Alison LePard Extra Credit

Alison LePard

Political Science

Extra Credit

How has this course shaped your understanding of and interaction with presidential politics in the U.S.?

This course has changed how I look at presidential politics because it has informed me about the current issues, made me more aware about the problems we face as a nation, and forced me to think critically about possible solutions and resolutions to problems.  By gaining information on these subjects, I gained insight that, prior to the class, I did not have.   Now with the knowledge I have acquired, I can use the critical thinking I have gained in class to establish well-informed opinions on global issues. In the past, I have allowed my opinions on politics and governmental affairs to be influenced perhaps too much by the media. However, now by learning more about the history and role of the President, as well current issues such as gun control and relations with China, I feel I can confidently form strong arguments to support my views.  This course has also helped me to look at the President as more of politician who, at times, will do things that benefit himself or his reputation that may harm or fail to help others. Overall, I feel that politics, something I have always an interest in but never was very informed, is now an area in which I have a stronger interest.  I look forward to researching further on my own and in college. 

Dean Caruso Extra Credit

Before I took this course, I didn't have much knowledge about politics. I never had any strong opinions on any of the issues, and that stemmed from being uninformed. It was the perfect time for me to take this course since it was during an election year. We learned about how campaigns were financed and how they were run in general, and seeing that in action helped me get a better understanding of politics.  I also learned a lot about the office of the president. The candidates made it seem during the election that they had the power to "fix" the economy and make all sorts of changes immediately and all by themselves. I learned that the president actually doesn't have the power to do those things on his own,   The most useful project for me was the contemporary campaign issues. I learned a lot about all the different campaign issues, and that knowledge helped me formulate my own opinions on the different issues. After taking this course, I feel that I have a strong understanding of how politics work and a strong understanding of the current issues facing our country today.

Term 2 Extra Credit Elsa Pikulik

This course was very beneficial to me in the way it helped to shape my understanding of presidential politics. In the course, not only did we learn about the electoral college and how the president is elected, we more thoroughly explored the current issues that shaped this years election. Now when I read the news, I am able to understand more of what is going on in politics, even in issues I used to not be concerned with. By taking this course, I have come to understand and have an opinion on issues I used to not know about.

            I thought a very valuable activity in this course was the posters and theses we made about how the presidential power has changed over time. By investigating the beliefs of two different time periods, I could easily see how presidential power has changed over time. Being able to see the change in presidential power is another way the course shaped my understanding of presidential politics.

Term 2 Extra Credit Andrew Tarbox

Andrew Tarbox 

Green Block 

January 25, 2013

How has this course shaped your understanding of and interaction with presidential politics in the U.S.?

Before taking this course I did not have a clear understanding about how campaign finance worked, how the presidential election system worked, and what factors contribute to a president's power. In terms of campaign finance I was unaware of the tight restrictions placed on campaign finance. When I learned about the restriction placed on corporations by the Taft-Hartley Act, I was surprised but this restriction made sense to me. If corporations are contributing large sums of money there might be a relationship between them and the candidate to watch out of their interest. Another aspect of campaign finance I learned about was regarding the role of PACs. Before taking this course I was confused when I heard the announcer say that the ad was not associated with any candidate but now this makes sense to me. Furthermore, I learned the importance of grassroots campaigns. Before taking this course I knew about the electoral college system and interpreted it to mean that the American public did not have much say in their choice for president. However, grassroots campaigns have a large say in the end result of elections. Another part of this course that made me understand campaigns was the exit polling activity. I learned how exit polling data can teach candidates who to appeal to in future campaigns. Before taking this course  I knew about the electoral college; however, this course gave me new knowledge about the electoral college. I never new of the advantage Wyoming had in the electoral college. Although they have few delegates, the population is over represented. Later on in the course when we discussed presidential power, I learned about the cabinets of presidents. I did not know that cabinet positions could be added. By adding cabinet positions, this can either increase the president's power or decrease it depending on how one looks at it. It increases presidential power because president's have a broader range on issues. It decreases power because then presidential duties are redistributed to others. I enjoyed taking this course after US history because we had touched on many of these concepts before; however, this course showed me the advantages and disadvantages of the American presidential system and process.  

Term Two Extra Credit - Alex Siber (PolySci)

Alex Siber 

1/18/13

Ms. Shapero

Political Science

Term Two Extra Credit

I have always taken a stance of relative suspicion towards the government of our nation.  I was as aware as one would presume a majority of the individuals in this country would be regarding the partisan politics, corrupt bribing, and the covert worldly role that the United States plays. However, I really did not have many facts to support those beliefs, aside from whatever knowledge I held on too from prior history courses. I was hoping that political science would allow me to develop a stronger foundation to base my opinions on, even if that foundation led me to no longer accept my previous feelings of suspicion. Fortunately, throughout both Term One and Term Two this course has opened my eyes to numerous aspects of our political system. Our recent focus on presidential expansion supplied an abundance of new knowledge that I was entirely unaware of. For instance, our close, analytical look at the steady rise in the size of the president’s cabinet proved to me that presidential power truly has been expanded. I never thought much about the rise of our leader’s power: I always saw our president--so long as his term followed Winston Churchill’s--as arguably the most powerful man in the world. Furthermore, I figured presidents who were Democrats would have larger governments than others, but the rising trend of presidential cabinets consists of prominent Republican leaders such as Reagan as well. 

This course also allowed me to interact with the election of a president for the first time in my life. While I was too sick to attend our polling day, I was fortunate enough to be able to assist in the calculations of the poll data along with my classmates. I wish I was able to experience the magic of election day in person, but I was extremely appreciative of the opportunity to analyze actually data that members of our own community collected. I look to participate in some way on Election Day in 2016, and I would like to thank Ms. Shapero for creating that special field trip for our class. 

Michael Peckham

1/15/2013

Postmaster General

The United States Postmaster General is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service. They are in charge of all affairs with the mailing service. The Postmaster General is appointed by the president and has an indefinite term length. This post was created in the united states at the birth of the nation, however it did not become a part of the presidential cabinet until 1829. This position is also the second highest paying government official job paying almost $277,000 a year. The current Postmaster General is Patrick R. Donahoe, the 73rd Postmaster General of the United States.

Whitehouse Chief of Staff

The job of the Chief of Staff is typically to oversee the actions of the White House staff, they manage the president's schedule, make meetings for the president and advise the president of current issues. The jobs of the Chief of Staff has oftentimes been called The Power Behind the Throne and the Co-President. This post was created in 1946 and has been in existence ever since. While there is no requirement to actually fill this post, it has always been occupied since its formation. Currently the chief of staff is Jack Lew.

Veterans Affairs and Navy

Graham Steele

11/14/13

Political Science

The United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs

The first United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs was Ed Derwinski who was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1989.  Although it is not a requirement, so far every appointee has been a United States veteran.  On January 20th, 2009 the Senate unanimously confirmed retired General Eric Shinseki as the seventh Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  The main responsibility of this position is to head of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, more commonly known as the VA.  This department is the second largest after the Department of Defense, and has a budget of $87.6 billion.  The VA employs about 280,000 people and has Veterans’ Affairs medical centers, clinics, and benefits centers around the country in order to ensure that veterans receive the benefits and attention they need.

The United States Secretary of the Navy

The position of United States Secretary of the Navy was created in 1798 and was an executive office until 1947 when it was combined with the Department of Defense.  The current Secretary of the Navy is Ray Mabus, who began acting on May 19, 2009.  In order to become the Secretary of the Navy, people must at least five years removed from active military service, which makes them legal civilians.  They must also be appointed by the president and confirmed by a majority of the Senate.  The Secretary of the Navy is the head of both the Navy and the Marine Corps.  He is also responsible for recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training, and mobilizing both sections of our military.  In addition, the Secretary of the Navy oversees the construction and repair of naval ships, equipment, and facilities.

Veteran Affairs & Chairman of Council of Economic Advisors

Veterans Affairs

Eric Shinseki runs the Department of Veteran Affairs. He assumed office on January 1^st, 2009; he is a four star general and served in the military during Vietnam. The Department of Veteran Affairs gives benefits and services to eligible veterans of the U.S. military service and their families. In addition providing medical services and retirement options, the department does medical research on different diseases and post-traumatic stress disorder. Eric Shinseki gives speeches at various veteran events such as The Air Force Association Annual Conference and during holidays like Thanksgiving and of course Veterans Day. In addition to this Shinseki talks to Obama and Congress about the funding necessary in order to help veterans and ensure they receive proper care. When elected Shinseki said he wanted to streamline the disability claims system, use new information technologies to improve the delivery of benefits and services, and focus on unemployed and homeless veterans.

Chairman of Council of Economic Advisors

The council of Economic Advisers provides objective research for the White House and prepares an annual economic report. The main duty of the council is to provide the President with information in order for him to change economic policy. The chairman is Alan Krueger. Krueger is an economist and professor at Princeton. It is his job to help gather data on the economy. Most of this data is quantitative. He works with other departments, like the SEC, and FED. He reports to Obama on what he can do to help the economy move forward. He uses things like interest rates, the GDP, and other economic indicators to put together an annual report as well as a series of reports throughout the year. 

Alison- Administrator of Small Business Administration

The Administrator of Small Business Administration,  is a position, first created in 1976,  that is meant to advocate for and protect small business, companies with fewer than 500 employees, in the federal government by helping to create programs that will protect them. The office is broken up into four different offices within the Administration, Advocacy, Ombudsman, Inspector General, and SBA Programs. The office of advocacy is meant to provide the public with information on small business, for example their rates of growth and employment. They act as lobbyists in the Congress, White House, and in other federal government agencies, speaking for the concerns of small business. The Ombudsman office works to repeal excessive fines or penalties by the federal government that may harm small business. The Inspector General Office investigates into SBA programs and works to make sure that waste and misconduct isn't occurring in the office's operations. Finally the SBA has a number of programs that help American's looking to start up and maintain their small business, because they recognize that small business is one of the most powerful factors in opportunity and economic growth.

The Department of State and the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Department of State:

            The United States Department of State plays an important role in advancing the freedom of both the American people and the international community by trying to build a democratic world with states that are well governed and receptive to their citizens.  The Department of State’s main goal is to promote the interests of United States citizens by urging for stability in regions of interest, to create new jobs by opening foreign markets, to help provide import-export opportunities with other nations, and to hold conferences with nations to address global issues and to gain a mutual understanding. The most important duty the Department of State strives to achieve is to help promote United States democracy abroad. Another role the United States Department of State plays is to help United States businesses strive in the foreign marketplace. The current Secretary of State is Hilary Clinton who was sworn in as the 67^th Secretary of State on January 21, 2009.  Some of Clinton’s major duties have been to raise awareness for religious minorities, to protect Internet freedom, and to advance LGBT rights. In addition, she has increased security at United States embassies. She also hopes to make diplomatic relations with Iran in the future.

Housing and Urban Development:

            The current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is Shaun Donovan who was sworn into this position on January 26, 2009 as the fifteenth secretary placed in this role. In general, this department defines its duties as creating strong, inclusive communities and having affordable housing for all. Secretary Donovan has helped stabilize the American housing market in a time of foreclosure. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has tried to protect the taxpayer against financial risk in investing in a house. During natural disasters, the secretary is charged with implementing a reasonable budget for re-building. Secretary Donovan and the department in general also hope to make more inclusive communities, especially through its Choice Neighborhoods program. In addition, thorough its housing program, the department aims to create new American jobs.