00:00 -

00:00 - The league greatly appreciates

00:02 - Dr. Michelle de Mary Dr. Rolf

00:05 - Peterson of Susquehanna

00:07 - University and Amy for

00:10 - volunteering their expertise to

00:12 - help the league and the Daily

00:14 - Item with this series.

00:16 - The publicity and editorial

00:18 - support from the daily item has

00:20 - been invaluable in promoting

00:22 - these programs.

00:24 - Bill who is the managing editor

00:26 - of The Daily Item is here this

00:28 - evening representing the Daily

00:30 - Item and will say a few words.

00:33 - And then we will return.

00:35 - We will turn the event over to

00:37 - the moderator Stacey Richards

00:39 - who is the director. I'd like to

00:48 - thank everyone for turning out.

00:49 - These are very important events

00:51 - for the community and for us at

00:52 - the Daily Item and

00:59 - We're really proud to be a

01:00 - sponsor of this event.

01:02 - It's nice to see so many people

01:03 - out here again as Mary said this

01:05 - is a third of these key key

01:07 - events and they're very popular.

01:09 - I know we've had a couple of

01:10 - phone calls in our area just so

01:14 - maybe we've got a couple of

01:15 - phone calls in our office people

01:17 - asking what are these going to

01:18 - be on television after the first

01:19 - one aired.

01:20 - We are we filled the Lewisburg

01:21 - area high school old Lewisburg

01:23 - area high school auditorium and

01:25 - we've gotten some more phone

01:26 - calls so I'm glad to see PCN

01:27 - back as a partner this time as I

01:29 - said the deal that was really

01:30 - honored to be a partner with the

01:32 - League of Women Voters of

01:33 - Lewisburg area.

01:35 - It's very important to see all

01:37 - your people here to pass the

01:38 - word on there's one more coming

01:39 - up.

01:40 - So let's make sure we can get

01:40 - some more people out there this

01:41 - time.

01:42 - I'm going to get away from here

01:43 - and let the experts talk.

01:52 - We keep changing the mics around

01:53 - so hopefully let me know if you

01:55 - can't hear me.

01:56 -

01:58 - Thank you for joining us

01:59 - tonight.

02:00 - The objective of this program

02:02 - the evening is to provide either

02:08 - a primer or brush up on your

02:11 - knowledge of how our federal and

02:13 - state legislative and executive

02:16 - branches operate.

02:18 - And as we prepared for this we

02:20 - thought well we could also call

02:22 - it not operate.

02:25 - Our goal is to enable you to

02:26 - more confidently observe discuss

02:29 - and engage in our democracy on

02:31 - matters of importance to you as

02:36 - Bill said PCN is taping this

02:39 - town hall and the air the

02:41 - program on its TV channels

02:43 - tomorrow night Thursday morning

02:46 - and Saturday afternoon.

02:48 - If you would like the times I'm

02:49 - sure you can find them in the

02:51 - Daily Item tomorrow.

02:53 - In order to stay out of the

02:55 - camera's way and to provide some

02:57 - order to our question and answer

02:58 - session which will follow some

03:01 - our presentation we ask that you

03:03 - follow the league's tradition of

03:08 - filling out a postcard with your

03:10 - question and handing it off so

03:13 - that we don't get in the cameras

03:15 - ways the processes raise your

03:18 - hand if you want a postcard and

03:19 - a pencil.

03:20 - Once you finished your question

03:22 - raise your hand again or pass it

03:25 - to the edge of the room and

03:27 - they'll be picked up and we'll

03:29 - reserve them for Q&A.

03:33 - Now joining me tonight as Mary

03:36 - said is Amy who is a recently

03:40 - retired legal counsel with the

03:41 - Pennsylvania Department of

03:43 - Environmental Protection and two

03:45 - Susquehanna University

03:47 - professors that both teach

03:48 - political science.

03:50 - Dr. Michelle de Mary and Dr.

03:52 - Rolf Peterson.

03:54 - Michelle's going to set the

03:56 - table tonight and she will

03:58 - conclude her presentation with

04:00 - an overview of federalism.

04:02 - How are federal and state

04:04 - governments share governing

04:06 - responsibilities.

04:08 - Rolf is going to present the

04:09 - legislative process at both the

04:12 - federal and the state level.

04:15 - Amy is going to describe the

04:17 - organizational structure of our

04:19 - state and federal executive

04:20 - branch and provide some

04:21 - constitutional and practical

04:23 - powers of the presidency as well

04:25 - as provide some examples of

04:27 - interaction with the State

04:28 - Department.

04:30 - I will be bridging the gap

04:32 - between the legislative process

04:34 - and the executive branch process

04:36 - by explaining how legislation

04:40 - passes over to the executive

04:41 - branch for governing on a daily

04:43 - basis.

04:46 - Given our brevity tonight to

04:49 - both and to both provide the

04:52 - overview as well as the Q and A.

04:54 - Let's begin.

04:56 - Michelle you had the stage.

05:00 - I want to thank you for making

05:03 - this all possible.

05:04 - I get to talk about this stuff

05:06 - everyday with students but it's

05:08 - particularly a pleasure to bring

05:10 - it to a greater group of people

05:12 - people who have a little bit

05:13 - more experience with the

05:13 - political system perhaps.

05:16 - And they have a greater

05:16 - understanding of how important

05:18 - it is that we become engaged and

05:20 - involved in our political

05:21 - system.

05:22 - So many of you would probably

05:25 - not need to be reminded of this

05:26 - but this is an icebreaker

05:28 - sometimes used in classes

05:30 - because there are daily

05:31 - interactions that we have where

05:32 - we think the government is not

05:33 - the least bit involved.

05:35 - So we have here an interaction

05:37 - which I don't know about you but

05:38 - it's one that I engage in

05:39 - regularly purchasing coffee and

05:42 - we might look at this

05:43 - interaction and say there is no

05:45 - government involvement here.

05:46 - This is just two individuals one

05:48 - selling coffee and one

05:49 - purchasing coffee.

05:50 - Is that true?

05:51 - Is there any way that the

05:52 - government is involved in this

05:54 - situation.

05:56 - I like that too except when I

06:10 - see too many calories are in the

06:11 - food I like.

06:25 - Health and safety inspection.

06:26 - Without a doubt yes.

06:27 -

06:35 - So my 12 ounce cup of coffee

06:36 - really is 12 ounces of coffee.

06:38 - Yes.

06:40 - Yes.

06:42 - Sales tax is something we end up

06:43 - paying off.

06:44 - Yes the government gets its due.

06:52 - Labor labor regulations workers

06:54 - how much we have to pay them how

06:56 - long they can work health and

06:57 - safety issues.

07:04 - It's no longer legal to smoke in

07:06 - those kinds of establishments.

07:08 - Absolutely absolutely.

07:09 - The government has that may vary

07:11 - by state.

07:12 - But certainly Pennsylvania that

07:13 - is in fact the case.

07:14 - Absolutely yes.

07:18 - The government establishes the

07:19 - currency that we use to actually

07:21 - purchase the coffee.

07:22 - So there are obviously lots of

07:24 - ways even in a daily interaction

07:25 - that we don't think about where

07:26 - the government is intimately

07:27 - involved in our lives.

07:29 - So it's particularly important

07:30 - that we have an understanding of

07:31 - what it is that the government

07:32 - does and how we can have an

07:34 - impact on that whether it be to

07:36 - encourage them to enact certain

07:37 - kinds of public policies or to

07:38 - discourage them from enacting

07:40 - certain kinds of public policies

07:42 - or because there are certain

07:43 - programs and services that we

07:44 - think we're entitled to but we

07:46 - don't know where to go to get

07:47 - them.

07:47 - So this should help at least

07:49 - provide a little bit of a primer

07:50 - as Stacey said I'm going to set

07:53 - the framework for explaining why

07:54 - even though we get frustrated by

07:56 - them and even though we will

07:57 - sometimes complain about

07:58 - government we need them.

08:00 - They're inevitable if we're

08:01 - going to live together because

08:03 - conflict is inevitable when we

08:04 - join together in society.

08:07 - So whether we're talking about

08:08 - Lewisburg or whether we're

08:09 - talking about Pennsylvania the

08:11 - state of the United States

08:12 - whether we're talking about a

08:13 - country of the United States

08:14 - South Africa China France they

08:17 - all ultimately end up having a

08:19 - government for three reasons.

08:20 - I would argue a little kind of

08:22 - basic political philosophy first

08:25 - natural resources are scarce.

08:27 - We know what natural resources

08:29 - are we need them to live.

08:30 - We need food we need water we

08:32 - need energy we need supplies to

08:34 - make shelter.

08:34 - All of those are necessary.

08:36 - And if they were unlimited we

08:37 - wouldn't have a problem.

08:38 - We could live together and share

08:39 - fine but they are limited right.

08:42 - And so in order for us to figure

08:43 - out how we're going to share

08:45 - these limited resources without

08:46 - getting into conflict we need to

08:48 - create institutions and

08:49 - structures to help us to get

08:50 - there.

08:52 - Secondly principles and values

08:55 - can come into conflict.

08:56 - So even if you live in a

08:57 - constitutional democracy like

08:59 - the United States where we have

09:00 - a general understanding of the

09:02 - kind of things we may share in

09:03 - common what we think are

09:04 - important.

09:05 - The reality is that we put

09:07 - different weights on things.

09:09 - Right.

09:10 - So what we're concerned most

09:11 - about is security.

09:13 - Then you might be willing to pay

09:15 - the price in regard to certain

09:16 - kinds of liberties.

09:17 - On the other hand perhaps some

09:19 - people might say no I value my

09:21 - liberty too much and therefore

09:22 - I'm willing to pay a bit of a

09:24 - price in security.

09:25 - The problem is that we have to

09:27 - make these decisions

09:27 - collectively not just for what

09:29 - is good for me but decide

09:31 - collectively how we're going to

09:32 - do that.

09:32 - And that invariably puts us into

09:34 - some sort of conflict.

09:36 - The last thing that we need to

09:37 - remember is that we are self

09:39 - interested beings.

09:41 - I don't mean to say that we're

09:42 - all selfish human beings but the

09:44 - reality is when push comes to

09:45 - shove when conflict arises we

09:47 - have trouble getting outside of

09:49 - our own view outside of our own

09:51 - mental vision.

09:52 - Right.

09:52 - So I can see what's best for me.

09:54 - I can see what values and

09:55 - principles matter to me.

09:56 - That doesn't mean I can see and

09:58 - understand the ones that are

10:00 - important to you right.

10:02 - And when resources are scarce

10:04 - when values conflict.

10:06 - Push comes to shove and we have

10:08 - difficulty seeing outside of

10:09 - that.

10:10 - So if we have scarce resources

10:13 - conflicting values and want to

10:15 - live in some sort of an

10:16 - interconnected world with the

10:18 - reality that so often we are

10:19 - self interested beings we have

10:21 - to create certain structures or

10:22 - institutions that help us to

10:24 - manage this conflict.

10:25 - We call those structures

10:26 - government right and this is

10:28 - true of whatever government you

10:30 - have wherever you are in the

10:31 - world on a local state national

10:33 - level.

10:34 - We have certain roles and our

10:36 - expectations that we have a

10:37 - government regardless of the

10:38 - level right no matter where

10:40 - people live they have some

10:41 - minimal expectation that their

10:42 - government is going to provide

10:43 - them with safety and security.

10:46 - Even that by its very nature

10:47 - that was difficult because

10:48 - sometimes when you provide

10:50 - security for some people you may

10:51 - challenge the liberty of others.

10:53 - You may challenge other

10:54 - security.

10:55 - It's not so simple to provide

10:57 - right

11:03 - Ok.

11:05 - We asked our government to

11:06 - protect certain agreed upon

11:08 - rights and liberties and then

11:10 - even if we can come to an

11:11 - agreement on what those rights

11:12 - and liberties are that's much of

11:13 - what a political struggle is

11:14 - often about even when we do that

11:16 - though we have a challenge.

11:17 - As I mentioned earlier balancing

11:19 - those rights and liberties that

11:20 - conflict.

11:23 - If for instance if you want to

11:25 - have a right to freedom of the

11:27 - press which I'm sure the Daily

11:28 - Item is engaged in then you may

11:30 - ultimately challenge the right

11:32 - of somebody to have a fair and

11:33 - open trial because too much

11:34 - information in advance of a

11:35 - trial may actually make that

11:37 - trial less fair and balanced.

11:39 - And it's just one of many

11:40 - examples you could draw from to

11:42 - show where in fact our values

11:44 - even in a country where we share

11:45 - a lot of very similar values in

11:47 - comparison to perhaps other

11:48 - parts of the world.

11:51 - We expect their government to

11:52 - provide agreed upon goods and

11:53 - services and that's even if we

11:55 - can agree upon all the goods and

11:56 - services we expect the

11:58 - government to provide.

11:59 - That doesn't mean we're always

12:00 - going to agree on how those

12:01 - services should be provided.

12:02 - And perhaps the most recent

12:04 - example we have of that is

12:05 - debates over healthcare.

12:06 - Right.

12:07 - There's probably some broad

12:08 - understanding that all persons

12:09 - should be able to access

12:10 - healthcare.

12:11 - We are certainly having

12:12 - difficulty coming to some sort

12:14 - of a conclusion about how that

12:15 - should best be delivered in the

12:16 - United States.

12:19 - So this is true about all

12:21 - governments in the United

12:22 - States.

12:23 - We also create a specific set of

12:25 - structures to help us manage the

12:27 - conflicts that are inevitable

12:28 - and there are two broad

12:30 - frameworks I think that we need

12:31 - to understand for understanding

12:33 - American government.

12:34 - One is that we have a system of

12:36 - separation of powers with checks

12:38 - and balances.

12:38 - Something we probably all

12:40 - learned about in fourth grade

12:41 - and maybe haven't thought about

12:42 - since. And it is the way we

12:46 - allocate certain levels of

12:47 - certain powers to certain

12:49 - certain branches of the

12:49 - government.

12:50 - And then we also include a Bill

12:51 - of Rights which say that just

12:53 - because we're going to give the

12:54 - federal government some power

12:55 - there are certain things we

12:56 - don't want them to do at all.

12:58 - So the bill of rights a right to

12:59 - free speech free press freedom

13:00 - of religion etc. Are those

13:02 - things where we want the

13:03 - government to stay out of our

13:04 - lives.

13:04 - That's kind of the overall

13:05 - structure and we have a

13:07 - structure like that at the

13:08 - federal level and state level

13:10 - right.

13:10 - So there's a separation of

13:11 - powers with three branches on

13:12 - both the federal level and state

13:13 - level.

13:14 - The other structure that we have

13:16 - is one that is called

13:18 - federalism.

13:19 - So we have we have some powers

13:22 - that are held by the federal

13:23 - government and some powers that

13:24 - are held by the state

13:25 - government.

13:25 - And I will talk more about

13:27 - federalism towards the end of

13:28 - the presentation so we'll let

13:29 - that one go.

13:29 - For now the separation of powers

13:32 - there will be a talk about the

13:34 - judicial branch on November 14

13:36 - 15 sorry here in the same room

13:39 - so we're not going to talk about

13:40 - that as much tonight.

13:41 - We are going to talk about the

13:42 - legislative branch and the

13:43 - executive branch the legislative

13:44 - branch of course being the

13:45 - branch that makes laws the

13:47 - executive branch being the

13:48 - branch that carries out the laws

13:50 - and the judiciary being the

13:51 - branch that interprets and

13:52 - applies the laws to individual

13:53 - conflicts and with that I will

13:55 - turn this over to Rob Petersen

13:57 - who is going to talk to you more

13:58 - about the legislative branch.

14:16 - Ok thank you for inviting me

14:19 - here tonight.

14:21 - I'm teaching class right now on

14:22 - Congress on the legislative

14:24 - branch.

14:25 - I have twenty five eager

14:27 - undergraduate students some of

14:28 - them optimistic some of them

14:30 - very cynical.

14:31 - Many of them gave me feedback on

14:33 - what I should talk about and

14:39 - some of it was very positive.

14:40 - It was very positive but I also

14:42 - think it's important to look at

14:44 - the three branches of government

14:46 - as well because there's always a

14:49 - challenge.

14:50 - I think when I was invited to do

14:51 - this I talk a lot and my public

14:53 - opinion classes about political

14:56 - knowledge and about what people

14:58 - know about politics and why it

15:00 - matters and there's always one

15:02 - interesting statistic that you

15:04 - notice on surveys and that is

15:07 - that roughly one and only

15:09 - roughly one in three Americans

15:11 - can name the three branches of

15:13 - government.

15:14 - And in fact in a recent

15:15 - Annenberg from the University of

15:17 - Pennsylvania study a national

15:19 - sample only 26 per cent of

15:22 - respondents could name these

15:24 - three branches of government.

15:26 - So it is a worthy endeavor to

15:29 - push forward for civic knowledge

15:31 - and information.

15:33 - Other findings also were less

15:35 - positive.

15:36 - Thirty seven per cent of

15:37 - respondents could not name a

15:39 - single protection of the First

15:42 - Amendment of the United States

15:43 - Constitution.

15:44 - And so civic knowledge is

15:46 - important and I'm very thankful

15:48 - and happy to be here.

15:49 - So my task tonight is to talk

15:51 - about the legislative branch and

15:54 - to do that in roughly 10

15:56 - minutes.

15:59 - I will do essentially a good

16:04 - intro discussion of it.

16:05 - I'm happy in the question and

16:07 - answer or after the talk to talk

16:09 - to anybody about more advanced

16:11 - or current topics of American

16:13 - politics in the car and

16:14 - Congress.

16:15 - Michelle and I have been

16:16 - watching the redistricting

16:18 - Supreme Court case very closely.

16:20 - But for this I want to talk

16:22 - about some of the Intra intro

16:25 - aspects of the constitutional

16:27 - system and how it affects

16:30 - American politics and the

16:32 - legislative branch.

16:33 - So in a basic way the

16:34 - legislature as we say they make

16:37 - laws they're there to create the

16:39 - laws that govern society.

16:41 - That is the point of a

16:43 - legislature.

16:44 - In our system which is not like

16:47 - us there are systems were

16:48 - designed in many ways 230 years

16:50 - ago and they were designed in

16:53 - ways that other countries have

16:54 - sometimes followed us and

16:56 - sometimes diverged.

16:57 - But one of the most important

16:58 - things to know about our

17:01 - legislature is that the Congress

17:03 - is bicameral which is a way to

17:06 - say that there are two houses of

17:08 - Congress.

17:09 - Now this was built into the

17:10 - system to satisfy the framing of

17:12 - the Constitution a House of

17:14 - Representatives based on

17:15 - population and a Senate based on

17:19 - states.

17:20 - Now crucial to this bicameral

17:21 - system is that proposed laws

17:24 - must go through both.

17:25 - So bills have to make it through

17:27 - both houses.

17:29 - Or they do not make it at all.

17:32 - And so oftentimes this is the

17:34 - case because we have two very

17:37 - different systems.

17:38 - There's internal variation in

17:40 - the institution and they differ

17:43 - on various things.

17:44 - One of the things that's not up

17:45 - there is election.

17:47 - Remember that the Senate was

17:49 - initially not elected until 1913

17:52 - and the 17th Amendment.

17:54 - And we're getting a lot of

17:56 - feedback a little.

17:59 - So I switched in the mobile mic

18:00 - know now switch let's switch

18:03 - here.

18:07 - So this is the House and the

18:11 - Senate behave differently they

18:13 - have different goals and they

18:14 - have different motives and goals

18:16 - and areas of control because of

18:19 - these differences the two year

18:21 - term versus the six year term.

18:22 - House members have to move

18:23 - quickly.

18:24 - The house moves quickly and

18:26 - re-election is always on the

18:27 - horizon.

18:28 - The Senate six years.

18:30 - Their constituencies are

18:31 - different.

18:32 - You have a congressional

18:33 - district one individual area

18:35 - where a House member is

18:36 - responsible for a single member

18:38 - district.

18:39 - And those can vary dramatically

18:42 - across the country and across

18:43 - states as well.

18:45 - And the size is different.

18:47 - The House of Representatives has

18:48 - 435 members.

18:50 - The Senate has 102 per state.

18:52 - And that makes the house

18:53 - difficult to control and it also

18:55 - means that there are some ways

18:56 - less likely to work together.

19:00 - We have sort of mirroring system

19:02 - but these are congressional

19:03 - districts.

19:07 - Right now we are District 10.

19:09 - Tom Reno's district which you

19:10 - can see stretches.

19:12 - I'm trying to make sure I got

19:13 - the right the red light

19:15 - stretches from the northeast of

19:17 - the state all the way down to

19:19 - Junieatta and catches us right

19:21 - there.

19:21 - So we're represented by Tom Reno

19:23 - in the House of Representatives

19:26 - the district as you can see why

19:30 - people are interested in talking

19:31 - about how districts are drawn

19:32 - and you see some of these

19:33 - districts that well look at our

19:35 - state district as well and the

19:37 - state Senate district in

19:38 - particular looks very

19:39 - interesting.

19:39 - But that's his area if you live

19:41 - in Union County you're a member

19:42 - of the House of Representatives.

19:44 - Tom Marino and that's where you

19:46 - go for representation and the

19:48 - P.A. at the state level.

19:50 - We have 203 state districts all

19:53 - single member districts and

19:54 - Senate districts as well with 50

19:57 - are state districts look like

19:59 - well they're drawn by the state

20:00 - legislature as well.

20:01 - We are in the middle of the map

20:03 - in this era claw of a district

20:06 - represented by Fred Keller

20:08 - district 85 which which grabs us

20:13 - here and then comes down and

20:14 - grabs Yealands Grove as well.

20:16 - Our state Senate district is 23

20:19 - represented by Gene Yaw.

20:22 - As I was looking at this earlier

20:23 - I think this is one of the more

20:24 - interesting shapes of the state

20:27 - Senate districts.

20:28 - I will let you draw your own

20:29 - conclusions to what our district

20:32 - looks like.

20:34 - But if you live in this district

20:36 - Gene Yaw is your link to

20:38 - Harrisburg to state

20:39 - representation.

20:41 - Ok.

20:43 - And how does the Constitution

20:45 - shape the way Congress operates

20:47 - and the way Congress works.

20:48 - Well one we have a bill of

20:50 - rights now we generally think of

20:51 - a bill of rights as the Express

20:53 - liberties that we hold as

20:54 - citizens.

20:55 - But it's important to remember

20:56 - that the Bill of Rights is put

20:57 - in place in many ways to

20:58 - constrain Congress.

21:00 - The First Amendment the United

21:01 - States Constitution begins

21:04 - Congress shall make no law that

21:07 - it restricts what Congress can

21:09 - do.

21:09 - The type of bills they can pass

21:12 - they're also obviously limited

21:13 - by the separation of powers

21:15 - system.

21:16 - We'll talk about this near the

21:17 - end the way this was planned.

21:20 - The executive branch and the

21:21 - judicial branch limit their

21:22 - powers and they're limited by

21:25 - their own makeup.

21:27 - The house if you have 435 people

21:30 - representing 435 different areas

21:33 - of the country how do we get

21:34 - them to come together to pass

21:36 - national legislation.

21:38 - And that's difficult.

21:39 - That's a collective action

21:40 - problem.

21:41 - Now the way we generally try to

21:43 - do it is with partisanship and

21:45 - parties.

21:46 - And so one of the other key

21:47 - elements to think about with

21:48 - Congress is that it is a

21:50 - partisan institution and the

21:53 - majority party controls

21:54 - outcomes.

21:55 - And so this is Paul Ryan he's

21:57 - the speaker of the House the

21:58 - leader of the majority party and

22:01 - he has a tremendous amount of

22:02 - power in terms of controlling

22:04 - legislation and the legislation

22:06 - that makes it through the House

22:07 - of Representatives.

22:08 - His counterpart in the Senate is

22:10 - Mitch McConnell the senator from

22:12 - Kentucky.

22:12 - He has less power in the Senate

22:14 - only having 100 has more

22:16 - tradition of allowing senators

22:18 - to have more leeway more

22:20 - activity more power in their

22:22 - choice as the house is generally

22:24 - more controlled.

22:25 - And so it's a partisan

22:26 - institutions will sort of keep

22:27 - that in mind as we move forward.

22:30 - So thinking about this how a

22:32 - bill becomes a law.

22:32 - Now obviously you can't read a

22:34 - lot of the fine print in your

22:37 - handouts that you were given

22:38 - tonight.

22:38 - There is a diagram of this Web

22:41 - site called Vote ocracy.

22:43 - And what I like about it is that

22:46 - it looks a little bit like a

22:47 - game board and it looks like him

22:50 - Monopoly game or sorry maybe.

22:53 - And what that means is possibly

22:57 - the analogy here is that almost

23:00 - any place on this game board

23:01 - your bill could be stopped.

23:03 - It could die in committee for

23:05 - example.

23:07 - Now the process of this is

23:08 - fairly straightforward but we're

23:10 - going to add some elements to

23:11 - it.

23:12 - Some emphasis points to take

23:13 - home.

23:14 - But it is very close to the old

23:16 - school house rock video.

23:17 - I'm just a bill.

23:19 - If you watch that and I show it

23:21 - to my students it gets the

23:23 - formula.

23:23 - The system of it but there's a

23:25 - couple of things to notice.

23:26 - The bill is introduced in the

23:27 - House or the Senate.

23:29 - It goes to a committee with

23:31 - specialized legislators who look

23:33 - at markup all to the bill.

23:35 - It then goes to the floor of the

23:37 - House or the Senate.

23:39 - Once passed it once passed with

23:40 - a majority vote 218 votes of 435

23:44 - in the House of Representatives.

23:46 - It then waits to go forward for

23:49 - the Senate to act or the House

23:51 - to act and what you notice here

23:52 - parallel.

23:54 - It's a parallel process.

23:56 - These are independent bicameral

23:58 - system means that you have to go

24:00 - through the House and the

24:01 - Senate.

24:02 - And sometimes these bills can be

24:03 - dramatically different.

24:04 - They can be worked on by very

24:05 - different representatives and

24:07 - they can be by very different

24:09 - committees try to not talk with

24:11 - my hands so much.

24:14 - And so what happens is when it

24:16 - is passed both the House and the

24:18 - Senate they come together and

24:20 - have a conference committee and

24:21 - they iron out their differences

24:23 - before it goes to the president

24:25 - of the United States to either

24:26 - sign or veto.

24:29 - And I think one thing to

24:30 - recognize here is there are many

24:31 - pitfalls where the bill could be

24:33 - told to basically go back to go

24:36 - or go to jail.

24:38 - Most bills die in committee that

24:40 - is of the thousands of bills

24:42 - that are submitted.

24:43 - Committees generally block many

24:45 - of them but it can be changed in

24:47 - any part of the way and fail in

24:49 - any part of the way and many

24:51 - times many times throughout

24:53 - history bills and amendments

24:55 - have passed through the House of

24:57 - Representatives only for the

24:58 - Senate to not even take them up

25:00 - or to allow them to die.

25:02 - So for example amendments have

25:04 - made it through the House to end

25:06 - the electoral college they have

25:08 - died in the Senate.

25:10 - The 19th Amendment the right to

25:12 - win for a vote passed in 1920

25:14 - was in this for seven years

25:16 - before they acted on it.

25:19 - So it's slow and it is also very

25:22 - partisan which means that on

25:23 - that committee the speaker of

25:26 - the House decides which

25:28 - committee gets the bill.

25:29 - And on that committee the

25:30 - majority party has the majority

25:32 - members of the committee.

25:33 - And on the floor the majority

25:35 - party has the majority votes.

25:37 - So whoever the majority party is

25:39 - in the House or the Senate.

25:41 - Their legislation is what's

25:42 - going to move forward.

25:44 - But it is complex and it is

25:46 - messy.

25:47 - And that's the textbook version

25:50 - before you bring in all of the

25:53 - interest groups all the

25:54 - lobbyists all the media all the

25:57 - outside forces right.

25:58 - All the money before that is

26:01 - even brought up because you have

26:03 - other actors as well that

26:05 - influence this process at every

26:07 - stage.

26:08 - The introduction the marking up

26:10 - the voting and certainly

26:12 - constituent pressure matters.

26:14 - Citizens matter on the behavior

26:16 - of their representatives.

26:18 - And I think that was present

26:19 - during the summer during the

26:20 - health care bill discussion the

26:22 - ability of people the

26:24 - willingness to call the

26:25 - willingness to go to Washington

26:26 - the willingness to put pressure

26:27 - on on representatives I think

26:29 - does matter quite a bit in how a

26:31 - bill becomes a law.

26:33 - Well I want to end on a couple

26:34 - points to think about.

26:35 - More big picture things and that

26:38 - is there are barriers for

26:39 - majority rule in American

26:41 - politics oftentimes that don't

26:43 - exist in other countries.

26:45 - The fragmented powers of the

26:47 - separation of powers system is

26:48 - by design.

26:50 - It's how James Madison the

26:52 - framers shaped the system.

26:53 - But it was a system that was

26:54 - designed to limit majority rule.

26:58 - It was a system that was

26:59 - designed to make things grow

27:01 - slowly.

27:02 - There are specific factors as

27:03 - well the filibuster in the

27:04 - Senate means that essentially

27:07 - you need 60 votes generally in

27:08 - the Senate to pass things.

27:10 - And certainly this basic

27:12 - question of having 435 different

27:14 - House members from different

27:16 - single member districts with

27:18 - different voters is just very

27:20 - hard to bring this group

27:22 - together.

27:23 - And finally it's worth noting

27:25 - that even when you have what we

27:27 - would call a unified government

27:29 - which is what we're watching now

27:31 - where you have a Republican

27:33 - House Senate and president it

27:36 - still can be very difficult to

27:38 - get things passed and done in a

27:40 - democratic system.

27:41 - You hear oftentimes citizens

27:44 - people have dinner tables at

27:46 - Thanksgiving with relatives that

27:48 - Congress doesn't do the thing

27:49 - that Congress isn't active that

27:51 - things move too slow.

27:52 - That is essentially how the

27:54 - system was designed.

27:56 - It's how it was built.

27:58 - Thank you.

27:58 - And I'm going on to the

28:00 - executive branch and Amy and

28:03 - Stacey thank you.

28:07 - As I said in my introduction I'm

28:18 - going to take from the

28:19 - legislative to the executive

28:21 - branch and I'm going to do it by

28:23 - working through how the law

28:25 - actually is used by the

28:27 - executive branch to govern on a

28:30 - daily basis.

28:34 - As Rolphe mentioned once the

28:36 - House and the Senate have both

28:38 - approved a bill it goes to the

28:40 - president and he has 10 days to

28:42 - take action or not take action.

28:45 - If he likes the legislation

28:46 - he'll sign the bill if he

28:48 - doesn't like the legislation

28:50 - he'll send it back to Congress

28:52 - and they could override the

28:55 - veto.

28:56 - If they had two thirds votes in

28:59 - both the House and the Senate.

29:01 - So it's usually not done a veto

29:03 - usually stops a bill at least

29:05 - for that legislative session.

29:07 - And then he also or she also

29:10 - could not do anything at all and

29:13 - after the 10 days pass if no

29:15 - action is taken if the

29:16 - legislation is not sent back to

29:18 - Congress the measure

29:21 - automatically becomes law now I

29:26 - think it's a very messy process

29:27 - just like the legislative

29:28 - process or at least that's my

29:30 - experience that turning a law

29:33 - into regulation is fraught with

29:36 - all sorts of different perils

29:38 - but usually by the time it

29:40 - becomes a law it has not

29:42 - stopped.

29:43 - But it can run into a lot of

29:44 - barriers and permutations along

29:46 - the way for many of the reasons

29:48 - that Rolphe mentioned and I

29:50 - would say particularly the

29:52 - special interests that play in

29:55 - the legislative and governance

29:56 - of our country.

29:58 - So it goes from the White House

30:00 - and it is assigned to the main

30:02 - agency or agencies who will

30:05 - write the draft regulations and

30:08 - play a large role in the

30:09 - governing of that new law.

30:16 - Otto Van Buskirk is famous for

30:17 - saying that legislation is like

30:20 - watching sausage being made.

30:22 - You don't want to watch it.

30:25 - So how is this made.

30:27 - How sausage made edible.

30:29 - And I don't expect you to read

30:30 - the script on the slide.

30:32 - But that's just an example of

30:35 - legislative language and in

30:38 - general it's designed to be

30:41 - rather vague because it's very

30:43 - difficult to reach compromise on

30:46 - details.

30:48 - And so the legislation itself

30:50 - can be full of all sorts of

30:52 - flowery language but it needs to

30:54 - be interpreted by the agencies

30:58 - to be able to then turn it into

31:00 - governance.

31:01 - So the secret's in the sauce.

31:04 - And in other words that's in the

31:05 - process.

31:06 - But Rolphe had described that

31:08 - very cumbersome process of the

31:10 - subcommittees in the committees.

31:13 - And then once it goes through

31:15 - committee it gets to the House

31:16 - floor.

31:17 - All along the way is a paper

31:19 - trail sort of a blueprint of

31:22 - what the intentions and I say

31:25 - that in plural of the

31:26 - legislators are.

31:28 - And I don't mean to overrate

31:31 - this but it is a very important

31:33 - part of the process.

31:34 - It's the blueprint by which

31:36 - constitutionally the agencies

31:39 - have statutory authority to do

31:43 - or not do certain things as they

31:45 - go.

31:47 - Well that said so here we have

31:49 - the top slide is just a general

31:51 - congressional committee meeting

31:53 - potentially a markup and then

31:56 - once they markup a bill if they

31:58 - work up a bill and move it out

32:00 - of committee to go to the House

32:02 - or Senate floor they have a

32:04 - conference report that goes

32:05 - along with it which is

32:07 - essentially a narrative of their

32:09 - intent or at least the general

32:11 - narrative of intent of the major

32:13 - pieces of the legislation that

32:16 - they're passing on as Rolfe said

32:19 - when the Senate and the House

32:20 - meet to reconcile two different

32:22 - versions of essentially the same

32:24 - bill a conference report is

32:27 - prepared that then talks about

32:29 - what the compromises what's the

32:31 - compromises were reached with

32:33 - the intent sort of that law is.

32:37 - I go back to Rolphe's fabulous

32:43 - example of this and really it

32:44 - can stop it either way but when

32:47 - you read this more closely

32:48 - you'll see that about right here

32:51 - it talks about how report it's

32:53 - reported out and then up here if

32:56 - the conference from the Senate

32:59 - the House get together always a

33:00 - committee.

33:01 - That's where that that

33:03 - conference report will be

33:04 - generated.

33:07 - So if you don't have that

33:09 - blueprint that process of that

33:13 - sausage being made then you get

33:18 - this instead of that's at least

33:22 - a framework or a blueprint to

33:24 - send over to the executive

33:26 - branch.

33:27 - In other words you have a vacuum

33:29 - of information.

33:31 - Well what I did OK sorry about

33:38 - that.

33:39 - And power loves a vacuum.

33:41 - So it is a wonderful opportunity

33:44 - again for when there's not

33:46 - clarity for the special

33:48 - interests and as well as agency

33:53 - or presidential intent to

33:57 - themselves shape that because

34:00 - they were handed this there's a

34:03 - public process for when a law

34:06 - and not many we know how many.

34:08 - It's not very often that a law

34:09 - gets passed and then gets signed

34:11 - and then moves over to the to

34:13 - the agencies.

34:15 - But there is a formal process

34:17 - and there's an opportunity for

34:19 - sort of an opportunity for

34:21 - public comment from citizens.

34:24 - But what happens is that the

34:27 - agency assigned to draft the

34:30 - regulations the rules of the

34:32 - road put out a formal notice of

34:37 - proposed rule.

34:39 - And at the federal level in the

34:41 - Federal Register and at the

34:43 - state level and the Pennsylvania

34:45 - code both of these publications

34:47 - are published five times a week

34:50 - I learned when I was in

34:51 - Washington that if you first

34:53 - learned about it and when you

34:55 - read it in the Federal Register

34:56 - it was way too late to do

34:58 - anything about it.

35:00 - But there are formal process for

35:03 - engagement.

35:04 - Usually that notice of proposed

35:07 - rulemaking which is the formal

35:08 - document that's put out to the

35:11 - public is the public is given

35:14 - about two months to six months

35:17 - to comment and the comments are

35:19 - always written comments and

35:21 - generally speaking it's a

35:22 - special interests who are

35:24 - gathered in Washington or other

35:25 - places that very much write

35:28 - comments about what this

35:30 - legislation how it will be used

35:33 - to govern.

35:35 - I found that my job was never

35:36 - done just through the

35:38 - legislative process.

35:40 - I always took it through the the

35:43 - the regulatory process to make

35:46 - sure that the intent were at

35:47 - least my interpretation of the

35:49 - intent of the law did carry

35:51 - through.

35:52 - So then a final rule is

35:54 - published.

35:54 - And again it's a little bit

35:56 - generic but usually citizens

35:59 - don't comment.

36:00 - But you can generally speaking a

36:03 - citizens place to make the

36:05 - biggest difference is certainly

36:06 - not after all laws passed but

36:09 - always at the beginning of the

36:11 - legislative process or during

36:12 - the legislative process as

36:14 - Rolphe said those calls matter.

36:18 - Something I didn't talk about

36:20 - and I'm not going to cover

36:21 - because it's not covered by this

36:23 - formal public review before

36:26 - there is a final rule that has

36:28 - produced.

36:29 - And that's the executive order

36:31 - and I'm hoping that when we get

36:32 - into questions and answers.

36:34 - You have some questions about

36:36 - the executive orders and

36:37 - executive memorandums and how

36:39 - those play out because they've

36:41 - been very important in this past

36:42 - year as we've transitioned from

36:44 - one president to another.

36:48 - Now Amy is going to spend more

36:51 - time on the executive branch and

36:54 - then we'll conclude the

36:55 - presentation with Michelle

36:57 - talking about federalism which

36:59 - is often not talked about but I

37:00 - think it's one of the most

37:01 - important pieces of our let our

37:04 - government process so, Amy.

37:23 - I want to also thank the league

37:25 - for the opportunity to

37:26 - participate.

37:28 - And I think I'd like to take a

37:30 - minute and thank my other panel

37:31 - members we got together a couple

37:33 - of times before tonight to go

37:36 - through these areas and to

37:39 - practice and critique each

37:41 - other.

37:41 - And I really learned a lot from

37:44 - them and I'm really grateful for

37:45 - that experience so I do want to

37:48 - take a minute and thank them as

37:50 - well.

37:52 - Like Ralph said or Stacey said I

37:55 - think Civic's is really

37:56 - important.

37:57 - And that's really why I'm here.

37:59 - The statistics he recited were

38:02 - really kind of sad.

38:05 - I could go and give more of a

38:06 - personal opinion on that but I

38:08 - think it's just really

38:09 - unfortunate.

38:10 - So I'm really grateful for this

38:12 - opportunity to talk about these

38:13 - issues.

38:14 - So what I'm going to talk about

38:18 - is the summary of the branches

38:22 - you know the executive

38:23 - legislative and judicial the

38:26 - executive branch and there's

38:28 - some charts and there were some

38:29 - handouts that were given to you

38:30 - and we're going to take a minute

38:31 - and look at some of those

38:33 - executive departments the limits

38:37 - on executive power.

38:39 - Can you challenge the actions of

38:41 - an executive agency.

38:45 - And then we're going to move

38:47 - from as has been alluded to

38:50 - already we're going to talk

38:51 - about federalism.

38:56 - So again the legislative branch

38:59 - and this is like basic I know

39:01 - but the legislative branch makes

39:04 - the law legislates the law the

39:07 - judicial branch makes sure the

39:09 - laws are followed.

39:10 - They're the ones who judge the

39:11 - law there.

39:12 - When somebody carries something

39:14 - out is it being interpreted

39:16 - properly.

39:17 - And if you don't like it you can

39:18 - go go to court or in the

39:21 - administrative process you can

39:23 - go in front of an administrative

39:24 - judge the executive branch is

39:27 - the one that implements and

39:28 - enforces the law.

39:30 - And what I have here is some

39:32 - just examples of the some

39:36 - executive agencies the U.S.

39:39 - Forest Service the Department of

39:40 - Education in the area Agency on

39:43 - Aging.

39:45 - One thing is that the executive

39:48 - branch executes the laws and the

39:52 - statute will provide the basic

39:55 - background or the basic

39:57 - parameters of what the law

39:59 - allows.

40:00 - As Stacey mentioned the statute

40:03 - has to be has to cover like a

40:06 - lot of areas so they do tend to

40:08 - be vague and subject to

40:09 - interpretation.

40:11 - In the administrative process

40:15 - the purpose of regulations is to

40:17 - provide more of a roadmap for

40:19 - your particular issue and to

40:21 - make it mean more specific

40:25 - events.

40:27 - So you have a chart of the

40:30 - government which is you can't

40:33 - read here but it's your blue

40:36 - paper and here what I want to

40:38 - point out again is the

40:40 - constitution allows for these

40:42 - three branches.

40:43 - Right.

40:44 - So the constitution says we have

40:46 - these three branches of

40:47 - government up here.

40:49 - That's the judicial branch that

40:50 - one box up there to your right

40:55 - to your left.

40:56 - That's the legislative branch.

40:58 - The rest of this thing is the

41:03 - executive branch.

41:04 - So you have the president vice

41:08 - president Office of National

41:10 - Drug Policy here saw the

41:12 - departments in the cabinet.

41:14 - There's 16 of them I believe

41:16 - like veterans affairs Treasury

41:19 - Transportation and then here are

41:21 - things like the Peace Corps

41:25 - Postal Regulation Commission.

41:27 - So there is a lot of stuff in

41:30 - the executive branch.

41:31 - This is where all of that is

41:34 - held.

41:35 - And and and governed.

41:39 - So they all fall under the

41:43 - president really.

41:46 - It's huge and it covers a wide

41:48 - array of areas we were given a

41:52 - list of links and this one I

41:55 - believe is fourth from the

41:56 - bottom on the page with the

41:58 - links for the United States.

42:02 - And this is a link for finding

42:04 - out who you can contact and how

42:06 - you can get information from

42:08 - different government agencies

42:10 - and government related programs

42:12 - through this link.

42:15 - You'll find other links but you

42:16 - can find out how to contact your

42:18 - elected officials how their

42:20 - governments are organized and

42:21 - the agency you would want to

42:23 - contact can help you similarly

42:26 - to the federal system.

42:28 - This is specific to

42:29 - Pennsylvania.

42:30 - This is on the flip side of your

42:32 - blue sheet.

42:33 - And if you look at the top this

42:37 - is it says the electorate

42:40 - interestingly again the judicial

42:42 - branch to your right.

42:45 - And in Pennsylvania there's four

42:47 - courts what you will learn all

42:50 - about on November the 15th if

42:51 - you come back.

42:52 - Right.

42:53 - And on the left is the

42:55 - legislative branch.

42:56 - Two boxes the House and the

42:58 - Senate.

42:59 - And then there you go.

43:00 - That's the executive and in this

43:03 - case these are the offices that

43:05 - they run the day to day business

43:07 - of the state and make sure the

43:09 - state's laws are put into

43:10 - effect.

43:12 - Most people are hired but some

43:15 - are elected elected executives

43:18 - the governor the lieutenant

43:19 - governor the attorney general

43:21 - the state treasurer and the

43:23 - auditor general.

43:25 - And the head of each state

43:27 - agency and here's our agencies

43:29 - and here's labor and industry.

43:32 - I mean I'm you can read it

43:34 - there.

43:35 - The one that I worked at was

43:38 - Department of Environmental

43:40 - Protection.

43:40 - There is conservation of natural

43:42 - resources department of health.

43:46 - The head of each state agency is

43:48 - nominated by the governor and

43:50 - then confirmed by the Senate.

43:56 - Here's again you have a link a

43:59 - list of links for Pennsylvania

44:01 - agencies.

44:03 - One thing to keep in mind it

44:05 - gets again confusing but there's

44:07 - federal state and local and I

44:10 - believe there was a presentation

44:12 - previously on local.

44:14 - So here's the thing if you're

44:16 - looking at this and you're

44:17 - thinking I don't know who to

44:18 - call.

44:19 - I have an issue and I don't know

44:20 - who to call.

44:21 - Then I would say call your

44:22 - representative.

44:23 - And if there's a representative

44:24 - in the room they may not be

44:25 - happy.

44:26 - But I would say call your

44:27 - representative and if you're at

44:30 - the wrong office they'll tell

44:32 - you.

44:33 - We used to get calls like E.P.

44:35 - for issues that we would maybe

44:37 - refer over to DCNR our

44:39 - conservation natural resources

44:41 - or we would prefer over to the

44:42 - Department of Health or

44:43 - something like that.

44:44 - So they're they're pretty

44:46 - specific as to what you can do.

44:50 - I think we kind of covered this

44:52 - but they're responsible for day

44:53 - to day enforcement and they're

44:55 - created to deal with specific

44:56 - areas of national and

44:58 - international affairs.

45:01 - I just have these out as

45:03 - examples.

45:03 - It's like Housing and Urban

45:05 - Development.

45:06 - The middle one is that

45:07 - Department of the Treasury and

45:08 - this one is something we're all

45:09 - seeing a lot of which is FEMA.

45:12 - These are all under the

45:13 - executive branch.

45:16 - Again I think this is pretty

45:18 - common knowledge.

45:19 - The head of the departments are

45:20 - chosen by the president approved

45:22 - by the Senate and the cabinet.

45:27 - One fact that I learned doing

45:29 - this is I mean I learned a lot

45:32 - of facts.

45:33 - But one thing I did learn was

45:34 - that there's nothing in the

45:36 - Constitution that talks about a

45:38 - cabinet.

45:38 - Well here's what happened even

45:41 - when George Washington was

45:43 - president.

45:44 - And so he was the first of

45:46 - course he couldn't do his duties

45:49 - without the advice without

45:50 - advice and assistance.

45:52 - So that's kind of how these

45:55 - different agencies have come

45:57 - about.

45:58 - As things get more complicated

46:01 - there's a new agency or a new

46:04 - commission or something created.

46:07 - As you all know some presidents

46:10 - rely heavily on their cabinets

46:11 - for advice.

46:12 - Others not so much.

46:14 - And the cabinet members are

46:15 - responsible for directing the

46:17 - activities of government in

46:19 - their specific areas.

46:24 - To analogize president is the

46:27 - captain of the ship and he can't

46:29 - run that ship without everybody

46:31 - else you know without the people

46:34 - who are down here making sure

46:37 - things are OK.

46:44 - Just because the executive

46:46 - departments for the state.

46:47 - Very similar to the Federal in

46:49 - practice in Pennsylvania and

46:54 - again there's regulations to

46:55 - enforce how the law is the the

46:59 - laws that are written and

47:02 - sometimes there's overlap

47:05 - between the state and the feds

47:06 - and that's something that

47:07 - Michelle will be discussing.

47:09 - And again just some state

47:10 - agencies unemployment DCNR you

47:14 - like the hike.

47:16 - Department of Agriculture and

47:20 - the Game Commission which I

47:21 - could not not include because

47:23 - I'm in a hunting family.

47:28 - There's constitutional limits on

47:29 - presidential power.

47:32 - And in the beginnings Stacey had

47:34 - a slide with about veto power.

47:37 - So Congress can override the

47:39 - vetoes.

47:40 - Congress can limit budgets to

47:41 - certain programs.

47:43 - Congress can impeach the

47:44 - president.

47:46 - Congress has to approve treaties

47:48 - with foreign nations.

47:50 - And also if the president wants

47:51 - to declare war and Congress has

47:54 - to approve who's on the Supreme

47:57 - Court you know we've all heard

47:58 - the words advise and consent

48:02 - there's practical limits.

48:03 - I think I mentioned this but or

48:07 - alluded to it.

48:09 - The president the machinery of

48:11 - government really operates

48:12 - pretty much outside of the

48:14 - president or outside of the

48:16 - executive.

48:17 - And what I mean by that is

48:18 - because there's people who are

48:22 - who are like employees of the

48:25 - federal government.

48:26 - And so even though there's

48:28 - administration changes the law

48:31 - and the regs stays the same.

48:32 - Now what might be prioritized

48:35 - and what might be emphasized or

48:38 - what might they might say well

48:39 - we're going to use prosecutorial

48:41 - discretion here we're not going

48:42 - to deal with this particular

48:44 - issue that can change but the

48:46 - law itself has not changed the

48:48 - law stay the same.

48:49 - So there's a lot of people who

48:55 - who are protected by civil

48:57 - service.

49:00 - I want to end this with saying

49:03 - well we talked about how an

49:05 - agency can enforce the law.

49:07 - And what happens if you want to

49:09 - challenge having agencies

49:11 - enforce the law against you.

49:12 - Each state agency has an

49:14 - internal process and for an

49:16 - example you let's say you're out

49:20 - off of work and you apply for

49:22 - unemployment benefits and you're

49:23 - thinking I deserve these

49:25 - benefits and then what happens

49:27 - is the agency says no your

49:29 - application is denied.

49:31 - You are not entitled to these

49:32 - benefits.

49:34 - Agencies have their own mini

49:37 - governments you can file an

49:39 - appeal to an administrative law

49:41 - judge and an administrative law

49:43 - judge even though it's employed

49:45 - by the agency.

49:46 - Generally speaking.

49:48 - Now that judge will hold an

49:50 - independent hearing to see

49:51 - whether or not the agency was

49:53 - correct.

49:54 - And then with labor and industry

49:56 - actually with the Department of

49:57 - Labor and Industry in the case

49:58 - of unemployment just to be

50:00 - complete if you appeal to the

50:04 - administrative law judge you

50:05 - don't like what happens that can

50:06 - be appealed up to a board and

50:09 - different agencies have

50:10 - different processes so how to

50:13 - appeal would be spelled out in

50:14 - the decision telling you that

50:16 - you were whatever happened to

50:17 - was denied.

50:19 - I can't not give a practice tip

50:22 - which is that if you ever want

50:24 - to appeal something make sure

50:26 - you pay attention to a deadline

50:28 - you can have the best case in

50:30 - the world.

50:31 - If you miss your deadline you're

50:34 - almost always of course there's

50:36 - exceptions but the exceptions

50:37 - are hard to come by.

50:40 - The final thing I'd like to say

50:42 - is if you don't agree with what

50:44 - the administrative law judge

50:45 - does then you can go into the

50:46 - courts.

50:48 - And if you remember earlier on

50:50 - the chart with the four

50:51 - Pennsylvania courts this is

50:54 - actually a Commonwealth Court.

50:55 - They were developed in 1970.

51:00 - It used to just be there Common

51:02 - Pleas the Superior Court Supreme

51:04 - Court this.

51:05 - This court was developed

51:06 - specifically to deal with local

51:08 - agency law as well as state

51:11 - agencies.

51:12 - So that is about a 10 minute

51:17 - overview of government

51:18 - structure.

51:20 - And now we turn over to Michelle

51:22 - to talk about state and federal

51:24 - government interaction.

51:26 - Does anybody have any before

51:28 - Michelle starts anybody have any

51:29 - cards they want to.

51:36 - All right.

51:36 - If you're not totally confused

51:38 - by now I'm going to make it even

51:39 - more confusing.

51:41 - I think I'll stand over here

51:42 - this seems to be the practice.

51:43 - So yes you've got just a few

51:45 - minutes before I wrap up so if

51:46 - you've got questions make sure

51:48 - you get them written out so that

51:49 - we can we can handle those at

51:50 - the end.

51:51 - Ok.

51:52 - I'm the last building block we

51:53 - want to put in place is to

51:55 - understand that we have this

51:57 - confusing web that we call

51:58 - federalism.

51:59 - Right.

52:00 - So we've been talking a little

52:01 - bit throughout the things happen

52:02 - on the national level and they

52:03 - happen on the state level.

52:04 - And then there's interactions

52:05 - both between states and between

52:07 - states and the national

52:08 - government.

52:09 - When I describe this to my

52:10 - students I often call federalism

52:12 - a relationship it's kind of like

52:13 - a parent child relationship.

52:15 - You understand what it is but it

52:16 - changes over time.

52:17 - Right.

52:17 - Some federalism of the

52:19 - relationship between the

52:20 - national government and the

52:21 - states over time has been kind

52:23 - of like that.

52:24 - So we'll talk a little bit about

52:26 - how they share responsibilities

52:28 - or don't how the two interact.

52:31 - I think you have this chart on

52:32 - the flip side of Rolphe's

52:34 - Monopoly game.

52:36 - And I don't need to go over

52:38 - these in detail but I want to

52:39 - talk about the broader structure

52:41 - for those of you who remember

52:42 - your American history.

52:44 - You might remember that before

52:45 - we had the U.S. Constitution we

52:46 - had this thing called the

52:47 - Articles of Confederation.

52:49 - And that's the way we were

52:50 - governed.

52:51 - And there were some major

52:51 - problems with that.

52:53 - Most notably that the federal

52:54 - government was not strong enough

52:55 - to do things like foreign

52:57 - affairs military matters trade

53:01 - and the currency.

53:02 - And so lo and behold what are

53:03 - the major things the federal

53:05 - government has given the

53:06 - authority to do exactly those

53:07 - four things.

53:08 - And so the assumption was the

53:09 - federal government would have

53:10 - the authority to do those things

53:12 - and effectively states would

53:14 - have everything else they would

53:15 - have what we call reserved

53:17 - powers because the 10th

53:19 - Amendment of the Constitution

53:20 - says all powers not granted to

53:22 - the federal government are

53:23 - reserved to the states.

53:25 - So we're very creative when we

53:26 - call those reserved powers.

53:28 - And so really most of the law

53:31 - that we think of in the United

53:32 - States today despite our

53:33 - emphasis on the national

53:34 - government and very important

53:36 - things it does most criminal

53:38 - law.

53:38 - Most family law property law

53:41 - most personal most personal

53:42 - injury cases almost all of those

53:44 - happen at the state level and

53:46 - are developed by state

53:47 - legislatures.

53:48 - Right.

53:49 - Not that the federal government

53:50 - does not do big and important

53:52 - things but the states do a lot

53:54 - of the work that I think we

53:55 - forget about.

53:56 - There are variety powers that

53:57 - they share as well.

53:58 - And I won't point them all out

54:00 - except the most notable of

54:01 - course is to collect taxes

54:02 - because government cannot do

54:04 - anything unless they can collect

54:05 - taxes.

54:06 - So if you don't think about

54:08 - federalism any other time on

54:09 - April 15th every year you could

54:11 - remember that we have a state

54:13 - government and a federal

54:14 - government and they both have

54:15 - the power to tax.

54:17 - There are some major challenges

54:19 - to federalism.

54:20 - There are some good things that

54:21 - I'm going to talk about moment

54:22 - as well.

54:24 - But to me this is probably the

54:25 - biggest challenge in a democracy

54:27 - you want to know who to hold

54:28 - accountable for the actions that

54:29 - are taken.

54:30 - And in a democracy and our

54:32 - federal system of government

54:34 - it's very easy to not know

54:35 - whether or not the state

54:36 - government that's responsible or

54:38 - the federal government the

54:39 - national government of

54:39 - Washington D.C. and sometimes

54:41 - they can blame each other.

54:43 - Right.

54:43 - So it becomes a little bit more

54:44 - difficult to figure out who we

54:46 - hold accountable for the things

54:47 - that we want done by our

54:48 - government.

54:50 - There also are and I'm to come

54:51 - back to this in a minute with

54:52 - some examples of ways in which

54:54 - the federal government mandates

54:56 - that things be done and then

54:57 - they don't give the states money

54:58 - to do those things.

55:00 - Biggest challenge about this is

55:02 - in fact that while the federal

55:03 - government can deficit spend in

55:05 - case you didn't know that we do

55:07 - have a debt but states cannot.

55:11 - So the day to day operations

55:13 - need to be funded every year.

55:14 - I think those of us in

55:15 - Pennsylvania are aware of the

55:16 - challenge that this is creating

55:17 - right now.

55:19 - So when the federal government

55:20 - decides that states need to do

55:21 - something and they don't give

55:22 - them the money to do it it

55:23 - creates a challenge for either

55:25 - states have to raise taxes or

55:27 - they've got to cut their funds

55:28 - from someplace else.

55:29 - Right now the challenge is

55:32 - simply coordination questions

55:34 - for me this always becomes most

55:35 - evident in education policy.

55:37 - We don't have an education

55:38 - policy in the country we have

55:40 - myriad of education policies

55:42 - right.

55:43 - We have a U.S. Department of

55:44 - Education.

55:45 - We have 50 different state

55:46 - Department of Educations.

55:47 - We have thousands of local

55:49 - school boards all of whom

55:50 - establish and make education

55:52 - policy and coordination amongst

55:53 - those can be a challenge at

55:54 - times.

55:56 - There's duplication of efforts.

55:57 - We often have the same kind of

55:58 - agency on the federal level on

56:00 - the state level that are kind of

56:01 - doing the same thing.

56:03 - And this one is sometimes a

56:04 - problem for people who think

56:05 - about the fact that we live in a

56:07 - country where you expect some

56:09 - standardization across the board

56:11 - educational spending for

56:12 - instance between one state and

56:14 - another can vary pretty

56:15 - dramatically from what I think

56:17 - Massachusetts actually pays most

56:18 - per student for education right

56:20 - now.

56:20 - And I'm guessing it's probably

56:22 - Mississippi maybe Alabama who

56:24 - spends the least on per student

56:26 - education.

56:27 - Money is not everything but

56:28 - money can matter and so you have

56:29 - this differential services for

56:31 - people across the United States.

56:33 - In fact and near where you live.

56:36 - These are just some of the

56:37 - examples of unfunded mandates

56:38 - and I have to admit I did not

56:39 - make up this list and if I was

56:41 - really good I would remember

56:42 - where I got it from.

56:43 - But I don't.

56:44 - But a few examples.

56:47 - We have a national election and

56:48 - a lot of our elections are

56:49 - national.

56:50 - But many of you know that most

56:52 - the apparatus for holding

56:53 - elections happen on the state

56:54 - level.

56:55 - So all the voting machines all

56:57 - the people we hired to run

56:58 - elections that is all state and

56:59 - the state has to pay for that

57:01 - every time the minimum wage goes

57:03 - up especially in those states

57:04 - that do not choose to raise it

57:05 - higher than the federal minimum

57:07 - wage.

57:07 - Well state local government has

57:09 - to pay that minimum wage.

57:10 - Therefore they're spending more

57:12 - on cost.

57:13 - There lots of times state

57:15 - governments help to administer

57:16 - federal programs which can be a

57:17 - good thing but they're not

57:19 - always given the money to do the

57:20 - administering of the programs.

57:22 - This has changed somewhat as

57:24 - Rolphe reminded me earlier today

57:25 - that states have got more

57:26 - creative at being able to tax

57:27 - Internet sales but only if in

57:30 - fact there is a facility in

57:32 - their state.

57:33 - So they're losing money that

57:35 - when the federal government

57:36 - hasn't passed legislation to

57:37 - take care that theirs will

57:41 - require states to do something

57:43 - like administer child support

57:44 - enforcement to make sure the

57:45 - children receive the child

57:47 - support they're entitled to but

57:48 - then there's no money given in

57:50 - order to make that happen.

57:51 - And the last two both of them

57:52 - deal with actually so maybe this

57:54 - was maybe this was a

57:55 - transportation site because both

57:57 - of the last two deal with

57:58 - transportation issues but the

58:00 - federal government mandates

58:01 - certain safety procedures which

58:02 - we think are really important

58:04 - but they don't give the states

58:05 - the money to do that.

58:06 - And so it creates problems.

58:08 - Now if anybody here works with

58:09 - state or local governments you

58:10 - known or heard conversations

58:11 - about increasing unfunded

58:13 - mandates and this chart you

58:14 - can't see the years down here

58:15 - but this is 1996 and this is

58:17 - 2015 16.

58:19 - So over that 21 year period of

58:21 - time there actually have been

58:23 - greater numbers of unfunded

58:25 - mandates rules passed.

58:26 - And I thought about this when I

58:27 - was looking at this slide again

58:28 - earlier and these of course are

58:29 - cumulative at times.

58:30 - Right.

58:31 - So if a rule is passed one year

58:32 - it still applies the next year

58:34 - and so some go away but I don't

58:36 - know government rules tend to

58:38 - stay around more than they tend

58:39 - to go away.

58:40 - So it really can and has become

58:42 - a challenge for states and the

58:44 - federal government does not

58:45 - provide funding for some of

58:46 - these programs.

58:47 - All of that being said I think

58:48 - there are some major benefits to

58:50 - federalism.

58:51 - I happen to be one who studies

58:53 - state governments and so I think

58:54 - it's a good thing because it

58:55 - gives me 50 different cases to

58:56 - study but it does what it was

58:58 - intended to do originally and

59:00 - that it keeps as much government

59:01 - as possible as close to the

59:02 - people as possible.

59:03 - Right.

59:04 - So it's folks in Harrisburg who

59:06 - are deciding what in fact may be

59:07 - best for us and that folks in

59:09 - Washington D.C. and I come from

59:11 - the Midwest and so Washington

59:12 - D.C. was even farther away when

59:14 - I lived in Wisconsin.

59:15 - Was folks in Madison who are

59:16 - making decisions for me not in

59:17 - fact folks in Washington D.C. So

59:19 - a lot of programs you can have

59:21 - people and the districts that

59:23 - Rolphe was showing earlier you

59:24 - are much more likely to run into

59:26 - Gene Yaw or Fred Keller in your

59:28 - local grocery store than you are

59:29 - to run into your member of

59:31 - Congress or your senators.

59:32 - There's just a way in which

59:33 - government is closer when it's

59:34 - dealt with in Harrisburg and

59:36 - that is in fact I think a good

59:37 - thing.

59:39 - It allows for Justice Louis

59:40 - Brandeis once called states

59:42 - laboratories of democracy.

59:44 - One state can try something and

59:45 - see if it works.

59:46 - Not at least only one state has

59:48 - failed at it.

59:48 - And states tend to borrow from

59:50 - each other around health care

59:52 - around education policy

59:53 - infrastructure.

59:54 - Does it make sense to have for

59:56 - profit or toll systems for

59:59 - 978 instance once they can try

01:00 - 02.098 another can pick it up and see

01:00 - 02.898 if it works or not.

01:00 - 03.958 So I think that's a real

01:00 - 04.878 benefit.

01:00 - 06.568 It does limit conflict to allow

01:00 - 08.668 states to do what they want to

01:00 - 09.198 do.

01:00 - 11.278 So we may in Pennsylvania want

01:00 - 13.548 to run our our daycare systems

01:00 - 14.728 and our regulation of daycare

01:00 - 15.688 differently than people in

01:00 - 17.698 California want and that's ok we

01:00 - 18.868 can do that and we don't have as

01:00 - 20.398 many conflicts as a result of

01:00 - 22.398 that.

01:00 - 24.418 And last but not least when

01:00 - 25.528 they're given the money to help

01:00 - 27.138 do it.

01:00 - 28.458 The states can't actually

01:00 - 29.788 operate programs for the federal

01:00 - 31.258 government that does not require

01:00 - 32.578 that another superstructure of

01:00 - 34.458 government to be put on top

01:00 - 35.728 which can affect obviously be a

01:00 - 37.798 benefit at times.

01:00 - 39.028 Two more slides I want to talk

01:00 - 39.928 about I think there's just two

01:00 - 40.968 more.

01:00 - 44.488 One is the biggest way in which

01:00 - 45.418 the federal government and the

01:00 - 46.738 states interact is in money

01:00 - 48.948 transfer right.

01:00 - 50.728 And states are often looking to

01:00 - 51.898 see what kind of money they can

01:00 - 53.538 get from the federal government.

01:00 - 55.108 This chart was interesting to me

01:00 - 56.658 because it indicates that while

01:00 - 58.768 overall the amount of money that

01:00 - 00.810 we have gotten from the federal

01:01 - 01.710 government that has come back to

01:01 - 03.180 the States has gone up 18

01:01 - 06.510 percent over this seven year

01:01 - 08.150 period of time.

01:01 - 10.170 However almost all of that has

01:01 - 12.090 been in health care Medicaid

01:01 - 12.940 largely.

01:01 - 13.340 Right.

01:01 - 14.730 So the money's not coming back

01:01 - 15.260 to the states.

01:01 - 16.380 Yes but it's coming back to the

01:01 - 17.580 states to pay medical care of

01:01 - 18.470 people.

01:01 - 19.830 And if you're participating in

01:01 - 20.970 any of the other programs like

01:01 - 23.060 transportation education

01:01 - 25.890 infrastructure lists the kinds

01:01 - 27.000 of ways that we get money back

01:01 - 28.020 from the federal government that

01:01 - 30.480 has dropped precipitously so

01:01 - 31.940 that the non-health related

01:01 - 33.660 categories overall states have

01:01 - 36.130 gotten 5 percent less money from

01:01 - 37.680 the federal government.

01:01 - 38.950 So depending on what field you

01:01 - 39.970 work in this field very

01:01 - 41.380 different as the degree to which

01:01 - 42.160 the federal government has

01:01 - 43.600 returned tax dollars back to the

01:01 - 44.910 states.

01:01 - 46.750 Last but not least we vary from

01:01 - 48.430 state to state to some degree in

01:01 - 50.380 the amount of federal monies we

01:01 - 51.570 get back.

01:01 - 53.770 This chart talks about federal

01:01 - 56.260 aid in fiscal year 2014 and

01:01 - 58.330 federal aid as a percentage of

01:01 - 59.920 the state's general revenue that

01:01 - 01.082 year.

01:02 - 03.002 The darker the state the more

01:02 - 05.262 money that they're getting back

01:02 - 06.072 from the federal government

01:02 - 07.832 going back to the states.

01:02 - 08.832 So the lighter states the

01:02 - 10.692 California's the Nevada's the

01:02 - 13.122 Kansas North Dakota etc. are

01:02 - 14.162 getting less.

01:02 - 15.252 The darker the states they're

01:02 - 16.482 getting a higher degree of money

01:02 - 17.082 coming back.

01:02 - 18.132 Some of that has to do with

01:02 - 20.202 federal funds properties some of

01:02 - 21.792 it has to do with military bases

01:02 - 23.472 are there's a variety of ways in

01:02 - 25.032 which that happens but we vary

01:02 - 25.832 from state to state.

01:02 - 28.842 In regard to that this probably

01:02 - 29.772 adds another layer of

01:02 - 31.472 complication.

01:02 - 32.922 Our goal I think was to make the

01:02 - 34.842 process make enough sense that

01:02 - 36.542 you have some ability to know

01:02 - 37.782 how to impact the system should

01:02 - 38.832 you want to either to affect

01:02 - 40.602 public policy or to get programs

01:02 - 41.882 to which you're entitled.

01:02 - 43.052 I would echo what was said

01:02 - 44.802 earlier though and that is in

01:02 - 48.262 fact that if you don't know who

01:02 - 50.692 to go you go to your legislators

01:02 - 52.082 they have all kinds of folks

01:02 - 53.642 were there hired to do exactly

01:02 - 53.812 this.

01:02 - 54.932 I did this when I was in college

01:02 - 56.522 for a U.S. senator in Wisconsin

01:02 - 57.602 and I spent my whole day on the

01:02 - 58.682 phone answering people's

01:02 - 00.544 requests about where you go to

01:03 - 01.684 get certain kinds of programs

01:03 - 02.914 and services and they'll make

01:03 - 03.964 sure what you call your person

01:03 - 04.804 on the state level at the

01:03 - 05.694 federal level.

01:03 - 06.724 And I believe you have voter

01:03 - 08.424 guides that were given out.

01:03 - 10.064 Am I correct in that.

01:03 - 11.094 And so that has some good

01:03 - 12.574 information for you about where

01:03 - 13.444 to get in touch with those

01:03 - 15.154 elected officials to in fact

01:03 - 16.384 find out where you can have any

01:03 - 25.534 impact on the system.

01:03 - 26.564 Let's move to questions and

01:03 - 27.154 answers.

01:03 - 29.564 We have some what we found last

01:03 - 30.614 week when we did local

01:03 - 32.654 government is that they filtered

01:03 - 35.204 in and sometimes the very last

01:03 - 37.904 question that we got was the

01:03 - 39.844 best worded one of all.

01:03 - 41.444 So please if you've got some

01:03 - 42.944 questions please you can use the

01:03 - 43.984 card system.

01:03 - 46.294 We'll spend the next 15 minutes

01:03 - 47.434 doing Q and A.

01:03 - 48.884 If you're interested we'll go a

01:03 - 49.804 bit longer.

01:03 - 00.316

01:04 - 02.016 Ok.

01:04 - 04.036 So we have today for the panel

01:04 - 07.146 is how is it decided whether a

01:04 - 09.216 bill will start in the House or

01:04 - 12.376 the Senate.

01:04 - 14.426 Well in most cases I think

01:04 - 16.136 usually what you'd say is can go

01:04 - 18.376 and it can start either place.

01:04 - 20.306 But in some bills especially

01:04 - 21.896 spending bills bills have to

01:04 - 23.696 deal with tax money have to

01:04 - 26.216 start in the House as the

01:04 - 28.306 primary body that's closest to

01:04 - 29.986 the American population.

01:04 - 31.496 But bills are constantly being

01:04 - 34.126 worked on in committees.

01:04 - 36.316 And I think in some level

01:04 - 37.496 usually we traditionally think

01:04 - 39.386 of the house moving first but it

01:04 - 41.336 doesn't have to some it can be

01:04 - 42.416 developing bills at the same

01:04 - 43.606 time.

01:04 - 45.566 It's my understanding that all

01:04 - 47.646 money bills appropriations start

01:04 - 48.676 in the house.

01:04 - 49.946 Otherwise it could start in

01:04 - 51.106 either place.

01:04 - 51.496 Right.

01:04 - 53.386 Ok.

01:04 - 54.596 This is a question from my

01:04 - 57.116 father and I'll paraphrase he

01:04 - 59.846 sent this to me last night.

01:04 - 03.138 He's so frustrated that

01:05 - 07.978 gerrymandering regulations don't

01:05 - 11.308 seem to be moving out of the

01:05 - 13.318 state legislature that they're

01:05 - 17.088 caught in committee.

01:05 - 21.568 There are two questions here.

01:05 - 22.398 Thank you.

01:05 - 23.808 Ok thanks.

01:05 - 27.638 Two questions here.

01:05 - 31.158 One is gerrymandering and I know

01:05 - 32.828 that could take an entire hour

01:05 - 34.938 so make a brief Ralfe but more

01:05 - 38.238 importantly how is it that as a

01:05 - 43.388 citizen or citizens one can move

01:05 - 47.208 if you can legislation that gets

01:05 - 50.228 stuck out of the legislature.

01:05 - 51.348 Remember the questions when I

01:05 - 52.928 saw that one had to do with

01:05 - 54.798 amending the Constitution and

01:05 - 55.908 one had to do with a simple

01:05 - 57.218 piece of legislation.

01:05 - 59.618 Am I correct here.

01:05 - 00.980 I can talk to the constitutional

01:06 - 02.020 one.

01:06 - 03.560 And the reality is constitutions

01:06 - 05.500 were meant to be hard to ammend.

01:06 - 06.320 Whether that's the Federal

01:06 - 07.430 Constitution or the state

01:06 - 09.020 constitution so that it is not

01:06 - 11.330 done willy nilly so that it is

01:06 - 12.920 our foundational documents for

01:06 - 14.150 understanding how government

01:06 - 16.180 runs and we don't want that

01:06 - 17.350 change easily.

01:06 - 18.830 In Pennsylvania what that means

01:06 - 21.640 is you have to have a proposal

01:06 - 24.350 for redistricting which would be

01:06 - 26.390 offered in one legislative

01:06 - 27.340 session.

01:06 - 28.550 There has to be an intervening

01:06 - 28.960 vote.

01:06 - 30.410 So voters don't like that

01:06 - 31.730 decision they can vote people

01:06 - 32.500 in.

01:06 - 33.290 And then there's got to be

01:06 - 35.230 another election of the next

01:06 - 37.270 Pennsylvania legislative session

01:06 - 39.620 and if they choose to approve it

01:06 - 41.380 then goes to the voters.

01:06 - 42.680 So it's a matter of whether or

01:06 - 44.000 not it gets passed through the

01:06 - 44.610 first session.

01:06 - 45.650 There has to be an intervening

01:06 - 46.910 election and then that next

01:06 - 48.050 legislative assembly needs to

01:06 - 50.210 decide to take it up.

01:06 - 51.380 They may or may not choose to do

01:06 - 53.000 so in the same way with a piece

01:06 - 54.350 of state legislation and this is

01:06 - 56.130 true of all of Congress as well.

01:06 - 57.170 You speaks to both states as

01:06 - 57.790 well.

01:06 - 59.780 There are rules and procedures

01:06 - 00.712 for getting things out of

01:07 - 02.692 committee for discharge from

01:07 - 03.402 committee.

01:07 - 04.672 If the party doesn't choose to

01:07 - 05.472 do so.

01:07 - 07.632 But that's both procedurally not

01:07 - 08.982 always done often and

01:07 - 10.312 practically not done often

01:07 - 11.902 because you're often challenging

01:07 - 13.272 your party leadership.

01:07 - 14.152 And just because you want

01:07 - 15.832 something passed your party

01:07 - 17.542 leadership may not especially if

01:07 - 18.352 you're not in the party in

01:07 - 19.082 control.

01:07 - 20.932 So that's not the answer he

01:07 - 21.342 would want.

01:07 - 23.422 I don't think but that would be

01:07 - 24.552 my answer.

01:07 - 27.812 That's complicated.

01:07 - 28.602

01:07 - 30.342 Would you like to briefly

01:07 - 33.642 explain the gerrymandering and

01:07 - 39.592 what or anybody here need a

01:07 - 41.052 definition of gerrymandering

01:07 - 42.642 because it's such a big deal

01:07 - 44.682 right now in our state.

01:07 - 46.872 Ok we understand gerrymandering.

01:07 - 50.922 Well I mean I would say it is

01:07 - 52.552 something that could be an

01:07 - 55.362 entire section unto itself.

01:07 - 57.292 But we've been watching very

01:07 - 58.482 closely the Supreme Court

01:07 - 00.504 looking at redistricting and I

01:08 - 01.704 think the thing to remember is

01:08 - 03.474 that for the entire history of

01:08 - 05.454 redistricting the court has

01:08 - 08.934 largely looked at partisan

01:08 - 10.404 gerrymandering as a political

01:08 - 12.294 process and a process that they

01:08 - 15.734 do not have the power to alter.

01:08 - 17.154 Now this has changed over time

01:08 - 18.074 and other sources.

01:08 - 19.254 There's a reason why we have

01:08 - 21.054 700000 people in each

01:08 - 22.484 congressional district.

01:08 - 23.954 It's because the Supreme Court

01:08 - 27.084 mandated equal protection under

01:08 - 28.554 the Constitution in terms of

01:08 - 30.764 population of redistricting that

01:08 - 33.594 started in 1962 it dramatically

01:08 - 34.704 changed the way our system

01:08 - 34.994 works.

01:08 - 36.614 Before that you could have

01:08 - 38.304 wildly imbalanced congressional

01:08 - 39.054 districts in terms of

01:08 - 39.644 population.

01:08 - 41.414 So these things can change.

01:08 - 44.064 But up until this case depending

01:08 - 46.044 on what the court does partisan

01:08 - 47.004 gerrymandering has been

01:08 - 49.224 considered a political process

01:08 - 51.974 that happens that the courts do

01:08 - 54.494 not intervene.

01:08 - 55.524 And that's what I think we're

01:08 - 58.274 watching to see if they change.

01:08 - 59.784 I will say this one of the

01:08 - 00.956 arguments made that the Supreme

01:09 - 02.776 Court was that they said like

01:09 - 04.136 this is not your father's

01:09 - 06.086 gerrymandering.

01:09 - 07.636 Well the attorney said this is

01:09 - 08.906 this is gerrymandering on

01:09 - 10.846 steroids.

01:09 - 12.016 And there's one piece of that.

01:09 - 14.216 I can speak to that as I used to

01:09 - 16.046 do a lot of political and public

01:09 - 17.056 phone surveys.

01:09 - 18.056 I'm one of those people that

01:09 - 19.726 call you a night.

01:09 - 20.976 I had students calling you.

01:09 - 23.896 Thank you.

01:09 - 25.196 And we didn't call on Sundays

01:09 - 26.446 because of football games in

01:09 - 27.436 Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

01:09 - 29.016 People get very upset.

01:09 - 29.526 Ok.

01:09 - 33.206 So I but one of the things I did

01:09 - 34.656 is that my colleague and I who

01:09 - 35.776 were doing the surveys we

01:09 - 37.276 contracted with a company that's

01:09 - 38.576 very similar to the companies

01:09 - 40.486 the party's Contract With that

01:09 - 43.196 gather data on registered

01:09 - 43.966 voters.

01:09 - 46.786 And at first it was just list

01:09 - 48.806 that we would call and then a

01:09 - 49.946 few years and a couple of years

01:09 - 52.466 ago it transitioned to a virtual

01:09 - 55.526 map where you could zoom in on

01:09 - 57.706 any neighborhood in Pennsylvania

01:09 - 59.636 and see all the voters on the

01:09 - 01.706 street and see their personal

01:10 - 03.976 information.

01:10 - 04.826 And more than just their

01:10 - 06.446 partisanship you could see their

01:10 - 07.906 partnership did they have kids.

01:10 - 09.256 What was their home value.

01:10 - 11.746 They claimed to have newspaper

01:10 - 13.616 and magazine subscriptions that

01:10 - 16.496 might go to your house which I

01:10 - 19.156 found strangely invasive.

01:10 - 20.876 But what it means is that when

01:10 - 22.226 you are drawing political maps

01:10 - 25.996 today you can go down a street

01:10 - 27.556 and cut people in and out.

01:10 - 28.706 You can do it with such fine

01:10 - 29.386 detail.

01:10 - 31.836 So it's a powerful process.

01:10 - 33.026 We'll see what the Supreme Court

01:10 - 34.546 says.

01:10 - 35.426 But there are a number of

01:10 - 36.686 political scientists who are

01:10 - 37.916 looking at it right now that

01:10 - 40.166 have measures to try to see how

01:10 - 42.446 gerrymandered your congressional

01:10 - 43.416 district.

01:10 - 46.566 Basically thank you.

01:10 - 50.106 That was great.

01:10 - 51.526 I think maybe just one more on

01:10 - 53.706 the legislative effort now what

01:10 - 56.176 controls whether a bill requires

01:10 - 59.826 50 60 or a different number of

01:10 - 03.078 pro votes to pass.

01:11 - 06.118 I.E. when does filibuster apply.

01:11 - 08.808 Yeah and this was key for the

01:11 - 12.738 last health care debate because

01:11 - 13.628 when you generally teach about

01:11 - 15.858 the legislative process one

01:11 - 16.818 thing that was a little

01:11 - 18.648 depressing about as a political

01:11 - 20.598 scientist about watching the

01:11 - 22.178 legislative process this summer

01:11 - 23.618 and just recently in the in the

01:11 - 26.058 early fall was that they just

01:11 - 28.098 avoided all of those steps you

01:11 - 29.208 know like the House bill becomes

01:11 - 29.548 law.

01:11 - 30.558 They we're just going to skip

01:11 - 31.818 all of them and we're going to

01:11 - 32.408 vote.

01:11 - 32.798 Right.

01:11 - 35.778 And the one of the reasons why

01:11 - 37.188 is because they wanted to rush

01:11 - 39.288 the process because there are

01:11 - 41.718 rules in the Senate where you

01:11 - 43.458 can pass things with only a

01:11 - 45.528 simple majority but they have to

01:11 - 47.118 be there called reconciliation

01:11 - 49.128 bills and they have to basically

01:11 - 51.398 be about the budget process and

01:11 - 53.748 saving money and affecting these

01:11 - 54.158 things.

01:11 - 55.538 And they're time limited.

01:11 - 57.438 So essentially in normal rules

01:11 - 58.968 in the Senate you need to have

01:11 - 02.080 60 to get to a vote.

01:12 - 02.900 But if it's during

01:12 - 05.240 reconciliation then you can then

01:12 - 07.090 you can pass a bill if you want.

01:12 - 08.120 And that's what they were trying

01:12 - 09.020 to do with the healthcare bill

01:12 - 10.070 and that's why they were rushing

01:12 - 12.020 it because if they didn't get it

01:12 - 13.700 in time then they would have to

01:12 - 15.670 go back to standard rules of the

01:12 - 17.840 of the Senate but usually 60 is

01:12 - 19.660 the new 51 in the Senate.

01:12 - 21.500 But that is a special case and

01:12 - 23.830 that's why John McCain's no vote

01:12 - 24.920 at the time was such an

01:12 - 26.780 important vote because it denied

01:12 - 28.140 that.

01:12 - 29.660 Yeah.

01:12 - 30.770 Ok I'm going to take some

01:12 - 32.060 pressure off for you Rolphe and

01:12 - 33.290 we'll move into the executive

01:12 - 35.560 branch a little bit.

01:12 - 37.250 Is the use of executive orders

01:12 - 39.410 by the presidents altering the

01:12 - 41.620 system of the three branches and

01:12 - 43.220 the checks and balances that

01:12 - 48.490 exist.

01:12 - 53.882 It can be very simple and

01:12 - 57.070 non-political.

01:12 - 58.470 A president comes into office I

01:12 - 59.820 use this silly example of my

01:12 - 01.562 students I was a president comes

01:13 - 02.822 in office and is very

01:13 - 04.172 environmentally minded and wants

01:13 - 05.342 to make sure that nobody ever

01:13 - 06.542 uses Styrofoam cups in the

01:13 - 08.162 executive branch again and that

01:13 - 09.512 president issued an executive

01:13 - 11.072 order that says no money for any

01:13 - 12.332 federal agency can be used to

01:13 - 14.662 buy Styrofoam cups.

01:13 - 16.292 You know I mean if they can be a

01:13 - 18.112 simple and nondescript is that.

01:13 - 18.872 Right.

01:13 - 20.192 And it makes sense that you have

01:13 - 21.892 executive orders on some level

01:13 - 23.972 because if we assume that we

01:13 - 25.262 elect a president because we

01:13 - 26.342 want that president to be the

01:13 - 27.902 one in charge and not all those

01:13 - 29.812 bureaucrats that we talked about

01:13 - 31.472 right then somebody has got to

01:13 - 32.882 set the general direction for

01:13 - 34.072 the way the laws get carried out

01:13 - 36.122 the way laws get executed and

01:13 - 37.172 what are the priorities in

01:13 - 38.362 executing that law.

01:13 - 39.512 And that is in fact what

01:13 - 40.982 executive orders are intended to

01:13 - 41.182 do.

01:13 - 42.952 They cannot write new law.

01:13 - 43.952 They can say within the

01:13 - 45.862 parameters of the existing law

01:13 - 48.062 as Congress has written it how

01:13 - 49.472 do I as the president what

01:13 - 50.702 direction do I want to take from

01:13 - 52.822 those blocks that Stacy showed.

01:13 - 53.452 Right.

01:13 - 55.232 And the less defined it was the

01:13 - 56.792 more room there is for the

01:13 - 58.202 executive branch to make those

01:13 - 00.804 blocks creative or not.

01:14 - 02.194 Then on some love I think we

01:14 - 03.574 want a president to be able to

01:14 - 05.094 set those directions because

01:14 - 06.574 with all due respect for I was a

01:14 - 07.684 civil servant at one point my

01:14 - 08.544 time.

01:14 - 10.144 I'm not I wasn't elected.

01:14 - 10.984 I wasn't the one that was

01:14 - 12.054 elected to do the job.

01:14 - 13.164 So you want the person who's

01:14 - 15.474 elected to set those parameters.

01:14 - 16.684 The challenge becomes when you

01:14 - 17.794 have transitions in

01:14 - 19.084 administrations like we've had

01:14 - 20.434 now and there's a time period in

01:14 - 22.044 which this can occur when

01:14 - 23.634 obviously you have a

01:14 - 24.724 ideologically different

01:14 - 26.014 president before from what we

01:14 - 26.904 have now.

01:14 - 28.054 And therefore that president

01:14 - 29.104 wants to make some changes and

01:14 - 30.574 has the ability to withdraw

01:14 - 31.984 those executive orders and

01:14 - 34.024 change the priorities the ways

01:14 - 35.314 in which certain laws are in

01:14 - 36.934 fact carried out by the

01:14 - 39.354 executive branch agencies.

01:14 - 40.624 If it's done properly they

01:14 - 41.694 cannot make laws.

01:14 - 42.754 What they can do is get the

01:14 - 44.254 direction within the parameters

01:14 - 46.384 that Congress establishes for

01:14 - 47.944 carrying out those laws and if

01:14 - 49.114 Congress doesn't like it think

01:14 - 50.674 Congress can rewrite the laws in

01:14 - 52.204 ways that don't allow that to

01:14 - 52.864 occur.

01:14 - 53.514 Right.

01:14 - 55.834 So it can change the balance of

01:14 - 57.364 power but it seems more extreme

01:14 - 59.014 right Max paratransit transition

01:14 - 00.806 between administrations.

01:15 - 01.776 The same thing could have been

01:15 - 03.276 seen perhaps not as dramatic but

01:15 - 06.296 to some degree between President

01:15 - 08.796 George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

01:15 - 09.986 Right.

01:15 - 11.136 There were changes because their

01:15 - 12.036 direction and the way they

01:15 - 14.696 wanted to take the country vary

01:15 - 17.196 So you know there are probably I

01:15 - 18.156 should know at the top of my

01:15 - 19.026 head I'm sure there have been

01:15 - 22.416 more in the last 12 years than

01:15 - 23.786 there were previously.

01:15 - 25.026 We also have a much more complex

01:15 - 25.466 government.

01:15 - 26.436 And so you know the more the

01:15 - 27.996 Government's expected to do the

01:15 - 29.106 more direction it needs to be

01:15 - 30.596 given.

01:15 - 34.046 Just to tag that I saw a table

01:15 - 35.826 of executive orders issued by

01:15 - 37.016 presidents.

01:15 - 40.656 It's surprising how no it really

01:15 - 41.936 hasn't been that there have been

01:15 - 44.076 that many Obama had a couple of

01:15 - 44.456 hundred.

01:15 - 46.946 George Bush had more but

01:15 - 50.396 Franklin Delano Roosevelt had

01:15 - 51.686 thousands.

01:15 - 53.636 So it just it depends.

01:15 - 55.206 And right now the change that

01:15 - 57.276 we're going through with the new

01:15 - 58.706 administration.

01:15 - 59.586 I think what's going to be

01:15 - 01.058 fascinating for the courts

01:16 - 03.548 mattered session is where do the

01:16 - 05.128 courts come into play

01:16 - 07.748 constitutionally relative to

01:16 - 09.448 those executive orders.

01:16 - 11.998 And that's a bit beyond.

01:16 - 12.388 Go ahead.

01:16 - 13.918 I was just going I think

01:16 - 14.978 probably the best known

01:16 - 16.948 executive order that FDR wrote

01:16 - 19.048 issued as well had to do with

01:16 - 20.348 interning Japanese Americans

01:16 - 21.058 during World War Two.

01:16 - 22.468 That was done by executive order

01:16 - 25.078 with some congressional support.

01:16 - 28.708 I'm just thinking of in think it

01:16 - 31.798 was 1991 on the state level

01:16 - 32.858 because when he talks about the

01:16 - 34.478 courts there was an executive

01:16 - 36.788 order issued by then Governor

01:16 - 38.588 Casey it had to do with

01:16 - 39.878 something it was an

01:16 - 42.998 environmental order and it was

01:16 - 45.158 challenged in the courts and it

01:16 - 46.228 was

01:16 - 47.708 It was found to be overruled

01:16 - 50.168 because it was beyond the scope

01:16 - 53.168 it was outside of what could be

01:16 - 54.608 done and what the law was said

01:16 - 56.138 to do so sometimes I think

01:16 - 57.458 that's how you'll find executive

01:16 - 59.228 orders being challenged when

01:16 - 00.430 somebody comes in and says

01:17 - 01.870 You're going beyond what the

01:17 - 03.550 statutes allow you can't do

01:17 - 08.610 this.

01:17 - 10.330 Along those lines about the

01:17 - 12.270 internment of Japanese.

01:17 - 14.140 One is the last time Congress

01:17 - 18.120 declared war.

01:17 - 21.450 That's a question for me.

01:17 - 26.770 Does anybody know.

01:17 - 28.770 Ok.

01:17 - 30.660 How does impeachment work.

01:17 - 35.380 And can it come from.

01:17 - 37.950 And this comes up all the time

01:17 - 39.510 but I understand the left.

01:17 - 41.170 How does impeachment work and

01:17 - 48.470 can it come from the common man.

01:17 - 50.160 Impeachment can only come from

01:17 - 52.590 the House of Representatives the

01:17 - 54.450 House of Representatives begins

01:17 - 57.150 impeachment proceedings a

01:17 - 58.890 president or a justice of the

01:17 - 01.142 court can be impeached for high

01:18 - 03.092 crimes and misdemeanors which is

01:18 - 05.722 effectively anything that a

01:18 - 06.692 majority of the House of

01:18 - 08.162 Representatives thinks are high

01:18 - 09.532 crimes and misdemeanors.

01:18 - 12.022 There is no definition of it.

01:18 - 13.952 We saw a definition under Bill

01:18 - 16.022 Clinton administration that the

01:18 - 17.762 House of Representatives decided

01:18 - 20.552 was actionable and effectively

01:18 - 21.512 what happens is the House of

01:18 - 22.952 Representatives charges the

01:18 - 24.722 president with violating high

01:18 - 25.742 crimes and misdemeanors or

01:18 - 27.362 committing and then the Senate

01:18 - 29.912 holds a trial and a majority of

01:18 - 31.432 the House has to decide to pass

01:18 - 32.862 articles of impeachment.

01:18 - 34.522 Yes.

01:18 - 36.362 And the Senate then has to vote

01:18 - 38.182 by two thirds whether or not

01:18 - 39.602 they find the president has

01:18 - 41.202 committed those crimes

01:18 - 44.092 misdemeanors.

01:18 - 45.642 Just a language thing to me was

01:18 - 46.952 the time the Constitution was

01:18 - 49.382 written that kind of acts acts

01:18 - 50.912 against the public good.

01:18 - 53.252 So to me this is about small

01:18 - 54.952 crimes today it was actually a

01:18 - 56.722 public good.

01:18 - 58.322 And so really it is not up to

01:18 - 59.582 the citizens to decide it is

01:18 - 00.424 only up to the House of

01:19 - 02.514 Representatives to initiate it

01:19 - 04.144 and they can initiate it in the

01:19 - 05.344 Senate by two thirds has to

01:19 - 06.504 decide to do so.

01:19 - 08.344 No president in U.S. history has

01:19 - 10.104 ever been through the

01:19 - 11.244 impeachment process.

01:19 - 12.804 Andrew Johnson post Civil War

01:19 - 14.194 and of course Bill Clinton both

01:19 - 15.424 had articles of impeachment

01:19 - 17.974 passed by the House but the

01:19 - 19.414 Senate did not vote by a two

01:19 - 20.494 thirds vote in either of those

01:19 - 21.924 instances to impeach.

01:19 - 22.774 We don't know what would have

01:19 - 23.764 happened to Richard Nixon

01:19 - 24.924 because he resigned before that

01:19 - 26.154 process was completed.

01:19 - 45.664 So any questions Do I have that

01:19 - 48.424 security.

01:19 - 53.014 This is what you can do and you

01:19 - 55.874 can do it.

01:19 - 02.704 Do you need approval from him.

01:20 - 06.774 I'm sure it is a level of lack

01:20 - 08.834 of support from your premier

01:20 - 10.074 chief executive for the work

01:20 - 10.814 that you do.

01:20 - 11.874 I mean it's gets a little

01:20 - 13.124 frustrating.

01:20 - 14.784 I would argue this is bias from

01:20 - 16.334 having been a state employee for

01:20 - 17.884 many years.

01:20 - 18.834 That in fact the government

01:20 - 21.074 pretty much runs even when it's

01:20 - 24.764 not you know and continues on a

01:20 - 26.174 fairly standard way.

01:20 - 28.064 It's more of a symbolic change.

01:20 - 30.114 I think indicates a matter of

01:20 - 31.644 importance or not on the part of

01:20 - 33.624 the president or the governor to

01:20 - 34.974 the action that that agency

01:20 - 38.504 carries out.

01:20 - 40.184 I would agree with that.

01:20 - 42.444 I think I think though by not

01:20 - 45.084 having an executive there you

01:20 - 48.684 don't exactly know where the

01:20 - 50.414 agency might be going.

01:20 - 52.424 But the bottom line is the

01:20 - 54.614 people who work in the agency

01:20 - 57.774 like DP if your job is to go out

01:20 - 59.834 and inspect farms or to look at

01:20 - 01.226 waste dumps or to see if

01:21 - 03.646 somebody is polluting if there's

01:21 - 06.146 a water that the people who are

01:21 - 07.846 there the staff who are there

01:21 - 08.996 they know what to do and they'll

01:21 - 10.346 take care of it and you go

01:21 - 14.326 through the process so I find

01:21 - 17.876 that level I think I'm not sure

01:21 - 19.316 how critical it is but I'm

01:21 - 21.416 speaking from my personal

01:21 - 23.546 experience and I'm speaking you

01:21 - 25.376 know within the context confines

01:21 - 31.756 of what I know.

01:21 - 33.946 Oh ok I need to speak.

01:21 - 35.156 We're pretending this mike is

01:21 - 35.386 on.

01:21 - 37.256 Because it's it's going through

01:21 - 39.346 the TV OK.

01:21 - 41.756 The last two questions are very

01:21 - 42.976 much related.

01:21 - 45.906 So let me ask both and there's

01:21 - 48.646 some nuances.

01:21 - 49.776 Answer them both.

01:21 - 50.926 Ok.

01:21 - 52.946 Given the fractured nature of

01:21 - 54.896 our government and the

01:21 - 57.416 difficulty of acts of enacting

01:21 - 00.086 laws is democracy the most

01:22 - 02.208 appropriate form of government

01:22 - 04.848 at times of existential crisis

01:22 - 09.348 such as climate change.

01:22 - 11.418 And now let me read the other

01:22 - 12.308 similar.

01:22 - 15.118 This might be your answer given

01:22 - 17.068 the complexity again of federal

01:22 - 19.138 checks and balances and the

01:22 - 20.848 separate powers of state

01:22 - 23.338 government and given the public

01:22 - 25.788 opinion surveys show an

01:22 - 27.868 unprecedented gap between the

01:22 - 29.568 major parties.

01:22 - 31.758 How can we make the system work

01:22 - 35.388 in the best interests of us all.

01:22 - 40.228 Excellent question.

01:22 - 41.578 I will try to add something to

01:22 - 43.278 it because I mean I think I've

01:22 - 45.688 had some of the same type of

01:22 - 47.878 questions especially as someone

01:22 - 49.678 who has taught the theories of

01:22 - 51.738 James Madison for a long time

01:22 - 53.248 and the arguments in Federalist

01:22 - 55.168 10 Federalist 51 is dense but

01:22 - 58.358 thankfully as brief as they are.

01:22 - 02.490 Yeah and it's a challenge and I

01:23 - 03.780 think issues like climate

01:23 - 06.510 change.

01:23 - 08.190 I mean I guess I would wonder

01:23 - 09.990 how unique they are to past

01:23 - 10.910 challenges.

01:23 - 11.700 I mean that's one of the

01:23 - 12.840 questions that I would think

01:23 - 14.910 about over time but certainly it

01:23 - 17.250 feels like an issue where

01:23 - 21.680 special interests and ideology

01:23 - 24.310 are willing to damage the larger

01:23 - 27.210 of a larger sort of society and

01:23 - 31.470 future and I've also been

01:23 - 32.550 questioning the way democracy

01:23 - 33.020 functions.

01:23 - 34.350 One thing to say is that the

01:23 - 36.570 U.S. has a fairly unusual style

01:23 - 38.480 of democracy to fragment power

01:23 - 39.920 this much.

01:23 - 42.600 James Madison himself was

01:23 - 44.220 president wondered about whether

01:23 - 46.070 he had made a mistake in the way

01:23 - 47.580 he had shaped our system with

01:23 - 50.660 such separation of powers.

01:23 - 52.160 But it can work.

01:23 - 54.390 It's going to require a lot of

01:23 - 57.030 citizen influence and a lot of

01:23 - 58.470 political participation and it's

01:23 - 59.400 going to require winning

01:23 - 01.582 elections I think.

01:24 - 05.252 I don't know what exactly is

01:24 - 06.152 going to happen with

01:24 - 07.982 polarization in the country but

01:24 - 09.062 I think it's not only at the

01:24 - 10.262 political party level it's at

01:24 - 12.782 the individual citizen level.

01:24 - 14.612 It's a fairly large divide that

01:24 - 16.942 is developed.

01:24 - 18.022 I think we'll have to see and

01:24 - 19.432 maybe see if Michelle has a more

01:24 - 22.402 optimistic take.

01:24 - 23.762 I don't know about optimistic

01:24 - 25.082 when differentiation I would

01:24 - 26.212 make based on the questions.

01:24 - 27.542 Is our system of separation of

01:24 - 28.822 powers and checks and balances

01:24 - 30.272 and federalism are not

01:24 - 31.532 necessarily essential to

01:24 - 32.392 democracy right.

01:24 - 33.632 There are various ways democracy

01:24 - 34.242 can operate.

01:24 - 35.462 It does not include all of those

01:24 - 36.352 structures.

01:24 - 37.912 So those can meet those out

01:24 - 39.862 differently.

01:24 - 41.132 I think Ralph has a really good

01:24 - 42.932 point to think about past crises

01:24 - 44.042 that we have come up against

01:24 - 45.782 that we've managed to get

01:24 - 48.652 through in a variety of ways.

01:24 - 51.362 I think that I would never I

01:24 - 53.372 mean maybe Acti it too long or

01:24 - 54.392 too committed to it but I would

01:24 - 55.622 never give up on my views of

01:24 - 56.592 democracy.

01:24 - 58.172 I miss the old Winston

01:24 - 59.362 Churchill's statement.

01:24 - 00.634 No democracy is the worst form

01:25 - 01.714 of government invented by

01:25 - 04.554 mankind except all the rest.

01:25 - 05.824 And I'm just not trusting enough

01:25 - 07.024 of power to give power more

01:25 - 08.464 broadly to a central group of

01:25 - 10.584 people in any way.

01:25 - 12.534 I think this is my plug and I

01:25 - 14.044 use my students and I practice

01:25 - 14.934 this in my classrooms.

01:25 - 16.294 But I think the way we get past

01:25 - 18.154 the divide is on an individual

01:25 - 19.084 level to begin to have

01:25 - 20.524 conversations with people we

01:25 - 21.144 agree with.

01:25 - 22.234 But with the people we disagree

01:25 - 22.854 with.

01:25 - 25.264 Not not to help them to convince

01:25 - 27.304 them that we are right but to

01:25 - 28.564 help them to understand why we

01:25 - 30.894 think the way we do.

01:25 - 31.864 You know I try to use my

01:25 - 33.834 classroom for that.

01:25 - 34.864 So I think it's all of our

01:25 - 36.454 responsibility to start making

01:25 - 38.614 that change and eventually I

01:25 - 39.514 don't know maybe I'm too

01:25 - 41.074 optimistic that will trickle up

01:25 - 42.484 instead of trickle down and

01:25 - 43.294 we'll have more civil

01:25 - 49.784 conversations more broadly.

01:25 - 50.974 You were so eloquent it's a

01:25 - 52.764 wonderful way to end.

01:25 - 54.514 And let's have a round of

01:25 - 02.096 applause and appreciation.

01:26 - 04.816 And you also thank you so much

01:26 - 07.446 for your interest in being here.

01:26 - 10.216 Your excellent questions and go

01:26 - 13.216 forth and maybe together as

01:26 - 14.566 individuals we can learn to talk

01:26 - 17.986 to each other better and move

01:26 - 19.366 our democracy in the direction

01:26 - 20.256 it needs to go.

01:26 - 21.226 Thank you so much.