Bipartisan Policy Center

I recently found the Bipartisan Policy Center's website!  Just in time for my final essay about my solution to the problem of polarization in America!  There are many useful items on this website that I can use to support my to gain more knowledge on the history and future of the issue as a whole.  The link is, http://bipartisanpolicy.org/.  I will deffinarely be using this source often throughout my essay. 

Works Cited

"Bipartisan Policy Center." Bipartisan Policy Center. N.p., 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. <http://bipartisanpolicy.org/>.

Congress 2013

 

     American Congress holds 435 seats in the House of Representatives (with 5 delegates and 1 resident commisioner) and 100 seats in the Senate.  These men and women are who the states elected to create and edit the laws America will follow.  There are currently 278 Republicans, 252 Democrats, and 2 Independents total in America's Congress.  This is... dumb!  How can America expect to gain anything good from legislature split almost directly down the middle?  These politicians want to stay true to their party, which should mean staying true to their constituents, but the constituents are also split in half.  America is split virtually right down the middle, so no matter which way the law gos there will be one half of America unhappy with the Congressional decision.  If we had more Independents, I would think there would be more compromise because there would be more middle ground.  The Republicans and Democrats won't compromise on their own because they only want what the party wants; not what the country needs.

Works Cited

"Office of the Clerk, United States House of Representatives." Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of 

     Representatives. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

Facebook Politics

     This post I found on, "Upworthy," was excellent!  I've been caught up in my fair share of Facebook political arguments and this is easy to relate to.  I'd probably be the lazy activist or the thoughtful one (depending on who was in the argument).  I also posted this because I believe this is the basic set up of the arguments actual politicians we vote for have.  A group of people fighting about something that they could fix with a spoonful of levelheadedness. 

Mitchell, Chase. Every Terrible Political Argument You've Ever Seen On Facebook In A Nutshell. 
     Digital image. Upworthy. Mansur Gidfar, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://www.upworthy.com/every-
     terrible-political-argument-youve-ever-seen-on-facebook-in-a-nutshell>.

Promising Polarization

     The article, "Shutdown’s Roots Lie in Deeply Embedded Divisions in America’s Politics," from, The Washington Post, describes how the government shut down is a direct effect of the parties polarizing in their view points.  Balz mentions how eventually the government will  turn back on and our lives will once again be normal, but also states, "...it also could be a new normal, as confrontation remains commonplace and true compromise rare" (Balz 1).  With the Democrats and Republicans speeding further away form the center, America is losing the sense of compromise it was founded on.  The word, "compromise," is made up of com- and -promise.  The meaning of the prefix, "com-" from prefixsuffix.com is, "fully" (English Language Roots 3).  Based on this combination of com- and -promise, I would say that compromise is more important than it's connotation is.  A compromise is a full promise.  Or maybe compromise is full of promise.  But either way you look at it, it's needed.  Our nation as whole should take a moment to remember why the constitution was created. Take a moment and remember all of the compromise that went into making the constitution before it's too late, and all of the Framers hard work crumbles because Americans forgot how much promise the Framers intended America to keep.

HerrFous. Broken Promises. N.d. Photograph. The New Advocate. 07 Mar. 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. <http://thenewadvocate.com/promises-seths-experience-with-apple/>.

Works Cited

Balz, Dan. "Shutdown's Roots Lie in Deeply Embedded Divisions in America's Politics." Washington Post.
           N.p., 05 Oct. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. <http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-10-05/politics
          /42743030_1_government-shutdown-federal-government-politics>.

"English Language Roots." Prefix Suffix. N.p., 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

New Topic

Well, I got a C on my casual analysis, but for good reason.  My professor have me some excellent feedback, but I will admit I stubbornly disagreed at first.  All the, "I'm right, you're wrong," and the, "you just didn't know what i meant."  This essay was difficult for me and this helped me understand for future English classes.  Anyway, my essay is still about political parties and the need for a multiparty system, but those are for the solutions in my third essay.  My first essay should have been written on the reasons for the polarization of the Democrats and Republicans.  Here is a blog post by Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver, about the polarization of the senate and voters.  It has many nice visual representations of the statistics also. 

Masket, Seth. "Our Political Parties Have Polarized, But They Have a Lot Further to Go." Pacific Standard. N.p., 14 May 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. <http://www.psmag.com/blogs/seth-masket/congressional-party-polarization-senate-politics-57578/>.

Two Parties Emerge

       This passage of the U.S. History Online Textbook is about the history of the  first U.S. election with political parties and why the parties developed.  The author says, when referring to the Federalists views of their opponents, "They viewed their opponents as dangerous radicals who would bring the anarchy of the French Revolution to America" (Ushistory.org) and this is how our party system works today.  Republicans see Democrats as radicals and Democrats see Republicans as radicals.  Both parties feel that if the other party disagrees with their opinion, it's not because it's a bad idea, it's because they don't want their constituents to think they have the opposite parties beliefs.  The two party system is broken because the two parties don't want to compromise.  If there were more moderates or independents in congress (or on the ballots) we would see a more well rounded America with compromise and promises that are kept.

Works Cited

Ushistory.org. "Two Parties Emerge." U.S. History Online Textbook. N.p., 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.      <http://www.ushistory.org/us/19c.asp>.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - Slipping

This is one of my favorite movies and some of the lyrics correlate with my social issue.  I'm considering using it in one of my essays.  
"Why can’t they see what I see? Why can’t they hear the lies?
Maybe the fee’s too pricey for them to realize
Your disguise is slipping
I think you’re slipping"

I definitely suggest you all watch it because it's beautiful!  You can find it on Hulu, Netflix, iTunes, drhorrible.com, and youtube.com  The summary of the movie from imdb.com is

              "Dr. Horrible, an aspiring super villain with his own video blog, is attempting to join the prestigious Evil League of Evil (led by the legendary "thoroughbred of sin", Bad Horse), but his plans are usually foiled by the egotistical superhero Captain Hammer. Horrible's life is thrown for a loop when he falls in love with Penny, a beautiful and optimistic advocate for the homeless he meets at the laundromat, a situation which complicates itself even further when Penny begins dating the boorish, oafish Hammer after he apparently saves her life. Faced with the task of impressing the League, can Horrible overcome his own incompetence to ruin the day, kill the hero, and still get the girl?"

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Dir. Joss Whedon. Perf. Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion and Felicia
       Day. 2008. TV Mini Series.
 "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2013.

Political Parties Rap by: smartsongsmusic

My government teacher used this video to help teach us about Republicans and Democrats.  I really enjoyed it.  These guys are great!

Abstract

Abstract to Causal Essay

       The United States of America has held their elections with two parties since the ratification of the Constitution.  Since then America has grown in size, population, and public demands.  With rising populations and more traumatic events happening in the world, there has been a polarization of the parties.  This polarization has split our government so far away from the middle that most citizens dislike both candidates and are voting for, "The lesser of two evils."  Between polarization, the outdated system, and public demand, America needs to make a change.