Answer the following (2) questions and respond to another AP student.
(1) In your opinion, "if" you had the power to "change" Congress, what major changes would you make? Why?
(2) In your overall assessment, did the Founding Fathers give way too much power to the legislative branch?
Weekly discussions and responses mixed with perplexing issues, ideas, and insight from the classroom of Mr. Pyle
If I had the power to change congress. I would first deal with the whole concept of people voting. I would allow people to vote upon the choices they should chose. I would also create new laws to help with the people since America is founded on an actual democracy. I would change some laws that deals with immigration, Human rights and fund more money for education. For immigration, I would try to support laws that would help immigrates. For human rights, I would create laws that would help people get equal rights no matter what religion, race, out social working class. And i would fund more money for education to help change the future generation with a more proper education.
ReplyDeleteI highly agree with you on the last part about investing in the nation's college students and potential college students. And I agree with the how people vote. I feel that it is safe to assume that many Americans don't even know about incumbents or how they can change the people out in Congress out for other candidates that really reflect their views.
DeleteI totally agree on your opinion with immigration. I do really feel like For immigration, we should try to support laws that would help immigrates. Exactly why I mentioned Immigration in my blog post. Great job.
DeleteI agree with immigration. Many of the minority races are being mistreated by the authorities and and have been prejudiced by most. Creating laws to help immigrants will improve thier lives greatly.
DeleteChanging the way of voting won't really help we have to first tackle the corrupt politicians that don't allow anything to get done
DeleteI agree on getting more money to help future generations with their education. so we would have a better nation full of educated people
DeleteIt's not so much as having the power to change Congress necessarily, but rather, change the way the ideas the public has of Congress. That is to say, we should encourage voters to really research the candidates and incumbents and make a decision based on hard facts of how they vote, what they've done so far, etc. I respect that everyone has their own opinion's about politics, but further informing the public wouldn't hurt.
ReplyDelete"Yet changing the terms of members of Congress requires changing the Constitution, which is difficult to do, and many members of Congress have fought term limitations fiercely," says out textbook on page 365. Well, if they respond that way to restrictions on their selves, then how about rules like they have for filibustering. So term limitations don't exactly become enforced, how about they agree with their constituents to not run for a superfluous amount of terms., they'll gain respect and admiration anyways.
In my opinion, and as far as my knowledge helps, I think the Founding Fathers give the Legislative branch too much power, but that is good. The Presidential campaigns attract much attention, and the President becomes the leader of the government elected by the country as a whole. And so having hundreds of congressman elected by certain areas working with or against or cooperating with the President seems fair.
If I had the power to change congress? Hmm.. If I had the power to change congress one thing that I would change would be immigration. And before anyone disagrees with me I would like to prove what exactly I change about immigration. Immigration has over all been one big issue going on. One thing I would change about immigration would be their regulations. I wouldn't technically stop immigration but I would give more opportunities. Like for example the Dream Act. Those who came to US as minors and have a high school degree and who lived in the country for five years have the opportunity to get their papers. I feel as if everyone deserves a second chance. Not just those who came as minors, but everyone. I'm pretty sure what's going on right now is making immigrants regret what they have done. If I were to change that regulation and give more opportunities I really feel like immigrants would do what they can to get papers.
ReplyDeleteIn your overall assessment, did the Founding Fathers give way too much power to the legislative branch? No, honestly I really don't. I feel like The fathers created those 3 branches because they felt that if the government had too much power that they would become power hungry, so they separated powers to keep everything equal so power couldn't corrupt. Checks and Balances.
I agree with Karla. I don't think the Founding Fathers gave too much power to the legislative branch. Like Karla mentioned, the Checks and Balances in which keeps every branch equal.
DeleteI agree with Karla about the Founding Fathers. I believe they had good intentions.
DeleteI would put a time limit on the passing of laws/bills. Most of the time if theres something they personally dont care about they dont mind putting it at the end of their list.
ReplyDeleteI do think the founding fathers gave too much power. Its as if they're the top branch when all of them are suppose to be "equal".
i agree the timeline would be essiental to america's upbringing therefore with the instalilation of this system many americans can experience the change they crave for
DeleteI agree, it takes a long time to pass a bill and with the house being reelected every two years doesn't help, if there was new people in the house they would have to start all over again.
DeleteI fully agree with you. Bills die because the people that are in power procrastinate and wait til last minute and aren't well informed about them. The ones that end up losing are the people.
DeleteI agree with you. It takes to long for the Congress to pass a law or a bill, even longer to agree on the same things. The reelections every two years just postpone everything. The new people in office have to again agree with it. And more than have the office must agree. It's impossible to get anything done.
DeleteI agree on what the founding fathers intentions were. And the whole concept of nothing getting done by A mix of Demo-Rep in the congress. For gun control. I would disagree since it about the psychical emotion of an individual. So, There's no need to strict the laws of gun control. "Guns don't kill people, People Kill People"
ReplyDeleteIf I had the power to change Congress, my top priority is to improve education. The United States has beem falling behind from being one of the smartest countries in the world and the majority of the students are flunking because of poor teachers. Immigration would be the next major issues to focus on. This country was founded by immigrants and since the official founding of the United States, they have welcomed everyone from around the world with open arms. Recently, the border patrol has been abusing their power by sending the immigrants to prison camps, deporting them out, or nearly beating them to death. I would create laws that can help immigrants to become equal and become citizens.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the Founding Fathers gave Congress too much power. Both houses make the laws and is where the majority of both political parties are at. Congress has had a horrible mix of republicans and democrats recently, and aren't getting anything done. It would be best to balance the houses to become more stable.
I agree with the improvement in education in order to help students and that the founding fathers gave too much power to congress but cannot get anything done with unbalance political parties they have.
DeleteI can agree with making education better in the nation since its a must if we want to succeed in the future. As for the founding fathers, I also agree with your opinion as well. The country should regulate the branches more in order to be truly fair to the people.
DeleteIf I had the power to change Congress, I would change the process to create laws from bills. The system we have is one that does not respond well to the quick demands from the people and the quick changes in time. Therefore, I would define a more quick way for bills to get voted on and sent to the President. However, it would have its restrictions. That way bills that are clearly either unconstitutional r definitely not critical will wait t be passed. Of course, such waiting time would not be anywhere close to the years that it sometimes takes to vote a bill in committee. Congress simply needs a new way of operating in order to maintain order, well being, and stability in the country.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the Founding Fathers did give Congress too much power to the point where it is ineffective in today's society and government. While the Fathers were trying to avoid a monarchy like King George's. Thus, they created the other branches to balance the President and to keep each other in check. However, it now seems that unconsciously they DID create a corrupt monarch in this country: Congress. While people could blame the President for not enacting on his promises, one must realize that a good 3/4 of the time Congress is the one delaying action or right down shutting it down.
1)The changes I would make to congress is to lessen the 2/3 votes to where it wouldn't be so hard to pass an act. Also i would give power to the president to where he would have a higher say so then congress therefore he would get the blame since that's why we put him in office.
ReplyDelete2) The founding fathers made our system nearly impossible to pass anything or get anything accomplished because so many systems and a overused process that works for no purpose. The legislature is easily persuaded by money and power so us as americans are left out to dry. What a sad case
I agree with harold, the president should get more power since he is responsible for what happens to the United States, and that the legislature branch is easily manipulated by money
Delete1. If I had the power to change congress I would change the ways laws are made. There are just too many things that need to be fixed. For example, immigration, education...etc. If laws are taking a long time to be made then we won't see change until a long time. Most of the things going on require action to take place as soon as possible. We don't get to issues that need to be attended to and it just causes more and more problems. If harm is being done, it has to be stopped. The government should be like an older brother. It should really look out for the people. Not to the extreme but should be aware of the things gong on and how it affects our country. Too many issues are not getting the full attention they need. Congress should be filled with people who put the people first. Who won't bend for money or any sort of bribe. It's just not right. I guess I'd fix a lot of things. There's just so much that I would try my best to do.
ReplyDelete2. I don't think the founding fathers gave congress too much power. They created a way for all three branches to check on each other. I believe the system was made this way to make sure MOST people happy. However, I feel they forgot that we live in an advancing world. I don't think they thought about huge corporations feeding money into polititions' back pockets or anything of that sort. Their systems just need a little cleaning up and adjusting to our times. Some ar completely useless others just need something to get them to move a little quicker.
I agree with you on that of the founding fathers. I think each branch received equal parts. The problem is how they take advantage of it in a bad way.
DeleteI agree with you of the founding fathers too. Attempting to make everyone happy isn't as simple a task as it seems, but it should be revised to work more efficient.
DeleteI agree with you the system needs some cleaning up because we do live in advancing world and, if the systems wore cleaned up maybe more things will get accomplished.
DeleteIf I had the power to change congress, I would change the process and paste at which bills are processed through congress because the current method congress uses to process bills is too complicated and long, and because of that, congress members may have their votes bought by other people, coorporations, and interests groups, etc... during the process, and that will not benefit the people, on the contrary, it will have a severe negative impact on the people because the coorporations, interests groups, etc... only vote for bills that will benefit they don't care if the bill is not benefficial to the people, as long as it benefits themselves.
ReplyDeleteI believe the founding fathers gave too much power to the legislative branch, because congress has control over which bills will die and which will be sent of to be signed by the president to become laws, in other words they make the rules for the United States.
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ReplyDeleteI believe in equality and fairness. Congress would be better with some changes. I think it would be better to have a fifty-fifty side democratic and republican. If there is too many republicans or democrats most definite absolute anything is going to be done. They would focused more in passing necessary laws than just fighting in between themselves. Sometimes their opinions might not combine and decide not pass a law either group thought was appropriate.
ReplyDeleteThe founding fathers were brilliant figures. Of course they wanted the best for the U.S and among all the citizens. So I think the legislative branch did not received the most power above the other two. Each branch has the opportunity to approve or denied a law, so I think it is pretty fair for all the system.
I agree with you on all braches being equal. Checks and Balances keeps every branch proportional.
DeleteIf I had the power to change Congress, it would have to be to actually make our democracy a democracy. The way things are now, everything is about the money, finding loop holes, etc. For example, nobody likes to play a game if the odds aren't fair, yet our whole government is based with those odds. At this rate, nothing is getting accomplished and our nation is being brought into a dirt hole.
ReplyDeleteI believe the founding fathers didn't over power the legislative branch. It's just the fact that everyone wants what is better for themselves. Nobody leaves room for compromises and this is what causes different parties to be formed (Democrats & Republicans) and creates an inefficient government.
I agree with you, everyone is just in it for the money. They don't really care anymore about representing the people until election time comes then the senators and representatives act like they are there for the people and only them.
DeleteI also agree with you about the money. Money does run everything and sadly it runs everything in our government.
DeleteI agree, our system is so corrupt instead of good ideas moving forward, the money does.
DeleteI agree our country definitely needs some change to become a true democracy. Politicians are definitely heavily influenced by the money of corporations ,and loop holes are made such as gerrymandering which is the creating congressional districts to favor a political party.
DeleteI do believe in your dream of changing our plutocratic democracy into a democratic republic democracy. However, do you think that we are too deep in American history to change?
DeleteI totally agree with you this country is corrup almost everyone that is in government do it for the money
DeleteHighly unlikely let alone plausible to happen. Let us not dabble on the useless fairytale of fairness.
DeleteIf I had the power to change congress I would try to repeal citizens united that way there won’t be unlimited amounts of money coming from a company, therefore minimizing corruption as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think the founding fathers gave to much power to the legislative branch. I think the system that the founding fathers planned were a good way to make sure that minority and majority were represented and protected. Its difficult for a bill to pass but that also means that almost no unwanted bill will get passed on without the approval of various people. The problem is that too many representatives and senators get caught up with the political parties and they vote based on the party that came up with the bill.
If i had the power to change something in congress it would have to be the process of passing bills. Many bills often die in congress and it's just simply because they are not viewed as important. People in congress take too long and are often not well informed about the bill. They just vote because they have to. I would put a limit of the amount of days they have to review the bill and learn about it and on the amount of time they can take on passing a bill. The founding fathers did give a lot of power to the legislative branch. I believe that they made a huge mistake and that that is the reason why our government is as messed up as it is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gisela because i believe that in order to have a better nation we need change but change to figure out a near perfect system to help the nation. But we will never get to that without change.
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ReplyDeleteIf I had the power to change something in congress it would be the process of passing bills. For one I would change The extremely long debate that goes on because I think those hours are rediculous. Second some bills die too soon because at the moment they seem not so important or are not so beneficial.
ReplyDeleteI think the legislative branch was given too much power because if something is not going their way or beneficial to them they just stop the process and thats it. Pretty much if they dont like they wont let it happen no matter how wrong or right they can be.
If I had the power to change congress it would be the years of the terms served in the house, the way it is now its pretty much impossible to get anything done. I don't think the founding fathers did give congress to much power, because they made it so that everyone is represented and that all the branches check each other.
ReplyDeleteI agree checks and balances limits any branch from becoming too powerful. Bills also have many stages to go through before they can be passed limiting Congress and they can still be vetoed or declared unconstitutional.
DeleteI agree, changing the years of the terms served in the house might help get something done.
DeleteIf I had the power to change Congress I would make a limit on the number of terms for members of both houses. Although that would be very difficult because members of congress have to pass that amendment and it’s likely they will vote against limiting themselves. I would also extend the number of years House members serve because two year terms are too short to get anything done. I would also restrict the franking privilege so it cannot be used for election purposes in the congressman’s campaign. This will give some of the other candidates a better chance although they will still face other challenges like name recognition.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe The Founding Fathers gave Congress too much power. Although the President has term limits now, they did not originally have them before Roosevelt. Checks and balances also limit Congress’ power. It is very difficult and near impossible to pass a bill because all of the restrictions and the president still has the power to veto the bill if it does pass the House and Senate.
I agree with increasing the number of years for the members of the house. Giving them more time would allow them to get more work done, instead of having the possibility of leaving their position in the middle of something.
DeleteIf I had the power to change congress I would set deadlines on by when a bill needs to be passed. Today it takes many many years for a bill to be passed. I would also want to extend the amount of years the House of Representatives could serve and extended to six years just like the senate so, things can get done for once.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the founding fathers gave the legislative branch too much power. That is why there is checks and balances everyone has the same power and no branch overpowers another.
I agree with Aidee on deadlines for the congree. It would help with the timing on a bill being passed now. But i also respectfully disagree with aidee on the founding fathers, The founding father gave the legislative branch way too much power for them to handle.
DeleteIf I had the power to change congress I would use it to change the process of how a law is passed in order to make it faster and more efficient when laws are being passed. I would also change laws that have to do with immigration so that they gain some kind of legal status and I would also change the laws that have to do with the funding of the educational system so there are more resources for learning.
ReplyDeleteI think that the founding father did give too much power to the legislative branch ,but they structured the branch in a way that will cause them to not pass laws in a fast and easy way.
If I had the power to change how congress ran, the first thing I'd change would be the slow process of passing a law. Like Mr. Pyle says it took them over 10 years to figure out that driving under the influence is unsafe and is a danger to the public. That is ridiculous. Congress has one job and that is to keep our country moving forward. I don't see that happening when you have everyone against each other on certain ideas just because they don't like each other, or belong to different political parties. We need a system that gets something done at a legitamite pace for once! We need to see how much the people in congress are doing for us, if not they Need to be replaced. For the second question I do believe the founding father gave the legislative branch too much power. Infact I believe it's the biggest reason nothing gets done in Washington. They have no one to be on their case when nothing is getting done. They can take forever passing a law that can benefit all of us. Yet they don't get any repercussions whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gensel 10 years is a long time. I believe that they think that some of these bills are for our own safety.
DeleteIf I had the power to change congress, I would change the process of the bill and limit terms of senators/representatives. It can take a long time just for a bill to be signed to become a law and this process is too long if the people want to create a change in the country. As well, creating term limits for representatives and senators would be another goal. The incumbency effect is the tendency for incumbents to win reelection. By limiting terms, the incumbency effect can be decreased and representatives/senators can be elected who truly care for the people. Nowadays senators/representatives might win reelection simply because of their name recognition when in reality the people don't realize that they have done nothing for them in Congress.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the founding fathers gave too much power to the legislative branch due to the fact that they created the legislative ranch with the ideal that each house would serve as a check on the power of the other house. Thus, reveals checks and balances. As well, the Great Compromise would create the House representatives based on population and the Senate to represent the states with 2 senators per states. This compromise makes sure that the people/states have a say in the gov't and power isn't exclusive to the legislative branch.
I agree that the founding fathers didn't give too much power to the legislative branch. since one branch brings up the idea of a bill,the other which is congress needs to determine whether the law should be passed, and finally have the presidents approval. So much weight is placed on the congress since they are what determines whether a bill should be passed and many people do not like the idea of waiting for their bills to be passed or be rejected.
DeleteI agree that the number of terms for seats in the House or Senate should be limited. Obviously not much is getting done effectively with those in position now. However people keep voting for the same representatives and senators continuously, so if we want to see a change, it would be best if seats in office would change more often due to the limitation on terms.
DeleteIf I could change the congress I would change their billing process. It is true that the founding father made it almost impossible to make a bill a law just by seeing the process done between the House of Representatives and the Senate. they have a good reason for it but I feel like there must be something done to it so that important , more necessary laws can be made. If it takes the congress years to figure out whether its okay to drink alcohol in a moving vehicle why does it take almost less than a year to say "yes" to Health Care Reform. They go along the same process or so we think they did but how is it one ended up being accepted so quickly?
ReplyDeleteNow Did the Founding father give the Legislative branch too much power. Honestly, No I don't think they did. Even if one branch becomes to overpowered the founding father also established checks and balances and separation of power, to prevent it. It is true that they take forever to pass a law but remember a president doesn't have to much to veto a bill and start all the process over again. all I believe is that something must be done to the law passing so it can benefit the people and not just the congress when ever they feel like it.
I agree with you on changing the bill process. The Congress has set up so many committees to inspect bills that they will just die before anything else gets done with it. It is necessary that something is to be amended in such process if we want to achieve any vital laws in our country. It is clear that something is to be changed in how the House and the Senate work.
DeleteIf there was anything to be changed in the congress, it would be to ban interest groups and Pacs from putting money in. Just because of money, many "interesting" bills have passed and they are not fair to this nation. If there was no bribing, then bills would be able to be looked at more fairly and get an equal chance each time. One other thing I would also like to add is to speed up the bill process since it is a joke to see the congress having 5 hour breaks instead of doing their jobs. As for the founding fathers, they sort of did gave a lot of power to the legislative branch but it cancels out with the rest of the branches.
ReplyDeleteOne change I would make towards Congress, if possible, is adding a limitation to the number of terms congressman could have in office. Members of both the Senate and the House are taking advantage of the system, such as gerrymandering. These people should have a limit. Many of those people overlook the interests of the people and only seek what is important to themselves: money. To them, it's all about making money and only taking part of what is important to them. Also, because not many people vote and aren't as involved, these money-seeking congressmen automatically win. With limiting the amount of terms they could have, more people would become involved with who is representing them and what their ideologies are.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that the founding fathers gave too much power to the legislative branch. In terms of making a bill a law, much consideration must be made. Full inspection, down to the very last detail, must be looked over to make sure the bill is suitable enough to become a law. Also, the Checks and Balances watches over the three branches to make sure one does not overpower another.
I agree with Derek about the limitation to the number of terms congressman could have in office. Its really sad to think that everything revolves around money, but its the truth. People only think of them in terms of how long they have been there and how much money they make instead of the actual progress congressman have made.
DeleteOne major change I would make to Congress would be to limit "recess" on a given bill. The maximum time limit I would place would be only a few days. I don't the problem is with committees but with such long breaks taken through out the day. Also I would make congressmen sit with their legislative assistants and have informative conferences so congressmen wouldn't let their assistants do all the work. I don't think the Founding Fathers gave Congress too much power. Congress isn't abusing power nor are they using their power to attack the every day American.
ReplyDeletei completely agree with your opinion on how much power is given to congress and people are often mislead about how much power congress has.
DeleteFirst, if I had the power to change Congress, a major change I would make is taking away their ability of giving themselves a raise. Congress shouldn't be able to decide whether or not they deserve a higher pay raise when the average citizen has to do manual labor and hard work that is barely enough to support their families. With our economic deficit, they should be lowering their pay to use to help reduce our government's debt which came from the decisions Congress made anyways.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I believe the Founding Fathers gave just enough power to the legislative branch. Being that it is so hard to get a bill to Congress, it shows they have strong guidelines and requirements that prove to me that use their powers wisely. The only thing I disagree with is their ability of a pay raise.
One thing I would change about congress is the priority system of bills. If there were some sort of system of arranging bills from the highest to the lowest level of priority then I think a bill will be backed with more reason and logic than before. I think Congress tries to tackle too many bills at one time through committees. Although the process will be longer, the process will make more sense and hold logic. I think the founding fathers didn't give Congress too much power, because if so then we will see cases of power abuse in which we don't.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree on setting a priority system to the bills but on they would have to check every bill and to see if it is important to them so that would mean the bill would have to be check by every single person in the Congress.
DeleteI agree with Gumby that the priority system of bills should be changed. If a very successful system were created than we would be able to advance the country greatly. Not only that but we would wouldn't have so much corruption.
DeleteI one hundred percent agree with nancy I think a priority system would greatly help bills get dealt with more efficiently.
DeleteOne thing I would change would be the ability to not even check on a bill or issus at the time they arrive. Since they think they work so "hard". Most of the time they are just going to lunch an using that martini machine...
ReplyDeleteI belive that the Founding Fathers did give the legislative branch too much power since they have the ability to over rule the president whenever they see fit.
I agree with what u said, they should be checking the stuff that they vote on and read every little clause therefore stuff like the Obama Care should be sent back to the beginning or die off...
DeleteThe first thing that should be changed is the terms which members of the congress can serve. the likelihood of any member, especially if they've been there a while to be voted out of office is slim to none. This creates a problem which then becomes an issue affecting the passage of bills and laws being made. We do not have time for arguing and bickering and personal preferences to be the focus of bill related debates. Congress needs to take into account what is best for everyone and not just their own personal opinions on the matter. the extent of period of time that is allowed in the process of a bill becoming a law is ridiculous. There should be a limit of time that they are given because otherwise nothing will get done. I don't think that the founding father's gave too much power to the legislature,the thing is that they have found many loop holes and ways around the system to enforce and maintain what it is that they want. However, it all comes down to the people. If we don't like how unfair the system is we should stop complaining and do something about it for example vote those idiots out of office. Until then, absolutely no progress will be made.
ReplyDeleteI agree because congress usually does pass bills based in their own personal opinions and don't take into consideration what the people think. Such example includes the health care bill Obama imposed. Many people were against it but it got passed anyway.
Delete"If" i had the power to "change" congress i would first off would be the order in which they have to view bills. Instead of being able to put one infrount of another by favoritism due to the party or belifs they hold, they had to view each bill in the order they enter. I would also even out that each member serve in either the senate or House of Represenative to 6years all. That way more can b done with the time they are in office rather than having to restart every time someone new in elected for the House of representatives. The founding fathers did give way too much power to the legislative branch, which i believe is one of the major contributors to our unbalanced goverment today. They have the power to basically make things they don't like or agree with "disappear" in a sense.
ReplyDeleteIf I had the power to change the Congress I would change the unbalance o it. I would put in fifty-fifty, half republicans and half Democracts. That way it wouldn't be so hard to pass a bill or a law. I would also make the election period longer so the congress would have more time to get things done. I also believe that the President needs to have the most power. He's the one who REPRESENTS us, yet has almost no say.
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. The Founding Fathers did give way too much power to the legislative branch. They're the ones that run the United States. They can pass anything they want and if they don't, they won't. There's no way in stopping them. The main purpose was equality. Yet there's none in the way the legislative branch is set up.
the problem with an even representation of democrats and republicans is that the nation its self is not split evenly between the two parties. thus the congress would not represent the true will of the people that they represent.
DeleteIf I had the power in order to change congress I would try to limit the amount of terms that they can have. I wouldn't try to enact something that limited them to really short terms because people would never get anything done. But I would put a limit them enough to were they could not creat such a large mess or would not get incredably crazy power.
ReplyDeleteIn my oppinion the founding fathers did not want the legislative branch to be the most powerful. They probably wanted it to be slightly more powerful but the little limitations allowed the legislative branch to grow more.
I agree with the amount of time they are in office. That is something I forgot to put in my comment. The same people in office have not done any changes and keeping them till they die will only have the same out come.
DeleteIf I had to change anything major from Congress it would be their power they have to much power that's why I find it ironic when they say America is a democracy
ReplyDeleteI do believe the founding fathers gave the legislative branch to much power and I also believe it was done on purpose
yes oscar they have too much power. We are being lied to when they say we are a democracy. Its just something we cannot believe anymore and were seeing it.
DeleteIf I could change a couple of things about congress is the number of members. There is too many and so much disagreement. Also that there is two sides in congress. They make it impossible for a law to get passed by. The founding fathers made this very hard for the country. They did give too much power to congress.
ReplyDeleteIf I had the power to change congress I would probably make the candidates show more of how they are passionately and to demonstrate the way they would operate. This would allow to make predictions on the way laws are going to be passed and how. "We the people of the United States..." should be able to get our voices heard and secure the government's ruling buy expressing all of our needs not just does of the senators'.
ReplyDeleteTaking in consideration that the 17th amendment was passed in 1912 and later ratified in 1913 therefore the founders fathers did gave the legislative branch too much power. Before the 17th the senators voted for does that would become senators there for they would pick the ones that share their views and so only their type of laws would be passed...
I am going to have to disagree with Martin. I don't think you can make someone demonstrate how they feel or how they operate. You can try as much as you can but noone can ever make a person do what you are saying you will make them do. Candidates will do anything to get their way and they are great liars. They will show passion just to get people's vote like they always do. Maybe I'm interpreting your answer wrong but that's my opinion about it.
DeleteI don't exactly agree with the candidates showing their passion as we are seeing almost everyday on TV, hearing it on the radio, reading online and the newspaper; possibly still being under the influence of corporations who have persuaded to look the other way when a threatning bill is coming to test the waters.
DeleteIf i had the power to change the congress it would be limiting the amount of members in the congress and lessening their power. Out of the Thousands of bills that get passed only very few get passed does not seem quite fair. Its seems as if congress does not care and just wants what they choose. And then they say we are a democracy. Were no where near that.
ReplyDeleteI also do believe that the founding father did give the legislative branch a lot of power. That is why they can pass what they want at their will.
if i had the power to change congress i would make sure that the senators or representatives must have recieved a proposed bill at least one month before hand so that bills won't get passed as fast as the obama care bill and so that they won't vote so rashly.the founding fathers gave that much power to congress because they feared the possiblity of the president haveing too much power like in a monarchy
ReplyDeleteIf I could change anything about Congress, I would change the process of how they make bills. They take forever to pass bills and veto many bills that should be passed. I would try making it easier and faster to either pass bills or veto the. I wouldn't let so much time pass by in between them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the founding fathers wanted to give all the power to the legislative branch.. They wanted everything to be equal and be an actual democracy. I think it was the people who changed the way the the legislative was ran for thier own benefit.
If I had the power to change Congress the thing I would change would be the way they vote on bills and laws. It would be better if theybtake out the things that are more important for the rest of the citizens.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the Founding Fathers gave too much power to the legislative branch. and that is not very democratic.
I agree that the congress is not very democratic most of the time the party with the dominant number of people ends up ruling the house or the Senate
DeleteIf I had the power to change congress it would be the thing of passing bills I'll make sure that the senate and the house is actually doing work because they don't pass bills because of they think that is not important when the people actually have hope on some bills to be pass. I think the founding father did not give to much power to congress because congress need the president to do stuff too.
ReplyDelete1. If I had the power to change Congress I would make it so it would be unlawful to be sponsored by PACs or Super PACs and any form of "persuasion" is considered to be against the law. This would probably become a big step into making new law decisions as no one congressman is now under anyone else's "I got you" deal. 2. The Founding Fathers have indeed given too much power to the legislative branch. The legislative branch is the reason as to why we aren't seeing definite responses to our issues around the nation. Then again if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have some of the dumber laws go through.
ReplyDeleteI think that its not the legislative branch that is the problem, but the politicians who consist withing the House of Representatives and the Senate. They arent considering what their district or state would want them to agree or disagree on certain issues, instead they go on with what would be best for their constituents or for themselves. The branches have just become undermined by a group who in reality have passed due their time in the Big Chair, some of them even their own generation. The best thing is for current generations to take control, since they a more youthful and have more knowledge of the generation. Of course some will disagree on this but like the saying "OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW!!" But i see where you stand Martin and i respect that.
DeleteMartin I agree with your second response because this power that the legislative branch holds prevents them following through with the problems the nation faces.
DeleteIf i could change anything in congress I would change how laws are passed because how things are set up now, nobody can really make a law pass but them. If they dont like or cant agree with one another, nothing will be getting accomplished.
ReplyDeleteThe founding fathers did fine with the power they gave congress (which could be less) but we made it with alot of issues and accomplishments so i mean it could be worse...
If I had the power to change Congress I would change the possibility of having such a great divide in each house. Due to the variety that there is in Congress, so little is actually done. There is also a lot of outside influence towards Congress that goes on that should really be stopped. In a lot of cases, there is either a benefit to society as a whole or a benefit to a small percentage of the country thanks to the influence. Congress is supposed to be representing the nation and that is what must first be fixed. This leads me to my next point. Members of the House should be given a longer period of time to hold their position. Two years is not nearly enough to get things accomplished, so with more time with the House of Representatives containing the same members working together it would give a higher percentage of passing bills and bettering the nation.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Founding Fathers did not give too much power to the legislative branch, but that the legislative branch instead took advantage of the loose rules set for them. Basically, I feel like the legislative branch gave themselves too much power through corruption and the fail to truly represent the people.
1. If I had the power to change congress the first thing I would do is make the term for a Representative of the house longer than two years. Bills take a long time to be passed and it will only be delayed due to all these elections taking place. I really don't see why they only get two years in the first place. To me the senate is better off since they have 6 year terms and can actually get things done better they have to switch their focus to trying to get re-elected. That part of the reason why congress is so corrupt. Interest groups know that candidates don't really want to spend so much money every other year on campaigning so they get to "donate" money to the candidates and all of the sudden when they are re-elected the group can ask the candidate to pass or reject legislation for them. The two year term just leaves a lot of room for corruption in my opinion.
ReplyDelete2. The founding fathers did indeed give the legislative branch more power because they were supposed to represent the people of this nation, however they had no idea that it was going to be corrupt like it is. They in-visioned congress would would listen to the voice of the people and get things done for them but lately its been going to the side of the evil, rich corporations.
I agree with Kevin that the founding fathers did give congress too much power thinking that the people of the United States would help the United States but only to find out that they were wrong.
DeleteIf I could change anything about Congress I would change the number of years congressmen can serve because there are some that continue to be reelected and literally do nothing to help solve the issues that are plaguing the u.s thats why I think a limitation would solve this problem.
ReplyDeleteI dont think the founding fathers gave the legislative branch too much power, I belive the system of checks and balances keeps the amount of power equal.
ReplyDeleteIf I could change Congress I would change the process in which a bill is passed. The way it is set up now makes it hard, nearly impossible to pass any bills. For example, The House of Representatives would be given a longer term. The time period for a bill to pass is longer than the two year term, and if new people get voted in the whole process has to start over. Nothing will ever get done this way.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that the founding fathers gave the legislative branch too much power, however, I do believe that things have changed since then and the system needs some change to cope with a changing nation.
If I had the power to change congress I would just change how a bill becomes a law. The journey is long and tedious and there is more of chance that its going to fail and nothing is really being done because of it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Founding Fathers did give the Legislative Branch too much power because they take a ridiculously long amount of time for them to pass a law.
Everyone has their opinion on the founding fathers but I do disagree with you saying that they gave too much power away. I believe that the legislative branch gained power over time and take their sweet time with things because no one else does anything about to change it and really get things done the way it really should be done.
DeleteThe founding fathers did a lot of power to the legislative branch but because they were supposed to represent the people however it didn't work out that why due to corruption.
ReplyDeleteIf i had the power to change congress, i would change the way a politicians represent their state and district. Like what we have learn, most of our representatives are of different race and class, so how can they truly understand our emotions towards major policies and laws? The senate is also an issue because they have the power to send a bill through the whole processing system just because it doesn't confine to terms like the one in the House Of Representatives thus causing the bill to die in committee. The number of representatives should decline to where each state can have someone from their social/economic class to present them. Also there are to many protestants within congress it should be diverse.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that the founding fathers wanted the legislature branch to have more power than the rest, however the idea changed throughout history where people start to see the president with the winning hand, because just with one word or with his signature he can decline or confirm a law. Congress in my case is the trunk of this tree without it all of the other parts of the tree would fall and wither away.
If there was anything i would change about Congress it would be Gerrymandering. I just dont see how its fair that a political party had won representation in that district but yet the opposing party can switch around the way voting is set up in order to win that district.
ReplyDeleteAlso i strongly believe that congress was given too much power. Like passing the health plan without reading a single word of the document until the next day. That just shows why things are so bad that the people that are suppose to be making things better are making it worse.
I agree with you, Gerrymandering is an unfair practice and should be made illegal. Instead, they should replace the redistricting during reapportionment should be based on an unbiased formula determined by population and area proportion, not by political ideology.
DeleteI agree with bud about the gerrymandering because they basically change things to work in there favor so they can stay with having a job rather than actually having a proper campaign
DeleteIf I had the power to change congress, i would change immigration. I would allow immigrants to have a chance to become residents of the Unite States. Also, I would especially help students who have been here for over 4 years to become legal. I don't believe it's right how many students who are citizens dont really take advantage of all the opportunities we have, but yet the immigrants wish they had all the advantages. Therefore, i would change immigration laws.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I don't think the founding fathers gave to much power. I think they gave enough power to each branch. I feel like it's all equal, they separated powers to keep everything proportional.
1) If I had the power to change congress around I would change their view of passing bills. Its like if when a bill comes around it really doesn't matter to them and its just a joke for them that they take their sweet time and do nothing for a while. Another thing I would change is the terms a congress member serves. I wouldn't make the terms too short either because then things really wouldn't get done specially because not much work is done now that members do have enough time on their hands to get bills passed when needed to and so on.
ReplyDelete2) Honestly in my opinion the founding fathers didnt't give away too much power to the legislative branch. I believe that they tried making everything for the most part pretty close and equal so that one wouldn't over power the other. I guess over time the power that they have now has been gained over time without notice or maybe not even intentionally.
I totally agree with you, on the methods of passing a bill. Their main priority should be to get the president to make them into laws. I do not believe they need to be bickering and arguing, based on outside issues. They just need to focus on the bill and how they would benefit the people. Congressman should not disagree on a bill, because they don't like each other. Their issues must not effect us, the people.
DeleteIf I had the power to change Congress I would place a limit in the years of office. In fact there has already been reformers who have proposed the idea. During the 1980s many of these reformers thought that the incumbency effect prevented change in government. However, this means that the constitution would have to be changed and that appears as a difficult task. Furthermore, people support their representatives and senators and keep them in office. If it were me I would support a constitutional amendment to impose term limitation on members of congress.
ReplyDeleteI may appear contradictory but I believe that the founding fathers gave the right amount of power to the legislative branch because they are able to have an efficient system of checks and balances.
The placement of limits on terms is a good one, it didn't even come to mind. Due to the lack of voting on the public's behalf, congressional incumbents continue to hold their seat in office even though they arent doing any work. Adding some sort of limit or regulation to terms would be a great improvement.
DeleteI agree because there should be congress limitations considering terms. I believe this because having new representatives can lead to reform in the United States and their would be change in who leads.
DeleteIf I had the power to change Congress, I will try to improve education. Because this country has been falling behind compare to other countries. Also I will make some limitations to the number of terms congressman could have in office. Because I believe members of the Senate and the House are taking many advantage from this. Many of those people only seek for their own interests instead of what the people need and want.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I don't believe that the founding fathers gave too much power to the legislative branch. Because they had Checks and Balances watching over the three branches to make sure one does not overpower another.
i agree with you diocelin that congress should try to improve education in the u.s.a because education should always be something important in someones life. lately education has been getting worser and worser, and that needs to stop, everyone needs its ! ,
DeleteMichael vasquez
Yea
ReplyDeleteIf I had the power to change congress, I would put more emphasis on them actually getting work done by requiring progress to be made in order to get a paycheck. Also, I think it would be beneficial to have more bipartisan activities because it all seems way too fixated on which political party they belong to. Lastly, even though I enjoy seeing the filibuster, I would put more regulation on it, because it gets to be a huge waste of time.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the founding fathers didn't give the legislative branch too much power. This is supposed to be the branch that most directly represents the needs and wants of the people. Modern day interpretation of their intentions also serve to skew the understanding of the congress' role. Abuses of the power come from the implied meaning and its interpretation.
I agree completely with Candy in the sense that the Congress spends too much of the valuable time they have in session doing absolutely nothing that would benefit the people. Instead of taking long lunches or going out or filibustering in the Senate they should be making laws since after all that is why they were hired and elected.
DeleteIf I had the opportunity to change anything about the congress, it would be the idea of passing bills. I will make sure that the senate and the house of representatives are actually doing their work because in reality they really are not passing the bills. Because they think that it is not important, when the people actually have hopes that one day some bills will be pass.
ReplyDeleteOverall i think that the founding father did give to much power to the legislative branch because in reality they were suppose to represent the peoples voices , the founding fathers didn't think it will get this out of hand in the future .
Yea I agree with this guy because I also agree that nobody knew what was going to go on later on in politics I mean someone said stay away from political parties and what are we doing today? Yea you never know
DeleteOkay just checking if this thing was working my bad about ^^...antiways I believe that if I had the power to change something in congress it would be to maybe just give the senate and the hor a lifetime sentence in office not only would that stop the dilemma of starting a bill all the way from the top if the term of the representative is over but it would also have reps having more time to deal with issues and have the same opinion about it however they can get booted out by the people that would be the change I would make...2nd yes like me Pyle has said in class before they set it up for failure of course now it's just all a total disaster with bribery and other tactics that senators and representatives use to get a vote and support from other people but indeed they did receive too much power
ReplyDelete1)if i had a chance to change something in congress i would promptly limit the amount of years someone can serve in office in congress because far to often it seems as though the senate and house take advantage and rather than allow for new congressional members simply stay in office and never leave.
ReplyDelete2)although someone could argue that the legislative branch has too much power but checks and balances were set up to keep everything in balance and make sure no one branch was more powerful than the other.
If I had the power to change anything in Congress I would change the ways of voting for the citizens. I would not allow anyone to use straight ticket voting because it wouldn't even be an option. The representatives and senators must not have the incumbency effect simply because of name recognition and instead be elected because their constituents have chosen to elect them.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the Founding Fathers gave the perfect amount of power to the legislative branch. In a way it is a form of checks and balances among the branch itself. I think the Founding Fathers knew exactly what they were doing and why they did it.
I agree with Sandra that the founding fathers knew exactly what they were doing however the amount of power the legislative branch has grown as the country has grown . I also agree that straight ticket should not be an option and congressman should have terms.
DeleteIf I could change one thing in the Congress, it would be to limit how many terms one senator/representative can serve in a lifetime. This way, we can keep a constant change and flow in one state's leadership, that way corruption can't rule for long. Secondly, I believe Congress has way to much power. My foundations on this theory are based on the fact that Congress determines its own rules. Already we have the obvious doubt that the establishment will bend the rules to favor its own well being.
ReplyDelete1) If I had the power to change Congress, I would lower the terms in which they served. The House of Representatives only has a term of two years and the Senate serves a term of 6 years. I believe elections for both the House and Senate should be held every four years, along with the presidential election. Elections will be more fluent and concurrent.
ReplyDelete2)Although the legislative branch has the power to introduce bills and vote to make them laws, the president still has the power to veto the bill. That being said, the founding fathers did not give too much power to the legislative branch, but in fact, evenly distributed power between the three branches.
If i could change the way congress is i would change the way they pass bills because this country needs change instead of never passing bills, i would find a system to helpout the nation.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the legislative branch was given to much power but i believe it acquire power over time.
I agree with jorge because passing bills takes way to much time and sometimes it is ridiclous how long it takes. -Michael Bautista
DeleteIf I had the power to make some changes in congress I would change the fact how easy it is for congress to get bribed when actually its not called a bribe, but given money by interest groups just so they can have them on their side and makes sure whatever they want passed or not passed goes. The legislature branch is basically ran by money rather than their actual thoughts and ideas and that is what I would change.
ReplyDeleteI think the Founding Fathers didn't give the legislature branch to much power because this branch basically is the ones that makes the laws, but the other branches are the ones who is suppose to check on them.There is a lot of loop holes within the branch which i believe the founding fathers did mess up on.
If I could change Congress, I would see that party ties did not play a big role in the votes of the members. Decisions must be made based on the constituents' voices and not what the party says should be the case. I would also make the senators and representatives wear Nascar looking suits so they can display for the public who's paying for their vote. That would be fun to see, right?
ReplyDeleteI don't think the founding fathers gave too much power to the legislative branch. First, these guys could have not possibly known how big the USA would be in 2013. Second, it is the branch of the people and they wanted to prevent the president from taking over.
If i had the power to change congress i would make things way faster so more stuff gets done and add two years of term for the house of rep and senate so more things get done in the time they get. In my opinion the did a pretty good job as far as power with the Legeslative branch because the president has power but not all of it and he has two other branches making sure he is doing right and the legeslative branch is one of them.
ReplyDeleteWow am I late for the party. Anyways, if I somehow came across the power to change Congress I would also make it so that money wouldn't play such a big role in politics as it does now. Like most things, money is power and our government is no excuse those with money can make and bend rules so that things go their way. Also I don't think that the founding fathers didn't give the legislative branch to much power, that's why they have three branches so that one doesn't have power over another, plus like garfio.genesis mentioned, the founding fathers couldn't have possible imagined how big the U.S would be as big as it is today being one of the world's super powers.
ReplyDeleteThe major change I would make in congress is totry and bonds out the number of Democrats and Republicans in Congress so that decision making can be easier and less dominated
ReplyDeleteI think the founding fathers did give the legislative branch too much power because even if the president vetoes a bill it can still be passed by Congress
*balance
DeleteThe founding fathers gave an enormous amount of power to the legislative branch. The first thing I would change about congress would be the terms served by a congress man, and the filibuster item that occurs in the senate. Tax payers dollars are funding theses filibusters and with congress man reading children books and just wasting time is insane to keep such a rule intact . Instead of congress men getting payed to sit on their butts while Americans are working there butt of to support a family isn't showing the hardworking American people that voted those politicians in to office. Instead of listen to children books why can't politicians be listening to bills and reforms for the American people.
ReplyDelete1.If I could change congress I would aim for ultimate reform, the elimination of congress. I would eliminate it because they can never accurately support the people of the United States or get anything done under the influence of several parties; one party shall have absolute power.
ReplyDelete2.In my opinion the founding fathers did give the legislative branch too much power, if it hadn’t been for the seventeenth amendment Americans wouldn’t have the power to express their opinions though voting for their own senators.
If I had the power to change congress I would ensure that the voters are getting well informed and that congress would actually represent the people's wants. However, Congress spends too much time focusing on what they believe that they set aside the issues that concern the American People. Often time voters are being deceived and told lies that will help congress win votes to get elected for a senator. Voters are promised things but when the their representatives are in office they start the blame game. Voters should be well informed before voting and they should research a candidate's background. I would also make sure to take into consideration the will of the people. After all it is a democracy in which everyone has a voice.
ReplyDeleteThe founding fathers gave enough power to the legislative branch because they wanted the people to be represented and also they didn't want someone gaining too much power. so power would be equally distributed. However, the founding fathers did not expect to have congress worrying about their opinions. They didn't think the legislative branch would be dysfunctional.