Hey again!
I wanted to write this post which doesn't have anything to do with any specifics of the program but a look at how the program has changed me so far!
So here's the deal. I'm going to start this post by being perfectly honest with you guys... long ago and far away, I was power hungry. Yes, I know, it's hard to believe after we've gotten so close over these past few weeks but it's true. I used to think about how I could amass influence for mostly my own ego and benefit. That being said, I'm proud to say that's not me anymore.
I was having a phone conversation last night with a friend from home and I we were talking about my time here so far and all the amazing people I've met and things I've done. We got to talking about the government and how it works as far as how difficult it is to get anything of much consequence done. This lead me to think about how my point of view toward why I want to be an elected official has changed so much first, since I started managing a campaign, and second, since I came to D.C.
When I thought about running for office in the past I would think about how exciting it would be to campaign, and no doubt it will be exciting. But there's more to elected office than the glamor of campaigning. As I said in my previous post "Let's Get Partisan," the men and women of Congress are absolutely tireless and it's so impressive!
When I started managing the campaign for Ron Madnick up in Worcester, MA I really began to realize what elected office is about. Initially, it's about getting elected. After that, though, it's about doing the best you can for those you represent. It's about listening to an idea because you respect someone, even if they're on the other side of the isle, and taking their advice because it's good advice, period. And because as a public "servant" you're job is to do what's best for the people you represent.
Also, like I've said, it takes so much work to get anything done in Congress so if you're going to expend that much energy, why not expend it helping the people who got you elected instead of boosting your own agenda and ego? I'm proud to say that being able to watch the process of government first hand has broken me of my thirst for power haha!
That's the beauty of D.C., if you love politics the way I do. You can come here with any amount of preconceived notions and I guarantee most of them will be changed!
So this is sort of a continuation of the "How Washington Really Works" post. Washington takes in people from all walks of life and, if they're willing, shows them how beautiful our government is. When I think back to the founders and think about how they went about drafting the Constitution in such a way that we have a balance of power and an exchange of power throughout the years so we don't go too far in any direction it is truly awe-inspiring. That's really one thing the Constitution is about, moderation. It's something that our country is pretty good at maintaining. We don't drift too far in one direction, save the Tea Party activists ;) But I believe that the organic nature of our country will rein in that form of extremism too.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about my personal growth so far haha, and we'll see you next time in the Life and Times of (me) a Washington Semester Program Student!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Newsworthy!
Hello again!
Monday we had a great experience. We had the privilege of meeting the host of Face the Nation and a man who has been the face of journalism for CBS for years; Bob Schieffer.
Schieffer spoke to our class for about an hour including questions. He began his talk by saying something that I have believed for so long. He told us that whatever it is we want to do in life as a career, we'd better find it fun, because if not, we'd have a pretty boring life. He emphasized, with symbolism no less (quite a speaker he is, by the way, which is only natural given his experience in journalism), the fact that we only have one ticket on this planet and there's no time to waste it!
I, personally, have always felt this way about politics. When people tell me they could spend their lives doing computer program, I just don't understand it. That's not at all to say that if that's your calling, it's any less of a calling because it certainly isn't, but it's not my passion. I realized a few nights ago that being passionate about something means being able to operate on a schedule comparable to that of a campaign manager for a presidential candidate and have the drive to do that for your whole life. That's certainly the life of many here in D.C. and I do honestly hope that some day I have the honor of living that life.
However, back to Bob! He had a great number of stories which I'll touch on later but what he cited as being wrong with the current media system is a symptom of the 24 hour news cycle. At present, anyone can publish anything to the internet and there's no fact checking. At CBS, where Bob works, there is a fairly large staff of people ready to fact check everything that goes out on their news broadcasts. I am, right now, for example writing something that very soon will become masthead which can be read by anyone in the world with an Internet connection. This is a huge change from the past when there were, first, only newspapers and then only three news stations for TV. This means that the credibility of news is deteriorating and that, in turn, can be damaging to all news sources.
He also spoke for a while about the fact that Democrats and Republicans just can't seem to get along in any capacity any more. In the good old days the two parties could work together on some legislation and they would even meet together socially on occasion. Now, they don't even want to share a dressing room before a segment of Face the Nation, according to a story Schieffer told. This goes along with everything that Congressman have been telling our class recently. Both James McGovern (D - MA) and Paul Ryan (R - WI) said that the level of civility (they both actually used that same word) in Congress has gone down significantly and is at its lowest point since either of them first took office.
Overall, Bob Schieffer's talk was a great experience and an awesome opportunity to meet one of the biggest names in journalism. He offered some pointed insight and provided a nice new point of view to go along with all of the legislators and government officials we've talked to. In the end, his observations lined up with most of those other actors have been saying which begs the question, "What's going on in our country when both sides (all sides for that matter) feel as if there's a fatal disconnect and no one is willing to do anything about it?"
We're living in interesting times and I'm curious to see where this coming election takes us along with the results of the 2012 election. As Paul Ryan said, "Our country is at a crossroads, we can become [one kind of country] or [another] but something has to happen." The final question for the night is, what will it be??
See you next time!
Monday we had a great experience. We had the privilege of meeting the host of Face the Nation and a man who has been the face of journalism for CBS for years; Bob Schieffer.
Schieffer spoke to our class for about an hour including questions. He began his talk by saying something that I have believed for so long. He told us that whatever it is we want to do in life as a career, we'd better find it fun, because if not, we'd have a pretty boring life. He emphasized, with symbolism no less (quite a speaker he is, by the way, which is only natural given his experience in journalism), the fact that we only have one ticket on this planet and there's no time to waste it!
I, personally, have always felt this way about politics. When people tell me they could spend their lives doing computer program, I just don't understand it. That's not at all to say that if that's your calling, it's any less of a calling because it certainly isn't, but it's not my passion. I realized a few nights ago that being passionate about something means being able to operate on a schedule comparable to that of a campaign manager for a presidential candidate and have the drive to do that for your whole life. That's certainly the life of many here in D.C. and I do honestly hope that some day I have the honor of living that life.
However, back to Bob! He had a great number of stories which I'll touch on later but what he cited as being wrong with the current media system is a symptom of the 24 hour news cycle. At present, anyone can publish anything to the internet and there's no fact checking. At CBS, where Bob works, there is a fairly large staff of people ready to fact check everything that goes out on their news broadcasts. I am, right now, for example writing something that very soon will become masthead which can be read by anyone in the world with an Internet connection. This is a huge change from the past when there were, first, only newspapers and then only three news stations for TV. This means that the credibility of news is deteriorating and that, in turn, can be damaging to all news sources.
He also spoke for a while about the fact that Democrats and Republicans just can't seem to get along in any capacity any more. In the good old days the two parties could work together on some legislation and they would even meet together socially on occasion. Now, they don't even want to share a dressing room before a segment of Face the Nation, according to a story Schieffer told. This goes along with everything that Congressman have been telling our class recently. Both James McGovern (D - MA) and Paul Ryan (R - WI) said that the level of civility (they both actually used that same word) in Congress has gone down significantly and is at its lowest point since either of them first took office.
Overall, Bob Schieffer's talk was a great experience and an awesome opportunity to meet one of the biggest names in journalism. He offered some pointed insight and provided a nice new point of view to go along with all of the legislators and government officials we've talked to. In the end, his observations lined up with most of those other actors have been saying which begs the question, "What's going on in our country when both sides (all sides for that matter) feel as if there's a fatal disconnect and no one is willing to do anything about it?"
We're living in interesting times and I'm curious to see where this coming election takes us along with the results of the 2012 election. As Paul Ryan said, "Our country is at a crossroads, we can become [one kind of country] or [another] but something has to happen." The final question for the night is, what will it be??
See you next time!
Friday, September 24, 2010
The Mansion in Bethesda
So my friend asked me if I wanted to go to a small concert in Bethesda today and I said yes not quite knowing what to expect. I knew he was a folk singer but not much more than that.
I'm writing to you now as I'm siting in a tiny room in a mansion in Bethesda, Maryland waiting for him to come on stage. The atmosphere is very intimate with only about 50 people in the room. From what I've heard so far he and his drummer have biked and taken trains across the country starting in California and making their way east.
This is one of the things I absolutely love about D.C. I got an invitation to an event and decided to go having no idea what it was and now I'm sitting here waiting to see live folk music in a mansion for 15 dollars and a short train ride.
The second half of this blog will be written after the show and I'll be letting you know how it went!
This is now be written after the show...
I had originally thought he played a guitar because that just what I think of when I think folk music but hew actually had a cello! He and his high school friend on the drums make up the whole of the band so you can imagine that the show was fairly simple. Nonetheless, they were both very impressive and innovative. The performance was a combination of traditional folk, what I would call alternative (almost a Death Cab sound), and some fiddle (yes fiddle on a cello) tunes. The latter makes since as they were both from Kentucky.
Finally, there was an activism side as well. They band (the two guys) advocate stopping the strip mining that is badly affecting certain regions of the country. One line his said in a great Kentucky accent stuck with me. He said, "We got a wide piece country here in America"
All in all a great cultural experience here in Washington, not unlike many I've had before and many I plan to have in my remaining time here!
Until next time!
A final note- the picture is of the room in which the performance was held. It was crowded so the amount of the room I could get a picture of isn't that great.
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The Most Technically Challenging Subject...
Hello again!
Over the past week my seminar class has been learning about what our professor called "the most technically challenging subject" we'll work with this semester. Namely, Campaign Finance Reform. It deals with what's called hard money, contributions directly to candidates, soft money, money used by outside parties to promote or weaken candidates without communicating with candidates, 501(c)4s, 5s, and 6s as well as 527s, the magic words, express advocacy and many many more terms which do indeed make it the most technical subject we've faced so far.
It's much more interesting to talk about points of view as opposed to talking about the subject matter itself. Recently, the Supreme Court handed down the Citizens United decision which changed some things in the world of campaign finance. Most people think it means that corporations can donate unlimited amounts of money to candidates while individuals are limited by contribution restrictions. This is not true. In fact, corporations never could, and still cannot, donate any money directly to campaigns. What the decision did was validate that money is an amplifier for speech and that as long as corporations aren't donating directly to a candidate that can choose to spend their money for the election or defeat of any candidate.
An issue that arises in doing so is corporations risk alienating their workers and getting themselves involved in bad PR situations. For example, "Revelations that Target Corp. donated $150,000 to a group that is running ads backing conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, who opposes same-sex marriage, continue to generate calls to boycott the company." Target, by opening donating to a candidate who holds certain social views that may not be in line with a large number of Target's workers or consumers is getting them in trouble.
One of our guest speakers this week, Leon Sequeira, Esq. Seyfarth Shaw LLP, believes that corporate spending on campaigns is not going to go through the roof as some suggest because of just the reason above. Companies don't want to get themselves wrapped up in social or policy issues if they don't have to because it could be very bad for their bottom line. Sequeira believes that their isn't enough spending in campaigning these days and thinks that the Citizens United decision will encourage people to get involved. He also believes that there should be no contribution limits for individuals donating to campaigns. Today, we all, as individuals are limited to donating $2400 per federal candidate per year. Without these limits a wealthy individual could donate a few hundred thousand dollars to a candidate that they support. Clearly, this could cause some unbalanced campaigning. Sequeira makes a good point, though. Candidates need to disclose their contributions and as much as they might want to take a huge donations which will guarantee them enough publicity to win, they could easily be attacked by their opponent for such a significant donation. As said in the movie "Thank you for Smoking" Sen. Finister: "I'm sure the fact that big tobacco is funding your research has no impact on your actions." Nick: "No, just as I'm sure campaign contributions don't affect yours."
On the other side of the argument is Gerry Herbert, Executive Director, Campaign Legal Center. He believes that Citizens United was a step in the wrong direction. In the decision, the Supreme Court suggested that corporations are like individuals. Gerry brought up some good points. Corporations have more wealth than individuals, they have limited liability, no lifespan, and they get tax breaks that the rest of us don't enjoy. Finally, while we are organic creatures, corporations are creatures of the state. If you want to form a corporation, you have to file paper work and the government has to approve. Gerry believes that this should mean that government gets to impose certain conditions on corporations that aren't imposed on individuals and this includes limiting their spending in support or opposition of candidates.
All in all, campaign finance is sticky business and best left to Congress and lawyers who have been specially trained!!
Join us next time for more fun!
Over the past week my seminar class has been learning about what our professor called "the most technically challenging subject" we'll work with this semester. Namely, Campaign Finance Reform. It deals with what's called hard money, contributions directly to candidates, soft money, money used by outside parties to promote or weaken candidates without communicating with candidates, 501(c)4s, 5s, and 6s as well as 527s, the magic words, express advocacy and many many more terms which do indeed make it the most technical subject we've faced so far.
It's much more interesting to talk about points of view as opposed to talking about the subject matter itself. Recently, the Supreme Court handed down the Citizens United decision which changed some things in the world of campaign finance. Most people think it means that corporations can donate unlimited amounts of money to candidates while individuals are limited by contribution restrictions. This is not true. In fact, corporations never could, and still cannot, donate any money directly to campaigns. What the decision did was validate that money is an amplifier for speech and that as long as corporations aren't donating directly to a candidate that can choose to spend their money for the election or defeat of any candidate.
An issue that arises in doing so is corporations risk alienating their workers and getting themselves involved in bad PR situations. For example, "Revelations that Target Corp. donated $150,000 to a group that is running ads backing conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, who opposes same-sex marriage, continue to generate calls to boycott the company." Target, by opening donating to a candidate who holds certain social views that may not be in line with a large number of Target's workers or consumers is getting them in trouble.
One of our guest speakers this week, Leon Sequeira, Esq. Seyfarth Shaw LLP, believes that corporate spending on campaigns is not going to go through the roof as some suggest because of just the reason above. Companies don't want to get themselves wrapped up in social or policy issues if they don't have to because it could be very bad for their bottom line. Sequeira believes that their isn't enough spending in campaigning these days and thinks that the Citizens United decision will encourage people to get involved. He also believes that there should be no contribution limits for individuals donating to campaigns. Today, we all, as individuals are limited to donating $2400 per federal candidate per year. Without these limits a wealthy individual could donate a few hundred thousand dollars to a candidate that they support. Clearly, this could cause some unbalanced campaigning. Sequeira makes a good point, though. Candidates need to disclose their contributions and as much as they might want to take a huge donations which will guarantee them enough publicity to win, they could easily be attacked by their opponent for such a significant donation. As said in the movie "Thank you for Smoking" Sen. Finister: "I'm sure the fact that big tobacco is funding your research has no impact on your actions." Nick: "No, just as I'm sure campaign contributions don't affect yours."
On the other side of the argument is Gerry Herbert, Executive Director, Campaign Legal Center. He believes that Citizens United was a step in the wrong direction. In the decision, the Supreme Court suggested that corporations are like individuals. Gerry brought up some good points. Corporations have more wealth than individuals, they have limited liability, no lifespan, and they get tax breaks that the rest of us don't enjoy. Finally, while we are organic creatures, corporations are creatures of the state. If you want to form a corporation, you have to file paper work and the government has to approve. Gerry believes that this should mean that government gets to impose certain conditions on corporations that aren't imposed on individuals and this includes limiting their spending in support or opposition of candidates.
All in all, campaign finance is sticky business and best left to Congress and lawyers who have been specially trained!!
Join us next time for more fun!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Not Getting Paid to Work... There's a Name for That??
Yes there is! The name for it is an internship and I wouldn't go as far as to say it's not paid. The payment is a bit different than you normally get but so is the work. Instead of money you get a great line on your resume and experience in a field you hopefully want to spend a good deal of your life in and that's certainly better than flipping burgers for cash.
So, my internship... what is it, how did I get there, and how do I feel about it?
In my search for an internship, which started around the beginning of July, I was given a tip by a friend who had just graduated from The George Washington University. She sent me a link to the website of the Democrats club on their campus which included a page listing internships which were Democrat-friendly. I, being a Democrat, thought it would behoove me to take a look at the link. Among the many options, my eye caught the Democratic National Committee. This being such a heated mid-term election I thought I would get the most out of my experience here in D.C. by interning for my party in a time of need.
So, my internship... what is it, how did I get there, and how do I feel about it?
In my search for an internship, which started around the beginning of July, I was given a tip by a friend who had just graduated from The George Washington University. She sent me a link to the website of the Democrats club on their campus which included a page listing internships which were Democrat-friendly. I, being a Democrat, thought it would behoove me to take a look at the link. Among the many options, my eye caught the Democratic National Committee. This being such a heated mid-term election I thought I would get the most out of my experience here in D.C. by interning for my party in a time of need.
The application was fairly extensive. It included listing the usual pedigree information and then went on to require a resume, three letters of recommendation and the answers to three essay questions. Once I had completed the application I received an email informing me that I had made it through the first part of the process and that I would then need to take part in a phone interview. I scheduled the interview and a few days later found myself sitting at my desk with both my laptop and desktop up and running so that I could scan both my answers to the essay questions and the DNC website for any questions I might not know the answer to even after researching the organization.
The phone interview went very well and without being too confident I decided that it went so well that I would be surprised if I was not offered a position. I was told I would hear of the decision by Wednesday, August 18th. This also happened to be the day that I was traveling to D.C. and so while I was sitting in Tenley Café, having my first meal on campus, I received the email informing me that I had been offered a position, but department placements had yet to occur.
I accepted their offer and told them I could start work on September 9th. About two weeks later I received an email which included the department placements for all of the new interns. I had been assigned to Human Resources. I was skeptical at first of how this department would relate to politics and the current election but I kept an open mind and decided not to say anything until I actually went into work and had a chance to get a feel for what the office tasks would include.
Unfortunately, thus far, I have done little more than data entry and not anything related to the current political environment. I hope as the internship goes on I have a chance to get involved with other aspects of the DNC's work and get the most out of my time here as an intern.
Unfortunately, thus far, I have done little more than data entry and not anything related to the current political environment. I hope as the internship goes on I have a chance to get involved with other aspects of the DNC's work and get the most out of my time here as an intern.
As I conclude, I feel it is important to mention that I have only had four days of my internship and that these views I am expressing are based solely on those four days and the discrepancy between my expectations and reality. I do sincerely hope that things improve as time goes on.
On a final positive note, the staff members in the HR department are great people and they are very easy to work with. At the very least, if nothing else works out, I know I am doing something to keep the bureaucratic process functioning so that the party can accomplish its goals without having to worry about whether or not its employees have health insurance, or are receiving their pay every other week.
Stay tuned to find out what happens!!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Let's Get Partisan!
Ok, so I've been reading the other blogs and have been inspired to do what I love, talk about politics. Up until this point I've been catching you guys up on my side of the story as it relates to the Washington Semester Program specifically but now it's time to do what Washington does best, talk politics!
Before I jump into this post I want to let everyone out there know that while I am a Democrat and consider myself to be a progressive liberal (both dirty words to the Right, gasp!) I am not one of those people who thinks that my side is right regardless of anything and everything... just most of the time.
That being said, let's talk about a few issues facing our country today which are taking the center stage here in Washington. Studies show, without debate, that jobs and the economy are what people are most worried about. So... what do both sides propose??
The Democrats: Most people who believe the stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) was a good idea now believe that it wasn't quite large enough. I know that's shocking to fiscal conservatives given that the amount of spending was absolutely massive and honestly incomprehensible to most of us laypeople. That's why we're seeing Obama pushing for another $50 billion bill that will create jobs in the infrastructure. Don't think of it as a new bill, think of it as the booster shot for the stimulus. Who knows, if the ARRA had an additional $50 billion when it was first passed it may have made all the different and we could be seeing GDP growth of 6% or 7%. Those numbers, by the way, are taken from Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ranking Republican Member of the House Budget Committee. What that means is that if the Republicans take the House in November, he'll become the chair. He got those numbers from past occasions when our country was coming out of recessions and the Great Depression.
Let's talk tax cuts. So there are these things known as the Bush Tax Cuts. There are some that don't like people to refer to them as the "Bush" tax cuts but I can't think of what else you could call them. They were started 7 years ago under the Bush administration... hmm, we can't call them "The tax cuts that happened to be strongly promoted by the Bush white house and passed through Congress while Bush was in office." It just takes too long to say that. So anyway, we've established that they're the Bush Tax Cuts. The issue is that they're up for renewal right now. If they run out without being renewed then everyone's taxes are going to go up significantly. Obviously this would be bad for the economy, we're not arguing about that. You need people spending people in the markets to keep the economy moving forward and, hopefully in this case, growing. So clearly Congress, with its approval rating of 23%, isn't going to do anything to create extreme anger and take money out of the economy so... what to do??
The Democrats, at this point, are suggesting that we should return taxes to what they were pre-Bush for families making more than $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000. It's the middle class that is really taking this recession hard. The suggestion of the Democrats is to return taxes for wealthy families to what they were before the Bush Tax Cuts and renew the middle class tax cuts.
Here's the math... in ten years, using the plan just discussed, we save $700 billion. Extend tax cuts for everyone, we're in debt another $700 billion.
Now it's time to give the Republicans their due, and I promise I will be as fair as I can. Today my class visited the Cannon House Office Building which is the second nicest building behind Rayburn which is where the most senior members' offices are. We were there to speak with Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, and the man who will chair the House Budget Committee should Republicans take the house in November. (Fun Fact: You don't capitalize house when you're just saying house. If you're saying the United States House of Representatives, then you capitalize it as I've just done. Same thing for the senate, and congress. You might see me mess that up, don't take it personally. ; )
Ok, so back to business. The plan that he put forth to us today, and what he says is the Republicans' main platform for the next two years consists of these two things: fiscal responsibility (ie. reining in the debt, balancing the budget) and economic growth (ie. job creation, moving us away from, what he believes, is a welfare state). When asked how he would balance the budget he said that cutting programs was at the top of the list. When asked what he would cut, he said "everything." Of course, as a Democrat, when he said "everything" what I heard was - "fire, schools, police, the arts, welfare, social security, college funding." Again, I'm a Democrat so that's what I hear and as I said this was going to be a partisan article, I'm going to give you your first assignment. I'm not going to tell you what a Republican would have heard, I'm going to have you look it up!
Here's an aside: something that I've learned about D.C. You tell people what you want them to hear, and that's it. Really though, that's it! Some of you might think that's pessimistic but I promise you, I'm one of the most optimistic people you'll ever meet and I think it's great! One reason is because as you amass all of these different points of view you'll 1) develop your own and 2) learn how to filter out what's true and what's just fluff and number 2 is a great skill to have for the real world.
People here aren't afraid to tell you who they are and what they believe. As you walk the streets you see hundreds of people who are passionate, well read, involved, dedicated, informed and they all have a different opinion!
In sum, the best part of D.C. is what's hidden in the fact that it takes forever to get anything done in our democracy. Working as a legislator is truly an honorable charge. These men and women need to:
-Maintain two homes, one in their district and one in D.C.
-Travel between the two every couple weeks
-Take care of a family
-Campaign
-Write legislation
-Sit on multiple committees
-Keep their constituents happy so they can get reelected
-Do what they believe is right
-Bring money home to their districts through earmarks and pork barreling
-Stay loyal to the party
We honestly do not give them enough credit! Going back to why legislation takes so long: these Representatives are doing everything above and still believe in government and the partisan clashes that develop arise from the fact that we have two schools of thought (there are really a lot more if you break down the parties themselves) which both believe they know what the best direction for the country is and neither side wants to slack in doing their duty to serve us; thus, compromise it a long and tiring process! They work 90 hour weeks and sleep on the couches in their offices, and they do this for us! They do it because they believe that their presence in government is the best thing they can do to serve us. So, I'll finish this blog post by saying thank you to all of our Representatives and below featuring the pictures of the two gentlemen my class met and spoke with over the last two days!
I'll see you next time!
The Honorable James McGovern (D)(Massachusetts 3rd District)
The Honorable Paul Ryan (R)(Wisconsin 1st District)
Before I jump into this post I want to let everyone out there know that while I am a Democrat and consider myself to be a progressive liberal (both dirty words to the Right, gasp!) I am not one of those people who thinks that my side is right regardless of anything and everything... just most of the time.
That being said, let's talk about a few issues facing our country today which are taking the center stage here in Washington. Studies show, without debate, that jobs and the economy are what people are most worried about. So... what do both sides propose??
The Democrats: Most people who believe the stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) was a good idea now believe that it wasn't quite large enough. I know that's shocking to fiscal conservatives given that the amount of spending was absolutely massive and honestly incomprehensible to most of us laypeople. That's why we're seeing Obama pushing for another $50 billion bill that will create jobs in the infrastructure. Don't think of it as a new bill, think of it as the booster shot for the stimulus. Who knows, if the ARRA had an additional $50 billion when it was first passed it may have made all the different and we could be seeing GDP growth of 6% or 7%. Those numbers, by the way, are taken from Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ranking Republican Member of the House Budget Committee. What that means is that if the Republicans take the House in November, he'll become the chair. He got those numbers from past occasions when our country was coming out of recessions and the Great Depression.
Let's talk tax cuts. So there are these things known as the Bush Tax Cuts. There are some that don't like people to refer to them as the "Bush" tax cuts but I can't think of what else you could call them. They were started 7 years ago under the Bush administration... hmm, we can't call them "The tax cuts that happened to be strongly promoted by the Bush white house and passed through Congress while Bush was in office." It just takes too long to say that. So anyway, we've established that they're the Bush Tax Cuts. The issue is that they're up for renewal right now. If they run out without being renewed then everyone's taxes are going to go up significantly. Obviously this would be bad for the economy, we're not arguing about that. You need people spending people in the markets to keep the economy moving forward and, hopefully in this case, growing. So clearly Congress, with its approval rating of 23%, isn't going to do anything to create extreme anger and take money out of the economy so... what to do??
The Democrats, at this point, are suggesting that we should return taxes to what they were pre-Bush for families making more than $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000. It's the middle class that is really taking this recession hard. The suggestion of the Democrats is to return taxes for wealthy families to what they were before the Bush Tax Cuts and renew the middle class tax cuts.
Here's the math... in ten years, using the plan just discussed, we save $700 billion. Extend tax cuts for everyone, we're in debt another $700 billion.
Now it's time to give the Republicans their due, and I promise I will be as fair as I can. Today my class visited the Cannon House Office Building which is the second nicest building behind Rayburn which is where the most senior members' offices are. We were there to speak with Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, and the man who will chair the House Budget Committee should Republicans take the house in November. (Fun Fact: You don't capitalize house when you're just saying house. If you're saying the United States House of Representatives, then you capitalize it as I've just done. Same thing for the senate, and congress. You might see me mess that up, don't take it personally. ; )
Ok, so back to business. The plan that he put forth to us today, and what he says is the Republicans' main platform for the next two years consists of these two things: fiscal responsibility (ie. reining in the debt, balancing the budget) and economic growth (ie. job creation, moving us away from, what he believes, is a welfare state). When asked how he would balance the budget he said that cutting programs was at the top of the list. When asked what he would cut, he said "everything." Of course, as a Democrat, when he said "everything" what I heard was - "fire, schools, police, the arts, welfare, social security, college funding." Again, I'm a Democrat so that's what I hear and as I said this was going to be a partisan article, I'm going to give you your first assignment. I'm not going to tell you what a Republican would have heard, I'm going to have you look it up!
Here's an aside: something that I've learned about D.C. You tell people what you want them to hear, and that's it. Really though, that's it! Some of you might think that's pessimistic but I promise you, I'm one of the most optimistic people you'll ever meet and I think it's great! One reason is because as you amass all of these different points of view you'll 1) develop your own and 2) learn how to filter out what's true and what's just fluff and number 2 is a great skill to have for the real world.
People here aren't afraid to tell you who they are and what they believe. As you walk the streets you see hundreds of people who are passionate, well read, involved, dedicated, informed and they all have a different opinion!
In sum, the best part of D.C. is what's hidden in the fact that it takes forever to get anything done in our democracy. Working as a legislator is truly an honorable charge. These men and women need to:
-Maintain two homes, one in their district and one in D.C.
-Travel between the two every couple weeks
-Take care of a family
-Campaign
-Write legislation
-Sit on multiple committees
-Keep their constituents happy so they can get reelected
-Do what they believe is right
-Bring money home to their districts through earmarks and pork barreling
-Stay loyal to the party
We honestly do not give them enough credit! Going back to why legislation takes so long: these Representatives are doing everything above and still believe in government and the partisan clashes that develop arise from the fact that we have two schools of thought (there are really a lot more if you break down the parties themselves) which both believe they know what the best direction for the country is and neither side wants to slack in doing their duty to serve us; thus, compromise it a long and tiring process! They work 90 hour weeks and sleep on the couches in their offices, and they do this for us! They do it because they believe that their presence in government is the best thing they can do to serve us. So, I'll finish this blog post by saying thank you to all of our Representatives and below featuring the pictures of the two gentlemen my class met and spoke with over the last two days!
I'll see you next time!
All These Things I've Heard Part I
Hello there readers,
In the next few posts I'll be outlining some of the most interesting speakers we've had as part of the program so far. In this post we'll look at Tad Devine, a media consultant for campaigning and Susan Morrison, a journalist with an extensive background in politics.
Before I begin, I should say that all of the presentations that we're given are strictly off the record so I can't tell you the details but I can tell you about the people and a few anecdontes. Let's just say, the press would have a field day with some of the stories we've been told and if you too want to hear these stories you'll have to wait until you come to the program. (Shameless pitch line)
One of the most interesting speakers we've experienced so far was Tad Devine. He is a political media consultant with his company Devine-Mulvey Media. He is one of the nation's leading political strategists and media consultants and has been for the past two decades. He took over the Gore campaign in 2000 when it was down 17 points and led the campaign to nearly win the election. His client list includes: John Kerry, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, Jack Reed, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Jon Corzine, Tom Harkin and Richard Gephardt. In addition to running media in domestic campaigns, he's worked on numerous campaigns around the world and was a central figure in the movie "Our Brand is Crisis." The title is derived from an off-hand comment Devine makes during the film.
Needless to say, this man has a lot to talk about. This is a nice opportunity because I can repeat most of what he said because a large part of his presentation was him showing political ads that he's worked on and talking about why they were designed the way they were.
There are three types of political ads and we've all seen all of them over and over again. The first is a bio ad. This delivers the personal story of the candidate and is used so that we as voters can feel like we have shared values. Issue ads are the second type. Instead of talking about the candidate, or the candidate talking about him/herself, the ad focuses on a hot-button issue and allows the candidate to explain his/her stance on the issue. The final is one that we all know. Attack ads. These are a necessary evil in the current political realm and sometimes become absolutely vital to the survival of a campaign. If there's something I learned about campaigning from this speaker it's that you can try as hard as you want to run an idyllic campaign but reality will always win out and you'll eventually have to do some things you'd rather not have done if you really want to get elected.
He concluded by outlining what makes a winning campaign, from his point of view and extensive experience. Here are the key points:
Use research!
Use emotional and impactful advertising.
Campaign with as many different media outlets as possible (Internet, TV, radio, print etc.)
Make sure the staff works well together.
Now on to Susan Morrison. Her experience includes being an editor at the New York Times Washington Bureau, TV Producer for Court TV, Supervising Producer at CNBC for "Hardball with Chris Matthews. She was also a political reporter for PBS, a News Manager for CBS News Washington Bureau and was the National Affairs Editor at ABC News Washington Bureau. Politically, she was the Deputy Director of Communications for George H.W. Bush and was the Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee.
So basically, she has an enormous resume and it's all awesome.
She spent a lot of time talking about how the news has changed an evolved over time. The meat of the talk focused on the power struggle between the media and the government. The media now leads the conversation as opposed to government being able to decide what stories will make it to the nightly news. Sometimes this leads to important stories being missed and words being mashed. We've all seen the news stories which will skew things to one side and edit clips in order to prove their point, even if they know it's not factual!
She's an amazing story teller and I only wish I could repeat some of things she told us but again, they are all off the record, and with her being a journalist, she understands exactly what off the record means.
Look out for the next post, it'll include Hillary Clinton's Chief Speech Writer, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Honorable James McGovern, Congressman.
See you next time!
In the next few posts I'll be outlining some of the most interesting speakers we've had as part of the program so far. In this post we'll look at Tad Devine, a media consultant for campaigning and Susan Morrison, a journalist with an extensive background in politics.
Before I begin, I should say that all of the presentations that we're given are strictly off the record so I can't tell you the details but I can tell you about the people and a few anecdontes. Let's just say, the press would have a field day with some of the stories we've been told and if you too want to hear these stories you'll have to wait until you come to the program. (Shameless pitch line)
One of the most interesting speakers we've experienced so far was Tad Devine. He is a political media consultant with his company Devine-Mulvey Media. He is one of the nation's leading political strategists and media consultants and has been for the past two decades. He took over the Gore campaign in 2000 when it was down 17 points and led the campaign to nearly win the election. His client list includes: John Kerry, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, Jack Reed, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Jon Corzine, Tom Harkin and Richard Gephardt. In addition to running media in domestic campaigns, he's worked on numerous campaigns around the world and was a central figure in the movie "Our Brand is Crisis." The title is derived from an off-hand comment Devine makes during the film.
Needless to say, this man has a lot to talk about. This is a nice opportunity because I can repeat most of what he said because a large part of his presentation was him showing political ads that he's worked on and talking about why they were designed the way they were.
There are three types of political ads and we've all seen all of them over and over again. The first is a bio ad. This delivers the personal story of the candidate and is used so that we as voters can feel like we have shared values. Issue ads are the second type. Instead of talking about the candidate, or the candidate talking about him/herself, the ad focuses on a hot-button issue and allows the candidate to explain his/her stance on the issue. The final is one that we all know. Attack ads. These are a necessary evil in the current political realm and sometimes become absolutely vital to the survival of a campaign. If there's something I learned about campaigning from this speaker it's that you can try as hard as you want to run an idyllic campaign but reality will always win out and you'll eventually have to do some things you'd rather not have done if you really want to get elected.
He concluded by outlining what makes a winning campaign, from his point of view and extensive experience. Here are the key points:
Use research!
Use emotional and impactful advertising.
Campaign with as many different media outlets as possible (Internet, TV, radio, print etc.)
Make sure the staff works well together.
Now on to Susan Morrison. Her experience includes being an editor at the New York Times Washington Bureau, TV Producer for Court TV, Supervising Producer at CNBC for "Hardball with Chris Matthews. She was also a political reporter for PBS, a News Manager for CBS News Washington Bureau and was the National Affairs Editor at ABC News Washington Bureau. Politically, she was the Deputy Director of Communications for George H.W. Bush and was the Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee.
So basically, she has an enormous resume and it's all awesome.
She spent a lot of time talking about how the news has changed an evolved over time. The meat of the talk focused on the power struggle between the media and the government. The media now leads the conversation as opposed to government being able to decide what stories will make it to the nightly news. Sometimes this leads to important stories being missed and words being mashed. We've all seen the news stories which will skew things to one side and edit clips in order to prove their point, even if they know it's not factual!
She's an amazing story teller and I only wish I could repeat some of things she told us but again, they are all off the record, and with her being a journalist, she understands exactly what off the record means.
Look out for the next post, it'll include Hillary Clinton's Chief Speech Writer, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Honorable James McGovern, Congressman.
See you next time!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
My Five Day Weekend.
Hello again!
I had a 5 day weekend for Labor Day and the activities of those days will be covered here.
We’ll get the work stuff out of the way first. I’m currently writing a memo which is supposed to be for Obama’s campaign manager. It covers the current political climate, his strengths and weaknesses as a candidate, and suggestions for making the 2012 election successful. It’s like no other writing I’ve ever done before. I’m used to being verbose and that’s absolutely not what we’re doing here. It only needs to be between 2 and 4 single-spaced pages and any phrases, words, ideas that aren’t necessary should be cut out. It’s also entirely based on facts and statistics that we need to find and interpret. I definitely am enjoying this new style of writing and its simplicity.
Now on to the other stuff. We’ve been doing a lot of sightseeing as well as the work. We went to Arlington National Cemetery the other day. It was my second time going but it doesn’t get any less moving. We saw the changing of the guard, which is one of the most beautiful rituals in America if you ask me, and took a long pause at the Eternal Flame.
Last night was the highlight of the long weekend, though. We went to the West Lawn, the one in front of the Capital Building for a free labor day concert with the National Symphony Orchestra. They were joined by an Army Choir as well. They played music from early American movies, some Gershwin, some Indiana Jones and other scores in the first half. In the second half it moved into the more patriotic music. Joined by the Choir, Battle Hymn of the Republic was performed along with America the Beautiful and The Stars and Stripes Forever. Overall it was a highly exciting, highly patriotic night under the shadow of the Capital Building with a view down the mall toward Lincoln before and after sunset. Video of Battle Hymn of the Republic
This is a picture of me in front of the Capital Building as the sun was setting and it gives you an idea of the size of the crowd. By nightfall there wans't a single place to stand!
Here's a fun little aside. For our class we went to the Newseum, which is, as you might guess, a museum dedicated to the history of the news! In the bathrooms they had these little tiles with funny newspaper cutouts. I particularly liked this one because if they hadn't tried to tell anyone about this, people may have understood it better!
That’s going to be all for now. In the future I’ll be posting more pictures associated with things that I’m up to!
See you soon!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
I Want My Environment to Be a Product of Me
Hello readers!
Because this is my first post I'll take a few lines to explain to you potential Washington Semester Students who I am and what I'm about.
In the post following this, I'll explain the process I went through in deciding to attend the program and how I applied and was accepted.
Note: The Picture is from Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street informally known as "Black Broadway" because it is predominantly African American neighborhood. Many jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Nat King Cole, would stop by the restaurant when they performed at U Street clubs. The sticker denotes the seat which Obama sat in while he ate his first meal in D.C.
Since I was a tiny little kid I've loved a few things: cereal, music and politics. When I was really young it came out as my interest in acting and public speaking. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer until I realized what I loved about the idea of being a lawyer was politics. The idea of persuading people and influencing the world around you. Like Jack Nicholson says in The Departed, "I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me!" That about sums up why I'm passionate about politics, because it's one of the few fields where that statement can be made true.
The Public School Years
So... I went through public school always running for office if I could. I loved the idea of legislating... I should correct that; more than the idea of legislating, I loved actually legislating. That, however, wasn't proven to me until college, but we'll get there in a second. One of my proudest moments in high school was as president of student council. I proposed a bill with a rider that did exactly what riders are supposed to do. The rider was unpopular with the advisors of our council because it removed a significant amount of their ability to override votes which didn't break any laws, rules, regulations etc. but simply were not liked by them. The bill itself was very popular and extended accessibility of the council to the rest of the student body. Therefore, it passed overwhelmingly.
I don't mean to sound like I'm sneaky, but that's what politics is... not sneaky but smart. You have to be smart and be aware of the circumstances you're in and what rules do and do not bind you. Other than compromise, finding loopholes is a huge part of getting things done when you're facing heavy opposition.
The College Years
Let's be honest. We were all ready to leave high school and move a step closer to the real world, and I was absolutely no exception. I love my friends from high school but the environment itself not conducive to... well anything really.
Just for reference, and as a "hello" (I refuse to use the phase shout-out) to all those of you from New England and specifically Massachusetts and New Hampshire, I grew up in New Hampshire and I now attend Clark University in Worcester (pronounced Wooster but don't go overboard on the "woo" part), Massachusetts. We, as a school, are best known for our Psychology and Political Science Departments as well as Biology. The first place a rat was put in a maze was at Clark and it's the only place Freud visited when he came to the United States. We have also produced the creator of Panera Bread, Blue Man Group, the birth control pill, and that guy who made the "shoes" video that went viral. The first official noise complaint in Worcester was filed against Robert Goddard, the father of rocketry, for launching a rocket from Clark (we named our Library after him) which found its way into a nearby roof.
Once I got to college I got involved with a bunch of groups. Among others things, I hosted a radio show, co-founded a chapter of Oxfam America, helped my friend start the Clark University Historical Society, dabbled in the debate society and the list goes on. I also ran for "First Year Class Representative" which you could compare to a Senatorial seat. I was representing the Freshman class on Student Council which is, by the way, the only University Student Council in the country to have a separate Judiciary body (as far as I know... don't quote me... or argue with me).
To clarify what I said earlier about legislating. If you've ever watch CSPAN, you know what it's like on the floor of the House and Senate. A lot of formality, process and seemingly wasted time. As the saying goes, there are two things you don't want to see being made, sausage and legislation. That being said, I actually do enjoy the process of debate and the rules that go along with Parliamentary Procedure. Case in point: The majority of Student Council meetings were more than 2 hours with some running as long as 5, and I loved every minute of it!
I really got my political break this past summer though. I was interning at the ACLUM (The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts). The director of the county got me involved in cases dealing with prison inmates (I almost met a con-man), sex offenders, and generally the population who feel as if their rights have been violated in some way and are coming to the organization for help.
He decided, somewhere around June, that he was going to run for State Representative for Worcester District 13 and much to my surprise/humility he asked me to be his campaign manager and I accepted. We got to work right away forming an image, reaching out for fundraising, buying signs, getting him in the media, getting him a place at public events for visibility and other things you'd expect as part of a campaign. If there's one thing I learned from this campaign about the order in which to do things for a modern campaign (other than forming the committee, opening a political bank account and getting together a campaign team) it's this: don't print any other media before you have a website. We ran into trouble by getting over excited and sending out some direct mail before we had a website to include on the envelopes. Now that whole group has lost out on the opportunity to check out our website without us reaching them in some other way and communicating the fact that there is a website!
So, to end this post I feel as if I should offer a little fine print about the post which are to come just following this one. I didn't start posting at the same time as the other bloggers for this program but I've been here at the program just as long. This means I have a little catching up to do and you'll see a plethora of posts for a bit and then once I'm caught up to the present time, things will level off.
Thanks for reading! See you next time!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
How Washington Really Works
I'm going to tell you how Washington really works!
Something that is so amazing about this city is that there is no shortage of people who are willing to talk to you about just that subject. You can sit down with any expert, any professional here and they'll tell you how Washington works, the details, the nuances, the interconnectedness of essentially everything. It will be amazing and you'll be sure that you've gotten the truth. And you have gotten the truth! But... there are thousands of others who'll inspire you just as much and as time goes on you'll come to realize that everyone knows exactly how Washington works... from their perspective. Each point of view will add one more detail, give you one more "ah ha" moment and you'll eventually amass your own miniature stockpile of stories and anecdotes and in the end, you'll emerge with your own viewpoint. It will be influenced by the people who you've talked to, you've argued with, you've worked for and with, you've interviewed, you've bumped into on the Metro, and those who've written the articles you'll read everyday in the media.
For me, this is just the beginning. I've been here for three weeks and I already feel as if I'm far more informed about current events, issues, policies, and the interweaving of political powers in D.C. and around the country than I ever have before.
Throughout the postings of this blog while I'm here in the Capital I'll do my best to share with you my experiences, good and bad, what I've learned and how I've learned it. I'll tell you about my experiences meeting with some of the most powerful people in our country and around the world and weave it back into one of the main points of this program; coming back to your home school with an understanding of our nation that can't be uncovered in any other way than to be here living it as it happens.
I realize as I'm writing this that it probably sounds like a lofty goal, and that I'm just in the honeymoon phase of my time here. Everything seems so glamorous and that with time it'll fade and I'll become jaded by the partisan bickering and special interest groups incessantly lobbying the hill for their causes, seemingly ignoring the opinions of the rest of the population. Maybe you're right. Only time will tell, and hope you'll stick it out with me and even live vicariously through me until it's your turn to come here and figure out for yourselves how Washington really works.
Something that is so amazing about this city is that there is no shortage of people who are willing to talk to you about just that subject. You can sit down with any expert, any professional here and they'll tell you how Washington works, the details, the nuances, the interconnectedness of essentially everything. It will be amazing and you'll be sure that you've gotten the truth. And you have gotten the truth! But... there are thousands of others who'll inspire you just as much and as time goes on you'll come to realize that everyone knows exactly how Washington works... from their perspective. Each point of view will add one more detail, give you one more "ah ha" moment and you'll eventually amass your own miniature stockpile of stories and anecdotes and in the end, you'll emerge with your own viewpoint. It will be influenced by the people who you've talked to, you've argued with, you've worked for and with, you've interviewed, you've bumped into on the Metro, and those who've written the articles you'll read everyday in the media.
For me, this is just the beginning. I've been here for three weeks and I already feel as if I'm far more informed about current events, issues, policies, and the interweaving of political powers in D.C. and around the country than I ever have before.
Throughout the postings of this blog while I'm here in the Capital I'll do my best to share with you my experiences, good and bad, what I've learned and how I've learned it. I'll tell you about my experiences meeting with some of the most powerful people in our country and around the world and weave it back into one of the main points of this program; coming back to your home school with an understanding of our nation that can't be uncovered in any other way than to be here living it as it happens.
I realize as I'm writing this that it probably sounds like a lofty goal, and that I'm just in the honeymoon phase of my time here. Everything seems so glamorous and that with time it'll fade and I'll become jaded by the partisan bickering and special interest groups incessantly lobbying the hill for their causes, seemingly ignoring the opinions of the rest of the population. Maybe you're right. Only time will tell, and hope you'll stick it out with me and even live vicariously through me until it's your turn to come here and figure out for yourselves how Washington really works.
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