Pending Bills

1.   S. 1458: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012: Bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2012 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.
      Status: This bill was considered in committee which has recommended it be considered by the Senate                           as a whole.

2.   H.R. 3359: Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act: To amend the Animal Welfare Act to restrict the use of exotic and non-domesticated animals in traveling circuses and exhibitions.
        Status: This bill is in the first step in the legislative process.

3.   H.R. 2359: Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011: To amend title VI of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ensure the safe use of cosmetics, and for other purposes.
        Status:  This bill is in the first step in the legislative process.


I have chosen to examine H.R. 2359: Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 further. 


Details of the bill:

1. Designed to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to ensure that personal care products are free of harmful ingredients and that ingredients are fully disclosed.
2.  It will also help the cosmetics industry by fostering the development of the safer products American consumers are demanding.
3. Phase-out of ingredients linked to cancer, birth defects and developmental harm.
4. Elimination of labeling loopholes by requiring full ingredient disclosure on product labels and company websites, including salon products and the constituent ingredients of fragrance.
5. Required data-sharing to avoid duplicative testing and encourage the development of alternatives to animal testing.
6. Creation of a health-based safety standard that includes protections for children, the elderly, workers and other vulnerable populations.

Questions:

1. Will the bill require companies to test every product?
2. How will the bill impact small business? How about big business?
3. What does the bill say about animal testing?

Political Cartoon 11/29

1. Does the author think the congressional Super Committee?

2. Do you think this committee will be successful, or is it likely to become gridlocked?

3. What would the author predict for the future in regards to the Super Committee?

2008 Presidential Election Returns

Pennsylvania's 2008 Presidential Election Returns by District

1. Obama won 54.7% of the votes, while McCain won 44.3%.
2. The candidates split the white vote, but Obama was the overwhelming choice among blacks and Hispanics.
3. Obama's victory marked the fifth straight presidential election in which the Democrats carried Pennsylvania.
4. Democrats now outnumber Republicans by more than 1 million in PA.
5. McCain spent nearly three times as many days campaigning in Pennsylvania as Obama did. 

PA's Congressional Districts

PA's 19 Congressional Districts

1. Delaware County is split into two different congressional districts- District 1 and District 7.
2. Our district is represented by Pat Meehan, a Republican.
3. The 14th district is made up solely by Allegheny County.
4. 7 out of the 19 districts are represented by a Democrat in Congress.
5. 12 out of the 19 districts are represented by a Republican in Congress.
6. Most of the districts follow a boxy shape, which shows they were probably not gerrymandered.
7. Philadelphia is split into 5 different congressional districts.
8. All 19 districts have about the same number of people living in them.
9. District 5 has the most number of counties in it (17).
10. Some districts have more counties in them and are larger in area, but this is because the counties have fewer people.

Death Penalty Questions To Answer

 1. On average, how long are inmates held on death row before they are put to death?


 2.  Is it more expensive to imprison someone or punish them them with the death penalty?


 3. How many states have banned the death penalty, and how many states still have it?

How Washington Works

Facts and Comments:

1. Political parties have a social impact: most politicians fraternize mainly with colleagues from within their own party.
2. Very few politicians go home to retire or make money. Most stay in Washington and become lawyers, lobbyists, or consultants. 
3. The city and its suburbs are encircled by a 64-mile freeway loop known as the beltway. The political community of Washington talks as if that beltway formed a most separating the capital from the country.
4. Each city has variety, while Washington in spite of its growing world of art, theaters, opera, and symphony has only one passion: politics.
5. Very few politicians admit in print how much they really want public recognition.
6. Washington gives politicians a feeling of being at the center of things, therefore making them feel powerful.
7. Practically everyone in political Washington has come from somewhere else.
8. "Potomac fever" = the incurable addiction of wielding political power of feeling at the political center.
9. Washington is very open to newcomers.
10. Political Washington is a special community with a culture all its own, its own established rituals and folkways, its tokens of status and influence, its rules and conventions, its tribal rivalries and personal animosities. 

Questions:

1. Because Washington isn't represented in Congress, do the people feel disconnected from the rest of the country or left out of decisions?
2. Is Washington different than other cities or is it merely isolated?
3. How many people living in Washington do not work in politics at all?
4. Do politicians get along outside of work? Are they friends even if they are from different ends of the political spectrum? 
5. Do citizens of Washington feel excluded from the country?
6. Do families of politicians make sacrifices to live in Washington and to be a part of the limelight?
7. What about Washington causes narcissism? 
8. Does the author suggest that politicians join the government for the wrong reasons?
9. Do political titles bring power or do they just suggest an idea of power?
10. Do politicians come to Washington already with the narcissistic attitude, or does such a trait develop as one becomes an insider?

How Birth Control And Abortion Became Politicized

Facts/Details Learned

1. The first birth control clinic in the U.S. opened in 1916 and was operated by Margaret Sanger.
2. At this time, it was illegal for Sanger to give out information on contraceptive options, which angered poor, young women. 
3. Passing out such information was illegal under the 1873 Comstock Law, which prohibited the distribution of any printed information deemed obscene.
4. Nine days after opening her clinic, Sanger was arrested after an undercover cop came in and requested a pamphlet about STDs and contraceptives.
5. On appeal, the court ruled that is would be permissible for doctors only to talk to women about contraception, which allowed Sanger to open up clinics across the country.
6. In 1936, a federal appellate court removed contraception from the obscenity category.
7. The Griswold v. Connecticut ruling established that the Constitution protected a right to privacy, which meant that contraceptives were legal.
8. By the late 1960s, Richard Nixon was pushing Congress to increase federal funding for family planning. In 1970, he signed Title X into law.
9. 1973- Roe v. Wade made abortion legal.
10. Sanger's American Birth Control League was renamed the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Questions

1. Is it right to make these types of issues so political? What would happen if there were no laws on birth control, abortion, and other similar moral issues?
2. Is interest in birth control a result of the growing population concerns or because it is a way to minimize abortions?
3. Are there federal regulations on the number of abortions someone can receive?
4. Are all forms of birth control legal now?
5. Why wasn't Sanger allowed to distribute information on contraceptives? Did this violate her right to free speech?
6. If abortion were illegal, isn't it likely that people would still find ways around it by looking into more dangerous an illegal methods?