Legislative2

[|Senate panel approves Butler for federal court] - The Judiciary Committee of the Senate agreed to approve Louis Butler as a federal district judge. Butler, who was nominated by President Obama, is a former Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice. He will have to be confirmed by the full Senate. This is an example of the Senate using its nonlegislative powers, and it is a perfect example of checks and balance in our federal government, as Congress is checking both the executive and judicial branch. ** Chuck T **

[] In this article on CNN, the Senate is likely to dismiss the "jobs bill" proposed by President Obama. The bill is a $447 billion jobs plan that includes an extension and expansion of the current payroll tax cut, an extension of jobless benefits to help the unemployed, new tax credits for businesses that hire the long-term unemployed, and additional money to help save and create jobs for teachers and first responders, like firefighters. This is a great example of checks and balances. This shows one way the Congress can check the Executive Branch. The Congress is approving a bill passed through by the President. ** Ashutosh Goyal **

[] In this article from CNN, the Senate has recently passed the China currency bill. The bill makes new duties to be imposed on imports from nations whose currency is undervalued, but this bill intended to aim directly at the currency of China. The bill is supposed to help U.S. businesses hurt by ongoing global trade imbalances and lost business to Asian nations. This is one example of Congress passing a bill through to the President, or the executive branch. This is an example of checks and balances. The President now can either accept the bill or veto it. ** ﻿Ashutosh Goyal **

[|Straddling the line between Church and Politics] Although Thomas Jefferson famously wrote about separating the church and the state, he did not mention anything about separating the church and politics. This is relevant today because a governor named Mitt Romney wants to become president, but ran poorly among the Christians in the south because of his Mormon religion. Many of the people who have examined this pattern agree that Gov. Romney was not elected because of his religion. His religion is definitely coming into play with politics. This information is coming from the CNN politics news source.(the link will lead you to a video and a news article about this church vs. politics situation) by: Nada B.