Description
In need of a 150 response/discussion to EACH of the following forum posts. There are (2) different post. Agreement/disagreement/and/or continuing the discussion. Original forums discussion/topic post is as follows:
Forum Post 1:
Hello Class,
When most people think of national security, they think of the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS came into being after the attacks of 9/11, “The office oversaw and coordinated a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard the country against terrorism and respond to any future attacks” (dhs.gov) In 2002 when the Homeland Security Act was signed, the Department of Homeland Security consolidated 22 different departments. President Bush wanted to bring together all of the law-enforcement, immigration and anti-terror agencies. Not only does the DHS protect the United States from acts of terrorism, “they include cyber crimes, border security and immigration, and human trafficking and natural disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012” (Murse)
Both myself and my husband work in the cyber security world and one of our concerns is the lack of knowledge that most people have. You know it is unsafe to walk down a dark road at night by yourself, yet most people don’t know the dangers of connecting to the public wi-fi while sitting in Starbucks. 22 cities in Texas, the Baltimore data network and the Georgia court systems are just some of the places attacked by ransomware this year. It happens more than anyone realizes “Ransomware crime is many times more lucrative than say, bank robbery, with the advantage of no weapons, disguises, getaway cars, police chases. In fact, practically no risk of getting caught at all. ‘We see these types of attacks happen every day all across the country,’ said Amanda Videll of the FBI’s Jacksonville Division. Thankfully those in power are taking notice and working towards a change. The article I found this week is about three former secretaries of the DHS are speaking out, “Former DHS Secretaries Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano and Jeh Johnson all discussed the severity of cyber threats to the U.S. while testifying in New York City during a field hearing at the National September 11 Memorial Museum held by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee” (Miller). The world and it’s technology is moving forward. We have to make sure as a Nation we are as well.
https://www.dhs.gov/who-joined-dhs
Forum Post 2:
Hello Class,
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a granted power to set in motion regulations in regards to our environment.They also enforce and investigate policy infractions.Recently President Trump has repealed water protections.The EPA must still write regulations in regards to these lands and hold offenders accountable.Without the Clean Water Rule, the quality of our drinking water may become degraded.This rule is being rescinded by President Trump as it is believed that the rule was hindering economic growth.The EPA is charged with protecting our environment and their report to congress should reflect any potential dangers.These regulations set in place have effects on many different aspects of life.Such as how farmers are able to develop their land.The clean water rule was an addition to the Clean Water Act.The rule enhanced federal protections for smaller waterways and wetlands.Entities still must abide by the Clean Water Act and the repeal will not have any action against the Act.
As a coequal branch, there does not seem to be as publicly known checks and balances.The way this article reads, in my opinion, is that the President signs something into action and the EPA Director writes regulations to be in compliance with the new direction.There was no debate or voting on how the President’s policy would affect the American populous.Without a form of checks and balances with new or proposed policies, I do not find that the bureaucracy is a “fourth branch.”One positive note to bureaucracy being the fourth branch, policies and regulations do not have to go through as many hoops for them to be in effect.
Works Cited:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/12/trump-re…
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/12/760203456/epa-makes…
https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act
Textbook
- American Government by Krutz and Waskiewicz https://openstax.org/details/books/american-government-2e
American Government: Chapter 15 is the Chapter this week if you would like to use it for the responses.
