Guest Speaker: Larry Sheppard

BLUE = I used blue to highlight main points, and information that I already know, but it was a good reminder.

RED= I used red highlights to show contact information for Senator Lee.

GREEN= I used green to highlight things I found intriguing and to be good information.

ORANGE= I used orange highlights for information that Larry Sheppard gave to us in class that I found to be fun facts, about our history.

·         Larry Sheppard

o   He works for Mike Lee (R) (One of Utah’s US Senators)

§  Lee.senate.gov- His website and how to stay up to date on what is going on.

·         Based on our constitution we have three forms of government. They are supposed to all keep each other in line. They are as follows:

o   Legislature

§  Congress

·         House of Representatives

·         Senate

o   Executive

§  President & Vice President

o   Judicial

§  Supreme Court

·         Senate Constitutional Requirements

o   Each states have two Senators

o   They serve for a six year term.

o   They must be a US citizen for at least nine years.

o   They must be a resident in the state they want to represent.

o   Must be at least 30 years of age.

o   The Vice President is part of the US Senate.

§  They vote in order to divide a tie.      

·         The US Senate has exclusive responsibilities than the House of Representatives. They include:

o   Confirming Presidential Nominations

o   Ratify Treaties

o   Try impeachments initiated in the House the trial.

·         Us Senate Staff

o   Legislative staff primarily DC based

§  Staff are specialists in particular areas of government

§  Junior leg staff write a lot of letters

o   Focus for Utah staff is constituent service

§  Assist in interactions with government agencies

·         SS

·         Visa’s

·         Military

§  Communicate with local citizens and leaders

§  Mobile office

·         Larry Sheppard

o   Goes to the different small towns to hear their problems and concerns.

§  Special Projects

·         Unforgettable 107^th Congress (2001-2002)

o   A deceased candidate elected to the Senate

o   The First Lady of the US elected to the Senate

§  Hilary Clinton

·         Before she was the Secretary of State

o   13 women in the Senate, would rise to 14

§  Today there are now 20

o   1^st time ever: 50 Republicans & 50 Democrats

§  When majority switches there is a completely different balance. To reorganize.

·         They receive more money to do different things.

o   VP Al Gore the tie-breaking vote for 17 days.

§  Leaned to the democrats.

o   With Dick Cheney sworn in, GOP in control

o   May 24, Jim Jeffords switches parties

§  3^rd switch in parties in two years

o   September 11 attacks

o   October 15 anthrax letter

§  5 people killed

§  Buildings locked, everything shut down for 8 weeks.

§  Letters aren’t very effective.

o   Jim Talent special election

§  Because of the Senator who was killed, and his wife took his place for two years

§  This makes the fourth change in powers back to Republicans

o   100^th birthday of Strom Thurmond

§  Longest serving ever and the oldest.

o   Trent Lott toast of Thurmond led to new leader.

·         Major Issues in 113^th Congress

o   Fiscal Cliff

§  Tax increases, and budget cuts. Happened January 2.

o   Sequestration

§  Mandatory cuts. In the Military…coming up.

o   Continuing Resolution

§  We haven’t set a budget in four years.

o   Debt Ceiling

§  We have already exceeded our limit. So congress has to decided if we are going to let the keep borrowing.

§  It has been raised 18 times, but when it gets raised the spending also gets raised.

·         Needs permanent spending reforms.

·         Cuts won’t do the job.

§  There is push and pull between the branches of government.

§  Should be 18.5% of GDP, right now it is about 24-25%

§  Set a limit so that we can prioritize spending.

§  In Clintons the economy was booming so we had a surplus.

o   Immigration Reform

§  The gang of ocho. 4 Representatives and 4 Democrats

o   Balanced Budget Amendment

·         How to communicate with your elected officials.

o   Do your homework on how to talk to your Senates, know what you want to discuss.

o   Target your legislators that you are going to go after. Know who these people are:

§  Allies

§  Champions

§  Fence Sitters

§  Mellow Opponents

§  Hard Core Opponents

o   Choose a method of communication: (In order of effectiveness)

§  In person

§  Letter (Local office, or fax it)

§  Email (Easy, not a lot of thought put into it.)

§  Phone Call

§  Petitions

·         Discounted, because they don’t know how serious people are.

o   Don’t be afraid to use the Senators staff.

o   Make it personal. Don’t take it personal but make it personal.

o   Present facts, eave documentation.

o   10 good conversions are better than 1000 postcards.

o   Play nice, they are professionals. Treat them as you would like to be treated.

o   Listen

o   Follow-up but don’t be a pest. Every couple of weeks.

o   Try, try again.

·         Lee.senate.gov

o   Follow him. Mike Lee

These are my notes that I took during class today. We had a staff member of Mike Lee, his name was Larry Sheppard. I really enjoy having guest speakers come, because it is nice to see an inside picture of what goes on, and to see a different perspective. To be completely honest I didn't really know a lot about the Senate before today. But all of my notes posted above are all little things that I learned today.

Today I learned about the best way to contact a US Senator if you need to get into contact. I was surprised when I learned today that petitions are the least effective way to get your opinions and worries to the Senators. Why? Because it may be a lot of work for the person actually putting the petition together, the people signing their name aren't really taking it seriously. They find the information more valuable if they know someone has taken the time to do research and write a letter, or better yet? To appear in person. They like you to do your research and know what you're actually talking about, because it shows more about you as a person. They the topic actually means something to you, and that's why you've invested the time and energy.

I also learned that we had a man running for Senate that died a couple weeks before the election, and it was to late to take him out of the running. So it was said tht if he was elected his wife would step in for him until they could have another election to replace her. I found that very intriguing.

Today's class was very interesting. I'm glad to say the least that I made it through the storm of freezing rain to participate in the class discussions.

What did I learn today?!

 

Today in class we had guest speaker come who's name was Holly Richardson. She is well known up on capital hill, and made a reputation for herself. She has been part of Utah's Legislature. It was very interesting to here her talk about politics, and her experiences with capital hill. I found that I thought she was a very good guest speaker. One of the things that I liked about her is that she's not afraid to say what she thinks, and how she feels to spare someone else. I could tell that she was a very blunt and honest person, which I think is exactly the kind of people we need representing us. There are already enough lies that go around, we need people who aren't afraid to speak the truth....no matter the outcome.

 

There are a couple of things that she spoke about that will stick with me over sometime.

 

1. Being the it is important to be invovled in what is going on around us, because every single on of us are affected by laws, and politics is some size and shape.

 

2. Being that there are so many things behind the scenes of politics that happen without our knowledge. She made a comment a few times that will definitely stick with me. The comment being that when she first joined the Legislature that she was pulled aside into a room by someone and told to vote for a specific bill. WHAT?! This bothers me, because if this is really happening how much of elections are actually based on the truth and what they should be? This is completely bothersome.

 

3. I didn't know until today that Utah only gives out five liqueor licenses every year. Man that seems like madness! There are so many retaurants that open up in a year, and I can't believe only five restaurants can get a license.

 

4. I knew this, but she confirmed this for me today while speaking. There is a lot of knowledge to be had when dealing with politics.

 

5. I also learned that some of our Legislatures think that we should do away with the Constitution. This is mind boggling to me. I think even thinking about getting rid of the Constitution is outrageous! The Constitution is the foundation of our Nation.

 

I think that Politics can be very dirty, but I also think that we need to be more educated than we are. Our youth needs to vote during elections because they are our future generation, with-out their vote what will we be in 50 years? Food for thought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Preamble to the Constitution

The Preamble to the Constitution is as follows:

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty toourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

·         What are the purposes of government?

o   Order to form a more perfect Union

§  To make a Union better than at the time it was formed.

o   To Establish Justice and Insure Domestic Tranquility

o   To Provide for the Common Defense

o   To Promote the General Welfare

o   To Secure the Blessings of Liberty

·         How does the government establish justice and insure domestic tranquility?

o   Government manages conflict and maintains order. We might think of government as a social contract among people who agree to allow themselves to be regulated and taxed in exchange for protection of their lives and property.

·         What is a social contract?

o   Idea that government originates as an implied contract among individuals who agree to obey laws in exchange for protection of their rights.

o   We follow their rules in order to receive their protection.

·         How does the government provide for the common defense?

o   By providing warfare. The National defense will always be the responsibility of the United States Government. By providing the military.

·         How does the government promote the general Welfare?

o   By providing public goods. Such as National Parks, educations, SS, Medicare, and highways.

·         Rights versus Entitlements. What is the difference between a right and an entitlement?

o   Rights- limits on government power to protect individuals

o   Entitlements- benefits that governments have enacted for persons who meet specific requirements.

·         How does the government secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity?

o   By ensuring that all people are treated equally before the law. No one is above the law.

·         What is the definition of democracy?

o   Governing system in which the people govern themselves, from the Greek term meaning “rule by the many.”

·         What is the paradox of democracy?

o   Potential for conflict between individual freedom and majority rule.

·         How do we resolve the conflict between majority rule and individual liberty?

o   By establishing the principle of limited government.

·         In The Federalist Papers in 1787, James Madison warned against a direct democracy: “Pure democracy…can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction…There is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party, or an obnoxious individual (Dye, 12).”

·         What is the principle of Limited Government that the founders set up in the Constitution and the Bill of rights?

o   Limited government: Principle that government power over the individual is limited, that there are some personal liberties that even a majority cannot regulate, and that government itself is restrained by law.

 

Understanding our government is something we must take a look at one piece at a time. It is easier to pick apart little piece at a time than trying to understand everything all at once. These questions help us with that.