Read the following article and answer all elements of the prompt. Be sure to include contextual evidence and use correct grammatical mechanics. According to the article, midterm elections used to make sense but don't anymore, explain why. Discuss at least two reasons why the author considers them harmful. And explain the possible impact of changing Congressional terms.
50 Comments
Suzie Rhodes
11/3/2014 04:21:47 am
Mid-term elections used to make sense because it was a way so that congress could be close to the people. " At our nation’s founding, the Constitution represented a new form of republican government, and it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." This states that the founders wanted congress men to be close to the people and mid-term elections made that possible. In today's world elections are greatly influenced by the amount of money each candidate gets. In which case, congress is representing the people who help them get elected instead of everybody in the state. Mid-terms were used to get new ideas in congress, but now mid-terms are influenced by money and not by the greater ideas on how to make the country better.
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Ms. Thompson
11/7/2014 04:45:42 am
Part of prompt not addressed: two reasons why they are harmful.
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Michael Kirsch
11/3/2014 10:07:24 am
Midterm elections used to make sense because the people of the United States used to have more faith in their government representatives and it was necessary to elect the people who represented them better each year. Nowadays, people do not have faith in government representatives and we are basically voting for people who may not represent us the way we want, but we have to vote for someone every two years. It is becoming more about the representatives spending large amounts of money to get re-elected instead of focusing on key issues. Two year elections have been shown to be harmful because it weakens the presidents power. The nation as a whole votes on the president on the basis of his agenda while in office. But when seats of his party are lost due to the two year election, then his/her agenda may not be carried out due to vast differences in the parties. Two year elections are also harmful because their is dark money involved and the representative may not be representing all the people, they will just be representing the people with the deepest pockets and because re-election occurs every two years, they worry about being re-elected. If we changed congressional terms to every four years, then maybe more could be accomplished and the presidents agenda will be carried out more smoothly. Representatives might pay more attention to problems and less time worrying about being re-elected. The government could possibly get more accomplished, or it will just be four years of the same problems occurring as the two year elections. Who knows...
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Ms T
11/7/2014 05:08:15 am
All elements of the prompt addressed but missing contextual evidence.
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Zach Damp
11/4/2014 12:10:04 pm
Midterm elections made sense at our nation's founding."The Constitution represented a new form of republican government, and it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." At this time in our country's history legislative leaders felt more responsible to represent the views of the people. Midterm elections do not make much sense anymore due to the fact that Americans do not have that much confidence in the governments ability to address important issues of the people. It just doesn't make sense to elect representatives when we do not even have confidence that they will do a good job. One reason why two year terms are harmful is because they tend to weaken the president, the only representative elected by the whole nation. It only weakens an agenda that a majority of the country voted for. Another reason is that representatives tend to appeal to one set of voters one year then appeal to another set of voters two years later. This causes representatives to not advocate for what they really believe instead advocate for the beliefs of a specific set of voters. If we were to extend congressional terms then it would give congress more time to consider and find solution for longer-term challenges facing the nation. Congress would be more focused on the nation's issues then getting re-elected.
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Ms. T
11/7/2014 05:09:21 am
All elements addressed.
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Mallorie
11/4/2014 02:07:06 pm
At one point in time midterm elections made sense because "it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." They do not make sense anymore because less than forty percent of eligible voters actually vote and we do not need an election every two years to communicate voters’ desires to their elected officials because social media gets the point across. Mid term elections have a negative impact on the president because it effects his or her ability to progress the agenda he or she has. It also effects the campaign finance system. Members spend at least seventy percent of their time fun raising when they could be focusing on important issues which is why the government should not waste time by having midterm elections.
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Ms. T
11/7/2014 05:11:22 am
What would be the impact of changing the mid-terms.
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Kimberly Ocana
11/5/2014 01:05:26 am
Midterms don't make sense anymore because only 40% of the nation will even bother to vote, despite the fact that Super PACs spent over $1 billion to sell candidates to the people.
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Ms. T
11/7/2014 05:12:49 am
Concise but missing two reasons why mid-terms are harmful.
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Taylor Willie
11/6/2014 07:23:41 am
Midterm elections are an outdated convention. They used to make sense because people had a greater sense of connection with their representatives and the people held them accountable. Essentially what they do now is, "harmful to American politics." According to the article, with such a divided country, " the main impact of the midterm election in the modern era has been to, weaken the president." Two years after the president is elected, people who are dissatisfied with him then have the chance to cost the President's party seats in congress. This severely hurts the President's chance at advancing his agenda.
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Ms. T
11/7/2014 05:14:07 am
Good work interweaving contextual evidence.
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Molly Carnahan
11/6/2014 10:09:40 am
During the midterm elections there is an controversial issue regarding term limits of congressmen and women. The midterm elections used to make sense back when our democratic government was just beginning. They used to make sense because back then "...it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." According to the article they do not make sense anymore because Americans confidence in the government is at a low point. Two reasons, as the article states, for why term limits are harmful are that they don't give the representatives or the senators enough time to govern effectively. Second, they cause more of a financing issue. The candidates are expected to raise crazy amounts of money more often than not it distracts them from doing their job. To explain the first issue, if congressmen have to run campaigns every two years they do not have enough time to govern and gain the experience and knowledge of a true leader. To explain the second issue, there is so much money being spent on campaigns that having to do this every two years is putting a burden on their ability to govern because they have to focus on where their money is coming from instead of what is going on in the nation. To explain the impact of changing Congressional terms, the nation is undergoing a change of pace at capital hill. The founding fathers ideals were that the government is to keep up with the changing of times. "Surely they would not be pleased with the dysfunction, partisan acrimony and public dissatisfaction that plague modern politics." The changing of congressional terms would impact the nation in a positive way by having candidates change with the modern era. While many people will continue to debate this issue we all have to be aware of the changing ways of our government.
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Ms T
11/7/2014 05:15:38 am
Nice conclusion.
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Curtis Click
11/6/2014 11:32:15 pm
I am sorry I can't answer on this article because I feel like it is way too one sided. Its forcing me to say stuff I don't agree with. So I hope you understand. Thank you.
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Ms T
11/7/2014 05:33:21 am
I am not asking you to agree with the article. I am only asking you to answer questions pertaining to the article. Obviously, this is someone's opinion therefore it may contain bias. It is one of many thousands of suggestions of how to fix our political process. If we only limit ourselves to reading what we agree with than there will never be room for understanding or compromise. And finally, as a teacher attempting to expose my students to relevant issues it would be an impossible task to find materials that ALL my students agree with 100% of the time because we are a nation with diverse backgrounds and therefore opinions. I suggest you find a competing opinion and include this in your response.
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Dillon Hoselton
11/6/2014 11:47:59 pm
"At our nation’s founding, the Constitution represented a new form of republican government, and it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." The article says that the two year House terms no longer makes sense and should get rid of it. It says a two year cycle is harmful to American politics and midterm elections weaken the president. Changing Congressional terms would provide members enough time to build experience in the job and ensure new circulation in the system.
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Ms T
11/7/2014 05:36:14 am
Why doesn't it make sense anymore? Another reason why it is harmful? And what would be the impact of changing it . . . .
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Thomas Schleeter
11/7/2014 01:34:52 am
Midterm election used to make sense because at the time that it was created we needed at least one branch of congress to be highly accountable to the public. The country was much smaller then as well and the issues were much less complex. Things are different now. The House of Representatives needs more time to tackle issues now then they did when the Framers created the Constitution.
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Ms. T
11/7/2014 05:37:31 am
Why is it harmful and what would be the impact of changing it. Also, need to include contextual evidence.
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Bailey Ludwig
11/7/2014 01:38:45 am
Mid-terms don't make sense anymore because only 40% of the people voted as well as the peoples lack of faith in their government to address any concern of the american people is at an all time low. A way that the mid-term election is harmful is the election its self tends to weaken the president. As the article said on average the presidents party tends to lose about 25 seats in the house and 4 in the senate. This is not good because the President has a little under two years to try to complete his agenda that they had won the election with but after that two year mark the president has lost so many seats that it becomes hard for them to get any legislation passed because of the lack of seats that their party holds. The article talks about having a 24 year limit on congresses terms this would allow people to gather some understanding on the job but at the same time there will always be new members.
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Ms T
11/7/2014 05:40:13 am
Why did they used to make sense? What would be the impact of changing the mid-terms. Missing contextual evidence.
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nathen winters
11/7/2014 01:54:10 am
i don't think we need to get ride of midterm election but we do need to get ride of the negative media making ever one clouding are judgment rowing peoples life that way. but money is being used in the wrong way to represent any one most adds are throwing there aponit under the buss making them look bad. and as a us sites-ion it is are doughty to vote and if we voted more people might actually know whats going on. and be able to be smart enuf to vote right to make ever one safe, happy, and make the system floe again
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Ms T
11/7/2014 05:42:54 am
Although as always I appreciate your opinion, you need to address the prompt and include contextual evidence.
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Travis Burress
11/7/2014 01:56:23 am
Mid term elections make sense then and now to keep power limited. That article was just a mans opinion and you're asking kids to look at that as a fact. Some think that having mid term elections limits the ability to get things done and in a way yes but what if we got a president in office with an agenda that is harmful to america and other corrupt politicians that are in congress to support the Presidents agenda. Not good for us. It is a way to keep an idea or person from become to powerful in the government. To really help the problem of not getting things done is kick out all this dark money because the government is not up for auction, and learn to work with each other and not against each other. We are Americans, either it be Democrat or Republican we all need to do whats best for the nation and not our pockets. Some also say that getting rid of mid term elections would give congress room to breath. If we all are all for america then the more ideas we can get on an issue, we can make the best decision on what is the best plan of action for our problems.
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Ms. T
11/7/2014 05:47:35 am
Good work detecting that an article from "The Opinion Pages" is the author's opinion. This exercise is to practice reading a text and finding information from the text to answer questions. Please address the prompt:
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Lucas Webb
11/7/2014 04:25:40 am
Midterm elections used to make sense because back when the constitution represented a new form of republican government it was especially important for Congress to be closely accountable to the people. They no longer make sense because today the main impact of midterm elections is to weaken the President. "Since the end of World War II, the president’s party has on average lost 25 seats in the House and about 4 in the Senate as a result of the midterms." Also, two year term limits are not long enough to allow the people in Congress to effectively accomplish anything. Changing Congressional terms would " relieve some (though, of course, not all) of the systemic gridlock afflicting the federal government and provide members of Congress with the ability to focus more time and energy on governance instead of electioneering." Longer terms would also allow them to focus more on long term issues that are hindered by two year terms.
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Ms T
11/7/2014 05:49:09 am
All elements of the prompt are addressed and contextual evidence is included.
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Blane Barnes
11/7/2014 05:40:32 am
When the idea of mid-term elections was first conceived they were necessary and beneficial to the democratic process because it was a way for the American people to stay largely involved in the creation of legislation, because of the fact that they could place faith within their representatives. According to the article the reason why mid-term elections do not make sense anymore is because of the rapidly decreasing level of confidence in our government. The article also states that the reasons why mid-term elections are harmful. One of which being, with the heightened tension between political parties has made it nearly impossible for state representatives and senators to govern effectively, due to the fact that it is practically impossible for an issue to meet all the desires of the parties, and neither party is willing to compromise. Another harmful effect of mid-term elections is the amount of money a candidate now needs to run. This in-fluxed requirement of funds cause many politicians to focus more on money rather than actually becoming involved in the aspect of the job in which they were elected to do. If there were to be limitations placed on the number of years an incumbent could spend in office it would greatly benefit the legislative process. It is necessary for congress to keep up with the changes going on within the nation and I believe it is in the best interests of the nation to impose congressional terms in order to maintain a sense of reality and reestablish the connection between congressmen and women with their constituents.
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Ms. T
11/7/2014 05:53:06 am
Nice job of answering the prompt and including your own opinion on the topic. Next time include contextual evidence.
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Meaghan Mooney
11/7/2014 06:03:46 am
In the past mid-term elections have made sense because it made some Congress members "accountable to the people." This has changed over time though, and mid term-elections are no longer needed. The house members spend more time trying to raise money then they do working on important changes that should be happening federally or at the state level. On top of that, there is a higher percentage of Americans that do not vote than do. The mid-term elections are wasting money and preventing Congress from getting the work they should be doing done. Changing Congressional terms will allow house members to focus less on raising money for re-elections and let them focus on getting things done for their districts, Also, if people are elected for four years then there is going to be a lower percentage of incumbents winning their seats back. Members of Congress would have to work harder to produce results if they wish to be re-elected. Getting rid of mid-term elections and giving the house members longer office holding is the most logic choice for the Government.
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Ms T
11/9/2014 09:22:38 am
All elements addressed.
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Tiara Shelton
11/7/2014 06:09:53 am
Midterm elections used to make sense because it was a way congress could be close to the people. Midterms no longer work because less than 40% of people actually get out and vote. Midterms are harmful to the government because people are using them to change their minds on politicians half way through their term. Not only is this harmful to the president, but also his process in the things he is trying to accomplish. The president needs more than two years with other people of his party to accomplish the things he promised. "Since the end of World War II, the president’s party has on average lost 25 seats in the House and about 4 in the Senate as a result of the midterms". This isn't the way things are supposed to be. The president needs support.
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Ms T
11/9/2014 09:27:10 am
Concise and to the point.
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Morgan Allred
11/8/2014 12:41:09 am
The reason mid-term elections used to make sense is because it allowed Congress and the people to create something we haven't heard of before and try something new as a nation, and that was when the public had confidence in our government to deal with pressing concerns. As David Schanzer and Jay Sullivan said "We should get rid of federal midterm elections entirely.” The reason we don’t need midterm elections anymore is because there isn’t enough time for these Senators and Representatives to move the people and give their ideas to the public and make a difference in the community. Therefore there’s no need for midterm elections anymore. The modern era has been weakened by the president and therefore the midterm election cripples that same president’s ability to advance that agenda. With the changing congressional terms “The government should, through a constitutional amendment, extend the term of House members to four years and adjust the term of senators to either four or eight years, so that all elected federal officials would be chosen during presidential election years.” This would be the smartest idea so there is less elections throughout the year, and more people would be interested in voting during a presidential election as well.
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Haley Smith
11/9/2014 03:35:37 am
This causes representatives to not advocate for what they really believe instead advocate for the beliefs of a specific set of voters.The article also states that the reasons why mid-term elections are harmful.The founding fathers ideals were that the government is to keep up with the changing of times.
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Ms T
11/9/2014 09:30:54 am
Explain why midterm elections used to make sense. MISSING
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Victoria Salinas
11/9/2014 04:21:02 am
Midterm elections used to make sense because, "it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." Back then Americans' had a greater sense of respect for their representatives and felt more connected with them. Currently, midterm elections just don't make sense. According to the article, "40 percent of the electorate will bother to vote, even though candidates, advocacy groups and shadowy “super PACs” will have spent more than $1 billion to air more than two million ads to influence the election." PACs are spending an immense amount of money only for a small about of the population to vote and it's just not worth it. Midterm elections are harmful because they just weaken the president who is someone elected by the entire nation. "Since the end of World War II, the president’s party has on average lost 25 seats in the House and about 4 in the Senate as a result of the midterms." Another reason why midterm elections are harmful is that fact that in those two years, Congress can't really accomplish anything as effectively as they should. It's just not enough time. By changing Congressional terms would have an overall positive affect. People need to understand that our government is always changing and progressing just as the world keeps modernizing.
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Ms T
11/9/2014 09:31:55 am
Great example of using contextual evidence correctly.
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Caleb Sapa
11/9/2014 11:01:41 pm
As more and more money is put into government, the less and less people are represented. Before we knew if the government would work back when it was founded, we needed these representatives and they did represent the people. Now they represent the companies with the most money. The main impact of midterms has been to hurt the president. " Since the end of World War II, the president’s party has on average lost 25 seats in the House and about 4 in the Senate as a result of the midterms." All of this revolves around the profit of racing for office, on average $2.6 million raised for the 2014 midterm. That's 3,600 a day. The people running for office has been whiter, and richer as we progress, the midterms need to end.
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Marlee Clark
11/10/2014 01:29:40 am
Midterm elections during our nation's beginning was very different than now."The Constitution represented a new form of republican government, and it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." In the beginning our country's leaders were responsible to represent the views of the people of our country. Midterm elections do not make much sense now because American people do not have the belief in the governments ability to address the problems of the people. It does not make sense to elect representatives when we do not even have the confidence that the reps. will do a good job. Two year terms are harmful because they can not solve more issues, representatives elected by the whole nation weakens the majority of the votes. Another issue is the amount of money being put in for campaigning. And the elections become unfair because of the donors contributions to one representive and not another who might actually be working harder to solve issues at hand and not so much on slandering other reps. and worrying about raising money. The midterm elections should be changed to four years rather than two. So there is more time for the representatives to focus on more issues other than campaigning.
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Preston Hardy
11/13/2014 06:13:33 am
Back in the day of our nation's finding, midterm elections were a wonderful idea. This was due to the fact that that one body of Congress should be accountable to the people. However, the dynamics of America have changed immensely. Back when people took a great amount of pride and respect in their representatives. Now people have lost an incredible amount of interest for multiple reasons. These reasons include people being irritated with the government, people being displeased with campaigning, and people believing our government does not accomplish anything. The world and country are evolving just like the people and technology are. Another reason for eliminating mid-term elections is because two years is simply not enough time to accomplish anything. It is very difficult to have an impact on the entire country in a time span of two years. This is why, according to the article, mid-term elections should be eliminated.
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Matthew Knickerbocker
11/13/2014 06:16:56 am
Midterm elections used to make sense because people had a lot more confidence in their government and their governmental officials. Citizens had a lot more respect for their officials and the officials had a lot more respect for the citizens. Now days, ¨the main impact of the midterm election in the modern era has been to weaken the president.¨ However, if the midterm results are opposite of the president, this creates gridlock in the government. Two year elections are also harmful because in some cases the people that are elected do not represent all the people. They can be influenced by the rich that give them the most money. If the elections are every four years then maybe they will be comparable to the presidents views. This will allow for his/her agenda to be passed easier.
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Jessie Roukema
11/13/2014 10:08:09 am
Midterm elections used to make sense because, "the Constitution represented a new form of republican government, and it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." The reason why they do not anymore is because in the article they said, "less than 40 percent of the electorate will bother to vote, even though candidates, advocacy groups and shadowy “super PACs” will have spent more than $1 billion to air more than two million ads to influence the election." A couple reasons why they are harmful are because, they tend to weaken the president, the only representative elected by the whole nation. It only weakens an agenda that a majority of the country voted for. Like in the article they said, "The main impact of the midterm election in the modern era has been to weaken the president, the only government official (other than the powerless vice president) elected by the entire nation. Since the end of World War II, the president’s party has on average lost 25 seats in the House and about 4 in the Senate as a result of the midterms." Another reason why they are harmful is that dark money is involved and the representative may not be representing all the people, they will just be representing the people with biggest pockets and because re-election occurs every two years, they worry about being re-elected. The impact of changing Congressional terms would be a positive affect because they would be able to focus on the nations issues instead of getting re-elected.
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Trevor
12/2/2014 01:37:21 pm
In the past mid term elections were very important. There was a want from the government to be close to the people and the people to be close to the government. Back then there was more of a trust and respect from both the citizens and the officials. Now a days mid term elections are used as somewhat of a way to weaken the president. But if the mid term elections are the opposite as the president it cause a gridlock between the branches
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Trevor
12/2/2014 01:38:19 pm
And now a days these campaigns are ran by money. So if a company likes you and donates millions of dollars then they have a better chance of winning
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Moriah Spykstra
12/4/2014 01:33:03 pm
This article states that "There was a time when midterm elections made sense" and that midterm elections are "...harmful to American politics." In some ways they're correct. Midterm elections did make sense in the past and, honestly, I feel that it still does make sense. Your vote still matters, vote for your beliefs not because that YouTube ad told you that the candidate you are supporting drown a fish and that's almost like killing our government (politics logic right there). This could be harmful to American politics in ways that it always has been. The uneven republican/democrat ratio in the government is potentially harmful to one of the parties and the people's opinion. Also, with the super PAC's influencing (or lying to) the 40% that do vote, why would the other voters want to be lied to and have their opinion walked over?
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Tj Taylor
12/15/2014 01:50:00 am
During the midterm elections there is an controversial issue regarding term limits of congressmen. The midterm elections used to make sense back when our democratic government was just beginning. They used to make sense because back then "...it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." According to the article they do not make sense anymore because Americans confidence in the government is at a low point. Two year elections have been shown to be harmful because it weakens the presidents power. The nation as a whole votes on the president on the basis of his agenda while in office. But when seats of his party are lost due to the two year election, then his/her agenda may not be carried out due to vast differences in the parties. Two year elections are also harmful because their is dark money involved and the representative may not be representing all the people, they will just be representing the people with the deepest pockets and because re-election occurs every two years, they worry about being re-elected. If we changed congressional terms to every four years this would terminate a lot of the problems that we are experiencing today.
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Caitlyn Phelps
12/15/2014 05:36:22 am
At one point in time, midterm elections made a lot of sense because "it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people." Midterms today however are harmful for several reasons. One main reason is, "[the] impact of the midterm election in the modern era has been to weaken the president, the only government official." In other words, the President is losing power due to these midterm elections, and this is not good for our nation. An additional reason is we select a new President, but just two years after the inauguration, "the midterm election cripples that same president’s ability to advance that agenda." This quote is simply saying that the midterm elections are pointless because we are only hurting the President, which in turn, hurts the nation as a whole.
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john fisher
12/15/2014 05:38:31 am
in the past mid term elections were important because it was good for our government and the people to get closer. But now people believe that mid term elections main purpose are to weaken the president which can have influence some peoples opinions. also people believe that 2 years is also completely unnecessary because they elect student board members and a sheriff for longer
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