Answering Hopes Questions on the Economy:
1. If we continue to accumulate debt at the rate that we are, how much debt will America have by 2020? How will this affect future generations?
2. Are there any solutions to help our country decrease its debt in an efficient manner? If so, what are they?
3. How does our debt compare with other countries' debts? What does this mean for America? {CUTTED_COMMENT} more... less...


1. As the chart shows by 2020 the national debt of the US will be 22.5 Trillion Dollars.



2. Decreasing the debt can be done efficiently with compromise and cuts to the right sections. The cuts that would produce lots of money lie in the defense sector but no one wants to make the cuts to the military. Some money would be made back from taxing the wealthy that make $250,000 and above it should be based on a percentage of income, the middle class should not pay as much in taxes as the wealthy. America must learn to cut instead of throwing money at the economy and hoping to change. The economy cannot be controlled by just America, it is global therefor a global issue. However we can bring business back to America by putting unrealistic tariffs on foreign goods such as Nike products, this would help bring business back to America. Solutions using tariffs, and manipulation of powers is much greater than just pumping money in the economy.

3. If you watch the world news every night or read the paper you'll see Greece, Italy, Egypt and many other countries economies are struggling just as much as ours is. It is not just a domestic issue but a chain reaction that reaches all of the world. What this means for America is that we have less reliable companies to invest in, and others around the world lose faith investing in our companies. This is just one of a plethora of consequences from a global recession.

Tax Payer Article

http://www.taxpayer.net/resources.php?action=issues&proj_id=3791&category=Bailout&type=Project
Budget Bailout
Budget Bailout will cost taxpayers an estimated $66 Billion Dollars
AIG was given 182.3 Billion Dollars from the government
600 banks received 60 billion dollars overall and are unwilling or unable to pay back those funds
In the 2 years after the recession 279 banks have failed
66 retail credit unions have closed

tp://www.taxpayer.net/resources.php?action=issues&proj_id=5030&category=Federal%20Budget&type=Project
A bill was proposed for military spending for 670 Billion Dollars

NY Times Budget Puzzle

For the 2015 short fall I saved $593 Billion Dollars, for 2030 I saved $1,366 Billion dollars.
64% Were saving from tax increases, 36% came from spending cuts.

The easier part of the puzzle was making cuts to the military. Even though we are just getting out of a war in Iraq and still in Afghanistan I feel that we do not need to enter into war at this time. I also cut nuclear funding we have about 1000 nuclear war heads, one should be enough to destroy a target why would we need more? I tried to stay away from tax increases and cutting federal workers because both of my parents are government employees. I think if spending cuts were just made to the military it would easily cut our budget in half.

Bills

Bills:

1. H. Res. 211- Justin Juliano 
2. S. 977: A bill to fight criminal gangs- Sandra Goldshcmit 
3. S. 499: Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act -Tom Nguyen

Bill chosen to write letter to congressmen about: S. 499: Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act 

Terry Gross Interview

Facts: 

1. Genetic engineering may soon allow parents to control what their children look like.
2. New technologies challenge our constitutional categories in dramatic ways.
3. Technology challenges personal vs. private space, freedom of space, and individual autonomy. 
4. United States vs. Jones is debating whether police need a warrant to put a gps tracker on cars. 
5. Gps case has the potential to become the case of the century.
6. Brandeis wrote the dissenting opinion in Olmstead v. United States.
7. Olmstead v. United States case which the court ruled that neither the Fourth Amendment nor the Fifth Amendment protects a defendant against having personal conversations wiretapped by federal agents.
8. New technologies could be created in the near future that would challenge future constitutional laws. 
9. Leaders of technology and internet are writing the book on freedom of expression and speech.
10. Google has been under pressure from U.S. government to remove terrorist videos from YouTube.

Questions:

1. Where does the border lie between public and private with technology?
2. Do police have the right to incriminate you based on facebook/twitter information?
3. Is there jurisdiction on the internet?
4. Can America tell google and youtube to take down any videos or is this a violation of free speech?
5. Can free speech be violated on the internet?

Obama's asks Iran for Drone Back

Questions:
1. President Obama failed to act on destroying the predator drone when the chance was had. He follows that mistake by asking Iran our enemy "If we can have our drone returned to the US". These actions are not only a smack in the face to our foreign policy, but has made our country look like a weak joke that is now being mocked in Iran what are the reprecussions of these actions, also how badly will this hurt Obamas campaign?
2. Why would Obama not destroy the drone?
3. How inexperienced is Obama in foreign policy.

Electoral College Reform Daniel Lazare

Facts:

1. President is elected by electors not popular vote.
2. The election of 2000 was decided 36 days after the election should have been decided. 
3. Electoral college usually undermines third parties, independents never have a chance to be president. 
4. Voter population grew more diverse, more vast as property qualifications became obsolete and women/african americans gained voting rights.
5. The electoral college does not properly convey the views of the diverse voter population. 
6. Malaportionment is a common feature of democratic government. 
7. Gore did not win the popular vote in the 2000 election despite the closeness.
8. The senate is malaportioned, no one makes a big deal about this.
9. Society has reached a dead end and radical change is unavoidable. 
10. 2% of the ballots in 2000 election were not counted. 

Questions:

1. How is the electoral college ever been democratic?
2. Why has the electoral college not been made obsolete already?
3. When was the electoral college put into place?
4. What percent of the US is in favor of the electoral college?
5. Is the electoral college constitutional?

In America we live in an indirect democracy. If we live in a direct democracy we would never have heard of this electoral college. I believe that even though we live in an indirect democracy the electoral college is unconstitutional. I believe that the elections should be based off of popular vote I cannot understand why  a college is needed if we the people are supposed to elect our leaders. I would abolish the electoral college and initiate American spirit to increase voter turnout.