Congress _Relfection_Paper

American Political System

Congress

Reflection assignment

---

Choose a section from either of the Washington Post articles in this blog. Write out the passage. Explain the meaning of the passage and why you chose it. You do not have to read the articles I listed in the syllabus.

 It was stated that all laws were originated in the house, and then must be referred to the state finance committee, and all other laws must be reviewed by the Senate or congress before it can be approved. I chose to write about the ways, and means committee that are responsible for creating all laws regarding taxation. This passage has stood out to me more than the others because I learned how international trade tariffs policies actually function.

I was enlightened to know that the President has the most control over the way trade tariffs are created. The Senate and the House might become partisan, in the matter of trade tariffs, and become influenced by lobbyists. The change occurred in the 1930’s due to senators raising the tariffs on foreign imports, thus raising the price of consumer goods. The President is not influenced by any entity so his motivations for governing tariffs would benefit the country as a whole. The president can veto bills that Congress wants to pass, and Congress can override the President’s signature on matters if they have a 2/3 vote. This ideology gives an equilibrium of power, and is essential for ensuring that one power does not become stronger than the other.

Marshall_Civil_Liberties

The Passage that I chose 

Marshall argues the demand for social rights really begins with the idea of public education. If civil rights literally means only that the government cannot interfere with you, then on that basis alone there is no clear right to provide education for all the people. Same with political rights and the right to vote. It is of course a commonly accepted value that everyone is entitled to go to school, at least primary school, but this is only because we accept the idea of education as a kind of social right that everyone needs. In today's politics, things like healthcare would be considered a social right. This however makes it clear, that not everyone agrees on the idea of social rights. When it comes to healthcare most other countries have accepted it as a social right, this is still something debated in the U.S. With education there is a continuing effort to privatize education and de-fund and eventually shut down many public schools.

My Perception of the passage

Marshall discusses the idea of social rights, the dynamics which propel its ideologies. In the latter passage he mentions his perspective of social rights, and how it begins with public education. Civil rights protects people from government infringement which he states there is no right for the government to educate the public. In order for a strong political society to exist, its members must be educated, but he goes to state that social standard began to accept the basis of at least a primary education. 

Why I chose this Passage

I chose this passage because in the American society social rights are a big piece of history, and people still are trying to identify where they fit in it. I think that there is a confusion of the term right, what is right, and what one may think is right. There are two ways to think of the term. We can define the term as the truth, a fact, and something that is unchangeable. Secondly we can view it in a moral stand point, which will always be pointed.

Conclusion

Indeed education is the primary factor in establishing social rights. If a person perceives their realities based upon what they know, then they will only come to accept life as far as their common knowledge. Civil rights then will be a product of what the communities produce daily. What political force would come from educated societies vs. uneducated societies? There will ultimately be sets of classes based on what each class is capable of; hence a huge gap will be placed upon the division.