Barnes@LHS
  • AP Euro
    • Activity Websites >
      • "Leaders of Men" Activity
      • "Fantasy Christianity": The Protestants vs. The Catholics
      • Thirty Years War: Eyewitnesses To Horror
      • "Colonial Expansion" Activity
      • Absolute Monarch "Stock Market" Simulation
      • The Great "Fate" Debate: The English Civil War
      • "Bow Tie Flip" Activity
      • French Revolution HEADLINES Activity
      • Napoleon's Paris
      • Napoleonic "Praise or Infamy" Activity
      • 1848: National Powder Kegs
      • "Step Forward, Step Backward" Activity
      • "Strong Borders, Strong Governments" Industrialization Activity
      • "Industry and the People" Analysis
      • "White Australia" Immigration Activity
      • Imperialism: Rationale, Criticism, and Response
      • World War I: A Gallery Walk
      • "Age of Anxiety": Art, Literature, and Thought
      • Sachsenhausen: The Model Camp
      • Stasiland: Life Behind 'The Wall'
  • U.S. Government
    • Activity Websites >
      • U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights: IN PLAIN ENGLISH
      • "Voting History" Activity
      • "Political Socialization" Activity
      • Media and The Government - The Right to Know
      • That's My Congress?!
      • Lobby Infographics
      • Electoral College Activity
      • "Keep It / Cut It" Cabinet Positions Activity
      • "Court Leanings" Activity
      • "Power Through Precedence" Supreme Court Activity
      • UBER: Supply & Demand
      • "Sacred Cows" Budget Cutting Analysis
      • "A Guy Walks Into a Bar..." / U.S. Government Services Activity
      • "Good GDP" Activity
      • Rubber Bands: Global Crises Explained
      • Obamacare: The Obama Legacy
      • U.N. Debate Activity
      • Zombie Apocalypse Activity
      • "American Immigration" Activity
      • American Foreign Policy - "Why We Fight"
      • American Foreign Policy - "Through The Eyes of a Cartoonist"
      • Make MONEY, MAKE Money!
      • "Life Lines" Activity

Campaign Finance Reform

The "Status Quo", The "Legalese" 
and the Evaluation of Its Fairness

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It's a fact: elections cost money. All of those TV ads. The salaries of election workers and "staffers". The cost of a plane flight from one city to another. All of those postcards in your mailbox? Yep. That all costs money.
But where does that money come from? Not the candidate! He can't fund his own election! That'd be corrupt. It comes from donors like you, me, and a buncha other sources. If you give to a candidate, he's going to use that money in the best ways possible, so yes, your $100 makes a difference.

But what about someone else's $1,000? Or an interest group's $1.5 million? Is that fair? Can they buy elections? That's a dangerous thought...
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For this activity, you'll be tasked with synthesizing the humor of satirical headlines with the "stories behind the stories". Ever wonder why something's funny? It's because you don't know the fact behind the story, and perhaps, the irony of the statement. So we'll address that here. 

First, you'll need some data. Here's some information on money and politics from Election 2012:
  • Click here to access the Washington Post's recap of spending in Election 2012. 
  • Click here to access the New York Times's recap of PACs and "Super PACs". 

...but you'll need more than that. Here are some more sites:
  • Click here for a story about Third Parties and the FEC.
  • Click here for the state of American democracy. We already read this article, back in August, but it might help!

Wanna read more about The Onion's stories? Click on the images below:

Remember, you are proving to me why the headline is funny with evidence from WashPost, The New York Times and those other sites!
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