Posci 2320 exam #2

What is the current debt? What is the debt-to-GDP ratio?

$26.5 trillion The debt to GDP ratio is 123% in july, was 107% in jan

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014): Which test did the Court use?

Department of Heath and Human Service's interpretation - requirements to provide certain services, such as contraceptive services - "Compelling interest test

What are some of the different proposals for reforming Social Security?

Privatization Immigration reforms Tax increases( making social security more progressive by raising the wage cap) Benefit reductions ( changing the formula on how benefits are calculated) Increasing eligibility age

Know the difference between progressive and flat taxes. Be able to identify which taxes are progressive

Progressive Taxes - Require high-income groups to pay larger percentage of their incomes in taxes than low-income groups Ex: Income Taxes o Flat Tax - Taxes that require all income groups to pay the same percentage of their income taxes

What role did Federal Reserve play in the financial/housing crisis in 2008?

Provided 700 billion in expenditures

Medicare and Medicaid are examples of which?

Single payer system

What is the single largest spending item in the federal budget?

Social Security

Which tax is the largest for most American taxpayers?

Social security

What type of system resembled the VA?

Socialized medicine

When the federal government is alleged to violate one's freedom of religion, what test does the Court use? A state?

Strict scrutiny

What is protectionism? When did the United States follow protectionist policies?

Tarrifs, quotas and other barriers to free trade Followed from WWI to WWII

What are capital gains taxes?

Tax on the growth in value of investments incurred when individuals and corporations sell those investments - Know how spending cuts, spending increases, tax increases, and tax cuts impact the size of the deficit and the debt in the short-term. Spending Cuts - Have a low impact on the deficit o Tax Increases - Have a low impact on the deficit o Tax Cuts - Have a high impact on the deficit o Spending Increases - Have a high impact on the deficit

What are some of the major provisions of Obamacare? What is meant by the individual mandate? The employer mandate? Did Texas expand Medicaid?

-Requires most individuals to have health insurance Choice of expansion of Medicaid up to 138% above federal poverty line (about 30 states) Employers must provide qualifying coverage or pay an 8% of payroll tax Employers must provide contraceptive services as part of healthcare packages provides to employees (slightly revised by Supreme Ct.) -The rule that requires you to get covered is called the individual mandate. - a requirement that all businesses with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (FTE) provide health insurance to at least 95% of their full-time employees and dependents up to age 26, or pay a fee -No

West Virginia v. Barnette (1943)

-compelling interests test -1943, forcing students to salute the flag is a violation of 1st amendment free speech, and is therefore unconstitutional.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

-compelling interests test -The Court ruled that Wisconsin could not require Amish parents to send their children to public school beyond the eighth grade because it would violate long-held religious beliefs

Employment Division v. Smith (1990)

-general applicability test -The Court ruled that Oregon could deny unemployment benefits to workers fired for using drugs (peyote) as part of a religious ceremony.

The average recipient of Medicare has paid, on average, $100,000 in Medicare taxes, but are expected to receive an average of ___________ in benefits.

300,000

What percentage of people living in the US, prior to Obamacare, did not have healthcare insurance? Has this number been reduced? What groups are unlikely to have health insurance

46% don't have insurance, lower income families and people of color.

How many federal programs are devoted to fighting poverty? How much federal spending is devoted to fighting poverty? Is there any correlation between federal spending and the poverty rate?

126 different programs to fight poverty $1.03 trillion a year to fight poverty There is no correlation

The top 50% of all taxpayers pay ____ of what the government takes in with regards to the income tax.

97%

What are some of the arguments given for a flat tax? A National sales tax?

Arguments for a Flat Tax - Simplicity • Current Tax Code has over 100,000 pages of rules and regulations Universality • All income subject to the same tax rates - no loopholes Fairness • Progressivity discourages initiative and enterprise, while encouraging the seeking of "tax shelters," the underreporting pf income and tax evasion o Arguments for a National Sales Tax - Simplicity Penalized spending (consumption) and encourages saving Gets at the "underground" economy Encourages activities that produce income: working, investment, starting businesses

Who is the United States' largest trading partner?

China

What is the difference between classical economic theory, Keynesian economic theory, supply-side economics, and monetary economics?

Classical economic theory: the market as a self adjusting mechanism Keynesian economic theory: the creation of demand through spending and lowering taxes (creation of deficits to get out of recession) Supply-side economics: tax incentives, tax cuts and reduced governmental spending to allow for greater productivity and investment (trickle down economics) Monetary economics: fine tuning of economy through regulation of the money supply

What is the difference between a deficit and debt?

Debt is money owed while deficit is how much more your taking in then spending in a given year Debt is the accumulation of years of deficit

Who is Adam Smith?

Father of economics

What is mandatory spending? Be able to identify the budget items that are "mandatory."

Federal spending that is made up of budgeting items that cannot be controlled through the budget process, "uncontrollables" Ex: Social Security, medicare, interest on debt, defense

What are entitlements? Know that 2/3 of all entitlement spending goes to the elderly.

Government benefits that are dispensed to anyone who meets the criteria set forth by congress, government benefits that is given out to people who meet certain criteria Ex: Social security and age

socialized medicine-

Government ownership of healthcare facilities and staff

What role does the OMB play in the budgetary process?

Helps president make decisions for budget, builds budget on requests from agencies

What was the Smoot-Hawley Act?

High tariffs placed on foreign goods between WWI and WWII

What does "comparative advantage" mean? In the United States, who benefits from the growth in international trade? Who is disadvantaged?

If nations devote more of their resources to the production of those goods that they produce more efficiently, and trade for those goods that other nations produce more efficiently then all trading nations benefit Skilled workers benefit and unskilled don't

What does it mean to balance one's sincere religious beliefs of an individual against state interests?

In public you have to respect other peoples religious believes

What is TANF?

Introduced to address long-term dependency on welfare It focused on education and job training to get people back to work Block grants to states with benefits and eligibility requirements determined by the states, allowed them to come up with their own programs

Who is the current chairman of the Fed?

Janet yellem

Who was president when Medicare and Medicaid were enacted?

LBJ

What are some the dangers of a large debt?

Limitation of choices made in economy Tax increases, discouraging production (reducing revenue and exasperating the problem) Debt and inflation; more and more money is out there means the value of a dollar is less Negative impact on economic growth; when gdp got to 90% it had negative effect on economic growth rate Investor confidence, people won't wanna buy stuff because of investment concern

To whom does Medicare pertain? Medicaid? Is Medicare and Medicaid an example of socialized medicine, a single-payer system, or an out-of-pocket system?

Medicare- provides healthcare to the elderly Medicaid- provides healthcare to the poor These are both examples of a single-payer system.

What are some of the reason why the cost of health insurance have been increasing?

More people, an aging population, changes in diseases prevalence or incidence, increases in how often people use health care services, increases in the price of intensity of services

What is the current unemployment rate? What is the labor force participation rate? What is the difference between the two?

Unemployment rate- 11.1% Labor force participation rate 61.5% The difference between the two is the participation rate measures the percent of americans who has a job from 18-65 while the unemployment rate measures the percentage of within the labor force that is currently without a job

Is the poverty in Texas higher or lower than the national average? The poverty rate is higher, 13.6%

What is the definition of poverty? What government entity is responsible for defining it? Definition is based upon family size and how much you make The U.S bureau of the census is responsible for defining this along with family size

What is the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending? What are some examples of some mandatory spending items?

What is the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending? What are some examples of some mandatory spending items?

single-payer system

a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health care financing, but the delivery of care remains largely in private* hands.

Which party tends to favor spending cuts as a method of budgetary control? Spending increases? Tax increases? Tax cuts?

favor spending cuts: republican favor spending increases: democrat favor tax increases: democrat favor tax cuts: republican cuts are republican increases are democrat

out-of-pocket system-

has no insurance and has to pay everything out of pocket

What are some of the leading causes of death in the US?

heart and circulatory disorders, cancer, respiratory disorders

What is the largest source of federal revenue?

individual income taxes

What is defensive medicine? What is meant by 'tort reform'?

refers to the practices of recommending a diagnostic test or medical treatment that is not necessarily the best option for the patient, but an option that mainly serves the function to protect the physician against the patient as potential plaintiff -- proposed changed in common law civil justice systems, to reduce tort litigation or damages - first created in English commonwealth system as a non-legislative means, compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to another - advocating focus on personal injury common law rules in particular