Course Evaluation

I would appreciate it if you would give me some honest feedback about our class this semester. What were your likes and dislikes? Provide any constructive criticism and/or suggestions.
You may respond to this blog using the anonymous option.

Also use the following link to complete a brief survey= Click here to take survey

Who should Obama nominate?

With John Paul Stevens announced retirement at the end of this Court term, who should President Obama appoint to take his place? Republicans have warned him that they might filibuster his nominee if he chooses someone too liberal. Below are links that provide information on some of his potential choices. Read over them and indicate which you think would be his best choice.

Diane Wood
Merrick Garland
Elana Kagan
Pamela Karlan
Kathleen Sullivan

This article reviews some of the potential candidates when Justice David Souter retired last year and was replaced by Sonia Sotomayor.

The Federal Deficit: What to do?

The federal budget has not been in surplus since the first years of this decade. With a recession and governmental stimulus packages and other entitlements, the deficit (and with it the debt) are rising. What should be done to bring the budget into balance? Or should we worry about a deficit during bad economic times?

If you were the budget "czar' what you do? Cut spending? If so, what spending would you cut? Raise taxes? What taxes would you raise? Or would you introduce new revenue streams?

What should be the role of government? What should it provide to its citizens?

If you were

...a member of a local school board, what would you target as a cut from the school budget?

Assume that you are a member of a local school board facing a multi-million dollar shortfall in your budget. Your local governing body has provided all the funding it can. You are faced with the unenviable task of having to prioritize the items in your budget that must be cut. What would be the three or so items that you would eliminate from the school budget?

Keep in mind that personnel costs constitute the largest single expenditure in any school budget.

Lifetime Tenure for Federal Judges?

Article III of the U.S. Constitution states that judges should serve their offices during good behavior. In essence, federal judges serve their appointments to the bench for life. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 78 makes the case that the judiciary is the weakest of the three branches because it has neither control of the purse (legislature) nor energy (executive). Thus, to maintain its independence and allow it to be a co-equal branch of government, judges must be granted lifetime tenure. Operating without fear of retribution, judges, Hamilton argues, can render objective decisions that serve the interest of the law.

An opposing view was exhibited by Brutus in Anti-Federalist 78-79:

"There is no power above them, to control any of their decisions. There is no authority that can remove them, and they cannot be controlled by the laws of the legislature. In short, they are independent of the people, of the legislature, and of every power under heaven. Men placed in this situation will generally soon feel themselves independent of heaven itself."

The question then is, should judges serve for life? Is it important for judges to be above the political wrangling that takes place in the other branches of government? Or should they be held accountable on a periodic basis? Should there be a certain term of office for judges? Or would this subject the judiciary to too much political pressure?

Electoral College

No aspect of the U.S. Constitution has been subject to more efforts at change than the electoral college method of selecting the president. While there are many proposals for change, such as the district method, proportional method, and the most popular, direct election, none have generated enough support yet to warrant changing the Constitution.

Where do you come down on this issue? Should we maintain the status quo or is there a preferred method of reform?

What to Make of Sarah Palin?

In the summer of 2008, the country was introduced to Sarah Palin when Republican presidential candidate, John McCain tapped her to be his running mate. The then Governor of Alaska was a relative unknown at the time. Since that time she has become the center of attention among many conservatives and Republicans who see her as presidential timber and Democrats who view her with a degree of scorn.

Most recently, the former governor, has written a best selling book, joined Fox News as a news analyst, and served as the keynote speaker at the Tea Party Convention. Many speculate that these moves have been designed to keep her in the public eye as she positions herself as a GOP favorite to oppose President Obama in 2012.

Washington Post political reporter David Broder recently wrote that Palin is someone who needs to be taken seriously:

Blessed with an enthusiastic audience of conservative activists, Palin used the Tea Party gathering and coverage on the cable networks to display the full repertoire she possesses, touching on national security, economics, fiscal and social policy, and every other area where she could draw a contrast with Barack Obama and point up what Republicans see as vulnerabilities in Washington.

Time magazine's Joe Klein takes a somewhat different view:

The speech was inspired drivel, a series of distortions and oversimplifications, totally bereft of nourishing policy proposals — the sort of thing calculated, carefully calculated, to drive lamestream media types like me frothing to their keyboards. Palin is a big fat target, eminently available for derision. But I will not deride. Because brilliance must be respected, especially when it involves marketing in an era when image almost always passes for substance.

Recent polling data still suggests a bit of skepticism about what Sarah Palin has to offer:

VIEWS OF SARAH PALIN
Now 11/2009 7/2009
Favorable 26% 23% 23%
Not favorable 41 38 37
Undecided/
Haven't heard 32 37 39

Though among conservatives she is a very popular figure:

VIEWS OF SARAH PALIN
All Liberals Moderates Conservatives
Favorable 26% 16% 15% 46%
Not favorable 41 58 47 26
Undecided/
Haven't heard 32 25 37 27

How do you view Sarah Palin? Is she someone we should take seriously? Does she offer what is needed in Washington?