Lobbyist

Lobbyist

Today's lesson focus is on interest groups or lobby groups. By the end of class you will know what they are, how they operate, and be able to identify the particulars of their influence.
Read Google Joins Apple in Pushing for Tax Holiday
-after each black headline(7 in all) summarize the section into one meaningful sentence that captures the key point of the section. Do this on a piece of loose leaf to be collected

Go to www.opensecrets.org
click on lobbying on the left hand side of the page.Read
click on ranked sectors. Read and look at all the different sectors. Click around.
click on top spenders. read and look around.
post a one paragraph comment on the blog explaining one specific interest group and their influence/ interest

Problem - low test scores

Lawmakers make laws to address problems in society.
Read Obama Proposes Longer School Day. Post a 1-2 paragraph comment on President Obama's proposal. Comments must address at least 3 specifics ideas mentioned in the article. #ign your name after comment.

Constitutional Convention

Read Constitutional Convention.
Answer the following questions:
1. How many people were in attendance at the convention?
2. What were their backgrounds?
3. What was the stated purpose of the convention?
4. What big names did not attend?
5. Why wasn't Thomas Jefferson there?
6. After its completion the Constitution was referred to as a "bundle of compromises". Explain in detail why.
Answer on a piece of loose leaf paper and place it into your homework folder by friday 9/23
Presentations on Founding Fathers is due on Friday. See (projects page of bushseniorseminar for rubric)

1. go to Strategic Plan Survey take survey required by the district.


2. Objectives: to examine and compare Pres Bush's and Pres Obama's tactics in the war on terror.
to prepare for Monday's test by using flash cards and pretests on quizlet
Read Inside the Killing Machine
Respond to the following:
1. Summarize the article into 1-2 paragraphs
2. comment on the following
- Do you think President Obama's actions are legal? Why or why not?
- Why do you think President Obama uses the Predator strikes a lot more than President Bush?
- In the article the "lethal operation" decisions made by the President and Mr. Rizzo are described as morally complex. Describe how you would handled the moral complexities of the decision if you were in Mr. Rizzo's shoes

3. Prepare for Monday's test by using Quizlet

Ideas on Government- What is the role of government?

1. Go to Political spectrum quiz
Take quiz. Post a comment on the blog summarizing the results of your quiz.
2. Go to liberal v conservative
Pick any four topics that are of interest to you. Read each competing view. On a piece of loose leaf write your own view of the topic. Explain your view and explain if you are liberal / conservative or somewhere in the middle. Each explanation should be about a paragraph or more in length.

mayflower compact

After viewing Lord of the Flies answer the debriefing questions.
Go online and research the Mayflower Compact.
answer these three questions:
1. When and under what circumstances was it written?
2. What did it say? (boil the whole thing down to one sentence )
3. What comparison or contrast can be made between the Mayflower Compact and the Lord of the Flies

The Nature of Mankind

Great political thinkers often look to answer the question of "what is the nature of mankind?" before they begin their thinking on what is the best way for a society to be governed.
Read What Makes Us Moral. On a separate piece of paper take notes on the each of the pages. Break down each page and list at least three bullets for each topic headline. Headlines are:  pg 1 What makes us moral. pg 2 the Moral Ape pg 3.  How we stay good. pg 4 Why we turn bad.  A quiz will follow the reading

Role of Government and Hurricane Irene

Read Hurricane Irene: New Yorkers prepare for 'historic hurricane' post a comment of one paragraph ( min 5 sentences on the article). Your post should focus on the ideas of what is the role of government in this situation and how much blame should the government face if a Katrina type "government failure" happens. Also comment how much personal responsibility should people have in a situation like this. Sigh the posting with your full name.