1. The ObamaAdministration & the 112th Congress
Unit One Presentation 2

2. Three Branches of Your Government
_______________
Creates and passes the laws
_______________
Administers and enforces the laws
_______________
Interprets and reviews the laws
Legislative Branch
Executive Branch
Judicial Branch
Who does the 4th hand represent? __________
The Media

3. Article #1 Legislative Branch
House of Representatives
Representatives are elected for _________ terms.
Number per state based on ___________.
The Senate
Senators are elected for _____year terms.
Number per state _____.
The Senate is usually considered to hold more power.
two-year
Population
Six
two
We call our 2 houses of congress a _________________.
bicameral government

4. Congressional Oversight
Congress, in addition to its lawmaking responsibilities, has oversight over the _____________.
What is "congressional oversight?
Executive Branch
Ex-FEMA Chief Michael Brown shifts
Blame to Homeland Security during congressional hearings.
If the White House screws up congress is there to help make sure it doesnt happen again.
During the Katrina Hurricane debacle the Republican Congress felt it necessary to use their oversight authority and find out where things went wrong at the White House.

5. Politics of Congress
There are a total of 435 Representatives in the House and ____Senators in the Senate.
The ___________currently hold the majority seats in the House.
The Democrats hold the majority seatsin the Senate .
Speaker of the House: _______________(Republican)
Senate Majority Leader: Harry Reid (_______)
Senate Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell(________)
100
Republicans
John Boehner
Democrat
Republican
The political party that has the majority seats in each house of congress has more power to effect change. Why?

6. The Senate (Legislative Branch)
The ___________ breaks all ties in the Senate.
Republican John McCain lost to Bush in the 2000 Primaries and to Obama in the 2008 General, but is still a U.S. Senator and continues to fight for his main causes __________________ and ____________ reform and holding the ______ accountable.
Vice President
campaign finance Reform
Pork /earmark
F.E.C
___________ work like this has made him the candidate in the 2008 presidential election.
In a nutshell the issue of money in politics centers on the difference between Soft Money (indirect to the party) and Hard Money (direct to the candidate).
Bipartisan

7. Article #2 - Executive Branch
Presidential elections are run every __________ in November. This is called the General Election.
The President has become the most powerful person in our country and sets the political agenda of our country like no one else, especially during ____________. This is not backed up by the Constitution, but is what the people often vote for in times of distress.
Presidents have a HUGE advantage on what we believe and how prioritize in our lives. We call this power the ___________.
four years
times of war
If the president has a ___________ i.e. the support of the American people he can speak over the heads of congress and get whatever he wants.
Bully Pulpit
mandate

8. Commanders in Chief
George W. Bush
Getting America through 9/11 and protecting the country from further terrorist attacks was Bushs greatest claim to fame.
Running up sky rocketing deficits is probably his biggest failure.
His wife and First Lady is___________.
Barack H. Obama
__________________ and continued federal spending are probably his most controversial decisions. These things along with __________ and the war in ___________will probably define much of his first 4 years as president.
His wife and First Lady is______________.
Bank & Auto bailouts
Healthcare
Afghanistan
Laura Bush
Michele Obama

9. The Obama Administration

• Bureaucracy

Presidential Cabinet
There are generally 15 Cabinet departments; the head of each is called the __________of their respective Cabinet positions.
The President appoints these positions, but ________must approve each placement.
Presidential Advisors
These people are hired by the president and are generally held in very high regard by the people and the press, but they are different then cabinet members in that they are _____________________

• Unelected government officials who have a lot of influence on what paperwork or even bills get passed on through to the elected officials.

Secretary
congress
NOT approved by congress

10. OBAMAs Cabinet
Timothy Geithner is ______________ _______who is in charge of the confrontational bailouts and stimulus plans put forth by President Obama.
Eric Holder is the highest legal authority in the land as Obamas _______________.
Hillary Clintons cabinet position is often regarded as the highest position after the President in her role as ________ ______________
Robert Gates is the civilian in charge of thePentagon (military) as the _____________________
Secretary of the
Treasury
Attorney General
Secretary of
Defense
Secretary
of State.

11. Obamas Advisors
In recent years, the Cabinet has become less and less important as a policy making body. Starting with President Franklin Roosevelt the trend has been for Presidents to act through the Executive Office of the President rather than through the Cabinet. Why?
Chief of Staff: _________ usually welds a lot of power. He determines who sees the president.
Press Secretary: __________ Works at the liaison between the president and the press.
William Daley
David Axelrod is Obamas most senior advisor. Advisors and Czars have little de-jure power but often obtain a great deal of de facto power and some become more powerful then cabinet members. Why?
Jay Carney

12. Article #3 Judicial Branch
Supreme Court Justices are appointed by the President, but must be approved by_________.
They serve a lifetime term.
The Supreme Court is an Appellate Court.
The cases that the Supreme Court reviews are cases that could have a direct impact on the supreme law of the U.S. Otherwise known as the ______________.
The Chief Justice - who presides over the other 8 justices on the Supreme Court is _______________.
congress
Constitution.
John Roberts

13. The Politics of the Court
Because most of the Supreme Court Justices where appointed by Conservative Presidents, most observers believe the court
_________
Obama recently appointed two new woman Justices _____________ and ____________
4 of the ____ are now thought to be liberal in their political thinking.
leans right.
Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan.
CURRENT MEMBERS: John Roberts
Elena Kagan Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy Sonia Sotomayor
Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer Samuel Alito
9

14. Judicial Review
Article III of the U.S. Constitution states that the judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish
What the heck does that mean? Think of it like this, if the _______________ has oversight over the _______________, who has oversight over the legislative branch? Should anyone be able to overrule the Voice of the people? Most say yes, and the Constitution currently is interrupted to support that point of view.
Legislative Branch
Executive Branch

• Who is in charge of interrupting the Constitution?
• 15. Which way does the Court currently lean?
• 16. Should nine un-elected judges be able to tell our elected representatives what they can and cannot do?