grace’s space

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/04/spending.earmarks/index.html

Two of the most important principles of the U.S. Constitution is its sharing of powers and its Checks and Balances. In this article, two Senate democrats sided with the republicans in their opposition to the new spending bill. In their opposition, they urge President Obama to VETO the bill when it comes to him. Although he will sign it, the fact that senators are urging the president to veto or pass demonstrates the individual authority and powers of members of the senate, demonstrating sharing of powers. Because the Constitution was created in a way that made sure that each branch is partly dependent on others for carrying out processes, the Senate, as demonstrated here, cannot have complete control over the fate of a bill or major decision. Instead, senators like these two democrats, must urge Obama to make the decision they want. If the Senate was able to make big decision by itself, without input of the House and the President, our government would neither share powers nor have a system of Checks and Balances. This article also exhibits aspects of Check and Balances in that a bill can be passed in Congress but can be vetoed by the president if he feels necessary (if Congress voted against this spending bill, Obama could veto that decision and thereby override it). However, if he did override the decision, both houses could put together a 2/3 vote and override his veto. Although this process didn’t happen in this article (the bill passed 245 to 178), this article provides a good example of how the power is balanced between Congress and the president, how power is shared in government between the branches, and how the system of Checks and Balances works in action.