Tuesday, February 10, 2009

American Government 2/10

In Class - Watch President Obama's first major news conference concerning the economy and other topics from questions by reporters. Take notes as to some major themes or statements made by President Obama. This will get you going in the right direction for our first classroom discussion on the economy on Thursday of this week. Be ready to participate.

Homework - Create a blog on http://www.blogspot.com/. You need a valid email address in order to create an account. Next, you will post a comment on my blog by answering the question of the week (QOW). This needs to be completed by every Friday unless otherwise noted. This will be done on a weekly basis in order to offer educational insight on the topics that we are discussing in class. Feel free to offer your opinions, but this is online forum is an extension of the classroom and will be treated as such. Respect your classmates' opinions and ideas at all times. Agree to disagree, which means you can agree or disagree on someones' thoughts, but do so in a way that does not disrespect yourself or the person you are disagreeing with. Again, this is an onlin forum and an extension to the classroom. Failure to maintain proper etiquette (ie. no swearing, racial slurs, or other inappropriate language) will result in an immediate dismissal from the forum and could lead to potential disciplinary actions. You want to graduate? Maintain respect at all times!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK (QOW) - Why is this economic stimulus plan proposed by President Obama receiving so much criticism among some Democrats and Republicans in Congress? What should our elected officials do in order to help the American people get back on the right track to recovering from this recession?

Articles to check out: Read some of these. I don't post these because I have nothing better to do!
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1878491,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1878396,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1878044,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1878505,00.html?iid=tsmodule
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/10/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?postversion=2009021014
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/10/stimulus.gop.pac/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/10/immigrants.economy/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/09/obama.news.conference/index.html

40 comments:

Jlao said...

Well i believe the reason why President Obama's Stimulus plan is gaining so much criticism among both political parties is because probably they want a quick fix or probably they don't believe in that the stimulus plan will work. Since apparently history is repeating itself, both democratic and republican parties believe it wont work again.
Then again, our new president is NEW. He hasn't had much experience at being the President, but he is trying to do something. What our elected officials should do, is try to do something now. At least try, instead of just doing nothing and having the economy going down the drain. Just like President Obama said, we should act now, and that is just what he is doing. I say trying and failing is better than doing nothing because you at least know you tried. Even though the economic stimulus plan could fail, at least the American people know that the government is trying to do something rather than doing nothing. This is just my little input about this question.

By the way this is JLao :)

Mauricio said...

President Obama is doing the best he can to gain the trust of america and the trust of the McCain voters..He knws that by going deep into trying to solve this economic crisis he will be a good president. The Senate and all them dont like it because they actually have to take action and try to do something about it...its better to try than to just sit there and watch america tumble down...

Bradlito said...

Well where do to start....hmmmm
the plan itself is almost a trillion dollars pretty darn massive. I personally thing they are criticizing certain spending within the stimulus plan itself and might perceive some of the spending as pork. However, from what I've heard President Obama say, he is more than willing to sit down and discuss alternatives and make compromises. As a matter of fact, I was watching Anderson 360 last night and they were discussing that money for education was being cut I believe. Nancy whatsherface was displeased with this but ulitmately let it go. So, overall i think it's definetely not perfect, but it's a step in a better direction to try and pull ourselves out of this mess.


On another note all the republicans that voted no are freaking stupid. How can you vote no and let things get worse? They sure are in touch with the American people. I mean do they even have any suggestions of their own? Personally I think republicans need to mature a little bit and realize that this is going beyond democrat and republicans.



There ya go Palo

-Bradley

Garrett(aka..The Beast!) said...

The President is doing very well considering the cards he was dealt. He came to his office in the greatest economic problem dating back the Great Depression. I think the reason why President Obama's Stimulus plan is gaining so much criticism is because of the fear in both the politicians and the civilians. Fear is what drives most to action, and in this case, a economic melt down. If everyone though the was millions to spend then people would be spending money like crazy. But because there is fear, everyone is putting there money away and putting a dent in the money cycle. I believe this plan needed to be passed ASAP. Sitting there and watching the economy go down the drain even further with only make things worse. I also believe it is up to use( the next generation) to fix this. If we are educated better then the generations before us then we can avert this problem altogether.

And that's the Word!

Garrett

Elizabeth said...

President Obama's stimulus plan is receiving so much criticism because Obama wants bi-partisan agreement among the party's yet Republicans feel $800 billion dollars is too much to spend during this rocky time in our economy. Democrats and Republicans have different views on what they want covered in the stimulus plan and what the money should go to. I think our elected officials should approve this plan because Obama feels so strongly that it will work and slowly move our economy into a positive direction. But they should act fast and soon because Americans don't want to be in a deeper more negative recession.

Thanks to Palo I have a blog now!!

Elizabeth

Dorkyboy said...

The stimulus plan is getting a lot of criticism from republicans because they think there is too much government interference. AMERICA IS SUPPOSED TO BE A FREE MARKET ECONOMY!!!NOT A COMMAND ECONOMY!!! They just think were moving towards communism. If the government controls the economy, what else are they going to control next? Now the solution to this economic problem is to be a communist nation and let our economy be controlled by the government, Obama can be our supreme dictator. JK! No, i think we should pass this stimulus bill to see what happens next and decide what to do afterwards.

-Tom Tom

William said...

The stimulus plan is garnering a lot of critism for several reasons, the first being something along the lines the fact that people seem to expect things to change immediately upon his ascention to public office. Indeed, that won't happen, so the plan get's scrutinized. People want to know how, and why it will work, in addition to how and why it might not work. Hence, media scrutiny.

Besides, what fun would the world be if everything worked the way it was supposed to?

Rocio said...

hello mr.palo its rocio i got a blog
well anyways i think that the stimulus plan is getting to much criticism because they think that it is impossible they basically think or ingraved in their mind that many have tried and they havent succeded.The fear that our country might go more in debt and that the depression might come back. the stimulus plan like president obama said in his speech we are lstening to in class "this stimulus can be done but it has to be done we cant wait for the day of tommorrow but the day of today " i think it has to be done as soon as possible so even if it doesnt work we could fix it quick and if ti does work than we should be glad that we did it soon. also like he said his intentions were not to become president and waste 3million dollars.

pfcsimonsdanyell said...

Like your link resources said the republicans estimated $819 billion yet Obama passed it for $838. The reason his was so higher then republicans is because he also included putting money towards education that has been cut. Republicans think it will just deepen the economic crisis we are already are in. They are also afraid of another depression due to the fact that Obama is young. They want this problem to be fixed NOW, yet Obama is reasonable and understands it will take time.


Thats all for me =)
-Danielle Simons period 4

diana said...

I think this stimulus plan is receiving so much criticism because both democrats and republicans don't agree and believe that the plan will not work as well as the president believes it will.
I also believe that our elected officials should get serious and try new things, a new plan or something that shows they are working hard to help everyone specially the poor and middle class that needs them the most in this recession.

RGorman said...

In my opinion, the Stimulus Plan is recieving so much criticism among the Democrats and Republican in Congress because they think that once the money is given to the people, they will use it and save most or all of the money. In that case, the money won't be put back into the economy as expected to recover from the recession. Without the money going back into the economy, it will result in an even greater decline. I believe this stimulus plan will get us out of recession. Just as President Barack Obama said, change will not arrive immediately, it will take time for our country to get on the right track. And by making a move, it will happen much quicker than it would standing still.

adriana said...

I think that the reason why the stimulus plan is receiving so much criticism is due to the cost and spending it will lead to. Some may think it will take us deeper into the whole because if it doesnt work then we will be stuck with more debt!

The officials should give this plan a shot, because taking action is better than staying idle. If the plan works as planned then we will start taking steps forward, if it fails well at least we gave it a shot and learn from mistakes.
The plan can only help!

QueensGurl24 said...

uhmmm....well i think there is sooo much criticism on Obamas Plan because it is alot of money bein ask and the first plan didnt go soo well and are afraid that it will be the same and cost more of a debt... But they need to confide in our presidents plan because at least he is doin somethin goood. (a very good president not like our last one.lol)

demodext said...

I think that the economic stimulous plan is recieving a lot of criticism, because everyone wants to fix things fast, maybe both parties think the stimulous plan would be to slow and by the time there is action taken it would be to late. I think that the elected officials should do something, some action should be in consideration maybe try to create some jobs, or give money and tell the people to spend it, something? i think anything would be helpful right now!!! :]


-ricardo vargas
period.3

Yesenia said...

Because alot of people think that Obama is not going to be able to go through with what he is saying. People should start believing in him and what he has to say and not critize. They should give him a chance to follow out what hes saying and then they can voice their opinion.

macrina said...

i think the reason why president Obama stimulus plan is getting criticism is because the plan will cost so much money. Both political parties probably want another plan that is more secure so they know they'll be putting the money to good use.
in my opinion i think our government should act quick to fix our economic crisis.And like it or not we need to take a chance and i believe Obamas stimulus plan is that chance!!!


:)

Arnold said...

I think that Obamas stimulus plan is getting alot of critisim from both political parties because they probably want a plan that will help out our economy fast. Or maybe they dont like the plan because they think its not gona work like in the past during the first greate depression.I think that our elected officials should do something now than wait to see what happens, because if they just sitt and not do nothing we will end up in another greate depression.

Frank said...

The reason people are criticising is because of their fear. They fear that the plan will backfire and will only perpetuate our countries debt. Eveyone is already afraid of what has become of our economy and these fears are then transferred to the political parties. There may be people that support the plan and maybe that is because they understand that this is one of the best solutions at the momment or maybe it is because they fear that not taking action will only make it worse. Although, no matter what plan is put into place, there will always be people who reject it but if we allow people to bicker about it and not allow us to take action then the country could possibly collapse.

mnguyen said...

At this very moment due to the economic crisis, everybody is leaning on Obama for support. The first stimulus by Bush did not work so people are hoping that with a new president maybe we have a chance to turn the economy around. The stimulus in my opinion sounds good, hopefully everyone is able to keep track of spendings. And hopefully people spend their money wisely. For example people should not buy houses that they can not pay off, maybe it looks good at the time, but people need to think if they are able to pay it off in the long run. This stimulus plan is not a quick fix for the economy and people need to be reasy to make risk at this moment because our economy has become really bad. Gas prices for example will rise but in the long run it could go down back to normal or even lower.

Jp #24 said...

I think that Obama is getting so much criticism about his stimulus plan is due to that many of the Democrats and Republicans were in congress before he took office passing plans that didn't end up working and passing this plan would just undo what they started. It just caused our economy to run itself into where we are at today. Another thought comes into mind that what if the Democrats and Republicans dont want to be just remember as congress that passed a plan that sunk our battleship (economy). I also think that many congress men and woman were caught off guard when Obama came into office and already had a plan and wanted it to pass. Unlike in the pass with Bush that really didn't have a long term solution as Bush knew that he was going out of office and the next person to take office has the job to fix it. The congress must see that like Obama has said government is the only thing now that can stop this reccision and put back our economy back on track. I also agree with Dorkyboy ?? about communism idea if we weren't to have someone to step in our economy would hit rock bottom and then government would have to become communism as there isnt any other part of the economy that could support this nation. For this plan to work government just cant just step in and give buisness billions of dollars hoping them to spend , hire , and expand. It will also take the private sector to make this work as Obama says that 90 % of the job create and saving of jobs will be in the private sector.


Alright well Palo I can go on for days about this giving more opinion and facts on this subject but I have a ton of homework and I am tired form pratice.

See you tomorrow at school Coach.

JulianM said...

I believe that there so concern because the last plan had failed. Many people and officials seem to be worred about spending this great amount of money. I think if the government were to post and show a monthly bill on what the money is used for might lower and calm the American people.

kenzie said...

Well I think that the stimulus plan is gaining critisim from both political parties because it is a lot of money. If this plan fails then its almost like 800 billon dollars down the drain. I dont know much about democrates and repulicans and there stands on things, but if I was one of them that is what I would be worried about!I am not positive that the stimulus plan will work, but the way Obama is confident about it makes me feel a little better about this plan. I am not big on politics so I dont know things that would really help the econamy in a huge way because I dont know about other plans that have worked or failed. I just hope that Obamas stimulus plan will help the economy and not make it worse!

ls.n.franco said...

i think that the reason both the democratic and republican parties criticise President Obama's stimulus plan is because they saw that it didnt work when F.D.R. trued it in his time of presidency. they should let Obama try the plan and see what happens cause we are already in a big recession what bad can come of it since we are at rock bottom anyway. the parties should let the people of the United States put their two cents in on this plan and try to help ourselves out. thats what i think.

the government should JUST DO IT!!!

Unknown said...

i think president obama is getting criticized because he is new, and hes talking a lot about this plan and how things are going to change for the better. but who knows what will happen. i think obama knows what hes talking about.

-richard g. p3

AdrianA. said...

I think that Obama's stimulus plan is getting so much criticism because not many people belive it will work and want to get out of the recession right away. I think that elected officials should pass this plan because it might work and save jobs.

JENNAHwithaH said...

The stimulus plan is getting so much criticism because there is a lot of money on the line and well we can't really afford it right now especially if the plan does not work. Great ideas and plans usually take a couple of tries, it is very rare that some ideas are perfect on the first go. You have to set an idea find all of the problems and you reconstruct it to perfect it. In my opinion I think that the people in congress are right to not approve this plan. This is a great deal of money at stake and we cannot just throw it away on the first "solution" that comes our way. Yes time is running out but we don't want to make things worse by jumping the gun trying to make a speedy recovery which might complicate things even more. I think the elected officials should maybe create a new plan since not everyone is happy with this one.
-Jennah

keisha sharisse .. said...

I think Obama's economic stimulus plan is getting so much criticism because some people just dont think it will be effective. Either that or, they dont want to take the risk. But since history does repeat itself, they should at least have some faith in his plan because something similar to this has worked before.

Jonathan Picado said...

hey!!howisit going? hope i'll learn the most i can & since your strategies r good i know it is gonna be easy

ms.sparks said...

hey palo
its Liz Merlan.
well i think that obama is recieving so much critizum because people believe that he cant do nothing about it because the economy is very low that its impossible to bring up. But i also believe that obama can do something about the economy and prove everybody wrong.I think that the elected officals should give people money for they can pay their bills and everything they need to pay because its not theri fault that they economy went down and they are paying the price by loseing their house for the governments mistakes that made the economy go down.

Jon G. said...

His plan has so much criticism because It is Interfering with the marketplace... I can't really answer this...

Mireya said...

I think the reason the republicans and the democratic party have so much criticism against Obama's Stimulus plan is because they are probably of repeating the same mistake they did with the other bill they passed. In they are probably thinking that they might go on more debt. They want change to happen fast but thats now the plan is it's going to take time for the economy to get back together.

megan2317 said...

I think the reason the stimulus plan is receiving so much criticism is just the fear that it won’t work in the way it is designed. The government will be spending almost a trillion dollars on this plan that they will have to borrow and add to the already enormous debt. If it fails the economy will be even worse off than before. They want to be positive it will work before they put the stimulus plan into action.

Megan Conway Per. 3

Tanya said...

I feel President Obama's stimulus plan is receiving so much criticism by both parties because of the economic crisis we are in.I feel both democratic & republican parties fear the stimulus plan is too risky during these hard times.Both parties dont want to spend any more money that we dont have but instead they want to find a more affordable option,but president Obama is feeling the pressure & is urging congress to make a descision quickly.President Obama is going through a hard time having to try to fix this economic crisis,which is the main reason i feel president Obama is recieving such harsh criticism,because of the fear we all have of this stimulus plan failing.
-TanyaH:)

esmeralda said...

One of the biggest reaons why Obama's stimulus plan is being critized so much by both political parties is because it is going to need ALOT of money to get it working. and since our economy is doing very poorly right now, and withe the U.S. being in trilliions of dollars in debt, the congress doesnt really think that spending so much money is such a good idea. but the thing is that at least there is a plan in mind. we have to in a way, take a risk in other to see if this is going to work. like Obama said, we can't really procrastinate on this situation, we have to act now before things get even more worse than they are now. in order to bring our country back up, we defenitely need more jobs which our citizens can perform, and actually more money into things like education because thats what is going to help us in the future.

Unknown said...

well i think that people jus want everythgin to go away jus like that but its not...they need to no its going to take time and effort from the both of us...already its been about 3 or 4 weeks and obama has already drew out a plan to get us out of this crisis...when the first great depression happened they didnt have a stimulus plan...the war got us out of it...but were not in a war at least not yet haha....but obama is trying really hard to make this work and try to get the support of his fellow americans and the people who were supporters of mccain.i mean if this doesnt work then we can say at least we tried.
this is fernando in 3rd period =]

Adilene_Jimenez said...

obama is doing everything he can to try to save us fom our crises with the economiocs. he has alot of presure ever since he started to run for president because he means change in our history. Also everyone is scared that we might go to a bigger dipresion deeper then the one befor. all i can say is hope for the best suport what obama is trying to do take a chance dont let fear take over you.

L e O said...

sorry this is late....
but i think obama's stimulus plan is being criticized so much because people want a fast solution to the economic crises. The president let everyone know that this is going to take time, but at least he's trying to make things better and not just let it happen on its own.

Gladys said...

Hi Mr. Palo,
I Know it's late and i am sorry but here it is..... The reason i think that the stimulus plan is receiving criticism from both parties is because both believe that there way is the best way, and no one is going to be able to change their mind. They criticize Obama because he's not siding specificly with anyone in particular and wants to put in play what he believes to be the best plan for this economic crisis to be resolved. I believe Obama needs to follow through with his plan and what he has said he wants to do, because the way i see it is that what he has in mind of creating new jobs and relying less on foreign oil, etc. is the way to go to get the economy back on it's feet. :]

lizz said...

Well President Obama is doing the best he can to get our nation back on track.However many people think that the stimulus plan will not help because they are stuck with president Bush's faliure to bring us back to uor feet.The year 2010 is going to be very hard for President Obama.He has to gain the trust of all Americans who reside in the United States as well as everyone else around the world.I think that His stimulas plan will take time and thats prabably why people dont believe in it.The people want something that will fix everything right away.Our economy is relly bad from the past years and will take time to recover.The stimulus plan is just begining and will take time,America is just going to heve to be patient.
Elizabeth Lozano
Per.2

*julie* said...

i belive the reason president obama is getting so much criticism about the stimulus plan is because many people are angered that they havent seen much improvement from him since he got elected president.when obama got elected he promised many americans many things.people were in high hopes.one year later they havent seen all the promises he made.i feel like now they dont belive in him and his plans. i feel like this is the reason why he recives so much criticism from both parties. i also think our elected officials should back up obama and tell the american people that it IS going to work. if they give people the good feed back on obama i feel he wont be critisized so much.

julie<3 period:4 <3