Blog Post 24

Today I read an article on USA Today. This article is about the school bus crash that crashed into a tree in Chattanooga Tennessee. As of now, six children have been killed and 23 have been taken to the hospital. The Chattanooga police chief, Fred Fletcher, says that speed is being investigated because it might have played a huge factor in the crashing of the bus. According to the article, crashes like these could lead officials to begin additional talks about safety.
“To me it’s a good discussion to have,” Haslam said. “I think when this is over it’s time to have a good conversation about everything around school buses.”
Many condolences goes out to the families and friends effected by this tragedy. The school system plans to take control and assure the safety of students on school buses.

Formal and Informal Powers of the Senate

What are the formal and informal powers of the Senate? How do you know?


Formal Powers are ones written int he constitution. These include: Impeachment- has the sole power of conducting impeachment trials., Nominations- advises and gives consent, Treaties- approve, amend, and adopt changes of a treaty by a 2/3 vote. Expulsion- expel members of the Senate, Censure-they can determine the rules of its proceedings, Investigations, Contested Senate Elections.

Informal Powers are not specifically mentioned in the constitution. These include rules that they make up on their own. For example, Filibuster.

News Post 23

Today I read an article on the New York Times titled "Donald Trump Appears to Soften Stance on Immigration, but Not on Abortion". This article covered many thing on Donald Trump, but the main focus of the article was to talk about Trump and how he is easing up on how strict he will enforce certain policies. For example, part of Trump's brand during his campaign was the "build a wall" slogan. Now, Trump sees it as only being a fence in some areas. Also, he does not plan on getting rid of Obamacare entirely. He plans on keeping it for those with pre existing medical conditions. He also does not plan to deport all undocumented immigrants anymore, instead he only wants to deport those who are a danger and or criminals. However, Trump is not letting up on his views of abortion. He promises to name a supreme court justice who opposes abortion rights. As Trump changes hos mind on many issues, a majority of America is anxiously waiting to see what their lives will look like in the next 4 years. Others are even protesting. With a unified government, it is scary to think of what will happen in the future and how certain issues will be handled.

Elections...

The congressional race that I covered in class was California's district 25. The candidate that I studied was Bryan Caforio. Bryan is a part of the democratic party. Caforio is a family mad who advocates for the working class. Because he was so popular with the people, I believed that Bryan would win the race. However the incumbent, Steve Knight, was re elected into office. The end result was 54% to 46%. A close race but not close enough.

The new President of the United States is Donald Trump. Donald Trump ended the night with 279 electoral votes and Clinton having 228. This shocked everyone. At the beginning of the night, most people could have promised that Clinton would win which is why they were so surprised when she lost. However, Hillary did win the popular vote. This election is one for the books mainly because loyal democratic states flipped in this election and became republican. But it truly was a very close race. Majority of the states were nearly split in half. But in the end, Trump won. Some are happy while others are devastated. All we can do is hope for the best in the future.

Missouri Senate Race

The two candidates for the Missouri senate race are the incumbent, Roy Blunt (R), and Jason Kander (D). This race is considered a toss up race because Kander is continuously raising his numbers in the polls, even though the majority of the state is republican.

Roy Blunt was born into a middle- class family. he has 4 children and six grandchildren. In his later years, he served as a history teacher and the President of his alama mater: Southwest University. He also has served as a county official. He has been elected into office seven times since 2010. As the current senator of Missouri, Blunt plans to support the growth of jobs and opportunity, stop government over reach, expand America energy, support farm families, defend and protect America, honor veterans, provide quality health care, and strengthen infrastructure.

Jason Kander is the democratic candidate for the seat in the senate. He has a wife and a son named Truth. Growing up, his parents were juvenile probation officers. Kander also worked as a police officer with his dad at night. Because of his parents work, he grew up having to follow rules and be obedient always. After 9/11, Jason joined the military and worked as a intelligence officer fighting off forces such as Al- Queda. He also worked as the state legislature and is the current Missouri secretary of state. He supports veterans, small businesses, pushes for honest and open government, stands up for women, supports farmers, protects the environment, and advocates for the black community ever since the police shooting in Ferguson.

Media Coverage:

This has been a very tight race and both candidates have been attacking one another on the media. For Roy Blunt, he has been attacked for renting a house in Missouri but not actually living there throughout the  year. His wife lives in DC with their son and he owns a house up there. He has been marked absent two times more than he has been marked present. Also, after the Orlando shooting, they had a twitter war. Blunt insulted Kander on his position on gun control. In response Kander released a shocking campaign video that increased his votes in the polls.

News Post 22

Today I read an article on USA Today about a smoking chimpanzee. At a North Korean zoo, a 19 year old chimp is given a pack and a lighter once a day and smokes as it pleases. Even if the chimp does not have a lighter, it will find a way to light the cigarette. Many people find this crazy, but the zookeeper claims that the chimp does not actually inhale the smoke therefore it is completely safe. Other chimps at zoos in China and South Africa are doing similar things too. The PTA president Ingrid Newkirk says that giving chimpanzees tobacco and getting them addicted as a form of entertainment is cruel.

"Gradually, zoos are learning that spectacles such as chimpanzee tea parties, elephant rides, and photo ops with tiger cubs are inappropriate and exploitative," Newkirk said in a statement.

News Post 21

Today I read an article on the LA Times titled 'This Democrat's legal past both helps and haunts him in California's most competitive congressional race". This article is about one of the candidates, Bryan Caforio, in California's District 25 Congressional toss up race. Bryan Caforio, an attorney mainly supports the middle class. One of his goals, if elected, is to protect those who are taken advantage of by large businesses/ corporations. However, this article claims that this could be al an act due to Caforio's past as an attorney. Caforio has reportedly defended many large corporations in the past for situations similar to those he is fighting against during this election. His past is catching up to him. Will it effect this upcoming election?