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Checks & Balances

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Checks and Balances Examples of Checks and Balances EXAM FOCUS Political Importance of Checks and Balances

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Checks on Checks by The legislatureThe executiveThe judiciary The legislature Amend/delay/reject legislation Override presidents veto Power of the purse Declare war Ratify treaties (Senate) Investigation Impeachment, trial, conviction and removal from office Impeachment, trial, conviction, removal from office Propose constitutional amendments Issue new legislation to overturn rulings The executive Recommend legislation Veto legislation Appointment of judges Pardon The judiciary Judicial Review Checks & Balances

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Checks on the Judiciary by the Executive President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. This effectively overturns the Supreme Courts infamous 2007 ruling against Ms. Ledbetter in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., a ruling that made it much harder for workers who have been victims of unlawful pay discrimination to obtain compensation for that discrimination. Presidential pardon of Randy Eugene Dyer in 2011. Convicted of importing and trafficking drugs from Mexico in 1975 he spent 3 years in prison. After his release he became a God- fearing family man who has preached and ministered to prisoners for over 30 years. Obama has pardoned only 17 people in his presidency (9 people in December 2010 and 8 people in May 2011).

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Checks on the Judiciary by the Legislature Judge G. Thomas Porteous, a federal judge was found guilty on 4 articles of impeachment by the Senate in December 2008. In March 2008, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to impeach Porteous on corruption charges. He was found to have been corrupt, taken bribes, lied to the Senate and the FBI. 4 out of 27 amendments overturn Supreme Court decisions. The 11th Amendment overturned Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) by guaranteeing the immunity of states from lawsuits by citizens of another state or a foreign country. The 14th Amendment nullified Scott v. Sandford (1857) by guaranteeing the civil rights and citizenship of African Americans. The 16th Amendment overrode Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. (1895) by giving Congress the power to levy an income tax. The 26th Amendment negated Oregon v. Mitchell (1970) by permitting 18-year-olds to vote in state elections.

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Checks on the Executive by the Legislature Congress over-rode President Bush's veto of legislation protecting doctors from a 10.6 percent cut in their reimbursement rates when treating Medicare patients in 2008. The override vote in the House (383:41) easily met the two-thirds threshold needed to nullify the president's veto. About an hour later, the Senate voted to override, 70:26. The best way to thwart a presidents policies deemed unpopular by the Congress is to use the power of the purse and simply defund existing programs or refuse to appropriate future funds, effectively killing them. Republicans who won election to the 112th Congress are threatening to deny funding in an effort to kill the March 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

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Checks on the Executive by the Judiciary In August 2010 the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the so-called individual mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is unconstitutional. A Supreme Court case is now more than likely to be heard on the issue in 2012. Bush v Gore (2000) found that the manual recount scheme devised by Florida state Supreme Court was unconstitutional because it violated the equal protection clause of the Constitutions 14 th Amendment. This effectively handed the election to George W Bush.

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Checks on the Legislature by the Judiciary McConnell v. FEC (2003) found parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), which amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to be unconstitutional because it burdens parties right to make unlimited independent expenditures, and prohibiting persons 17 years old or younger from contributing to candidates or political parties, is invalid as violating the First Amendment rights of minors. Texas v. Johnson (1989) found the any law prohibiting burning of the American flag is unconstitutional as violating the First Amendment. The only way Congress can prohibit flag burning is to introduce a constitutional amendment. The most recent attempt to adopt a flag desecration amendment failed in the United States Senate by one vote on June 27, 2006.

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Checks on the Legislature by the Executive In December 2009 Obama vetoed House Joint Resolution 64 essentially rejecting a spending bill that duplicated another spending bill he had already signed. The override attempt failed in House. Obama has only used 2 vetoes so far. His 2 nd veto in October 2010 was a housing foreclosure bill. Sometimes the threat of a veto can be an effective tool, and Obama has publicly threatened to veto bills during the 112th Congress - such as House GOP legislation proposed earlier this spring when the government shutdown was looming.

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EXAM FOCUS Using examples, explain the limitations on the Supreme Courts powers. 15 marks = 15 minutes 5 4 3 2 1 0 5 Minutes Start Timer 10 8 6 4 2 0 10 Minutes Start Timer

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Political Importance Define; a)Bipartisanship b)Divided government

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Definitions Bipartisanship Close cooperation between the two major parties. Divided Government A situation in which one political party controls the presidency and another controls one or both houses of Congress.

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Political Importance The checks and balances between the 3 branches of government have important consequences for US politics. They encourage a spirit of bipartisanship and compromise between the President and Congress. Laws are passed, treaties ratified, appointments confirmed and budgets fixed only when both branches work together rather than pursue a partisan approach.

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Bipartisanship & Partisanship Bipartisanship Approach Obama nominated several Republicans to serve in his Cabinet. Judd Gregg as Secretary of Commerce (withdrew) Bob Gates as Secretary of Defense (served GWB - retired July 2011) Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transport (serving) Partisan Approach Obamas Health Care was passed by the House by a vote of 219:212 (all 178 Republicans voted NO, as well as 34 Democrats). Obama had promised to tame partisanship in Congress, but staked his presidency (and possibly his re-election) on a strongly partisan approach.

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Divided Government The instances of one party controlling the executive, and the other party controlling the legislature have become more frequent in recent years. Divided government has become the norm in US politics: 1901 1949 8 years of DG 1949 1981 16 years of DG 1981 - 2013 25.5 years of DG

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YearPSH 19011903RRR 19031905RRR 19051907RRR 19071909RRR 19091911RRR 1911-1913RRD 19131915DDD 19151917DDD 19171919DDD 1919-1921DRR 19211923RRR 19231925RRR YearPSH 19251927RRR 19271929RRR 19291931RRR 1931-1933RRD 19331935DDD 19351937DDD 19371939DDD 19391941DDD 19411943DDD 19431945DDD 19451947DDD 1947-1949DRR Divided Government 1901-2013

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YearPSH 1981-1983RRD 1983-1985RRD 1985-1987RRD 1987-1989RDD 1989-1991RDD 1991-1993RDD 19931995DDD 1995-1997DRR 1997-1999DRR 1999-2001DRR 2001-2003RD/RR 20032005RRR 20052007RRR 2007-2009RDD 20092011DDD 2011-2013DDR YearPSH 19491951DDD 19511953DDD 19531955RRR 1955-1957RDD 1957-1959RDD 1959-1961RDD 19611963DDD 19631965DDD 19651967DDD 19671969DDD 1969-1971RDD 1971-1973RDD 1973-1975RDD 1975-1977RDD 19771979DDD 19791981DDD

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EXAM FOCUS Does divided government make the checks and balances between Congress and the president more or less effective? 10 marks = 10 minutes 5 4 3 2 1 0 5 Minutes Start Timer 10 8 6 4 2 0 10 Minutes Start Timer