The article articulates the analysis of the budget proposal by President Obama concerning the increase of taxes for the airline industries. The airline industries disagree to this move stating that the passengers are already overtaxed. The recipients, on the other hand, agree to the taxes stating that the lack of changes has caused delays in the airline company. The congress passed a legislation that allows the “Federal Aviation Administration” to make independent cuts of its expenditure, unlike in the past. The congress points out that there has been wasteful spending in the aviation especially the Transportation Security Administration.
The article relates to the topic on Chapter 14 on the Congress and the president on matters relating to the budget and decisions making. The president and the congress are caught in between decision making on the government spending and allocation of taxes, the implementation of the legislation that facilitates taxing, and budgetary requirements. The topic evaluates budgetary process and the role of the congress. It also outlines how the government acquires resources for its expenditure and how the resources are distributed.
Taxing has always been a sensitive topic to discuss in America, especially when it is increased. I feel the article has evaluated the reaction of the article from the proposers and the opposing side. It has included opinion of experts on the matter and analyzed the effectiveness of the decision by the president and the congress. The author has analyzed the budget proposal from all angles leaving the reader’s mind with several options.
The article addresses the issue of taxing online retailers and customers. The bill has been proposed in Congress house, which has elicited various reactions among the Republicans and Government activists. The bill was written by Steve Womack, who says tough decisions must be made to serve Americans better. He asserts that his constituents tell him he was not elected by Grover Norquist who is an anti-tax activist. The bill was passes unanimously since it brought fairness to all taxpayers and the government would generate $24 Billion on taxes.
The article relates to the decision-making policies in the congress in Chapter 14 and slightly on the role of civil rights group in Chapter 4. Taxes must be paid by all dutifully; thus the article assists in identifying areas that the government loses its revenues and policies implemented to identify. The process of writing a bill and passing it into a law is included in the article. The role of the opposition in the congress and enforcing the will of the people as discussed in the unit is also easily understood.
Therefore, I was able to relate with the role of the congress in passing bills into legislation once they have been brought to the congress. The role of the opposition in the house was identified as one that pushes for the will of the people. Online business need to be taxed to ensure uniformity for all business people and standardize the prices of goods. The revenue collected by the government from the online sales will improve the government revenues in spending on important issues such as health.
The issue addressing civil liberties and public policies in the study are inclusive in the article. The government is constitutional and democratic; thus there are laws that protect the citizens from exploitations. The civil groups are allowed to hold meetings and sit-ins as a way to discuss issues that affect them without intimidations from the government. The story relates to the impinging of rights of the civil groups.
Hence, I understand that civil groups have the freedom to express issues provided they do not break the law. The government has a responsibility also to protect and offer security for the majority. The government has authority to interfere with situations that are a threat to the majority. The evidence however needs to be sufficient, since the president can use this authority to protect his own interests.
Republicans are raising issues over the security of the American diplomats in Libya, which led to the death of a US diplomat, and three other Americans. The republicans were accusing the government for neglect; hence a great battle with the Democrats. The Democrats state it is incident frequent in countries that are dangerous, and the republicans should not make it political. The article writes on the incidence of the attacks mentioning how they occurred before the actual blast that killed the Libyan ambassador. The republicans pointed that a cover up scheme was underway since the US ambassador in the United Nations was trained on how to deliver her speech concerning the issue. The Accountability review Board determined that there was poor management and decision making among the officials that affected security leading to their attacks. The congress has been given the mandate to hear the case from all witness, and five committees will examine the case.
The role of the congress has been explored from a different dimension in the article. The attacks of Americans on national duties are handled with seriousness. This relates with chapter 12 on the congress position to discuss matters of national security and terrorism, and chapter 20 that analyses the policy making for national security. Several ideas of Chapter 7 are mentioned with how the media should report on news that affects national security without affecting the nation’s stability.
The government has really tried on keeping its promises against terrorists. The death of the Libyan ambassador cannot be linked to the Democrat government, especially if they had not reported of any danger. The republican cannot conclusively agree that the attacks were politically motivated. The issue however is taking long to be addressed if the witnesses have already given their evidences. The release of the information to the media needs to be done in a civil manner to avoid causing instability among the American nationals.
The article is about Bob McDonnell who is a gubernatorial contender in 2016 for the state of Virginia. He has been reported to have received gifts and funding from other politicians and business people. According to the constitution, any one vying for the seat needs to report on his assets and gifts they have received. However, he did not report about a $15,000 gift he had received for food during his daughter’s party. The family’ chef disclosed this information to the media. Bob’s wife, Maureen, has been reported to fly with the plane belonging to William who also contributed more than $ 120,000 in his previous campaigns. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been involved in the issue where they are investigating the matter with leads of Mr. William supporting other political aspirants for the governor’s seat.
The nomination procedure for the political post or office is illustrated in Chapter 9. The person nominated to contest using a particular party is required to provide information of all gifts and money received from others. The article analyses the failure of submission of information by an individual and what follows after. Therefore, the government must investigate an individual if they violate any of the laws. Public opinion is also introduced in the story where the Chef reveals about the gift. The public are entitled to offer opinion that will support the upholding of the constitution as recorded in chapter 6.
The chef did a right thing as it exposes the truth and protects the citizens from exploit by self-seeking individuals. Such gifts act as bribery forcing the elected leader to comply with the wishes of the one who funded him. The article relates to issues that affect citizens during nominations and election of individuals who want to preserve their individual interests.
References
Are we getting straight answers on IRS, 17Th May, 2013. Edition.cnn.com
Biskupic, Joan, and David Ingram. Once a beacon, Obama under fire over civil liberties, 15Th May, 2013. News.yahoo.com
Edwards,George, Martin, Wattenberg and Robert, Lineberry. Government in America. New York: Pearson Publishers.
Gabriel, Trip. Scandal Involving Gifts and Theft Charges Complicates Politics in Virginia, 18Th May, 2013. www.nytimes.com.
Kaiser, Frederick M. Congressional Oversight. Congressional Research Service, 1St February, 2006.
Kortione, Gregory. Planted question gambit backfires on IRS officials, 18Th May, 2013. www.usatoday.com
Political ticker, 18 May 2013. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/16/obama-to-name-giffords-to-fulbright-board/?iref=allsearch
Reuters. Benghazi attacks and U.S. politics, 15 May 2013. News.yahoo.com.
Stellin, Susan. Tax Proposals Open a Debate on Airline Industry’s Troubles, 6Th May, 2013. NewYork Times, nytimes.com.
Weisman, Jonathan. Push to Require Online Sales Tax Divides the G.O.P, 28Aprl 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/us/politics/bill-on-sales-tax-for-internet-purchases-divides-republicans.html?ref=federaltaxesus
