Welcome to Contemporary U.S. and World History
Date: 3/13/13
Pg
Assignment
Date
17
Reagan Power Point Notes
2/26
Activity: 2000 Election
18
Reagan Chart
3/4
19
Bush Power Point Notes
3/4
Warm Up:
none
20
Conservative Essay Prompt
3/4
21
The Clinton Presidency
3/7
22
Clinton Impeachment
3/7
23
Domestic Study Guide
3/7
24
Election 2000 ppt wkst
3/11
-Homework:
Test Tomorrow 3/14
-Power point review will be
posted on hw page of
website today
-study from ALL papers!
The Conservative Tide
CAUSES:
• Distrust in the Government
• Dissatisfaction with liberal
policies
• Revival of Evangelical
Christianity
• Reagan as a spearhead of
conservatism
• Inflation and unemployment
• Emergence of the New Right
and conservative coalition
EFFECTS
• Republican control of the
presidency and then the
Congress
• Cuts in taxes and
government spending
• Dramatic increase in
national debt
• More conservative Supreme
Court
• Increased defense spending
• Deregulation
Compare and contrast supply side and demand side
economics. Identify two groups that would favor each
economic philosophy.
Supply Side Economics
• - saved money for
corporations will allow
them to invest in jobs and
production, which will
“trickle down” to everyone
else.
• -supply side economics
will cause an influx of
investments by the
wealthy, prompting new
growth.
Demand Side Economics
• Demand side economics, on
the other hand, focuses on
stimulating the average
consumer to spend more money
by cutting taxes.
• Demand Side Economics,
says that if taxes are to be cut,
they should go to those who earn
the least amount of money. The
reason is that low-income
workers spend virtually all of their
incomes. Money given to them
goes right back into circulation,
fueling a boom in consumer
spending.
What types of social programs did Reagan keep in
tact?
-ones that supported the middle class, such
as social security, medicare, and veterans’
pensions
What did the Reagan administration INCREASE
spending on the most?
-defense, specifically the Strategic Defense
Initiative, AKA: Star Wars
What did conservatives complain there was too
much of?
-government (regulation, involvement)
What did the Reagan administration DECREASE
spending on?
• Social programs that benefited the lower class
such as welfare, mass transit, food stamps,
Medicade, school lunches and school loans
What was Reagan like?
-he was a charming, former actor who had
great public speaking skills.
Who formed the Moral Majority?
-evangelical and fundamentalist Christians
who wanted a restoration of traditional moral
and “Family” values.
Why did Jimmy Carter have problems while he
was in Congress?
-He never had held a Federal political office and
thus was an “outsider” in Washington,
-He relied mostly on advisors from his home
state of Georgia
-He refused to compromise and make political
deals
Who would support the following policies?
Liberals or Conservatives?
1.
Reduced taxes for corporations
1.
C
2.
Stricter gun control laws
2.
L
3.
Requirement that welfare
recipients work
Social programs for the needy
3.
C
4.
L
5. The right to choose whether or not to
have an abortion
5.
L
6. Restrictions on labor unions
6.
C
7.
7.
C
8.
L
4.
Increased military spending
8. Increase taxes on wealthy and
corporations.
What was the name of the court case that gave
women certain rights concerning abortion?
Roe v Wade
Those who are against abortion are called:
Pro Life
Those who are for abortion rights are called:
Pro Choice
What were some of the results of Reaganomics?
– Tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations
– Increased defense spending
– Decrease in spending on social programs that
– helped the lower class
– deregulation on businesses
– increased national debt (deficit)
What was the Contract With America?
• the promise to give America certain changes if
they voted for a Republican Congress.
• pledged to balance the budget, cut taxes, limit
the terms of Congressmen, tougher crime laws
and reform the welfare system.
Who did President Clinton choose to head his
initiative for universal health care?
• Hillary Rodham Clinton
Was Clinton successful in his initiative for universal
health care?
• No
Why was Clinton being investigated by Kenneth Star?
What was this investigation called?
• He was originally being investigated on misuse of
funds for his gubernatorial election. This was called
the Whitewater Investigation. During the
investigation, he uncovered an improper
relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a white house
intern.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach
Clinton on two charges, what were they?
• Perjury and obstruction of justice
• Starr accused Clinton of lying under oath about
the affair during a deposition for a sexual
harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones.
Was Clinton found guilty?
• No. 67 (2/3)Votes were needed to be guilty. The
perjury charge was defeated 45 votes for conviction
to 55 against, while the obstruction of justice charge
was defeated 50 to 50. In February of 1999, Clinton
was acquitted of all wrong-doing by the Senate.
In the 2000 election, who kept messing up the
predictions of who won?
• the news stations
How is the number of electors a state has
determined?
• based on the number of representatives (varies
based on population_ AND senators (always 2)
Is it possible to win a presidential election WITHOUT
winning the majority of popular votes?
• yes, the electors are technically the ones voting.
What are the arguments for the
electoral college?
• REQUIRES WIDESPREAD POPULAR SUPPORT TO
WIN (AVOIDS SECTIONALISM)
• MAINTAINS FEDERAL CHARACTER OF U.S.
• ENHANCES STATUS OF MINORITY GROUPS
• ENCOURAGES STABILITY THROUGH THE TWOPARTY SYSTEM
What are the arguments against the
electoral college?
• PROPORTIONALLY MORE INFLUENCE FOR
SMALLER POPULATION STATES
• CAUSES TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO BE PAID TO
KEY “SWING STATES”
• A CANDIDATE CAN WIN MORE POPULAR VOTES
BUT STILL LOSE THE ELECTION
• DISADVANTAGE FOR THIRD PARTIES
Explain how each of the following
contributed to distrust of government:
1.Watergate:
• -president of U.S. was involved in a cover-up
of a crime, and then even though 25 people
were sent to jail, he was pardoned.
2. Ford’s pardon of Nixon and the Vietnam draft
dodgers:
• -favoritism for politicians, unconditional
pardon for Nixon with conditional one for
draft dodgers.
Explain how each of the following
contributed to distrust of government
3. Three Mile Island nuclear accident:
• The fact that people were told nuclear energy is safe and
then this accident occurred, scared people and made
them not trust the safety measures put in place by
government. The people demanded increased federal
regulations and oversights of nuclear plants, improved
plant design, improved operator training and improved
emergency plans.
•
4. Election of 2000:
• This raised many questions about the fairness of our
voting system.
-popular vote vs. electoral college
-voting systems (butterfly ballots/hanging chads,
computerized)
-swing states, newscaster predictions…etc.
Complete the chart by explaining the
economic issues facing Ford and Carter:
Issue
Inflation
Explanation of issue
How it was dealt with
went from 6% to over 10% WIN (Whip Inflation Now)
by the end of 1974 due to to cut back on oil and gas
rise in gasoline and
usage. (Ford)
heating oil costs
1979- inflation soared
from 7.6% to 11.3 % b/c of
OPEC
Up to 14% by 1980
Complete the chart by explaining the
economic issues facing Ford and Carter:
Issue
Oil
Explanation of issue
How it was dealt with
America relied too
National Energy Act
much on imported oil (Carter) –taxed gas
in 1979 violence in
guzzling vehicles
the Mid-East, as well
as another major
price hike in Oil from
OPEC
Complete the chart by explaining the
economic issues facing Ford and Carter:
Issue
Unemployment
Explanation of issue
How it was dealt with
Hovered around 7%.
Carter couldn’t decide
whether
unemployment or
inflation was more
important to deal with.
He went back and forth
on whether he was
going to cut taxes or
not to stimulate the
economy and was
unsuccessful
altogether.
Explain the views of a liberal and a
conservative on each of the following:
Liberal
Conservative
Should be involved Small government
Size of government
involvement
Government
spending on social
programs
Defense spending
Should be spending Should be limited,
to help those in
people should be
need
able to help
themselves.
Should be limited
Should be
increased
Tax cuts
For the lower and
middle class
For wealthy and
corporations
Explain how the New Right, the Moral Majority and the
Conservative Coalition represented a rise in conservatism:
The New Right:
• Right-wing grass root groups across the country
emerged in the 1970s to support and promote single
issues that reflected their key interests
The Moral Majority
• was an organization formed by evangelist Jerry Falwell
and consisted mostly of evangelical & fundamentalist
Christians who wanted a restoration of traditional moral
and “Family” values.
Goals of Conservative Coalition movement:
• -shrink the size of the federal government and reduce
spending
• -promote family values and patriotic ideals
• -stimulate business by reducing government
regulations and lowering taxes
• -strengthen the national defense
List and explain the three main
policies of Reaganomics:
1. Budget cuts in social programs that benefited the
lower class.
2. Tax Cuts for the wealthy and corporations with the
idea of “supply-side” economics: saved money for
corporations will allow them to invest in jobs and
production, which will “trickle down” to everyone else.
3. increased defense spending – Strategic Defense
Initiative (SDI) (Star Wars) – to defend against enemy
missiles
Label each as a program maintained or cut by
President Reagan:
1. Social Security
2. Medicare
3. Urban mass transit
4. Food stamps
5. Welfare
6. Medicaid
1. maintained
2. maintained
3. Cut
4. Cut
5. Cut
6. Cut
What is deregulation? Explain one positive and one
negative aspect of deregulation:
• Deregulation is the process in which a government may remove
or reduce certain restrictions in matters of business to have a
more efficient operation of markets
• Positive of deregulation is increased competition which can
result in lower prices for consumers.
• Negative of deregulation is it can lead to monopolies and
environmental problems due to selfish interests of the
corporations.
What was the significance of President Reagan’s
appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court? How do they
show further evidence of the rise of conservatism?
• he was able to appoint four conservative justices to the Supreme
Court
• it ended the liberal control over the Court that had begun under
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• Why was President Clinton considered a New Democrat?
• He moved more toward the “center” of the political scale. He
believed we needed to focus on growing private business and
move people off of welfare for the economy to grow.
• In what ways was President Clinton a more conservative
Democrat than John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson were
in the 1960s? Please site specific examples to support your
answer:
• cut spending by billions, lowered taxes to win Rep
support, and included programs to help children and
aid healthcare.
• placed limits on how long people could receive
welfare benefits and ended federal guarantee of
welfare. Instead it granted states “block grants” to
spend on welfare or other social concerns.
Define
Impeachment:
• An impeachment is to bring federal charges
against a public official.
Identify the two charges brought against
President Clinton.
1. perjury
2. Obstruction of Justice
2000 Election Candidates
1. Republican
2. Democrat
3. Third Party
(Green Party)
1. George W. Bush
(young one)
2. Al Gore
3. Ralph Nadar
Define Winner takes all system:
• Candidates who win a majority of electors in
each state (50% + 1 Vote) win that ENTIRE
state.
Explain the impact that Clinton’s impeachment
had on the 2000 election:
• Al Gore wanted to be known for being in
office as VP for 8 years, but wanted to distance
himself from Clinton’s scandals.
Why was the recount never
completed in the Election of 2000?
• 12/9 The Supreme Court held that the FL
Supreme Court’s method for recounting
ballots was unconstitutional.
• 12/12 The Court held that no alternative
method could be established within the
time limits established by the Florida
legislature.
List one of the apparent conflicts of
interest associated with the 2000
Florida Presidential election:
• Jeb Bush – governor of Florida
• Katherine Harris (Sec of State for FL) and
campaign chairwoman and her “Scrub List”
• Supreme Court (5/9 for Bush)