Tag Archives: Politics

Do Now #57: The President's Cabinet

January 11, 2013, 7:37 pm • Posted by Matthew Green
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PBS NewsHour

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Do Now

The President’s Cabinet is a team of advisors who have run an executive department and have specific expertise in a certain area. The Secretary of State, for instance, advises the president on foreign policy, the Secretary of Defense oversees the military, and the Secretary of the Treasury handles economic policy.

So, if you were to apply to be in the President’s Cabinet, what position would you be best suited for and why? Or what other cabinet positions do you think should be included?
 

Introduction

Good news! There may be some solid job openings in the President’s administration - although you’re not likely to find them posted on Craigslist.

As President Obama gets ready to begin his second term in the White House, there will be some turnover his Cabinet. The presidential Cabinet is a group that consists of the vice president and 15 executive department heads who have the job of advising the president and helping to run the executive branch of government. The Cabinet usually meets at least once a week. A good description of these 15 positions is listed at PBS News Hour Extra.

It’s pretty common for a re-elected president to rearrange part of his Cabinet in advance of his second term (although it’s not always clear whether departing Cabinet members chose to leave or were told to). Each Cabinet member is nominated by the president, but most have to be confirmed by a majority vote of the U.S. Senate.

So far, the major shakeups include:

  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is stepping down. Senator John Kerry has been nominated by the President to replace her.
  • Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is leaving. Jack Lew, who is currently the president’s Chief of Staff, has been nominated to replace him.
  • Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will step down. Chuck Hagel, the former Senator from Nebraska, Republican, has been nominated to replace him.
  • Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, the first Latina to serve in a Cabinet, just announced she is stepping down. It’s unclear yet who will replace her.

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Do Now #48: Romney vs. Obama

November 2, 2012, 6:52 pm • Posted by Maxine Einhorn
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Do Now

The number one issue in this election is the economy, and it can greatly affect your future. Which candidate for president (President Obama or Governor Romney) offers you and the country a stronger economic policy, and thus perhaps, a brighter future? Why? Which candidate would you vote for president?

Introduction

On October 16th, a college student asked this question during the second presidential debate between President Obama and Governor Romney:

"Mr. President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I will have little chance to get employment. Can — what can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?"

Governor Romney pins his strategy for job growth on his tax plan. He claims more than half of those jobs, 7 million, would be generated by this plan to cut tax rates by 20 percent for all taxpayers. Growth in the economy, the Romney campaign argues, stems from cutting taxes for high-income people and companies.How would this be paid for? The almost $5 trillion in lost tax revenue over 10 years would be paid for by ending deductions and closing loopholes. Governor Romney argues, "First, my energy independence policy means more than 3 million new jobs, many of them in manufacturing. My tax reform plan to lower rates for the middle class and for small business creates 7 million more. And expanding trade, cracking down on China, and improving job training takes us to over 12 million new jobs."

President Obama’s strategy is totally different. The focus is on investment – federal investment - and is spelled out in the American Jobs Act. This means spending on infrastructure and job training programs, a tax cut for firms that hire new workers, aid to state and local governments, and a program to rebuild schools. He would end the tax cut for wealthy Americans (enacted by President Bush) and use the money to pay for investment. The $450 billion program was enacted by Congress: a one-year extension of the payroll tax holiday and an extension of unemployment benefits. Congress refused to pass other provisions that the American Jobs Act called for. President Obama argues (at an event in Virgina)
"We need to cut our oil imports in half, create thousands more jobs in clean energy … We need to use the savings from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to help pay down our deficit and put people back to work doing some nation-building right here at home."

Which strategy makes sense to you?

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Do Now #44: Affirmative Action

October 12, 2012, 7:12 pm • Posted by Matthew Green
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photo by Mark Fischer/flickr

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Do Now

In an attempt to have a more diverse student body, should universities be allowed to make race-based admissions decisions that give preference to minority applicants? Tell us why or why not?

Introduction

Abigail Fisher, a white honor student, certainly didn’t think Affirmative Action was right, explaining that universities should not be allowed to make race-based admissions decisions that give preference to minority applicants. In 2008, she was rejected from the University of Texas. She sued the school, claiming that its race-conscious admissions policies unfairly and unconstitutionally favored black and Hispanic applicants over whites and Asians. Last week (Oct. 10, 2012), the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, the latest in a half-a-century long string of challenges to affirmative action policies.

For more than half a century, Americans have battled over the constitutionality and ethics of affirmative action policies. To see a timeline of the landmark moments in the history of an issue, visit the latest KQED Lowdown post Affirmative Action On The Rocks: Another Chapter In A Long Contested History

The Court’s eventual ruling on the case will help determine the extent to which race can be used as a factor in admissions and employment decisions. If you were a judge on the Supreme Court, how would you rule and what would be your reasoning?

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Do Now Round Up: Grading the President

October 8, 2012, 10:06 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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Do Now #41 looks at President Obama's first term and asks students to grade his performance. See the story below, at the top of our Storify Round-Up. View how students think about President Obama's work in the White House and whether he has done well or what he could have done better.

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Do Now #1: Remembering 9/11

September 9, 2011, 2:53 pm • Posted by Matthew Green
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Do Now

What do you remember about the day of September 11, 2001? Consider one of these follow-up questions to help with your response: Where were you when you heard about it? Who were you with? What do you remember your parents telling you about it? Do you remember the reactions of the people around you? Do you recall any of your own thoughts from that moment?

Intro

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, nineteen members of the militant Islamic group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners to conduct coordinated suicide attacks on America’s East Coast. Two airlines were intentionally crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and decimating the buildings. The third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and the fourth, also headed towards Washington – supposedly for either the Capitol Building or the White House – crashed in a rural field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to retake control of the plane. In all, the terrorist attacks on that day claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. It was the first foreign attack on American soil since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. The events had a dramatic effect on America’s foreign and domestic security policies, ushering in a series of new laws and procedures, including the PATRIOT Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The 9-11 attacks also fueled America’s military offensive in Afghanistan and indirectly led to the War in Iraq two years later. Both conflicts continue today.

Resource

California Report segment 9/11 Victim's Family Remembers
Many of the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks lived in California, including Deora Bodley, a Santa Clara University student who died when Flight 93 crashed into a Shanksville, Pennsylvania field. On the second anniversary of the national tragedy, reporter Judy Campbell talked with the Bodley's family about their grief and the strength that they have gotten from her memory. Reporter: Judy Campbell

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More Resources for Follow-up Lessons

KQED Forum's segment Ten Years Later, Are We Safer? I Fri, August 19, 2011 -- 10:00AM
As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks nears, many are asking if we're safer now than we were before the attacks. Has heightened security and extra screening at the airport -- including removing your shoes and belt -- made you feel safer?

As part of our series on how the country has changed since 9/11, we take up these questions with security experts.

NPR's Understanding America After 9/11

We knew life in America would never be the same after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but no one knew exactly how it would change. How has our society and country come to terms since then? Public radio tackles this question with Understanding America after 9/11, a week of special coverage on stations nationwide.

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