Visit Your Local PBS Station PBS Home PBS Home Programs A-Z TV Schedules Watch Video Support PBS Shop PBS Search PBS
       
the Online NewsHour The Web site of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
E-mail This Page   Print This Page  
the Online NewsHour EXTRANews for Students AND Teacher Resources MAIN: ONLINE NEWSHOUR
7 - 12 grade level
SEARCH
ALL OR STUDENT VOICES LESSON PLANS VIDEO GO
Main: NewsHour ExtraU.S.WorldScienceHealthArts/MediaStudent VoicesTeacher Center
NewsHour Teacher Center Blog
June 30, 2008

In this entry: quotes, warm up questions, discussion questions, resources
VIDEO SUMMARY

Protesters at the Supreme CourtIn 2006, Democrats took over Congress with a promise to bring U.S. troops home. This video report looks at what’s happened since then and the legislative fight over a bill to fund the Iraq and Afghan wars. Democrats in Congress tried to use the “power of the purse” to end funding for the war and force the military to bring the troops home, but they failed to gain enough support (10 Republicans in the Senate) to overcome the president’s veto.
Instead, Congress has basically given President Bush all the funding he asked for: $315 billion just since the Democrats came to power, and another $162 billion on June 26, which will fund military operations well into 2009 and the next president’s administration.

SELECTED QUOTES

“This is a group of Republicans and a group of Democrats who can’t figure out how to get us out.” - Protestor outside U.S. Capitol
“We’ve tried to force the president. He has the veto pen. We don’t have the votes to override. I’m not, you know, crying in my milk. We have brought to his desk conditions tied to money. He has vetoed it.” -Rahm Emanuel, Democratic Representative from Illinois
“[Democrats] were pushed so hard by their left to try to achieve more than the traffic would bear, more than their comforts, and certainly more than the Congress, the Republicans, would support, much of it for pretty partisan reasons, politically partisan reasons. But that made it much easier for Republicans to stay together and to, as a unit, oppose what the Democrats did.” - John Kyle, Republican Senator from Arizona

WARM UP QUESTIONS

Do you think most Americans support the war in Iraq? What would need to happen for the U.S. to pull its troops out of Iraq? How is the power to go to war and use military force divided between the president and Congress?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What did you find most interesting about this report? How did this report make you feel about Congress and the government in general? How does the push and pull between the president and Congress relate to the system of checks and balances laid out in the Constitution? Do you think this is a good thing or bad? Please explain. What questions did this report raise about the legislative process or this issue specifically? Write down a list of topics for further research, divide them up amongst the group and then reconvene to share your answers.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Online NewsHour Full Coverage of the Iraq War
Transcript of this report

Author

Comments

Post a Comment:
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you need to be approved by Brian before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
Name: (required, pseudonym ok)
Email address: (required, will not be published)
Comment:

Recent Lesson Plans
Recent Comments
Web Resources
Recently Added:
What is this?
Teacher to Teacher
Share your teaching experiences: What works, what didn't, what's needed?
What is this?
Previous EntriesTOPICS
Video Clips
What is this?
Blog Jam
National Public Radio
From Education Stories
5/2/08 updated daily
What is this?
The Online NewsHour
TUESDAY'S PROGRAM
Fort Hood Memorial
News Wrap
Investigating Hasan
Iraqi Refugees
Newsmaker: Peter Orszag
Health Care Costs
40 Years of Sesame Street
The Online NewsHour, an hour-long daily news broadcast
Check your Local Listings