After completing the mock Congress simulation, I obtained a greater understanding in how a bill becomes a law in addition to the factors that may prevent its passage. The diversity of roles that students were assigned as representatives offered a glimpse into how complex the legislative process really is. Bills are passed with the near universal intent of positively impacting the American people. However, this impact may not be universally distributed across demographics and in some cases it can hurt the constituents that one represents. With so many agendas, public and private, clashing and coinciding with each other in Congress, even the smallest of bills require a massive collective effort to become law.
During the simulation, I was a Republican that represented a suburban community whose primary economic interest resided in business. Since both Republicans and the suburban community tended to be more conservative economically, I decided to create a bill that coincided with both of our interests by decreasing the ad valorem tariff levied on imported automobiles. In addition, my Republican background presented issues with the demographic I was representing due to the fact that I generally favored less government intervention
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The majority of the bills that were discussed were very different from each other with the exception being the Carbon Tax bills that were forwarded by both Dev Gosh and Sofiya Gorban. Notable bills were the national marijuana excise tax for states that had legalized it and the tax on specific ingredients in pesticides in order to save monarch butterflies. While the two aforementioned bills did not pass due to ambiguity in funding and a lack of feasibility, I found it interesting that committees in Congress go through diverse bills like this on a daily
Unorthodox Law Making is Barbra Sinclair’s attempt to describe the change in which how congress creates legislation. She does this by describing the different route a number of bill took on their journey though both chambers of congress and how each half of congress changes the rules to achieve their goals. To help explain this mainly with the Clean Air Act of 1970. She goes in to depth how the traditional ways of passing legislation took place. The school house rock video comes to mind while reading this.
Modern congress and its members seem largely concerned and focused on partisan advancements. Though there are many reasons as to why the enormous division in congress is as it is, there is one factor that draws the most attention. Filibuster an action that is used by most congressmen and women to delay the passage of laws, has increasingly over the course of time become a negative action rather than positive. The use of mostly long speeches as ways to prohibit and hinder bills or laws is now being used by many senators to advance personal and party goals thus, it is crucial that the ban of filibuster must be considered and replaced with the simple majority rule. First and foremost, some reasons as to why filibuster should be exempted from
The Texas Constitution was a product of the Reconstruction era, the tumultuous period that preceded the Civil War. The document reflects the fears and hopes of its framers. They were fearful of an oppressive state after living under the oppressive scrutiny of the Reconstruction Era. They hoped to prevent that from happening again by putting strong restraints on the government. Most of those restraints have followed Texas into the modern era.
Ever since the creation of Congress, it has not been uncommon to hear or see negative criticisms about it. Congress has evolved from when it was created, but the role it plays has not changed. Even though there are many criticisms about the ways on how Congress is run, the system is an important and essential part of the United States government. Integral it may be, but today, many people find it difficult to answer the questions of how Congress works, what it does, and why it exists. In Lee Hamilton’s How Congress Works and Why you Should Care, the author shows what Congress actually does do and how it affects the American people every single day.
By not allowing students to develop their own ideas and receive the education they need and deserve, the entire society will suffer from an undereducated population. Anne Neal ’s thesis can be applied to any courses taken at Brazosport College, or any college. If our government class was not allowed to learn about all the controversial subjects that government entails, we would all most likely leave the class knowing no more than when we began.
By distancing the Senate from the people, the Founders hoped the Senate would ensure the United States’s diplomatic consistency. Likewise, the Founders staggered senators’ selection, so the states only appointed one-third every two years. In theory, this selection timeline would offer continuity in legislative governance, while frequent elections would elect a new House every two years. Ultimately, the Senate’s existence ensures that lawmaking necessitates a near national consensus rather than a momentary majority because of its unrepresentative nature according to Dennis Hale and Marc Landy. Because smaller
Question 1 0 out of 3 points What is the House of Representatives in the United States? Selected Answer:
In one of the episodes in Parks and Recreation, Leslie wants to help a swim team create a law. The bill that she is turing into a law is that pools should be open later. Her goal was to make this a law within two days, which is pretty fast to turn a bill into a law. She does have people that were voting against it and they were voting for “fun in the sun”. Toms dentist is a very important factor in voting for this bill to become a law and he is the one that is voting against it.
Today, the filibuster is a common scene in the U.S. Senate. It has been in practice for over 150 years, defending the minority against the majority vote. Measures to limit filibusters are implemented in Congress currently, including Woodrow Wilson’s
Two of my favorite trips that we, as a class have taken this semester were: the trip to Congress and the trip to the land of interest groups. During the trip to Congress, I had the privilege of better understanding how a bill becomes a law; I was asked to select a legislation and describe the purpose and history of this legislation. I remember picking out something that captured my attention: a legislation that stated, companies can now label genetically modified food as “natural,”
The audience for this presentation was for the average citizen and they walked everyone on how a bill becomes a law, showing where each bill is in the process. As a concerned citizen
In recent years, the U.S. Senate has been embroiled in a countless number of filibusters which have a long history in the U.S. Congress. To supporters of the filibuster, such political procedures play an important role in a democratic society. They believe that the filibuster embodies the spirits of democracy to protect the minority from oppression in the United States. Reformers or skeptics of the filibuster, on the other hand, believe that filibusters sometimes severely hinder the operations of the government. Although people have witnessed many filibusters in history, the number of filibusters in the past few years surprised and infuriated many in America.
The practice of writing letters to congress is one that dates back to the earliest days of America’s history, but in recent years it has become arguably more effective and convenient to contact congress through email or a phone call. Nevertheless, writing letters is one method that will never go out of style. Letters or “snail mail”, as they are commonly nicknamed, are still effective because receiver of the letter can feel the effort the sender put forward to write and send it and, as a result, a bit more attention is given to the person’s
This movie shows some examples of the legislative branch by Smith trying to pass a law about a Boys Camp. The congress doesn’t necessarily take him serious but they still have to listen. Smith really believes in this camp and will do anything to make it happen. He’s trying to make it a law and that’s an example of the legislative branch.
Attempting to enact significant legislation requires Congress and the White House to compromise and anticipate what others will approve of and pass. When a bill successfully passes both houses of Congress, which has become increasingly difficult due to party polarization and radical groups within the House of Representatives and the Senate, it then goes to the president for signing. This is a lengthy process, and in order for groups of people with opposing views to settle in agreement on a measure, a great deal of negotiation is often required. This can result in a piece of legislation that is a compromised, diluted version of its original form that is not an effective solution to the initial problem. Vague, weak legislation often necessitates further action by the other two branches of government in order to interpret and execute it properly.