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.

Secretary of Interior and Director of OMB

Secretary of the Interior
         The United States Secretary of the Interior is charged with overseeing agencies like the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Park Service. Created in 1849 by President Zachary Taylor, The position is primarily concerned with land management, conservation efforts, and allotment of natural resources in the United States. One of its current programs is called "America's Great Outdoors," which is devoted to preserving the natural spaces in America and finding lasting solutions for conservation. The Department of the Interior has also created a Climate Change Response Council, which is headed by the Secretary of the Interior and studies how the United States is being affected by climate change. Furthermore, the Department of the Interior works with Native American nations within the US by righting past wrongs, helping them economically, and improving health and education on struggling reservations. Another conservation push is to preserve fresh water resources for future generations and helping preserve America's water infrastructure. Finally one of the most important Department of the Interior projects is the New Energy Frontier initiative, which plans to use federal funds to create more sustainable energy sources at home.

Director of Office of Management and Budget
          The Director of Office of management and Budget (OMB) assists the President in overseeing the preparation of the Federal budget and evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, and makes sure that agency reports, rules, testimony, and proposed legislation are consistent with the President's Budget and with Administration policies. The director, who heads the department, oversees five major groups that assess federal spending in the areas of natural resource programs, ; education, income maintenance, and labor programs; health programs; general government programs; and national security programs. A major push in the department today is the Open Government Directive, which promotes the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration in government, particularly regarding financial matters. Also, the agency issues bulletins regularly, which explain the resolutions of the OMB in the coming fiscal year in order to keep the public informed about the Administration's goals.

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.

Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior - Grant Kaplan

Grant Kaplan
Ms. Shapero
Political Science
1/14/13

Presidential Cabinets Assignment: Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior

 

The United States Attorney General:
              The United States Attorney General, as the chief legal officer of the states, commonwealths and territories of the United States, serves as counselor to their legislatures and state agencies. In a way, Attorney Generals also act as the "People's Lawyer," so-to-speak, for all citizens acting as public advocates in areas such as child enforcement, consumer protections, antitrust and utility regulation, and enforcing federal and state environmental laws. Attorney Generals also represent the state and state agencies before the state and federal courts, institute civil suits on behalf of the state, and handle criminal appeals and serious statewide criminal prosecutions. Other tasks for Attorney General include representing the public's interests in charitable trust and solicitations, as well as operating victim compensation programs. The current Attorney General is Eric Holder. The office of Attorney General was established by Congress by the Judiciary Act of 1789 with many limitations on power. The Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice and is nominated by the President but confirmed by Senate.

 

The United States Secretary of the Interior:

              The United States Secretary of the Interior is currently former senator Ken Salazar of Colorado. The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior, which is the executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources. The U.S. Secretary of the Interior also deals with the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and territorial affairs. The Mission Statement of the Department of the Interior reads: “Protecting America’s Great Outdoors and Powering Our Future: The U.S. Department of the Interior protects America’s natural resources and heritage, honors our cultures and tribal communities, and supplies the energy to power our future.” Most of the department’s current issues include protecting National Parks and natural energy production.

United States Department of Labor , Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Education - Alex Siber

Alex Siber
Political Science
1/14/12

The Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services  

The United States Department of Labor

The United States Department of Labor protects and lobbies for the security and wellbeing of job seekers, wage earners, and those who have retired in this country. The Department of Labor aims to improve working conditions for many different jobs across a variation of different industries, thus meaning regulation, inspection, and reinforcement of numerous laws. Furthermore, the Department of Labor assists employers in hiring workers, and tracks changes in national employment, national prices, as well as other economic measures such as the calculation of GDP. The Secretary of Labor is responsible for overseeing the efficient and successful completion of the aforementioned objectives for the Department. The Secretary of Labor and his or her office is also responsible for protecting retirement and healthcare benefits, and protects the ability of labor unions to collectively operate without extreme backlash from corporations. The Department of Labor is responsible for implementing labor laws to enforce these objectives, including minimum hourly wages and overtime pay, freedom from employment discrimination, and income support. The Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, recently resigned, and President Obama has yet to name her replacement.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services

The Department of Health and Human Services is in charge of protecting the general health of all American citizens, and provides basic human health services for those who are disabled, impoverished, etc. The Department of Health and Human Services is the source of more grant money than all other federal agencies combined, and is responsible for Medicare, the largest health insurer in the United States. Such programs are further run on a local and state level, either through local agencies or private sector grantees. These programs are overseen by eleven divisions, eight of which making up the Public Health Service, with the other three serving as human services agencies. These agencies are responsible for overseeing a total of 300 individual programs. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is currently Kathleen Sebelius.

Presidential Cabinets: Ricky Mariscal

Ricky Mariscal

Agriculture: 

The US Department of Agriculture is primarily responsible for maintaining and regulating the agricultural markets. It works to protect agricultural lands in order to enhance the amount of crops farmers produce, and helps to develop and protect farmland in the US. The department provides financial assistance to farmers through credit programs, and helps farmers by regulating and assisting the agricultural market. In addition to these duties, the Secretary of Agriculture is also tasked with regulating the food and drug industries, in order to verify that said products are safe for American consumers. The Secretary of Agriculture is overall responsible for the welfare of farmers and consumers of food and drug products.

Health and Human Services:
The Department of Health and Human Services is designed to assist people in providing essential human services, especially to those who are least capable of providing the for themselves. The Department is responsible for more money than all other departments combined, and overseas major federal assistance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. As such a huge department, it encapsulates 11 different operating divisions and 300 local programs, all of which are overseen by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. With so many local divisions, the Secretary acts as the top of a hierarchical system, and a major figure for some of the biggest federal programs in the US.

Cabinet Positions--Elsa Pikulik

Secretary of Transportation
The current Secretary of Transportation is Ray LaHood, who has been in office since January 23, 2009. He leads an agency with over 55,000 employees and a $70 billion budget used to oversee air, maritime, and ground transportation. The responsibilities of the Secretary of Transportation include overseeing the creation of national transportation policy and legislation, promoting intermodal transportation, debating and implementing international transportation agreements, maintaining U.S. airlines, carrying out airline consumer protection regulations, as well as preventing illegal drug and alcohol misuse in transportation systems. LaHood's primary goal includes ensuring all modes of transportation are safe and focused on the people who use them. He also would like to help to restore economic health, create new jobs, and stay sustainable, while still creating new transportation infrastructure.

Secretary of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano was sworn in as the third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on January 21, 2009. She leads a Department of over 240,000 employees with a wide variety of jobs, but all committed to keeping America safe. The main goals of the Department are preventing terrorism and improving security, managing the country's borders, enforce immigration laws, protect cyberspace, as well as establish resilience after disasters. The jobs of the Department, which are overseen by the Secretary, are wide-ranging and include aviation and border security, emergency response, cyber security analysts, chemical facility inspectors, and more.

Secretary of Education and Ambassador of the US Trade Representative

William Baumann

Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan is the ninth U.S. secretary of education. He has served in this post since his confirmation by the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2009. The role of the secretary of education is to deal with education policy. Duncan’s role is advised by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. Duncan advises the president on the current situation involving education in America. One of the president’s main focuses is education so when the president has an idea to improve education, whether it is student loan forgiveness or areas of education to invest in for our future, he consults Duncan on what is possible and what is impossible. ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. The department of education has 4,400 employees and a $68 billion budget. The secretary of education is dedicated to establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research, focusing national attention on key educational issues, and prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.

Ambassador of the US Trade Representative

     Ronald Kirk is the 16^th United States trade representative who is serving in the Obama administration. He served as the mayor of Dallas from 1995 to 2002. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of more than 200 professionals that specialize in trade issues and regions of the world. They negotiate directly with foreign governments to create trade agreements, to resolve disputes, and to participate in global trade policy organizations. They also meet with governments, with business groups, with legislators and with public interest groups to gather input on trade issues and to discuss the President's trade policy positions. The President conducts trade negotiations at bilateral and multilateral levels. The office also coordinates trade policy within the government through the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) and Trade Policy Review Group (TPRG).

Diana Katsikaris 

Blue Block 

1/13

Term 2: Extra Credit

          A writing assignment from this term in which we used formative assessment was the Nationalism Essay. I completed four drafts, the first draft, the draft with feedback from my peers during the writing workshop, the draft on paragraph one from Ms. Shapero, and then the final draft. The sources of my feedback were from a peer in writing workshop, Ms. Shapero, a teacher from the history lab and my mom, who read over the final product. The most common types of feedback I received were being too vague, and needing to clarify, and to eliminate unnecessary words in my writing. In my later drafts, this feedback was addressed by re-reading my paper multiple times, searching for dead words, and crossing out the unnecessary words as well. Also, trying to spread out my ideas instead of bunching them up in one vague sentence. To prevent similar mistakes in my future writing, I will constantly re-read my paper checking for dead words, and work sentence by sentence in order to spread out my ideas and avoid being vague. 

One specific example involving all of my drafts in which I improved in my writing because of formative assessment was the process of crafting a decent thesis statement that had a factual and judgmental statement. In my first draft my thesis was: “By broadcasting the ideas of change to becoming a free and independent nation, the recognition of the individual is emphasized through individuality and liberty, which is what divided and conquered the necessary changes in each nation.” After visiting the lab my thesis statement was now: “By broadcasting the ideas of change as a process to becoming a free and independent nation, the recognition of the individual is emphasized through individuality and liberty which is what allowed the necessary changes in each nation to be made.” My thesis was still vague and was too long, so after day to in the writing workshop it was edited to be: “Although nationalism moved away from the focus of military power, it did however recognize the individual, who was emphasized through individuality and liberty which allowed governmental changes to be made throughout the nation.” Then, after being edited by Ms. Shapero, my final thesis statement after the feedback revision portion of the assignment read: “Although Nationalism brought a decline in military power, it placed an emphasis on the individual, who aimed for liberty, mutually beneficial relationships, republics, and united fatherlands in their new nations.” Through the process of formative assessment, my thesis statement became more detailed and contained a factual statement: “who aimed for liberty, mutually beneficial relationships, republics and united fatherlands in their new nations,” and a judgmental statement: “Although Nationalism brought a decline in military power, it placed emphasis on the individual.” The process of formative assessment helped me to improve my thesis statement by narrowing it down to specifics, and moving away from being vague.