Third parties.

1.) Wall Street was Obama's major source of contributions.
2.) Will a third party bring the other two parties from the far extremes of their parties?
3.) It's been said that the role of third parties is to "sting like a bee and then die."
4.) 58% of Americans believe we need a third major party.
5.) Another reason that people are convinced a third party is necessary is because both parties do not seem to take the crisises the country is facing too seriously.
6.) The US spends more money on education than on teachers.
7.) Currently, there are approximately 25 million people who cannot find jobs.
8.) The Republicans are against raising taxes for the baby boomers.
9.) The crises we are facing are not being taken seriously by our two current parties.
10.) Public finance and national debt can lead to the decline of a major political party.

Twenty truths.

1.) Campaigning involves trying to make the other candidate look bad, instead of focusing on making yourself look better (-)
2.) Celebrities help to endorse a candidate. (-)
3.) It is very hard to be elected if you are from a third party, and not part of the two major parties (-)
4.) To make and pass a bill is a very long process. (0)
5.) Many voters just vote for the party, not the person (-)
6.) A lot of the time, candidates do not keep the promises they make while campaigning (-)
7.) Some states are more important than other states while campaigning (-)
8.) Campaign ads don't give much information about the candidate. (-)
9.) Campaign finances have gone up since the past. (-)
10.) The Judicial Branch can declare laws unconstitutional. (0)
11.) Presidents have the power to veto laws. (0)
12.) As citizens we have specific rights that the government can not take away from us. (+)
13.) The executive branch is not just the president, there are many other people who help him. (+)
14.) People don't vote for a candidate because they are too lazy. (-)
15.) Candidates have limitless access to the media to spread their message and view across the country. (+)
16.) People with the most money have the most say. (-)
17.) Politicians have armies of people who work to modify their image and to recruit more people to join them. (+)
18.) With incumbents in office, it is a little more difficult for new-comers to win an election. (-)
19.) Power is separated between three branches. (+)
20.) The public is largely uninformed about political matters. (-)

The Green Party.

Green Party Platform:
1. Support grassroots democracy
2. Believe in social justice and equal opportunity.
3. Ecological wisdom and environmentalism.
4. Nonviolence.
5. Decentralization of power and money.
6. Community-based economics and economic justice. Fair trade as opposed to free trade.
7. Feminism and gender equity.
8. Respect for diversity.
9. Personal and global responsibility.
10. Future focus on sustainability.
11. Believe that multinational corporations have become a destructive force.
12. Free speech and media reform.
13. Create a more open-source and free Internet.
14. More exploration of space.
15. Demilitarization.

Issue I care about: abortion.

Questions:
1.) Is there any idea scientifically about whether life begins at birth vs. at conception?
2.) What constitutional basis is there for people to outlaw abortion?
3.) What are the current political parties stances on abortion?

Sources:
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/08/26/when-does-life-begin/
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2011/09/14/140397576/when-does-life-begin
http://familydoctormag.com/sexual-health/251-when-does-life-begin-medical-experts-debate-abortion-issue.html
http://www.rnclife.org/brochure/rprolife.html
http://www.euthanasia.com/demo.html

Answers
1.) There is no scientific consensus about when life begins. Some will say it's when heartbeats can be registered, others when brain activity can be detected, and others still at conception and birth. There are too many different "definitions" for there to be consensus, even among scientists.
2.) There is no constitutional basis for the outlaw of abortion. Pro-life activists will incite that abortion is murder, but because there isn't a consensus as to when life begins, there can't be any proof that abortion is murder.
3.) The Republican party generally states that they are the pro-life party, whereas the Democratic party states that they are the pro-choice party. However, there is some line blurring. Some Republicans identify themselves as pro-choice, and some democrats identify themselves as pro-life.

Constituent letter.

Mr. Casey,
My name is Kaitlin Garvey and I'm writing to you about your vote on the National Defense Authorization Act. As you may know, the act costs $662 billion dollars to put into action, and it gives the US military the right to detain any United States citizen indefinitely, all to combat the War on Terror. I have to say, as a liberal from Pennsylvania, I'm severely disappointed. I figured the Democratic vote would go against such an extremely heavy handed act.
As a liberal citizen of Pennsylvania, I'm very outspoken against this bill. I know its already been put into action, and I'm writing to say I'm disappointed. As you hopefully know, the act made it possible for the US military to hold anyone in indefinite detention. Any US citizen. This goes directly against the Bill of Rights that Americans are supposed to cherish.
I know that many of the Congressmen who voted for the bill, as well as Obama, will try to deny the fact that this act violates American rights. But if the public was so outraged, why vote for it?
Respectfully,
Kaitlin Garvey

Political cartoon, the third.

1.) Does this accurately portray the immigration laws of the US?
2.) Would most Americans agree with this?
3.) Does this have religious connotations, or just political?

Political cartoon response.

I think that Jeremy's response to the Newt Gingrich cartoon was a good one, and no I don't think that the American people take Gingrich seriously as a candidate. He may not be running for President just for book sales, but I do think that he sees it as a publicity thing. But have his book sales gone up just because he's running for President?