2AC AT DA

2AC CG Tradeof
Case outweighs and turns the DA <<analysis>>
No link funding comes from un-needed navy programs
Beilinson 12 [Jerry, Why the U.S. Must Build More Icebreakers Now,

Popular Mechanics,
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/infrastructure/why
-the-us-must-build-more-icebreakers-now-6693195]
The Pentagon saved several billion dollars last year by canceling
the Marines Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, an amphibious
assault technology. Investing a fraction of the savings in an
icebreaker program could double or triple U.S. capabilities. Similarly,
the Navy plans to build dozens of littoral combat ships for
operations relatively close to shore: Thats an important program. But as
Lawson Brigham, a University of Alaska professor and former icebreaker
captain, has pointed out, sacrificing just one or two of those ships
could provide the money to roughly double the Coast Guards
icebreaking muscle.

No link and non-unique Congress just increased Coast

Guard funding
McCarter 12 [Mickey, Congress Poised To Give Coast Guard More Money
Than Requested For FY 2013, http://www.hstoday.us/channels/us-coastguard/single-article-page/congress-poised-to-give-coast-guard-more-moneythan-requested-for-fy-2013.html]
Regardless, Congress appears poised to provide the Coast Guard
with more money than the White House requested for next year.
House Republicans unveiled a homeland security budget Tuesday
evening that would provide the Coast Guard with $10 billion in
discretionary funding, an increase of $211.7 million above the
president's request and $63 million below last year's level. Sen. Mary
Landrieu (D-La.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee, appeared
poised to do the same.

[impact defense]

2AC Politics
[uniqueness]
Link turn Coast Guard funding bipartisan
McCarter 12 [Mickey, Congress Poised To Give Coast Guard More Money
Than Requested For FY 2013, http://www.hstoday.us/channels/us-coastguard/single-article-page/congress-poised-to-give-coast-guard-more-moneythan-requested-for-fy-2013.html]
Regardless, Congress appears poised to provide the Coast Guard
with more money than the White House requested for next year.
House Republicans unveiled a homeland security budget Tuesday
evening that would provide the Coast Guard with $10 billion in
discretionary funding, an increase of $211.7 million above the
president's request and $63 million below last year's level. Sen. Mary
Landrieu (D-La.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee, appeared
poised to do the same.

Presidential political capital is irrelevant

--Ideological beliefs, constituency needs, reelection concerns outweigh
--Presidential PC is in agenda setting not arm twisting

Dickinson, professor of politics, 9Matthew, PhD from Harvard University,

Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College, 5/26/09, Sotomayor, Obama and Presidential Power,
http://blogs.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower/2009/05/26/sotamayor-obama-and-presidential-power/
As for Sotomayor, from here the path toward almost certain confirmation goes as follows: the Senate
Judiciary Committee is slated to hold hearings sometime this summer (this involves both written
depositions and of course open hearings), which should lead to formal Senate approval before Congress
adjourns for its summer recess in early August. So Sotomayor will likely take her seat in time for the start
of the new Court session on October 5. (I talk briefly about the likely politics of the nomination process
below). What is of more interest to me, however, is what her selection reveals about the basis of

Political scientists, like baseball writers evaluating hitters, have

devised numerous means of measuring a presidents influence in that
Congress. I will devote a separate post to discussing these, but in brief, they often center on the
creation of legislative box scores designed to measure how many times a presidents
presidential power.

preferred piece of legislation, or nominee to the executive branch or the courts, is approved by Congress.

how many pieces of legislation that the president supports

actually pass Congress? How often do members of Congress vote with the presidents
preferences? How often is a presidents policy position supported by roll call outcomes? These
measures, however, are a misleading gauge of presidential power they
are a better indicator of congressional power. This is because how
members of Congress vote[s] on a nominee or legislative item is rarely
influenced by anything a president does. Although journalists (and political
scientists) often focus on the legislative endgame to gauge presidential influence will
the President swing enough votes to get his preferred legislation enacted? this mistakes an
outcome with actual evidence of presidential influence Once we control for
other factorsa member of Congress ideological and partisan leanings,
the political leanings of her constituency, whether shes up for
That is,

reelection or not we can usually predict how [he or] she will vote
without needing to know much of anything about what the president wants. (I
am ignoring the importance of a presidents veto power for the moment.) Despite the much
publicized and celebrated instances of presidential arm-twisting during the
legislative endgame, then, most legislative outcomes dont depend on presidential
lobbying. But this is not to say that presidents lack influence. Instead, the primary means by which
presidents influence what Congress does is through their ability to determine the alternatives from which

presidential power is largely an exercise in agendasetting not arm-twisting. And we see this in the Sotomayer nomination. Barring a major
Congress must choose. That is,

scandal, she will almost certainly be confirmed to the Supreme Court whether Obama spends the
confirmation hearings calling every Senator or instead spends the next few weeks ignoring the Senate
debate in order to play Halo III on his Xbox. That is,

how senators decide to vote on

Sotomayor will have almost nothing to do with Obamas lobbying from here
on in (or lack thereof). His real influence has already occurred, in the decision to present Sotomayor as his
nominee.

The disadvantage is not intrinsic to the plana rational

policy maker could pass the plan and <bill>the
alternative distorts opportunity cost and collapses
advocacy skillskey to reciprocity because counterplans
are a test of whether af advantages are intrinsic to the
plan
Winners win
--Public/media support, bandwagon effect, Reagan and Bush prove

Green, professor of politics, 10David, Professor of Political Science at Hofstra

University, 6/11/10, The Do-Nothing 44th President, http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Do-Nothing44th-Presid-by-David-Michael-Gree-100611-648.html

there is a continuously evolving and reciprocal relationship between

boldness and achievement. In the same way that nothing breeds
success like success, nothing sets the president up for achieving his
or her next goal better than succeeding dramatically on the last go
around. This is absolutely a matter of perception, and you can see it best in the way
that Congress and especially the Washington press corps fawn over bold and
intimidating presidents like Reagan and George W. Bush. The political teams
surrounding these presidents understood the psychology of power all too
well. They knew that by simultaneously creating a steamroller efect and feigning
a clubby atmosphere for Congress and the press, they could leave such hapless
hangers-on with only one remaining way to pretend to preserve their
dignities. By jumping on board the freight train, they could be given the
illusion of being next to power, of being part of the winning team. And so, with
Moreover,

presidential

virtually the sole exception of the now retired Helen Thomas, this is precisely what they did.

[thumper]
[impact defense]