Republicans threaten a filibuster

Looks like the loan to the car industry isn't going to happen--too many Republicans in the Senate aren't in favor of it. Do you think it's a good or a bad thing that filibusters can happen? Why do you think the Senate rules allow the minority party to prevent bills from becoming laws?

Last week for blogs for the quarter

Make 'em count!

Blagojevich

For those of you wondering how to pronounce the Illinois governor's last name...

For Aislinn, and anyone else who cares deeply about Caroline Kennedy...

A bloggingheads video discussing the possibility of her appointment to the Senate.

Ross Perot

Up close and personal, answering questions about third party politics and deficit spending! Calm down, I know you're excited....

We were talking about China today...

so who wants to move to Shanghai?

$15 billion for car companies

Here's an article with the details.

How did your Congresspeople vote?

The Washington Post has a really good website where you can look and see what's going on in Congress now and how each Congressperson has voted on each motion. Can you find a motion for cloture? Why would people vote against it.

AP GoPo students

Look who's benefiting from the bailout!

Holy cow.

Remember how we talked about how the governor gets to appoint people to fill an empty Senate seat? Well check out what the governor of Illinois just got arrested for.

Press conferences today

You can watch a video of a (relatively) recent George W Bush press conference here. How does this compare to the press conference you watched in class today?

Obama's CIA

Apparently anyone who was remotely involved in Bush's "enhanced interrogation tactics" we talked about won't be eligible to work at the CIA under Obama. What do you think?

AP GoPo students

Speaking of the decline of newspapers, the Chicago Tribune has gone bankrupt.

Thousands of hours of Nixon's tapes released?

Want to hear what Nixon was saying about hippies, civil rights activists, and the Vietnam War while he was president? It's all online here.

It's not just you

A new article says that most people may not be able to afford college in the near future. What role could our government play in helping people go to college? Should this be the government's job? What could be the down side of having a country full of people who can't afford to go to college?

Civil Rights singer dies

Read her obituary here--there's also an embedded video you can watch of her singing.

Who's got a driver's license?

This Washington Post article is all about how now that Iraq is becoming safer, more women are beginning to drive.

Our first black president?

This is an interesting editorial about Obama and being multiracial and the language we use to talk about being multiracial.

The article was written by a Hispanic, multiracial woman. Do you agree with what she says? Do her story and her perspective seem familiar to you?

Happy 84th birthday, Shirley Chisolm

Yesterday was the 84th birthday of the first African-American to be elected to Congress. She's a pretty incredible woman--you can read a brief biography here.

What college students are reading

A new study just came out, saying that TIME Magazine has become more popular among college students than Cosmo, and that CNN.com is now more popular than perezhilton.com.

Why do you think this is? Why have college students' reading habits changed? Do you think you'll be interested in reading TIME or CNN.com next year?

Two things about Guanatanamo Bay:

1. An op-ed about keeping people in jail forever without a trial.

2. An article about bin Laden's driver being sent from Guanatanamo Bay to Yemen.

Only AP students have blogs due this week!

Sorry, AP people....

A turnover for lobbyists

This is an interesting article about what's going on with lobbyists now that the Democrats are running the show in two branches.

Obama cabinet picks so far

Health and Human Services--Tom Daschle

Department of Homeland Security--Janet Napolitano

Secretary of State--Hillary Clinton

Secretary of the Treasury--Timothy Geitner

National Economic Council--Larry Summers

Secretary of Commerce--Bill Richardson

Pick one of the people above (NOT Hillary Clinton) and look them up. What's their background? What qualifies them for this job? Why do you think Obama picked this person?

An interview with tue guy who designed the Obama logo

An interesting interview--here.

Change we can believe in...in the legislative branch

An interesting article about how the Senate has changed, from the New York Times.

Other presidents' first hundred days

Take a look. (Nixon's first hundred days...holy cow.) What do you think might happen during Obama's first hundred days?

Who paid for Obama's campaign?

Here's a pretty decent campaign finance tracker.

Obama's pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services

His name is Tom Daschle. He used to be the Senate minority leader for the Democrats, and he was voted out of office a few years ago. Interestingly, he wasn't on the list of possible candidates on the CQ Politics game.

Change.gov

The Obama transition team has created a new website with the goal of linking people more directly to government. Do you think it is effective? Interesting? Does it make you want to get involved, or help you know how you can be more involved?

Obama + Twilight?

Kind of a silly article about politics and pop culture here.

AP GoPo students

Looks like Lieberman gets to keep his chairmanship!

Our president elect knows what YouTube is!

President elect Obama gave the first of what will be a weekly address via YouTube this weekend. What did you think of his speech, and what do you think of this idea?

Two extra credit points for the first person who comments with an answer to the following:

1. What other President became famous for giving weekly addresses?

2. What form of technology did this president first use to give these addresses?

Possibility of immigration reform under President Elect Obama

Listen to the story here. Why might immigration reform be more likely after Obama becomes president? What role would Congress play, here?

Hip-hop love for Obama

If you care deeply about what Nas has to say about politics, read on.

NO BLOG DUE THIS WEEK

Because of the Monday holiday and senior retreat, you will not have a blog comment due on Friday. Have a good time on your retreat!

AP GoPo students

For a decent explanation of what's going on with Stevens and Liberman in the Senate, check it out.

Build Obama's cabinet!

Click here to watch the video and play the game.

Reactions to Obama's election in Selma

This is a good, brief interview with people in Selma, Alabama talking about the Civil Rights movement and Obama's election.

So which people voted for Obama?

Interesting polling information says that black voters, highly educated voters, and middle-age voters were key to helping Obama win this election.

OBAMA WINS!!!!

Maya Angelou had some beautiful things to say.

And I thought this political cartoon was pretty cool. 

AP GoPo students

Was 2008 the death of public campaign financing? A former Democratic senator thinks so.

Hopes and fears

What hopes do you have for this election? What would you like to see happen? What do you want our new president to do in January?

What fears do you have for tonight/tomorrow? What about in January?

For those of you who are Spanish-speakers...

This site was created to help encourage Latinos to vote. My Spanish is almost non-existent--do you think the site is effective?

New black voters

Check out a pretty inspiring article about people who are voting for the first time in this election. A cool statistic: "In Georgia, for instance, blacks represented a quarter of all voters in the 2004 presidential election. So far this year in early voting alone, they make up 35 percent of all voters."

Lots of youth voting in the '08 election?

Not according to some polling. Why do you think this is?

Obama's 30-minute infomercial

A link to it with discussion here.

Interesting and honest interviews about race and the election

Found here.

Hey, AP GoPo students

This is a good site for a breakdown of who's spending what and where the candidates' money comes from. What does it tell you about who's spending money, who's getting money, who's giving money, and why?

Bribing people to vote

with ice cream!

More SNL goodness

From last night. 

In this skit, Will Ferrell lists several "jobs" of the vice president. What does he get right, and what does he get wrong? What does the VP actually do?

Questions about who's winning?

Get them answered here. It's an audio file from NPR's Morning Edition about how polls are conducted and how we know who's ahead.

Your turn.

Post a link to something interesting (and appropriate, of course,)  and summarize it. What does it say/what is it, and why do you find it interesting?

Things are looking good for Obama

Check out the updated electoral map on CQPolitics.com. Why do you think things are swinging in his favor?

Things are looking good for Obama

Check out the updated electoral map on CQPolitics.com. Why do you think things are swinging in his favor?

Sarah Palin on SNL

Palin Rap!

And the accompanying NYT article.

A female draft?

Looks like the New York Times has been thinking about it too!

The candidates went to dinner last night...

They gave speeches that were pretty funny--they made fun of themselves and each other. It's all on YouTube: McCain's speech and Obama's speech.

Want to see the commercials the people in the swing states are seeing?

Ta-da! Do you think these commercials are convincing? Both sides have complained that their views are not accurately demonstrated in the opposition's advertising. Neither side has apologized or stopped showing any commercials. 

Do you think the commercials are effective? What would you think if you were a voter living in Ohio?

Test your history of past debates

Plus a lot of kind of cool old footage from past debates. How have debates changed over time?

Last debate

What do you think? Who won? Do you think this will change the race at all?

THE LAST DEBATE IS TONIGHT!!!

If you haven't done your debatewatcher assignment yet, make sure to watch. A NY Times blog entry about what to look for: it's about the economy and domestic issues.

Death penalty

Read the article and comment: this guy is scheduled to die, even though seven out of nine witnesses who testified against him have recanted, or taken back what they said. Even Pope Benedict is weighing in. Why do you think the Supreme Court and Georgia are going ahead with the execution anyway?

From DJ

A video for a song from the 2004 election that's been put up in support of Obama this time around.

Why do you think so many celebrities are supporting Obama instead of McCain? (This should be a fact-based, logical answer! "Obama for your momma" does not count!)

New poll numbers

This poll asks who "likely voters" will vote for for president. What are the differences between a regular person, a registered voter, and a likely voter? Why do you think it matters that Gallup is surveying likely voters instead of any old person?

High school economics will save the future!

Read/listen to a story about high school econ here, and part of an email from an ICA grad, class of '07 below:

The oldest registered voter in Connecticut!

This woman is hardcore--she voted in the first presidential election women were allowed to vote in!

Comedy and the election

This article interviews Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of SNL. Do you think the election is making more people watch SNL? And do you think linking comedy with politics is a good thing?

Who you callin' a maverick?

You know how Palin kept referring to the idea that she and McCain are both seen as "outsiders" and "mavericks"? Here's a crazy article about the history of the term. A big shout out to Ms Man who sent the article.