Reluctant Welfare State final

Senator Barbara Mikulski

Social worker, social activist, crusader for women's rights, and politician—sought out a key position on the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. Senate when she was elected to it in the late 1980s.

Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA)

Spring of 1982: Reagan finally assented to a large tax increase known as the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA), which took away some of the massive tax concessions given to corporations in 1981. Some supply-side officials left the administration.

Earned Income Tax Credit

Enacted in 1975, the initially modest EIC has been expanded by tax legislation on a number of occasions, including the widely publicized Tax Reform Act of 1986, and was further expanded in 1990, 1993, 2001, and 2009, regardless of whether the act in general raised taxes (1990, 1993), lowered taxes (2001), or eliminated other deductions and credits (1986).[9] Today, the EITC is one of the largest anti-poverty tools in the United States.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

$700 billion bailout package to create new jobs, save existing ones, spur economic activity, and invest in long—term infrastructure development, some would be spent directly by the federal government and other funds were supplied to state governments

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

(CORE) Civil rights organization started in 1944 and best known for its "freedom rides," bus journeys challenging racial segregation in the South in 1961.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Fashioned in 1993, with bipartisan support, to cut tariffs between Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974

-Defines child abuse and neglect as mental or physical injury, negligent treatment, maltreatment, or sexual abuse of a child less than 18 years of age by a person responsible for the child's welfare under circumstances that indicate that a child's welfare or health is being threatened or harmed -Mandates professionals to report abuse and neglect to law enforcement officials -Occupational therapists are included in this list of mandated reporters -OT practitioners can also serve as child welfare advocates -Direct OT intervention may be needed to remediate the emotional or physical disorders that result from abuse

When: Presidency of Harry Truman

1945-1952

When: Full Employment Act

1946

When: Massive Migration of African Americans from the South to the North

1950s-1960s

Senator Joseph McCarthy

1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists

When: Department of Health, Education and Welfare established

1953

When: Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower

1953-1960

When: Bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, initiates civil rights movement

1955

When: John Kennedy wins presidential election

1960

When: Passage of Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA)

1961

When: Escalating racial violence and protest in the South

1961-1963

When: Michael Harrington publishes The Other America

1962

When: John Kennedy assassinated; succeeded by Lyndon Johnson

1963

When: President Kennedy delivers nation's first presidential address on civil rights; Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act is passed

1963

When: Economic Opportunity Act, Food Stamps Act, and Civil Rights Act enacted

1964

When: Johnson wins a landslide victory over Goldwater in presidential election

1964

When: Medicare, Medicaid, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Civil Rights Act, and Older Americans Act enacted

1965

Neighborhood Youth Corps

1965: Antipoverty program recruited young people from low-income areas for community projects. Provided work-study programs to increase the employability of out- of-school youth rather than to obtain immediate employment.

When: Welfare amendments establish work incentives and work programs for AFDC recipient

1967

When: Johnson decides not to seek Democratic nomination for another term

1968

When: Martin Luther King assassinated

1968

When: Stonewall Inn riot initiates gay rights moveme

1969

white flight

50's movement where middle-class white Americans fled to suburbs leaving inner cities to decay

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A historic measure; it marked the first time since Reconstruction that the federal government had assumed a major role in protecting the voting rights of African Americans in the South. The act required the desegregation of public facilities and prohibited discrimination in the hiring practices of firms and institutions that received federal contracts. The U.S. attorney general was also given the right to file suits to desegregate schools. The immediate effects of this legislation were diminished because litigation was often required to bring compliance, but within six months it led to a civil rights revolution for African Americans in the South.The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was flawed in several important respects. It outlawed the use of literacy tests, but the tedious case-by-case enforcement process allowed many jurisdictions to continue discriminatory practices. Johnson did not aggressively implement Title VII of the act, which outlawed discrimination in employment; for example, he failed to give the Department of Labor a significant role in monitoring federal contracts for discrimination. Title VII established an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to monitor discrimination in employment, but the commission did not receive the power to initiate suits until 1972. Furthermore, Johnson decided for political reasons not to aggressively attack de facto segregation of Northern schools.

Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)

A 2008 Federal government program that authorized the U.S. Treasury to loan up to $700 billion to critical financial institutions and other U.S. firms that were in extreme financial trouble and therefore at high risk of failure

United Farm Workers Organizing Committee

A labor union formed in 1966 to seek higher wages and better working conditions for Mexican-American farm workers in California. Founded in 1962 by César Chávez, Philip Vera Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong. This union changed from a workers' rights organization that helped workers get unemployment insurance to that of a union of farmworkers almost overnight

Older Americans Act (OAA)

Another program to aid elderly people, the Older Americans Act (OAA), passed Congress in 1965. Under Title III, it authorized the development of a national network of Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to coordinate services for elderly people. Since its inception, OAA has subsidized many kinds of services, including nutritional programs, services for the homebound frail elderly, and training programs. Critics contend that AAAs, which were supposed to be vigorous advocates, have often been preoccupied with delivering services.

Marian Wright Edelman

A lawyer who in 1973 founded the Children's Defense Fund to protect the rights of children, particularly those who are members of disadvantaged groups. Edelman illustrates the importance of persistence in policy advocacy. While policy advocates sometimes achieve rapid victories in a specific legislative season, they often must engage in advocacy for specific issues for extended periods as they gradually develop supportive coalitions, educate lawmakers, and surmount opposition. In Edelman's case, for example, she was instrumental in securing federal subsidies for child care in 1990—but only after a 20-year struggle marked by many setbacks.

Prop 187 (1994, California)

A measure that proposed to bolster border patrols and deny "illegal" Latinos educational, health, and other benefits.

Campaign finance reform

A positive outcome of the corporate scandals was the enactment of campaign finance legislation. Both parties had received tens of millions of dollars of corporate contributions, as well as contributions from affluent individuals. While some of these funds went directly to candidates where prior legislation had established some upper limits, unregulated "soft money" went to the political parties themselves. In so-called issue ads, such as ones that opposed gun control, the parties could indirectly promote Republican or Democratic candidates without mentioning their names. Democrats received much of their funds from unions, and Republicans got vast amounts of corporate support. With both parties fearing that campaign finance reforms would curtail their resources, legislation went nowhere for years. With the sponsorship of Senators Russ Feingold (D., Wisc.) and John McCain (R., Ariz.), the campaign finance reforms finally got traction when Republicans, in the wake of the corporate scandals, realized they could not put it off any longer. It remained to be seen if the reforms would make lasting changes. The reforms outlawed soft money but doubled the limit on contributions from individuals to candidates, capping them at $2,000. Both parties, but particularly the Republicans, solicited a growing army of affluent supporters to give their parties the upper limit. By mid-2003, Bush operatives boasted that they would raise $100 million by 2004—doubling the record amount Bush had raised in 2000. While experts debated the precise effects of campaign contributions on politicians, there can be no doubt that money gave access to powerful interests as compared with advocacy groups representing poor people. GWBush

HOPE scholarship program

A scholarship program established in 1993 that provides money for tuition, fees, and books for Georgia high school students who graduate with a B average and who choose to attend one of Georgia's public colleges or universities; stu- dents who choose to attend a private Georgia college or university may be eligible for scholarships of up to $3,000 (Clinton)

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

AFDC was drastically reformed in 1996 and replaced with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). TANF imposed a set of harsh policies on recipients.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Advocates obtained enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which barred discrimination in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations. (It provided far more detailed language than the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.)

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Agency of the Department of Justice charged with enforcing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other anti-discrimination laws

Title XX of Social Security Act (1975)

Allocated funds to states according to a prescribed formula for use— with broad latitude by each state—in programs to enhance individuals' ability to be self-supporting, family care or self-care, community-based care, and institutional care. The legislation was enacted in 1974. States usually chose relatively traditional services, such as day care, that were provided by established agencies. To impose discipline on the program, a ceiling of $2.5 billion was established for annual expenditures—a figure that remained relatively constant in succeeding years. Title XX represented the first time that the federal govern- ment had officially committed itself to funding a variety of social services to persons who were usually near or under the poverty line. It also illustrated the reformist nature of Nixon's first term. Nixon, who despised services and social workers, did not veto legislation that covered services for existing and potential welfare recipients in a block grant.

Prop 209 (1996)

Also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative, or CCRI, amended the state constitution to prohibit state governmental institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting, and public education. The law was designed essentially to eliminate "affirmative action" in California. Note that the goal of the similarly-named, but functionally very distinct "civil rights movement" was to eradicate unfavorable discrimination against people of color, and a tool of that movement was affirmative action, which was seen as a way to reverse the harms caused by segregation.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

The 'Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), one of the longest-running programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, funds local community development activities such as affordable housing, anti-poverty programs, and infrastructure development. (Nixon)

Civil Rights Act of 1965

Civil Rights Act of 1965 gave the federal government the right to presume discrimination in any state or its subdivisions where less than 50% of people of color voted in federal elections and in areas that used literacy or other screening tests. In such areas, federal authorities were allowed to directly administer elections. These policies were remarkably successful in diminishing overt discrimination in voter registration.

Lifetime Earning Credit

Clinton established a Lifetime Learning Credit for students in the last 2 years of college or in graduate school, allowing them to claim credits up to $1,000 per year assuming their parents met income eligibility standards similar to the HOPE scholarships.

Robert Reich

Clinton maintained the allegiance of liberals by supporting the policy recommendations of Robert Reich, a professor he knew from Oxford University and Yale Law School. Reich believed that the economy no longer revolved around nation-states but had become globalized as corporations dispersed their operations in many nations in search of cheap labor (for unskilled jobs) or educated, technologically sophisticated labor (for skilled jobs). In this globalized economy, Reich contended, the American workforce was polarizing into two factions. 1. Symbolic analysts, who had higher degrees and were adept at information age technologies, had expanding options in an array of highly paid professional, technical, and corporate positions. 2. By contrast, with the sharp decline in well-paid, unionized industrial jobs since the 1960s, tens of millions of Americans worked in low-paid, unskilled jobs. These low-paid workers in clerical, sales, and fast-food jobs faced a bleak economic future: Reich predicted that corporations would continue to place their manufacturing operations in low-wage nations, such as Mexico and Thailand, and in consequence, the wages and economic security of unskilled American workers would deteriorate even further. Concluding that the nation could retain and develop better-paying jobs only if it invested in its human capital and its infrastructure, such as roads and telecommunications, Reich recommended large expenditures in education, job training, and public improvements.

Refugee Act of 1980

Created to provide a permanent and systematic procedure for the admission to the United States of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the U.S., and to provide comprehensive and uniform provisions for the effective resettlement and absorption of those refugees who are admitted. The act was completed on March 3, 1980, was signed by President Jimmy Carter on March 17, 1980 and became effective on April 1, 1980. This was the first comprehensive amendment of U.S. general immigration laws designed to face up to the realities of modern refugee situations by stating a clear-cut national policy and providing a flexible mechanism to meet the rapidly shifting developments of today's world policy.

Civil Rights Act of 1991

Enacted after 2 years of negotiations between Congress and the White House. This legislation was a response to a series of ten rulings by the Supreme Court that called into question the principle of affirmative action and limited individuals' ability to seek remedies to bias in the workplace.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 /Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Despite its imperfections, most health experts hailed the legislation as a positive development since it would give insurance to 32 million additional Americans by 2014, end many abuses of private insurance companies, increase competition among private insurance plans, fund or expand hundreds of primary clinics in medically underserved areas, increase the coverage of the Medicaid pro- gram, require coverage of health prevention by private and public insurances and programs, and encourage the use of evidence-based medicine. The nonpartisan CBO estimated, as well, that the reforms would cut the federal deficit significantly during the next decade not only because it would cut some health costs by providing more preventive care, but because it would be financed by new taxes on the incomes of affluent Americans and taxes on expensive health plans, as well as make large cuts in Medicare by cutting its reimbursements of providers. Many Republicans threatened almost immediately to "repeal" the legislation—and made this a rallying cry for the upcoming 2010 congressional elections.

St. Lawrence Seaway

Eisenhower wanted to keep taxes to a minimum so that government did not interfere with the private economy. He had no interest in expanding social spending, aside from small programs here and there. He did make truly massive government commitments to infrastructure improvements through the establishment of the interstate highway system and the St. Lawrence Seaway, but he saw these measures in military terms; they would facilitate the transportation of troops and military hardware in the event of a world war.

Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)

Employment program that replaced CETA and emphasized matching available private sector jobs with those looking for employment

Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act/Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act (1997)

Finally enacted in 1986 after complicated political maneuvering, the resulting legislation simplified federal taxes by decreasing the number of tax brackets and loopholes, vastly increased corporate taxes, and took roughly 6 million low-wage earners from the tax rolls. But it also repudiated the liberal belief that the federal tax system should be progressive by reducing the top tax bracket of affluent Americans to a modest 33%, which was not much higher than the rate paid by middle- and working-class Americans. Moreover, the tax reform did not generate considerably more revenues than the old tax system, and consequently the federal deficit was not reduced; federal revenues were still insufficient to fund social programs. Social reformers could nonetheless count several modest victories during Reagan's second term.

Mexican-American Legal Defense & Education Fund (MALDEF)

Founded in 1968 MALDF is the nations leading non-profit Latino legal organization. MALDF promotes equality and justice through advocacy, litigation, public policy, and education in the areas of employment, immigrants' rights, political access, voting rights and language rights. ) Sued California's public universities on the grounds that it was unfair to emphasize scores on advanced placement tests in the admissions process when few advanced placement tests were even offered in schools attended by most Latino students.

John Sununu

GHW Bush's Chief of Staff until mid-1991, strongly enforced conservative ideology. Bush offered few social initiatives that were backed up with funding.

Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972

Gave funds to local governments to use for their operating expenses. To supplement this general revenue sharing, Nixon also proposed special revenue sharing, in the form of six block grants to local governments to provide resources in broad areas such as housing and job training. This special revenue sharing would, Nixon argued, eventually replace many of the existing federal programs, which he portrayed as encumbered by excessive federal rules, guidelines, and regulations.

Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972

Gave the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the power to use court rulings to enforce its orders. Included women in affirmative action orders that were sent to federal contractors. (Nixon)

Newt Gingrich

Gingrich plotted how Republicans could take control of the House by 1992. He emphasized the importance of framing issues to allow conservatives to take the moral high ground from Democrats, by contrasting the "conservative opportunity society" (portrayed as emphasizing lower taxes, protection of innocent people from crime, responsible fatherhood, and work) with the "liberal welfare state" (portrayed as emphasizing higher taxes, the rights of criminals, and welfare dependency). He placed extraordinary emphasis on perceptions; he argued that what actually happens is less crucial than how people perceive it. He built a cadre of loyal supporters and trained them by means of tapes and seminars that provided tactical suggestions—for example, attacking Democrats as "traitors," "corrupt," and "sick." When elected, these conservatives acted cohesively in the Congress under his direction. With a growing contingent in the House, Gingrich and his allies needed to get control of leader- ship positions in the Republican Party to supplant older Republicans like Bob Dole, the Senate Minority Leader, and Robert Michel, the House Minority Leader. These older leaders were unacceptable to Gingrich for several reasons. Having lived through World War II and its aftermath, they were not as critical of the welfare state as Gingrich; their generation had benefited from such government programs as the GI Bill, FHA housing, and Social Security. Used to serving in Congress as the minority party, they excelled at cutting deals with Democrats rather than adopting intransigent positions. Gingrich narrowly won the position of Minority Whip in 1989— and his close friend Dick Armey became chair of the House Republican Conference in late 1992. With Michel's retirement in late 1993, Gingrich became Minority Leader in early 1994. (Clinton)

Family Planning and Population Research Act of 1970

Helped 4 million low-income women, including 1.3 million teenagers, obtain family-planning services by 1980.

Howard Jarvis 1978; Proposition 13,

In California, Howard Jarvis campaigned suc- cessfully in 1978 for Proposition 13, which drasti- cally reduced local property taxes. This victory was followed by grassroots tax revolts in many other states. Liberal legislators watched these local tax revolts with trepidation, for they realized that they could eventually stimulate protests against the fed- eral tax system and the social programs it funded.4

Omnibus Reconciliation Act

OBRA made deep cuts in social programs and eliminated social programs by folding them into seven block grants: social services; community services; alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health services; maternal and child health services; community development services; primary health services; and preventive health services. By creating block grants and allocating limited funds to each of them, Reagan was able to cut social spending for those programs within the block grants.

Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012

In return for allowing Bush's tax cuts to remain in place, Obama obtained Democrat's support for extending unemployment insurance of unemployed persons to 99 weeks for the next 13 months, adjusting the alternative minimum tax for 2 years to lessen its impact on middle-income families, adding a 1-year payroll tax cut for American workers who earned up to $106,800, extending a $1,000 tax cut for children for 2 years, cutting taxes on businesses by allowing them to immediately expense all business investments in 2011, and giving tax concessions to many Americans by repealing the temporary limit on itemized tax deductions and the phasing out of their personal exemptions. Republicans also obtained a provision to provide a $5 million tax exemption for estates, as well as taxes of 35% on the remaining portion of estates— provisions that benefited high-income families.

Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)

Job-training programs had proliferated in a dis- orderly fashion during the 1960s. Nixon proposed to consolidate them in the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). The administrative mechanism devised for CETA vested considerable power in state and local organizations, known as prime sponsors, which issued contracts with public agencies and industry to provide jobs and job train- ing. Under Title VI, CETA subsidized hundreds of thousands of public service jobs in both public and nonprofit agencies. These jobs were not means- tested; applicants had merely to demonstrate that they were unemployed. Incredibly, a Republican president had proposed and obtained enactment of a proposal that recalled the public works programs of the 1930s.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)

Johnson fashioned a clever compromise that eventually led to passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). It provided federal assistance to public schools with relatively high concentrations of low- income children, and it allowed private schools to share books and other materials that had been purchased by public schools. Sharp differentials in educational spending at the local level between affluent and poor neighbor- hoods persisted even after ESEA was enacted. Its provision of funds with relatively few restrictions led many schools to use the funds to underwrite their regular expenses rather than to upgrade the instruction of low-income students; indeed, some jurisdictions even reduced their level of educational spending after they received ESEA funds. Gaps in educational achievement between middle- and upper-income students and low-income students continue to defy solution.

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)

Like dream act Didn't pass due to filibuster but US citizenship and immigration service accepts app under DACA program. - To US as minor - under 30 - lived here for 5 years - college for 2 or military honorably

White backlash

Many white Americans believed Johnson had unfairly favored African Americans with an array of social programs that they believed disproportionately helped them. Moreover, many white working-class Americans were angered at the growth of liberal opposition to the Vietnam conflict—and often wanted Johnson to send even more troops to Vietnam. Some of them believed domestic reforms were absorbing resources that would have allowed the Johnson to push even harder in Vietnam.

When: César Chávez organizes farmworkers

Mid-late 1960s

Philadelphia plan 1969

Nixon administration developed the Philadelphia plan, which required building contractors that obtained federal contracts to institute affirmative action—a policy stoutly opposed by trade unions. This plan was subsequently extended to all federal contractors, as well as to state and local employees such as local police and fire departments. (These policies led to extraordinary increases in the employment of people of color and women by public agencies.)

Political outbidding strategy

Nixon endorsed social reforms that were initiated by Democrats but offered expansive amendments to them—or accepted them with little change—so that he could obtain partial credit for their passage.

Floating coalition

Nixon used a floating coalition and political outbidding. The floating coalition strategy depended on fashioning a coalition that included the support of some liberal Republicans, some moderate Republicans who were loyal to the president, and some Democratic liberals and moderates who placed their ideology before their party—that is, a bipartisan coalition of moderates and liberals to oppose conservatives, with the precise composition of the coalition varying from issue to issue.

Children's Defense Fund (CDF)

Nixon's antipathy to service programs was illustrated by his veto of child development legislation in 1971. It was the veto of this legislation that partly led Marian Wright Edelman to find the Children's Defense Fund in 1973. The CDF has undertaken hundreds of research projects to document children's needs and to evaluate the effectiveness of specific policies.

Cesar Chavez

Non-violent leader of the United Farm Workers from 1963-1970. Organized laborers in California and in the Southwest to strike against fruit and vegetable growers. Unionized Mexican-American farm workers.

HIRE Act

Obama tried to reignite policies to stimulate the lagging economy in spring 2010 by proposing the HIRE Act to provide tax credits to small businesses that hired new workers. He proposed funding this Act with $150 billion only to encounter Republican opposition to a measure of this magnitude. He finally received support from thirteen Republican senators to allow funding of $17.5 billion—a mere pittance, critics argued, when contending with double-digit unemployment.

USA Patriot Act (2001)

October 2001, which gave law enforcement agencies expanded powers of surveillance over communications within and outside the United States, gave the government significant power to fight the financing of terror through money-laundering operations, and gave the attorney general broad power to detain individuals suspected of terrorist connections. While Bush urged citizens not to discriminate against Muslims in the United States and said that hate crimes would not be tolerated, many persons feared that the Justice Department deprived many Muslims of their rights by incarcerating them without formal charges and denying them access to legal counsel. When they learned that many persons of Middle Eastern descent were placed in prisons or other facilities for extended periods, with no charges levied against them and without even being allowed to consult an attorney, critics of the Patriot Act contended that it gave the government excessive authority. Immigration procedures were tightened, particularly against persons of Middle Eastern backgrounds.

Community based care

Persons receive care for their physical and mental conditions in their communities rather than exclusively in medical settings

Enron, WorldCom, and Global Crossing

President Bush was embarrassed, as well, by corporate scandals. Corporations such as Enron, WorldCom, and Global Crossing had used fraudulent accounting to overstate their profits in a bid to keep their stock prices high in the late 1990s. When the companies entered bankruptcy proceedings, the extent of the fraud became clear. As Bush staunched criticism by changing the SEC's leadership and approving accounting reforms, many people wondered if the corporate scandals of 2001 and 2002 were merely the tip of the iceberg. They also wondered if legislation enacted by Congress, which placed more responsibility on corporate directors and established stiff penalties for accounting irregularities, would bring genuine reforms. (In just a few years, speculative practices of American banks would cause the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.) (GWBush)

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Program that provides cash assistance and health care coverage (i.e., Medicaid) to people with low-income and limited assets who are either aged 65 or older, blind, or disabled (children included)

Job Corps

Provide impoverished youth with job training in urban and rural residential centers (1964)

Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

Provided federal subsidies to schools so that children with physical and mental disabilities could be mainstreamed into regular classes. Although it allowed many children with disabilities to escape special institutions, inadequate funding in succeeding years much diminished its effects.

Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981

Provided for 20% cuts in the income taxes of most Americans, spread over 3 years, and a major reduction in corporate taxes.70 But these cuts were highly inequitable. Between 1981 and 1985, for example, the combined tax rates for the lowest one-fifth of the population went from 8.4% to 10.6% (or $137 in additional taxes per payer), whereas the tax rate of persons in the top one-fifth declined from 27.3% to 24% (or tax reductions of $2,531 per payer). What made these tax increases even more onerous on poor per- sons was that their pretax income declined during the decade because low-paid service jobs steadily replaced unionized industrial jobs. The tax legislation also violated the principle of progressive taxation that liberals had traditionally championed; it gave larger tax breaks to rich people than to poor people. Further, the tax credits given in 1973 to low- income persons who earned less than $5,600 were not indexed; their value had been seriously eroded by the inflation of the 1970s.

Health Maintenance Act of 1973

Provided seed money to promote the establishment of medical organizations funded by annual payments from enrollees rather than traditional fee- for-service payments.

Willie Horton

Racist national political ad produced by supporters of George H.W. Bush for his 1988 presidential campaign against Michael Dukakis. Horton, an African-American man, was a convicted murderer who raped a white woman and stabbed her partner while furloughed from prison under a Massachusetts program in place when Dukakis, the Democratic nominee, was governor. The TV ad is now considered one of the most racially divisive in modern political history because it played into white fear and African-American stereotypes.

Mayor Richard Daley

Republican members of Congress, desperately seeking issues to slow the momentum of the Johnson legislative avalanche, were delighted when local Democratic officials such as Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago attacked the CAAs. served for 21 years as the mayor and undisputed Democratic "boss" of Chicago. He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F. Kennedy in 1960 and of Hubert Humphrey in 1968.

Adolescent and Family Life Act

Sex education classes funded by the Adolescent Family Life Act withheld all information on abortion and birth control from students. 1980's

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993

Social reformers gained a limited victory with the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which required employers to give all but their top employees up to 12 weeks of leave to take care of a new baby or an ill family member. However, the legislation excluded individuals who had not worked for an employer for at least 12 months and excluded businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Although workers were guaranteed leaves, employers were not required to pay them during those periods. Thus, low-income workers were not easily able to take advantage of this new policy. (Clinton)

Bertha Capen Reynolds

Social worker, one of McCarthy's targets, refused to be intimidated and retained her radical viewpoints in the 1950s and beyond.

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)

The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in the US. In 1996, the Clinton Administration reformed the US welfare system with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 was nonetheless the most sweeping overhaul of the financial services industry since the 1930s. It was criticized from both the left and the right. Some liberals had wanted to nationalize large banks or place limits on their size. They wanted the legislation to cover car dealers who sold loans to purchase new cars, but this provision was eliminated from the legislation because of their lobbying. They wanted prohibitions of trading of derivatives by banks, but banking lobbyists scuttled this provision. Many conservatives contended that the legislation would curb banks' profits excessively and place them at a disadvantage compared with less-regulated banks in some other nations.

Family Support Act of 1988

The Family Support Act of 1988 provided funds to the states for training projects and child care to help AFDC recipients enter the labor force, though many critics doubted if the program was sufficiently generous to make much difference. Reagan

Food Stamp Act 1964

The Food Stamp Act provided permanent legislative authority to the Food Stamp Program, which had been administratively implemented on a pilot basis in 1962. On August 31, 1964 it was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was later replaced and completely rewritten and revised by the food stamp provisions of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, which eliminated the purchase requirement and simplified eligibility requirements. Amendments were made to this Act in 1981-82, 1984-85, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2002 (most recently by Title IV of the 2002 farm bill).

The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974

The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 established the Section 8 housing program to pay up to 70% of the housing costs of tenants who rent from private landlords. It is administered by local public housing authorities. Eligibility is determined by household income of tenants—with most families having incomes not exceeding 30% of the median income for a specific geographic area. Section 8 provided, then, vouchers to low- income families—and came to serve 1.8 million per- sons by 2004 with appropriations of roughly $17 billion. Even with these resources, only a small fraction of low-income persons are served by the pro- gram, which has long waiting lists in most jurisdictions.

Moral Majority

The Moral Majority and its allies developed expertise in targeting liberal legislators in election campaigns. Vast media, advertising, mailing, and door-to-door campaigns sought to portray liberal candidates as murderers (of fetuses), supporters of pornography, and atheists. By engaging in character assassination of liberal candidates, the Moral Majority and its allies allowed conservative candidates to take the high road and yet still reap the electoral benefits. These tactics contributed to the defeat of a number of liberal legislators in close races. Congress continued to disallow use of Medicaid funds for abortion and to cut funds for family planning, which the Moral Majority believed fostered promiscuity. The Justice Department advocated the Moral Majority's position in court cases regarding pornography, school prayer, and other matters, though it received few favorable rulings. A Presidential Commission on Pornography requested national censorship of magazines like Playboy in 1986. The Supreme Court upheld a Georgia statute that declared acts of sodomy between consenting adults to be illegal. However, the nation was hardly embracing the tenets of the Moral Majority. Courts often ruled against them in school prayer, pornography, and abortion cases. Many observers wondered whether a secular and urban society would truly accept the ideas of individuals who, like temperance crusaders in earlier periods, sought to impose their moral standards on others.

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA)

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) was landmark legislation that propelled the federal government into oversight of safety standards in American industry, in an era when toxic chemicals and new technology demanded new protections. The Department of Labor was charged with devising standards and establishing local agencies to implement inspection.

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was a historic measure to accord persons with disabilities protections from discrimination (see Figure 8.1). Section 504 states that "no otherwise qualified handicapped individual ... shall ... be excluded from participating in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to dis- crimination under any program or activity receiving federal assistance." This legislation, as well as associated lawsuits, led to massive efforts to make buildings, public transportation, and jobs accessible to persons with disabilities. Nixon

Immigration Act of 1965

The blatantly racist immigration policies of the United States, which gave larger annual quotas to European nations than to Asian nations, were finally reversed in the Immigration Act of 1965. This act abolished the national- origin quotas and allowed annual admissions of 170,000 immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 from the Western Hemisphere, not including immediate family members.

1975 Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act and the 1980 Refugee Act

The enactment of the Immigration Act of 1965 and succeeding legislation—such as the 1975 Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act and the 1980 Refugee Act—heralded a large influx of immigrants to the United States from Central America and Mexico and also from Asian nations such as Vietnam, China, Laos, Thailand, India, Cambodia, South Korea, and the Philippines.

Birth of Tea Party

The movement began following Barack Obama's first presidential inauguration (in January 2009) when his administration announced plans to give financial aid to bankrupt homeowners. A major force behind it was Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a conservative political advocacy group founded by businessmen and political activist David H. Koch. It is unclear exactly how much money is donated to AFP by David and his brother Charles Koch. Following a February 19, 2009 call by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for a "tea party," over fifty conservative activists agreed by conference call to coalesce against Obama's agenda and scheduled series of protests, including the 2009 Taxpayer March on Washington. Supporters of the movement subsequently have had a major impact on the internal politics of the Republican Party.

Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act

The response of federal and state governments to this problem in the Reagan and Bush era was halfhearted, at best. Most vexing to advocates for the homeless was the presidents' disinclination to publicly discuss the issue; even Democratic candidates in 1984 and 1988 were unwilling to demand ameliorative policies. Congress enacted the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, but it focused its resources on construction costs for shelters and was burdened with bureaucratic delays in disbursing funds to states. States and localities devoted considerable funds to the problem by the late 1980s and were particularly effective in meet- ing the emergency needs of those homeless people who used their shelters. But most jurisdictions made little provision for outreach programs to homeless people who avoided organized services and shelters, transitional programs to help home- less people obtain housing and jobs, and programs to help prevent people from becoming homeless. Nor did most jurisdictions provide case manage- ment services to homeless persons, even in shel- ters. For want of leadership from federal or state authorities, voluntary agencies—including missions, churches, neighborhood coalitions, and social agencies—often took the lead in providing services.

Cold War

The state of political hostility that existed between the Soviet bloc countries and the US-led Western powers from 1945 to 1990. Just as Franklin Roosevelt had been distracted from domestic to international affairs in the late 1930s, Harry Truman increasingly focused on Russia in the late 1940s. Believing that Stalin might even want to extend his empire to Western Europe, Truman developed the Marshall Plan, a program of U.S. economic assistance to Western Europe, to prevent the Russians from capitalizing on discontent and insurrections there. huge expen- ditures for the Marshall Plan ruled out any major increases in domestic social spending, But the real diversion of resources and presidential effort from domestic issues to military spending and international affairs—indeed the Cold War itself— commenced in 1950. North Korea attacked South Korea. Truman decided to use the invasion as a pretext for a massive, and ongoing, increase in American military spending. from about $10 billion to $40 billion annually(—Fearing that the Russians wanted to bankrupt the United States by tricking it into excessive military spending, Eisenhower constantly sought to cut the defense budget.) military budget remained at the same extraordinary level for the next 42 years; in 1991, military spending was roughly $300 billion—and it had increased to more than $500 billion by 2007

Child Care and Development Block Grants (CCDBG)

The welfare reform legislation eliminated the guarantee of child care for welfare recipients trying to move into employment that existed under AFDC, leaving it to individual states to determine whether and for how long former recipients received subsidized child care. It did, however, consolidate federal child care programs under the existing Child Care and Development Block Grant and increase funding through a new child care block grant. It also allowed states to transfer up to 30% of their TANF block grant funds to the Child Care and Development Block Grant and the Title XX Social Services Block Grant

Violence Against Women Act (1994)

U.S. Senate began proceedings in spring 2012 to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act that Congress had enacted in 1994— legislation that provides funds for police departments and agencies to aid victims of domestic violence and to prosecute domestic violence offenders. It had been reauthorized with bipartisan support on prior occasions, but conservative senators announced their opposition on grounds the legislation would be expanded. It would include Indian tribes, rural areas, and same-sex couples. It would allow more battered illegal immigrants to obtain temporary visas. It would expand the definition of violence against women to include stalking. It would train court personnel to help families with domestic violence. Many Republicans contended that Democratic senators used the issue to entice women to vote for Democrats in the congressional and presidential elections of 2012. Democratic senators retorted that "Republican opposition falls into a larger picture of insensitivity toward women that has progressed from abortion rights to contraception to preventive health care coverage—and now to domestic violence." Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska warned her Republican colleagues that their party has been successfully portrayed as anti-woman by Democrats.92 An expanded version of the legislation was finally enacted in 2013 partly because Republicans wanted to avoid further deterioration of support for their Party from women than had already occurred during the presidential election of 2012.

Karl Rove

White House Deputy Chief of Staff known for negative campaign ads that helped Bush get elected. Widely acknowledged as one of the first users of microtargeting, this person is also known as 'The Architect."

Medicare Part D

With Senator Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, leading the way, the Senate developed a prescription drug measure for Medicare recipients estimated to cost $400 billion over 10 years—but one that had such limited eligibility that many seniors would still have to pay a large portion of their drug costs. The measure received bipartisan support because Senator Ted Kennedy, again deciding that half a loaf was better than none, supported it. But the House and Senate versions of the legislation were markedly different, with the House insisting that private insurance companies implement the drug benefit in contrast to the Senate, which wanted to give consumers greater choice. A drug benefit was finally enacted in November 2003, when a conference committee reached a compromise solution that allowed many private drug plans to compete for seniors' business rather than having Medicare itself administer the benefit— and by leaving a significant number of seniors to purchase their own drug benefits. The final Medi- care drug prescription legislation was so complex than many critics wondered if most senior citizens would even understand it. Medicare did not cover outpatient prescription drugs until January 1, 2006, when it implemented the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, authorized by Congress under the "Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003." This Act is generally known as the "MMA."

Stonewall Inn Riot

series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place on June 28, 1969. This was the first instance in American history when people in the homosexual community fought back government-sponsored system that persecuted sexual minorities. Males in the bar would be arrested for being in drag clothing and the people had enough and decided to riot against the police.