Affirmative Action

Alec Pratt
Final Project Web Post
May 23, 2016

Affirmative Action is the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc. Affirmative action programs have been and can potentially continue to be very beneficial to the society and structure of the United States. Affirmative action programs can be seen in many different places such as the professional business world, college applications, and employment. While Affirmative Action programs have helped benefit those certain things like college applications and acceptance and employment, there are many different places that affirmative action is still required. In the realm of pay, women are payed 77 cents to every white males dollar. Also, in regards to governmental contracting, women owned companies are only given around 2.9% of possible contracts (2002). Still, there are many places where Affirmative Action programs have worked. The amount of women in the professional workforce has increased by massive amounts, and minority acceptance into elite colleges has dramatically increased as well. While the benefits of affirmative action may seem very promising and good for society, there are mixed reviews on the idea of Affirmative Action. Many people are against the idea of Affirmative Action. From ideas ranging from reverse discrimination to affirmative action programs leading to reverse discrimination on groups such as the whites and Asians, the disagreement with the established programs is still there. Some of these views may be justified with the the inequality of application weight that makes certain lower scores look better because of ones race. Affirmative action has and potentially will continue to promote and create racial equality and fairness in the United States of America.

For more information look at the resources provided down below.

Sources:

Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affirmative%20action

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action_in_the_United_States#Arguments_in_favor_of_affirmative_action

Civil Rights Organization 

http://www.civilrights.org/equal-opportunity/fact-sheets/fact_sheet_packet.pdf

Unit 4 Section 4 Judiciary

Alec Pratt
5/1/2016
Unit 4 Section 4 Judiciary

The Republicans' Rash Rejection of Merrick Garland
http://harvardpolitics.com/united-states/the-republicans-rash-rejection-of-merrick-garland/

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has left a void in the Supreme Court. Unlike other general appointments, the confirmation process for the recent nominee, Merrick Garland, has been halted by the republican party. The Supreme Court has been for many weeks been an eight person court which is very harmful to both parties when it comes to decisions. The republican party though has refused to hear the confirmation process of Merrick Garland. Overall this decision only hurts the republican party in the upcoming election and the SCOTUS.

The POTUS, Barrack Obama, is in the dying days of his presidency, but he still has the ability to nominate justices. However, the republican party wants to deny him of making the court a "liberal" court. This decision to not allow the process to occur creates a very poor image of the Republican Party. Many senators that are up for re-election are in danger because they refuse to open up to Merrick Garland. Also, the party looks foolish because they will not allow for the process to take place, even after large members of the party stated that Merrick Garland would be the best person for President Obama to appoint. This also hurts the SCOTUS because now decisions that result in 4-4 will end up going back to the lower courts decision. This is bad because the Federal District Court's decision does not set a national precedent. This relates back to the republican party because now the courts are in a left sided equilibrium so it will be harder for the courts to pass the right's agenda.

Unit 4 Section 3 Bureaucracy

Alec Pratt
5/1/2016
Unit 4 Section 3 Bureaucracy

The Whistleblower Protection Program is Broken Too
Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-d-gerber/whistleblower-protection_b_5510792.html

As of recent, the bureaucracy and many components of the bureaucracy have come under fire from politicians and political thinkers. Many believe that certain departments of the bureaucracy are broken and should be removed or downsized. These thoughts do not avoid the programs brought around by bureaucracy. Recently, the Whistleblower Protection Act has been one of those components under fire. The system was redone in 2011, resulting in a complete overhaul of the previous methods. However, instead of following the new system, many investigators have been found to just want to close the cases instead of follow them correctly. A portion of these whistleblowers coming forward are also being blamed for these problems and according to the article, around 5% of whistleblowers actually receive their reward.


The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 protects federal workers from punishment if they come forward with misconduct or errors in the United States Government. This provides incentive for the federal workers to keep the federal bureaucracy not corrupt. However, this article really points out the problems with the new system. Many workers are being treated poorly because of how they come forward, the methods are not followed, and a small percentage of those who come forward receive their merit based reward. The new version of the Whistleblower Protection Act has provided regulations that must be followed; however, these regulations are not being followed. The system is not being followed, and it is broken. Rewards are not being given, and the system is not working. I personally think that the Whistleblower Protection Act needs to be reformed and strictly followed.