How A Bill Becomes a Law

Foreign Policy

Diplomacy

• What does acting "unilaterally" mean? What are the dangers of acting unilaterally?
• If Hamas is a terrorist group but were also elected democratically, how should the incoming President deal with them? Do we fight them or talk to them? Neither? Both?

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Latin America

• What factors have prevented the U.S. and Latin American countries from forging a strong relationship? What challenges confront U.S. policy in Latin America?
• What challenges confront U.S. policy in Latin America?

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US-China Trade Policy

• Could the large and growing trade imbalance with China have an adverse effect on the U.S. economy?
• What role does the undervalued Chinese currency play?

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Defense and Security: Protecting Ourselves

• What should U.S. priorities be?
• How should its forces be structured and deployed to meet new security challenges?

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Russia

http://www.fpa.org/topics4707/topics_show.htm?doc_id=601603

In-Class Essay

Presidential Challenges Project

Later this week we will be writing an in-class essay that answers the following question: what is the greatest challenge facing President Obama upon taking office?

You'll be able to choose from: 

• The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Health Care
• Economic Crisis
• Foreign Policy

Preparing for an in-class essay is a unique challenge. You will need to do a few things: first, prepare all the notes, handouts, and other materials you will want to use. Just having them isn't enough! 

1. You'll need to review them. One of the best ways to do that is to write a brief summary of each issue and WHY it is a challenge for President-elect Obama. That will allow you to find any holes in your knowledge.
2. Next, look through your materials and review what pieces of evidence will be most helpful/interesting to you when you're writing. Remember, the idea is to explain which challenge is the biggest. 
   
3. You'll need to review ALL the challenges so you can address the others. Just because you think the war is the biggest challenge doesn't mean you don't address/refer to the others. You will need to explain WHY they are not the biggest. 
4. Sketch out your essay. This can be in the form of a web diagram, bullet points, an outline, or a quickwrite. Do not come to the essay-writing period without a map of your essay! That's like flying blind. 
5. Figure out where you're going to plug in the pieces of evidence you found most compelling. This will make writing the essay easier and allow you to focus on writing it well. 
6. Organize these notes in a way you can easily understand during the pressure of an essay-writing period. 

Health Care Question

Hey Guys--

So our discussion of health care and the uninsured spurred some good discussion. I'd like you to address which of the possible models you feel is most appropriate. Please read the Advantages and Disadvantages from the packet and write a comment about which one you feel is best and WHY. Use examples. 

Also! Respond to someone else's comment, and directly address their reasons. Be polite and respectful, but also disagree if you think they are wrong. Let's get a discussion going on here. 

9th Grade: Judaism and Hammurabi

Judaism and the Code of Hammurabi are both effective ways of controlling a population. 

• Describe how both systems are different both in terms of their method of control and what it would have felt like to be a citizen. 
• Which one is more effective? Why? 

Presidential Challenges Project

President-Elect Obama will face a significant set of challenges upon taking office. We will be exploring these challenges and crises in depth, so you will need to use some of the following resources.

We'll be addressing five issues that President Obama will face upon taking office: 

• Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Economic Crisis
• Foreign Policy
• Health Care
• Climate Change

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Iraq War

Iraq War Timeline

Iraqi Contractors

Great Article on War in Afghanistan

1. How will we get troops home?
   
2. How many do we need in Iraq? Afghanistan? 
   
3. How much are these wars costing us, total? 
   
4. What is the status of the Iraqi government?
   
5. Is it stable? 
   
6. What is the status of the Afghan government? 
   
7. Is it stable?
   
8. How many have been killed? List both soldiers and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
   

Electoral College!

In class you read about the electoral college, the actual method by which the President of the United States is chosen.

After you've explored the electoral college, please answer the following questions:

• Does the electoral college accurately reflect the choice of a majority of Americans? Why or why not?
• Would a simple majority (who gets the most votes) be more fair? Why or why not?