Friday, June 5, 2009
Discussion Question/Written Assignment for Chapter 3
Find the homepage of your member of Congress (using your home address) or one of your U.S.
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The member of congress for my area would be J. Gresham Barrett. He is serving his fourth term in office. He claims that he stands for economic growth through lower taxes, ensuring our nations security through a strong military, securing our border, defending the rights of the unborn, and protecting individual freedoms. He seems to be the kind of congressman who wants to make a stand with the "People" in mind. He is very active in the protection of small business as shown by this statement, ""These newest numbers from the Congressional Budget Office stand as further proof that the President's proposed budget spends too much, borrows too much, and taxes too much. According to the latest projections, President Obama's budget will increase taxes by nearly $2 trillion, much of which will be placed squarely on the shoulders of our economy's heart and soul – small business."
ReplyDeleteThis tax increase is very upsetting to me and the fact that he openly finghts for small business is a very setteling to me.
At the most recent Regulatory Restruction Hearing he stated that ,"Recent events have shown us why it is dangerous to get to the point where the federal government needs to step in, using taxpayer money to rescue companies whose failure could result in economic calamity. Without a doubt, our current regulatory structure is outdated and requires decisive reform to prevent our current problems from recurring in the future."
I completely agree with this statement that our current regulatory system "SUCKS!". This all shows to me that he can be a very homestyle kind of congressman. He serves on Financial Services Committee, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Ethics Committee.
Charles "Chip" Dowdy
I will be discussing Henry E. Brown, Jr. representing the first district of South Carolina. Congressman Brown is very dedicated to helping his constituents in any way he can. According to US Congressman Henry E. Brown’s website, his constituent services include help with a federal agency- casework, flag requests, visiting Washington, D. C., service academy nominations, presidential greetings, help with federal grants, small business resources, internships, page programs, federal job postings, obtaining a federal document and federal government links.
ReplyDeleteBefore Congressman Brown was elected into the House of Representatives he served as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. As Chairman, Congressman Brown was responsible for a $4.6 billion budget, and he led the fight for the largest tax cut in the history of the state. In its fourth year, 1998, this property tax relief totaled $240 million. Congressman Brown has had many accomplishments throughout his political years. He has brought money to the state as well as directly to the district and works directly for projects in and around his district as well as throughout the state.
Congressman Brown’s committees include transportation and infrastructure, natural resources, and veteran’s affairs. The subcommittees for transportation and infrastructure include highways and transits, water resources and environment, and railroads, pipelines, and hazardous materials. The subcommittees for natural resources include insular affairs, oceans and wildlife as well as national parks, forests and public lands. The subcommittee for veteran’s affairs is health. With Congressman Brown as representative for my district and my district being environmental cautious of its beaches, wildlife, abundant forests, and waterways I find it appropriate that my congressman is so involved in several committees dealing with the environment.
Melanie Ellman
I'm covering U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. Senator Graham presents himself as a productive leader, diligent worker, and a man that is all for progression and change for the people of the U.S. in order to help win support from constituents. He is currently serving his second term in office, and his previous occupation was as an attorney. On his homepage is evidence of "homestyle", and can be accessed through constituent services such as casework, service academies, flag requests, and internships. There is also evidence of "pork" and this is displayed under constituent services where he informs people of his district about grants and federal/private funding. He serves on six committees in the U.S. Senate: Aging, Armed Services, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, Budget, and Veterans Affairs. And he serves on 9 subcommittees: Personnel, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Strategic Forces, Disaster Recovery, State and Local Preparedness, Oversight of Government Management, Crime and Drugs, Administrative Oversight and the Courts, Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights.
ReplyDelete-Amber Jamison
I will be discussing Jim DeMint. DeMint stands up for flag request, finacial aid for students, meetings in D.C, passports, federal assistants and grants.
ReplyDeleteJim DeMint says that congress has failed its job to welcome illegal immigrants and Demint believes that America is the land of the hope and wants to encourage and welcome illegal immigrants to the U.S. DeMint is also very strong in favor for equal and affordable health insurance. He itroduced the Health Care Choic Act which is supposed to turn our healthcare market in the right direction.
Jim DeMint is one of the most conservative leaders in D.C and his main goal is to improve America even further than it already is. He strong believer is Familiy traditions and a strong national defense system. DeMint has proved himself to the political world as a strong Senate. In 2006 he was elected chairman of the Senate Steering Committee which works to conserve legislation. DeMint states that "the greatness of a country is found in its people and values, not in its government."
Jim DeMint is on a handfull of committees but two important ones i believe that will do justice is the economic joint committee and the foreign relations committee.
Andrew Mewshaw
I will be covering Mr. Gresham Barret for he is the congressman representing my district. He takes a stand on freedom of speech and opposes the hate crimes bill. Representative Barrett has a solid record of promoting alternative energy research taking place in South Carolina. He works regularly with organizations and companies within the Third District to promote the benefits of bio-mass energy, hydrogen and nuclear power. Congressman Barret currently serves on the following committees: House Energy and Commerce; House Ways and Means; House Rules; House Judiciary.
ReplyDeleteKatherine Edmonds
To win support of constituents, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham presents himself as an industrious worker who supports military funding. He believes that "the first responsibilities of government are the nation's security and the protection". Constituent services such as flag requests, casework, service academies, and internships are evidence of "homestyle". By informing people of his district about grants and federal and private funding he provides evidence of "pork". The six committees that he serves on in the U.S. Senate are: Aging, Armed Services, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, Budget, and Veterans Affairs. He serves on 9 subcommittees: Personnel- Ranking Member, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Strategic Forces, Disaster Recovery- Ranking Member, State and Local Preparedness, Oversight of Government Management, Crime and Drugs, Ranking Member, Administrative Oversight and the Courts, and Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights. Because he belongs to the budget committee he contributes to regulating government spending so that schools in my area are provided the funds that they require.
ReplyDeleteLeanne Josey
Lindsey Graham is the senator for the United States. Graham has “fought to balance the federal budget...and ensure the government keeps its promises to Americans greatest generation.” Graham serves on six committees which are Aging, Armed Services, Budget, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Judiciary, and Veterans Affairs. The Aging Committee is responsible for the older Americans in our Society. The Committee is also the overseer of Social Security and Medicare. The Armed Services Committee is responsible for every department in the national defense. The Budget Committee drafts the annual budget plan and monitors the federal budget. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are responsible for information pertaining to legislation, such as government information. The Judiciary Committee manages the candidate process for federal judges. The Veterans Affairs Committee is responsible for the benefits of veterans’. He also serves on subcommittees such as Strategic forces, State and local Preparedness, and Constitution Civil Rights and Property Rights. Senator Graham states “I am always ready... cutting through the bureaucratic red tape of federal agency.” Senator Graham assures that he is available to answer any questions or problems that a person may have. Senator Graham voted against a bill proposed by Congress on February 13, 2009. The bill proposed was “supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation” and for different other reasons. Senator Graham recently voted to improve the knowledge of the public concerning national debt. However, the result was that Congress rejected the proposal.
ReplyDeletehttp://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorGraham.Biography
http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Legislation.VotingRecord
http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Legislation.CommitteeAssignments
http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ConstituentServices.Casework
Noemi Bauer
I live in South Carolina's 2nd District and so my Congressman is Republican Joe Wilson. His website has sections with titles such as "About Joe", "Constituent Services", "Inside Congress", and "About the District", which seems to show evidence of "homestyle". His biography makes lots of mention of his family, his time in the military, and his "seventeen years with perfect attendance" in the S.C. Senate. His attempt to win support from constituents is also shown by such phrases as: "a life dedicated to public service", "a tremendous passion to serve his country", and "decreasing taxes for all Americans".
ReplyDeleteHis website has an entire section dedicated to "Constituent Services", where you can request help with anything from planning a visit to Washington to requesting help dealing with a federal agency. He also recently helped introduce H.R. 2227, the American Conservation and Clean Energy Independence Act of 2009... which is good, since the Savannah River Site resides partly in his district!
I was unable to really determine any clear evidence on Congressman Wilson's website of "pork" being brought to the district or state, or of "running against Congress", though he does say he is committed to "limiting the size of the federal government".
Congressman Wilson serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Education and Labor, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is also on the Republican Policy Committe and is an Assistant Republican Whip. His serving on the Armed Services Committee is notable because there are several military bases in his district (the closest one to me being Ft. Jackson), and so lots of his constituents are likely in or associated with the military. His district covers much of the city of Columbia (which is split between the 2nd and 6th districts -- a case of gerrymandering?) and so the Education and Labor committee makes sense as well, since it is likely that some of his constituents are involved with state education and labor affairs.
I will discuss Addison Graves Wilson, also known as Joe Wilson, who is my member of Congress. On his official website,his constituent services are listed such as, Help with a Federal Agency, U.S. Flag Agency, Internships, Federal Grants, etc. From his upbringing and what he believes in , I DEFINITELY see evidence of "homestyle".He has alot of experience in public service. You can tell from his site that he's strongly for "us". He served as a real estate attorney, a judge, the Army Reserved, and has been in office since 2001. I thought that this was pretty impressive that all four of his sons served in the military.He has said some things that were working against Congress such as "This money should not be left to the imagination of Washington bureaucrats or Congress to spend on pet projects or more bailouts". This statement is referring to Tax money. He positioned himself as one of "us" rather than one of "them". He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, House Commitee of Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Education and Labor. He serves on several subcommittees like the Subcommittees of Air and Land Forces, Subcommittee on Military Personnel, Subcommittee on Europe, Subcommittee on Workforce Protection, end a few others. The Workforce Protection subcommittee.
ReplyDeleteNancy Mills
Having met Lindsey Graham on several different occasions (and had dinner with him), it seems appropriate to talk about him.
ReplyDeleteIn order to see how he represents himself, his website seems like a good place to start, and`one of the more telling examples of showing his connection to his home state, is the subtle declaration that he lives in Seneca and he attends Corinth Baptist Church. This sentence is set apart in a seperate line, spaced from the other paragraphs....obviously, he wants to let people who come to his website know what he believes and that he hasn't lost his touch with them, but in a subtle way. I actually have some respect for that, as people who shove their beliefs down other's throats irritate me.
Personally, Graham seems very intelligent and pretty relaxed. Very pleasant person in general.
His record is fairly consistent with what he says he votes for. He takes care of his state and when he was in the House of Reps, he took care of his district. http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Lindsey_Graham.htm this is the website I like to use to find out what specifically senators have voted on. Graham is pretty consistent.
The only real blemish or ambiguous point is his involvement with the Graham-Levin Amendment to the Detainee Treatment Act. It stems from the issue of fighting a non-war...legalism and civilians trying to dictate the actions of military personnel. Ridiculous.
Joshua S. Hopperton
First of all, I reviewed my representative J. Gresham Barrett. So after I found his personal webpage, I first went to his biography section and right off the bat it says he was born and raised in South Carolina, a fundamental aspect in being elected. Then after reading some more, the biography explains that he was raised by hardworking parents and that he “learned the conservative values he carries with him in the halls of Congress today; hard work, faith in God, service to others, devotion to family, personal responsibility, and love of country.” This explanation of his childhood and beliefs gives him the “homestyle” that many of his voters will probably relate to. The biography then goes into some of his leadership experience and describes his family. All of which gives him some “homestyle” touch that will give him an edge. Finally, after mentioning that he is serving his fourth term his very conservative political views are expressed.
ReplyDeleteFurther investigation of the site will lead readers to see his view on key issues such as energy and immigration. Readers can also find information about his voting record as well as how Congressman Barrett can be of service to them. Finally, Barrett states his eight point earmark pledge.
Congressman Barrett serves on the Financial Services Committee, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Ethics Committee. He mentioned all of these in his political views, so I’m sure they are not only important to him but the voters as well.
Jason Hoffman
One of New Hampshire's U.S. Senators is Jeanne Shaheen. She is a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources which focuses on the 2009 Energy Bill to try and "increase renewable energy production and improve energy efficiency." Shaheen is also on the U.S. Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations which strengths foreign allainces and attemps to boost the economy. She chairs the subcommittee on European Affairs as well. She is also supportive of small businesses because she knows they drive the economy, and pro bringing health care prices down to appeal to middle-class Americans. Her support of small businesses, strong foreign alliences, and saving the enviorment match right alongside my veiws. As a senator for my state, she does a good job at representing my personal veiws.
ReplyDeletehttp://shaheen.senate.gov/priorities/committees/
-Michelle R.
Representing the 3rd district of South Carolina is Congressman J. Gresham Barrett. He is currently serving his fourth term in the US House of Represntitives. He serves on the Financial Services Committee, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Ethics Committee. He recently took the stand to protect our freedom of speech against the Hate Crimes Bill and also recently introduced the TEA Act to help the American taxpayer. I think that by him doing this he really is showing that he really does have "us" in mind like Chip said. Gresham knows how it feels to be the owner of a small business because he took over the family furniture store after the military.
ReplyDeleteSo i think in this way he is a very homestyle congressman.
He stands for encouraging economic growth through lower taxes, ensuring our nations security through a strong military, securing our border, defending the rights of the unborn, and protecting individual freedoms.
Sarah Cartrett
I reviewed Senator Lindsey Graham.
ReplyDeleteLindsey Graham shows evidence of constituent services through flag requests, casework, grants, federal employment, federal government links, and service academies. He displays evidence of "pork" by sharing information on grants, federal employment, and internships.
Lindsey Graham is currently serving in six committees: aging, armed service, budget, homeland security and Governmental Affairs Committee, judiciary, and veteran affairs.
Aging committee is important to my district because midlands community is a popular retirement area. Under the armed service committee, he is also involved in three subcommittees: personal-ranking member, emerging threats and capabilities, and strategic force. The budget committee is important because it is responsible for drafting Congress'annual budget plan and monitoring action on the federal budget. The homeland security and governmental affairs committee is important because it oversees the organization and structure of the federal government. The subcommittees Graham is involved in are Disaster Recovery-ranking member, state and local preparedness, and oversight of government management. Judiciary committee is responsible for overseeing the nominations process of all federal judges for the circuit and district courts and it is responsible for nominating justices to the Supreme Court. The subcommittees are crime and drugs-ranking member, adminstrative oversight and the courtys, and constitution, civil rights and property rights. Veterans affairs is assigned with oversight responsibility for veterans' benefits and providing for the health and welfare of the men and women who served our nation in uniform.
Morgan Lockett
Joe Wilson is the member of Congress who represents South Carolina. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina on July 31, 1947. He served in the United States Army Reserves from 1972-1975. He was the only active Guard member serving in Congress. He served seventeen years in the South Carolina State Senate. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Education and Labor, and teh Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was also appointed to the Republican Policy Committee.
ReplyDeleteHe is committed to promoting peace through a strong national defense, decreasing taxes for all Americans, and limiting the size of the federal government. He help constituents who seek assistant from federal agengies along with U.S. Flag Agency and Federal grants. He want to reinstate the 50% bonus depreciation provisions which would give further incentives for businesses to continue investing in machinery and equipment. He also wants tax credits for certain home buyers. This would provide a $5000 tax credit a year for 3 years for the purchase of a home under certain conditions.
Elizabeth Haynes
U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson made history when he joined Chambliss on a dual republican seat when he was elected by majority vote. In Washington, Isakson displays his conservative style to make life better for Georgia. His philosophy is "people first before politics." This style along with many of the issues that he voted yes to lead me to believe that he operates under the homestyle method. However, I did not find anything that specifically showed his fight against congress. He supported the 2001 presidential tax relief package that was the largest tax cut in the generation. He worked with the republican party to pass tax relief to American families and small businesses. He has worked w/ many important issues such as improving schools through choice and accountability, reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality for Georgia. He is well recognized as the author of No Child Left Behind. Although, he is a great advocate for schools, he voted no to the $52 million proposal for the 21st century community learning centers.
ReplyDeleteSenator Isakson is on committees such as Commerce, transportation, health, education, labor and pensions. He is on such subcommittees as consumer protection, product safety and insurance. Based on the focus of his support I would say that it is because of pork barrel legislation.
He appears to be a great senator but he has been involved in some very controversial issues. In 1996, he declared pro choice but as of 2004 he strongly opposed abortion. He is now anti abortion, anti gay marriage, and pro gun rights. He is rated a libertarian leaning conservative.
Shelette Johnson
Lindsey O. Graham was elected to serve as United States Senator on November 5, 2002. Graham is known as a leader who never abandons his independence or strays from the conservative reform agenda. He has fought to balance the federal budget, provide tax relief to all taxpayers, keep our military adequately funded and prepared, return control of education back to parents and teachers, and ensure the government keeps its promises to America's greatest generation. Graham serves on six committees which are Aging, Armed Services, Budget, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Judiciary, and Veterans Affairs. The Aging Committee is responsible for the older Americans in our Society, social security, and medicare. The population is aging; "baby boomers" are turning 50 and the number of people moving to the state for retirement is increasing. The fastest growing age groups are 50-54 and 85+. The subcommittees he serve on are as follows: Strategic forces, State and local Preparedness, and Constitution Civil Rights and Property Rights.
ReplyDelete~Dretecia R Pearson~
http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=aboutsenatorgraham.biography
I will make some comments on your comments, organizing them around the members of Congress (mc’s) you covered. Because I have so much to say, I will divide comments into two separate posts.
ReplyDeleteWe will start with Gresham Barrett, who represents the Aiken area as part of US Congressional district #6. Serving on either Ethics Committee, in the House or the Senate, is something that few members of Congress like to do. All you make on that committee is enemies and ingrates. That committee is often left to junior members. Representative Gresham Barrett’s complaints about regulation are a bit contradictory—he complains about the cost of regulations that are needed because of the failure to adequately regulate. And of course someone has to pay the costs—failure to pay costs are what create deficits, along with the economic collapse caused by failure to adequately regulate the financial sector in the first place. Katherine was a bit confused about his committee assignments. When he was a member of the SC House, he was on on two important committees, Ways and Means Committee and Rules. But those are not the committees he serves on as a junior member of the US House! There he serves on three relatively minor committees (Jason had them correct). He has announced that he will be running for the governorship of SC in 2010. He is in some trouble with the very conservative Republican base because he voted for Obama’s stimulus package—he was strongly and continuously booed at a Greenville Republican rally a few weeks ago. Sarah is right on the mark on her observations on Barrett’s positions, especially in areas like taxation. Of course, the devil is in the details, exactly whose taxes he wants to lower. That requires a great deal more research.
Congressperson Brown is wise to serve on Veteran’s Affairs as the Charleston area has a high % of veterans living there. That is the name of the game for relatively junior mc’s – get on a committee that allows you to help constituents in your district and that helps you get re-elected. His claims about chairing the Way’s and Means committee date back to his service in the SC Legislature, where that was the committee he served on then. It just so happens that it has the same name as the tax committee in the US Congress—he of course is not too disturbed if constituents get those two committees mixed up!
From Amber’s description of Senator Lindsay Graham’s committees, you can see that senators serve on more committees than house members. That is because with only 100 senators, they each have to cover more than each of the 435 house members. Graham is one of the more important senators on the minority side, in part because he has shown the ability to work across party lines and is not as extreme in his conservative views as many Republican Senators, not to mention his intelligence and how well spoken he is. His close friendship to John McCain also boosts his national prominence. He serves on two quite important committees, Judiciary and the Budget Committee. Incidentally, his office manager in his main Columbia district office is one of our USCA Political Science graduates, who many years ago interned in the local congressional office! We are all proud of her! Leanne implies that Graham seems to take credit for helping local schools as a member of the Budget Committee. “Credit taking” is something that all mc’s like to do, though in this case one must wonder if Graham really should take credit for money coming to SC schools, because he usually opposes federal spending measures, like the 2009 economic stimulus bill that Noemi notes he voted against. As Joshua notes, he has angered some of his more conservative base in his opposition to the treatment of prisoners in Iraq and at Gitmo—he stood with John McCain in opposing harsh interrogation techniques. Agree or not, his position took some considerable political courage.
Part two of my comments:
ReplyDeleteSenator DeMint makes an interesting contrast with Senator Graham. DeMint is only in his first term, so has little seniority. He is also one of the most conservative members in the Senate. Because he is so extreme in his views, he rarely is involved in any give and take and has relatively little influence in the Senate. However, because his values are so close to the conservative Republican base in the state, he will no doubt build seniority and eventually be in a position to chair a major committee when some day the Republicans regain a majority in the Senate. At that point he could become an important member.
The reason Rep. Joe Wilson does not talk about pork is that he consistently votes against many projects that might be considered pork. He is kind of a parallel house member to Senator DeMint—very much a fiscal conservative (as well as a social conservative). On the other hand, he will fight for $ for the SRS, but of course would not consider that pork, which is a very negative term. Most mc’s are a bit hypocritical about pork, what they seek is necessary, but what goes to the districts of other members is wasteful pork. He, as most smart house members, does stress casework and constituent service. Nancy did a really good job is describing how he presents himself so that constituents can identify with him—homestyle. His committee assignments are not all that important, as one would expect from an mc without a whole lot of seniority (both he and Gresham Barrett are only in their 4th term—though Wilson had part of an extra term after Rep Floyd Spence diedin 2001).
Michelle covers a New Hampshire Senator, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. You may note the Shaheen is on a couple of important committees, Foreign Relations and Energy. As a Democrat, she will have far more influence than most Republicans, at least as long as the Democrats have a majority in the Senate!
We can see an interesting contrast in Shelette’s description of Ga’s Republican Sen Johnny Isakson. He is as conservative as Shaheen is liberal. They represent two different state’s with very different political cultures, especially on social issues like abortion. And you can see how the members of the two parties are different as you look across all these mc’s! Party does make a difference, even though a significant amount of variation does exist even within a single party (like between DeMint and Graham).
All of you did pretty good jobs here, though a few got some facts a little off. Bob B