Concepts Of Government In The Film Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

1. This film is saying the American democracy can be easily corrupted. The film portrays that it takes strong, determined men with much integrity to stand up for what they know is right.

12) Taylor is a part of the state and owns a large part of Mississippi’s industries. 13) Smith puts up a noble fight against Payne and Taylor’s political machine by performing a day long filibuster that eventually forces Payne to tell the truth and announce his resignation. [did not directly answer #8]

A Filibuster by definition “ an action such as a prolonged speech that obstructs progress in a legislative assembly while not technically contravening the required procedures.” (Google Search) A Filibuster can also be used as a tactic to stop a piece of legislation from passing, and has been a common tool in the minority party arsenal for a very long time. Once a senator has started a Filibuster he or she may continue to speak on any topic or subject, and can only be stopped by a three-fifths closure vote by the other members of the senate. It was also applicable in the House of Representatives until 1842 when rules were adopted to limit the time of debate.

When protagonist Jefferson Smith very suddenly becomes a US Senator, he is portrayed as the perfect example of nominal patriotism. He has several speeches by Washington and Lincoln memorized, is the leader of a group of what are basically Boy Scouts, and spends his first day in Washington DC in awe of the monuments.

This docility and willingness to vote according to the older Senators was most likely caused by the new Senators’ fear of the political bosses. Mr. Smith, however, was sheltered from knowing that the political bosses even existed and, as a result, was not afraid to stand up for his beliefs. Mr. Taylor, a typical political boss of Smith’s time, had extreme power in his state and was able to tilt the public opinion of Senator Smith. He did this through his control of the state media and connections within the government. Taylor concocted evidence with the help of his government connections alleging that Smith owned the property intended for the boy’s camp and was only promoting the camp bill so that he could sell his own property to the government at a high price. Taylor then publicized these false accusations against Smith in the newspapers that he controlled, thus persuading public opinion and ultimately causing Smith to be accused of wrongdoing by a Senate committee. Throughout this entire entourage, Smith was too inexperienced and naive to stand up against Taylor’s political machine and resorted instead to crying at the Lincoln Memorial. Smith only returned to the Senate after Saunders convinced him that he should fight for his rights. This situation ultimately proved once again that Senator Smith was too naive to be an effective Senator. Smith did not realize that the other Senators were inclined to believe the accusations against his character, and therefore,

Introduction of a bill requires both house and senate members to file a written bill with each of their corresponding clerk members. The clerk then submits the bill to alphanumeric designation where it is available to the eyes of lawmakers and citizens so that they make track its progress. There is a specific time bills can be submitted. They can be submitted the Monday after the November general election. This step can be influenced by many figures outside of Legislative. Interests groups influence legislation as well as the Governor can influence legislation. At this point there are no delay tactics that could prevent the bill from moving on to step two.

Filibusters were a common tactic used for preventing the passing of a bill by holding the senate floor and using any means to delay or block

On June 26, the Senate passed its version of the bill, 76-21. The bills were unified in conference, and on November 21, the bill came back to the House for approval. The bill came to a vote on November 22. After a short period, the bill was losing, 219-215, with David Wu not voting. Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay tried to convince some of dissenting Republicans to switch their votes, as they had in June. Istook, who had always been a wavering vote, consented quickly, making a 218-216 tally. In a highly unusual move, the House leadership held the vote open for hours as they tried to get two more votes. Then Representative Nick Smith claimed he was offered campaign funds for his son, who was running to replace him, in return for a change in his vote from a no to a yes. After all this Smith clarified no campaign funds was made, but was offered campaign support. Then they convinced Otter and Trent Franks to switch their votes. With all the voting changes, Wu voted yea as well, and Democrats Calvin M. Dooley, Jim Marshall and David Scott changed their votes to the affirmative. But Brad Miller , and then, Republican John

The House uses an electronic voting system, while the Senate cast their votes using non electronic methods. After voting has happened, roll call begins. The votes are recorded Yea for approval, Nay for disapproval, and present to acknowledge their presence but choose not to vote. If the votes a in favor of the bill, it is sent to the Senate for a similar process of approval. Once it reaches the senate the clerk will certify the bill and its amendments. Upon certification, the bill will have been “engrossed”. Just like the House, the bill can be sent to a committee for further review. They can choose to ignore it a proceed with their own legislations. If its not ignored it can be proceed to be voted on. Once all difference has been settled, the billed will have become “enrolled” where a bill had passed both House and Senate.

Various actions can occur once a bill passes through the first house and awaits approval by the second. The course materials point out that if one chamber passes the bill the other may: pass the bill as it stands, send the bill to a committee, reject the bill, or ignore the bill (Unit 3 the Congress, 11). If referred to a committee, that committee would: examine the bill, change the bill, or both. If rejected, the rejecting chamber will apprise the other chamber of its act. If ignored, the ignoring chamber would press forward with its work on that chamber’s particular version of the bill.

All things first start with an idea. This idea, then becomes an action and this action in turn has a result. This same concept can be applied to the legislative process. The first step begins with an idea, this idea is shared and if it gains the support of the masses this idea will then become sponsored by a representative. Once this idea has sponsorship it then proceeds to the congressional level where this idea gets the new title of a bill. Upon the name change from idea to bill also comes the benefit of becoming a proposed piece of legislation. For a bill this means that it will be sent to both the House of Representatives and Senate awaiting it’s future through debate. If the debate proves favorable for the bill, that is both the House of Representatives and the Senate approve then this bill is sent off to the desk of the president. From the moment the bill arrives at the desk of the president a countdown of ten days begins, this is

The legislation was originally submitted on February 7, 2017 and sent to the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee. On April 6, 2017 it was submitted from the subcommittee to the House Veterans Affairs committee for a full voice vote. In order for the bill to become a law, an idea must be presented to a member of Congress. There may be a companion bill, one in the House one in the Senate. There are several steps in passing legislation and many areas where a bill could fail. Associations and lobbyist are often involved in drafting legislation. They are also involved in lobbying members. The bill is then sent to a specific committee for the first review where either changes or made or the bill is rejected. If a bill is accepted, it is sent out from the committee to full House or Senate vote. If it passes, it will go to the opposite side of the legislative branch for a second vote. The bill most be voted on in the same way in both chambers in order to be passed. If a bill passes both the Senate and the House of Representatives, it goes to the President to be signed and made a law. If the President veto’s the bill, a two-thirds majority can override the president and make the bill a law without him or her. Every bill has a two -year deadline to either pass or die by default. The speaker of the House of Representative is in charge of the agenda for the House to vote on. Although the Vice President is the “President” of the Senate, the Senate Majority Leader sets the agenda for the

The road a bill takes to becoming a law is a long and tedious process. First, the proposed bill goes through the House of representatives. Once the bill has been approved by the House, it is then begins its journey through the Senate. After the bill has been endorsed by the Senate, the houses of congress then meet in conference committees to prepare the bill to be sent to the White House. To summarize, the path the bill takes to become a law is a fairly complex impediment.

Let’s just assume this proposed bill Bran Can Drive (BCD) has so many interest groups on board and letters and phone calls are pouring into to the congressional representative, that both the House and the Senate introduce this bill. In both houses the bill would be referred to committees and subcommittees where there would be hearings, reports and writing the legal wording for the bill. According to the class lecture for this chapter, this is where ninety percent of most bills die. Fortunately, the BCD bill is moving forward. (Note: The House has one extra step for committee meetings that the Senate does not, and that is the House Rules Committee.)

Now that the bill has been passed through the House, it is ready to go through the proceedings of the Senate. First, the bill is again introduced but now by a senator who must be recognized by the presiding officer and announce the introduction of the bill. A bill that has passed either house of congress is sometimes called an act, but the term usually means legislation that has passed both houses and become a law. Secondly, the Vice President of the US, who is the presiding officer of the Senate, assigns the proposed law to a committee for further study ( the Senate has about 15 standing committees). The committees or one of its subcommittees studies the bill and may hold hearings. The committee may approve the bill as is, revise the bill, or table the bill. Now the bill goes to the Senate to await its turn on the Senate floor. Normally the bill is considered as introduced unless the bill is urgent in which case the leaders of the majority party might push it ahead. At this time the Senate considers the bill. Here senators can debate a bill indefinitely, unless voted otherwise. When there is no further discussion, the Senate votes. Most bills must have simple majority to pass. At this point of development, the process is especially exemplary because the bill in the Senate is now considered by debate to better illustrate its strengths and/or weaknesses. To summarize, the bill has now been passed by both houses of congress.