The legislative branch of the US government has always been known for their partisan ways in looking at the way certain legislation gets passed while others get knocked down. A group of 12 key democratic senators have recently stepped forward to defend their position on affirmative action concerning the University of Michigan cases. As a group, they sent a legal brief to the Supreme Court addressing their support and stance on the matter. This was one of the final briefs which were filed, and the ratio is 3 to 1 in favor of Michigan. The Bush administration has also filed a brief of their own opposing the university’s process saying that race should not be a determinant factor concerning entry into higher education. A spokesperson for the 12 senators renounced Bush and his presidential authority by saying that it “is undermining one of the most important tools for promoting equal opportunity.”
Although the Democratic Party is usually one that is known to support affirmative action policies, there are a few key Democrats who are shying away from the issue for their own political agendas. Recently, Senator Joseph Lieberman announced that he would be running in the next presidential election. Although he has always gone in favor of those 12 senators’ policies, he refused to sign the brief. While he was a vice-presidential candidate with Al Gore in the 2000 election, he was known as a staunch supporter of such programs – now this isn’t so the case. It is obvious that he, like any other politician, has election or re-election always in mind. It is possible that he is waiting for a decision to actually be made and survey the American public’s response before signing his name to anything. Lieberman has always been known by his fellow senators as one who is very indecisive on such matters as affirmative action and social security. He just doesn’t know where to stand.
Thus, it is an arduous task to truly get an unbiased opinion of how people in Washington actually view affirmative action or any type of policy for that matter. There are a lot of stakes involved for any politician who vocally comes out on controversial issues that a lot of Americans feel so inherently strong about. Although Bush has come forward to show his loyal resistance to any affirmative action, there have been many people in the legislature (both House and Senate) that denounce Bush’s position as well. Although it is up to the Supreme Court to make the law of the nation, it is important to realize that in a democratic nation that we are apart of, the level of participation among the other branches as well as the public can sometimes become a tipping point for such matters – now whether it is effective or not is another question in and of itself.
Although the Democratic Party is usually one that is known to support affirmative action policies, there are a few key Democrats who are shying away from the issue for their own political agendas. Recently, Senator Joseph Lieberman announced that he would be running in the next presidential election. Although he has always gone in favor of those 12 senators’ policies, he refused to sign the brief. While he was a vice-presidential candidate with Al Gore in the 2000 election, he was known as a staunch supporter of such programs – now this isn’t so the case. It is obvious that he, like any other politician, has election or re-election always in mind. It is possible that he is waiting for a decision to actually be made and survey the American public’s response before signing his name to anything. Lieberman has always been known by his fellow senators as one who is very indecisive on such matters as affirmative action and social security. He just doesn’t know where to stand.
Thus, it is an arduous task to truly get an unbiased opinion of how people in Washington actually view affirmative action or any type of policy for that matter. There are a lot of stakes involved for any politician who vocally comes out on controversial issues that a lot of Americans feel so inherently strong about. Although Bush has come forward to show his loyal resistance to any affirmative action, there have been many people in the legislature (both House and Senate) that denounce Bush’s position as well. Although it is up to the Supreme Court to make the law of the nation, it is important to realize that in a democratic nation that we are apart of, the level of participation among the other branches as well as the public can sometimes become a tipping point for such matters – now whether it is effective or not is another question in and of itself.
posted by opalescence at
5:36 PM
