Appropriations - Money Legislation - Laws

1. Date: March 17, 2014Topic: MAJORITARIAN, INTEREST GROUP, CLIENT, AND ENTREPRENEURIAL POLITICS.Aim: How are the implications of public policy considered?Do Now: How can Congress check the bureaucracy?

2. Appropriations - Money Legislation - Laws Rejecting appointments – Senate rejects a Presidential appointment. Power to impeach executive officials – you stole from us?

3. Majoritarian politics • A policy in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays. • Think – impacts a majority of people. • Interest groups aren’t as important here because of the free rider problem – Why? • Debate usually centered around cost or ideology not rival interest groups. EVERYBODY WILL SUPPORT A FORM OF NATIONAL DEFENSE – THE DEBATE LIES IN HOW MUCH MONEY WE ARE GOING TO DEVOTE TO IT. YOU’RE GOING TO GET IT, BUT HOW?

4. INTEREST GROUP POLITICS • One small group benefits and another small group pays. • Ex: Bill stating a company needs to provide 60 days notice prior to a plant (factory) closing. • Union members will have strong feelings on supporting the bill, while business leaders will look to oppose it due to the government overstepping their bounds. VS.

5. Client Politics • A small group will benefit but everybody pays the costs. • The beneficiary is the client of the government. • Ex: Pork Barrel Legislation – legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents with the hope of votes. WHERE’S MY BRIDGE? BRIDGE TO NOWHERE (ALASKA) – SCRAPPED IN 2007

6. How Do The Earmarks Get Passed? Earmarks are allocations hidden within another bill. For example, 2 million dollars was funded from the Defense Department’s budget to build a park in San Francisco. Another 4.4 million was taken from the same budget to fund a technology center in Missouri. The budget for the Defense Department is there to use for defense-related projects. Parks and private technology companies do not fall under the auspices of defense. Earmarks get allocated by flying under the radar of an otherwise quality bill. The defense budget seems to get hit hard with earmarks. In 2005, 1.8 million went to fund a Lewis and Clark celebration, 4 million for hibernation genomics, and 8 million for the New England Manufacturing Supply Chain. Additionally, 1 million funded brown tree snakes, 200 million went to a peer reviewed cancer research program, 50 million to fund a peer reviewed medical program and 25 million for funding health care in Hawaii! These earmarks have nothing to do with the defense of the nation.

7. On paper, earmarks are intended to go through a public process. Lawmakers recognize needs which exist in their respective states or districts, and submit a written request to the appropriate congressional subcommittee asking for the panel’s support. In reality, however, earmarks are often not judged on their merit. Rather, earmarks are typically handed out as favors in exchange for votes on key pieces of legislation by party leaders and appropriations chairmen. In addition, earmarks are rarely considered by the entire U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate during the construction of a bill. Rather, they are often added during the conference phase, which is when House and Senate leaders meet to iron-out the differences in their respective pieces of legislation on a particular issue. Following the conference, both houses must approve the legislation again, but if a member wishes to oppose a particular earmark, he/she must vote against the entire bill in order to do so. Given that most earmarks are inserted into massive pieces of legislation which fund the federal government, members of Congress are often reluctant to oppose them simply over an earmark. In addition, through the process of logrolling, members often agree to support a bill with another’s earmark in exchange for the same treatment. The result is bills with hundreds, if not thousands, of specifically-directed funding projects. Thomas A. Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, said that 98 percent of earmarks to appropriations bills in 2005 were added in the conference phase.

8. Entrepreneurial Politics • A policy in which almost everyone benefits and a small group pays the cost. • Ex: Safety requirements for automobiles – the automakers are paying the costs to update their vehicles. • Mandates!

9. TERM DEFINITION EXAMPLE A POLICY IN WHICH ALMOST EVERYBODY BENEFITS AND ALMOST EVERYBODY PAYS. MAJORITARIAN POLITICS INTEREST GROUP POLITICS ONE SMALL GROUP BENEFITS AND ANOTHER SMALL GROUP PAYS. ONE SMALL GROUP BENEFITS AND ALMOST EVERYONE PAYS. CLIENT POLITICS ALMOST EVERYONE BENEFITS AND A SMALL GROUP PAYS THE COST. ENTREPRENEURIAL POLITICS

10. A device by which any member of the House, after a committee has had the bill for 30 days, may petition to have it brought before the floor. Discharge petition DISCHARGE PETITION.

11. Actions taken by the president when Congress is not in session to fill a position normally subject to Senate confirmation. Recess appointments are temporary, expiring at the end of the next Senate session. Recess appointments