Government Chapter 13

Currently, the average monthly Social Security payment is ________ per month.

$1,335

What important noncontributory program was abolished by Congress in 1996?

Aid to Families with Dependent Children

Which of the following statements about American's health care views is most accurate?

Although a majority of Americans believe that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care, there is considerable disagreement about how to deliver such benefits and how to pay for them.

Which statement is the key argument of John Maynard Keynes?

Government can pull an economy out of a recession by stimulating demand and creating a cycle of increased production and jobs.

Which of the following social policies is currently the most costly to the government?

Social Security

Which of the following statements about Social Security is true?

Social Security redistributes wealth from younger workers to older retirees.

Which program was designed to help augment the benefits to the aged, blind, and disabled?

Supplemental Security Income

________ are programs where the government provides a tax deduction for spending on health insurance and other benefits by both employers and employees.

Tax expenditures

What is a key power of the Fed?

The power to expand and contract the amount of credit available in the United States.

Since the welfare reforms of 1996, what is the primary reason for receiving federal cash assistance if one is nonworking and able-bodied?

The recipient is caring for children.

Which of the following can be concluded from the results of the 1996 welfare reforms?

The reforms have reduced the number of people on welfare but have done little to reduce poverty.

Which of the following statements about K-12 education spending is most accurate

The vast majority of spending for K-12 education comes from the state and local governments, while the federal government contributes a relatively small amount.

Why have politicians always favored using subsidies to promote certain economic activities?

They can be treated as benefits that can be widely spread in response to many demands.

Social Security is a good example of

a contributory program.

Which of the following was a key part of the overhaul of No Child Left Behind?

a proposal that states could apply for waivers that would exempt them from some of the requirements of No Child Left Behind

The Supreme Court ruled that the "individual mandate" of the Affordable Care Act was

constitutional under Congress's taxing powers.

Unemployment insurance is a ________ program that is funded by the ________.

contributory; federal and state governments

Medicare is a ________ program; Medicaid is a ________ program.

contributory; noncontributory

Between September 2007 and December 2008, the Federal Reserve

cut interest rates from 4.75 percent to nearly zero percent.

Monthly Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits

do not exceed the amount of the federal poverty line in any state.

Which of the following programs most benefits the working poor?

earned income tax credits

The power to raise or lower the tax rate is part of

fiscal policy.

In 2007 and 2008, the government faced a housing crisis caused by

foreclosures.

Which of the following is the strongest factor in predicting which groups in society receive the most benefits from government's social policies?

groups that are the most politically powerful

As of 2016, a provision in the Affordable Care Act

increased Medicare taxes for households earning more than $250,000 a year by 0.9 percent.

The main change in welfare policies since 1996 is

increased use of noncash assistance.

The periodic adjustment of benefits or wages that takes into account the increased cost of living is called

indexing.

The federal funds rate refers to the

interest rate on loans between banks.

Part of the reason welfare programs became so unpopular was that

many Americans came to believe that welfare recipients did not want to work.

A(n) ________ benefit is one where potential recipients must document their genuine need.

means-tested

Which of the following is a program of forced savings?

medicare

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

offered federal aid for education by allocating funds to school districts with substantial numbers of children from unemployed or low-income families.

A way to reduce the disparities in wealth between the rich and poor is called a(n)

policy of redistribution.

An officially expressed purpose or goal backed by a sanction is a

public policy

Charter schools are best described as

public schools that are free to design special curricula.

A cost-of-living adjustment is based on the

rate of inflation.

While the Federal Reserve's decision to cut the federal funds rate is expected to ________ economic growth, its decision to raise the federal funds rate is expected to ________ economic growth.

speed up; slow down

When did the American welfare state begin?

the 1930s

What event brought federal attention to elementary school education?

the fear that the Soviets were winning the Cold War through better technology

The term shadow welfare state refers to

the federally subsidized social benefits that private employers offer to their workers.

Which of the following groups receives the most benefits from government's social policies?

the middle class

Which of the following is a goal of American social policy?

the promotion of equality of opportunity

The "individual mandate" of the Affordable Care Act refers to

the requirement that uninsured individuals purchase health insurance.

The Social Security Act of 1935 created

two separate categories of welfare: contributory and noncontributory.

The Supreme Court's decision in King v. Burwell (2015), was significant because it

upheld the federal government's ability under the Affordable Care Act to provide subsidies to people using the federal health insurance exchange.

The feminization of poverty refers to the fact that

women are more likely to be poor than men.

The Earned Income Tax Credit allows

working people whose annual income falls below a certain level to file for an income supplement through their tax returns.

Which of the following is the best example of the shadow welfare state?

workplace medical insurance

Social Security was established in

1935

Medicare was established in

1965

About ________ percent of America's children live in poverty.

22

In most states, unemployment benefits last for a maximum of ________ weeks

26

The average benefit provided to a family with children by the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2013 was

3,074

Between 1959 and 2012, the percentage of elderly Americans living in poverty went from about ________ percent to about ________ percent.

35; 10

AARP has a membership of approximately ________ members.

40 million

Most unemployed workers receive approximately ________ percent of their previous wages through unemployment insurance.

50

In 2016, each individual's required contribution to Social Security was

6.2 percent of his or her first $118, 500 of income.

The Federal Reserve Board is composed of ________ members.

7

Poor Americans had strong incentives to establish their eligibility for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in the 1970s because AFDC recipients

automatically received Medicaid and food stamps.

Which of the following groups receives the LEAST benefits from government's social policies?

children

Which of the following played an important role in caring for the poor during the nineteenth century?

churches and religious organizations

Which of the following programs provides an in-kind benefit?

Medicaid

________ is the single-largest medical insurance program in the United States.

Medicaid

In 2016, each individual's required contribution to Medicare was ________ percent of all earnings.

1.45

The U.S. Public Health Service was founded in

1798

President ________ vowed "to end welfare as we know it."

Bill Clinton

Why is it difficult to lobby for the interests of poor children?

Children cannot vote.

Which of the following statements about noncontributory programs, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and Medicaid, is most accurate?

The federal government provides only some of the funding for these programs, and, as a result, citizens receive very different levels of benefits in different states.

How did deregulation of the mortgage industry in 1999 help produce the housing crisis of 2007 and 2008?

It allowed many new mortgage companies to form, offering "predatory" loans that people could not afford to repay.

Which of the following statements about the No Child Left Behind Act is true?

It requires that students be tested every year in grades 3-8 for proficiency in math and reading.

How did the Great Depression change American attitudes about welfare?

It revealed that poverty could be caused by a flawed economic system, not just by personal irresponsibility.

During the New Deal, ________ theory that a government could boost employment by stimulating demand became quite influential.

John Maynard Keynes's

Congress's 2003 Medicare reform bill

added a prescription drug benefit to the package of health benefits provided to the elderly.

There are considerable disparities in benefits from state to state in noncontributory programs because

state governments are given grants-in-aid from the federal government to establish and operate their own programs rather than having one uniform national program.

The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program is administered by the

states, with benefit levels varying between states.

________ are government grants of cash or other valuable commodities, such as land, that are used to promote activities desired by government leaders

subsidies

Social Security provides a vital role for younger people by providing

survivor benefits to those whose parents die or become disabled.