H4

1.
a. Supreme court nominees have a specific ideology. They are either liberal or conservative. Nominees are usually older. Nominees have experience with law and the courts.
b. For ideology, appointments are made so that a wide variety of beliefs are represented in the court, so to have fair decisions. Nominees are usually older because they have more experience than younger candidates. Nominees have experience with law, such as previously being lawyers or prosecutors, which helps make fair decisions in the court.
c. Kagan was a law dean and a Solicitor General before she was nominated for supreme court justice. Therefore, she had a wide variety of experience that would make here an adequate supreme court justice.

2.
a. Interest groups have influenced the appointment process through the media and protests.
b. the media has advertisements that could help a nominee be supported by the general public. Protests can be held that make the public aware of the drawbacks of a certain supreme justice nominee.
c. Advertisements of Kagan were created, which might have reassured Obama of appointing her.

H1

- John Roberts was appointed as a justice in 2005
- He is considered a conservative
-He recently upheld the Affordable Care act

G15

a. Balanced budget: a budget where revenue is equal to spending; there is no deficit.
b. Federal entitlements: guaranteed benefits based on established rights.
c. An entitlement is Social Security. Since money is given to those in old-age and the amount of people in need has increased, more money is needed for the program
d. Large budget deficits result in the U.S. becoming more indebted to other countries.
e. The projected revenue for 2012 was 2.627 trillion and the projected expenditure for 2012 was 3.729 trillion. the deficit was 1.327 trillion. Source: http://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/fed_revenue_2012US
f. National debt: 17 trillion. Source: http://www.concordcoalition.org/issues/indicators/us-total-national-debt

G12

1. Medicare and social security are priorities. Obama proposed ideas for the budget pertaining to social security. He advocates for higher taxes on the wealthy, so to increase the budget for social security. He proposed to shift from a standard consumer price index to a chain consumer price index, which would raise income tax on those who could afford to pay more. It is important to Obama due to the baby boomers becoming older, which increases the need of financial support for the elderly.
2. Obama wants to shift from a standard consumer price index to a chain consumer price index. The chain CPI would basically raise the income tax on the wealthy. This would have a total savings of $230 billion over ten years. These savings would help expand social security.
3. They would strongly oppose raising taxes on the wealthy. Specifically Republicans would oppose Obama's plan, due to the fact that republicans generally advocate for a flat tax rate.

G9

1. I might reduce the deficit by raising taxes on the upper class. I might cut spending on military programs.
2. I chose to raise taxes on the wealthy through Obama's proposal. I decided to do this because those with higher incomes have the ability to pay more in taxes, whereas those with lower incomes do not. This would negatively effect those with incomes of $250,000 or more. I also reduced the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 60,000 by 2015. I decided to do this because the military is a huge part of the budget, and I believed, since the U.S. has a large military, they were able to afford a reduction in troops. I also reduced mortgage deduction and others for high- income households. I decided to do this because higher income households have enough money that mortgage deductions will not significantly hurt those with high incomes. This would negatively effect those with high incomes.

G7

1a. Agencies usually have better expertise. Congress doesn't have the knowledge that agencies do. Executing a bill takes a lot of time. Since it is time consuming, congress leaves it executing a bill to agencies.
1b. " Bureaucrats posses crucial information and expertise that make them partners with the president and congress in decision making about public policy"  P. 472

2. Oversight is when the government supervises agencies, so to make sure everything is being done correctly. With a legislative veto, congress is able to reject a proposed executive action, so to make sure anything unconstitutional does not get put into law.

3a.
EPA: clean air, clean water
FCC: television, radio, telephone
Federal Reserve Board: money
3b. The EPA develops regulatory initiatives to decrease GHG emissions. The FCC revises media regulation and processes licenses pertaining to the media. The Federal Reserve Board controls and regulates interest rates.

G4

1.
Executive privilege: The president is given the power to veto a bill that is passed in congress. Even if both chambers of congress agree on passing the bill, and want it to become a law, they do not have the power to make it a law. The president is able to oppose a bill by not signing it into law.
Executive orders: The president is able to create a rule or regulation which acts as a law. An executive order has the power to affect decisions in congress.
Commander in chief: The president is given the power to deploy troops for 60 days without a declaration of war. Therefore, even if congress does not declare war on another nation, the president can still take action.

2. Legislative oversight: Congress evaluates executive agencies to make sure there are no problems, therefore reducing problems within the executive branch.
Senate advice and consent power: The president appoints supreme justices, and the senate approves the appointments. therefore, the president must consider an appointment that will be approved by congress, rather than an appointment that only he or she might consider.
Budgetary power: The president must consult with congress on the budget, and has to get congress' approval on budget plans.