Week of October 12-October 16: CWI

[5Kara]

Monday- 

Health Care:

• Democrats:
  • Government should allow universal access to healthcare
• Republicans:
  • Private insurers are preferable to government controlled system
• Goals of Obamacare:
  • Stronger Consumer Rights and Protections
    • 105 million Americans no longer have lifetime dollar limits on their coverage
    • More than 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage or charged more because of their health 
  • More Affordable Coverage
    • Insurance companies have to spend at least 80% of your premium dollars on Health care. If they don't meet the standard, they have to provide rebates to the consumers- and millions of consumers have received $1.9 billion in rebates
    • Since the Affordable Care Act was enacted, health care prices have risen at the slowest rate in nearly 50 years
  • Better Access to Care
    • After 5 years of the Affordable Care Act, more than 16 million Americans have gained health coverage, and the nation's uninsured rate is now the lowest ever recorded. 
    • 137 millions Americans with private health coverage are now guaranteed preventative services 
  • Strengthen Medicare:
    • Health Insurance for Seniors
    • More than 9.4 million seniors and other people with medicare have saved more than $15 billion on prescription drugs 
• Why do Republicans Hate Obamacare?
  • Once people start, they get too dependent and it's hard to take them off
  • We rely on government for everything
  • People are too reliant on the government and less reliable on themselves 

Martin O'Malley:

• Democrat
• Born in Washington DC on January 18. 1963
• Went to the University of Maryland and got his law degree
• Served 8 years as a mayor of Baltimore 
• Served as governor of Maryland
• Child of Barbara and Thomas
• Dad was an Air Force Pilot
• His Plan:
  • Supports the middle class
  • Working to improve violence
  • Works to improve public school
  • Believes in helping greenhouse gases
  • Supports gay marriage
  • Wants to raise the minimum wage
  • Stricter gun laws 
• People of Maryland took a poll to see if he would be a good president:
  • 70% no
  • 14% yes
• Failures of the Past:
  • Plans of dropping crime have failed him
  • He thinks too much of numbers
  • Took away jobs by raising the minimum wage 

ISIS:

• ISIS: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
• ISIL: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Middle East)
• After the US Left Iraq in 2011, ISIS (formerly Al-Qaeda in Iraq), moved in and has taken over much of Northern Iraq and Syria
• Obama started a bombing campaign on ISIS targets in August 2014
• Obama sent 1500 military advisers back in late 2014 to train people
• Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has criticized Obama for leaving Iraq too early 
• Islamic state in Iraq and Syria, a Muslim organization to restore Islamic religion
• Both republicans and democrats think that the US should use military force against ISIS, but Obama has resisted war for nearly three years in Syria 
• ISIS is a group that is trying to take over Syria
• ISIS started in 1999, but formed in 2013 in Iraq 
• 80% of Western Syria fighters have joined ISIS
• ISIS says they have fighters from Germany, France, United Kingdom, and other European countries
• ISIS gets a lot of money from oil fields, they are in control of the banks, gambling, drug trafficking, and prostitution
• Russia recently had an air-strike on them, killed two commanders and 300 militants
• ISIS is responsible for a lot of bombings, kidnappings, and beheading
• In 2007, the first part of ISIS was weakened by Iraqi tribes that were supported by the US (called the Sunni Awakening)
• ISIS moved after the Sunni Awakening to Syria and they gained a lot of power, troops, and land 
• ISIS used to be part of Al-Qaeda
  • A lot of younger generations are joining ISIS, which makes Al-Qaeda jealous (Al-Qaeda is older people)
  • ISIS and Al-Qaeda don't get along very well (they aren't at war though) 

Tuesday and Wednesday- Asian map tests

Thursday-

Carly Fiorina:

• 61 years old (1954-09-06)
• Born in Austin, Texas
• Moved quite often due to father's different jobs, attended different schools
• Was able to make friends, but not stay connected
• Attended 5 different high schools, one in Ghana
• Graduated from Charles E. Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina 
• Studied Medieval history and philosophy at Stanford
• Graduated from Stanford with a bachelor of arts in 1976
• Decided to become a lawyer like her father
• Enrolled at UCLA School of Law
• Dropped out after only 1 semester
• Mad father, said she "wouldn't amount to much"
• After college, bounced around from job to job
• For some time, worked as a teacher in Italy
• She went to Master of Business Administration in marketing from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1980
• Joined AT&T as a management trainee in 1980
• Network systems division because of her interest in an emerging field in network communications
• The division she chose was usually only men but she carved a niche in the company
• Slowly rose up at AT&T, the first female officer
• She then became the head of North America's sales
• She was appointed head of Lucent's (different business) consumer communications in 1997
• Important business woman in America
• Joined HP in 1999 as the CEO
• First woman to lead a Fortune 20 Company
• In 2001, she announced a merge with Compaq, a leading competitor in the industry (computers)
• She made a deal with one of the leading competitors (didn't work out), the founders of HP tried to stop her
• She was forced to resign from CEO in 2005
• First came into politics with John McCain's presidential campaign
• A couple years later, she became the fundraising chair of the Republican National Committee's "Victory" Initiative
• In 2009, ran for the senate in California
• Easily became the Republican nominee
• Was beat in 2010 by Barbara Boxer 
• Announced she was running for the 2016 election in May 2015
• Republican 
• Pro Life- believes in the pain-capable unborn child act
• Military- biggest, most powerful military in the world
• Women's rights- believes in women's rights, equality 
• Planned parenthood- no planned parenthood 

The War in Afghanistan:

• How it Started:
  • On September 11th, 2001, Al-Qaeda hijacked 4 planes
  • 2 planes into the World Trade Centers
  • 1 in field in Pennsylvania 
  • 1 in Pentagon
  • 2,977 died
  • October 7th, 2001- the war in Afghanistan started officially under President Bush
  • In 2003, we invaded Iraq (2003-2011), democrats criticized Bush for putting more effort and money into the war in Iraq
• Democrats:
  • President Obama said he wanted troops out in 2014, but had to extend it to 2016 and now 2017
  • Want to expand NATO forces in Afghanistan to stop it from becoming a terrorist haven
  • They want to stop terrorists funds by financial sanctions against nations or banks
  • Remove US bases in the region
  • President Obama wanted to focus on Afghanistan- sent 30,000 more troops in 2009
  • Started US withdrawal from Afghanistan in July 2011
  • Hopes to be out of Afghanistan sometime in 2017 (as of 10/15/15)
• Republicans: 
  • They want to stand behind the Bush Administration, not leaving until the job is done (the Afghan government is able to protect themselves from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban)
  • They want to find any weapons they might be making
  • Want to shrink their area of operation and destroy their leadership
  • They don't want to negotiate with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, they want the complete destruction of terrorism and bring democracy over in Afghanistan
  • Maintain peace and stability in the region 
  • Most everyone supported the War in Afghanistan due to 9-11
  • Afghanistan was not focused on as much after the Iraq invasion in 2003
  • Allowed the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to gain power over the years
  • President Bush stated on October 21, 2006 that the US would not leave Iraq "until the job is done"
  • This is why Obama (democrats) won in 2008 because Americans wanted out of Iraq
• The Results of the War in Afghanistan:
  • Millions of people were freed from terrorists
  • Over 40,000 people have died (not including Pakistanis)
  • 2,326 American service members have been killed in Afghanistan
  • 22,773 US soldiers have been wounded
  • Osama Bin Laden was killed
  • The Taliban's government is gone
  • Establishment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 

Jeb Bush:

• February 11, 1953
• Midland, TX
• Went to Phillips Academy for high schools
• Went to Texas University in college
• Married on February 23, 1974 to his wife Columba (she is Hispanic, not from America)
• He speaks fluent Spanish because of her
• 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999-2007
• Climate change is a real concern
• Expand gun owners' rights
• Marriage is between a man and a woman
• Cancel any nuclear deal President Obama reaches with Iran
• Strengthen ties with Israel 

Ted Cruz:

• Born on December 22, 1970
• Ted has a wife named Heidi and two daughters named Caroline and Catherine
• They live in Houston, Texas
• His father is a Cuban immigrant
• Went to Harvard, then went to Princeton
• Graduated from Princeton
• Went back to Harvard for Law School
• Law clerk for J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1995
• Worked on the George W. Bush Presidential campaign
• Became the solicitor general of Texas
• Major Views:
  • Energy, water, environment
    • America is in the midst of an energy revolution
  • Healthcare
    • Repealing Obamacare
  • Immigration
    • Celebrates legal immigration, secure the border, reform the legal immigration system

Friday-

Legalization of Marijuana:

• Medical Marijuana is legal in 24 states and Washington DC
• Anyone over 21 can smoke marijuana in Alaska, Washington DC, Washington State, Colorado, and Oregon
• The trend is most likely going to be more and more states legalizing 
• It is illegal to smoke marijuana in public anywhere
• More states want to make it legal so they can get tax dollars
• 53% of Americans think it should be legal
• According to research, marijuana is not as bad as alcohol and tobacco 
• Reasons why people support legalizing marijuana:
  • Medicinal benefits
  • Not as dangerous as other drugs
  • Benefits of regulation, such as tax revenue
  • Current enforcement is expensive, problematic
  • People should be able to do it if they want to
• Majority of both parties still oppose the legalization of marijuana for recreational use
• Democrats would be more likely to support
• Legalization of marijuana for medicinal use is more widely supported 

Death Penalty:

• There have been 1,414 executions since 1976
• 31 states that have it, including: 
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
• 19 states that don't have it, including:
  • Iowa
  • Nebraska
• Pros and Cons:
  • Cost of death v. life in prison
  • Closure to the family of the victim
• Republicans:
  • For the death penalty
  • A lot of overcrowding in prisons
  • The death penalty is necessary and effective in deterring people from committing crimes
• Democrats:
  • Against it more-so
  • Oppose it
  • It is not a deterrent and innocent people are in jeopardy
• Why Are People Against the Death Penalty?
  • Danger of executing innocent people
  • Racism in the application of the death penalty
  • High costs (people wait on death row for a long time because of appeals)
  • Failure of deterrence
• The average annual cost per inmate is $47,421
• $175 thousand spent per one death row inmate per year
• Average time on death row
  • The average time that elapses between sentence and execution has risen from six years in the mid 1980's to 16.5 years now
• Some states don't have the death penalty because it has been declared unconstitutional 
• 35 executions in 2014, the lowest number since 1994
• Methods of Execution in the US:
  • Lethal injection (87%)
  • Electrocution (11%)
  • Hanging (1%)
  • Firing squad (0.5%)
  • Gas chamber (0.5%)
• Furman v. Georgia (1972)
  • The court found the death penalty to be unconstitutional on the grounds of cruel and unusla punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution 
• Races Executed by the Death Penalty:
  • 34% African American (1 out of 3 with the population factored in)
  • 56% White
  • 8% Hispanic
  • 2% Other