President Woodrow Wilson’s
New Freedom
Honors American History
8.5
The Democratic Party &
Governor Woodrow
Wilson (NJ)
Could he rescue
the Democratic
Party from
“Bryanism”??
Democratic Party Platform
N
e
w
F
r
e
e
d
o
m
Government control of the monopolies
 trusts in general were bad
 eliminate them!!
Tariff reduction.
One-term President.
Direct election of Senators.
Create a Department of Labor.
Strengthen the Sherman Anti-Trust
Act.
Did NOT support women’s suffrage.
Opposed to a central bank.
An Actual 1912 Ballot
Election Results
By 1912, 100,000 fewer people had voted for
Wilson than had voted for Bryan in 1908.
The 1912 election marked the apogee of the
Socialist movement in America.
GOP Divided by Bull
Moose
Equals Democratic Victory!
The New Freedom Platform
• Underwood Tariff Act of 1913
• Sixteenth Amendment (Ratified 1913)
• Bust the Trusts!
– Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
• Consumer Protection
– Clayton Antitrust Act
• Protects labor unions
– Adamson Act – Eight-hour workday
(railroads)
• Regulate the Banks! (Federal Reserve
Act)
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
A Progressive Income Tax
The Bush Tax Brackets
2008 - Single
If your taxable income is between . . .
Your rate is . . .
$0
$8,025
$32,550
$78,850
$164,550
$357,700
10%
15%
25%
28%
33%
35%
$8,025
$32,550
$78,850
$164,550
$357,700
Above
Upper Bracket under Clinton was 39.6%
Who Pays Taxes?
The Federal Reserve System
Twelve Fed Banks
The Tools of Monetary Policy
• Open Market
Operations
– Purchase and sale of
U.S. Treasury and
federal securities
• Discount Rate
– Rate charged to
member banks to
borrow from the
discount window
• Reserve Ratio
– The amount of funds
a member bank must
hold in reserve
against deposited
liabilities
The Fed seeks
to balance
unemployment
and inflation
and sustain
long term
economic
growth.
The Fed Discount Rate
(From 1976 – 2004)
Federal Reserve Chairman
• Ben Bernanke
– Graduate of
Harvard
University
– Professor
from
Princeton
University