalize marijuana. While substance abuse is a problem, the Federal Government should not be allowed to stop the people from using the substance, despite its effects. Additionally, by legalizing it the government can cut down on the business of drug dealers and other dangerous individuals. Also, by legalizing marijuana, it would allow the Federal Government to collect billions of dollars in taxes from the sales which would improve and strengthen the economy.
Moreover, while we are combating drug dealers through the police and the D.E.A., it would be far more effective to confront these individuals economically. Also, when I talk about confronting drug dealers, I mean to say this is necessary to stop violent drug dealings and gang warfare, not to stop the sales of the substance despite its effects. What I am saying needs to be stopped is the violence because of the substances.
In these ways it would be extremely practical to legalize marijuana, to improve the economy, to allow people more freedoms and to decrease violence.
When I say I disagree with the use of the substance, I mean that I would not use it or recommend using it but I would not condemn using it.
DeleteY. Alvarez 7
ReplyDeleteIf I were to have the opportunity to be president, one law that I would pass nation wide, would be for Veterans to get paid for what they've done. Too many times just walking around neighborhoods, I have seen veterans who are homeless, I one read a statistic that veterans make up quite a percent of the homeless population, that honestly shouldn't be the case. The men & women who served the country that has the money & resources to provide shelters & insurances for those who didn't do anything for their government & have thrown their lives away due to drugs or just pure laziness, it's just sickening honestly. Those citizens deserve so much more respect & some kind of support for what they've done. I hear several times that veterans get turned away for insurances, or to help pay for surgeries or medicines, that they need because of something that occurred to them while serving their country. Our current president has even acknowledged this issue, but he hasn't really taken a serious action towards the problem. If convicts from rikers island are able to be provided with a shelter food & medicine, why doesn't a man who defended the country through several hardships & wars, it's just mind boggling how this country let's such an issue occur.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/09/20886411-wounded-veterans-benefit-checks-may-stop-nov-1-official-warns-congress
A. Abdou
ReplyDeleteIf I would be the president..i would have been focusing on improving economy that would lead to creation of new jobs and eliminating poverty.I would have done my level best to make the country a welfare state.
But in my opinion which is not really about the question, I will say sorry to those countries on which USA is trying to finish and get them on its feet. That's a bad thing. God does not like it. We should thanks to god for our life. America is rich and well developed what do they want more? God has given all the qualities and needs a country needs. I would just like to stop this. Sorry for saying that but it's true though.
if I was president.. I would give poor people a to live. I would buy them food and clothes. I would have four days of school and three days off for students and teacher. I would have a good government and ill make sure that they listen to the people at all times to see their thoughts and ideas about what to do with your government. I would send the people who fight for our country money and things they need to live.
ReplyDeleteN.Fanelli 7
ReplyDeleteIf I were president I would try my best to balance the pay scale. I find it very unfair that a celebrity such as an actor can make millions of dollars off of one movie whereas a hard working teacher or an American soldier get paid only a fraction of that of a celebrity in a whole year. A teacher can change a students life with one failing or passing grade and all they get is a tiny salary when they need to support families. Yet when a celebrity makes more money than he knows what to do with it, so he wastes it on unnecessary items, while all that extra money could be going to the struggling middle class.