In brief a potentially significant Supreme Court decision has been made which undermines Obamacare and also has implications for how religion is treated in the USA. The short version is that a firm is now going to be treated like an individual in respect to its religious beliefs, and that these can now not be forced to obey federal law. See here and here for analysis from the Economist. The decision is called Burwell v Hobby Lobby (click here for the Wikipedia page). The Washington Post has more here.
Gov and Pol students for Unit 4C could use this when discussing the power of the President and the significance of the Supreme Court.
In early August, President Obama was sued by Congress for being a tyrant, with analysis by the Economist here. Good for anyone contemplating Presidential power and the power of Congress. Worth bearing in mind that the Republican-controlled House has tried over 50 times to destroy Obamacare. This is also useful when contemplating the interests of the Republican Party.
Elsewhere, the current 112th Congress is shaping up to be the least productive in history. Details and analysis from the Washington Post, plus some analysis from Ars Technica about the issue. While it may be expected that there would be little progress on the major issues (Obamacare, taxes, etc), some minor ones (Internet Trolls, copyright reform) don't see any progress either. Useful stuff for Gov and Pol students contemplating the (in)ability of Congress to get things done.
Against the background of this, the inability of Congress to address immigration effectively is striking. A passionate article in Rolling Stone discusses the impact of the Tea Party on efforts to address the 90,000 unaccompanied and undocumented minors who try to enter the country from Mexico every year. The short version is that Tea Party Republicans (Ted Cruz etc) have refused to allow funds to be used to help these refugees, and instead have agitated for increased border security. The political impact is affecting President Obama's standing too.
In another development, left-leaning former Supreme Court Justice Stevens has written a book proposing 6 new amendments to the US constitution. The wording of the amendments themselves are detailed in this blog post by an assistant law professor in South Texas. The book itself and its implications are reviewed here in the Huffington Post and here in the Wall St Journal.
Further analysis at another time I think, but for now the WSJ makes a very useful point; while Justice Stevens highlights some of the major flaws in the US political system (Gerrymandering, the Death Penalty, Gun Ownership), he sees Amending the constitution as the solution. As Gov and Pol students will be / are aware this is a long and complex process, so perhaps Congress passing laws would be a better solution.
Sunday 20 July 2014
New events in UK politics over the Summer
Briefly and in no particular order, David Cameron did a cabinet reshuffle which saw some big-hitters such as Education Secretary Michael Gove and Foreign Secretary William Haig losing their jobs. Marginally more women are now in Cabinet than before, and this is certainly an attempt to give the Conservative Party the edge in the lead-up to the 2015 election.
Labour has plans to re-nationalise the rail system (a throw back to Old Labour perhaps?).
The House of Lords has a debate about assisted-dying, although there is no likelihood of it becoming law. This highlights the importance of the Lords in debating issues.
The only woman Muslim in the Cabinet, Baroness Warsi resigns over the government's policy on the fighting in Gaza. A blow for Cameron, and there may be an impact on his policies and his own power. The Economist analyses the resignation here.
As a follow on, Boris Johnson has finally admitted that he is interested in fighting for a seat in the Commons in the 2015 election. If successful, he will be an MP and the London Mayor, at least for a brief period. At the end of August he finally confirmed that he will contest the seat of Uxbridge.
There was a debate about Scottish independence between the Scottish First Minister Alec Salmond and Alistair Darling, former Labour Chancellor. Highlights are below. Both sides have declared victory, although the vote itself will tell the truth. Analysis from the Economist here.
The Independence second debate between Salmond and Darling was interesting; fewer one-liners but Salmond came out on top and by a large margin "won" 71% to 29%. Worth bearing in mind that this "snap" polling is more about performance on the night rather than any change in intension to vote. Great analysis from the BBC's Nick Robinson here. More from the Economist here. Useful stuff for anyone contemplating the importance of referendums and the prospect for constitutional change in the UK. In addition, Cameron has promised more powers to the Scottish Parliament should the vote be "No".
Gov and Pol students contemplating the House of Lords would find recent news useful. Despite the Lords being too full for the facilities, and being the second largest legislative chamber in the world, 22 new peers have been appointed, including TV star Karen Brady. The Lords currently stands at 796 members.
More problems for David Cameron (useful for any student contemplating the Conservative Party's political stance) in the shape of a Tory MP who has defected to UKIP and resigned from his seat. More from Nick Robinson here. The very short version is that it exposes the Tory party as one which is obsessed by the EU and this has all sorts of implications including the rise of UKIP and perhaps increasing the likelihood that Scotland will vote "Yes" in September; the Scots being traditionally more pro-EU.
For no reason perhaps other than a reminder that Jeremy Paxman has been replaced on Newnight by Evan Davis, a brief clip from that esteemed show:
Labour has plans to re-nationalise the rail system (a throw back to Old Labour perhaps?).
The House of Lords has a debate about assisted-dying, although there is no likelihood of it becoming law. This highlights the importance of the Lords in debating issues.
The only woman Muslim in the Cabinet, Baroness Warsi resigns over the government's policy on the fighting in Gaza. A blow for Cameron, and there may be an impact on his policies and his own power. The Economist analyses the resignation here.
As a follow on, Boris Johnson has finally admitted that he is interested in fighting for a seat in the Commons in the 2015 election. If successful, he will be an MP and the London Mayor, at least for a brief period. At the end of August he finally confirmed that he will contest the seat of Uxbridge.
There was a debate about Scottish independence between the Scottish First Minister Alec Salmond and Alistair Darling, former Labour Chancellor. Highlights are below. Both sides have declared victory, although the vote itself will tell the truth. Analysis from the Economist here.
The Independence second debate between Salmond and Darling was interesting; fewer one-liners but Salmond came out on top and by a large margin "won" 71% to 29%. Worth bearing in mind that this "snap" polling is more about performance on the night rather than any change in intension to vote. Great analysis from the BBC's Nick Robinson here. More from the Economist here. Useful stuff for anyone contemplating the importance of referendums and the prospect for constitutional change in the UK. In addition, Cameron has promised more powers to the Scottish Parliament should the vote be "No".
Gov and Pol students contemplating the House of Lords would find recent news useful. Despite the Lords being too full for the facilities, and being the second largest legislative chamber in the world, 22 new peers have been appointed, including TV star Karen Brady. The Lords currently stands at 796 members.
More problems for David Cameron (useful for any student contemplating the Conservative Party's political stance) in the shape of a Tory MP who has defected to UKIP and resigned from his seat. More from Nick Robinson here. The very short version is that it exposes the Tory party as one which is obsessed by the EU and this has all sorts of implications including the rise of UKIP and perhaps increasing the likelihood that Scotland will vote "Yes" in September; the Scots being traditionally more pro-EU.
For no reason perhaps other than a reminder that Jeremy Paxman has been replaced on Newnight by Evan Davis, a brief clip from that esteemed show:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)