Word of the Week (WOW)
Indivisible
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES INDIVISIBLE MEAN?
Indivisible means incapable of being divided. As in I pledge allegiance to the flag, one nation, under God, indivisible.
Throughout the history of our nation, there have been days where Americans were fiercely divided on issues, candidates, points of view and perspectives. We’ve witness this over the past year like never before. Major issues have divided Americans, but throughout the debate the beauty of The United States of America has shined through. One nation, under God, indivisible.
Bill of Attainder
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A BILL OF ATTAINDER?
Many have called the legislation authorizing the taxation of the AIG bonuses a Bill of Attainder. Keep these three words in mind over the next week, as they may resurface.
A bill of attainder (also known as an act or writ of attainder) is an act of the legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial. Bills of attainder are forbidden by Article I, section 9, clause 3 of the United States Constitution.Within the U.S. Constitution, the clauses forbidding attainder laws serve two purposes. First, they reinforced the separation of powers, by forbidding the legislature to perform judicial functions—since the outcome of any such acts of legislature would of necessity take the form of a bill of attainder. Second, they embody the concept of due process, which was later reinforced by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The text of the Constitution, Article I, Section 9; Clause 3 is “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed”. The constitution of every State also expressly forbids bills of attainder. For example, Wisconsin’s constitution Article I, Section 12 reads:
No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate. source: wikipedia
Nationalization
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES BANK NATIONALIZATION MEAN?
Nationalization means transferring the ownership or control of one or more banks from the shareholders to the government. This is not a new policy for the federal government. Bank regulators have stood ready for decades to take over an insolvent bank, or one on the brink of insolvency, if it is not possible to find private capitol to shore up the bank nor find a strong acquisition. Often applied to small banks, this practice has applied even to quite large banks in rare circumstances — the FDIC took over Indy Mac bank in 2008 and Continental Illinois in 1984. The issues in question today have to do with whether the government should be quicker to do this, whether the practice should be more widespread, and how any nationalizations should be implemented.
Appropriations
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS AN APPROPRIATION?
An appropriations is money designated for a specific purpose, either mandatory or discretionary. An appropriations bill is legislation which allows the Treasury Department to release money to federal agencies and programs. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In this regard, it is also known as a “spending” bill. An estimated 90 percent of all monies appropriated are awarded to individuals, companies, local and state governments and not-for-profits as grants, contracts or cooperative agreements. These awards are made primarily through formula or competitive processes.
The Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations cycle is starting to pick up momentum and will accelerate following the submission of President Obama’s budget to Congress — the timing of which is still uncertain. Could be as early as March and as late as the end of April. Between now and then, Congress will have to complete the FY09 appropriations cycle, probably by adopting an Omnibus Appropriations bill. Because the vast majority of the spending bills were not completed prior to the November 2008 elections, we are operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) — basically allowing the government to operate at prior year spending levels. The CR expires on March 6, requiring that some action be taken on the carried over FY09 bills sooner vs. later. “No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.” - US Constitution, Article 1, section 9
Populist
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHO OR WHAT EXACTLY IS A POPULIST?
1: a member of a political party claiming to represent the common people ; especially often capitalized : a member of a United States political party formed in 1891 primarily to represent agrarian interests and to advocate the free coinage of silver and government control of monopolies.
2: a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people.
Tenacity
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS TENACITY?
The state of being tenacious:
1 a: not easily pulled apart : cohesive <a tenacious metal> b: tending to adhere or cling especially to another substance.
2 a: persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired <a tenacious advocate of civil rights> b: retentive <a tenacious memory>
EXAMPLES OF TENACITY AT WORK:
A great example of tenacity at work come from the Congressional Black Caucus.
In January 1969, newly elected African American representatives of the 77th Congress joined six incumbents to form the “Democratic Select Committee.The Committee was renamed the Congressional Black Caucus and the CBC was born in 1971. Founding Members were Representatives Shirley Chisholm, William Clay, George Collins, John Conyers, Ronald Dellums, Charles Diggs, Augustus Hawkins, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren Mitchell, Robert Nix, Charles Rangel, Louis Stokes, and DC Delegate Walter Fauntroy. Their goals were to positively influence the course of events pertinent to African Americans and others of similar experience and situation, and to achieve greater equity for persons of African descent in the design and content of domestic and international programs and services.
While the CBC has been primarily focused on the concerns of African Americans, the Caucus has also been at the forefront of legislative campaigns for human and civil rights for all citizens.
Today, the vision of the founding members of the CBC to “promote the public welfare through legislation designed to meet the needs of millions of neglected citizens,” continues to be a beacon and focal point for the legislative work and political activities of the Congressional Black Caucus today.
Visit the organization’s website for more information: http://www.cbcfinc.org/About/CBC/index.html
Advocacy
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS ADVOCACY?
ad·vo·ca·cy : the act or process of advocating (to plead in favor of) or supporting a cause or proposal. More directly, Advocacy is the pursuit of influencing outcomes — including public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions — that directly affect people’s lives.
Therefore, advocacy can be seen as a deliberate process of speaking out on issues of concern in order to exert some influence on behalf of ideas or persons. However, advocacy has many interpretations depending on the issue at stake, which can be different from this initial value-neutral definition. source: wikipedia
EXAMPLES OF ADVOCACY AT WORK:
The National Association of Social Workers is a fine example of an organization that employs advocacy to improve the lives of its members and those they serve. As written on their site, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with 150,000 members. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies.
Speaking of their advocacy efforts they state, NASW’s Government Relations staff is fighting hard to make the voice of professional social workers heard on Capitol Hill. The most effective way to express our ideas and vision, however, is through our members. Having a network of professional social workers willing to contact their members of Congress – via letter, e-mail, or office visits regarding specific issues is essential, ensuring that NASW’s legislative agenda is addressed in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Their current legislative push is the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act:
The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act is the most comprehensive piece of federal legislation ever aimed at addressing the significant workforce challenges facing the profession of social work. Congressman and fellow social worker, Edolphus Towns (D-NY) introduced H.R. 5447 on February 14, 2008 and Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) introduced the Senate companion bill, S. 2858 on World Social Work Day, April 15, 2008.
Visit the link below to get an up close view this organization’s approach to advocacy:
https://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/default.asp
Another great example of advocacy at work is shown by the DC organization: DC Vote.
DC Vote works to end the taxation without representation faced by over half a million people living with the D.C. boundaries. Although the DC HouseVoting Rights Act was passed in 2007 by the U.S. House of Representatives, it fell short by 3 votes in the US Senate. Now with seven of the republicans who opposed the bill replaced by Democrats, the pressure is on to resurrect the bill and see it passed. Fast Facts on the DC Voting Rights Act
Diplomacy
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS DIPLOMACY?
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics and culture. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians.
In an informal or social sense, diplomacy is the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage or to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational, or polite manner.
A quick glance back at one of our nation’s toughest moments, the attack on Pearl Harbor, reveals that while diplomacy was at work, it was not working for us. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is quoted as follows.
“The United States was at peace with that Nation [Japan] and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic relations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.”
While the attack on Pearl Harbor was an example of diplomacy working against us. Diplomacy has been and continues to be one of our nation’s greatest assets toward ensuring peace and strengthening our standing abroad in all areas from economics to trade to overall perception.
Social Entrepreneurism
Okay, this is two words, but it’s still our WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURISM?
Social entrepreneurship’ is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact s/he has on society.
This week’s example of our WOW in action comes from the group, EPIC CHANGE.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, EPIC CHANGE launched an innovate and creative campaign, entitles “TweetsGiving.” During the campaign, they encouraged users of the social media site, Twitter, to “tweet” something they were thankful for to all the people who “follow” them on Twitter, and then include a link to Epic Change’s TweetsGiving page where they can make a donation to build a school in Tanzania.
Donations could be made in honor of anyone. Through this campaign, they were able to raise over $10,000 in just 48 hours! Now that if that isn’t worthy of a WOW! what is?
In a world filled with so many ills, its enlightening to know that people realize the potential for good in the world.
Check it out: http://www.dcvote.org/library/videodemandthevote.cfm
What Does It Do?
- The bill permanently expands the number of members of the House of Representatives from 435 to 437 seats.
- DC residents would have their first-ever voting member of the House of Representatives. The DC Delegate position would be eliminated.
- It also adds a seat to the next state in line to gain a Representative based on U.S. Census numbers. Currently that state is Utah.
In a true sense of advocacy, Local musicians, Joe L. Da Vessel in collaboration with band Melodic, created a new song commissioned by DC Vote. Demand the Vote is a great go-go song that entertains and educates people about DC voting rights.
A bill of attainder (also known as an act or writ of attainder) is an act of the legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial. Bills of attainder are forbidden by Article I, section 9, clause 3 of the United States Constitution.Within the U.S. Constitution, the clauses forbidding attainder laws serve two purposes. First, they reinforced the separation of powers, by forbidding the legislature to perform judicial functions—since the outcome of any such acts of legislature would of necessity take the form of a bill of attainder. Second, they embody the concept of due process, which was later reinforced by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The text of the Constitution, Article I, Section 9; Clause 3 is “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed”. The constitution of every State also expressly forbids bills of attainder. For example, Wisconsin’s constitution Article I, Section 12 reads:
No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate. source: wikipedia
Nationalization
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES BANK NATIONALIZATION MEAN?
Nationalization means transferring the ownership or control of one or more banks from the shareholders to the government. This is not a new policy for the federal government. Bank regulators have stood ready for decades to take over an insolvent bank, or one on the brink of insolvency, if it is not possible to find private capitol to shore up the bank nor find a strong acquisition. Often applied to small banks, this practice has applied even to quite large banks in rare circumstances — the FDIC took over Indy Mac bank in 2008 and Continental Illinois in 1984. The issues in question today have to do with whether the government should be quicker to do this, whether the practice should be more widespread, and how any nationalizations should be implemented.
Appropriations
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS AN APPROPRIATION?
An appropriations is money designated for a specific purpose, either mandatory or discretionary. An appropriations bill is legislation which allows the Treasury Department to release money to federal agencies and programs. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In this regard, it is also known as a “spending” bill. An estimated 90 percent of all monies appropriated are awarded to individuals, companies, local and state governments and not-for-profits as grants, contracts or cooperative agreements. These awards are made primarily through formula or competitive processes.
Populist
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHO OR WHAT EXACTLY IS A POPULIST?
1: a member of a political party claiming to represent the common people ; especially often capitalized : a member of a United States political party formed in 1891 primarily to represent agrarian interests and to advocate the free coinage of silver and government control of monopolies.
2: a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people.
Tenacity
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS TENACITY?
The state of being tenacious:
1 a: not easily pulled apart : cohesive <a tenacious metal> b: tending to adhere or cling especially to another substance.
2 a: persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired <a tenacious advocate of civil rights> b: retentive <a tenacious memory>
EXAMPLES OF TENACITY AT WORK:
A great example of tenacity at work come from the Congressional Black Caucus.
In January 1969, newly elected African American representatives of the 77th Congress joined six incumbents to form the “Democratic Select Committee.The Committee was renamed the Congressional Black Caucus and the CBC was born in 1971. Founding Members were Representatives Shirley Chisholm, William Clay, George Collins, John Conyers, Ronald Dellums, Charles Diggs, Augustus Hawkins, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren Mitchell, Robert Nix, Charles Rangel, Louis Stokes, and DC Delegate Walter Fauntroy. Their goals were to positively influence the course of events pertinent to African Americans and others of similar experience and situation, and to achieve greater equity for persons of African descent in the design and content of domestic and international programs and services.
While the CBC has been primarily focused on the concerns of African Americans, the Caucus has also been at the forefront of legislative campaigns for human and civil rights for all citizens.
Today, the vision of the founding members of the CBC to “promote the public welfare through legislation designed to meet the needs of millions of neglected citizens,” continues to be a beacon and focal point for the legislative work and political activities of the Congressional Black Caucus today.
Visit the organization’s website for more information: http://www.cbcfinc.org/About/CBC/index.html
Advocacy
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS ADVOCACY?
- ad·vo·ca·cy : the act or process of advocating (to plead in favor of) or supporting a cause or proposal. More directly, Advocacy is the pursuit of influencing outcomes — including public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions — that directly affect people’s lives.
Therefore, advocacy can be seen as a deliberate process of speaking out on issues of concern in order to exert some influence on behalf of ideas or persons. However, advocacy has many interpretations depending on the issue at stake, which can be different from this initial value-neutral definition. source: wikipedia
EXAMPLES OF ADVOCACY AT WORK:
The National Association of Social Workers is a fine example of an organization that employs advocacy to improve the lives of its members and those they serve. As written on their site, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with 150,000 members. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies.
Speaking of their advocacy efforts they state, NASW’s Government Relations staff is fighting hard to make the voice of professional social workers heard on Capitol Hill. The most effective way to express our ideas and vision, however, is through our members. Having a network of professional social workers willing to contact their members of Congress – via letter, e-mail, or office visits regarding specific issues is essential, ensuring that NASW’s legislative agenda is addressed in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Their current legislative push is the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act:
The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act is the most comprehensive piece of federal legislation ever aimed at addressing the significant workforce challenges facing the profession of social work. Congressman and fellow social worker, Edolphus Towns (D-NY) introduced H.R. 5447 on February 14, 2008 and Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) introduced the Senate companion bill, S. 2858 on World Social Work Day, April 15, 2008.
Visit the link below to get an up close view this organization’s approach to advocacy:
https://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/default.asp
Another great example of advocacy at work is shown by the DC organization: DC Vote.
DC Vote works to end the taxation without representation faced by over half a million people living with the D.C. boundaries. Although the DC HouseVoting Rights Act was passed in 2007 by the U.S. House of Representatives, it fell short by 3 votes in the US Senate. Now with seven of the republicans who opposed the bill replaced by Democrats, the pressure is on to resurrect the bill and see it passed. Fast Facts on the DC Voting Rights Act
Diplomacy
This week’s WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS DIPLOMACY?
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics and culture. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians.
In an informal or social sense, diplomacy is the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage or to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational, or polite manner.
A quick glance back at one of our nation’s toughest moments, the attack on Pearl Harbor, reveals that while diplomacy was at work, it was not working for us. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is quoted as follows.
“The United States was at peace with that Nation [Japan] and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic relations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.”
While the attack on Pearl Harbor was an example of diplomacy working against us. Diplomacy has been and continues to be one of our nation’s greatest assets toward ensuring peace and strengthening our standing abroad in all areas from economics to trade to overall perception.
Social Entrepreneurism
Okay, this is two words, but it’s still our WOW – word of the week.
WHAT EXACTLY IS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURISM?
Social entrepreneurship’ is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact s/he has on society.
This week’s example of our WOW in action comes from the group, EPIC CHANGE.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, EPIC CHANGE launched an innovate and creative campaign, entitles “TweetsGiving.” During the campaign, they encouraged users of the social media site, Twitter, to “tweet” something they were thankful for to all the people who “follow” them on Twitter, and then include a link to Epic Change’s TweetsGiving page where they can make a donation to build a school in Tanzania.
Donations could be made in honor of anyone. Through this campaign, they were able to raise over $10,000 in just 48 hours! Now that if that isn’t worthy of a WOW! what is?
What Does It Do?
- The bill permanently expands the number of members of the House of Representatives from 435 to 437 seats.
- DC residents would have their first-ever voting member of the House of Representatives. The DC Delegate position would be eliminated.
- It also adds a seat to the next state in line to gain a Representative based on U.S. Census numbers. Currently that state is Utah.
In a true sense of advocacy, Local musicians, Joe L. Da Vessel in collaboration with band Melodic, created a new song commissioned by DC Vote. Demand the Vote is a great go-go song that entertains and educates people about DC voting rights.
