Tag: Barack Obama

R&D from Prepd: President Obama’s Community College Plan

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On January 14, 2015

In R&D

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D covers President Obama’s proposed community college plan, called America’s College Promise, which seeks to provide free community college and technical training.  To qualify, students would need to earn a 2.5 grade point average, make progress toward a degree, and be enrolled at least half-time.  The estimated price tag for the plan would be $60 billion over ten years, with the federal government providing three-quarters of the funding and the states providing the other twenty-five percent.  Tennessee and Chicago have similar programs.

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R&D from Prepd: President Obama’s Veto Power

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On January 8, 2015

In R&D

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides resources on how President Obama might exercise his veto power in the near future.  The President has threatened to veto legislation from the new Republican Congress on the Keystone XL pipeline and the Affordable Care Act.  More vetoes are likely over the next two years, which could shape voter perceptions of both parties before 2016.

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R&D from Prepd: Leon Panetta’s Criticisms of President Obama

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On October 16, 2014

In R&D

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l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides resources for former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s criticisms of President Obama.  Panetta’s new book Worthy Fights criticizes President Obama for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq and argues that the President is sheltered by advisers that are distrustful of the military.  Since Panetta was Bill Clinton’s chief of staff between 1994 and 1997, some have argued that his book is meant to weaken President Obama so as to make Hillary Clinton look better for 2016.

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AGD: The Nation’s Most (In)Famous Party Crashers

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On November 30, 2009

In AGD

Facebook worthy? You bet.

Facebook worthy? You bet.

by Corey Alderdice

Washington (and the rest of the nation) hasn’t been this abuzz about a dynamic duo of social climbers showing up uninvited since Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan slipped into the wedding of the Treasury Secretary’s daughter in the 2005 film Wedding Crashers.

Though the story of Michaele and Tareq Salahi is really more faux-news than anything, it did land smack dab in the middle of what was a slow news cycle thanks to, well, Thanksgiving.   In the event that you see a question this weekend at GMU’s Patriot Games, Bradley University’s Armstrong Invitational,or anywhere else around the country, Slate has a great piece outling the long history of social climbing.

To that notable group of societies we can now add 21st-century Washington, D.C. Like 18th-century Russia, it is a world of neophytes, a society whose members have only recently “made it” into an elite magic circle and who don’t necessarily know the other members all that well. Like 19th-century New York, it is also a world where appearances matter. You get invited to the party—whether the White House Hanukkah party or the state dinner—not just because of who you are but because of what you represent, which costume you wear, which ethnic group you come from.

After all, when you can choose between Wedding Crashers or 18th century Russia, be the speaker who stands out in the round.

AGD: HBO Documentary Spotlights Obama Election One Year Later

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On November 3, 2009

In AGD

HBO Image

It’s the first Tuesday of November in America, and that means one thing: Election Day. Though it does not, perhaps, hold the same gravitas as a year ago, HBO is capitalizing on the day to premiere the documentary By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. The film airs tonight at 9 p.m. EST. Look for it to be added to HBO’s on-demand lineup later this week as well.

Even though the film strikes a feel-good tone, it may very well drop on a highly inopportune time for the Obama camp. Tensions linger of his Nobel Peace Prize award, the battle for healthcare reform becomes further entrenched, and a decision on strategy in Afghanistan looms. The celebratory tone of the piece may have been appropriate one year ago. As reality sets in today, that enthusiasm is harder to muster for some critics.

HBO’s p.r. for the documentary describes it as such:

Nearly a year before Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency on Feb. 10, 2007, filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams began to roll cameras on the young senator. Over the next 19 months, they found themselves traveling all across the country, chronicling the daily ups and downs of the campaign trail as experienced by Obama, his family, his staff and volunteers. While Obama’s meteoric rise to the White House has been well documented in the press, few have witnessed the behind-the- scenes story of the passionate campaigners who helped a young African-American freshman senator attain the nation’s highest office.

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Topic Brief: Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize

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On October 14, 2009

In Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

Before we jump into this week’s topic brief, check out the official video from NobelPrize.org’s YouTube channel on their rationale for the selection of Barack Obama as a 2009 Nobel Laureate.

By Logan Scisco

When people first heard the news about Barack Obama being awarded the Noble Peace Prize they probably thought it was some kind of joke.  I can admit to having this reaction.  The reason is not that Obama is a failed president or I have some type of anti-Obama bias.  It is simply because the Nobel prize traditionally has awarded individuals based on their actions, citing concrete achievements and progress as opposed to hopes for what might happen in the future.  With President Obama having been in office for only nine months and without any significant changes

The Nobel Peace Prize is an award that comes from the estate of Alfred Nobel, the creator of dynamite.  Nobel created five awards, given for peace, chemistry, literature, physical science, and medicine.  The peace prize and these other awards are determined by a Norwegian committee.  The criteria given for the peace prize, which carries with it a $1 million reward is the following:  that a person should “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

Obama’s victory in the prize came as a shock to many and has prompted a debate over the merits of the prize and sparked a small political controversy in the United States.  The controversy might be the only thing that unites conservatives with Hamas and Hugo Chavez.  This brief will examine the justification behind Obama receiving the award, the reaction of the globe and fellow politicians in the U.S., and how this prize could play a part in Obama’s future agenda.

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Topic Brief: “You Lie!”: The Joe Wilson Incident

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On September 14, 2009

In Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

Last week, President Barack Obama tried to change the message on the healthcare debate.  As the American public has grown more skeptical of the President’s agenda, Obama’s team has tried to retake the initiative in the media and part of that was Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress.  However, during Obama’s speech when he said that illegal immigrants would not receive coverage in his healthcare plan he was interrupted with a shout of “You lie!” by Joe Wilson, a Republican representative from South Carolina.  For anyone who has not seen the video, it is worth a look just to see Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s facial expression after the incident.

Wilson’s remarks started a political firestorm.  Some have argued that his actions demonstrate everything that is wrong with the Republican Party.  Others have argued that there must be something bad in the water in South Carolina, where Republican Governor Mark Sanford is trying to fight off impeachment by January.  Then there are those who believe Wilson did the right thing in standing up to Obama and calling him to task for a lack of enforcement mechanisms in healthcare legislation to keep illegal immigrants from getting coverage.

Considering that healthcare is a central tenet of Barack Obama’s domestic agenda and that the Republican Party is hoping to regain control of the House in 2010, it is important that we look at the Joe Wilson incident this week.  To do so, this brief will break down the incident in two ways.  First, we will look at the issue that raised Wilson’s ire:  the coverage of illegal immigrants in the healthcare legislation before Congress.  And second, we will look at the political fallout from Wilson’s outburst and if it works more in favor of Democrats or Republicans.

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