As we get started on our bill projects – you’re going to need to find an issue that you care about.

What’s a problem in the world, in the US, in Texas, in Round Rock, or in your neighborhood, that you care about? And what could the US Congress do about it (if anything)? The more interesting your topic is to you, the more likely you are to create a bill that will make it through Congress successfully!

Here are the PowerPoints for the Legislative and the Executive branches.

The test will be on Tuesday November 25th (the day before Thanksgiving) for A day classes, and Monday December 1st (the day after Thanksgiving) for 6th period.

I apologize for the awkward testing dates and I understand that they will be difficult for some of you. If you need to take the test EARLY because you will be visiting family please let me know. If you know you will be gone, you must take the test EARLY. Thank you!

Our test review for this unit will not be ‘typical.’

We’re going to use several activities combined together to create an excellent review.

However, if you miss the review day (11/24) it will be more difficult. Here is a copy of what we will do in class.

The test will be on 12/2

Those of you who fell behind, or missed something, may use this also in order to catch up.

Interactive Test Review (.doc format)

In addition, please use the PowerPoints that I have provided on this website! You can find them at this link.

Finally. Take the time to define and understand the following terms and concepts:

Electoral Votes
Session
Trustee
Partisian
Politico
Gerrymandering
Apportionment
Constituents
Veto
Filibuster
Cloture Rule
The hopper
Rules Committee
Speaker of the House
President pro tempore
Majority Whip
Majority Leader
Ways and Means Committee
Pork-barreling
Franking privilege
Interest group
Lobbyist
Executive order
Signing statement

Good luck – have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Senate race in Minnesota STILL isn’t decided!

The race between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat and former comedian Al Franken was too close to call after the votes were counted. In fact, after over 2 MILLION votes were counted, the difference was less than 300 votes.

LESS THAN 300 VOTES!!!

(Don’t ever let anyone EVER tell you that their vote doesn’t count)

The state of Minnesota is currently recounting the votes. While this seems simple, it really isn’t at all. Sometimes its hard to tell EXACTLY what the voters intent is!

Can you tell who the voter intended to vote for?

Election day is quickly approaching – November 4th, 2008

To vote on election day you must be registered with your county Voter Registrar by October 6th.

You can register by visiting the Texas Secretary of State website. You will need to print out the application, sign it, and mail it to Wilco by October 6th. The address is provided below:

Williamson County Elections
P.O. Box 209
Georgetown, TX 78627

If you are already registered to vote at your current address, you do not need to register again.
You may also verify your voter registration or update your address on your local county’s site:
Travis County
Williamson County

Misplaced/Lost Registration Certificate

If you’ve lost your Voter Registration Certificate you can still vote using a Texas Driver’s License or other valid form of ID as long as you are currently registered.

Feel free to send this on to anyone who may benefit from it.

I frequently use a utility called StumbleUpon to find new and interesting websites to use in the classroom.

While ‘Stumbling’ I came across this article, explaining how SU works.

You can ‘recommend’ any posting on MrOsman.com to StumbleUpon by clicking the SSU icon below – I recommend you do so!