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. 

Obama seeks $6.2B

       On November 4, Obama had met with Congress to ask for $6.2 billion to go to emergency funds to help stop Ebola at it's source and stop the possible spread of it in the United States. The plan goes like this, $2 billion would be selected for the United States Agency for International Development, $2.4 billion would go to the Department of Health & Human Services and more than $1.5 billion would go to a contingency fund. $4.64 billion would be going into immediate spending to build up the public health in the United States. fight against the disease in West Africa, and quicken the development and testing of cures and other remedies. This money would also aid defenseless foreign countries respond to Ebola. The issue at hand is that Obama wants to stop the potential spread of Ebola into the United States. 

      I feel like this could be a very successful plan, but at the same time it's not. Obama's going to face challenges with reassuring the public that although Ebola is a difficult disease to contract inside the United States, stopping the disease at the primary source is top priority. 

The 13th Amendment

     The 13th Amendment was greater by Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. There were many difficulties that were involved with the proposal and the ratification of the 13th Amendment. Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all people held as slaves, shall be free. It only applied to states designated as being in rebellion. It did not apply to slave-holding border states. Lincoln had enlisted a group to promise jobs to the lame duck politicians if they voted for the amendment. Lincoln was not ethical because he bought votes and lied about peace talks. Lincoln believed the amendment was so important because he believed that by abolishing slavery, it would in a way create peace because Confederacy would have nothing to fight for.