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The Rules of Wasting Time

by Alexander Roux

Widener University Political Science Major

Recently the U.S. Senate has been discussing negotiations on a long existing tactic afforded to Senators, the ability to filibuster.  Via their institution’s rules, Senators can speak as long as they want on a specific bill during that bill’s debate phase.  One of the stereotypes surrounding this special tool of the Senate is that the minority party can use this tactic to stall and holdout a vote for as long as possible.

Filibustering does need reform, but it needs to go back to what the tool was originally.  Before1975 if a Senator wished to attempt blocking a vote and extend debate they were required to hold the floor of the Senate during that time, not return to their offices, or begin discussing the next piece of legislation.  In the 1930’s Senator Huey Long filibustered on the floor for over 15 hours while promoting his policies, his speech included reading Shakespeare and recipes for “pot-likkers.”  In 1946 Dennis Chavez’s filibuster lasted weeks, and in 1957 Senator Storm Thurmond’s filibuster lasted a record 24 hours and 18 minutes that included discussing his grandmother’s biscuit recipe.  Speeches lasting almost a day that required cots to be brought in may be a little extreme but it forced Senators to do their jobs.

Our Congress needs to see the return of rules that require them to stay in the Capitol and actually leave having accomplished and voted on proposed bills.  Maybe returning the filibuster to what it initially was could have a small impact on Congressmen, and if they were required to actually hold the floor maybe they wouldn’t use the stall tactic at all to threaten their fellow Congressmen.  However you feel on  the usage of filibustering I feel one thing is certain, changes made to the filibuster should make our Senators more accountable and require that they actually have to do the work associated with this special privilege they afford themselves.

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Limiting Semiautomatic Weapons

by Melanie Asdourian

Widener University Political Science Major

Senator Dianne Feinstein of California wants to enact a bill to limit the use of semiautomatic weapons. If enacted it would be illegal to purchase and manufacture over one hundred and fifty types of semiautomatic weapons. Of course, there would be exemptions for hunting purposes, but the main goal is to cut the supply of the weapons. It is important to reduce the amount of semiautomatic weapons that are accessible to the public, but is this the right approach in ultimately keeping the people of this country safer?

Innocent lives have been taken in recent tragedies and this bill can hopefully reduce the amount of mass shootings, but what about the deaths from simple handguns? Instead of trying to ban semiautomatic weapons we should try to enforce the laws that we already have by stricter background checks and having to re-register all types of guns every year. State governments need to be more aware of the people who own more than one gun and each one should be registered. A modest goal would be to concentrate on gun trafficking and looking at mental health records of people applying for a gun permit. A person with a history of mental illness cannot receive a driver’s license therefore they should not be permitted to own a gun.

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On Balance, Legalizing Marijuana Makes Sense

by Ashley Bidne

Widener University Political Science/Criminal Justice Major

Washington is now the second state to legalize the possession of marijuana. The new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce. However, users must be at least 21 and selling it still remains illegal. For a long time I have been against legalizing marijuana, but with more states legalizing it I feel that now is a great time to reexamine the issue.

Colorado’s Representative Jared Polis and Oregon’s Representative Earl Blumenauer are fighting to get marijuana legalized federally. In addition, economists are claiming that Washington and Colorado could receive an economic boost of up $550 million a year. According to the FBI, possession of marijuana is the cause of 43.3% of drug related arrests. With this in mind a majority of these criminals are being sent to prison along with our tax dollars. Incarcerating one inmate could cost between $30,000 and $60,000 a year depending on the state.

However, many people are not convinced that this is a sufficient reason to legalize marijuana. Therefore, I researched further into the side effects of smoking. The health effects of marijuana include, but are not limited to mental illnesses such as depression, lung irritation, and an increased heart rate. However, many of these side effects are common with drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes.

If the federal government chooses to legalize marijuana, the US will be capable of regulating it and will no longer be paying to incarcerate 1000’s of inmates. Overall, the benefits seem to outweigh the cost of legalizing marijuana and my decision about legalizing marijuana has been changed with Washington’s legalization.

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Can Legalizing Pot Be Good?

by Hunter Tower

Widener University Political Science Major

Legalizing marijuana is now a major public policy issue in Congress. Two members of the House of Representatives, Congressman Jarid Polis (D-CO) and Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced bills to amend the federal laws against marijuana where the federal government would regulate and tax it just like alcohol or cigarettes.

I am a conservative Republican and I think this is a great idea. The government cannot control the drug trade and black market and how things get smuggled into the country, so why not legalize it and regulate it?  If we do this there would be less crime because the majority of crimes committed are over drugs.

If the federal government legalizes pot it can help the poor economy nd make money off of taxing the product. Further, many more people will relax and not have a need to drive this deeper underground like it’s some kind of cult thing to “smoke a joint.” I do not smoke at all and do not feel the need to, but some people do and it helps them relax. Even doctors prescribe it to some of their patients. If people are happier and calmer, that leads to less crime. Just as Thomas Jefferson stated, we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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Fiscal Cliff, Debt Ceiling, Balanced Budget, Oh My!

by Erica Szpynda

Widener University Economics Major

It is the beginning of the month and your bills are starting to pile on the table.  You have every intention to pay them, but your money is tight.  If you end of not paying a few of those bills, what happens?

Well, the utilities have been used and the goods and services, bought on credit, have been received.  This is the same as what the government was up against, until Wednesday. The House decided to temporally raise the debt ceiling to cover the bills the United States has accumulated.

Everyone in Congress knew that if the US defaulted, for the first time in history, it could bring detrimental hits to their credit rating and have the possibility of sending the world into a depression.  Bringing a sigh of relief, Republicans backed down on their demand that they would only raise the debt ceiling if spending cuts were taken in the same amount.

Nevertheless, in less than four short months, Congress will still have to decide on spending cuts and rising taxes. This is the true debate that is splitting the nation, not just elected officials.  We have moved past the fiscal cliff raising taxes across the board and Americans will have less money in their pockets.  It is agreed that spending cuts need to happen at some level, but do we raise taxes again?

We just need to remember two simple formulas:

1.       Revenues = Spending (Balanced Budget)

2.       GDP = Investment +Consumption + Net Exports + GOVERNMENT SPENDING

With these in mind, remember we are still recovering from a recession and how much should we decrease an important variable?

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Politicians are really stupid, wealthy, immature children…..

by Matthew Caputa

Widener University Political Science Major

“Ew, like oh my God they never get anything done” and “Ugh, why can’t they just get along for the good of the country”, “Like, even I could vote yes”.

Congratulations America, we did it.  Somehow throughout our entire lineage of patriotic prosperity and economic freedom the people in this wonderful land have come full circle.  U.S citizens actually, and no this is not a joke, have given congress the approval rating of a cockroach.  And based on the polarization of the media’s coverage of Capitol Hill, this statistic isn’t quite as alarming.  It appears that the population in America has lost hope in its representatives and nothing is ever going to get accomplished because hey, “congressmen are selfish pigs without the people in mind”.  While that might hold true, it is certainly not appropriate for the former, but rather the latter of those two.

Congressmen are accomplished legislators, businessmen, lawyers and many other respected positions.  Most of the members of the House, and all of of the Senate, ran a campaign which garnered the trust of the majority of their constituents to hold the prestigious duty of representing them.  Boom!, they made it, and have reached the highest run of society.  So tell me how I, an undergraduate still trying to figure out if my peach fuzz will ever turn the appropriate color on my face, is in any position to judge my representative on what he does.  Yes, we have specified interests and chastise Congress at any opportunity for not delivering, but seriously, what do we really know about our legislature?  The truth of the matter is that the true majority of America knows nothing.  They read a headline on CNN and all of the sudden morph into Karl Rove for the day.  “Gun control? I say congress agrees and lowers crime” “Congressmen X,Y,Z are all dumb because they listen to their party”.

The American people need to get over themselves and let our politicians do their job.  But if you really feel the need to criticize congress then read the Constitution, and spend 8 years of higher education learning about how it really works. Most importantly though, stop pretending that you would actually be anything different.