GSA Official indicted by Federal Jury

Jeffrey E. Neely

The Washington Post posted an article that talked about a Federal Jury indicting a former General Services Administration official with charges of fraud. Jeffrey E. Neely, the Western Regions Commissioner, faces criminal charges due to the fact that the grand jury indicted him on five counts of fraudulence. Neely tried to get reimbursement for his personal travel expenses and other expenses by submitting false claims and saying it was for government business. He was at the center of the scandal in the Las Vegas conference and the details of the trip came to attention with a 2012 inspector general’s review. In April 2012, GSA had placed Neely on leave and in May he left; another GSA Administrator Martha Johnson resigned and two deputies were fired after the scandal. When Neely was called to testify before he invoked the Fifth Amendment and then he did not show up to his hearing with the House of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He is supposed to make a court appearance in October, and if he is convicted he will get up to five years in prison and will have to pay at least $25,000 for each count.

The relevance this event holds to our government class is that even a former GSA official is not above the law and that he still needs to pay for the crimes he has committed. Former GSA Inspector General Brian Miller thinks that Neely has abused the trust given to him. Something like this sets a bad example for others in the agency and leads to the people’s distrust. The GSA is an independent agency of the U.S. Government which helps support and manage the basics of federal agencies, which is a type of checks and balance. The article also talks about the process of indicting and convicting a GSA official by the Federal Jury, and Neely’s right and use of the Fifth Amendment.

The Death Penalty

A picture of Lisa Coleman from the news.

The article, Texas carries out a rare occurrence: An execution of a women, posted in the Washington Post, talks about Lisa Coleman who was executed in Texas on Wednesday, September 17, by the lethal injection. The execution occurred about an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court denied the last minute appeal for her case. This 38 year-old woman was given pentobarbital after she was found guilty for the murder of Davontae Williams, her girlfriend’s son. The murder occurred 10 years ago. Marcella Williams, the girlfriend, pleaded guilty for the crime and received a life sentence. Lisa and Marcella had tortured the 9 year-old boy by starving, beating and restraining him, he weighed only 35 pounds and had close to 250 scars on his body when he died. A kidnapping that results in murder is considered to be capital murder in Texas. But a petition filed says that she tortured Davontae, but they never truly kidnapped him, so a capital murder was not committed. Regardless, Lisa Coleman received the capital punishment and Marcella Williams received the life sentence.

The main relevance is that the death penalty is a federal vs. state decision. 32 states in the United States have the death penalty. In the Texas she is ninth person to have been executed and the thirtieth in the country in this past year. Lisa Coleman is also the fifteenth women to have been executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 by the Supreme Court. In Texas capital murder is also when murder occurs during a kidnapping. In 2011, capital murder became when a 10 year old or younger is murdered. This shows the difference in the definition of capital murder federally and state-wise. Appeals are also discussed in this article. The U.S. Supreme Court denies the appeal for the case and she receives the lethal injection.

Texas

Texas

Senator John Cornyn represents the State of Texas. Texas is a border state and their main concern is border control because it shares the longest border with Mexico compared to any other states. There are 18 out 43 ports of entry in Texas only. Texas is also the second largest state in the United States.

Texas has the second largest  population of 26.48 million people as of 2013. 44.0% of the population are White Americans alone not Hispanics or Latinos, 12.4% of that population is African American and Hispanics and Latinos make up 38.4% of the population. The people under the age of 18 in 2013 is 26.6% so the rest of the population makes up the voters in Texas. The growing population in Texas as brought more traffic to the urban areas compared to the rural. The urban areas in Texas, therefore are more booming than the rural areas.

The main industries in Texas are Livestock and Agriculture. Oil, chemicals, natural gases, electronics and mining are some more of Texas’s industries. The per capita income in Texas in 2012 was $41,471 and it is the 25th state according to the income.

Texas is a red or Republican state, but the increase Hispanic population is causing Texas to have more democrats. As of 2013, 61% of the population that consists of Non- Hispanic Whites is Republican. But 46% of Hispanic population in Texas is Democratic. Despite this fact, it is likely to remain a Republican state. The Texas Presidential elections show that the state is still Republican heavy with 57.19% Republican votes in 2012.

Federal Judge Approves of Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

Photo Credit

A Federal Judge is breaking the trend by approving the ban on same-sex marriages in Louisiana. According to the article in The New York Times, Judge Martin L.C. Feldman of the Federal District Court is going against the current trend of lifting the ban. Since the Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor last year, 19 other states and the District of Columbia have lifted the ban and 21 federal court decisions have found a same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional. Some legal experts think the judge’s approval of the ban on Wednesday will become irrelevant because Supreme Court will probably make a more final ruling in the next term. Nonetheless, the judge thinks that since same-sex marriage was not even possible until recently so it is not essential, and believes that agreeing to lift the ban on this will lead people to think marrying just about anyone, like one’s siblings, is okay. This is why he is the first federal judge to rule for the ban of same-sex marriage since the Supreme Court decision.

The relevance to our government course is that like the Republicans, Judge Martin Feldman believes marriage should be traditional. This means a man and woman can marry each other, and because it is a better environment for children. There is also talk about appeals being made about the judge’s decision. Some are even willing to take the case to the Supreme Court, which would also be a form of checks and balances in action. The main relevance is that the event is an example of a State V. Federal issue. Same-Sex marriage is legal federally, but every state has the choice of lifting or keeping the ban, and the judge has decided to approve of the ban in Louisiana.

Immigration Turmoil

                                

Pro-immigrant protesters (Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press)

President Barack Obama is getting close to making an unilateral decision to allow illegal immigrants to stay legally in the country. According to the articles, “Obama’s immigration decision could roil 2014 election” from The Washington Post and “Immigration Clash Could Lead to Shutdown” from The New York Times, neither the Democrats nor Republicans are too thrilled about the decision. The Democrats are pleased to know that Obama wants to do something about the immigration issue, but they want Obama to postpone this action till the elections are over. They are worried that the Conservatives will not appreciate an unilateral decision being made and this will impact their re-election. The Republicans are upset that President Obama wants to go through with this executive decision and bypass Congress. The Republicans, particularly Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, say that they will, if needed, pull the funding to stop President Obama from doing this, which could lead to a government shutdown. Representative Steve King from Iowa thinks that President Obama’s executive decision could put us in a constitutional crisis and an impeachment could become a plausible option. If Obama goes through with this there will be chaos in the election aspect, even the Obama Administration is considering waiting till post-election.

This relates to the government course in the sense that it covers the Democratic and Republican ideology on the topic of immigration. Also, how President Obama could be impeached if he goes through with this or the government might shutdown again. And all of this could hurt both sides chances of re-election. Especially since President Obama is willing to sidestep Congress and may continue despite the funding cut from the Republicans. Even though the immigration rules on deportation need to change, President Obama should wait till the elections are over to go through with this decision, the only problem then are the immigration activists.

Senator John Cornyn

Senator John Cornyn


John Cornyn is running for re-election as the United States of America Senator for Texas and is a part of the Republican Party. He was born on February 2, 1952 in Houston, Texas, but grew up in San Antonio. John Cornyn has been married for 34 years and has two daughters. He attended Trinity University and St. Mary’s School of Law. He received a Masters in law from the University of Virginia Law. Senator Cornyn was named St. Mary’s Distinguished Law Graduate and the Trinity University Distinguished Alumnus.      

     

    He had worked as a district judge, a member of the Supreme Court and the Attorney General of Texas. In 2002, Senator Cornyn was elected into the senate for the first time. He made himself as the leader in the Senate for a spectrum of cases that had value to Texans during his first term. Senator Cornyn had a nationally known reputation of standing up for the conservative values. He is dedicated to making the borders secure, improving the immigration system. Cornyn and Henry Cuellar (the U.S. Representative from Texas) came up with the Helping Unaccompanied Minors and Alleviating National Emergency Act also known as the Humane  Act, which is a bill that will help children on the border.  Some other bills he has most currently sponsored include: S. 2773: A bill that would make supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year for things like security on the border and is ending September 30, 2014, and the Wounded Warrior Tax Equity Act of 2014. He is also dedicated about reinforcing the national defence, making healthcare easier to access and affordable, making more educational and job opportunities available,  and improving the economy by cutting back on spending and making sure taxes stay low. The Senator is also a big supporter of Texas military personnel. According the article, “Following IG Report, Cornyn Calls On President To Direct FBI To Investigate VA,” John Cornyn urged the President to tell the FBI to look into the mistreatment of our veterans.

       He has been the Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and the Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 2010 and 2012. He has also received many awards and honors like the National Child Support Enforcement Association’s Children’s Champion Award. John Cornyn is on the Committee of Finance and Judiciary currently. He has also been the Senate Minority Whip since January 3, 2013 and a member of the Republican Senate leadership since about 2006. Senator Cornyn is also a part of various caucuses, for example, the Army Caucus, United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control and Community College Caucus. John Cornyn won the Republican primary election with about 59% of the votes.

Political Blogs

Huffington Post

      The Huffington Post is an American news blogging site. It focuses on current events and looks at it from a liberal point of view. Huffington Post has many articles in which journalists are free to post their opinions. And since they have access to the news and sometimes other resources, the Huffington Post is pretty accurate and reliable. However it would be better if more of the articles were written by people doing the research for themselves instead of just writing what the news says in their own words.The authors are allowed to express their opinions and that makes the articles and posts biased. For example, Jason Linkins wrote about the Ebola breakout in his post called “Worrying About Ebola Coming Over The Border Is The Hot New Thing In Paranoid U.S. Politics.” He said,“And people really should not stoke fears that the U.S. is under some imminent threat of an Ebola outbreak”(Linkins). He informs people about the Ebola virus and tells them that he believes they have nothing to worry about which was his opinion. The Huffington Post offers a variety of topics on the site. Even though they often post about the popular news pieces, readers can get the jist of what is going on in the world. But to get unique insight and find out about events not mentioned in the daily news one should find any other blog site.

The Raw Story

      The Raw Story is an American liberal blogging site. It posts a lot of current news that is mainly political and economic. It focuses a lot on the media aspect and goes toward the most popular opinion. It also covers a lot of controversial topics and is generally written from a liberal point of view. The authors of this site have left-wing ideals. The writers are also not afraid of getting graphic and telling the story how it is. The articles contain bias, but still remain true to the story. For example, the article, “‘Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur blasts Hannity on Ferguson: ‘Why don’t you shut the f*ck up?’” is pretty blunt and states the situation well and still is able to convey the opinion of the author well. The Raw Story is a news blog that does a good job of bringing the real news with the opinions of the authors present.

ThinkProgress

      ThinkProgress is an American political news blog that has a liberal point of view. ThinkProgress has a wide array of topics for their articles. It focuses on political ideas and policies that are progressive as the name implies. For example,  in the article “Congressman Uses Victory Speech To Demand Apology For Opponent’s ‘Disgusting’ Racists Ads,” “When Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) stepped up to the podium Tuesday night to deliver a victory speech, it wasn’t all smiles and handshakes” (Ollstein).  The articles often  lack objectivity because it is all about making everyone like their posts.The authors utilize things like hyperboles which slightly takes away from the credibility of the posts. However, since ThinkProgress is a left-winged site, the authors express their bias towards and love for the left-wing side well.