Political+Views

One of the foremost beliefs that I have is that I should help you think on your own...sooo....I will try my hardest to find sites and resources that espouse both sides of an issue or at least offer both sides of an issue from different authors. We should learn to question our views, so keep this in mind when we deal with political views.

Some useful sites that will aid our discussion:
This website has all kinds of up-to-date political information politico.com

Here is a site that attempts to offer non-partisan sides to an issue: BalancedPolitics

Our high school Media Center has a subscription that offers the pros and cons of issues: SIRS (Social Issue Research Sources)

Another site that explores the Pros and Cons of an issue that may be useful.

Political Ideology Check out the below links to find out more about your political ideology. These will help you identify your political ideology especially when writing your political ideology essay.
 * Take some of these quizzes to gauge your political ideology. This quiz can also show your political typology, but it has many more categories than what we will cover. Better yet take the shortest Political Quiz or check out politopia for background information and a simple and straightforward explanation on the right and the left. Politopia will also give you a visual map to help you understand your political ideology. This is a British survey ,but it is comprehensive (which means it will be long) and will compare you to famous political leaders in history.
 * check out this new site I added to supplement out Political Spectrum Ideology activity isidewith

Political Parties Once you figure out where you belong or where your allegiance lies...check these sites out: If you may be Libertarian check this out! OR if you may be a Democrat OR you could be a Republican btw...don't read anything into this particular order...I jumbled it on purpose. Tricky, huh? OR you might want to learn more about the Tea Party. Check out this link to find out more--Tea Party Need some help figuring out what you are interested and need an little more interactive site. Check out Vote Smart. Vote Smart asks you issues and then you prioritize then and them BAM! you find out who you should vote for!

= = 2012 Republican Presidential Hopefuls! Check out the Republican contenders for the 2012 Presidential Race! Who do you support? Mitt Romney--for a while the undisputed possible nominee Ron Paul-the long shot for the nominee Rick Santorum-the use to be underdog turned serious contender Newt Gingrich-he didn't have a prayer, but now he is in the lead--maybe

2012 Democratic Nominee Barrack O' Bama-one of the four from the above will be running against our current president

Super PACS (PAC stands for Political Action Committee) I have mentioned these in passing in class before. PACs have always influenced elections, but in 2010 the rules changed governing the funding and disclosure of PACs and have lead to what we (the political junkies) call Super PACs. Super PACs will have a major influence on 2012 election, but most people have no idea what they are and how they work. Find out the big secret (and thus get my quick snide passing remarks in class) by checking out Open Secrets in addition, this site tells you what or who the Super PAC supports and how much money they have raised. If you really understand this, perhaps you will enjoy Colbert's media type="custom" key="12373474" --Making a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. Don't forget Colbert is being satirical!

Check out Colbert on Rock Center...see below.

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PBS Newshour reports on who is spending more---the Candidate or the Super PACs!

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Here's a simple graphic that illustrates the Spending Pie of the 2012 Presidential Republican Nomination Contest.

The Creation Super PACs PACs have existed since 1971 when Congress passed the Campaign Finance Reform Act in an attempt to curb the amount of money spent on political campaigns, but Super PACs came into being or became legal with the landmark Supreme Court case __Citizens United vs. Federal Election__ __Commission.__ Check out both sides of the argument on debatepedia. In case you didn't click on Citizens United...it is a PAC and it fought the law and __won__ or at least beat the FEC.

Here's a video (short only 2 minutes long) that can help you understand what a Super PAC is! What is a Super PAC?

Federal Election Commission If you want to know who donated to whom, you can check out this information and lots of other very relevant information on the Federal Election Commission. You can find anyone (any citizen) who donated to any political candidate in the recent 2012 election. (I already looked for people that I knew.) Find out what Senators or Representatives are getting the most money by zip code and lots of other important information. Don't forget this is the underfunded organization that your textbook says is "like a chicken guarding the fox-house." Let's say you absolutely love, um....Newt Gingrich and you happen to be loaded. Click on this Citizen's Guide to find out how much money you can give Gingrich.

Voting and You! If you are going to be 18 by March 6, 2012 and you plan on voting in the March 2012 Primary (that's March 6, 2012), make sure you are registered to vote. Need more information go to the Ohio Secretary of State, Jon Husted's page. Be a proactive citizen and make sure you are registered to vote. You must be registered to vote by February 6, 2012 to vote in the Ohio primary.