The Correlation of Current Events to the Constitution

1. The current issue going on in Iraq demonstrates the Natural Rights Philosophy. Iraq is leading towards a more democratic system of government as a result of our government sending in troops to remove the previous ruler and maintain order in society. Our troops were partially sent over to Iraq to remove the dictator, Saddam Hussein and his followers who were trying to upset our plan to instill a democracy. After Hussein was removed from power, our troops worked to create a democratic system which created elections and protection of the citizen’s natural rights (life, liberty, and property). Currently, President Obama has initiated a plan to begin the removal of our troops from Iraq in order to allow Iraq to become a full democracy. By removing ourselves from Iraq we are allowing Iraq to make their own decisions and be responsible for the protection of the Iraqi people’s natural rights. At this time, the U.S. is being more aggressive on clearly separating ourselves from Iraq in order to return our troops safely. President Biden said that the U.S administration has to be "much more aggressive ... forcing them [Iraq] to deal with those issues” (Source 1).


(Source 1- US to be 'more aggressive' with Iraq on political reform
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090206/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqpoliticsbiden_20090206155159)



2. According to Source 1, Classical Republicanism is “a type of government that promotes the common welfare rather then the interest of one class of citizens.” An example of this is President Obama’s tax cut plan which is going to cut taxes for the middle class citizens and raise it for the upper classes. As stated in one of President Obama’s speeches, he said, “I will provide a tax cut for 95% of Americans. If you make less than a quarter of a million dollars a year, you will not see a single dime of your taxes go up. If you make $200,000 a year or less, your taxes will go down… Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year” (Source 2). Under the previous presidency of George W. Bush, this plan for tax cuts was not in place. As a result, President Obama’s tax cut plan will help the majority of the people, which consists of middle and lower classes. They will not have to pay as much as the upper class because they are receiving these tax cuts. More of these citizens in the middle and lower class will then be in a more ideal economic living situation. The upper class will have to pay more taxes than these classes; however this will not be as difficult because they earn higher salaries which enable them to pay for these taxes. President Obama’s tax cut plan is for the benefit of the majority of our population which is found in the middle and lower classes. This is aimed at the general welfare of society rather than one particular class.


(Source 1- We the People- The Citizen and the Constitution)
(Source 2- http://www.ontheissues.org/Economic/Barack_Obama_Tax_Reform.htm)



3. President Obama represents the characteristics of being a Federalist. A Federalist is an “advocate of ratification of the U.S. Constitution and a strong centralized government” (Source 1). President Obama wants the centralized government to provide jobs for the people. When the government backed off in the past, unemployment became more of an issue. Companies became out of control with their incomes and benefits. They were selfish and as a result of this greed, the housing market collapsed because they sold mortgages to people whose salaries were much less. As a result of this, people went bankrupt because they could not afford the mortgages. The banks were losing money because the house owners were not paying their mortgages resulting in the insurance companies not receiving their invested money, thus, were forced to lay their employees off. This is one continuous cycle that forces more and more people to be laid off due to people no longer purchasing pleasures, but only purchasing the necessities. In order to address this ongoing conflict, President Obama has come up with a plan to stimulate the economy and jumpstart production in the work field. President Obama will do so by having the centralized government more involved with decisions in business in order to prevent the company’s greed from surfacing and averting another economic recession. One way that President Obama and Vice President Biden want to address the problem with unemployment is by creating jobs through infrastructure projects. This will not only create jobs but it will also stimulate the economy by giving money to the consumer (who is now provided with a job). According to President Obama’s plan, “These projects will create up to two million new direct and indirect jobs and stimulate approximately $35 billion per year in new economic activity” (Source 2). All in all, it seems that President Obama is a believer in the Federalist Party because he is taking an interest in having the government help fix our economic and other domestic issues.


(Source 1- We the People- The Citizen and the Constitution)
(Source 2- http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/index.php#jumpstart)