Bureaucracy post

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/30/opinion/borger-obama-defeated-by-bureaucracy/

This post mostly involves the issues related to president Obama's policy agenda with the national veterans association in regards to information associated with the organizations trust funds and how he is "staring down the looking hole" of bureaucracy  issues with these associations. The president was very encouraging that he would fix the issues associated with them. There is a very delicate balance between these associations and the president and congress, often referred too as the iron triangle.

I believe for the majority of the time the president has done well with keeping peace between these organizations and congress especially in times that he has experienced divided government. The beginning of the article spoke about Obama's confidence when entering into his presidency, and only mentioned one phrase that could perhaps be taken negatively which was "The government needs to be smarter and better" which many took as simply a challenge Obama insisted on taking. This article also compares and touches on Bill Clinton and his attempts to do so during his presidency and mentions the fact that even though Clinton spent years dedicated to reinventing the government he left office with mixed reviews and which seemed less successful when compared to Obama's legacy. Even though a national poll says that only 2 percent of Americas have trust that their government would know the right thing to do in all situations according to the article. 

Obama signing Legislation

Obama in relation to his bureaucracy conflict

National Association of American Veterans 

The presidency

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/obama-argentina-brussels-attacks/

I chose this article because it is related to the presidency but not directed towards the current election cycle which seems to take up the majority of the media related to the president. Obama; though he may be coming towards the end of his presidency and could be referred to as a lame duck  still took on his powers of not only being the president but the chief executive as well. He reached out and  made a statement related to the most recent ISIS attacks and his opinion on terrorism. "Continue to go after ISIL aggressively until it's removed from Syria and from Iraq and finally destroyed" Obama said. In this statement and article he continues to talk about his plans on defeating ISIL and his goal on terrorism related subjects. Though he believes ISIL is not an immediate threat to the United States he is concerned on a worldly level and is concerned with the rising level of individuals committing themselves to this group and other similar terrorist groups. 

Obama "not so formally" meeting with Castro.

This article also refers to Obama's policy agenda related to the  recent trip to Cuba and speaks how he is the first president for over 20 years. I personally believe that Obama using his inherent powers  has exercised his responsibility in foreign affairs very well and made a good decision stepping out and deciding to go to Cuba. The media had very good coverage, often being referred to as the fourth branch of government.

Obama formally shaking hands with Castro. 

Obama Speaking on foreign affairs

3/26/16

Dan Kildee Michigan 5th district congress man, democratic.
Dan kildee has been representing Michigan 5th district as their congressman since 2013. He is from a town called flint Michigan and is in a good location for his political views. Kildee served as the CEO of a non-profit organization and also served as the Genesse county commisioner and treasurer. He has lived and been dedicated to flint michigan for 36 years. He also was assigned as the the assistant whip by the house Minority whip leader. Even though it was his first year in congress he was successful in anchoring 100 million dollars in federal funds for the towns Flint and Saginaw for repair. He also is a strong advocate for "Make it in America" initiative (a package of bipartisan bills to help promote and create national manufacturing policy). Some of the main political issues Kildee focus' on are, the urbanization and protection of cities, promoting american manufacturing and raising the minimum wage.

Unit 3 blogpost

                                                                                                                                              3/26/16
http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/03/188637/how-grassroots-revolt-against-testing-may-
change-education

 I chose this article for my third blog post because of its relevancy to me for my personal schooling and involving mass media for unit 3. The article first addresses the topic of standardized testing and how people are people are starting to revolt against it. First it addresses the "No child left behind" act, enacted by George bush during his presidency. It then goes on to explain further why parents and students are choosing to revolt against the common education system involving standardized tests.


When I read this article I could only think about my struggles personally with testing and the frustration that usually follows. I believe there are many other ways in which a students intellect can be determined and used other than by having a test to show the results and judge one way of determining intelligence. The people standing up against this issue have a major advantage that people twenty years ago did not have; technology. By the use of the internet and spreading awareness through articles, Facebook pages and even pictures like the ones below powerfully spread the message they are standing for.

2/22/16

                              Joe Biden and why he believed he couldn't win for presidency

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/joe-biden-couldnt-win-2016-race/story?id=34724133

                       Joe Biden announced early in the beginning of the campaigning for presidency that he would not be running for president. He claimed there were many different reasons he did not run for president, one including the recent death of his son Beau, last may.

                               Joe Biden announced early in the campaigning a few specific reasons as to why he would not be running for presidency. Though he admits perhaps he used better ways of practicing progressivism he may of been able to run, he stepped back. For many months he considered and weighed the options of running for presidency and what it would have done for his family; what emotional toll it would  have been on them. Biden also makes another point as he explains his relation to Hillary in the running, he would directly be running against her. He said that he does have a mutual liking for Hilary and would not want to be directly against her. Though he said that some people believed that he did not like Hilary because he expressed his political tolerance towards Republicans, but he later made statements explaining how that was not directed offensively towards Hilary in any way. Biden has one last year to serve in the research and in honor of his son plans to spend it on the initiation of further cancer research.

Joe biden 

Joe Biden and Hilary Clinton

Joe at his son Beau's funeral 

Political tolerance towards republicans

2/11/16 Unit 1

                                Those who don't "feel the Bern" may be fearing it instead  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republican-strategist-bernie-sanders-clinton_us_56bbafb3e4b0c3c5504ff6c7
                     Dave Carney as a republican strategist has been studying the candidates and their similarities. He feels that Bernie Sanders uses some of the same strategies that Trump uses to over come his voters. He believes that Sanders is going to have a higher turnout than Hillary because of this reason and others when it comes to presidential elections.

Showing the differences in controversial issues and which candidate supports or opposes each one.

                      Carney believes that Sanders gets to his people in the same way trump does. He talks mostly about the disconnect between the people who make and/or have the most money or who he refers to them as as "elites" and the rest of us. Though Trump and Sanders have a very different way of doing so, the same type of people become stirred up; they're just on different sides of the political spectrum. He talks about Bernie's new approach and how that seems to be holding more of an interest with the people compared to the ways of Hillary and her campaigning. Even though Bernie refers to himself as a democratic socialist, Carney predicts that with the campaigning he's doing and success with the younger people he's achieving; that when it comes time for the voting, that title is not going to mean as much. We have recently been learning more about the candidates and their political strategies in order to gain followers, especially with the younger generation, in which Bernie seems to be achieving.

Senator Bernie Sanders speaking in New Hampshire

Perhaps a few months outdated, still shows the rise in Bernie's campaigning and the eventual decreasing of Hilary's