Department Of Justice



The Department Of Justice  is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.  This department is led the Attorney General, who is Eric Holder.  The Department Of Justice was founded June 22, 1870-July 1, 1870 and is located in Washington DC in the Robert F. Kennedy Department Of Justice Building.  In 2010, there were 111,993 employees and the annual budget of the department was $27.7 billion.  Since the founding of the department the Attorney General position has been avalible in 1789 there has been many of outstanding people who served at this position.  Some of the people who had the honor to have been named Attorney General are:  Edmund Randolph, Charles Devens, Frank Murphy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Michael Mukasey who served before the current General Eric Holder.  In total there has been 82 Attorney Generals.  Each Department has a mission statement which says what their goal is.  The Department Of Justice Mission Statement is "To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans".  This statement is highly important to the US no only because it's what they are going to do to protect us and to serve justice but because it's what people need to do themselves.  The people need to help prevent crime by doing what is right instead of wrong.  The Department Of Justice is very important to the US because it helps us to to enforce the law correctly instead of incorrectly.  One of the things this department does is enforce and review laws. 


On April 28, 2010 Eric Holder came and gave a little review of the Arizona Immagration Law.  In this video he states that they were considering a court challenge of the law which means they would sue the state for the law.  Like I stated the Department of Justice is very important to the US and always will be.  This department will most likely in my mind will be one of the most important ones in the US because it deals with the law that the people must follow.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice#History
http://www.justice.gov/

What is Happening With The Health Care Reform Law?





Today Robert Vinson, a federal judge in Florida, tossed out the sweeping health care reform law.  He did this because he found that the key provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional.  This part of the Health Care Reform Law pretty much states that Americans must buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties.  He was not the only federal judge who found it unconstitutional.  A judge in Virginia also found it unconstitutional.  I agree with these federal judges that is unconstitutional.  People shouldn't have to face penalties if they don't buy health insurance by 2014.  They will have to face their own penalty when they have to pay for medical bills and it costs a fortune or when they can't see a doctor of some sort because they don't have the insurance.  But the one question is what is going to happen to this reform.  What is most likely to happen is a contentious Supreme Court challenge over the legislation in coming months.  This reform should be passed in my opinion but if it wants to be passed President Obama will need to change a few of the things that some people don't like or it won't pass at all.  Lets just hope all is good and we will figure out what will happen to the Health Care Reform Law.

2011 State of The Union

             

On January 25, 2011, President Obama gave The State of The Union Address.  Before he entered the building the was something different.  The difference between the State of the Union and other ones was that both Repbulicans and Democrats were sitting together instead of sitting of oppisite sides of the audience.  When the Obama finally entered everyone rose out of their seats and clapped and greeted him.  President Obama talked about a few of the major things that we need to focus on.  He talked about innovation, education, rebuilding America, health care, and our troops that are over seas.

One thing that Obama said was that the future is ours to win.  That's the one line that really said it all to me.  He is completly right it is ours to win and that what will have to do.  Even though we will have to sacrifice things, struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.  He gave us the steps on how to win the future now we just have to go out and follow each step starting with encouraging American innovation.  One of the last things Obama said on this night was "The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice. And tonight, more than two centuries later, it's because of our people that our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward, and the state of our union is strong".  Now all the people of the country have to do is go out into the world and work hard no matter what happens and we will win the future!


 

Shooting is Tucson, Arizona and How the Shooter pleaded in court.

On  January 8, 2011, Representative Gabrielle Giffords was holding a open meeting in a supermarket parking lot.  During the meeting a man by the name of Jared Lee Lougher started shooting at the people attending including Giffords and Chief Judge John Roll.  Fourteen people were injured(13 by gun fire), and there were six death including John Roll.  Lougher was arrested at the scene of the shooting.  His motives for the shooting are still unclear.  Giffords was in critical condition and had to have surgery after being shot in the head. 



Only eight days into the new year and something like this happens.  When I first heard of this i just sat there in shock.  I didn't know why someone would do such a thing, it was really one of those things u wouldn't think of having at a public meeting like this one.  But it is good they caught the man that did this.  Today Lougher appered in court.  On his behalf the court pleaded him not guilty on attempted murder charges.

What is a Third Party and Why are they Important

                                                                            

What is a Third Party? A Third Party is party other than one of the two dominant ones in a two-party political system.  There are many types of third parties such as Green Party, Labor Party, Liberty Union Party, Boston Tea Party, etc.  In my eyes a third party is important in everything now.  They can really put a twist on elections and other things in politics.  Third Party candidates rarely win elections.  There are only two U.S. Senators Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, who are neither Democrat nor Republican.  Even though these parties rarely win elections the can have a big effect on them.  This effect is called a spoiler effect.

                                                

Just like in the 2004 Ralph Nader helped George W. Bush win the election(spoiler effect).  Nader helped Bush win by having 463,655 votes, for 0.38 percent of the popular vote, meaning that he took some votes away from some votes away from John Kerry because  he charged that the Democrats were attempting to smear him.  

                                              

The spoiler effect is one of the big reason why third parties are important.  Another way is they are able to support some of the issues that the major parties don't cover.  This is what a third party is and how it can be important in politics.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

 

Don't Ask, Don't Tell is the policy restricting the US military  from efforts to discover or reveal gays, lesbians, and bisextual servicemembers or applicants, while barring those who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual from military service.  But after today things will change.  Today Don't Ask, Don't Tell is being reversed and will now letting gays, lesbians, and bisextuals join the army.  The Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the time has come to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and thats exactly will happen in time.  If this does repel the people who were not allowed to be in the military can. 

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Robert Gates says that overturning this law might cause some disruption at first but would not create any widespread or long-lasting problems.  In the Pentagon study that was released today 70% of the US Forces think that serving with gays or lesbians will either have a positive effect or no negative effect at all.  When it comes to the US Army and Marines that are serving in the war right now 48%(US Army) and 58%(Marines) say they oppose working with gays, and 38% of the Marines say they will think about leaving if they have to serve with gays. One of the supporter of repeling of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is President Obama. In my opinion i agree with Gates it is time to overturn this law and allow gays to be in the military.

Political Socialization and Hows It's Formed

Political Socialization is the process by which background traits influence ones political views. Political socialization can be formed in so many different ways. Some of these ways are school, television, education, your family, your friends, religion, race, gender, media, internet and age. Each of these can strongly influence your political views. For example when your younger you prob heard what your parents thought about politics or you sometimes asked who they voted for in the election after they went to vote. Another way you can form your political views is by what you learn about in a government class at school or by what your friends say there political views are right now. These ways are such influences on your decision on what political party to support. For me only a few of these affected my decision to support the Republican Party. They are television, and my education. In my eyes these affected me because I seen the campaign commercials for the past election and i thought that the Republicans had better ideas for this economy and things to deal with in the future, and my education because I really got to learn more about them this year. Some of the other ways of influence really affect the decision of the people.


In the video John King shows us that a lot of the politicains are now joining Facebook.  This also is a form of political socialization because it is allowing the people who use Facebook to look and see what the politicians from there state are doing in the government.  Its also just a way for them to support their political party and help influence the people.


Another form of political socialization is shown in this cartoon.  This cartoon is showing a man telling someone else about President Obama, and is trying to say don't vote for him.  The form of solcialization used is the media.  As you can see political socialization is formed in many different ways and can also be affectful on you or other people to decide what party to support.