Running head: Midterm Exam

Midterm Exam

Henri Smith

Metropolitan Community College

 When you think of the U.S. government, what are some words you would use to describe

it? Maybe you would use words such as, efficient, free and orderly. In this essay, rather than

describing the government with words similar to these, I will be breaking down our government

and exposing the weak areas that it lacks in. I will begin with discussing three issues that I found

relative to my everyday life or occupation. Then, secondly, I will talk about three other issues

which have recently been discussed in the media.

The three issues I will discuss related to my life are the electoral college, economic limits

on the states and supreme court decisions. The electoral college is an issue because your vote

isn’t as equal as others. Quote, “In a true democracy, every citizen’s vote should count equally;

however, this is not the case with the electoral college. The electoral college is made up of 538

“votes” that are theoretically distributed proportionally per the population of the state. Each state

gets a minimum of 3 electoral votes, and then obtains more based on their population. States

then, by theory, should receive 1 electoral vote for approximately every 565,000 people. This

does not occur, however, due to the 3 vote minimum per state.” When the time comes to vote for

the president and vice president, millions are taking time out of their day to go to the nearest

polling place and vote for who they think will be the best leader of our country. At this time you

are hoping that your vote helped in some way but, with the electoral college, these votes aren’t

really counted when it comes to the big states versus the smaller states. This means that less

populated states wll sometimes receive three electoral votes when they only deserve one. The

issues with the electoral college relate to my personal life because when I go to vote I want my

vote to be counted no matter the size of the state I am living in. The Constitution states in the

fourteenth amendment, section two “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and

subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they
reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities

of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or

property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal

protection of the laws.”

Issue number two, economic limits on the states. The economy is what we as Americans

rely on. Without a sound economy people panic, stress and can become depressed. What are the

issues with the economies limits on the states? The states have hardly any care for the people

struggling financially. In a quote by chicagobooth.edu it states, “Direct aid should take the form

of direct grants of money, and only this form. The present methods involve an unending chain of

grants in kind: some subsidized housing, some subsidized medical care, some subsidized food,

some rigged selling prices of cotton and wheat, some lunches for children, and so on. Not only

are many of these policies grossly inefficient, they also impose gross limitations on the freedom

of the poor. If the poor would rather spend their relief checks on food than on housing, I see no

reason for denying them the right.” In this quote it points out that the needy are hardly supported

by the states. This has a connection to my life because it hurts everyone as a community when

we see people that don’t have a place to stay and then find out that the economy is not there to

help them. The U.S. Constitution states in Article I, section 8: “The people of the states empower

the Congress to expend money, provided it is done in a way that benefits the general welfare of

the whole people.”

The third issue that is relative to my everyday life is Supreme Court decisions. The

Supreme Court is presented with thousands upon thousands of cases that they either reject or

accept to review. Quote, “Every American lawyer knows that the Supreme Court is incredibly

selective about its cases. It typically issues fewer than 100 opinions per year, out of 7,000 to
8,000 petitions. Because many lawyers know that the Supreme Court rejects most cases, they

often don’t even try to get theirs heard. It’s therefore common for lawyers to find decisions from

different courts that conflict with each other. Sometimes these “splits” persist for decades. The

Supreme Court just isn’t going to spend its time on most of them.” In this article it goes on to

talk about how the U.S. Supreme Court is small and that other countries have much larger

Supreme Courts in relation to their population. This is a problem that needs to be addressed so

that the Supreme Court is able to look at more cases. In my opinion it seems wrong for the

Supreme Court to deny thousands of cases when they could be like these other countries, or

better, that have a court that is relative to the size of their country. Article three, section one, of

the Constitution states “The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme

Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.

The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good

behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be

diminished during their continuance in office.”

Next I will talk about the three issues that have been recently discussed in the media.

These issues are, the power of impeachment, amending procedures and continuing validity of

debts. In recent times with the election of Joe Biden impeachment has been a very common

topic. There are rumors that Joe Biden is not qualified to be president and even that he is

disabled. Let's dig deeper and see what the media has to say about his possible impeachment. In

an article by CNN.com it states, “I believe there’s pressure on the Republicans to put that

forward and have that vote,” Mace told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press,” suggesting that

there would be an effort to impeach President Joe Biden if the GOP takes control of the House
this fall. “I think that’s what some folks are considering.” To summarize, this quote tells us that

there are already some plans to try to impeach the president this fall! Will they succeed?

Secondly, the amending procedures. Nowadays the media has really been on top of this

topic when it comes to the First Amendment and freedom of speech. There are countless debates

on whether or not freedom of speech should be in social media platforms but let's take one from

washingtonpost.com, “The First Amendment is to some degree up for grabs,” says Genevieve

Lakier, a University of Chicago law professor and senior visiting research scholar at the Knight

First Amendment Institute. “These old principles are being pushed and pulled and reimagined in

light of changing technological conditions and changing political alignments.” In this article it

talks about the different policies that states have concerning this topic. There are also multiple

opinions on whether or not there should be more or less freedom of speech on social media

platforms. I think that there should be slight restrictions on social media so there can still be

freedom of speech but at the same time there are filters such as for profanity checks.

My last topic that has recently been discussed in the media is the continuing validity of

debts. In our nation, debt is one of the top issues that needs to be revisited by the government.

Year by year the debt is growing by the trillions and there is nothing being done to stop this.

Quote, “The Peter G. Peterson Foundation has made raising concerns about the national debt its

main focus. It points to the imbalance in funding for programs like Medicare and Social Security

as evidence the debt needs to be placed under control. “Leaders in Washington have made

imprudent decisions over decades, time and again choosing a favorite new tax cut or spending

program above our collective future,” said CEO Michael A. Peterson in a statement.” In this

article by CNN it talks all about debt and what we should and shouldn’t worry about. For us

now, we may think that there is nothing wrong with the U.S. debt and that it can be paid off or
disregarded. The truth is, we have no idea what the future could hold and how badly this debt

will affect the U.S. as a whole.

In conclusion, it is important for us, as Americans, to understand the nation that we all

live in and the current problems with its government. Are these three words...efficient, free and

orderly, that you may think are true about the U.S. government, just stereotypes that culture tells

everyone, or are they true? Just like it is the government's job to protect the people it is also the

people's job to support their government.

Works Cited:

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-issues-with-the-electoral-college, The Issues With The

Electoral College, Jarod Valenzuela, September 13, 2016.

https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/limits-what-state-can-and-should-do-economy, The

Limits of What the State Can—and Should—Do for the Economy, George J. Stigler, August 27,

1963.

https://earthrights.org/blog/the-u-s-supreme-court-is-broken-heres-how-to-fix-it/, THE U.S.

SUPREME COURT IS BROKEN. HERE’S HOW TO FIX IT, OCTOBER 23, 2020, Marco

Simons.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/29/politics/republicans-impeach-biden-house-majority/

index.html, Impeach Joe Biden? Republicans are already talking about it, Chris Cillizza,

September 29, 2022.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/05/30/first-amendment-social-media-

regulation/, Want to regulate social media? The First Amendment may stand in the way, Will

Oremus, May 30, 2022.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/politics/national-debt-what-matters/index.html, $30T national

debt: Reasons to worry – and reasons not to, Zachary B. Wolf, February 2, 2022