HOW A MEMBER DECIDES TO VOTE
I have to confess that I already had an opinion when I started this exercise, and the different arguments presented did not change it. My opinion is that the flag should never be desecrated in any way shape or form. Obviously, the arguments for the amendment supported that. Especially the ones citing that the constituents were overwhelmingly in favor of it. I think that Mayor Alberta Washington really articulated it the best. The fact that she understood that representatives are supposed to do just that, represent the people. The people overwhelmingly, across the country, wanted the amendment to be passed. Gene Miller, who is legal counsel for the judiciary committee, also made a great argument, and one that I had already been thinking about a bit. Our forefathers could not have even thought that this would be an issue when they talked about freedom of speech. They could not have even considered that anyone would have even thought to do it. The arguments against did not ring true for me. The only one who made me pause was Samuel Cho. His argument that people in his country are persecuted for similar crimes did make me think a little, but not to change my mind.
The rest of the arguments are as follows;
SUPPORTS
Tony Lorenza is the President of the AVF and is for the amendment to protect the greatest symbol of our country for those who fought to protect it.
Congressman Ed Carpenter supports the amendment because the people overwhelmingly want it.
Brooke Brown won an AVF essay contest and supports the amendment. She thinks we should protect the flag because it’s a symbol of our freedom.
Dr. Benjamin Williams supports the amendment because there are limits to what should be protected under the First Amendment.
William Cramer supports the bill because we should protect the flag to honor all who fought for it.
John Roberts also supports the bill because it’s just plain wrong to burn the flag and it should not be tolerated.
Senator Emma Fernandez supports the amendment because the flag is a symbol that unites all of the differences in America and therefore it should be protected
Jim Corley is voting in favor of the amendment as are almost all of the other members from our state.
AGAINST
Karen Albright is against the bill even though the letters from district are 60/40 in favor. She feels it would be wrong since we have never tampered with the Bill of Rights before despite everything this country has gone through.
Rob Nelson is the White House Spokesman. He says the President opposes the amendment because it undermines the core First Amendment protections even though he is clearly against the burning of the flag.
Dr. Theresa Bellingham is a Law Professor and does not support the amendment because she feels it would be too difficult to interpret and enforce.
Matthew Montgomery does not support the amendment because it goes against the Bill of Rights and does not think opening the door for going against it is a good idea.
Patricia Pearlman is a HS Civics Teacher and is against the amendment because she feels it violates freedom of speech.
Jimmy Koyama does not support the amendment because he feels the people who burn the flag are not malicious, they are just trying to get lawmakers attention. They are exercising free speech.
Jennifer King does not support the amendment because she believes flag burning is just another form of political expression.
Samuel Jefferson does not support the amendment even though he fought for our countries ideals. He feels that one of which is the freedom to burn the flag.
Tom O’Brien does not support the amendment because he feels that flag burning is very rare and those who do can be already be punished under existing laws, so the amendment is unnecessary.
Anna Ross does not support the flag amendment because she feels that the first amendment needs to be upheld. People can’t be told that they have freedom of speech but then be told how they can or can’t express it.
Congresswoman Carole Richards does not support the amendment because she wants to protect the people’s rights under the bill of rights, not the symbols of those rights.
(The program would not let me listen to George Watsons speech. It just kept coming up with Carole Richards.)
I voted Yea for the Flag Amendment. Again, my biggest reason was that, as a “Congresswoman”, I should be representing the people and they spoke loud and clear as to how they felt.
While I consider viewpoints of others, ultimately, I make my own decisions.
PUBLIC CRITICISMS OF CONGRESS
People in general do not think favorably of Congress, although I do feel that the rebuttals in the videos were valid.
1. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE A BUNCH OF CROOKS: The fact that most people think Congressman are crooks is not surprising, but I think is wrong. There are too many rules and regulations for them to follow for anyone to get away with anything crooked for very long.
2. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DON’T LEVEL WITH PEOPLE: While I do think that some Congressman try to avoid the truth, I think that a lot of them are either just not confident enough in where the process is of a certain topic or they don’t want to say the wrong thing and have it misconstrued.
3. THERE’S TOO MUCH PORK-BARREL SPENDING BY CONGRESS: We elect officials trusting them that they will appropriate our money to the places it most needs to go. While apparently most people do not feel that is the case, I think that with all of the different opinions and all of the however many groups are clamoring for the money, we have to trust that they are making the best decision on our behalf…that is why we elected them.
4. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS JUST BICKER AND NEVER GET ANYTHING DONE: I really think that Ms. Nickels response was great! You cannot have that many people with that many different opinions together all of the time without there being disagreements. As she said, the key is that they are productive disagreements that actually produce results.
5. ORDINARY PEOPLE CAN’T HAVE AN IMPACT: I think that while some people might feel that way, most people do not even try. Congressman get so many opinions from so many different directions, we have to trust that they will make the best decisions from all of it.
6. CONGRESS CONDUCTS TOO MANY FRIVOLOUS INVESTIGATIONS: I do kind of agree with this one…although is it Congress or the Press who makes it worse? It appears as though, especially in this Trump administration, there is nothing but mud-slinging on a daily basis.
7. CONGRESS HAS NO RELEVANCE TO MY LIFE: I really appreciate Dr. Light’s response to this one. I have not ever really looked at all of the daily aspects, like water, roads etc., that I take for granted as being there in part due to Congress.
8. IT REALLY DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER WE HAVE A CONGRESS OR NOT: I think that this one was just silly. Of course it matters. They are an integral part of the process in the way our country is run.
9. CONGRESS CAN’T THINK LONG TERM: Again, I am not sure even the validity of this one. They have to think long term with everything they do. The outcome and long-term effects have to factor into all of their decision.
10. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS COMPROMISE TOO MUCH: Dr. Rudder made an excellent point that you can go in with strong beliefs in one thing, but when you are put in with hundreds of others with differing beliefs, there have to compromises made HOPEFULLY for the greater good.
11. THERE’S TOO MUCH MONEY IN POLITICS THESE DAYS: I agree that there seems to be lot of money in politics, but that is a fact of life in pretty much anything. Money talks. We have to hope that we are sending the best people to Washington who will use that money in our best interest.
12. MEMBERS DON’T LISTEN TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS: Again, they can head to Washington with their minds set on one thing, but then have to work to compromise with the other hundreds of others with their opinions for the best outcome for everyone.
13. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS IS TOO COMPLICATED: This one is probably correct…. that is why we do not send the average person to Congress. We should make sure that we are electing someone who is familiar and can navigate the way things work.
14. POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS ARE TOO NASTY: This is the one I agreed with the most. It will turn me off completely to a candidate if they start playing nasty. There is no need for it. I was happy to see that Dr. Thurber agreed.
15. CONGRESS IS RUN BY A FEW BIG SPECIAL INTERESTS: I think that Dr. Kurtz’s response was great…every interest is a special interest. As I have said before, it is then our job to put they right people into place who will choose the best of the special interests for us.
THE DYNAMIC LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
While both the book and the video thoroughly explain the process, they do so in different ways. It is really kind of hard to compare because they are presented in such different ways. In the textbook, they are more thorough when it comes to specifics of how the bill starts from the introduction of it all the way through to the President signing or vetoing it. The book also breaks down committees and describes them in depth. The video has more opinions via excerpts from books. The video seems to be more realistic as to what a mess the process can be. They both helped me to understand the process better.