Thursday, November 28, 2019

John Paul II Essays - Cardinals Created By Pope Paul VI,

John Paul II Karol Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920 at Wadowice, Poland. For many years Karol believed God was calling him to the priesthood, and after two near fatal accidents, he responded to God's call. He studied secretely during the German occupation of Poland, and was ordained to the priesthood on November 1, 1946. In these years he came to know and practice the teachings of St. Louis Marie Montfort and St. John of the Cross. He earned a doctorate in theology in 1948 at the Angelicum in Rome, Italy. From 1948 to 1951 he served as a parish priest in the Krakow diocese and then returned to study philosophy at the Jagiellonian Univsersity at Krakow. From 1952 to 1958 Karol Wojtyla taught social ethics at the Krakow Seminary. In 1956 he became also a professor at the University of Lublin. Venerable Pope Pius XII appointed Karol Wojtyla an auxiliary bishop in Krakow on July 4, 1958. Servant of God, Pope Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Krakow on December 30, 1963. As Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla proved himself a noble and trustworthy pastor in the face of Communist persecution. A member of the prepatory commission, he attended all four sessions of Vatican II and is said to have written Gaudium et spes, the document on the Church in the Modern World. He also played a prominent role in the formulation of the Declaration on Religious Freedom. Following the Council, the Servant of God, Pope Paul VI, appointed Karol Wojtyla a Cardinal of the Roman Church on June 26, 1967. In 1960 he published his most famous written work, Love and Responsibility. Pope Paul VI, delighted with its apologetical defense of the traditional catholic teaching of marraige, relied extensively on Archbishop Wojytla's counsel in writing Humanae Vitae. In 1976 he was invited by Pope Paul VI to preach the lenten sermons to the members of the Papal Household. On October 16, 1978, Archbishop Wojtyla became the first non-Italian pope since Hadrian VI (1522-3). He took the name of his predecessors (John, Paul, John Paul) to emphasis his desire to continue the reforms of the Council. Before this week I did not know much about John Paul II. I knew that he was the first non-Italian pope in about 450 years. I had seen the pope a lot on T.V. and knew that he was old and weak. I also knew that he has Parkinson's Disease. This week I found out what John Paul II was like before he got old and weak. I found out that he was instrumental in knocking down communism. In communism it was taught that there was no room for God, so it is an atheist society. This is because there is one leader and he must have all power. The leader does not want the people to be divided between him and the pope. John Paul II had strong beliefs, and stood behind his ideas with actions. I did not even know that he was shot. I learned that the pope traveled a great deal, and is actually the most traveled pope in history. He visited nearly every country in the world that would receive him. I think that John Paul II is a great person. He tries to help everyone and touch everyone. John Paul II is a determined individual. Not only does he have ideas that are for the good of the most people, but he also stands behind his words with actions. He is a smart man who also has a great deal of common sense. I think John Paul II is a great pope. He is the first pope in a long while to have ideas and have the balls to stand up for them. This seems ironic, because when John Paul II was chosen, he was not thought of as a strong, authoritative leader. John Paul II knew he was in a position to knock down communism, and he accomplished his task with persistence, when other people might have quit or not had the guts to take any action. The pope is the leader of the Church as a worldwide community. It is his job to safeguard the teachings of Christ for these 625 million people. He must be a unifying factor, and bring the Church together. John Paul II has accomplished his task, and served well. If I could ask John Paul II one thing, I would ask him why he put in so much effort to being the pope?

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Presidents Elected Without Winning the Popular Vote

Presidents Elected Without Winning the Popular Vote Five U.S. presidents have taken office without winning the popular vote. In other words, they did not receive a plurality regarding the popular vote. They were elected, instead, by the Electoral College- or in the case of John Quincy Adams, by the House of Representatives after a tie in the electoral votes. They were: Donald J. Trump, who lost by 2.9 million votes to Hillary Clinton in the  2016 election.George W. Bush,  who lost by 543,816 votes to Al Gore in the  2000 election.Benjamin Harrison,  who lost by 95,713 votes to  Grover Cleveland  in 1888.Rutherford B. Hayes, who lost by 264,292 votes to Samuel J. Tilden in 1876.John Quincy Adams,  who lost by 44,804 votes to  Andrew Jackson  in 1824. Popular vs. Electoral Votes Presidential elections in the United States are not popular vote contests. The writers of the Constitution configured the process so that only the members of the House of Representatives would be elected by popular vote. The Senators were to be selected by state legislatures, and the president would be selected by the Electoral College. The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1913, making the election of senators to occur through popular vote. However, presidential elections still operate under the electoral system. The Electoral College is made up of representatives who are generally selected by the political parties at their state conventions. Most states except Nebraska and Maine follow a winner-take-all principle of electoral votes, meaning that whichever partys candidate wins a states popular vote for the presidency will win all of that states electoral votes. The minimum electoral votes a state can have is three, the sum of a states senators plus representatives: California has the most, with 55. The Twenty-Third Amendment gave the District of Columbia three electoral votes; it has neither senators nor representatives in Congress. Since states vary in population and many popular votes for different candidates can be quite close within an individual state, it makes sense that a candidate might win the popular vote across the entire United States but not win in the Electoral College. As a specific example, lets say the Electoral College is only made up of two states: Texas and Florida. Texas with its 38 votes goes entirely to a Republican candidate but the popular vote was very close, and the Democratic candidate was behind by a very small margin of only 10,000 votes. In the same year, Florida with its 29 votes goes entirely to the Democratic candidate, yet the margin for the Democratic win was much larger with the popular vote win by over 1 million votes This could result in a Republican win at the Electoral College even though when the votes between the two states are counted together, the Democrats won the popular vote. Calls for Reform In general, it is very rare for a president to win the popular vote yet lose the election. Although this has only happened five times in U.S. History, it has occurred twice in the current century. In 2016, Donald Trump lost the popular election by nearly 3 million votes, about 2% of the total votes cast. Discussion for reform of the Electoral College dates to the first years of the Constitution and has frequently been the topic of scholarly discussion. Defenders of the Electoral College argue that its violations of majority rule are an example of constitutional provisions that require super-majorities to take action. The Electoral College allows a minority to take an action- that is to select a president- and it is the only device of its kind in the Constitution. The primary way to change it is to amend the Constitution. Since the way states count votes can affect who wins and who loses, electoral reform is by its nature political: if a party is in power, the method used to get it there is not likely to be a target of change. Despite the current climate in that Democrats support change while Republicans do not, scholars believe that the situation is only temporarily one that swings towards one party or another: One proposal called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is a sub-national reform to the Electoral College in which states agree to commit their electoral votes, as a unit, to the winner of the aggregate, national vote.  Sixteen states have signed on to date, some of which are Republican-controlled. One major purpose of the Electoral College was to balance the power of the electorate so that votes in states with small populations would not (always) be overpowered by larger-populated states. Bipartisan action is required to make its reformation possible. Sources and Further Reading Bugh, Gary, ed. Electoral College Reform: Challenges and Possibilities. London: Routledge, 2010.Burin, Eric, ed. Picking the President: Understanding the Electoral College. University of North Dakota Digital Press, 2018.Colomer, Josep M. The Strategy and History of Electoral System Choice. The Handbook of Electoral System Choice. Ed. Colomer, Josep M. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2004. 3-78.Goldstein, Joshua H., and David A. Walker. The 2016 Presidential Election Popular-Electoral Vote Difference. Journal of Applied Business and Economics 19.9 (2017).Shaw, Daron R. The Methods Behind the Madness: Presidential Electoral College Strategies, 1988–1996. The Journal of Politics 61.4 (1999): 893-913.Virgin, Sheahan G. Competing Loyalties in Electoral Reform: An Analysis of the U.S. Electoral College. Electoral Studies 49 (2017): 38–48.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

THE PAYG SYSTEM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

THE PAYG SYSTEM - Essay Example The tax tables under PAYG system are structured to result in a refund when an Income tax return is processed. This refund culture encourages strong compliance with annual returns. PAYG also provides flexibility, ability to alter the taxation payments based on the current income received. PAYG has removed lack of equity in payment timing between individuals and companies. Henceforth, tax payers need to file only one form and make one payment for each quarter. PAYG allows the netting off Liabilities and credits. Tax payers like Individuals, Corporate, Trustees, Mutual insurance associates, etc having Business and Investment income are subjected to PAYG Installment system. A taxpayer is subjected to PAYG installment system if his most recent income tax assessment shows more than $2000 of gross investment or business income or if his recent income tax return resulted in a tax debt of over $500. PAYG installments are generally payable quarterly. The due dates by which quarterly installments are required to be paid are 28th July, 28th October, 28th February and 28th April. Certain tax payers like primary producers and Special professionals can pay two installments per year. These tax payers need to pay 75% of PAYG liability by 28th April and the balance by 28th July. A tax payer is eligible to opt for paying PAYG installment annually under the following circumstances: Payments made to tax payers having income other than business or Investment income like Salaries and wages, Pension Annuity, Dividend, Interest, Royalty are subjected to PAYG Withholding system. PAYG withholding is also applicable to payments to other businesses who do not quote Australian Business Number. Employers deduct tax according to the published tables from wages and the net amount is paid to employees. Employers send the amounts withheld to taxation office, hence this system is called Withholding system. Tax payer has to determine the status of the payees like