Michael Cohen Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison

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Michael Cohen recently has been sentenced to 3 years in prison after he was found to have made violating campaign finance laws with making hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Cohen had made a heartfelt apology to a crowd in the courtroom as he admitted to and apologized for his actions in covering up Donald Trump's "dirty deeds". He stated that he was blinded by loyalty to Trump that impaired his judgement according to him. Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani stated after Cohen's conviction that he was a "serial liar" and that he was sorry for him. After his sentencing, Trump came out and said that the payments made to Stormy Daniels was not in violation of campaign finance laws as he believes they were just "a simple private transaction"

1) Do you think that Cohen's admitting to campaign finance violations be a potential lead to Trump's impeachment? Why or why not?

2) Do you think Cohen's sentence was fair or do you think it was too lenient or too harsh, seeing as he is willing to help Mueller against Trump as atonement?

Yemen War Power Resolution

The Senate passed a resolution on the 13th of December to withdraw U.S. support for Saudi-backed forces at war in Yemen in a rare bipartisan rebuke to President Donald Trump. The resolution, led by Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy, invokes the War Powers Act and passed in a 56-41 vote. The resolution was proposed back in March, but it failed at the time, and was revived due to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It’s the first time the Senate has voted to withdraw forces from a war Congress didn't approve. The war in Yemen, and US support for the Saudi-led effort actually began during the Obama administration. But President Trump has moved the US even closer to Saudi Arabia as part of his administration’s broader Middle East policy, which largely focuses on countering Iran. The Senate resolution is a major step toward holding the administration accountable and resting back some control of war powers from the executive branch. Yet it’s still a long way away from actually ending US support for the Saudis in Yemen, or finding a resolution to the conflict altogether. The senate's passage of the resolution shows that the lawmakers of this country are scrutinizing the Trump administration's Saudi policy.

Questions: How will this affect the Trumps adminstrations relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Texas Judge Strikes Down the Affordable Care Act as Unconstitutional

WASHINGTON - On December 14, 2018, Judge O'Connor of the Federal District Court in Texas struck down Obamacare, declaring its individual mandate requiring Americans to have a basic level of health coverage, to be unconstitutional. The federal judge in Texas found that since a 2017 tax bill removed the fine for remaining uninsured, the individual mandate was now unconstitutional. It was originally upheld in the Supreme Court as a “tax,” but without a penalty, it cannot be considered so. 

This ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of Republican governors and state generals but has faced opposition from many intervening Democratic states, promising to appeal the decision. Although there may not be an immediate effect, it will certainly make its way to the Supreme Court, threatening the survival of a landmark Healthcare law. The White House has assured the public that the Affordable Care Act will remain in effect while the ruling is being appealed. 

Responding to the ruling on Saturday, Donald Trump declared, "Now Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT healthcare and protects pre-existing conditions."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/health/obamacare-unconstitutional-texas-judge.html

1. Will Judge O'Connor's decisions to strike down the ACA be overturned on appeal? Will Congress pass a new healthcare law during the Trump Administration if the Affordable Care Act is not overturned on appeal?

2. Is is possible to strike down the individual mandate while keeping all of the good provisions of the ACA?

3. Why is Donald Trump calling for a new law that protects preexisting conditions when there already a provision in the Affordable Care Act?

Dems, White House refuse to budge over border wall as Friday shutdown looms

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-white-house-refuse-to-budge-over-border-wall-as-friday-shutdown-looms

Today, it was reaffirmed that president Donald Trump will allow a partial shutdown of the federal government if congress does not fund the $5 billion necessary to complete the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump does not have enough votes in the house, nor the senate to continue building the wall. Even though the House is majority Republican, they still do not support the use of this much money into border security. Congress has offered less funding for security and fencing, but not a wall. To complete Trump's plan for border security it would require not just a physical barrier, but technology, enforcement, and altering of laws. The president seems to refuse no as an answer, and will confidently go through with a shutdown on Friday if congress refutes the $5 billion. In the start of 2019, there will be many debates on how to handle the project and funding from the government. There will be an attempt to find compromise on the bill to satisfy both Trump's plan and congress's abilities. 

Question:

1. Do you think threatening and even enforcing a government shutdown will help Trump succeed in receiving the $5 billion from congress?

Death at Border Patrol raises questions about immigration policy

Recently, a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died from dehydration and an overwhelming amount of feelings after being taken into the custody of Border Patrol. Like many other migrant families that try to settle in the United States, the girl, her father, and ~160 other people were taken into custody. Congressman Joaquin Castro, who identifies as a Democrat in the state of Texas, argues that Trump's immigration policies are the reasons why getting caught crossing the border can be unforgiving. On the other hand, many people believe that the structure of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is lacking.

Looking at the series of events leading up to the outcome of the situation, one can say that Trump's immigration policies are the cause of poor structure within CBP. Ever since Trump stepped into residency, there has been an increasing trend of migrant arrest at the border and it's because of the strict immigration policy that allowed the situation of illegal migrants to evolve. CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan argues that Border Patrol stations were made for single persons but are now outdated and don't support holding families. Not to mention, overcrowding can lead to the lack of distribution of provisions among families and unsanitary conditions.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claim that the lack of structure of the CBP shows transparency within the organization. The girl's death also brings light to the lack of funding the Customs and Border Protection receives. To prevent these types of problems from happening in the future, the president wants to ban people that ask for asylum if they enter the country illegally. However, while the federal appeals court blocked the ban, Trump's administration asked the U.S. Supreme court to reverse this order.

QUESTIONS:

1. In the wake of the incident, what do you think the government should do to prevent deaths at the border from happening?
2. Are Trump's immigration policies too harsh towards immigrants? Why?

SOURCES:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/7-year-old-migrant-girl-taken-into-border-patrol-custody-dies-of-dehydration-exhaustion/2018/12/13/8909e356-ff03-11e8-862a-b6a6f3ce8199_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.13cf9940fd8f

https://www.npr.org/2018/12/14/676686305/rep-joaquin-castro-on-death-of-7-year-old-migrant-girl

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/autopsy-set-for-7-year-old-migrant-girl-who-died-in-border-custody

Possible voter fraud in North Carolina

On Tuesday, November 27th, the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement initiated an investigation into possible voter fraud in North Carolina's 9th district. Democrat Dan McCready had conceded to Republican Mark Harris, despite a difference of only 900 votes, or 0.4%. The decision begin an investigation was bipartisan and unanimous, a rarity in the current times.

Currently, the main focus of the investigation is absentee voting, which is when voters send in ballots through mail or other means, from their home. Two accusations point towards Bladen County official Leslie McCrae Dowless, Jr., who went door-to-door collecting ballots, allegedly working for Harris. Not only is transportation of ballots by non-famiy members illegal in North Carolina, but more serious accusations have also been leveled. Voters claim that Mr. Dowless's team collected ballots that were incomplete, and told voters that "the rest wasn’t important and [they] would fill it out [themselves]." Although this action could have had no impact or been innocent, it's at odds with Mr. Dowless claim that he "operated within the bounds of the law." In addition, there was an usually low return rate of ballots in some districts, especially those with high population of african-americans. Return rate of ballots is the comparison between how many absentee ballots were requested and how many were received.

Jeneva Legions was approached by a woman asking for

her absentee mail-in ballot in Bladenboro.

As far as possible impacts of this investigation, it will not much change the overall result of the midterms. The House is already Democratic, and by enough of a margin that this election going democratic would not have a huge impact. However, from a political standpoint, this issue highlights the straw-man nature of the repeated voter fraud claims from the republican party. It's ironic that after so many unsubstantiated claims from the republican party, and especially Mr. Trump, about voter fraud, a legitimate case of voter fraud would possibly be perpetrated by the republican party.

Questions:
It seems like voter fraud has come up more in the public headspace in recent years. Is this because of a legitimate increase in voter fraud? Or is the political climate more to blame? Was voter fraud not mentioned in the past because of blind optimism, or realism?

Mr. Trump and the republican party has been greatly focused on voter fraud in recent years. Should Mr. Dowless action's undermine Mr. Trump's claims? Or are they independent and unrelated?

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/politics/north-carolina-nine-certify/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/04/673472144/house-republicans-hacked-voter-fraud-allegations-in-north-carolina
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/north-carolina-election-fraud-investigation-centers-on-operative-with-criminal-history-who-worked-for-gop-congressional-candidate/2018/12/03/7b270a90-f6aa-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html?utm_term=.753c43e8708d

Midterm Election results continue to come in days after polls close

Even though the final polls closed on Tuesday night, results continue to pour in from around the United States. States such as Arizona, Georgia, and Florida report that there are still outstanding ballots needed to be counted. In these three states, both gubernatorial and senatorial races are within the margin created by the votes yet to be counted.
Early Friday, Arizona Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema gained a slight lead over Martha Mcsally. If Sinema holds her lead of Mcsally, she would give the Democrats their first Senate seat that was taken back from the Republicans. This victory would narrow the Republicans majority in the Senate and make it more likely that the chamber could be flipped in the 2020 election.
Elections in both Florida and Georgia have become the focus of both parties after accusations of voter suppression and election fraud have become more relevant due to razor thin margins. In Georgia, voting rights activists have claimed Brian Kemp's purging of voter rolls could have suppressed some votes. Democrats are also hoping that enough votes could come in to bring his margin below 50% and force a mandatory runoff election. In Florida, Conservatives have called foul due to votes pouring in from Broward County and Palm Beach County. Many of these votes have favored Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson.
Regardless of the result of these races, these close margins and controversy regarding access to voting and election fraud will call additional attention to the broader discussion about issues such as voter ID laws and recount procedures.

Questions:
What impact do you think Georgia's voter registration laws had on the result of the election there?
What precautions should be instituted to make sure voting is accessible to all eligible citizens but also defend the legitimacy of our polls?

Dollar dips after midterm elections

Yesterday, after the democrats took the House of Representatives, the dollar bill's value dropped .3%. Furthermore, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.221 percent.
Mazen Issa, senior foreign exchange strategist at TD Securities in New York, said that because of the midterm elections, trading has become "Risk-on." Risk-on, Risk-off investing is when investors move from riskier but more high-yielding investments to less risky and low yielding investments, or vice-versa.
This year, Trump and congressional Republicans passed a significant tax cut, and due to strong economic growth, the U.S. Federal Reserve has been steadily raising interest rates. Due to the Democrats taking control of the House, further tax cuts are not likely to be passed.
https://www.ft.com/content/b5cdc7f0-e238-11e8-a6e5-792428919cee

Questions:
1. Will the increase in Risk-spenders help the US economy?
2. Do you see any other consequences of the midterm elections relating to fiscal policy?

Jeff Sessions Resigns at Trump’s Request

On Wednesday, November 7, Jeff Sessions resigned his position as attorney general under pressure from President Trump just one day after the midterm elections. After Session received much criticism from the president for recusing himself from the Mueller investigation, due to the fact that he had a conflict of interest since he was a party to the investigation himself, Trump requested that he resign. In a tweet following Sessions' resignation, Trump stated that Matthew Whitaker, an outsider in the Washington political sphere, will take over as acting attorney general instead of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who would traditionally be next in line. Democrats immediately requested Whitaker to recuse himself, as Sessions had, because of his CNN article openly criticizing the severity of the Mueller investigation. Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, openly agreed that Whitaker should not gain insight on the investigation because of his bias on the issue.

Now the question is: What does this mean for the Mueller Investigation? Trump's decision to force Sessions' resignation could backfire. Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, argues that even though Trump’s decision is not an obstructive act it could add to the entirety of the circumstances surrounding the investigation. Once the Democrats take the house in January they could choose to subpoena Whitaker to testify under oath as an inquiry into his appointment. However on the other hand, now that Whitaker is in charge of the investigation he could opt to take actions to shut it down before Democrats are able to take action.

Connection: Trump's ability to appoint Whitaker as acting attorney general highlights the power of appointment given to the President by the Constitution.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/539109386/jeff-sessions-out-as-attorney-general-after-steady-drumbeat-of-criticism-from-tr

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/07/politics/sessions-resign/index.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/bob-mueller-jeff-sessions-firing-matthew-whitaker/575248/

Questions

1. How did the 2018 midterm elections impact the progression of the Mueller investigation?
2. Do you think that Trump's decision to appoint Whitaker as acting attorney general will ultimately hurt or help him?

Judge Rules Against Georgia's Voter ID Laws

The Georgia governor's race has drawn lots of attention from individuals across the country. The current Secretary of State of Georgia, Brian Kemp, is facing Stacey Abrams who hopes to become the first black female governor. With this race, the controversial voter ID "exact match" law has sent much of the population of Georgia into a frenzy.

The "exact match" law flags voter's who have discrepancies between their registration and other identification documents used by the state of Georgia. These discrepancies can include small changes in punctuation such as hyphens and accent marks. Individuals who fail to have an exact match can still vote if they can prove their identity to a deputy registrar. Recently, civil rights groups filed a lawsuit stating that this voter ID law discriminates against many of the minority voters, especially blacks. But, others, including GOP candidate Brian Kemp, believe this law is essential for voter ID integrity.

Just this Friday (11/2), Judge Eleanor Ross ruled that this law was unfair and placed a severe burden on minority individuals. Ultimately, the Court was concerned with the treatment of certain sectors within the state of Georgia. This ruling established the following: poll workers had to allow any citizen the right to vote in Georgia (they had to present proof of citizenship) and Kemp had to make a news release that helped those who were previously flagged become un-flagged. According to the Associated Press, under the "exact match" law Brian Kemp had stalled more than 50,000 voter registrations by mostly black voters. With the prohibition of the exact match, the Court hopes that voter discrimination will decrease.

This controversial election and voter ID news has drawn attention from many, including Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump. Voter ID laws continue to impact other states as some vouch for them and others greatly disapprove.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/03/663937578/judge-rules-against-georgia-election-law-calling-it-a-severe-burden-for-voters

https://www.jurist.org/news/2018/11/federal-judge-blocks-georgia-exact-match-voter-id-law/

Questions:
1. How would democracy shift if all voter ID laws were abolished? Would this help or hurt the integrity of our country?
2. Can voter ID laws determine the outcome of elections (candidates chosen)? If so, how?

Florida Pipe Bombs Sent to Various Democrats and Tump Critics

Pipe bombs threaten to derail GOP midterm messaging

Suspicious packages containing pipe bombs were found throughout the week starting on Monday the 22nd of October up until Friday the 26th.  Partisanship definitely played a role and political violence is a suspected motive as only known Democrats around the nation, including CNN offices, received such suspicious packages originating out of Southern Florida.  Thankfully, no one was injured as all of the packages were intercepted before they reached their targets.  Democrats immediately began blaming Trump for creating a violent political climate and inciting such violence whereas Donald Trump immediately pointed his finger at the "fake news" media.  He blames them for the current hostility and division of today's politics in America.  Donald Trump's call for unity on Wednesday the 24th led nowhere and simply furthered attacks regarding his questionable rhetoric.  As for the upcoming midterms, analysts suggest that stories like these undercut from President Trump's "Jobs not mobs" campaign message.  Others say that this could motivate his base to vote.  If one thing is for certain, the two parties continually refuse to unite, even under circumstances such as these.  My guess is that, like many other news stories, this will seemingly disappear and we will soon forget any of this ever happened, but I could be wrong.

1. How do you think the attempted bombing will affect the midterm elections?

2. What will it take for our current political climate to "ease up" and become less polarized?  Who is at fault and what needs to change?

Poltical Rhetoric in Connection to Pittsburgh Shooting

https://www.newyorker.com/news/current/trumps-response-to-the-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-and-his-obsession-with-the-word-frankly



After the synagogue shooting that took place in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Trump received backlash from the American public, blaming him for his careless and caustic use of rhetoric. During a speech to the Future Farmers of America on Saturday afternoon, Trump indicates the event as a "wicked act of mass murder". While this event is a horrible thing to happen within our country, Trump adds phrases such as "If there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop them,"..."Maybe there would have been nobody killed except for him, frankly". The president's use of the word "frankly" is perceived to be lighthearted by many Americans, as if he was deeming the word's relation to themes of violence and tragedy as both a serious topic and a joke. The significance of "frankly" signals to some Americans as Trump desensitizing the situation because of the vague emphasis that the word places. In addition, Trump's rhetoric during these speeches makes him seem as if he is unveiling a new truth to the American public, while in reality, this type of violence and hate has been going on for years. People are upset at the president's careless use of words and inconsistencies regarding his attitude toward the situation. As the president of the United States, people want to hear what is the truth and a call to action. However, people do not need Trump to be frank about something that has been obvious for a while now. Because we are approaching the midterm, there is more attention to the campaigning of the candidates. Trump's response to the shooting was seen in the spotlight of criticism because people are going to be judging the strategies in order to secure votes. With this recent happening, the smallest aspects of campaigning and public appeal have become critical, and in Trump's situation, a defining factor for the midterm. This raises the question:

1.) How should POTUS properly address events such as this in a manner that is both respectful and gives consolidation to the public to a degree?

2.) To what degree do you believe such rhetoric is a defining factor of POTUS' campaign, specifically for this midterm?

Voter Laws; Correct or Too much?

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/north-carolina-voter-id/

Recently, North Carolina passed a bill that banned Sunday voting. Their reasoning? The people who vote on Sundays are disproportionately African American and they disproportionately vote Democrat. 

The Republicans, argued that this bill prevents voter fraud. The Democrats, argued that the bill suppressed voters based on their race. Continuing on, the 4th Circuit ruled that this bill was unconstitutional because of statutory prohibitions on intentional discrimination.

Finally, the Supreme court agreed with the ruling of the 4th Circuit, handing the victory to Democrats and civil rights groups, and leaving Republicans angered. 

This is relevant because in our AP Government class we have been studying voter behavior (Chapter 9) and this ties in with how different races tend to vote. Also, this article ties in with federalism (Chapter 2) because the article talks about how the state tried to contradict federal law and how the government exercised its power.

1) Is voter fraud an actual issue?

2) Can Republicans and Democrats ever find a compromise on the issue of Voter ID Laws?

BrettKavanaugh.com is a forum for sexual assault survivors

BrettKavanaugh.com is a forum for sexual assault survivors

link:  https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/11/politics/brett-kavanaugh-domain-name-trnd/index.html

At the beginning of the month of October, someone bought the URL BrettKavanaugh and turned it into a forum to help sexual assault survivors. Rather than seeing photos of the new Supreme Court Justice and information about him you are greeted with the photo above when you first open the website. A picture with the quote saying, "We Believe Survivors" and below the photo are links to resources to help survivors and victims of sexual assault and abuse. 

The URL was bought by a nonpartisan Court reform organization by the name of "Fix the Court". They have a goal of trying to make the Supreme Court have full transparency or at least more then they have now.

The domain name for this website was actually bought about three years ago by the Fix the Court Executive director while he was researching potential nominees for the Supreme Court in the future. He also is the owner of the domain names MerrickGarland.net and JudgeGorsuch.com. His reason for buying these domain names being he "knew that justices were 75 years or older or could retire and the upcoming president would need to pick new ones. So [he] thought of people who could be in line for the job." -Fix the Court director

Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed on Saturday, October 6th with a Senate vote of 50-48. With 50 votes saying confirm and 48 saying not to, Kavanaugh proceeded to get a spot in the highest court in the nation. The process of confirming judge Kavanaugh was elongated when allegations against the judge came out by several women, one by the name of Christine Blasey Ford. Despite the serious allegations of sexual assault and misconduct made by the victims the Senate still proceeded to confirm him as Supreme Court Justice to replace former justice, Anthony Kennedy.

The blog was officially created by Gabe Roth after listening to president Donald Trump say that he apologizes for "the incredible pain and suffering" Kavanaugh and his family were "forced to endure" during the process of his confirmation. Roth was frustrated that Trump totally did not acknowledge the pain and suffering the victims had to endure during this process and also the terrible pain they must feel now that he is confirmed. So he published the website.

Roth hopes his website can help survivors while also helping to start the conversation about more transparency in the court.

Roth also went on to say he would not turn down the Courts if they asked him to take down the website and replace it with the original Fix the Court website. He is planning to do so in the future anyway.

1. How do you think the survivors of sexual assault such as Christine Blasey Ford and others reacted to the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh? Do you think their voices will still be heard?

2. Do you think a website like this could potentially help the sexual assault epidemic?