Spoils v Merit

The Spoils System is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to it's supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party. A Merit System is where offices are awarded on the basis of some measure of merit, independent of political activity. The spoils system flourished in the US from the 1820's until after the Civil war, at which the time the system's abuses prompted civil-service reforms designed to cut down the number of government posts filled by appointment and awarded jobs on the basis of the merit. The spoils system is still used today to award federal top jobs to people.

Business Cycles, Recessions, and Depressions

      It is so tough for economists to predict the business cycle because of the economic growth and falling unemployment began to strain the economy's productive capacity. Inflation is also a big reason as to why it's hard for economists to predict. Since the economy grows because of the rising population and productivity, it goes through cycles of expansion and recession. A bull market is a financial market of a group of securities in which prices are rising or are expected to rise. This term is most often used to refer to the stock market, but can be applied to anything that is traded, such as bonds, currencies and commodities. A bear market is a market condition in which the prices of securities are falling, and widespread pessimism causes the negative sentiment to be self-sustaining. All of the bad that came with the devastating recessions eventually faded. America had depressions in the 1870's and 1930's but both eventually gave way to new booms. Japan has not yet put its debts behind. Millions of Americans defaulted and lost their homes during and after the Great Recession, but America will again grow until something new knocks it down again. A recession is a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity is reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters. A depression is a long severe recession in an economy or market.

The Underground Economy

     The underground economy involves the exchange of goods and services that are usually hidden from official view. Underground economies are usually found in places like Brazil or in southern Europe. Underground activity in the past year totaled almost as much as $2 trillion. This "hidden" economy can be beneficial because consumer spending in the short term is boosting the economy. It can be detrimental because the workers who aren't on the books don't get social security or health benefits. These jobs run the risk of getting exploited with lower pay or not being paid at all.

Net Neutrality

     Net neutrality is basically the idea that whoever gives you internet access, Comcast, Verizon, etc, should treat all Internet traffic the same way. Net neutrality is important to consumers because it gives free speech online and democratic participation. The FCC will be able to enact new rules that will prevent Internet service providers from manipulating how quickly or slowly sites are transmitted along their networks, which is a huge win for proponents of net neutrality.

Cell Phones and The Constitution

      I think that it is a good idea for the police to be able to search your cell phone without a warrant. Police are allowed to seize and examine anything you have on you, so why should a cell phone be any different. I mean I think there should be an extent to when they can search your phone. In the Riley v. California case they said "During the traffic stop, police found two loaded guns"(14) so they examined his smartphone and found evidence that he was associated with a local gang. In this case I think it was in the police's best interest to search David's phone. "The possibility that evidence could be destroyed or hidden by remote wiping,"(16) this quote is saying that if the police had to wait to get a warrant to search his phone, all evidence of David being associated with a shooting with a local gang, they would have never been convicted to attempted murder. "But in landmark ruling about privacy rights this summer, the Supreme Court overturned Riley's conviction."(14) Since the police didn't get a warrant before searching David's phone, the Supreme Court said that he was accused improperly so they threw out his conviction. I don't agree with the Supreme Court's ruling because now David doesn't have to serve 15 years to life of attempted murder that there was evidence he did.

Oklahoma Lethal Injection

On Friday, the Supreme Court had agreed to take a case that concerned the lethal injection protocol that had left an inmate in Oklahoma to die slowly and gasping for breath last year. This case was brought up by inmates who had claimed that the state protocol violates the Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. This could open up a new chapter in the ongoing battle over the system of execution procedures in the U.S. Oklahoma's Attorney General Scott Pruitt actually defended the state's lethal injection procedure in a statement on Friday. Oklahoma uses an intravenous injection, which means within a vein, of Midazolan meant to cause unconsciousness. This was then followed by Rocuronium bromide which works as a paralytic and then potassium chloride that serves as a heart-stopping agent. Midazolam, is not FDA approved as a general anesthetic and they claim that it fails to maintain unconsciousness. What happened during the execution of convicted murderer and rapist, Clayton Lockett still remains unclear. Witnesses had described the man to be convulsing and struggling to speak. States that have capital punishment have been forced to find new drugs to use since European-based manufacturers had banned United States prison from using theirs for executions.The execution process of Lockett was halted, but he died of a heart attack. Apparently there have only been three executions where the prisoner was not paralyzed after the admin of mid and all three went horribly awry, raising serious concerns about the drug and whether it allow humane execution. I think that they should just get rid of the drug in general. I think that it's dumb that if the drug isn't producing a humane execution why is it even a thing?

Electoral College

      The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors who cast votes that decide the Vice-President and the President of the United States. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes, which is 270, wins the Presidency. 538 is the sum of the nation's 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 electors given to the District. The Electoral College was created because the Founding Fathers, did not want the ignorant masses determining the fate of the country they worked so hard to create. So, they created a "college" of well-educated people to pick the president. Although this system is flawed, I think that the Electoral College system is fair. It ensures that the small states are ensured that they will have an actual say in the process.