politicsinternals

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11

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. ### Spin/Blame ###.........................................................................................................................6 Obama gets blame............................................................................................................................7 Obama Gets Credit/Blame...............................................................................................................7 President Gets the Blame.................................................................................................................9 President Gets the Blame...............................................................................................................10 President Gets the Blame...............................................................................................................11 President Gets the Blame...............................................................................................................12 .......................................................................................................................................................13 A2: Obama Controls Spin..............................................................................................................13 Obama Doesnt Get Blamed..........................................................................................................14 Obama Doesnt Get Blamed..........................................................................................................15 Obama Will Push the Plan.............................................................................................................15 ### Spillover ###...........................................................................................................................17 Yes Spillover..................................................................................................................................18 No Spillover...................................................................................................................................19 No Spill-Over.................................................................................................................................20 No Spillover...................................................................................................................................21 No Spillover Foreign policy/ Domestic Policy...........................................................................22 ### Courts ###..............................................................................................................................23 2AC No Court Link.......................................................................................................................24 2AC No Court Link.......................................................................................................................25 1AR No Court Link.......................................................................................................................26 1AR No Court Link.......................................................................................................................27 Courts Dont Link Insulated Ext.................................................................................................28 Courts Dont Link Cover Ext......................................................................................................29 Courts Dont Link Cover Ext......................................................................................................30 Courts Dont Link Cover Ext......................................................................................................31 Courts Dont Link -- Cover............................................................................................................32 Courts Dont Link -- Cover............................................................................................................33 Courts Dont Link to PtxNo blame............................................................................................34 Courts Dont Link to PtxNo blame............................................................................................35 Courts Link Less to Politics than Congress...................................................................................36 Courts Link Less to Politics than Congress...................................................................................37 Courts Link to PtxNot Insulated................................................................................................38 Courts Link to PtxBlame...........................................................................................................39 Courts Link to PtxBlame...........................................................................................................40 Courts Link to PtxBlame...........................................................................................................41 AT: Courts Shield..........................................................................................................................43 AT: Courts Shield Election Year................................................................................................44 ### Executive Orders ###..............................................................................................................45 Executive Orders Links..................................................................................................................46 Executive Orders Links..................................................................................................................47 ### Agencies ###...........................................................................................................................48 Yes Blame for Agency Action.......................................................................................................49 Yes Blame for Agency Action.......................................................................................................50 Yes Blame for Agency Action.......................................................................................................51 Yes Blame for Agency Action.......................................................................................................53


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Agency Action Links to Congress.................................................................................................54 Agencies Shield.............................................................................................................................55 Agencies Shield ............................................................................................................................56 ### Vetoes ###..............................................................................................................................57 Vetoes Link Less............................................................................................................................58 Vetoes Link....................................................................................................................................59 ### Covert/Secret ###....................................................................................................................60 A2: Covert Passage........................................................................................................................61 ### Political Capital ###................................................................................................................62 Controversial policies drain capital...............................................................................................63 Controversial Policies Drain Capital.............................................................................................64 Unpopular Policies Drain Capital..................................................................................................65 Legislation Costs capital................................................................................................................65 Capital finite...................................................................................................................................66 Capital Key/A2: Dickinson...........................................................................................................67 Capital Key/A2: Dickinson...........................................................................................................69 Capital Key/A2: Dickinson...........................................................................................................70 Capital Key/A2: Dickinson...........................................................................................................71 Political Capital Key......................................................................................................................72 Political Capital Key......................................................................................................................73 Political Capital Key......................................................................................................................74 Political Capital Key......................................................................................................................75 Political Capital Key......................................................................................................................76 Political Capital Key......................................................................................................................77 Political Capital Key......................................................................................................................78 At: Political Capital Key ...............................................................................................................79 PC Key to Dem Unity....................................................................................................................80 Political Capital Finite...................................................................................................................81 Political Capital Finite...................................................................................................................82 Political Capital Finite...................................................................................................................83 A2: No Trade-Off/Spillover...........................................................................................................84 A2 No Spillover.............................................................................................................................85 A2 No Spillover.............................................................................................................................86 Political Capital Not Key ..............................................................................................................87 Political Capital Not Key...............................................................................................................88 Political Capital Not Key...............................................................................................................89 Political Capital Not Key...............................................................................................................90 Political Capital Not Key...............................................................................................................91 Political Capital Not Key...............................................................................................................92 ### Flip Flop ###...........................................................................................................................93 Flip-Flop Kills Agenda..................................................................................................................94 Flip Flop Kills Agenda...................................................................................................................95 Flip Flops Kill Capital...................................................................................................................96 Flip Flops Kill Capital...................................................................................................................97 Flip Flops Have No Effect ............................................................................................................98 Flip Flops Have No Effect ............................................................................................................99 Flip Flops Have No Effect...........................................................................................................100 Flip Flops Have No Effect...........................................................................................................101


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### Focus ###..............................................................................................................................102 Focus Key to Agenda...................................................................................................................103 Focus Key to Agenda...................................................................................................................104 Focus Key to Agenda...................................................................................................................105 Focus Key to Agenda...................................................................................................................106 Focus Key to Agenda...................................................................................................................107 Focus Answers ............................................................................................................................108 ### Bipartisanship ###................................................................................................................109 BIPART KEY OBAMA...........................................................................................................110 Bipart Key....................................................................................................................................111 Bipart Key....................................................................................................................................112 Bipart Key....................................................................................................................................113 Partisanship Kills Agenda............................................................................................................114 PARTISANSHIP SPILLS OVER ..............................................................................................115 Bipart Key -- Obama....................................................................................................................116 Bipart Key National Security ...................................................................................................117 AT: BIPART/CONCESSIONS KEY..........................................................................................118 A2: BIPART KEY BIPART IMPOSSIBLE...........................................................................119 Bipart Not Key.............................................................................................................................120 Bipart Not Key.............................................................................................................................121 .....................................................................................................................................................121 ### Public Popularity ###............................................................................................................122 Public Popularity Key..................................................................................................................123 Public Popularity Key to Agenda................................................................................................124 Public Popularity Key to Agenda................................................................................................125 Public Popularity Key to Agenda................................................................................................126 Public Popularity Key to Agenda................................................................................................127 Public Popularity Key to Agenda................................................................................................128 Public Popularity Key to Agenda................................................................................................129 =...................................................................................................................................................129 Public Popularity Key to Agenda................................................................................................130 Public Popularity Key to Agenda................................................................................................131 Popularity Not Key to Agenda ....................................................................................................132 Popularity Not Key to Agenda.....................................................................................................133 Popularity Not Key to Agenda.....................................................................................................134 Popularity Not Key......................................................................................................................135 Popularity Not Key to Agenda.....................................................................................................136 Popularity Not Key......................................................................................................................137 Popularity Not Key......................................................................................................................138 Popularity Not Key to Agenda.....................................................................................................139 ### Presidential Leadership Turns ###........................................................................................140 Presidential Leadership Turns International Action.................................................................141 Presidential Leadership Turns -- General....................................................................................142 ### Winners-Win ###.................................................................................................................143 Winners Win................................................................................................................................144 Winners-Win................................................................................................................................146 Winners Win ...............................................................................................................................147 Winners-Win................................................................................................................................149


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Winners-Win................................................................................................................................150 A2: Winners Lose........................................................................................................................151 AT: LOSERS LOSE ...................................................................................................................152 Winners-Win Answers.................................................................................................................153 Winners Win Answers.................................................................................................................153 Winners-Win Answers.................................................................................................................155 Winners Win Answers.................................................................................................................156 Winners Win Answers.................................................................................................................157 Winners Win Answers.................................................................................................................158 Winners Win Answers.................................................................................................................159 Winners-Win Answers.................................................................................................................161 .....................................................................................................................................................162 Winners Lose...............................................................................................................................163 Winners Lose...............................................................................................................................164 Winners Lose...............................................................................................................................165 Losers Lose..................................................................................................................................166 Losers Lose..................................................................................................................................167 Winners Win Answers.................................................................................................................168 Winners Win Answers.................................................................................................................169 ### Momentum ###.....................................................................................................................170 Momentum Key...........................................................................................................................171 ### Olive Branch ###..................................................................................................................172 Olive Branch Answers.................................................................................................................173 Olive Branch Answers.................................................................................................................174 Concessions Answers...................................................................................................................175 Concessions Key to Agenda........................................................................................................176 Concessions Key to Agenda........................................................................................................177 Concessions Key..........................................................................................................................178 *** Flip-Flips...............................................................................................................................179 Flip Flops Kill the Agenda...........................................................................................................180 Flip Flops Kill the Agenda...........................................................................................................181 Flip-Flops Kill the Agenda..........................................................................................................182 AT: FLIP FLOP KILLS AGENDA ............................................................................................183 AT: Flip Flop Kills the Agenda...................................................................................................184 *** Concessions ***....................................................................................................................185 CONCESSIONS KEY GENERIC............................................................................................186 Concessions Key to the Agenda..................................................................................................187 CONCESSIONS FAIL: GENERIC.............................................................................................188 CONCESSIONS FAIL: ANGERS THE LEFT ..........................................................................189 CONCESSIONS FAILS: GOP SAYS NO..................................................................................190 ### Democrats ###......................................................................................................................191 Democrats Key to Agenda...........................................................................................................192 Democrats Key to Agenda...........................................................................................................193 Democrats Key to Agenda...........................................................................................................194 Democratic Unity Key to Agenda................................................................................................195 DEM UNITY KEY .....................................................................................................................196 AT: DEM UNITY INEVITABLE/PC KEY DEM UNITY.......................................................196 Moderate Democrats Key to Agenda...........................................................................................198


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Base Key to Agenda.....................................................................................................................199 AT: Dems Key to Agenda ...........................................................................................................200 AT: Dems Key to Agenda............................................................................................................201 Base Key......................................................................................................................................202 Base Key......................................................................................................................................203 A2: Base Key...............................................................................................................................204 ### GOP ###................................................................................................................................205 Concessions to Republicans Increases Opposition......................................................................206 Republicans Key..........................................................................................................................207 Republicans Key..........................................................................................................................208 Republicans Not Key...................................................................................................................209 ......................................................................................................................................................209 Republicans Not Key...................................................................................................................210 Republicans Not Key...................................................................................................................212 GOP Not Key...............................................................................................................................213 ### Moderates ###.......................................................................................................................215 Moderates Key -- General............................................................................................................216 MODERATE DEMS KEY .........................................................................................................217 AT: DEMS KEY .........................................................................................................................218 AT: MODERATES DEMS KEY ...............................................................................................219 MODERATES KEY -- GENERIC .............................................................................................220 MODERATE GOP KEY ............................................................................................................221 AT: THERE ARE NO MODERATE GOP.................................................................................222 AT: MODERATE GOP KEY......................................................................................................223 Moderate Democrats Key............................................................................................................224 Moderate Democrats Key............................................................................................................225 Moderate Democrats Key/ AT: Specters Switch= Lock............................................................226 Moderates/ Blue dogs Key...........................................................................................................227 Moderates/Blue Dogs Key...........................................................................................................228 Moderate Republicans Key..........................................................................................................229 Moderates Key- EFCA Proves.....................................................................................................230 Moderates Key- Empirically Proven...........................................................................................231 Swing Voters Key........................................................................................................................232 ### Independents ###..................................................................................................................233 Independents Key.........................................................................................................................234 ***Specific Senators***..............................................................................................................235 Landrieu Key ..............................................................................................................................236 Landrieu KeyLabor Bill...........................................................................................................237 Landrieu KeyClimate...............................................................................................................238 McCain Key.................................................................................................................................239 McCain Key.................................................................................................................................240 McConnell Key............................................................................................................................241 Snowe Key...................................................................................................................................242 Snowe and Collins Key................................................................................................................243 Snowe and Collins Key................................................................................................................244 Snowe and Collins Not Key.........................................................................................................245 .....................................................................................................................................................245


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Spector Key..................................................................................................................................246 ### Lobbies & Interest Groups ###.............................................................................................247 Interest Groups Internals..............................................................................................................248 Interest Groups Internal Link Answers........................................................................................249 Business Lobbies Key..................................................................................................................250 Defense Lobby Key.....................................................................................................................251 Military Lobby Key.....................................................................................................................253 Defense lobby is powerful...........................................................................................................254 Defense Contractor Lobbies Key.................................................................................................255 Defense Lobby Key.....................................................................................................................256 Defense Lobby Key.....................................................................................................................257 AT: Defense Contractors.............................................................................................................258 AT: Defense Contractors.............................................................................................................260 Defense Lobby Key.....................................................................................................................261 Agriculture Lobby Key................................................................................................................263 Agriculture Lobby Not Key.........................................................................................................264 Healthcare Lobby Key.................................................................................................................265 Healthcare Lobby Not Key..........................................................................................................266 Energy Lobby Key.......................................................................................................................267 Energy Lobby Not Key................................................................................................................268 Labor Lobby Key.........................................................................................................................269 Labor Lobby Not Key..................................................................................................................270 Environment Lobby Key..............................................................................................................271 Environment Lobby Not Key.......................................................................................................272 Teacher Unions Key....................................................................................................................273 Teacher Unions Not Key.............................................................................................................274 Israel Lobby.................................................................................................................................275 Israel Lobby ................................................................................................................................277 Israel Lobby.................................................................................................................................278 Israel Lobby ................................................................................................................................279 AT: Israel Lobby..........................................................................................................................280 AT: Israel Lobby..........................................................................................................................281 AT: Israel Lobby..........................................................................................................................283 AT: K of Israel Lobby..................................................................................................................284 .....................................................................................................................................................285 ### Theory ###............................................................................................................................286 A2: Intrinsicness..........................................................................................................................287 A2: Bottom of the Docket............................................................................................................288 A2 Vote NO.................................................................................................................................289 .....................................................................................................................................................290 AT No Link Plan Passes Unanimously..................................................................................291 Politics Disads Good....................................................................................................................292 .....................................................................................................................................................293 .....................................................................................................................................................296

### Spin/Blame ###

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 Obama gets blame Obama gets blamed for issues concerning spending empirics Washington Post 7/15 (Ezra Klein, 7/15/11, " Sides: Default will hurt Obama ", http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezraklein/post/sides-default-will-hurt-obama/2011/07/11/gIQApy42FI_blog.html)

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For one, I'd be impressed that more Americans say they'll blame the GOP and not Obama if most Americans actually wanted to increase the debt ceiling in the first place. See Mark Blumenthal's thorough rundown of the polls. Second, during

the 1995 shutdown, Clinton's popularity went down during this time although this fact seemingly cannot penetrate the conventional wisdom. See my earlier post. Yes, the polls also weren't kind to Gingrich and the GOP, but it is hard to claim that Clinton benefited in the eyes of voters. There is certainly no evidence that I know of that the shutdown helped re-elect Bill Clinton. It's interesting that McConnell thinks that, if only because it appears to guide his actions now. But I don't think it's true. Finally, even though this fight over the debt ceiling is unusual, I have a hard time imagining that Obama is going to emerge unscathed if the ceiling isn't lifted and the economy suffers. After all, incumbent politicians are punished by voters for a thousand trivial things, even losses in college football games. I am hardpressed to imagine that voters will suddenly exonerate Obama from possible economic disruptions and simply blame the GOP. To be clear, I don't think either party would come out of a debt ceiling meltdown smelling like roses. But let's not pretend that Obama will somehow avoid that. Or put it this way: what if the meltdown led to, say, 1-2 months of bond rating markdowns, stock market convulsions, disruptions of key government services, and wall-to-wall media coverage of the same? What happens to Obama's approval rating in that time? My bet is that, just as with Clinton in 1995, it goes down. Obama gets blamed for bad policies AP 7/15 (7/15/11, " Obama's hands-on negotiation a political necessity ",http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jEh84nbuj_Ei28mJcPHMRq5ka28A?docId=3d2adbdbf71e456593f0198494d7dc15) The White House says

Obama is the one who has shown leadership and willingness to compromise.

Faced with steadfast GOP opposition to tax increases, he asked Republican leaders directly what "shared sacrifice" they were offering. At another point, he used a Republican icon to congratulate himself for his deep involvement in the talks, insisting that Ronald Reagan never spent as much time as he has haggling with lawmakers over policy details. "Obama

has got to get this done," Lichtman said. "Even if people blame the Republicans in Congress, he's the president. And if things go rotten on his watch, he pays for it. This is his moment. And he knew it was going to be trouble, because Republicans have very little incentive to make a deal." Further spending is blamed on Obama Spokesman Review 7/16 (7/16/11, " Obama's history lesson ", http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/jul/16/obamas-historylesson/) Who remembers who was the House majority leader in 1929? Who was the Senate majority leader? Who was the treasurer of the United States? Who was vice president? The answer is nobody remembers. What they do remember about the stock market crash of October 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression is that Herbert Hoover was president. Hoover and the Great Depression are inseparable in the annals of history. So as

President Obama continues to play chicken with the pending debt crisis before us, he should heed this warning. He can blame Speaker Boehner, Eric Cantor, the Tea Party or whoever he chooses. But when the United States credit rating falls, we default on our debt and the subsequent collapse of our economy, history will only blame Obama. History is the only true measure of leadership, or the lack thereof. Obama Gets Credit/Blame

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 OBAMA WILL GET THE BLAME FOR ALL POLICIES PASSED THIS YEAR THE HILL IS TOO POLARIZED FOR ANY BLAME DEFLECTION. Politico 9. [2-13-09 -- http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18827.html]The Washington climate, which led to a party-line vote on the stimulus, has big political implications: It means that Obama will have sole ownership -- whether that means credit or blame -- for all the massive changes in government he envisions over the coming year.

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PRESIDENTS ARE THE FOCAL POINT OF POLITICS THEY GET THE CREDIT/BLAME. CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer 4/28/02Bruce Morton, Cnn Correspondent: Networks will often air whatever the president says, even if he's praising the Easter Bunny. Blitzer: Competing for face time on the cable news networks. Stay with us. Blitzer: Welcome back. Time now for Bruce Morton's essay on the struggle for balanced coverage on the cable networks. Morton: The Democrats have written the three cable news networks -- CNN, Fox and MSNBC -- complaining that the Bush administration gets much more coverage than elected Democrats. They cite CNN, which they say, from January 1 through March 21, aired 157 live events involving the Bush administration, and 7 involving elected Democrats. Fox and MS, they say, did much the same thing. The coverage gap is certainly real, for several reasons. First, since September 11, the U.S. has been at war in Afghanistan, so the president has been an active commander in chief. And covering the war, networks will often air whatever the president says, even if he's praising the Easter Bunny. Plus, the White House press secretary's briefing, the Pentagon's, maybe the State Department's. Why not? It's easy, it's cheap, the cameras are pooled, and in war time, the briefings may make major news. You never know. But there's a reason for the coverage gap that's older than Mr. Bush's administration. In war or peace, the president is a commanding figure -one man to whose politics and character and, nowadays, sex life, endless attention is paid. Congress is 535 people. What it does is complicated, compromises on budget items done in private, and lacks the drama of the White House. There's a primetime TV show about a president. None about the Congress. If a small newspaper has one reporter in Washington, he'll cover two things, the local congressional delegation and, on big occasions, the White House. So the complaining Democrats have a point, but it's worth remembering that coverage of a president, while always intense, isn't always positive . You could ask the Clintons. 9 Presidents will always get more coverage than Congresses. They're sexier. But it won't always be coverage they like.

PRESIDENCY IS THE FOCAL POINT OF POLITICS PRESIDENT GETS THE CREDIT OR THE BLAME, DESERVED OR NOT Rosati 4. [Jerel A., University of South Carolina Government and International Studies professor THE POLITICS OFUNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY, 2004, p. 80] Given the popular image of presidential power, presidents

receive credit when things are perceived as going well and are blamed when things go badly. Unfortunately, American politics and the policy process are incredibly complex and beyond considerable presidential control. With so many complex issues and problems to address the debt problem, the economy, energy, welfare, education, the environment, foreign policy this is a very demanding time to be president. As long as presidential promises and public expectations remain high, the presidents job becomes virtually animpossible task. Should success occur, given the lack of presidential power, it is probably not by the presidents own design. Nonetheless, the president the person perceived to be the leader of the country will be rewarded in terms public prestige, greater power, and reelection (for him or his successor). However, if the president is perceived as

of

unsuccessful a failure this results not only in a weakened president but one the public wants replaced, creating the opportunity to challenge an incumbent president or his heir as presidential nominee.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 President Gets the Blame Salience ensures a link policies that are salient with the public receive congressional scrutiny Rosati, University of South Carolina Government and International Studies professor, 04 (Jerel A., THE POLITICS OF UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY, 2004, p. 309-11) The third pattern to consider is that Congress is the ultimate political body within the U.S. government. Members of Congress are political animals who are preoccupied with their institutional status and power, their electoral security, and how they are perceived within and beyond the Washington beltway. They tend to be obsessed with reelection and are constantly soliciting funds from private contributors for reelection campaigns. A preoccupation with reelection also makes them overly sensitive to public perceptions, political support, political trends, and their public images. If the public and their constituents are interested in an issue and have staked out a position, members of Congress tend to reflect the dominant public mood. If the public is uninterested, members of Congress have more freedom of action; yet they are constantly pressured by the president, executive agencies, congressional colleagues, special interest groups, and their constituents.

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Zero sum nature of politics ensures president is assigned political blame Fitts, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, 96 (Michael, The Paradox of Power in the Modern State, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, January, 144 U. Pa. L. Rev. 827, Lexis, accessed 7-8-09, AB) To the extent that the modern president is subject to heightened visibility about what he says and does and is led to make increasingly specific statements about who should win and who should lose on an issue, his ability to mediate conflict and control the agenda can be undermined. The modern president is supposed to have a position on such matters as affirmative action, the war in Bosnia, the baseball strike, and the newest EPA regulations, the list is infinite. Perhaps in response to these pressures, each modern president has made more speeches and taken more positions than his predecessors, with Bill Clinton giving three times as many speeches as Reagan during the same period. In such circumstances, the president is far less able to exercise agenda control, refuse to take symbolic stands, or take inconsistent positions. The well-documented tendency of the press to emphasize the strategic implications of politics exacerbates this process by turning issues into zero-sum games.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 President Gets the Blame Presidency is the focal point of politics president gets the credit or the blame Rosati, University of South Carolina Government and International Studies professor, 4 (Jerel A., THE POLITICS OF UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY, 2004, p. 80) Given the popular image of presidential power, presidents receive credit when things are perceived as going well and are blamed when things go badly. Unfortunately, American politics and the policy process are incredibly complex and beyond considerable presidential control. With so many complex issues and problems to address the debt problem, the economy, energy, welfare, education, the environment, foreign policy this is a very demanding time to be president. As long as presidential promises and public expectations remain high, the presidents job becomes virtually an impossible task. Should success occur, given the lack of presidential power, it is probably not by the presidents own design. Nonetheless, the president the person perceived to be the leader of the country will be rewarded in terms of public prestige, greater power, and reelection (for him or his successor). However, if the president is perceived as unsuccessful a failure this results not only in a weakened president but one the public wants replaced, creating the opportunity to challenge an incumbent president or his heir as presidential nominee.

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Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 President Gets the Blame PRESIDENT WILL GET THE BLAME

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FITTS, PROF OF LAW @ UNIV OF PENN, 1996 [MICHAEL, UPENN LAW REVIEW P.827, LN] On the one hand, there can be no doubt that presidents make numerous mistakes for which they are and should be held politically and legally accountable. On the other hand, as the single most powerful actors in government, they may be subject to excessive scrutiny, overestimation of casual responsibility, and criticism, regardless of what they do or say or any structural changes in the system. PRESIDENT GETS THE BLAME NEUSTADT, PROF @ HARVARD UNIV., 1990 [RICHARD, PRESIDENTIAL POWER AND THE MODERN PRESIDENTS PG 34] Yet we have seen in Chapter 2 that when a President seeks something from executive officials his persuasiveness is subject to the same sorts of limitations as in the case of congressmen, or governors, or national committeemen, or private citizens, or foreign governments. There are no generic differences, no differences in kind and only sometimes in degree. The incidents preceding the dismissal of Macarthur and the incidents surrounding seizure of the steel mills make it plain that here as elsewhere influence derives from bargaining advantages; power is a give-and-take. Like our governmental structure as a whole, the executive establishment consists of separated institutions sharing powers. The President heads one of these; cabinet officers, agency administrators, and military commanders head others. Below the departmental level, virtually independent bureau chiefs head many more. Under mid-century conditions, federal operations spill across dividing lines on organization charts; almost every policy entangles many agencies; almost every program calls for interagency collaboration. Everything somehow involves the President. But operating agencies owe their existence least of all to one another- and only in some part to him. Each has a separate statutory base; each has its statutes to administer, each deals with a different set of subcommittees at the Capitol. Each has its own peculiar set of clients, friends, and enemies outside the formal government. each has a different set of specialized careerists inside its own bailiwick. Our Constitution gives the President the takecare clause and appointive power. Our statues give him central budgeting and a degree of personnel control. All agency administrators are responsible to him.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 President Gets the Blame THE PRESIDENT WILL GET BLAMED

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COHEN AND COLLIER, PROF OF POLI SCI AT FORDHAM UNIV AND ASSIS PROF AT UNIV OF KANSAS, 1999 [JEFFREY AND KEN, PRESIDENTIAL POLICYMAKING: AN END OF CENTURY ASSESSMENT, ED SHULL P. 42] One of the Presidents most important sources of political influence may be his ability to structure the agenda. While the literature on presidential agenda setting is not highly developed, there are suggestions that this type of presidential influence may exceed his often restricted ability to affect congressional decisionmaking. In his study of the agenda-setting process, Kingdon finds that respondents cite the president and his administration as perhaps the most important actor with agenda influence. As Kingdon states, there is little doubt that the president remains a powerful force in agenda setting, particularly compared to other actors, Moreover, the views of the department heads and others associated with the administration are usually thought of as the presidents or as having the presidents stamp of approval. When they speak , it is for the administration and the president. Thus, the president has many voices. THE PRESIDENT IS ALWAYS THE PRIMARY TARGET FOR BLAME ELLIS, PROF OF GOV @ BERKELEY, 1994 PRICHARD, PRESIDENTIAL LIGHTENING ROD, PG 2] This argument seems plausible enough. But so too does the opposite case, argued by Harold Laski in his class The American Presidency, published in the same year (1940) as Herrings treatise, An American president. Laski maintains, cannot deflect blame unto subordinates. A presidents position as head of the executive branch, Laski insists, makes him a target to be attacked by ever person or interest at all critical of his purposes. He is, there in all cases, to be blamed; and there is no one, in any real sense, who can help to bear the burden of the blame. In contrast to England, where we blame an anonymous entity the Government if things go wrong, in the United States it is the president who is blamed. A decision of the Supreme Court is regarded as adverse to his policy; a defeat in Congress is a blow to his presidency; the mid-term congressional elections protect his policy, good or ill. NO one thinks of them in terms of their effects upon his cabinet.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 A2: Obama Controls Spin Independent media prevents Presidents from controlling the spin

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Ronald Krebs, (Prof., Political Science, U. Minn.), AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AND THE POLITICS OF FEAR: THREAT INFLATION SINCE 9/11, 2009, 119. The recent rise of cable television and, arguably, of a generally more independent media has further undercut presidents' (already limited) capacity to control public debate. Presidents have many times faced substantial opposition and have been compelled to abandon pet projects abroad. The fact that leading Democrats typically did not vocally oppose the Iraq War is, therefore, the central puzzle.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 Obama Doesnt Get Blamed Republicans get blame for spending crisis Obama trying to compromise National Journal 7/15 (7/15/11, " Cook: Blame Republicans for Debt Crisis ", http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/cookreport/cook-blame-republicans-for-debt-crisis-20110714)

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Republicans dont seem to understand the symbiotic relationships in this negotiation. Democrats hate entitlement cuts just as much as Republicans despise tax hikes. Likewise, just as Republicans dislike defense cuts, Democrats dislike domestic spending cuts. Yet, both are necessary. If Republicans expect Democrats to go along with entitlement cuts, the GOP has to be willing to go along with some revenue increases. If Republicans expect Democrats to swallow deep hits to domestic spending, the GOP has to swallow deep hits to defense. Instead, the Republicans position seems to be that they should be allowed to stand on their principles while Democrats are required to compromise theirs. A deal to raise the debt limit will surely pass, and the United States will probably avoid default. But the business community and the financial markets will see no sign that Washington is committed to fiscal sanity. The eventual deal will give them little reason for confidence in the countrys political leadership and economic future, and they will likely keep sitting on the cash in their corporate coffers. The current equation seems to be: Big Hopes and Big Talk = Small Cuts and No Progress. Republicans want to stand on their principles, while Democrats are required to compromise on theirs. Republicans will be able to smugly walk away from the table knowing that they didnt give an inch, but President Obama may well come out the winner. The public will see the president as having tried to negotiate a balanced approach whereby each side allowed its own ox to be gored and made sacrifices for the broader national good. Washington will not succeed in bending the deficit and debt curve, and Obama will be able to blame Republicans for their unwillingness to meet Democrats halfway.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 Obama Doesnt Get Blamed Obama will blame Republicans to get re-elected Asia Times Online 7/18 (7/18/11, " Obama could stir a Tea Party crisis ",http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/MG19Dj01.html) President Barack Obama's

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best hope of re-election lies in provoking Republicans to force the United States into technical default, engineering a brief but severe financial crisis in order to appear as crisis-manager-in-chief. The Tea Party movement may be marching into a political ambush, in which Obama will be able to portray the born-again budget-cutters as irresponsible fanatics who threaten to tip America into a new depression. The now unpopular president then would assume the role of national savior in time of crisis. What wouldhappen if August arrives without an increase in the US debt ceiling? There is no good reason for a new financial crisis to erupt. But there are bad reasons. The standard scenario was rehearsed July 15 on the Financial Times' Alphaville blog, [1] which notes that "the United States runs a monthly fiscal deficit totaling $124bn, and that there are almost $60bn of T-bills maturing in the two weeks after August 2, all requiring redemption payments. (Plus a $20bn coupon payment on August 15 - Fitch has said this would be the trigger for restricted default, if missed.)"

Technical default is likely, and so perhaps, as the rating agencies have threatened, is permanent loss of America's AAA rating. The bigger danger lies in the "vast role Treasuries serve as collateral - a role which usually seesthem safely locked up in the day to day operation of the money markets, but which we already know is vulnerable to a sell-off - a Lehman, 2008style margin spiral - in

the event of the debt ceiling remaining in place. You'd hardly wait for ratings agency downgrades." The market for repurchase agreements (short-term loans against bonds) amounts to $4 trillion globally. If banks, hedge funds and others who borrowed against bonds had to put up more collateral because Treasuries were in trouble, they would have to sell huge volumes of securities into a falling market. That is what happened after the Lehman failure in 2008. Just how that might transpire is up to the central banks. After 9/11 the central banks offered unlimited amounts of short-term financing against any dead cat that financial institutions cared to offer as collateral. There are no automatic triggers in such things: ultimately the question of what collateral is good depends on the say-so of the monetary authorities. In that event, the Obama administration would declare an emergency, summon bankersto Washington for crisis-management sessions, slash every form of spending except for coupon payments on Treasuries, and so forth.

Markets would swoon over the uncertainty. And the president would be on television denouncing the lunatics who brought things to this point. Congress would pass emergency legislation, markets would snap back, and Obama would declare himself a national savior. Obama, meanwhile, would play the populist against the banks, demanding tougher government controls, consumer protection, and perhaps even the right to dictate that banks make loans to the Democrats' pet projects in the name of job-creation (just as the Clinton administration forced banks into the subprime market, supposedly to help poor people buy homes). No good crisis should go to waste, Rahm Emanuel said. As Stanley Kurtz documented in his 2011 book Radical-in-Chief [2], Obama is a socialist of pure pedigree, trained by socialists from his university days and promoted by a nexus of socialist foundations in Chicago throughout his political career. He passed up an opportunity to nationalize American banks inMarch 2009, when Paul Krugman, Simon Johnson and other leftist economists urged him to do so. Evidently he thought that a compromise with Wall Street would benefit the economy and improve his chances of re-election. That did not pan out, and Obama

has nothing to lose by running against Wall Street. A new financial crisis would give him the opportunity to do so. If I were an Obama speechwriter, here's what I would put on the teleprompter after a federal default, as stock markets tanked and individuals cashed out their money market funds: My fellow Americans, the Republican party has been in the pocket of the big banks for too long. After the last Republican administration led the country into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, you elected me to restore the balance in favor of working people. Now the Republicans have pushed America into yet another crisis, and again we are faced with the danger of depression.

Obama Will Push the Plan

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 Only Obama involvement gets plan passed General Hamel et. al, 09 Michael A., Lt. General (retired), USAF (3/10/10, The Committee for US Space Leadership,MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT: Americas Leadership in Space, http://spacepolicyonline.com/pages/images/stories/Memo_For_the_President_March_10_20091.pdf)

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Just as the mastery and use of the maritime and air domains helped define the course of world affairs and the histories of the 19th and 20th centuries, so too mastery of space will be a defining feature of the 21st century. Loss of our strategic advantage in space would have acute consequences, both symbolic and substantive, on U.S. standing in the world and erode capabilities crucial to the nations security and prosperity in the decades ahead. We know the formula for success

in space. It takes the right skills, hard work, and effective management, starting at the top. Strong White House leadership is essential to putting the national space enterprise on an effective new course, which in turn will be highly supportive and synergistic with your broader agenda, priorities, and goals for the nation. Nearly fifty years ago, a newPresident challenged America to become the world leader in space, to send Americans to the moon and return them safely to Earth within a decade. America succeeded in achieving President Kennedys vision, and the nation has benefited beyond imagination from meeting that challenge. America is at a new crossroads, and we

need our new President to inspire the nation with a space vision and government actions to assure our continued leadership in the 2s1t century. Plan requires presidential involvement means Obama gets the blame Marcia Smith 11 Smith is President of the Space and Technology Policy Group, LLC, which specializes in news, information and analysisof civil, military and commercial space programs and other technology areas. From March 2006-March 2009, Ms. Smith was Director of the Space Studies Board (SSB) at the National Research Council (NRC), Last Man on Moon and Space Policy Expert Dismayed at State of U.S. Human Spaceflight Program 5/25 http://spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1591:last-man-onmoon-and-space-policy-expert-dismayed-at-state-of-us-human-spaceflight-program&catid=67:news&Itemid=27 Logsdon recounted the key points of his new book, John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon, emphasizing that JFK was not a space visionary, but a President coping with Cold War realities. In his op-ed for the Orlando Sentinel today, Logsdon suggested that JFK

could be a role model for President Obama in remaining closely involved in space program decisions. "If President Obama hopes for a positive space legacy, he needs to emulate John Kennedy; without sustained presidential leadership, NASA will continue to lack the focus required for a space effort producing acknowledged international leadership and national pride in what the United States accomplishes," Logsdon wrote. Executive Controls Space Policy Obama Push Is Required G. Ryan Faith 10 G. Ryan Faith is an independent technology consultant and Adjunct Fellow for Space Initiatives at the Center forStrategic and International Studies, (CSIS). President Obamas Vision for Space Exploration (part 2) 4/26 http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1616/1 One thing that President Obama can learn from the fate of his predecessors plan for space exploration is that continued, periodic

political support at the Presidential level is of great importanceor is perceived to be within the space communitybecause of the sentiment that the national space exploration program is a tool to be used by and within the prerogative of the executive. Should international cooperation play a greater role in American plans in the near future, engagement by the President and State Department on behalf of NASA will be quite valuable.


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### Spillover ###

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 Yes Spillover

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Yes vote switching no impact to ideology Bond & Fleisher, Professor in Political Science - Texas A&M & Professor in Political Science Fordham - 1996 (Jon R. and Richard The President in Legislation pg 54)In a previous study of presidential-congressional relations from Eisenhower to Ford, we found that ideological conflict between the president and members of Congress was associated with lower support. In general, as ideological differences increase, the president tends to lose support from members of both parties at about the same rate, although support from the opposition is lower at all levels of ideological conflict (Bond and Fleisher 1980,75). Thus ideological forces in Congress often cause the formation of bipartisan coalitions to support or oppose the presidents policy preferences. These ideological forces help explain why majority presidents have only a limited advantage over minority presidents in building majority support for their positions in Congress. Majority presidents inevitably experience defections of partisans who have ideologies in conflict with theirs. Minority presidents, on the other hand, can frequently build working majorities composed of their partisan base and like-minded members of the opposition.

Political capital spills over 107th congress proves LEE 05 The Rose Institute of State & Local Government Claremont McKenna College Presented at the Georgia Political Science Association 2005 Conference [Andrew, Invest or Spend?:Political capital and Statements of Administration Policy in the First Term of the George W. Bush Presidency, http://as.clayton.edu/trachtenberg/2005%20Proceedings%20Lee.pdf]The idea of investing political capital also supports the notion that the chief executive specializes in foreign and defense policy. The president may increase his domestic capital by cooperating on domestic legislation and then spend it implementing foreign policies. In executing foreign policy, the president will not issue

SAPs on his own foreign policy. For example, if the president signs a treaty, Congress may or may not ratify it, but there is no opportunity for veto. Therefore, the presidents use of foreign policy is a spend maneuver, whereas his domestic policy is an invest maneuver. The 107th Congress, during which the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, supports this theory. President Bush may have spent his political capital towards executing those wars and attempted to invest his capital by cooperatingon domestic legislation.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 No Spillover No Spillover Congress considers policies individually George C. Edwards III Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the director of the Center for Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University March 2000 (Presidential Studies Quarterly. Volume 30. Issue 1. Building Coalitions ty)

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Besides not considering the full range of available views, members of Congress are not generally in a position to make trade-offs between policies. Because of its decentralization, Congress usually considers policies serially, that is, without reference to other policies. Without an integrating mechanism, members have few means by which to set and enforce priorities and to emphasize the policies with which the president is most concerned. This latter point is especially true when the opposition party controls Congress.

Senators dont vote based on capital its all about ideology and representing their local interests Matt Yglesias, Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, 6-15-09, http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/06/the-limits-of-political-capital.php I think the answer to the puzzle is simply that political capital is a pretty misleading metaphor. The fact of the matter is that the Senate is what it isto wit, an institution with an enormous status quo bias, thats also biased in favor of conservative areas. On top of that, the entire structure of the US Congress with its bicameralism and multiple overlapping committees is biased toward making it easy for concentrated interests to block reform. Between them, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Chuck Schumer, Kristen Gillibrand, Bill Nelson, Dick Durbin, Roland Burriss, Arlen Specter, Bob Casey, Sherrod Brown, Carl Levin, Amy Klobuchar, Kay Hagan, Bob Menendez, Frank Lautenberg, Mark Warner, Jim Webb, Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and Evan Bayh represent 50 percent of the countrys population. But that only adds up to 22 Senatorsyou need thirty-eight more to pass a bill. Meanwhile, the fact of the matter is that in recent years plenty of incumbent Republicans have been brought down by primary challenges from the right and as best I know zero Democrats have been brought down by primary challenges from the left. This has been a huge advantage for the Democrats in terms of winning electionsits an important part of the reason Democrats have these majorities. But it also means that when it comes to policymaking, Republicans have a lot of solidarity but Democratic leaders have little leverage over individual members. In other words, nobody thinks that Collin Peterson (D-MN) is going to lose his seat over badly watering down Waxman-Markey and that matters a lotmore than airy considerations of capital.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 No Spill-Over No horsetrading policies are examined individually George C. Edwards III Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the director of the Center for Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University March 2000 (Presidential Studies Quarterly. Volume 30. Issue 1. Building Coalitions ty) In addition, Congress has little capability to examine two policies, such as education and health care, inrelation to each other. Not knowing that giving up something on one policy will result in a greater return on another policy, members have little incentive to engage in trade-offs. The budget committees have a

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broader scope than other committees and are involved in making some trade-offs between policies and setting some priorities. But they deal only with direct expenditures (and then usually only with increases over past expenditures), not taxes (except for general revenue estimates), tax expenditures, treaties, regulation, or other important areas. Moreover, they only recommend general limits on spending, leaving it up to the more parochial subject-area committees to go into specifics. The House committee is also composed of temporary members whosepermanent committee assignments undoubtedly limit their scope.


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No SpilloverPolitical Capital is irrelevant case studies prove Bond & Fleisher, Professor in Political Science - Texas A&M & Professor in Political Science Fordham 1996 (Jon R. and Richard The President in Legislation) In sum, the evidence presented in this chapter provides little support for the theory that the president'sperceived leadership, skills are associated with success on roll call votes in Congress. Presidents reputed as highly skilled do not win consistently more often than should be expected. Even the effects of the partisan balanced Congress, the president's popularity, and, the cycle of decreasing influence over the course of his term. Presidents reputed as unskilled do not win consistently less often relative to. Moreover, skilled presidents do not win significantly more often than unskilled presidents on either important votes or close votes, in which skills have the greatest potential to affect the outcome. Because of the difficulty of establishing a

definitive test of the skills theory, some may argue that it is premature to reject this explanation of presidential success based on the tests reported in this chapter. It might be argued that these findings by themselves do not deny that leadership skill is an important component of presidential-congressional relations. Failure to find systematic effects in general does not necessarily refute the anecdotes and case studies demonstrating the importance of skills.


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No Spillover Foreign policy/ Domestic PolicyNo spillover between domestic and foreign policy Andrew Lee The Rose Institute of State & Local Government Claremont McKenna College - 2005(Invest or Spend?:Political capital and Statements of Administration Policy in the First Term of the George W. Bush Presidency, http://a-s.clayton.edu/trachtenberg/2005%20Proceedings%20Lee.pdf) The idea of investing political capital also supports the notion that the chief executive specializes in foreign and defense policy. The president may increase his domestic capital by cooperating on domestic legislation and then spend it implementing foreign policies. In executing foreign policy, the president will not issue SAPs on his own foreign policy. For example, if the president signs a treaty, Congress may or may not ratify it, but there is no opportunity for veto. Therefore, the presidents use of foreign policy is a spend maneuver, whereas his domestic policy is an invest maneuver. The 107th Congress, during which the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, supports this theory. President Bush may have spent his political capital towards executing those wars and attempted to invest his capital by cooperating on domestic legislation.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 ### Courts ###

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2AC No Court Link Court decisions dont hurt politicians they serve as a scapegoat for unpopular actions GARRETT & STUTZ 05 Dallas Morning News Staff [Robert T., and Terrence, Justices to decide if overhaul needed after bills fail in Legislature, August 19, 2005, http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/schoolfinance/st ories/082005dntexsession.8bd31b4a.html] That could foreshadow the court's response to a chief argument by state attorneys that the court should butt out and leave school finance to the Legislature. A court finding against the state would put the ball back in the hands of lawmakers, who have tended to put off dealing with problems in schools, prisons and mental health facilities until state or federal judges forced them to act. "It's the classic political response to problems they don't want to deal with," said Maurice Dyson, a school finance expert and assistant law professor at Southern Methodist University. "There is no better political cover than to have a court rule that something must be done, which allows politicians to say their hands are tied." No link - Bush gets blamed his stamp on the courts is so strong, Obama cant overcome it. Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor at Slate, Los Angeles Times 3-8-09 Of course, in the final analysis, it does matter enormously who sits on the federal bench. And partisan bickering over who borked whom, and when, obscures the fact that the appointment power of the president -- and its disposition in the hands of senators -- can fundamentally change the legal landscape. The New York Times' Charlie Savage reported last fall that Bush had managed despite the confirmation battles to appoint more than one-third of the judges currently serving on the federal appellate bench. These Bush appointees tended to be strikingly young and were "advancing a conservative legal revolution that began three decades ago under President Reagan." Today, 10 of the 13 federal circuits are controlled by Republican appointees, who will shape national jurisprudence for years to come. As far as Democrats are concerned, an imbalance of this magnitude requires strong medicine in the coming years. Some are calling for Obama to seat a small army of fiery, ideological judges. Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, told The Times: "We hope for a justice who can replace the lost voice of an Earl Warren or Thurgood Marshall or William Brennan." My colleague Emily Bazelon has said, "The goal should be to find someone who can speak with a roar that matches Scalia's." It probably won't happen. Obama almost certainly will get to appoint one or more Supreme Court judges -- four are over the age of 70. And the White House has already begun to assess the federal court vacancies across the nation. During the campaign, Obama mentioned "empathy" as a prerequisite for judges. He has shown himself inclined toward moderation, and that probably will extend to his judicial nominations.


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2AC No Court Link No perception of court action means no link FRANKLIN, PROF POLI SCI @ UNIV OF WISCONSIN, 1995 [CHARLES, CONTEMPLATING COURTS] Very few people have direct contact with the Supreme Court and its decisions. Journalists may cover the Court, and lawyers may read some of its decisions, but the vast majority of Americans encounter the Supreme Court indirectly, through the media or perhaps conversation. How much the media cover the Court and how much attention they devote to decisions therefore determine to a significant extent what the citizenry knows about the court. One of the peculiarities of the Supreme Court as an institution is that it is high episodic and mostly private. Except on the days when it hears oral argument and the days when it hands down a decision, there is literally nothing to watch. The justices meet in private and they talk to themselves in private. Political scientists tell us this is a crucial time of negotiations and decision making (Baum 1992; Murphy 1994) but because it is private, It is invisible to the media. In contrast, even before it takes a vote, Congress holds hearings, committee and subcommittee meetings, and floor debates; and party leaders and other members make statements, visit the White house, and appear on television interview shows. In comparison to the Supreme Court, Congress is a veritable hotbed of activity. The President is even more visible. Given these differences in institutional structure and practice, it is not surprising to find that the Supreme Court is much less frequently covered in the media. The consequence of this is nonetheless important. As one of the three branches of the federal government, the Court is coequal with the President and the Congress. Yet it is far from co-equal in visibility and hence in knowledge citizens have about it and its decisions.


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1AR No Court Link The politics disad makes no sense in the context of a courts aff 1) Politicians blame the court for unpopular actions they have to take. The political cover of court action means officials would shift any industry backlash onto the court and there would be no political capital / horsetrading story Thats 2AC Guertz. Brown, flag burning and line-item veto prove Congress can shift the blame for unpopular actions to the court and face no political repercussions STACK, PROF OF POLI SCI @ FLORIDA INTL UNIV, 2001, [JOHN, CONGRESS CONFRONTS THE COURTS, PG.] So there clearly are circumstances in which the Court can effectively legislate, although unless it reads the public mood carefully, it is likely to find itself contesting for political authority on these matters with the other branches of the government: a conflict that poses significant risks for the courts authority. One further development of the past half-century or so demands our attention, however, because it has implications for the long-term authority of the Court and the integrity of the American political system as a whole. This development brings us back to the second of the scenarios above: the tendency for Congress to pass the buck to the Court on a whole range of political issues that the legislative branch itself is reluctant to tackle or resolve. Since Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 a whole slew of other political issues have fallen into the lap of the court affirmative action, abortion, gay rights issues that touch a sensitive chord in multiethnic, multicultural America. This, together with the increasing ability of national interest groups associated with these issues to promote their objectives in federal court, has meant that the judiciary has had to address these extremely explosive issues whether it wants to or not, as seen with the prolonged reaction to the Courts 1973 Roe v Wade decision legalizing abortion. We have also seen other instances where Congress has passed legislation of obviously dubious constitutionality to cater to ephemeral national sentiments flag desecration and the line-item veto come to mind- fairly secure in the knowledge that the Court will take the political opprobrium for rejecting them. Aside from the obvious concerns for the integrity of the electoral process if the least electorally accountable branch of the federal government is making more and more significant decisions, buck passing to the judiciary has also been unhealthy for the court and the relationship between the branches. 2) At best, they win that the president gets the backlash because he appointed the judiciary. But, since Bush left a permanent mark on the current court, and Obama has appointed 0 justices, hell get the [blame / credit] for all the decisions thats Lithwick


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1AR No Court Link Theres no link to politics court decisions have no effect on Washington politics Christian Science Monitor June 25, 1997 These days, in marked contrast to a White House nagged by scandal and a Congress often locked in bickering, the Supreme Court is riding high in terms of its public image and esteem. The court does not have the power of purse or sword, but Americans continue to trust it as a fair arbiter of the nation's business - more than other branches of government, according to recent surveys. Possibly adding to the court's prestige, the justices are deciding more major cases than at any time in the past decade - in areas such as religious freedom, the line-item veto, regulation of the Internet, and assisted suicide. There's even a popular new mystery novel out this year about the lives of Supreme Court clerks. "The stature and credibility of the court is higher than ever," says Akhil Amar, a scholar at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. "There's an aura around it at the moment." CONTINUES Today this holds true even more. In one sense, the reason is obvious: With divided government and partisan sniping in Washington, when politicians must create a TV image and constantly raise funds, the scholarly-looking justices seem a refreshing alternative. They come out in black robes from behind red silk curtains, and everyone stands. They ask incisive questions. They disappear. It looks like competence personified. And there's some truth to it. The members of the court don't need to campaign for office every few years. They were selected for life. They don't need speech writers or have to check the polls. The current justices, unlike earlier courts, generally write their own opinions. They are free to dissent, and their rulings are not tied to interest-group pressure. Moreover, as an institution, the court is uniquely constituted. It is not one targetable political persona, as is a single chief executive. Yet it is smaller than a Congress of 535 people. Congress is covered by TV four times as much as the court is. The White House is covered eight times as much, says Lee Epstein of Washington University in St. Louis. The court stands out now because it is not part of Washington's political swamp. The carefully cultivated aloofness of the Supreme Court is, in the Washington scene, almost countercultural in nature. The court's warts don't show. "People don't see the court infighting; it seems more harmonious and less political," says one court-watcher. "With Congress and the White House, we see the blood-letting on the street." Importantly, say scholars, current justices benefit from courageous stands the court took in cases like Brown school desegregation, and the Roe abortion-rights case - when the majority was fragile and the justices felt under great pressure. Those decisions are a main reason the court image is so buffed today. Justices Don't Have to Wade in Washington Swamp.

Harvard Debate Politics Internals 10-11 Courts Dont Link Insulated Ext. No link the public ignores court action Chris Deeney, Ipsos News Center, January 10, 2006 [Most Americans Cant Name Any Supreme Court Justices, Says FindLaw.com Survey, http://www.ipsosna.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=2933] (PDAF0728)

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In spite of broad, high-profile news coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court in the past year, 57 percent of Americans cant name any current U.S. Supreme Court justices. According to a new national survey conducted by FindLaw.com, the leading legal Web site, only 43 percent of American adults can name at least one justice who is currently serving on the nations highest court . In a way its not surprising that most members of the public cant name a single Supreme Court justice, says constitutional historian Stephen Presser, a professor at Northwestern University Law School. The average citizen probably doesnt view the judicial role as being as important as the role of Congress, which in effect makes the laws, or the president, who administers the laws. The reality is that who sits on the Supreme Court makes a big difference as to what happens to us as a nation. As such, the public ought to be paying more attention to the Supreme Court and the battles over the nomination of justices. Courts are insulated from politics no link Michael L. De Shazo, JD/BCL Candidate May 2005 @LSU, Louisiana Law Review Fall, 2004 65 La. L. Rev. 507 As former Chief Justice John Marshall so famously stated in Marbury v. Madison, "[i]t is emphatically the province and duty of the of the judicial department to say what the law is." n166 Those who suggest that the Supreme Court utilize de minimis to protect the credibility of the Court ignore this command and invite the judicial branch to practice a dangerous jurisprudence of public sentiment. Inde

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