Wednesday, March 2, 2011

WEEK 8 BLOG (2/28 - 3/6)

"Standoff" has been the main word used to describe the situation in the House of Representatives in the state of Indiana over the past week.  The Democrats in the House decided to go to Illinois to prevent a number of votes from happening.  Because they are not present, there are not enough members to take any votes and get anything passed. 

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110301/NEWS05/103010329/Statehouse-standoff-rhyme-rhetoric?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News

There are many who applaud them for standing up for their convictions and doing what they believe is right.  There are also many who believe that they are essentially defrauding the people of Indiana by not showing up to perform the job that they were elected to do.  So far, it has been a week and nothing has been accomplished in the House of Representatives.  As of today, the Democrats are still staying at a hotel in Urbana, Illinois and have shown few signs of returning any time soon.

Do you agree with what the Democrats are doing?  Is it alright to simply not show up if it appears as if things are not going to go your way?  Does it make a difference that these decisions would impact the entire population of the state?  Is there another way that this situation could have been handled?  Should the Democrats have to face some sort of consequence when they do return - if so what?  At what point should Governor Daniels step in and possibly use the state police to force them to return?  (PART I due by 3/3 ; PART II due by 3/6)

48 comments:

  1. No, I do not agree with what the Democrats are doing. To completely avoid a situation because things are not going your way does not send a good message to the public. These decisions have already begun to impact the entire population of Indiana because laws to keep the state in order need to be passed and they cannot be voted on with the absence of the Democratic Party. The Democrats should have to face a severe punishment and the bill should not expire in their abescence. They should also not receive pay because their money comes out of the working citizens' taxes, and they were not doing what they were hired to do. Govenor Daniels should most definitely step in and force them to return because they are still being paid with the taxes the citizens of Indiana are paying.

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  2. No, I do not agree with whatthe Democrats are doing either. I think by flooding to Illinois they show that they are scared. I personally wish that we could proceed to vote without the democratic party. I think thing would be better that way anyway, but as of right now Indiana is suffering because of the Democratic Party. I think that the governement of Indiana should force them to return and vote. Its not fair to us that the Democratic party is being the way they are (the nicest way to put it) . I dont really think they should receive punishment because that wont solve much. I think though that things should be changed in order for this not to happen again. Gov. Daniels should most definately pull in force if they refuse to listen to him.

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  3. No, I don't agree with what the Democrats are doing. They are setting a bad example and running away from there problems. This what they are elected to do; vote on the population's behalf. Running away from it is clearly not doing anything. Nothing has been done in a week. It's not fair at all. They need to face the problem, be mature about it, and come back to their jobs. I don't think they should really be punished. I don't see how they even could be. I feel like if the Democrats don't return after two weeks, Governor Daniels needs to step in and use police to force them to return.

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  4. I agree with Danielle. I think that Governor Daniels should use force because they are wasting. These representatives are getting paid with citizens' tax money.

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  5. I agree with Kylie. The Democrats should not receive punishment because it's not going to solve anything. However, changes should be made in order to not allow this to happen again.

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  6. yes i do because they are doing something smart.sometimes becasue sometimes if u dont show up then u may not like the outsome. no it does not.no they shouldnt and they did the best thing that they could do. when the democracts want to come back so two more weeks

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  7. I don;t agree with what the democrats are doing. I think what they are doingis childish and they need to suck it up and do the job they were elected to do. People chose them to do an important job and they are choosing to runaway from it simply because they aren't getting what they want. I think they need o come back and solve this the way it should be handled. It is because of moves like this on that so many people are losing faith in the democrats.

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  8. I agree with Kylie. The democrats should be made to come back to th state and do their jobs. If all the politicians ran away when things weren't going their way nothing would ever happen in th country.

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  9. I agree with Danielle. This sends a horrible message to the public. The democrats having been losing the public lately as it is and this certainly can't be helping them at all.

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  10. I do not agree with what the democrats are doing at all. The Democrats aren't being fair to the public. They aren't always going to win everything. So, they should return home immediately. I understand maybe leaving for a couple days, but a week is just too long. They are being very stubborn about the whole situation. They should come home now before they start making the situation even worse. The situation is bad enough already.

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  11. I don't agree with Robbie. I don't think that the Democrats are being smart at all. They should come back.

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  12. I agree with Kim. The democrats should stop running away from their problems and setting a bad example. Governor Daniels should have definitely stepped in by now.

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  13. No i do not agree with what the Democrats are doing. I think it's very childish to run and hide from your responcibility. We elected them to do a job and there refusing to do it. I think they should be fired if they do not return within a week because there not doing there job. There basically skipping work.

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  14. I agree with hannah when she says that they need to come back before the situation gets worse because its already gotten pretty bad.

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  15. I agree with Wyatt when he says that this protest is very childish and its making the Democrats look bad

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  16. I agree with Kylie in regards to her reasoning of why the Democrats left. It shows that they are cowards, which sets a bad example for citizens of Indiana.

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  17. I aslo agree with Wyatt when he says that by protesting this is immature and is making, not only the Democrats look bad, but also those within our society.

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  18. I think the Democrats are just being immature. The people of Indiana elected them to lead our state and create good, fair laws. They should not be running from their problems. They are not doing their job right, and they should be punished for this. I know this will not help them get reelected next year.

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  19. I agree with Hannah about how Daniels should step in. He is the leader of our state, and he has the power to make these people come back. The Democrats being in Illinois makes him look bad too.

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  20. No i do not agree with the Democrats fleeing from the House. This showed how irresponsible and uncooperative the Democrat's are acting. The people in Indiana elected those people for a reason. The Democrats are not doing what they were elected to do, which is make votes in order to pass things. Governor Mitch Daniels should give them a week to come back. If they do not return, he should use police force to make the Democrats return. The Democrats should receive a punishment only if they refuse to return any longer than a week.

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  21. I agree with Wyatt. Clearly Indiana is a Republican state if there are more Republicans than Democrats in the state government, so why would you worsen your reputation even more? This is just stupid and childish.

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  22. I agree with Mason when he says the Democrats are basically skipping work. This is true because they were not elected to run away from problems if things are not going in their favor.

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  23. I agree with Nick when he states how this will not help to gain votes for election next year. The democrats are not leading our state well.

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  24. I think that it was ok for the Democrats to leave. They were trying to make a point. Even though it was very extreme they still got their point across. I think that a move like this is what the government needs. The government that we have in place now is not working there needs to be changes.

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  25. I disagree with Wyatt this is not childish. they were standing up for what they believe in.

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  26. i disagree with Chelsea i do not think they are acting irresponsible i think they are acting passionate

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  27. I dissagree with what the Democrats are doing. They got elected to figure out problems and make them right. Instead, they are all running away from the problems and making other people figure them out. The Democrats could've handled this differently by just simply speaking out and getting the information needed to prove their point. I think the Democrats should not be apart of the House of Representatives any more because of what they did. I believe Daniel's should pretty much threaten them into coming back, like tell them that if they don't return they won't be apart of the House of Representitivs any more.

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  28. I agree with Daniell, just because things get rough doesn't give the Democrats the right to leave us hanging. They are apart of the decision too, it definently does send a bad message out to the public.

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  29. I agree with Hannah, the Democrats are just making the situation worse. They need to come back and start fending for themselves.

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  30. The demorcrats are acting very childish because they know they are going to lose the vote they are about to partake in. If it was a vote that they wanted to pass but the republicans left before voting it would still not be fair even though they are the powerful party in the state. They should grow up and vote because they are beginning to be fined for not being in the state.

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  31. I agree with Hannah because what the democrats are doing is very sophomoric and that is not the way people should be representing my state.

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  32. I also agree with danielle because it is not fair to us as citizens that our elected officials flee or run away when they are going to lose or in times of despair.

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  33. I do not agree with what they are doing. They where elected to do a certain job and they are not doing it. They need to stay in their state and do their job. Nothing can be done if they are not there to do the job so the other states that are holding the Democrats need to send the state police to retrieve them.

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  34. I disagree with Nick. They may be acting passionately about what they believe in but they were elected and get paid to do a job. They need to come back and do their job.

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  35. i agree with Chelsea. They should be punished for not being in their state to do their jobs. I doubt they will be reelected any time soon

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  36. I do not think what the democrats are doing is right, but it is very intelligent. I don't believe that its right to just completely run away from a problem. That will never solve anything. But, from that same perspective, I believe them running away has given some of the republicans time to think about maybe compromising the decision. I do not agree with what they are doing, but being neutral on the subject, I believe its smart.

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  37. I agree with Josh when he said they should have to do their job. That is true, they got elected for a reason.

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  38. I agree with Hannah, it is a wee bit childish, but you got to do what you got to do.

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  39. I agree with Hannah. The democrats are not being fair at all to the public.

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  40. I agree with chelsea . We elected them for a reason so they should be here for us. If not get out.

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  41. I agree with Hannah with the democrats being mean to the public

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  42. I agree with Alex that the democrats r being childish

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  43. I think the democrats need to start doing their job. Maybe they should just not be payed or even kicked out of office. You cannot just not show up for work because you disagree with something. You will most likely be fired. They should also be fired for not serving the people that elected them.

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  44. I disagree with Nick Bell. The democrats cannot just get mad when something does not go their way. Nothing will get done and it could lead to this same thing happening over and over between parties.

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  45. I agree with Nick. It is just immature for them to just leave their responsibilities. They are acting like little kids when they run and tell their moms when something doesnt go their way.

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  46. I disagree with what the Democrats are doing. The people of Indiana elected them to do a job and they aren't doing it. Recently, they've been fined $250 for each day that they don't show up, and I think that is a reasonable punishment. They cannot just not show up because they're unhappy about bills being passed. It's all part of their job. They need to grow up and return to office.

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  47. I disagree with Nick Bell. There are other ways to stand up for what you believe in besides whining and leaving the state. It is childish and should not be tolerated.

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  48. I agree with Josh when he says that nothing can be solved if they aren't here to deal with it. I agree that the police should retrieve them because they won't come back.

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