Financing Elections Essays - Campaign Finance In The United States

Financing Elections Financing elections is one of the major and disputable problems that American politics face presently. Analysts became worried that the rising costs of campaigns distort elections in the interests who have the money. Also another problem that worried people and analysts was that the politics seemed to be leaving the realm of political parties, and those who had the money to afford expensive media campaigns won the privilege of governing us. Next reformers required and applied new reforms in the campaign financing. Many more people are concerned about where the money for campaigns comes from. This type of concern led to the laws that prohibit individuals from contributing large sums of money to specific campaigns. The assumption is that these individuals contribute huge sums of money in hope of some later benefit. Let me talk a little about history of reforms. Reformers put restrictions on campaign money for more than a century. In 1907, the Tillman Act prohibited contributions from corporations and national banks to candidates for federal office. Enforcement and further legislation to restrict campaign money were weak. for decades after that, until the Watergate scandal erupted before the 1972 election. Secret and illegal contributions had been made to Nixon's re-election campaign in1972. Congress responded by amending a 1971 law that required reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures. The amendments imposed strict limits on both contributions to candidates and parties and spending by candidates in federal elections. An individual, for example, could give a maximum of $1,000 to a candidate for federal office and $20,000 to a political party. But the major change in the funding came with the case Buckley v. Valeo. Conservative New York Sen. James Buckley and liberal former Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy challenged the law. They argued that the limits in the law violated their own First Amendment rights as candidates, as well as the rights of campaign contributors and political and other organizations. They filed suit against Francis Valeo, secretary of the U.S. Senate. An appeals court supported most of the law, and the challenge moved to the Supreme Court, where it was argued in November 1975. So what did the court actually decide? It ruled that the post-Watergate limit placed on the amount of money a candidate for federal office might spend was an unconstitutional violation of the candidate's freedom of speech. Another provision of the law, limiting the amount of money that individuals and organizations could contribute to a candidate, was deemed not to be unconstitutional, because it served the important interest of preventing corruption. Campaign spending by candidates, the court reasoned, was closely related to political speech, which the court has always given the highest level of First Amendment protection. Campaign money is spent on flyers, campaign advertising and generally getting the candidate's message out? are all political speech. While striking down the limits on campaign spending, the court said limits were permissible for presidential candidates who agreed to the limits in exchange for federal funding of their campaigns. Sources of campaign funds: So nowadays, generally, campaign funds come from the following sources: the candidate himself or herself, other individuals, political action committees, political parties, and public financing. In the prenomination phase of the presidential election, contributions come from three sources-individual contributions, PAC contributions and federal matching funds. PAC contributions play a minor role in presidential nominating politics than they do in congressional elections. In short, the sources of funds for the presidential primaries are basically individual contributions and public matching funds. Even as millions in contributions fuel the presidential campaigns of Al Gore and George W. Bush, both candidates say they want to reduce that excess of money next time. Even as the presidential candidates decry soft money (independent donations that support candidates without being coordinated with the candidate's campaign) it still flows ever faster into party coffers. Both Gore and Bush have attacked the use of ?soft money?. Gore says he would do away with this kind of donation altogether, while Bush would only ban soft-money contributions from labor unions and corporations. This year's elections are the most expensive campaign cycle in American history, with an estimated cost of $3 billion. (show transparencies). Critics say that because the Buckley decision left campaign spending unregulated, the demand for money in politics has increased uncontrollably, creating incentives to get around the contribution limits Nonetheless, many

buy custom Microsoft Access Security and Navigation essay

buy custom Microsoft Access Security and Navigation essay Database security is very important in database management systems. Unnecessary and unauthorized access of a confidential database may lead to the loss of very important information, unnecessary modification of data, theft, deletion and other malicious practices. The cost of losing data and the rising unauthorized access necessitate the need for more security now than ever. In an effort to enhance security of the data, various options have been provided by the database management systems. For Microsoft Access databases the options are inclusive of encryption, using a customer interface, setting up a database password, specifying user level security, setting up a module password, using the MDE format, setting up user and group accounts and assigning those privileges and specifying. User level security is a very powerful tool since it allows for the definition of data that one can access. Workgroup accounts security control gives good performance in a network environment. Using MDE format ensures that the modules and source codes are not readily available to the users. Creating navigation menus allows users to easily interact with the system. This allows them to have access to data with the most convenient speeds and commands. In Microsoft Access the types of navigation menus that can be created include the rollover menu, drop down menu, image background menus, icon menus, links, scroll bars, navigation buttons and record selectors. In designing the menus, there are a lot that need to be taken into consideration. First is the need to consider the users view of the menu. The menu should be able to satisfy the user requirements to a great deal rather that confusing him or her. Secondly, the menu names should reflect the kind of job they do or the part of the database system to be visited. The rollover menus are very good at showing the user his or her current position in the form. The menu should be in a standard format that a user easily recognizes. Buy custom Microsoft Access Security and Navigation essay

Prejudice and discrimination against women in american literature.The Essay

Prejudice and discrimination against women in american literature.The prejudice against women and the injustice practiced agains - Essay Example A critical observation of the sufferings and unfair treatment to women as a result of prejudices and discrimination is the focus of this paper. A brief survey of the female characters in the early American fiction can serve as a background to the picture of womanhood today in American society. Mark Twain never looked at his wife as an equal in his life. His attitude to womanhood can be traced through his female characters. Miss Watson can be taken here as an example here. She is shown in Huckleberry Finn as a lonely woman, or living with her widowed sister, a societal outcast living in the shadow of others. Her presence only makes others uncomfortable, including Huck and Jim. An unmarried woman in Twain’s days got the role of a caretaker and as she stayed at home, she was expected to take care of the sick or the elderly relatives. She must be selfless, and must devote her life for others. Twain depicts Miss Watson as a typical old maid of his time from which the prejudices and discrimination towards women in his society can easily be studied by the readers. William Faulkner, on the other hand, depicts the actual situation of a woman and creates repulsion in the readers to the prevailing prejudices and discrimination. ... In Scarlet Letter Hawthorne gives not only the dark reality of the prejudices and discriminations against woman, but also exposes the snobbishness in society regarding sexual matters. A priest seduces a woman, does not own up his role and responsibility, and, he continues to preach from the pulpit. However, Hawthorne turns his female character charged with adultery into an angel through her stern commitments and devotions. The signs of resistance and determinations to establish true womanhood are seen in his novel. All these honest intentions could not find result in twentieth century as a result of wars and depressions. Hemingway’s novels reveal such situations in which women are seen as mere objects of pleasure. Prostitution becomes rampant as the soldiers fighting on the borders were to be supplied with female flesh. How the male characters become incapable of extending emotions of love towards women is a common theme in his novels. When sex is seen synonymous with pleasure the focus becomes woman’s body and not the person. Lust replaces love. Henry Millers novels can be taken as an example of this. They carry endless images of woman as cunt, whore, and bitch. The difference between the sexual intercourses in Miller’s pages and the pages of Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover reveal the actual differences between lust and love. By the middle of the twentieth century, after sixties to be precise, women writers came to the forefront as the custodians of true female experiences. Two women writers, Erica Jong and Tony Morison are taken here to show the changes seen in literature regarding the depiction of prejudices and discrimination towards women. In Fear of Flying Isadora becomes a writer who

Finance and Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Finance and Accounting - Essay Example With the tightening of the environmental regulations, the environmental protection costs of the industry like pollution reduction, regulatory reporting, monitoring and waste management have increased over the years. In the conventional management accounting method the environmental costs are allocated as general overheads expenses such that the production managers are not aware of the environmental costs and do not have any impetus to reduce the same. Environmental management accounting involves the identification, analysis, collection and use of material information and other monetary as well as environmental cost related information, for the purpose of facilitating environmental and conventional decision-making in the organization. Unlike conventional management accounting which puts special emphasis on the identification of the environmental costs such as waste management cost, environmental management accounting assists in the decisions that have an impact on the environment. The reason for the growing prominence of environmental accounting is the fact that the environmental costs comprise of a substantial amount, more than the firm can estimate. It helps in the better management of the environmental costs, formulation of business strategies, determining accurate costs of goods and services, minimization of environmental costs etc. The implementation of the environmental accounting rules benefits the organizations in the form of lower costs through economic use of resources; improved design of goods and processes. The minimization of the environmental impact gives an advantage over the competitors; and selection of opportunities that help in reducing the operating costs (Global Development Research Center, n.d.). Therefore environmental management accounting serves the dual purpose of improving and managing the environmental as well as the financial performance of an organization. In contrast the conventional management accounting

The State of the Visual Arts in Colorado Case Study

The State of the Visual Arts in Colorado - Case Study Example Just recently, Colorado State University celebrated the openings of the final two spaces in the new University Center of the Arts located in the old Fort Collins High School. These are the University Art Museum and the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising where visitors can take a tour CSU's art and historic clothes and textile collections (Colorado State University). "The University Art Museum has four discrete galleries that offer flexibility for the installation of small or large exhibitions that will allow some 3,000 objects including Japanese prints, Warhol photographs, African sculptures and contemporary art to rotate through the space" while the Avenir Museum is "home to a collection of 12,000 artifacts including historic clothing, lace, textiles, accessories and chairs" (Colorado State University). Aside from these two new art-improving developments, the Colorado State University is also in the process of constructing the visual art complex, a premier visual art building which will be open to the public (Colorado State University). Colorado also has an art market. One is composed of outdoor fine arts and crafts fair showcasing work of 90 artisans. There are still a number of art galleries and stores in Colorado.

Economic Impacts of Smuggling in Pakistan

Economic Impacts of Smuggling in Pakistan Smuggling basically refers to the transfer of goods illegally from one place to another. It is an activity which consists of the importation or exportation of goods or living beings by wrong or unlawful means with the objective of evading taxes. It is illegal methods of conducting business and is done secretly. The principle causes of smuggling are greed for wealth ignorance and lack of nationalism or patriotism. X-ray of an abdomen piled up with cocaine       The objective of this report is to look at the economic impacts of smuggling in Pakistan. There are various motivations to smuggle in this country. These include the participation in illegal activities, such as, drug trade, illegal weapons trade, exotic wildlife trade, illegal immigration or illegal emigration, tax evasion, providing contraband to a prison inmate, or the theft of the items being smuggled. The main objectives are: What are the national trends on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants in Pakistan? What are the main smuggling routes? What is the impact of Pakistans economic issues on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants? The scope of the research is how can we get awareness about these types of illegal trade of goods in Pakistan, identify key dynamics and provide policy and program recommendations for that. However it is difficult to determine due to lack of reliable data but we can try our level best through discussing about these types of illegal economy of Pakistan and offer long-term solutions that how can we safe our economy from these illegal trade of goods to support Pakistan. This report attempts to map out the proceeds from: Drugs and Precursors trafficking Kidnapping from ransom Trafficking of arms Human trafficking Migrant Smuggling These crimes are based on their contribution towards global, rational, regional risks. This study focus upon government policies towards illegal economy through group discussion. In past Pakistan faced difficulties because of smuggling. Smuggling demolished our economy so many times in multidimensional way. It undermines the local industries and decreases the volume of earnings and revenue which is collected from duties and service sectors. The volume of informal economy is raised up to 50 to 60% of the formal economy. Revenue loss on account of smuggling as estimated by the World Bank, amounted to US 35$ billion during nine years (2000-2009). Pak-Afghan border is the main problem. People living in Chaman didnt need visas to cross the border. They run the business on both sides as well as marriages. Goods up to 5 to 6 billion dollars were smuggled from Afghanistan to Pakistan through trade route especially dry fruits. Afghanistan also imports goods illegally from Pakistan such as milk, juices and other machinery items etc. Many of Pakhtoons have relatives on both sides. Afghans went to Pakistan for medical checkup, family functions and for business etc.But suddenly the travelling between two countries stopped. Pakistan has announced that for security reasons only Afghans with proper documents will be allowed to cross the border. Up to 25000 people use to cross border every day. One day 1 of the new policy thousands of people were facing problem in travelling from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Pushtoons with families across the border are worry about this situation. Afghan transit trade becomes a biggest source of smuggling. On the period of 2008-2010 the revenue loss is about 2.5 to 3 billion which are estimated annually during this period. The money which is collected illegally by some politicians, businessmen and terrorist are transferred to Swiss Bank. Up to $200 billion has transferred to Swiss Bank. Up to $40 billion alone black money lying in Swiss Bank of the year 2008-2009.On the other hand economy of Pakistan is increasing at the alarming rate of 20% per annum. Pakistanis entered the UK illegally and still continue for earning money. Around 430,000 Pakistanis live in UK. Due to the illegal migration, many Pakistanis were imprisoned in foreign jails. Beside these issues, there was an issue about tobacco control in Pakistan. Taxes on tobacco were increased due to which prices of cigarette were increased by 10%. Therefore, the demand for cigarette has reduced by 11.7%. The volume of smuggling is 18 billion Pakistani Rupees in cigarette and other tobacco products. Similarly, 22 billion Pakistani Rupees in petroleum product, 25 billion in automotive parts and 200 billion Pakistani Rupees in other commodities like cosmetics, cloth, medicines etc. People of Pakistan were using petroleum products smuggled from Iran because it is cheaper than that of Pakistan. The petroleum products up to 2 billion were smuggled from Iran to Pakistan. This situation is getting worse day by day. According to a survey in 2013, the smuggling in electronics has increased drastically. Each day thousands of cellphones and laptops are being shipped or imported in Pakistan alone in electronic markets illegally. Another research in this regard revealed that smuggler crosses Wahga border which has been opened by the president regime which would result in a huge chunk of Indian goods destined for Afghanistan would ultimately land in our domestic market which would destroy the national economy. They uses Pak-Iran border and Pak-Afghan border along with the coastal areas of Baluchistan to smuggle these goods to various parts of the country. This situation is very serious for the economy of Pakistan as these factors have great impact on any economy. The economic growth of Pakistan is already declining; one of the main factors is illegal trading or smuggling. The taxes which are imposed to all the imports are increasing therefore; the smuggling of commodities is at high right now. A local good is twice the price of the same good that has been smuggled. Or if its of same price, then the illegally transferred good is more reliable or more durable. All because of these factors the demand of these smuggled products are also very high. A middle class citizen who cant afford expensive stuff or goods can now buy just about anything because the price of smuggled stuff is half of what its actually worth. Government of Pakistan has introduced policies, rules and regulations to avoid these illegal trades. They have now put extra measures and security to afghan-Pakistan borders where smuggling is mostly done from. Also different check-up points have been made after few miles in highways to check the vehicles in order to avoid terrorism and smuggling in Pakistan. So, Government is taking steps to reduce these illegal trades but their efforts as of now are still in vain. Smuggling is a very serious matter in the entire world but unfortunately its condition in Pakistan is worse than the most of the countries in the word. Most of the smuggling goods in and out Afghanistan are through Pakistan. The Wagha Border is the main route of transportation of these illegal activities. To make the situation even worse, unfortunately out of 30 routes only 6 of these routes are under control of customs department of borders in Pakistan. The legal goods smuggled through Pakistan in different destinations are worth 2.8 Billion Dollars per year alone. In fact according to the latest reports Pakistan is losing 2.62 Billion worth of revenue per year by the smuggling of just 11 goods. The revenue is lost in the form of duties and taxes on smuggled goods that could be far higher than $2.63 billion or Rs276 billion, if the scope of the study is widened or spread to all the smuggled goods. The report took into account the impact of smuggling mobile phones, tea, vehicles, diesel, tires, auto parts, steel sheets, cigarettes, flat screens, plastics, and garments; on revenues, industrial production, investment and employment. In order to reduce the rate of smuggling government has to take some serious steps as it has a very bad impact in our economy. As a developing country, having smuggling rate as high as in Pakistan means bad news for the future. The goods that our country supply in its market is worth way more than the smuggled goods available in black markets. Even the concept of the black market has been fading in Pakistan because one can find smuggled almost anywhere in Pakistan. Steps must be taken to reduce this problem. All the NATO vehicles transporting commodities should be checked and approved by the Pakistani concerned authorities, also other vehicles carrying commodities in and out of Pakistan. Pakistani Borders should also be equipped with latest tech to detect any weapons or other illegal items that could be detected. In this report all the factors regarding smuggling shall be briefly discussed. On the very first section, forms of smuggling and there cautions will defined and apart from that its impacts on the economy of Pakistan shall also be discussed. From the given statistics of the past summaries of smuggling in Pakistan the future outcome and rate can be determined. Analyzing deportation patterns can be the only means of estimating volume of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. TABLE: GRAPH 1: This precise data shows that Pakistan has been increasing since 2007 with 16% change over the period of 2007-2013.Between the period of 2007- 2008 and 2010-2013 there is increase in volume while a decline was experienced from 2008-2010.There was highest deportees in 2013 and lowest deportees in 2010. GRAPH 2: Assessing the illegal economy is a challenging task.It is estimated that about USD 13,941 (PKR 15 lakhs = PKR 1,500,000) is charged by agents for destinations in Europe and about USD 13,011.43 14,870.21 (PKR 14 16 lakh) being charged for the United Kingdom. For the East it is estimated that USD 5,576.31 4,646.92 (PKR 5-6 lakhs) is charged for destinations like Malaysia and Indonesia. The minimum illegal ecocomy since 2007 can be estimated to be the following: TABLE: Overall it can be observed that numbers are increasing as these are based on deportation numbers. It has been observed that smuggling of migrants involves groups of participant. Each participant involves in an economic exchange.For Pakistan the total sum of services provided are following: It has been observed by the authorities that if detectors detected smuggled migrants then they punished them for 15 days in jail and a fine of between 200 to 1000 USD (PKR 20000 100000). If the detected smuggled migrant shares no specific information about the agent during the legal process he is able to receive 2 more attempts to take the same route without paying any additional fee to the agent. This practice makes the problem to identify the agents supporting the smuggling of migrants. GRAPH 3: On Human Trafficking the male to female ratio was 68% and 32% in 2007.By 2010 this has shown a minor increase in female share to 41%. This indicates that the number of female agents or traffickers is increasing in the region. In Pakistan, it is not possible to see any national trend on this phenomenon. The arrest rate nevertheless can be seen to be increasing for the most wanted traffickers.

It’s Time to Take the Christ Out of Christmas :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

It’s Time to Take the Christ Out of Christmas Christmas in America is an exuberant display of human ingenuity, capitalist productivity, and the enjoyment of life. Yet all of these are castigated as "materialistic"; the real meaning of the holiday, we are told, is assorted Nativity tales and altruist injunctions (e.g., love thy neighbor) that no one takes seriously. In fact, Christmas as we celebrate it today is a 19th-century American invention. The freedom and prosperity of post Civil War America created the happiest nation in history. The result was the desire to celebrate, to revel in the goods and pleasures of life on earth. Christmas (which was not a federal holiday until 1870) became the leading American outlet for this feeling. Historically, people have always celebrated the winter solstice as the time when the days begin to lengthen, indicating the earth's return to life. Ancient Romans feasted and reveled during the festival of Saturnalia. Early Christians condemned these Roman celebrations--they were waiting for the end of the world and had only scorn for earthly pleasures. By the fourth century the pagans were worshipping the god of the sun on December 25, and the Christians came to a decision: if you can't stop 'em, join 'em. They claimed (contrary to known fact) that the date was Jesus' birthday, and usurped the solstice holiday for their Church. Even after the Christians stole Christmas, they were ambivalent about it. The holiday was inherently a pro-life festival of earthly renewal, but the Christians preached renunciation, sacrifice, and concern for the next world, not this one. As Cotton Mather, an 18th-century clergyman, put it: "Can you in your consciences think that our Holy Savior is honored by mirth? . . . Shall it be said that at the birth of our Savior . . . we take time . . . to do actions that have much more of hell than of heaven in them?" Then came the major developments of 19th-century capitalism: industrialization, urbanization, the triumph of science--all of it leading to easy transportation, efficient mail delivery, the widespread publishing of books and magazines, new inventions making life comfortable and exciting, and the rise of entrepreneurs who understood that the way to make a profit was to produce something good and sell it to a mass market. For the first time, the giving of gifts became a major feature of Christmas. Early Christians denounced gift-giving as a Roman practice, and Puritans called it diabolical.