Chris Kemp

Taxation Blog Post

5/23/16

The topic I chose to research was “Are Americans Overtaxed.”  I have learned a lot about taxes during my research ranging from the history of taxes to the different types of taxation.  This project has allowed me to further my knowledge about a very important aspect of society and a part of society I will soon have to deal with.  I began my presentation by giving the definition of the word taxes.  The word taxes means, “a sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for special facilities or services, levied upon incomes, property, sales, etc.  I proceeded to ask a few questions in relation to taxes being burdensome and if we didn’t have taxes, how would the federal government raise revenue.  My next slide covered the three main types of taxes; the progressive tax, the regressive tax, and the flat tax.  The United States’ income tax is a progressive tax.  I proceeded to cover the numerous pros and cons for the flat tax, which is a tax where everyone pays the same amount, no matter your income level.   After covering the pros and cons of a flat tax, I covered the pros and cons of taxes in general.  One positives of taxes is that they are the government’s main source of revenue and finance things such as schools, police, highways, and an array of social programs.  One con of taxes is that high taxes can lead to a decrease in economic activity as well as a decrease in economic growth.  I then dedicated a slide to the 16^th Amendment which made a huge impact in relation to taxation, considering it gave Congress the ability to levy an income tax.  There are numerous types of taxes ranging from a federal income tax to a payroll tax and even a value-added tax.  The different types of taxes were the main concern of my next slide.  I then dove into the history of taxes ranging from the colonial era, to the Bush era and everything in-between.  Before discussing the history of taxes in great detail, I gave a quick recap of the Boston Tea Party and its implications in relation to taxation without representation.  Tax rates are the amount by which a person or corporation can be taxed/how much you owe to the federal government.  There are numerous ways to present a tax rate which are listed in my presentation.  Tax policy is the choice of the government as to what taxes to levy, in what amounts and to whom.  I proceeded to explain what microeconomics and macroeconomics were in relation to tax policy.  I then showed two data tables, one of tax rates in 2013 and the other of tax rates in 1862 in order to show how rates have changed over the years.  After further researching the topic of taxation I found a few observations from the Tax Foundation and other sources that provided very interesting information.  For example, very low tax rates on the wealthier demographic seem to be correlated with unsustainable boosts in the economy that inevitably crash or bust.  Republicans and Democrats have very different views in relation to taxation.  Republicans favor lower taxes for big business in order to benefit the wealthier demographic.  On the other hand Democrats favor tax cuts for the middle class as well as for smaller businesses.  I concluded my presentation with a short video explaining taxes as well as a few final questions and a sources slide.  This project has greatly expanded my knowledge in relation to taxation. 

Sources:

´  http://www.investopedia.com/walkthrough/corporate-finance/2/taxes/types-taxes.aspx

´  http://www.dictionary.com/browse/tax

´  http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/14/tax-history-law-personal-finance-tax-law-changes.html

´  http://taxfoundation.org/sites/default/files/docs/fed_individual_rate_history_nominal.pdf

´  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/progressivetax.asp

´  https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxvi

´  https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxvi

´  kids.laws.com/16th-amendment

´  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party

´  http://www.ehow.com/info_7982466_pros-cons-taxes.html

´  http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-you-have-to-pay-taxes/

´  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_policy

´  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rate

´  http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-tax-rates

´  http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/14/tax-history-law-personal-finance-tax-law-changes.html

´  http://www.policyalmanac.org/economic/archive/tax_history.shtml

´  http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/us-parties-republican-democrat-taxes.asp

´  s3w.danaamfa.top

´  en.wikipedia.org

´  www.vanderbilt.edu

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVkUUPu0VXA

Judicial Blog Post

Chris Kemp

4/22/16

In Federal Courts, the Civil Cases Pile Up

The story begins by discussing Ronald Porters dilemma in relation to employment discrimination and the Navy eliminating his job.  The article proceeds to discuss how the civil cases are really beginning to pile up leading to long trail delays.  In the area of California in which Mr. Porter filled his suit is so backed up that the number of cases filed per judge is nearing two times the national average.  The article then discuss’ the implications of the 16^th and 17^th Amendment and how everyone has the right to a jury and a speedy trail.  But due to the large quantity of cases many people aren’t able to get a speedy trail leading to many issues.  An excerpt from the article read, “Over the years I’ve received several letters from people indicating, ‘Even if I win this case now, my business has failed because of the delay. How is this justice?’ ” Said Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill in Fresno, Calif., who sits in the Eastern District. “And the simple answer, which I cannot give them, is this: It is not justice. We know it.”  This clearly presents the problems that stem from the piling up of civil cases.  The article then contains a “Justice Delayed” graph.  The article then discuss’ how California’s Eastern district is lacking in judges and growing in the number of federal prisoners.  Considering the process of moving or creating a new judgeship is rather difficult it is becoming challenging to keep up with the number of trails associated with the rising number of federal prisoners.  The article comes to a conclusion by talking more about Mr. Porter’s situation and the challenges associated with the civil cases pile up and the lack of staff. 

Considering we are currently discussing the various affects and aspects of the judicial branch an article about the federal courts fits right in.  We have had numerous discussions about the implications, aspects and jurisdictions of the federal courts in class.  This article strays off of our normal discussion about what type of cases the courts handle, how they act, their jurisdiction, etc. and discuss’ the issue revolving around low staff to case ratio’s.  We have learned about the different courts in class such as the Federal courts, Legislative Courts, Appellate Courts, Bankruptcy Courts and Supreme Courts.  This article focuses primary on an issue that is currently plaguing the Federal Courts.  Our discussions in class concerning the Federal Courts fits right in with the article “In Federal Courts, the Civil Cases Pile Up.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-federal-courts-civil-cases-pile-up-1428343746

Bureaucracy Blog Post

Chris Kemp

4/17/16

The Development of the Bureaucracy

The article I found discusses the development of the Bureaucracy, which is run by millions of bureaucrats.  The article begins by discussing that the original bureaucracy was very small and was made up of employees from the State, Treasury, and War departments.  George Washington stated “as shall be the best qualified” in relation to who would be hired for political employment.  Once Thomas Jefferson was elected president the system of patronage, or filling political jobs with friends and members of the party, became the new premise for political employment.  Andrew Jackson is recognized as the President who entrenched the spoils system, which he felt brought in a better rotation of workers in office.  The article then discuss’ the creation of thousands of jobs after the Civil War in order to handle the strenuous demands of war as well as the expenditure of the Post Office.  The article begins to cover the topic of the Pendleton Act which was established in 1881 which basically got rid of the spoils system and led to the merit system.  The article then discuss’ the growth of the 20^th century and the creation of independent regulatory commissions, the first of which was the Interstate Commerce Commission.  During the last half of the 20^th century the federal bureaucracy didn’t really expand that much but each individual did gain an increase in influence.  The article then discusses the organization of the bureaucracy and how overlapping duties and counterparts make things much more complicated.  The bureaucracy is controlled by both the president and Congress, who has the power to create, organize, and disband federal agencies.  The article concludes by breaking down and explaining the four broad types the bureaucracy typically falls under.  These four types are the Cabinet departments, government corporations, independent agencies, and regulatory commissions. 

This article clearly pertains to our current unit of study regarding the Bureaucracy.  I chose this article considering it discusses the organization of the Bureaucracy, the merit and spoils system, as well as departments and development of the bureaucracy.  This article covered many of the topics we are discussing, like the spoils and merit system which we made a poster about during class.  This article also discussed regulatory commissions as well as the Pendleton Act which are also topics we have discussed/made posters about.  In conclusion the majority of this article directly coincides with the content we are learning in class. 

http://www.ushistory.org/gov/8a.asp

Chris Kemp

4/1/16

A.P. Gov

22nd Amendment Blog post 4

22nd Amendment

The article I chose was The U.S.  Constitution’s Twenty-Second Amendment: Setting Presidential Term Limits.  This amendment corrected the original Constitution which stated in Article ll, Section 1 that a president’s term limit was four years, although it failed to establish as set limit of times that they president was eligible for reelection.  The article then discuss’ how George Washington decided to step down from the presidency after two terms even though he would surely be reelected for a third term.  The danger of a president being able to be elected numerous times was later recognized by Thomas Jefferson.   Jefferson wrote in 1807 “If some termination to the services of the chief Magistrate be not fixed by the Constitution, or supplied by practice, his office, nominally four years, will in fact become for life.”  Washington established an unwritten rule that presidents should only run for two terms which was followed by those such as Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe.  This unwritten rule remained followed until 1940 when FDR ran for a third term.  The article then discusses how Roosevelt attempted to run for a third term against the unwritten rule and tradition.  In order for the unwritten rule to avoid being flouted again in the future the 22^nd Amendment was passed in 1951.  “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”  The article then concludes by explaining what the above statement means and listing a few fun facts.  Like the idea of repealing the Amendment has been suggested numerous times and that there is no limit on the number of times a Vice President can be reelected.  A Vice President can really ride a popular presidents coattails leading to numerous reelections, and the ability to create a massive impact over time. 

This article clearly relates to our in-class discussions because we are currently covering the topic of the POTUS and this article is concerning an Amendment that greatly impacts the presidency.  We has also covered the 22^nd Amendment in class and this article grants the reader a deeper understanding of what it means and its implications.  The 22^nd Amendment similar to the 25^th Amendment are very relevant to our discussion in class and are both very import Amendments in relation to the president and the vice president.  After the implication of the Amendment even popular presidents can fall victim to dreaded Lame Duck title. 

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-us-constitutions-twentysecond-amendment-settin.html

 

3/21/2016
Unit 4

Republican Bradley Byrne has been the representative for Alabama’s 1st congressional district since January 8, 2014.  Byrne was a chancellor of the Alabama Community College system from 2007-2009 in order to be able to run for the 2010 Republican nomination for the Governor of Alabama.  Before his election to represent Alabama’s 1st congressional district he served as a member of the Alabama State Senate in the early 2000’s.  Alabama is a very rural and agriculture heavy district which fits my identity of a republican, rural and agricultural atmosphere.  Some of Byrnes biggest contributors in the 2016 race were Drummond Co, American Crystal Sugar, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.  Byrne was first elected to congress in 2013 to finish Jo Bonner’s term.  He was then elected to serve out his first full term in 2014. Byrnes committee assignments include education and the workforce, armed services, and natural resources.  According to a Mobile Press-Register article Byrne was even thinking about running for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court back in 2011.  The ENCRYPT Act of 2016 involves security vulnerability mandates as well as different decryption requirements.  I couldn’t find Byrne exact vote on this bill but I believe that he would be for it considering his Republican background steers him away from bills that exasperate governmental involvement and this bill limits their power. Byrne also voted yea for bills involving cyber security which correlates with encryption.  He voted yea on the National Cyber security Protection Advancement Act of 2015 and the Protecting Cyber Networks Act.   This act prevents states from being able to ban digital encryption which is basically the encoding of digital messages for privacy reasons.  The Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Re authorization Act of 2016 was created in order to privatize air traffic control.  I think that Bradley would oppose this bill due to the governmental involvement and because he opposed the privatization of social security.  He may also oppose the bill due to his previous involvement with the subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces.  The third bill is the Sentencing Reform Act of 2015 which would reform criminal sentencing laws as well as cover a few other issues.  Similar to the other two laws I was unable to find his exact position but due to his party beliefs I feel that he would be impartial or undecided because it helps lower prisoners sentences in some ways but it lengthens them in others.  

Chris Kemp

3/1/16

The 2016 results we can already predict

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/05/2016-predictions-117554

This article begins by stating that the number of swing states appears to be steadily decreasing.  The article goes on to discuss the elections of the 60’s and 70’s and how important the Electoral College votes were.  Things have been pretty uniform in recent years as 40 of 50 states voted for the same candidate in the elections that took place after 2000.  The article then declares that Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, and New Hampshire are seven super-swingy states.  The article then covers the how the Electoral College vote intertwines with the Democratic and Republican Party.  For example the Republicans not only need to keep their current supporters but they must also garner an additional 65 electoral votes.  The article then discusses that if the Republicans lose Florida or Ohio they don’t really have a chance of winning the election and ensuring a Republican president.  If the win or loss is more than around a percent in the Old Dominion then the Democrats could be on a downhill slope and ruin their chances.  The article concludes by explaining that they will expand on their analysis in the Crystal Ball newsletter. 

This article ties into what we have been learning in class considering it covers the topic of the Electoral College vote.  We have been closely following the election and the popularity of all the different candidates during class, although the Electoral College vote doesn’t come into effect until much later.  We have covered the upcoming events such as SuperTeusday but we have most recently discussed the power and impact of the Electoral College.  In the current election Hillary Clinton appears to be leading the Democratic Party and is working to keep the support in the notorious blue states.  Clinton is pushing not only to keep support in the notorious blue states but she is also fighting to turn over some common red states.  During the fight for the popular and eventually electoral vote she will have a few safe-states that could put her over the edge.  This is a double edged sword as her closed competitor Trump also has his fair share of safe-states and a large group of notorious red states.  Although the election could go either way in terms of the popular vote it may be the Electoral College that has the final push for the new presidency.

 

Post #2 Voting Rights Act

Chris Kemp

2/22/16

Rights of voters

Voting Rights Act

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/voting-rights-act

The article begins by explaining how Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act which worked to overcome particular barriers and give African Americans the rights entitled to them under the 15^th Amendment.  Once Johnson was elected into office he strives to create stronger voting-rights laws.  The article goes on to discuss that even though the 15^th Amendment was enacted it still didn’t truly grant African Americans the right to vote.  After the Amendment was passed African Americans were subjected to literacy tests, Grandfather clause, and were sometimes even forced to “recite the entire Constitution or explain the most complex provisions of state laws.”  Under the leadership of Johnson the voting rights bill was passed in 1965 and was enacted as a law later that year.  This act was very important considering it worked to ensure equal voting representation between the different races.  This act also led to the investigation of poll taxes which would later be made illegal under the 24^th Amendment.  Although state and local enforcement of the law was weak or ignored it still led to a greatly increased voter turnout from African Americans.

   

This article directly associates with what we have recently learned considering it covers the broad spectrum of voter’s rights.  Throughout unit two we have discovered the multiple Amendments that ensure equal voter representation between genders and races.  This article begins by covering the 15^th Amendment which on paper was monumental and would lead to equal voter representation among blacks and whites.  As the article went on to explain this was sadly not the case.  Many states restricted African Americans from participating in the voting process even with their new found rights.  They restricted them thought literacy tests, the grandfather clause, and even poll taxes.  We have covered these three restrictions not only in class but also in our note cards.  The literacy test requires people to take and pass a literacy test before being eligible to vote.  The grandfather clause says that you can vote only if your grandfather could vote, so African Americans were still unable to vote even under the 15^th Amendment considering their grandfather most likely was unable to vote.  The article later goes on to discuss how Johnson was an instrumental part in the enactment of the Voting Rights Act.  Although we haven’t covered this act in too much detail during the course of the semester we have studied it numerous positive effects.  Finally the article briefly covered the topic of the 24^th Amendment which we have previously talked about in class and on our note cards.