Gov chapt 16,17,18

Trade policy Page 744

a government policy that directly influences the quantity of goods and services that a country imports or exports. Trade is one of the most contentious issues and contemporary international relations.

Inflation

A consistent increase in the general level of prices

Public policy

A law rule statutes or edict that expresses the governments goals and provides for rewards and punishments to promote those goals' attainment

Containment

A policy design to curtail The political and military expansion of a hostile power

Means testing

A procedure by which potential beneficiaries of social assistance programs establish their eligibility by demonstrating a genuine need for the assistance.

Isolationism

Avoidance of involvement in the affairs of other nations

Nonstate actors

Groups other than nation states that attempt to play a role in the international system, terrorist groups are one type of nonstate actors.

Tax expenditures

In addition to contributory and not contributing programs the United States provide social welfare benefits through tax breaks, credits, reductions, and preferential tax rates that subsidize social welfare through what some analysis called the shadow welfare state. The tax expenditure system includes benefits that employers may offer to their workers such as medical insurance and retirement plans both traditional pensions and 401(k)s. The federal government subsidizes search benefits by not taxing the payments that employers and employees make for health insurance and pensions. The shadow welfare state also includes tax breaks that individuals can file for when they prepare for federal tax returns. For example taxpayers can deduct the amount they paid in interest on a home mortgage from the income they report on their tax returns, as well as the state and local taxes they paid up to $10,000. There are also tax deductions for out-of-pocket medical expenses, childcare, charitable contributions, and so on. There are dozens of such tax breaks in the tax code. By reducing taxes, these tax break show lower the effective cost of home ownership health insurance child rearing the other subsidize activities. But search benefits are concentrated in the middle and upper income people who are most likely to have employer provided benefits at work and to engage in subsidized activities such as buying a house. People often do not think of these tax expenditures as part of social policy because they are not as visible as the programs that provide direct payments or services to beneficiaries. But taxes managers represent a significant federal investment, although the 2017 tax bill signed by President Trump alter some tax expenditures, they still cost the national treasury over 1 trillion in the foregone revenue each year, about the amount collected by the personal income tax, and greater than the amount spent on Social Security, the largest federal program.

Key congressional committees in the foreign-policy realm

On the Senate side the first oldest and most influential committee dealing with foreign policy is the US Senate committee on foreign relations. The committee oversees the state department other foreign policy agencies and executive branch compliance with several statutes include the war Powers resolution. The committee consists of 18 members and was established in 1816 as one of the original 10 standing committees of the Senate. Each a bit seven subcommittees has jurisdiction over specific region or subject matter. Throughout its history the foreign relations committee has viewed its role as the guardian of congressional power in the foreign policy room. The power of the formulations committee stems from his responsibility to confirm state department officials and the fact that treaties proposed by the executive branch must be reviewed by the committee before they can be referred to the force in it for a vote on ratification. In recent years the committees efforts to influence presidential foreign policy initiatives have been somewhat less successful as presidents as we knew that above have made use of executive agreements rather than treaties that would require senatorial approval. For example for members of the committee were sharply critical of the Obama administration's negotiations with Iran in 2015 the president generally ignore their comments. Nevertheless the committee occasionally flexes its muscles. What example is his refusal for a number of years to report the proposed law of the sea treaty which codifies international maritime Lol on the grounds that it would restrict US sovereignty to the faucet for ratification. Eventually the treaty appropriately known as LOST was reported to the Senate but lacks a 2/3 vote needed for ratification. In addition to his role in the treaty process the foreign relations committee also consider his presidential nominees for important foreign policy posts including the position of secretary of state. In 2017 the committee held contentious hearings on President trumps nomination of EXXON executive Rex Tillerson for the post. Senate Democrats charge that Tillerson's business ties especially with Russia would represent conflict of interest a charge denied by the nominee. Eventually Tillerson received the committees endorsement and was confirmed by the force Senate the Trump later fire Tillerson who reportedly disagreed with Trump on a number of matters. Paralleling the jurisdiction of the Senate formulations committee is the House committee on for affairs. The House committee isConsiderably less influential than its Senate counterpart because it neither involved in appointments nor in the ratification of treaties. For the most part the House committee's hearings focus on symbolic questions. In 2015 for example after holding hearings in the house committee adopted a non-binding resolution in doing the mass killings of Armenians billions by Turkish forces in 1915. The committee had adopted similar resolutions in the past but none had ever reached the house floor. And the fact of the Turkish lobbying the 2015 resolution not brought before the full house. And both houses of Congress standing subcommittees of the appropriations committee's are responsible for funding the state department for an aid programs in other matters in the foreign-policy room. Though the subcommittees as well as though the formulations in foreign affairs committee the Senate and House can indicate their displeasure with presidential programs by cutting or withholding funds. Do you thousand 12 for example representative Kay Granger of Texas who then chaired the house appropriations subcommittee dealing with foreign aid used her position to block $450 million in aid to Egypt that had been requested by the Obama administration.

The state department

Routine matters of international diplomacy come under the purview of the department of state. The state department was the first federal agency created by the first Congress in 1789. The state department is headed by the secretary of State a member of the presidents cabinet and nominally the most important foreign policy official after the president. The secretaries actual importance varies with his or her relationship to the president. Some presidents rely very little on their secretaries well for other presidents the secretary becomes their chief foreign policy advisor. Franklin D Roosevelt for example was barely wear that Cordell hull existed relegating The secretary to an observer of the diplomatic scene. On the other end of the spectrum George W. Bush worked very closely with condoleezza rice Who served as his chief foreign policy advisor. In some instances presidents use their secretaries as roving ambassadors more than as advisers like John Carrie in the Obama administration. Donald Trump or lie to casually on Rex Tillerson but severely criticize the secretary for his belief that diplomacy could we use the nuclear threat from North Korea. Trump asserted that only forest could in the threats. And she thousand 18 Trump fired Tillerson and assign CIA director Mike Pompeo as his new Secretary of state. Having faulted Tillerson for promoting a diplomatic solution to the Korean problem Trump changed course in launched his own diplomatic initiative meeting with Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Both sides pledge to work towards Do you nuclear reservation of the Korean Peninsula and more peaceful relations but whether these goals will be met remains to be seen. The state department overseas more than 300 US embassies Consulates and diplomatic missions around the world. Embassies are headed by ambassadors. While most embassy staff members are officers of the US foreign service the state departments professional diplomatic corps a number of ambassadors have no diplomatic expertise and are instead political appointee is rewarded with an ambassador Royal title for their campaign contribute Tatian's to the president. Most of Americans western European embassies then are actually run by their number to person the deputy chief of mission a foreign service professional. The United States recognizes and maintains diplomatic relations with 195 countries. The United States does not officially recognize Iran or North Korea. Recognition means that the United States excepts the nations government as lawful will engage in routine trade and diplomatic exchanges with it and will except its citizens passports for travel into America. At the various embassies in missions set department officials monitor American treaty in trade relations with the host country provide assistance for American business interest in tourists and deal with foreign nations attempting to immigrate to or visit the United States. Diplomatic officials are responsible for reporting on political and economic developments at their posts that might have implications for American policy. Some staff may officially or unofficially work for the CIA or other American intelligence services. Embassy staff is also tasked with developing good relations with prominent citizens of the other nations in order to disseminate positive views of the United States just secure information that might be useful to American interest. At the time the state department monitors the conduct of foreign nationals. No preventing out right for an espionage is the responsibility of the FBI the state department is expected to keep an eye on the activities of foreign diplomats assigned to the United States. The president also makes ceremonial visits to Americas allies and other important states to demonstrate Americas friendship and intern host foreign dignitaries at the White House. Serious negotiations with other nations are usually handled by state professional state department diplomat steam to have subject matter expertise as well as a good understanding of the priorities and sensibilities of the negotiating partners. Only in the case of The most important talks is the president likely to become involved personally. Usually talks begin any lower level among professional diplomats. If progress is made most influential officials are summoned and the president called to meet with his counterpart to formally seal the deal. Does in the aftermath of the Russian annexation of Crimea professional American and Russian diplomats were assigned to open talks all my meetings between US Secretary of State John Carrie and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. We're in agreement has been hammered out President Obama met with President Putin and shook hands though soon enough each side again accuse the other of engaging in provocative acts. President Trump generally does not follow this will establish that or procedures. Trump refers to begin with a face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader and leave it to staff to fill in details later. In the case of trumps July 2018 meeting with the Russian president Putin the 2 alone without staff. State department and other staff were left trying to determine exactly what has been said during the meeting.

Contributory programs

Social programs finance in whole or in part by taxation or other mandatory contributions by their present or future recipients.

Interest groups

Although the president the executive branch bureaucracy and Congress are the true makers of foreign-policy the foreign-policy establishment is a much larger arena including significant shapers of foreign policy. These unofficial players possess varying degrees of influential depending on their prestige reputation Socio economic standing in most important the party and ideology That are dominant at a given moment. The most important nonofficial players are the interest groups. Economic interest groups are reputed to wield the most influence get myths about their influence far outweigh the realities. In fact the influence of organize economic interest groups in foreign policy varies enormously from issued issue and year to year. On mini broader and more sustain policy issues such as the USMCA The TPP in the general question of US involvement in international trade the larger interest groups or peak associations have difficulty getting there many members to speak with a single voice. Some business groups represent export industries in the other represent firms threatened by importance. Hence business has more than one view on trade policy. More successful and influencing foreign policy are the single issue groups that are most active with their particular issue is on the agenda. These include interest groups representing the tobacco industry which have prevented heavy restrictions on international trade in an advertising them tobacco productsAnd those representing computer hardware and software industries which I've heard in the United States attitude towards Chinese piracy of intellectual property rights. Another type of interest group with significant foreign policy influence compromises people who strongly identify with a particular country. For example many Jewish Americans and evangelical protestants possess strong emotional ties to Israel. In 2015 many albeit not all jewish and evangelical groups lobbied heavily but ultimately unsuccessfully against the Obama ministration's agreement with Iran which they argued posed a threat to both United States and Israel. Similarly Cuban Americans most recently represented by two powerful senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have long been a strong voice in support of maintaining sanctions against the Castro regime In Cuba which helps explain why relations with Cuba we're not normalize until 2015 and remain tenuous today. A third type of interest group more prominent in recent decades is devoted to human rights in other global causes such as protection of the environment. And example is amnesty international who's exposes of human rights abuses have altered the practices of some Regimes. Groups to go to protecting the environment often depend more on demonstrations in a lobbying in electoral politics. Demonstrations in strategically located areas can have significant influence on American foreign policy. In recent years environmental activist have stage major protest such as the 2009 London and 2010 Toronto international economic summons and at the 2015 Paris and environmental summit that led to the signing of a series of international records and that limiting reproduction of greenhouse gases.

Spending on non-contributory programs

In contrast to Social Security and Medicare some contributory programs particularly cash welfare have experience substantial reform and spending reductions. For the 1960s to the 1990s opinion polls consistently show that the public Bude welfare beneficiaries as undeserving. Underlined that judgment was a believe that welfare recipients did not want to work. These negative assessments were amplified by a racial stereotypes. Although the percentage of welfare recipients who were African-American did peek at 46% in 1973 falling 236% in 1995 racially disproportionate media portrayals helped create the widespread perception that the vast majority of welfare recipients were black. Can you careful study of the Martin Gillians has shown how racial stereotypes of blacks as uncommitted to the work ethic reinforce public Opposition to welfare. During the recession of the early 1990s welfare roles reached an all-time high. Since in continuing public frustration with welfare Bill Clinton as a presidential candidate vowed to end welfare as we know it an unusual promise for a Democrat. When Republicans gain control of Congress in 1994 midterm election they proposed a dramatic reform welfare which Clinton facing a campaign for reelection in 1996 sign. The personal responsibility and work opportunity ring reconciliation act repealed a FDC and replaced it with temporary assistance for needy families TANF. In place of the individual entitlement to assistance the new law created block grants to the states in allowed states much more discretion in designing their cash assistance programs for needy families. The new law also establish time limits restricting recipients to two years of assistance at a time in creating a lifetime limit of five years. It impose new work requirements on those receiving welfare and it restricted most legal immigrants from receiving benefits. The aim of the new laws to reduce welfare caseloads promote work and reduce out of wedlock births. Notably reducing poverty was not one of its status objectives. After this law was enacted the number of families receiving assistance dropped by 60% nation one. The sharp decline in the number of recipients was widely hailed as a sign that the welfare reform was working. Indeed former welfare recipients have been more successful at finding and keeping jobs the mini critics of the lab predicted. One important indicator of how welfare is changed what is the proportion of funds it provides in cash assistance. Before the 1996 perform assistance was provided largely in the form of the cash grant. After the reform 36% of welfare funds were used for cash assistance and 64% were allocated for non-cash services such as assistance with transportation to work temporary shelter or one time payments for emergencies so that people do not go on the welfare rules. The orientation of assistance has shifted away from subsidizing people who are not in the labor force and toward providing temporary assistance that facilities work. But critics point out that the most from her welfare recipient are not paid enough to pull their families out of poverty. With a 1996 law has helped reduce well for a caseloads It has done little to reduce the underlying problems of poverty. Because the TANF block grants to the states were not adjusted to inflation federal funds for welfare have fallen in real terms. TANF was unable to keep pace with the growth of poverty caused by the great recession that started in 2008. I had the kids for the poor contrasted it to SNAP who's growth closely tag the rise in unemployment in poverty during the recession. 2007 before the recession to cold approximately 26.3 million individuals received as in AP benefits. By 2018 that number has risen to approximately 42 million people a month close to 15% of all Americans. In April 2018 President Trump signed an executive order request in cabinet secretaries to review assistance programs such as TANFNSNAP and housing assistance and strengthen or add work requirements for benefits. In January 2018 the administration loud states to impose work requirements for Medicaid for the first time in the programs history.

The policy making process

John kingdon offer is a model of the policymaking process with three streams, problems policies in politics. Has a societal condition been identified as a problem for which a government solution would be desirable. The social policy response to the emergency of a new risk to economy security that has emerged in recent decades rising employment rates among women with caregiving obligations for children and elders illustrates how the policymaking process works. Many social policies enacted during the 1930s and 1960s assumed a male breadwinner model. But a problem stream soon emerge as a majority of women and mothers join the workforce exposing new strains on Workers who need to take time off work to care for sick Child or attend a disabled parent. A coalition of advocates that had first emerged to lobby for workplace equality in the 1970s begin to push for a new family leave policy that would allow workers to take time off for a variety of family and medical reasons. The coalition worked hard on the policy stream that is crafting a proposal likely to garner the majority support needed for passage in both chambers of Congress. To maximize political support advocates compromise on a number of policy parameters. First to minimize business opposition they sought unpaid leave only not paid leave. If they succeeded in securing unpaid leave they could fight for paid leave later. Second to maximize support they expanded coverage beyond parents needing leave for childbirth or to care for sick child to people needing leave for their own illness or to care for an ill spouse or other relative. This modification attracted the support of the powerful AARP. Third they also expanded support by making it clear that leave granted under the family the medical leave act could not be used by women seeking abortions. This provision allowed do United States Catholic conference to support the any enabled proponents to frame the bill as pro family helping garner the vote Republican lawmakers. Finally advocates signal to lawmakers and openness to compromise on the length of leave and the number and type of ploy ease covered. Advocates original proposal required for employers to provide 18 weeks of parental leave in 26 weeks of disability leave in each two-year period. The final bill instead provided 12 weeks of unpaid leave to be used over a 12 month period of employees of firms with at least 50 workers who had worked at least 1250 hours in preceding year the top 10% of earners are exempt from this benefit. That's onlyAbout half of American workers are eligible for FMLA leaves. But these compromise is created a credible policy alternative. Although the problem stream and the policy stream had come together FM LA was temporarily stymied why an unfavorable political stream. And 99 needs a bill passed the house but not the Senate. In 1991 the bill passed both chambers of Congress but was vetoed by President George HW Bush a Republican. Finally with democratic Bill Clinton's presidential victory in 1992 the political stream turned favorable for the FMLA. Advocates were still conscious however rather than try to take advantage of unified democratic control of government to increase the number of weeks of leave or the number of employees cupboard or even to introduce Paley they supported the same version that had passed earlier. They were exhausted after years of advocacy and wanted an easy win for the new president. The family and medical leave act of 1993 became the first place of legislation that Bill Clinton signed into law. The rest is on page 707

Indexing

Periodic process of adjusting social benefits or wages to account for increases in the cost of Livin

Security

Too many Americans the chief goal of the nations foreign policies protection of US security in an office in hostile world. Traditionally the United States has been concerned about threats that may be Mane from other countries, such as Nazi Germany during the 1940s and then Soviet Russia until the Soviet unions collapse in the late 1980s. Today American security policy is concerned not only with the actions of other nations but with the activities of terrorist groups and other hostile nonstate actors. To protect the nation security from foreign threats the United States was built's an enormous military apparatus in the complex array of intelligence gathering Institutions such as the CIA, charge with evaluating and anticipating challenges from abroad. Security is of course a broad term. Policymakers must be concerned with Americans physical security. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks killed and injured thousands of Americans in the government constantly fears that new attacks could be even more catastrophic. Policymakers must also be concerned with such matters as the security of Americans food supplies transportation infrastructure and energy supplies. Mini American efforts in the Middle East for example our aimed at ensuring continuing American access to vital oil fields. In recent years cyber space has become a new security concern. The nations dependence on computers means that the government must be alert to efforts but hostile governments groups or even individual hackers to damage computer networks were access sensitive or proprietary information. US US government has often charged Chinese and Russian government and military agencies with stealing American secrets through cyber espionage. In 2017 it appeared that a popular antivirus software marketed by a Russian company was being used in the Russian government to spy on American corporations and government agencies. During the 18th and 19th centuries American security was based mainly on the geographic isolation of the United States. Separated by two oceans from European and Asian powers many Americans thought that the country security would be best preserved by our remaining aloof from international power struggles. The policy was known as isolationism. In his 1796 Farewell address president George Washington worn Americans to avoid permanent alliances with foreign powers and in 1823 President James Monroe one foreign powers not to metal in the western hemisphere. Washington's warning and what came to be called the Monroe doctrine were the cornerstones of the US foreign policy of isolationism until the end of the 19th century. The United States saw itself as the dominant power in the western hemisphere and indeed believe that it's manifest destiny was to expand from seed to see the rest of the world however should remain at arms length. And the 20th century technology made oceans less of a barrier to foreign threats in the world growing economic interdependence meant that the nation could no longer ignore events of rod. Early in the 20th century the United States entered World War I On the side of great Britain and France when the Wilson administration concluded that a German victory would adversely affect the economic and security interest of the United States. In 1941 the United States was drawn into World War II when Japan hoping to become the dominant power in the Pacific attacked the US Pacific Fleet anchor it at Pearl Harbor Hawaii. Even before at to prevent a victory by the German Japanese Italian access alliance. Until the Japanese attack however Roosevelt had been unable to overcome proponents of American isolationism who declared that our security was best served by leaving foreigners to their own devices. With their attack the Japanese proved that the pacific ocean cannot protect the United States from foreign photos and effectively discredited isolationism as a security policy. Following World War II the United States developed a new security policy known as containment to check in or contain the growing power of the Soviet union which by the end of the 1940s had built a huge empire enormous military forces and nuclear weapons in bombers capable of attacking the United States. The United States was committed to maintaining its own military might as means of deterrence to discourage the Soviets from attacking the United States or its allies. Some Americans wanted a more aggressive policy and argued that we should attack the Soviets before it was too late which became known as a preventative war. Other said that the policy is called appeasement, what is the idea is to show our peaceful intentions. Before World War II the British Has shot to prevent war by appeasing Nazi Germany. The disastrous results of the British effort left Most Americans with a little confidence in an Appeasement policy. The policies that the United States actually adopted, deterrence and containment, could be seen as midway between preventative war and appeasement. I nation pursuing a policy of deterrence on one hand signals it's peaceful intentions but on the other hand indicates his willingness and ability to fight if attack. Thus during the era of confrontation with the Soviet union known as the Cold War the United States frequently asserted that had no intention of attacking the Soviet union but also build a huge military force Including a vast arsenal of over 1500 nuclear warheads and frequently asserted that in the event of a Soviet attack it had the ability and will to respond with overwhelming force. The Soviet union which had also built powerful nuclear and conventional military forces announce that it's nuclear weapons were also intended for deterrent purposes. Eventually the two sides possess such enormous arsenals of nuclear missiles that each potentially have the ability to destroy the other in the event of war. This heavily armed standoff came to be called a posture of mutually assured destruction which discouraged either side from attacking the other. Eventually this situation led to a period of détente in which a number of arms control agreements were signed and the threat of war was reduced. A policy of deterrence requires not only the possession of large military forces but also that the nation pursuing such a policy convince potential adversaries that it is willing to fight. Thus as a part of its policy of deterrence the United States engaged in wars in Korea and Vietnam where it had no particular interests because American policymakers believe that the United States did not fight in these areas the Soviets would be emboldened to pursue an expansion his policy elsewhere thinking that the Americans will not respond. The Soviet union collapse in 1991 and the new Russia those still a formidable power at the time seem to pose less of a threat to the United States. A policy of deterrence assumes certainty and rationality. Certainty means that a potential adversary must know for sure that the United States will reply with force if attacked. Rationality means that to be deterred a potential adversary must be capable of rationally assessing the risks in cost of aggression against the United States. These two assumptions may not be valid in the context of some contemporary security threats. The September 11 terrorist attacks for example demonstrated the threat that nonstate actors are so-called rogue states might acquire a significant military capabilities including nuclear weapons and would not be affected by Americas deterrent capabilities. Unlike nation states which are countries with governments and fix borders terrorist groups are nonstate actors having no fixed geographic location that can be attacked. Terrorists may believe that they can attack and melt away leaving the United States with no one against him to retaliate. Hence the threat of massive retaliation does not deter them. Rogue states are nations with often unstable and erratic leaders who seem to pursue policies driven by ideological or religious fervor rather than careful consideration of economic or human costs. The United States Considers North Korea and Iran to be Road states the most academic analysis see both nation's leaders as behaving belligerently but not necessarily irrationally. To counter these new security threats the George W. Bush in ministration shifted from a policy of deterrence to one of preventative war, the willingness to strike first in order to prevent and attacked, particularly by enemies that might be armed with weapons of mass restriction. Do United States declared that if necessary it would take action to disable terrorist groups and rogue states before they can develop the capacity to harm the United States. The bushing ministration's global war on terror was an expression of prevention as was the US invasion of Iraq. Do you know states also refused to rule out the possibility that it would attack North Korea or Iran if it deemed that those nations nuclear programs to be eminent threat to American security interest. Accompanying this shift in military doctrines was an enormous increase in overall US military spending. President Obama took a less aggressive line saying that the United States would rely on diplomacy and economic sanctions. President Trump however said that the United States was prepared to use overwhelming force against his adversary. Trump call North Korean leader Kim Jong-un little Rocketman and declare that only fourth would work him ambitions. Nevertheless in April 2018 trump agreed to a meeting with Kim to discuss ways of reducing tensions on Korean peninsula. After the 2 L met Trump declared that progress has been made towards a peaceful resolution of the Korean conflict. In July 2018 trump met the Russian president Vladimir Putin. Trump called meeting a great success but critics charged of the president had not been sufficiently aggressive and demanding in accounting for Russian attempts to influence the 2016 American election.

The history of the social welfare system

America has always had a welfare system but up until 1935 it was almost entirely private composed of an Extensive system of voluntary donations through churches in other religious groups ethnic and fraternal societies communities and neighborhoods and Philanthropy inclined wealthy individuals. Most often it was called charity and although it was private and voluntary it was thought of as a public obligation. There were great variations in the generosity of charity from town to town but one thing seems to have been universal the tradition of distinguishing between two classes of poor the deserving poor and the undeserving poor. Deserving poor were widows and orphans and others rendered dependent by some misfortune such as death or serious injury of the families breadwinner in the course of war honest labor. The undeserving poor were able-bodied person's unwilling to work transients news of the communityAnd others of whom for various reasons the community did not approve. Thus private charity was a very subjective matter the givers and the agents spent a great deal of time and resources examining the qualifications but economic and moral of the secrets of charity. Before the great depression much of the private charity was given in cash called outdoor relief. But because of fears the outdoor relief Spohn poverty rather than relieving or preventing it mini community set up settlement houses and other indoor relieve institutions. Are you still larger institution of indoor relief was the police station or mini of America's poor saw temporary shelter. But even in the severest winter of the homeless cannot stay in police stations for a mini nights without being jailed as vagrants. The severe limitations of financing phased by private charitable organizations and settlement houses slowly produce a movement by many groups toward public responsibility for some of these charitable or welfare functions. Worker's Compensation laws were an act in a few states for example but the effect of Lasic was limited because they benefited only workers injured on the job and of them only those who work for certain types of companies. A more important effort one that lead more directly to the modern Warfel state was public aid to mothers with dependent children. Beginning in Illinois in 1911 the movement of mothers pensions spread to include 40 states by 1926. Initially such aid was viewed as simply an inexpensive alternative to providing indoor relief to mothers and their children. Moreover applicants not only had to pass a rigorous means test but also had to prove that they were deserving because the law provided that assistance would be given only to individuals who were dean physically mentally or morally fit. In most states a mother was deemed unfit of her children were born out of wedlock. In effect these criteria proved to be racially discriminatory. Many African-Americans in the south and ethnic immigrants in the north were denied benefits on the grounds of moral and fitness. Furthermore local governments were allowed to decide whether to establish such pension programs. In the south many countries with large numbers of African-American women refused to implement assistant programs. Despite the spread of state government programs to assume some of the obligation to relieve the poor the private sector remain dominant until the 1930s. Even as late as 1928 only 11.6% of all relief granted in 15 of the largest cities came from public funds. Nevertheless the various state and local public experiences provided guidance and presidents for the national governments welfare system. The traditional approach dominated by the private sector with it severe distinction between deserving and undeserving poor crumbled in the face of the stark reality of the great depression in 1929. During the depression misfortune became so widespread and private wealth strengths so drastically that private charity was out of the question and the distinction between deserving and undeserving became impossible to draw. Around 20% of the workforce immediately became unemployed this figure Groo as a depression stretched into years. Moreover do you these individuals had any monetary resources or any family farm on which to fall back. Banks failed wiping out the savings of millions who had been fortunate enough to have any savings at all. Thousands of businesses failed as well throwing middle-class Americans onto the bread lines along with unemployed laborers dispossessed farmers and those who have never worked in any capacity. The great depression prove to Americans that property could be a result of imperfections in the economic system as well as of individual irresponsibility. It also forced Americans to drastically alter their standards regarding who was deserving and who was not. Once property and dependency were excepted as problems inherent in the economy system a large scale public policy approach was not far away. By the time do you Roosevelt administration took office in 1933 the question was not whether there was to be a public welfare system but how generous or restrictive that system would be.

Social Security

A contributory welfare program into which working Americans contribute a percentage of their wages and from which they receive cash benefits after retirement or if they become disabled.

Executive agreement

An agreement made between the president and another country that has the force of a treaty but does not require the sentence advice and consent

Deterrence

In effort to prevent hostile action by promising to retaliate forcefully against an attacker

World trade organization

International organization promoting free trade that grew out of the general agreement on tariffs and trade

General agreement on tariffs and trade

International trade organization and existence from 1947 to 1995 that set many of the rules governing international trade

Nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea Page 743

Iran and North Korea are not great powers but those present challenges to the United States especially in the realm of nuclear proliferation.In 2015 United States and I ran signed an agreement the Iranians pledge not to build nuclear weapons in exchange for a lifting of the economic sanctions.

Arbitration

Means referring an international disagreement to a neutral third-party for resolution. Sometimes seen as a form of soft power as distinguished from military force economic sanctions and other coercive foreign-policy instruments. Do you know states relies heavily on these panels to maintain the flow of international trade and which the US economy depends.

in-kind benefits

Non-cash goods and services provided to needy individuals and families by the federal government

The working poor

People who are working but are poor or just above the poverty line receive only limited assistance from government social programs. Typically work jobs that do not provide pensions or health insurance they often rent. Cannot benefit from the shadow welfare state that subsidizes the social benefits enjoyed by most middle-class Americans. Government programs include the ACA the EITC and the SNAP. On page 703

Preventative war

Policy of striking first when a nation fears that a foreign foeis contemplating hostile action.

Soft power

Refers to efforts by one nation to influence the people and governments of other nations by persuasion rather than coercion. This includes deployment aid cultural diplomacy student exchange programs and other mechanisms designed to shape perceptions.

Appeasement

The effort to forestall war by giving into the demands of a hostile power

Non-contributory programs

Programs to which beneficiaries do not have to contribute or non-contributory programs are also known as social assistance programs or more commonly as welfare. Eligibility for social assistance is determined by means testing a procedure that requires applicants to show a financial need for assistance. The 1935 Social Security act founded cash assistance to families with children in cash assistance to poor elderly blind and disabled. In the ensuing decades the government also created programs to provide housing assistance food stamps in school lunches. The largest single category of expansion was establishments in 1965 Medicaid a program that provides extended medical services to low income Americans. Like contributory programs the non-contributory social assistance programs also made their most significant advances during the 1960s and 70s. The creation of SSI in 1974 made benefits for the elderly blind and disabled uniform across the nation. The number of people receiving a FDC benefits expanded in the 1970s in part because new welfare programs have been established during the mid-1960s. Medicaid and the supplemental nutrition assistance program, What are called in-kind benefits, non-cash goods and services that would otherwise have to be paid for in cash by the beneficiary. At the time a FDC recipients would automatically eligible for Medicaid and food stamps. Another more complex reason for the growth of a FDC in the 1970s was that it became more difficult for the government to terminate peoples AFDC benefits for lack of eligibility. In the 1970 case of Goldberg versus Kelly, the supreme court held that the financial benefits of AFDC cannot be revoked without due process, that is, a hearing at which evidence is presented. This ruling inaugurated the concept of entitlement, a class of government benefits with a status similar to that of property. Goldberg versus Kelly did not provide that the beneficiary had a right to government benefits, it provided that once a persons eligibility for a FDC was established, and as long as the program was still in effect, that person could not be denied benefits without due process. The decision left open the possibility that Congress could terminate the program and it's benefits by way of legislation. If the welfare benefit were truly a property right, Congress would have no authority to deny it. In 1996 the entitlement of AFDC benefits were illuminated under welfare reform. Dusty establishment of in-kind benefit programs in the legal obstacles involved in terminating benefits contributed to the growth of the welfare state in the 1960s and 70s. But it is important to note that real federal spending on a FDC it's self did not rise after the mid-1970s. Unlike Social Security, AFDC was not indexing to inflation, without COLA, The value of AFDC benefits fell by more than 1/3, until further after the 1996 welfare reform.

Department of defense

Since his creation in 1947 the defense department has played a major role in the making of American foreign policy. The United States department of defense employees more than 2 million military and civilian personnel and is a huge and complex bureaucratic entity. Reporting to the secretary of defense are 27 assistant secretaries under secretaries and directors each commanding hundreds of staffers in charge with such responsibilities as health affairs budgets acquisitions testing and evaluations of equipment and legal affairs. Working with these functionaries are 31 agencies such as the national security agency and employing tens of thousands of individuals. These and numerous other entities help to plan and sustain Americas military efforts and allow America to put tens of thousands of combat troops into the field. This set of structures does not even include the actual military services. Each of the three services possesses its own civilian and military bureaucracies to minister and support it's combat forces. For example the US Army division will include in addition to its combat troops large numbers of military personnel and civilian employees and contractors organized into units whose functions include supply transportation finance wife support signal infrastructure public information and more.In the modern US Army approximately three non-combat personnel are devoted to the support of each combat soldier . American combat forces are themselves exemplars of organizational complexity. The US Army division for instants typically deployed between 10 and 17,000 troops is usually compose the four brigade's that are divided into battalions that intern are composed of combat companies each consisting of three platoons. Along with its combat companies the division will include a host of logistical administrative and service units to provide the food fuel ammunition and other supplies and services needed to support the divisions activities. This entire military structure is supported by the vast industrial contracting system that produces the aircraft missiles electronics transport systems and other material and supplies upon which the military depends. Many nominally civilian entities such as Boeing are heavily dependent on military contracts and are functionally integrated into the military bureaucracies. Military planning and research is undertaken by another set of private and quasi private firms which are technically federally funded research and development centers independent nonprofit corporations working for the federal government. The department of defense implements American military policy by Deploying troops anywhere in the world at the presidents come in. Increasingly the department of defense has assumed a leading non-military foreign policy role as well. To a significant extend American foreign policy is driven by military and anti-terrorism concerns and the agency is deemed capable of addressing these concerns are coming to play a large role in American foreign policy. In recent years American ambassador's had complained that they have been relegated To secondary status as the White House has looked to military commanders for information advice and policy implementation. For every region of the world the US military has assigned a combatant commander always a senior general or admiral to take charge of operations in that area. The million senses these combatant commanders who control troops equipment and intelligence capabilities have become the real eyes ears and voices for American foreign policy in their designated regions. He combatant commanders report to the joint Chiefs of staff who reportedly to The secretary of defense reports to the president.

Tax expenditure program

Subsides in the tax code that achieve the social goals by lowering the cost of homeownership child raising employer provided health insurance and retirement pensions and so on, through reduce taxation

SNAP or supplemental nutrition assistance program

The largest anti-property program, which provides recipients with a debit card for food at most grocery stores, formally known as food stamps.

Cold War

The period of struggle between the United States and the former Soviet union lasting from the late 1940s to about 1990.

Diplomacy

The representation of government to other governments. It's purpose is to promote national values or interest by peaceful means. As mentioned earlier the United States maintains diplomatic mission throughout the world. American ambassadors are tasked with maintaining good relations with foreign governments promoting a positive view of the United States abroad and securing information about foreign governments that might be helpful in the United States in its international dealings. When it comes to diplomatic initiatives however such as the new international agreements presidents or their personal representatives usually take charge. The United States nuclear weapons agreement with Iran for example was negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry acting on instructions from President Obama. In 2018 President Trump launched personal diplomatic initiatives with Russian North Korean leaders.

Elementary and secondary education

Well finally brought the nation government into elementary education was embarrassment of the Soviet union had beaten the United States in the space with the launching of you sputnik the worlds first satellite. As a result in 1958 the federal government adopted a policy under the national defense education act and improving education in science and mathematics. At the same time the federal government recognize the role of education been promoting equality of opportunity. In 1965 the elementary and secondary education act offered federal aid for education by allocating funds to school districts with substantial numbers of children from families who are unemployed or low income. By the early 1970s a federal expenditures for an elementary and secondary education were running over$4 billion per year. Today the federal government spends $79 billion, 10% of all spending on K through 12 education. States and localities each account for 45% of spending. Overtime however federal education sons have become less targeted on low income district has Congress has failed to update the formula for allocating funds. As we saw on chapter 5 the federal government also pursue the goal of equal opportunity in education through his support for racial desegregation. This meant dismantling the system of separate but equal education in the south and challenging de facto racial segregation in the north. Throughout the 1960s the Justice Department played a major role in pressing for a desegregation and monitoring programs of school integration. Yet more than 50 years after the civil rights act the goal has remained evolves it. Segregated patterns in housing create segregated schools and less vigorous policy interventions are implemented. However such policies including requirements for cross District busing and provisions for affordable housing in affluent suburbs have been struck down by the courts.The Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush Refocus the goal of federal education policy away from equal opportunity and toward higher standards. The Department of Education's influential 1983 report a nation at risk Identified low education standards as the cause of Americas declining international economic competitiveness a new era emphasized standards in testing began although at first the federal rule was primarily advisory to the states. The federal rule was substantially increased by President George W. Bush's signature education initiative the no Child left behind after 2001 in CLB. Supported by Democrats and Republicans the Losaw chicken buying the goals of higher standards and equality of opportunity. In a.m. to improve standards through stronger federal requirements for testing and school accountability. Every child in grades three through eight has to be tested yearly for proficiency in math and reading. For school to be judge to success it how to show positive test results for all subcategories of children minority race and ethnicity, English learners, and disability not just overall averages. Additionally parents who's child was in a failing school had the right to transfer the child to a better school. Because of strong congressional opposition to creating a national test the states for made responsible for setting standards and devising appropriate tests. As we sign in chapter 3 although in CLB initially attracted pride bipartisan support it quickly generated considerable controversy. Many states branded it in unfunded mandate noting that the law placed expensive new obligations on the schools to improve their performance but provided woefully in adequate resources. Teachers objective that teaching to the test undermine critical thinking. In some states up to half the schools failed to meet the new standards presenting a costly challenge to get more students up to speed. Under the federal law they were required to improve student performance by providing such new services as supplemental tutoring longer school days and additional summer school. Moreover critics charge that NCL be actually underminded equality of opportunity because it ended up punishing underperforming schools mostly those schools that barely greatest burden for teaching the media students. Face with these conflicts the Obama administration saw a major overhaul of NCL be. The president announced that states could Apply for waivers that would exempt them from some of the requirements of NCL be. In return states were required to show that they had adopted a strong set of educational standards and that they link teacher a valuations to test results. Most states endorse the common core state standards drawn up by representatives of the national governors association and the council of chief state school officers in 2010. Well mini educators believe that the standards could serve as a tool for promoting equality of opportunity by improving education in all schools the testing regimen associated with the common core drew sharp criticisms as a return to the field policies of in NCLB. The Obama administration also put it in print on education with a strong support for charter schools which are publicly funded schools that are free from the bureaucratic rules and regulations of the school district in which they are located in free to design specialize curricula and do use resources in ways they think most effective. Through states across the country have passed legislation to authorize charter schools many states have established caps on the number of charter schools that can be created each year. The Obama ministration put it wait behind charter schools by including a new $4.3 billion program of grants to state education programs race to the top as part of the American reinvestment and recovery act to be eligible for grants states how to agree to lift the cabs on The number of charter schools that could be created each year. In the end 18 states in Washington DC received grants although several years after the program began it was clear that the systemwide improvements in school performance were elusive. In 2015 a bipartisan correlation in Congress rejected the strong federal rule represented by in CLB and the race to the top by enacting a major new education law entitled every student 60 years. The new law returned control to the states for school performance and made them responsible for devising their own methods of ensuring accountability. Controversial federal requirements for teachers evaluations are mandated standards were eliminated. Every student succeeds continues to mandate testing and desegregation of testing results By minority race and ethnicity English learners and disability. It also requires states to intervene to correct problems and the lowest 5% of schools but it leaves a specific remedies up to the states. One mini hail the new law others charge that it would do little to alter achievement gap between rich are in poor schools. The secretary of education under Donald Trump Betsy Devi's Can you do office a strong proponent of charter schools in vouchers which allows students to use public funds to attend private schools. However she struggled to find broad support for such programs due in part to mixed evidence about their affect on the student achievement. I was policymakers politicians and educators have struggled over implementing standards and supporting alternative models for education such as charter schools some critics fundamentally question the focus on these efforts. These critics argue that American schools face unprecedented challenges in educating students from improv roost families and growing numbers of English learners in a setting where the goal is to make every student college ready. From this perspective the solution does not lie in more testing or in charter schools but rather in providing more assistance to children in poverty free preschool and enhanced assistance to the schools to educate low income students in English learners so that all children may enjoy equality of opportunity.

Equality of opportunity

A widely shared American ideals at all people should have the freedom to use whatever towns and wealth they had to reach their full potential.

The Affordable care act (Obamacare)

After the 2008 election and the Obama ministration and the Democratic Congress passed forwards it with comprehensive healthcare reform. The administration aimed at covering most Americans who lacked health insurance with a reform strategy that built on the existing system. The plan that ultimately passed had three key features. The first was the creation of new insurance exchanges were where individuals could buy health insurance along with insurance regulation that would prohibit insurers from denying benefits for variety of reasons such as pre-existing conditions. With a few exceptions exceptions the legislation also made ensures over preventative care and such as vaccinations mammograms and other screenings in full. The second provision of the ACA known as the individual mandate required uninsured individuals to purchase health insurance, those who do not have insurance would be subject to a fine of 1% of yearly household income or $95 which was larger. The third major provision of the ACA was A set of subsidize to healthy uninsured and small businesses purchase insurance as well as an expansion of the public programs Medicaid and SCHIP. The Medicaid expansion made more people eligible for the program by opening it up to people with incomes up to 138% of the poverty level. Through form was allowed working aged adults without dependent children to qualify for the program for the first time. The new health reform law face challenges from state government soon after it was enacted. 21 states filed lawsuits against the legislation on the grounds that the provision requiring Individuals to purchase health insurance expanding the commerce clause beyond its constitution limits. The states also objected to provisions that require them to expand their Medicaid programs to cover more poor people or lose the Medicaid funds that they received from the federal government. Even though the federal government initially paid for 100% of the expansion and starting in 2016 and cover 90% of new cost The states argued that the federal government had overstepped his powers in withdrawing all federal Medicaid funds if states did not comply with new coverage requirements. The Supreme Court decided the sued in 2012 ruling that most of the act was constitutional. Chief justice John Roberts regarded as a conservative surprise mini observers by professionally writing the decision that declare the individual mandate constitutional. The decision on Medicaid the second contested feature of the act also came up as a surprise. The court ruled that Congress did not have the power to take existing Medicaid funds away form the states if they did not comply with the expansion requirements. The governors of Several states including Florida and South Carolina immediately announce their intention to opt out of the expansion. Eventually 19 states decided not to expand their Medicaid programs. And 2015 do you say decisions left 3 million people who would've qualified for Medicaid without access to healthcare. The politics of the healthcare reform remain a focus of partisan contention. By 2016 Republican members of the House of representatives have voted and 62 times to repeal the act and the public remain split. I have to Republicans one unified control of the presidency in both houses of Congress in the November 2016 election they drafted in Obamacare replacement bill. Reconciling the concerns of conservatives and moderates within the republican party prove difficult in the version that pass the house in May 2017 with no Democratic votes was too conservative for many Republicans in the senate as it ended the Medicaid entitlement by turning the program into a block grant to the states and it permitted states to apply for waivers that would have effectively and did some regulatory protections for people with pre-existing conditions among other changes. Also affecting senators considerations was an increase in public support for the ACA in the face of their appeal threat. Both fall 2017 Republicans in their efforts to repeal the ACA entirely but did succeed and repealing the individual mandate to purchase help insurance and the tax cut in jobs at enacted in December 2017. The Trump administration also cut the ACA enrollmentperiod In half and late 2017 and reduced funds for advertising. Nonetheless nearly as many Americans signed up for ACA health plans for 2018 as having enrolled for 2017

Contributory programs

Category category welfare programs financed by taxation can Justifiably be called for savings. These programs force working Americans to contribute a portion of their earnings to provide income and benefits for present day retirees with the understanding that younger workers will one day provide for them in the same way. These contributory programs are also known as social insurance. Social Security is one of the most well-known and is funded by an employer and an employee paying equal amounts which in 1937 were set at 1% of the first 3000 in wages to be deducted from the paycheck of each employee and matched by the same amount from the employer. This percentage has increased over the years we contribution in 2018 was 7.65% subdivided as follows 6.2% on the first 128,400 of income for Social Security benefits +1.45% on all earnings for Medicare. Starting in 2014 households earning over 250,000 a year paid an extra .9% in Medicare taxes due to the provision in the patient protection in affordable care act. Social Security may seem to be a rather conservative approach to welfare. And effectively Social Security tax as for saving sends a message that people cannot be trusted to save voluntarily to take care of their own needs. But in other sense it is quite radical. Social Security is not real insurance workers contributions do not emasculate in a personal account. The formula by which Social Security benefits are calculated as redistributive aiming to provide lower income workers with a higher proportion of their contributions and higher income workers receive. This is because the goal of Social Security is to ensure basic income to all workers once they retire. Research has shown however that due to different mortality rates and other factors the system does not end up re-distributing from well off to less well off workers as much as intended by the formula. The system does redistribute to women who on average unless the men have fewer years in the workforce and live longer than men. In the short term Social Security redistribute money from the young to the old the taxes of current workers are paying for the benefits received by current retirees. But Social Security also plays a vital role for young people by providing survivor benefits to those whose parents die retire or become disabled. Surviving spouse is also receive survivor benefits. In addition in 1956 Social Security disability insurance was created to provide a monthly cash benefit to the permanently disabled. Congress increased Social Security benefits every two or three years during the 1950s and 60s. In 1972 Congress decided to end the grind of frequent legislation to increase benefits by establishing indexing whereby benefits paid out would be modified annually by cost of living adjustments design to increase benefits to keep up with the rate of inflation. The average payment for retired workers in the mid-2018 is 1413 a month. The biggest single expansion in contributory programs since 1935 was the establishment in 1965 of Medicare which provides substantial medical services to elderly persons who are already Eligible to receive old age survivors and disability insurance under the original Social Security system. Unemployment insurance is another country Ritory program that is funded by combination of federal and state taxes. State said benefit levels in eligibility criteria for receiving unemployment insurance and tax employer stuff on the program. In most states benefits last for a maximum of 26 weeks. In areas of high unemployment Congress has an acted extended benefits to authorize an additional 13 weeks for those who have exhausted their regular benefits. Search benefits are generally funded by federal taxes. Unemployment benefits are meant to help her place lost wages but they do so at a lower level most workers receive only half of their wages. Moreover because states impose criteria about how long a person must work or how much she must earn to become eligible for unemployment insurance only about half of workers who lose their job receive unemployment benefits.

Categorical grants

Congressional grants given to a states and localities on the condition that expenditures be limited to program or group specified by law.

Spending on contributory programs

The biggest spending increases to the welfare state have come in social insurance programs that provide benefits to the elderly. Such expenditures are hard to control because these programs are entitlements, and the government has promised to cover all people who 50 category of beneficiary people. So for example the growing elderly population will require that spinning on Social Security automatically increases in the future. Furthermore because Social Security benefits are index to inflation there is no easy ways to reduce benefits. Spending on Medicaid programs has also provided difficult to limit due to both the growing numbers of people eligible for the programs and rising healthcare cost. Concerned about social spending has grown. In the past there are always many more young workers and retirees receiving social security. That situation is changing as individuals live longer and as the Very large generation known as the baby boomers reaches retirement. Indeed under current law the Social Security trust fund the special government account from which Social Security programs are made is projected to experience a shortfall beginning in 2034. At that point if no changes are made your current long for Social Security system will only be able to pay about 3/4 of schedule benefits. Critics also contended that Americans are not getting their moneys worth from Social Security and that workers would be better off if they could take at least part of the payroll tax that currently pays for Social Security and invest it in individual accounts. They highlight unfavorable rates of return on the current system noting for example the millworker born in 2000 who is single can expect to see a return of only .86% on his Social Security contributions. This is far below stock market returns over the past decades. Such arguments receive less attention during downturns in the stock market when public support for individual accounts tend to fall. Because Social Security is such a popular program proposed changes that might weaken it are generally greeted with suspicion and politics often shy away from posing changes to the system. President George W. Bush was an exception however he came to office supporting Social Security reforms including the creation of private retirement accounts. Soon after taking office the president appointed the Social Security commission who's final report prominently featured individual accounts as a reform strategy. The commission recommended three reform plans you should which offered workers the choice of contributing a portion ranging from 2 to 4% of the payroll tax to an individual account. Each workers tradition benefits would be reduced by the amount diverted to the individual account. According to the Commission individual plans would create a better system because they would allow workers to accumulate assets and build wealth that could be passed on to their children. Given the politically volatile character of debates after Social Security Bush backed off from proposing any changes in the program during his first term, bone in 2004 immediately after his reelection Bush announced that he would make Social Security reform a centerpiece of his next administration. Although he did not put forth a precise plan private accounts were at the heart of his approach to reform during the first half of 2005 the president tour of the country attempting to win support for his ideas. But he immediately faced huge opposition as unions in AARP mobilize to oppose him. AARP launched a national advertising campaign against private accounts. Senate Democrats displaying unusual unity closed ranks against the presidents ideas. By October 2005 the president had to admit that Social Security reform was dead. Supporters of the current Social Security system contend that the systems financial troubles are exaggerated. They believe that many of Social Security troubles could be solved by raising income taxes on the wealthy and eliminating the cab on payroll taxes. And 2008 only the first $128,400 income was subjected to the payroll tax. If this Were lifted these critics argue the resulting revenues would cut the expected shortfall in the Social Security trust fund in half. The borders of the current system are also deeply skeptical About the benefits of individual accounts. They charge that President Bush present in a Rosie scenario that overstimulated likely gains through the stock market. When more realistic assumptions are adopted and the cost of the private accounts are considered the critics argue individual accounts would not provide hire benefits and the current system. Moreover they know what the individual accounts would do nothing to solve the budget crisis that Social Security will face. Finally supporters of the of the present system emphasize that Social Security is not just a retirement account but also a social insurance program that provides income protection to workers in their families if the wage earner retires because disabled or dies. Because it provides the social insurance protection supports are you Social Security returns should not be compared with those of a private retirement account. Beginning with his presidential campaign announcement Donald Trump pledge to save Medicaid Medicare and Social Security without cuts. Although the administration's budget proposals for 2018 and 2019 did not cut Social Security retirement benefits they did propose reductions in Social Security disabilityInsurance spending and then the Social Security administration's operating budget which has already fallen 11% between 2010 and 2017. Congress pushback rising domestic spending caps in its Friday 2018 budget resolution and restoring some SSA operational funding. All done much of the public debate has focused on the cost of Social Security most experts agree that Medicare and Medicaid pause the bigger budget challenge. The rapidly rising cost of healthcare often that twice the rate of inflation makes it much harder to control how much the government spends. Moreover as more of the large baby boom generation reach his age 65 Picasso Medicare are expected to skyrocket. While payroll taxes are sufficient to cover Social Security payments fully until 2034 and small changes and benefits and taxes will see the program through the baby boom retirement years because challenges to Medicare are much more significant. In 2016 Medicare accounted for 15% of the federal budget and Medicare costs present and ongoing challenge in the effort to reduce the deficit. In 2016 then speaker of the house Paul Ryan. Propose replacing the current Medicare program with premium support payments that seniors could use to help pay for private insurance. And analysis of the Ryan plan by the Congressional budget office show that while the plan might reduce the deficit it would require elderly beneficiaries to pay substantially more for healthcare. Search changes are oppose by a majority of senior citizens and Donald Trump did not include premium support in his first federal budget proposal. However rising healthcare expenditures and budget deficit means that the issue of controlling costs in Medicare will remain on the national agenda.

United States Mexico Canada agreement

Trade treaty between the United States Canada and Mexico to lower and aluminate tariffs among the three countries

Cost of living adjustments

Changes made to the level of benefits of a governmental program based on the rate of inflation

Presidents in the executive branch

The president is the leading figure in the conduct of American foreign policy. The presidents foreign policy powers today particularly in the military room are far greater than the constitutions framers had thought wise. The framers gave the power to declare war in Congress and made the president the nations top military commander if and win Congress chose to go to war. Today presidents both command the tubes and decide when to go to war. Most American presidents have been domestic politicians who is chief interests were in the realm of domestic policy. Among Americas 14 presidents during the past century only for Hoover Eisenhower Nixon and George HW Bush had any extensive foreign policy experience before taking office. The others were forced to learn on the job. All four recent presidents like most of their predecessors were never the last phase with momentous challenges to American security and to America's international interests. George W. Bush in particular was compelled to develop a response to the September 11 terror attacks. By 2002 foreign policy had become the centerpiece of the bushing ministration's agenda. In the June 1, 2002 speech at West Point the president called the Bush doctrine. Bush said our security will require all Americans to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty into defend our lives. In his 2014 West Point speech president Obama appeared to articulate a different policy when he said the United States must reduce its reliance on military force and make more use of diplomacy. But even more though Obama expressed reservations about unilateral preemption during the Obama years the United States continue to launch many attacks against suspected terrorist before they were able to strike. President Trump rattled Americans allies by declaring in America first foreign policy in adopting a confrontational posture towards North Korea and Iran. In terms of actions however as of July 2018 Trump seem to have given diplomacy a greater emphasis as evidenced by his meetings with North Korea's leader and president Russia Putin. As a dominant figure in the realm of American foreign policy and military policy the president exercise is substantial control over the nations diplomatic in military institutions and as a result is in a position to decide with whom win and how the United States will interact in the international arena. Since world war two American military forces have fought in many parts of the world. In every instance the decision to commit troops to battle was made by the president often without much consultation with the Congress. President Obama ordered special operations soldiers to Attack Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan members of Congress learned of the operation and been Lauren's death from news broadcasts just like other Americans. And it is the president and his emissaries who conduct negotiations with Russia Iran and North Korea and the host of other nations to deal with international problems in crisis. Presidents can also make use of executive agreements to partially bypass congressional power in the realm of foreign relations. Executive agreements are presidential order is enforceable by the courts that do not require Senate ratification. Since president seem free to use executive agreements as they see fit the importance of the sinners constitutional treaty power has sharply diminished. Since 1947 the United States has entered into more than 17,000 different agreements with other nations in international entities. Of these only 6% or submitted to the Senate for approval. Be on the president several governmental agencies within the executive branch play important role in shaping And executing American foreign policy.

Armed services intelligence

A number of standing committees of the house and senate deal with defense matters. The House and Senate armed services committees oversee the department of defense in the department of energy which house is Americas nuclear weapons programs. And both houses of Congress other standing committees are responsible for such matters as veterans affairs. Defense appropriations are the domains of the House and the Senate defense appropriation subcommittees. Generally the house and senate Armed Services committees are friendly to the military into the legions of defense contractors who provide support and equipment for Americas military services. The two committees however do not always limit themselves to supporting the military brass. Sometimes they will make use of their staff resources and contacts in the military community to advocate for military programs not currently in the Pentagon's plans. In 2015 for example both committees released reports calling for the arm services to focus on the growing threat of cyber attacks against US weapons and communication software in authorize the expenditure of $200 million for this purpose. Well the two arm services committees have cozy relations with the bureaucratic counterparts the same is not true of the House and Senate intelligence committee 's. These were established during the 1970s to oversee America's growing intelligence bureaucracies and review review the activity at home and abroad. The committees have focused on such matters as American intelligence failures including the failure to predict and prevent the September 11 terrorist attacks the use of private military contractors in missions organized by the CIA clandestine CIA missions and other nations and the use of drones to carry out military and intelligence missions in other nations. Both committees also have been sharply critical of intelligence collection efforts that impinged on the privacy rights of American citizens.

Collective security

Collective security refers to the development of alliances an agreement among a group of nations that pledge to aid one another and fending off or a confronting security threats. In the aftermath of World War II the United States is first collective security agreement was a real treat which created the organizations of American states. This was the model treaty anticipating all succeeding collective security treaties by providing that an armed attack against any of its numbers shall be considered as an attack against all the American states including the United States. This model was followed by the north Atlantic Treaty sign in April 1949 which created the north Atlantic Treaty organization. Yeah Australian and New Zealand United States security treaty which tide Australia New Zealand to the United States was signed in September 1951. Three years later the south east Asia treaty created the south east Asia Treaty organization.In 1998 expansion NATO took his first steps towards including former Warsaw pact members extending membership to the Czech Republic Hungary and Poland. Most of Washington embraces expansion as a true and fitting end of the Cold War and the US and the echo this with a resounding 8019 vote to induct these three former Soviet satellites into NATO. After the collapse of the Soviet union the importance of NATO as a military alliance seem to Wayne. However since 2014 the resurgence of Russia as a military power has forced NATO members once again to look to one another for support. In 2014 Russia seized the crimean Peninsula from the Ukraine and appear to pose a threat to the Baltic states and other portions of the olds of your empire. Russia has also sent military forces to support the Asad regime in Syria. Facing an aggressive new Russia NATO's. Of relative quiet seem to be coming to a close. The September 11 attacks mark the first time and it's more than 50 year history the article 5 of the north Atlantic Treaty was invoked it provides it an attack on one country is an attack on all member countries. In fighting the war on terror the bushing ministration recognize that no matter how preponderant American power was some aspects of US foreign policy cannot be achieved without multilateral cooperation. On the other hand the United States did not want to be constrained by its alliances. The global coalition initially forged after September 11, 2001 number more than 170 countries. Not all join the war effort against Afghanistan but most provided some form of support for some aspect of the war on terror such as economic sanctions intelligence.

Low inflation

During the 1970s and early 1980s insulation was one of America's most vexing problems. Rising prices harm consumers, especially those on a fixed income such as the elderly. Inflation also undermines the entire economy because it creates uncertainty about future prices, making investors cautious. Inflation was finally reduced from it's a story Kiesza nearly 20% down towards two and 3% a year by the mid-1980s. Since that time, inflation has remained low. Even so economy policymakers watch prices closely for any sign of increasing inflation.

At the most basic level government makes it possible for the economy to function efficiently by setting the rules for economic exchange and punishing those who violate the rules. Among the most important rules for the economy are those that define property rights, contracts, and standards for goods. This kind of government rule making allows markets to expand by making it easier for people who do not know each other to engage in economic transactions, they do not have to rely only on personal trust to do business. Likewise, government helps markets expand by creating money and standing behind its value. Money allows diverse goods to be treated and greatly simplifies economic transactions. Without government involvement in providing in standardizing a national currency, it would be very difficult to purchase such basic items such as groceries, imagine a world in which different stores use different currencies or in which you needed to trade some thing you made yourself for your groceries. This would be a major impediment to economic exchange. Although policies have changed, government intervention in the economy for nearly a century sought to achieve for fundamental goals. To promote economic stability, to stimulate economic growth, to promote business development, and to protect employees and consumers

True

Spending on tax expenditures

Both contributory and non contributory Programs involve direct spending in which the government lays out money to achieve a social objective. Texas managers are indirect spending in which government encourages social objectives by foregoing taxation associated with those objectives. Because any tax payers eligible for giving tax rate may declare on their tax returns Texas managers operate automatically much as entitlement such as Social Security and Medicare do. Periodically commission such as the advisory panel on federal tax reform during the George W. Bush ministration recommended limiting or illuminating various types of hunters the most such proposals feel. Although the 2017 Tax cuts in jobs at limited several major texted actions such as deductions for home mortgage interest in the state and local taxes score attack as soon as Joe's remain in the tax code

The middle and upper class

Americans don't usually think of the middle class or upper class as benefiting from social policies the government action promotes the social welfare of the middle and upper classes and a variety of ways. First health insurance and pensions for the elderly help the middle class by relieving them of the burden of caring for elderly relatives. Before these programs existed old people were more likely to live with dependent financially on their adult children. Mini middle-class families whose parents and grandparents are in nursing homes rely on Medicaid to pay nursing home bills. Second the middle and upper classes are the chief beneficiaries of the shadow welfare state and tax expenditures. Beyond the earned income tax credit which principally benefits the working poor the great majority of tax expenditure benefits go to the upper and middle income households. For example or households with incomes under $30,000 receive 68% of the EITC. But household with incomes over $200,000 claim 49% of the state and local tax to duction 58% of the home mortgage deduction 83% of the deduction for charitable contributions.

Public goods

Goods or services that are provided by the government because they either are not supplied by the market or are not supplied in sufficient quantities. The provision of public goods may entail supplying the physical market place itself, such as the commons in New England towns or an interstate highway system to stimulate the trucking industry. The provision of public goods is essential to market operation, in the manner in which the government provides these goods will affect the market's character

Economic prosperity

A second major goal of US foreign-policy is promoting American prosperity Americas international economic policies are interrupted to expand employment opportunities in the United States to maintain access to foreign energy supplies at a reasonable cost to promote foreign investments in the United States and to lower the prices Americans pay for goods and services.Among the key elements of US international economic policy is trade policy which seeks to promote American goods and services abroad. Do United States is the worlds largest importer an exporter of goods and services. In 2017 the United States exported more than 2.3 trillion dollars in goods and services while importing $2.9 trillion in goods and services. Roughly 40,000,000 jobs in the United States are directly or indirectly tied to international trade. According Lee America has a vital interest in maintaining international trade in monetary practices that promote American prosperity. This effort involves a complex arrangement of treaties tariffs and the other mechanisms of policy formation. Trade policy is always complicated because most Americans benefit from a policy of free trade which tends to reduce the cost of goods and services. Consumer-electronics such as televisions smart phones and other gadgets would be far more expensive except for the fact that they areImported from all over the world which drives down their prices. However many American industries and their employees are hurt by free trade if it results in factories and jobs moving abroad. Hence trade policy always produces huge political battles between those who stand and benefit and those who stand to lose from particular policies. In 2016 when did Donald Trump's main campaign pledges was to in free trade policies that he deemed harmful to American workers. In 2018 the president imposed a series of tariffs on foreign imports that sparked retaliation from US trading partners. Some American manufacturers benefited from the tariffs while others were hurt by four in retaliation against US goods. The most important international organization for promoting trade is the world trade organization established in 1995. The WTO grew out of the general agreement on tariffs and trade. Since World War II GATT had brought together a wide range of nations for regular negotiations designed to reduce Periers to trade. Search barriers many believed had contributed to the breakdown of the world economy in the 1930s and had helped colors World War II. DWTO has 151 members worldwide including the United States. Similar policy goals are pursued and regional agreements such as the United States Mexico Canada agreement formally known as in a FTA a trade treaty among the United States Canada and Mexico that the Trump administration renegotiated in 2018.

United Nations

A very large and unworldly institution with a few powers and no standing arm forces of its own to implement its rules and resolutions. It was a little organization that Can make it an effective decision making body with only six standing committees futile rules procedure and no political parties to provide priorities and discipline. However the utility of the UN to the United States as an instrument of foreign policy can be too easily underestimated. It's defenders are quick to add that although it lacks armed forces it relies on the power of world opinion and this is not to be taken lightly. Do you are a nation supreme body is the US and general assembly comprising one representative of each of the 192 member states each member representative has one vote regardless of the size of the country. Important issues require a 2/3 majority vote in the annual session of the General assembly runs only from September to December although it can call extra sessions. The powers of the US and evolve mainly to the organizations executive committee the UN Security Council which alone has the real power to make decisions and rulings that number states are obligated by the UN charter to implement. The security council may be called into session at any time and each member or designated alternate must be presented at you and headquarters in New York at all times. The security council is composed of 15 members five are permanent the victors of World War II and 10 are elected by the General assembly for on repeatable to your terms. The five permanent members are China France Russia the United Kingdom and the United States. Each of the 15 members has only one vote any 9 V majority of the 15 is required on all substantive matters. But each of the five permanent numbers also has a negative vote a veto and one veto is sufficient to reject any substantive proposal. The UN can serve as a useful forum for international discussions and as an instrument for multi lateral action. Most peacekeeping efforts to which the United States contributes for example or undertaken under UN auspices.

Full employment

Before the 1930s neither the federal government nor the State governments sought to promote full employment. Unemployment was widely viewed as an unfortunate occurrence that government could do little to alter. The new deal response to the prolonged in massive unemployment of the great depression change that view. The federal government put millions of people back to work on public project sponsored by such programs as the works progress administration. The bridges, parks, and buildings they constructed can still be seen across the United States today. The federal government viewed these programs as temporary measures, however. As the Build up for World War II boosted the economy and unemployment melted away, the employment programs were dismantled. The new deal and government war time spending, however, showed that government could help ensure full employment. Public expectations changed as well, after the war, Americans looked to the federal government to reduce unemployment. Moreover, economic theory now supported their expectations. John Maynard K, theories that government could boost employment by stimulating demand has become very influential. Federal policy placed the most emphasis on achieving full appointment during the 1960s. John Maynard economists, who believe that putting money in the hands of consumers created a strong economy, in the Council of economic advisers persuaded President Kennedy to enact the first tax cut design to stimulate the economy and promote full employment. The policy was widely seen as a success, and unemployment decline to a low of 3.4% in 1968. Favorable economic conditions in the 1990s reduced unemployment to record lows once again. The worldwide economic recession of 2008 led to the loss of over 8 million American jobs. The Obama ministration and Congress responded by passing a sweeping stimulus package called the American recovery and reinvestment act in 2009, do you open encourage economic growth, save existing jobs, and make long-term investments that would encourage job creation, such as in weatherization projects and clean technology construction. Despite these actions, it was not until 2016 that the unemployment rates dipped below 5%.

Promoting business development

During the 19th century the national government promoted the development of important markets that eventually contributed significantly to the US GDP. National roads and canals were built to tie states and regions together. National terra policies promoted domestic markets by restricting importing goods, are you tax on an import raised its price and weekend the ability to compete with similar domestic productions. The national government also heavily subsidized the railroad system. Until the 1840s railroads were thought to be a limited in commercial value. Between 1850 and 1872, Congress granted more than 100,000,000 acres of public to mainland you railroad interest, and the state and local governments pitched an estimated $280 million in cash and credit. Before the end of the century, 35,000 miles of track existed, almost half the worlds total at the time. Railroads were not the only clients of federal support for the private markets. Many sectors of agriculture begin receiving federal subsides during the 19th century. Agriculture remains highly subsidized to this day. In 2017, 46% of farms in the United States received subsides totaling $13.2 billion one of the mini criticisms of the farm subsidy program is that it disproportionately supports large scale farmers rather than small scale farmers. The list of farm subsidy recipients includes many large corporations.

Health care reform

Even with the passage of the ACA in March 2010 the United States is the only advanced industrial nation without universal access to healthcare. Opposition from the American medical Association the main lobbying we're going to Zeeshan of doctors prevented President Roosevelt from proposing national health insurance during the 1930s which when other elements of the welfare state became law. As a result the United States developed a patchwork system in 2000 1656% of the non-elderly population received health health insurance through their employers older Americans were covered through Medicare and the poor and disabled resisted with Medicaid. However the girl in cost of employer provided insurance means that increasing numbers of workers cannot afford it. Many small employers cannot even afford to offer benefits because they are so expensive. And both Medicaid and Medicare face several fiscal strain due to rising costs. President Bill Clinton in the first lady Hillary Clinton work made a major effort to reform America's healthcare system with the objectives of limiting the rising cost of healthcare and providing universal health insurance coverage for all Americans. Though the first first the plan garnered and Nora's public support it gradually lost momentum as resistance to it took route among those who feared changes in a system that worked well for them. Following the failure of the Clintons healthcare initiative Congress passed a much smaller program expanding health insurance coverage for low income children not already receiving Medicaid called the state children's health insurance program (SCHIP)

Economic Aid and Sanctions

Every year the United States provides nearly $30 billion in economic assistance to other nations. Some age has a humanitarian purpose so just helping to provide healthcare shelters for refugees or famine relief. A good deal of American aid however is designed to promote American security interest or economic concerns. For example the United States provides military assistance to a number of its allies in the form of advanced weapons or loans to help them purchase such weapons. These loans generally stipulate that the recipient must purchase the designated weapons from American firms. In this way the United States hopes to bolster it's security and economic interest with one grant. The two largest recipient of American military assistance are Israel and Egypt American allies that **** to wars against each other. The United States believes that it's military assistance allows both countries to feel sufficiently secure to remain at peace with one another. It is an economic carrot. Stations are in economic stick. Economic sanctions the United States employed against other nations include trade and Bargos bands on investment and efforts to prevent the World Bank or other international institutions from extending credit to a nation against which the United States has a grievance. So nations are most often employed with the United States seeks to weaken well it considers a hostile regime . In 2017 for example the United States tightened it's already Existing economic sanctions against North Korea in response to that nations missile test. The United States also uses economic sanctions to advances international humanitarian policy goals. The United States currently has sanctions in place against a number of governments with records of serious violations of civil and political rights. Unilateral sanctions by the United States usually have a little fact since the target can usually trade elsewhere sometimes each with foreign affiliates Of US firms. If however the United States is able to persuade it's our lives to cooperate sanctions have a better chance of success. International sanctions against Iran for example influence that regimes decision to enter into negotiations with the United States culminating in the nuclear weapons deal of 2015. Economic sanctions against North Korea have been less effective since the REGIMEE is able to trade with China and several other nations.

The international monetary structure

Fear of a repeat of the economic devastation that followed World War I brought the United States together with its allies except the USSR to Bretton woods New Hampshire in 1944 to create new international economic structure for the postwar world. One major goal of the structure was to prevent economic instability that my intern we do political instability and war. Participants in the Brettonwoods conference were mindful of the economic collapse in Germany that had open the way for Nazism. At the same time the structure would get the United States and its allies greater leverage in the economic and political affairs of developing countries. The Brettonwoods conference resulted into institutions the international bank for reconstruction and development commonly called the World Bank and the international monetary fund. The worlds bank chief mission is development AG poor countries through long-term capital investments. A second institution the international monetary fund was set up to provide for the short term flow of money. After the war the US dollar replace cold as the Chief Means by which the currency of one country would be changed to the currency of another country for purposes of making international transactions. To permit debtor countries with no international balances to make purchases in investments the IMF was prepared to learn dollars or other appropriate currencies to such needy member countries to help them overcome temporary trade deficits. During the 1990s the importance of the IMF increase thirds efforts to reform some of the largest Debtor nations and formerly communist countries to bring them more fully into the global capitalist economy. For example in the early 1990s Russia and 13 other former Soviet republic's were invited to join the IMF In the world bank with the exception that they would receive 10.5 billion dollarsFrom these two agencies are primarily for a currency stabilization fun. U2 public was to get A permanent IMF representative and the IMF increased its staff by at least 10% to provide the expertise necessary to cope with the problems of these emerging capitalist economies. The IMF With tens of billions of dollars contributed by its members has more money to lend poor countries Ian does the United States Europe or Japan three three leading IMF shareholders individually. It makes its policy decisions in ways that are generally consistent with the interest of leading shareholders. Two weeks after September 11, 2001 the IMF approved a $135 million loan to economically trouble Pakistan a key player in the war against Tailban Government of Afghanistan because of it strategic location

Promoting business development part three

I'm on the mini contemporary examples of policies promoting private industry, sematech maybe the most instructive. They are a nonprofit research and development consortium of major US computer microchip manufacturers, set up in 1987 to work with government and academic institutions to reestablish US leader ship and semiconductor manufacturing. The United States appeared to be in danger of losing out to the Japanese in this area during the 1980s. The results of its research were distributed among the consortium members. For nine years, industry and government together spent $1.7 billion to make the American Micro chip expenditures. In 1997 federal funding was phased out. Industry leaders, convinced they no longer needed federal support, initiated the break with government. I had a critical moment, the federal government had stepped in to see the chip industry it's stepped out once that goal had been achieved. Since September 11, 2001 the federal government has taken on a major role in promoting technological innovation related to national security. In September 11 terrorist attacks, the CIA had set up its own venture capital firm, NQ tell, to invest in high tech start ups whose work couldn't handle intelligent efforts. More recently, energy policy active 2005 greatly increase the number and cost of tax credits and loan programs for renewable and efficient energy technologies. As a recession hit, Washington stepped up its efforts to support the alternative Energy in mystery, seeing it as a way to expand economic growth in an emerging sector. The emergency economic stabilization act of 2008 in the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009 expanded subsidies and created a new program allowing companies to receive a one time cash grant in Lou of tax credits. Between 2015 and 2019 federal government was projected to spend 46.5 billion in tax related support for the reduction of renewable energy, as well as in a additional $3.1 billion to support energy efficiency. But Trump administration's fiscal your 2018 budget proposal sought a 70% cut in funding for the department of energy's office of energy efficiency and renewable energy, but Congress pushed back by fully funding the office in the FY 2018 spending bill passed in March 2018.

Human rights

Many Americans believe that the United States has an obligation to protect human rights and to avoid assistance too needy groups throughout the world. Other American say that we should spend no resources at home and let other nations look after their own people. Still a third group of Americans view human rights as a human Terrian policies as a form of soft power serving American interest in winning friends by demonstrating our concern for the less fortunate throughout the world. This third group has generally been dominant within the American foreign-policy community. The United States has a long-standing commitment to human rights and is a party to most major international human rights agreements. Although the United States is committed to promoting human rights the commitment has a lower priority in American foreign policy than the nation security concerns and economic interests. Thus the United States is likely to overlook human rights violations by its major trading partners such as China and remain silent in the face of human rights violations by such allies as Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless human rights concerns do you play a role in American Foreign policy. For example beginning in 2007 the United States has annually made available several million dollars in small grants to pay medical and legal expenses incurred by individuals who have been the victims of retaliation in their own countries for working against their governments repressive practices. In this small way the United States is backing it's often asserted principles. US foreign policy also include support for international peacekeeping efforts. I didn't E time border wars Civil Wars and guerrilla conflicts flare somewhere in the world usually and it's poor regions and can generate humanitarian crisis in the form of casualties disease and refugees. In cooperation with international agencies another nations the United States funds efforts to keep the peace in violate regions and to address the healthcare and refugee problems associated with the conflict. In 2015 the United States provided nearly 2,000,000,000 in humanitarism Assistance to help Syrian refugees displaced by the Civil War in that nation and by the end of 2016 had donated over $7 billion to the cars. As The world wealthiest nation the United States also recognizes in obligation to render assistance to nations facing emergencies. In 2011 for example the United States provided support to Japan when a tsunami devastated a portion of the Japanese cost and damaged a nuclear reactor. In addition between 2010 and 2017 United States provided more than 5 billion in assistance to Haiti after a huge earthquake devastated the island nation.

Promoting stable markets

One of the central reasons for government involvement in the economy is to protect the welfare and property of individuals and businesses. Maintaining law and order is one of the most important ways government can protect welfare and property. The federal government has also enacted laws designed to protect individuals and businesses in economic transactions. Federal racketeering laws, for example, aimed in criminal efforts to control businesses through such illegal means as extortion and kickbacks. Another reason that Congress began to adopt national business regulatory policies was that companies felt burdened by the inconsistent regulations across the various states. Companies often preferred a single, national regulatory authority, no matter the burdensome, because it would ensure consistency throughout the United States the companies could thereby treat the nation as a single market.

Housing policies

Opportunity is also closely connected to housing. Access to quality affordable housing provides individuals and families with stability and freedom from pollution infectious disease chronic disease injury and anxiety and depression. The effects of quality housing are especially strong for children. United States has one of the highest rates of homeownership in the world and the central thrust of federal housing policy has been to promote homeownership. The federal government has traditionally done much less to provide housing for low income Americans who cannot afford to buy homes federal housing programs were first created during the great depression of the 1930s when many Americans found themselves unable to afford housing. Through public housing for low income families which originated in 1937 with the Wagner Stegall national housing act in subsidize private housing after 1950 the percentage of American families living in overcrowded conditions was reduced from 20% and 1940 to 9% in 1970. Federal policies made an even greater contribution to reducing substandard housing. Defined by the US Census Bureau as diapidated houses without hot running water and without out some other plumbing. In 1940 almost 50% of American households lived in substandard housing. By 1950 this had been reduced to 35% and by 1975 to 8%. Despite these improvements and housing standards federal housing policy through the 1970s was largely seen as a failure. Restricted to the poorest of the poor and marked by racial segregation and in adequate spending public housing contributed to the problem of the poor by isolating them from shopping jobs and urban in the middle is diapidated high-rise housing project stood as a symbol of the field American policy of warehousing the poor. But the 1980s the orientation of housing policy changed. First federal housing assistance for low income Americans shifted towards housing vouchers now called housing choice voucher is that provide recipients with support to rent in the private market. Although this program does not promote the same kind of isolation of the poor most cities and suburbs have a long waiting list to receive Belchers only 1/4 of eligible individuals and families receive them. Another concern is the vouchers provide two little money to cover rental costs and very active housing market. Second federal housing policy since the 1990s has involve tearing down the high-rise public housing units that had been such a failure and replacing them with new mix income units under a program called hope VI. The policy assumed that reducing concentrations of poverty would benefit the poor. Unfortunately a few of the original residents have been able to move into new units. As with housing vouchers waiting list could take years even decades in many cities. Overall federal aid for low income Americans seeking housing assistance is much smaller in value than eight in middle and upper cost homeowners in the form of tax deductions. Total federal spending in 2014 for public housing rental vouchers in low income housing tax credit available to developers was $44 billion. In contrast the value of shadow welfare state provisions for homeowners including the tax breaks from home mortgage interest property taxes and capital gains on home sales was about $130 billion the majority of which occurred to the wealthiest 10% of people. Beginning in 2007 and 2008 a home loan foreclosure crisis presented the government with a different kind of housing problem. During the housing boom of the early 2000s mini homeowners receive loans that they later cannot afford to repay. This was due in part to the deregulation of the mortgage industry in 1999. The deregulation allowed many new mortgage companies to form offering loans that cost Little at first but later require large payments from homers. This form of predatory lending targeted unsophisticated buyers and made it very hard for borrowers to understand the terms of the loans which contain pages and pages of small print written in legalese. Lending standards were relax to the point that rising numbers of borrowers were offered no doc loans which require no documentation of the borrowers income. As more and more Americans to go out search loans demand for housing rose and housing prices skyrocketed. This was the housing bubble which was down to burst because so many borrowers would not be able to pay back their loans. I was growing numbers of homeowners begin to default on their loans and 2007 thanks for clothes on their houses in the value of housing began to drop. This downward spiral set off the major recession that began in 2008. As borrowers defaulted banks holding that debt including the biggest banks in the United States teetering on the edge of failure and threatened to destabilize the entire economy. Many of the new mortgage companies which had been grown into huge businesses went bankrupt. As unemployment rows more families unable to pay their mortgages lost their homes. Many homeowners found that their homes were underwater meaning the homeowners owed more on their mortgages than the mortgages properties were not worth.Between 2007 and 2013 more than 14 million homes were last a foreclosure. The federal government respond with programs that will slow the rising interest rates that were the cause of the problem for more homeowners or otherwise hope homers facing for closure. However these programs and not experience much success. The effects of the housing bubble were felt for years beyond the official end of the great recession in June 2009.

Global environmental policy Page 745

Pollutants produced in one country affect all others. The United States supports various international efforts to protect the environment. These include the United Nations framework convention on climate change, and international agreement to study ameliorate harmful changes

Measuring economic growth

Since the 1930s the federal government has carefully tracked national economic growth by measuring it in several different ways, the two most important measures are the gross national product, which is the market value of the goods and services produced in the economy, and the gross domestic product, the same measure but excluding income from foreign investments. In the late 1990s the American economy grew at a rate of over 4% a year, considered high by modern standards. Growth was slower during the first decade of the 2000s, averaging 1.9% annually. This was largely the results of two recessions,One early after the turn of the century and one that began in 2008. In the middle part of the decade (2003, seven), the economy grew at a strong 2.8% annually. The recession that began in 2008 lead to negative economic growth in 2008 and 2009. Although the economy began to grow again after 2010 and remain below the high levels of growth experience in the 1990s. The engine of American economic growth has shifted over the centuries. In the 1800s the nations rich endowment of natural resources was especially important in propelling growth. Manufacturing industries became the driving force of economic growth during the late 19th century as a mass production made it possible to manufactured goods at a pace that was once unimaginable. In more recent times, the high technology boom fostered I need dissipated and vigorous economic growth that made the United States the envy of the world. Despite these very different economic engines, the basic prerequisites of growth were similar in each case, strong investments, technological innovation, and a productive workforce.Throughout the nations history the federal government has adopted policies to promote each of these conditions needed to sustain economic growth.

How do we pay for the welfare state

Since the 1930s when the main elements of the welfare state or fresh created spending on social policy has grown dramatically. Most striking has been the growth of entitlement programs the largest of which are Social Security and Medicare. The cost of entitlement programs grew from 26% of the total federal budget in 1962 to 64.1% by 2014. Funds to pay for the social programs have come disproportionately from increases in payroll taxes. In 1970 social insurance tax is accounted for 23% of the federal revenues and 28 they had grown to 35% of all federal revenues. Meanwhile since 1970 corporate taxes have fallen from 17 to 6.5% of all federal revenues and will fall further because of provisions in the 2017 tax cut in jobs act. Because the payroll tax is regressive low and middle income families have carried the burden for funding increase social spending. Although much public attention has centered on cash welfare and other social spending programs for the poor such as food stamps, these programs account for only a small proportion of social spending. For example even though the tight AFDC made up only 1% of the federal budget. Spending on S in AP benefits rows substantially during the great recession that begin 2008 but even as these historically Hi rates spending on programs for the poor is dwarfed by the cost of social insurance programs for the elderly. The three biggest programs that it says low income people as in AP, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance accounted for 2.8% of gross domestic product in 2018 well spending in programs targeted at the elderly which our Social Security and Medicare together represent an 8.5% of GPD.

State variation and welfare benefits

Sun means tested noncontributory programs are run by the federal government with uniform eligibility criteria and benefits nationwide such as S in AP the school lunch program and SSI. However many other non-contributory programs are run jointly by the federal government and the states. Because states share responsibility for funding with the federal government and have considerable flexibility to set eligibility criteria social benefits can vary considerably by state. In the 1970s it appeared that the United States was moving toward a more national set of standards with the creation of SSI. However since that time changes and federal laws and provisions for which state options have created considerable divergency's among the states in other programs. For example in 2017 states monthly TANF benefits for a family of three buried from $170 in Mississippi to $1021 in New Hampshire which passed legislation in 2017 to increase TANF benefits to 60% of the federal poverty level. Most TNAF payments are much lower than New Hampshire's and will blow the federal poverty line which was 20,420 Per year or 1702 per month in 2017. Unemployment insurance is another policy in which state benefits in eligibility criteria diverge. Although for most of the programs History states provided a maximum of 26 weeks of unemployment insurance in recent years several states have opted to shorten the availability of of unemployment insurance. Eight states now allow if you were than 26 weeks whiletwo states allow more weeks. The provisions for expanding Medicaid under the affordable care act of 2010 which we will examine more closely initially aim to create an expanded Medicaid program that would establish uniform eligibility across the states. When the supreme court gave states the right to opt out of the expansion and 19 states did so the result was increase state variation. States also made other decisions about Medicaid eligibility that create state variation. For example, noncitizen legal immigrants are required to reside in the United States for five years before they can receive Medicaid, but states can waive this requirement for children and pregnant woman. 29 states and the District of Columbia waive this requirement. The political polarization we have seen in the national politics is increasingly evident in state choices about social benefits. States govern solely by Democrats or solely by Republicans take very different perspectives on social policy. The result is a patchwork that is growing more, not less, diverse.

Intelligence agencies

The CIA is the United States chiefs Williams intelligence agency collecting information throughout the world preparing analysis and watching cover operations of the president wishes to use force but is unwilling to publicly acknowledge Americans involvement. CIA operators also pilot many of the drones used to attacked and kill suspect and terrorist. The CIA and DOD were created by the same piece of legislation but the CIA director and secretary of defense have generally viewed one another as rivals in the intelligence field. The secretary of defense controls substantial intelligence assets including the defense intelligence agency that dwarf those in the CIA.In 2005 congress created the position of director of national intelligence DNI to coordinate intelligence activities and prepare the presidents daily intelligent summary a responsibility previously held by the CIA director. This change came about because Congress believe that the intelligence community is failure to anticipate the September 11, 2001 Attacks was the result of a lack of coordination among the various agencies. Both the CIA and DOD represented the creation of the DNI and put aside their mutual suspicions to join forces between the new position. Both agencies generally refused to share information with the DIA know who having new operational capabilities has been left in the dark on many intelligence matters. National intelligence agencies seem generally to regard one another as rivals which budgetary purposes they are. To other important executive agencies in the intelligence field are the FBI in the department of homeland security DHS. The FBI is only responsible for the collection and analysis of intelligence data in the western hemisphere as the CIA is barred by law from operating inside the White House. DHS was established after September 11, 2001 through a merger of 22 existing agencies. One agency within DHS is immigration and customs enforcement which is charged with maintaining border security in enforcing America's immigration policies.

Higher education

The federal government also plays an important role in helping to fund a higher education another important pathway towards opportunity college graduates earn 50% more than high school graduates and this higher education wage premium has grown overtime as in K-12 education most funds for public systems of hire education.Perhaps the most celebrated higher education program of all is the G.I. Bill of 1944 which put higher education in reach of a whole generation of World War II veterans who never thought they would attend college. The federal government builds on this role in the 1950s and 60s with the national national defense education at which offer low interest loans to college students in the higher education act which supplied assistance directly to colleges and offered additional need base grants allocated to students by universities. In 1972 congress created the Pell Grant program which offered grants directly to lower income students. Together these programs offered the doors of higher education much more wildly than ever before in American history since the mid-1970s however as states Have sharply reduced funding for higher education in college tuition has risen dramatically these financial assistance programs have not kept pace. Whereas Pell grants had initially provided enough to pay for tuition play plus room and board at eight for your call public college by 2017 through 18 they just they covered only 59% of tuition and fees. The growing cost of higher education have put college out of reach for many lower income students and have left those who do attend college with a heavy load of debt. In the decade between 2006 in 2016 average student debt Groo by 16% to two $28,400. Americans have long pride of themselves on the edge of a system of education at the primary secondary and higher education levels that promotes opportunity. A changing world economy that feature is intense competition from developing economies has put a premium on the importance of a highly skilled workforce. Yeah our system of education has fallen short and delivering the benefits of a high-quality education to all children in higher education is now out of reach for many even as a gross and important. These challenges mean that debates about how education can best promote equal opportunity will grow even more intense in the future.

Measuring economic growth part two

The most fundamental way that government affects investments is by promoting businesses as well as investor and consumer confidence. When businesses for your political instability, unpredictable government action, or widespread disregard for the law, they are unlikely to invest. We consumers are insecure about the future, there are unlikely to spend. The federal government also promotes investments through its regulation of financial markets. The most important federal agency in this regard is the securities. The exchange commission (SEC), created after the stock market crash of 1929. The SEC requires companies to disclose information about the stocks and bonds they are selling, inform buyers of the investment risk, and protect investors against fraud. In this way the SEC helps maintain investor confidence and a strong supply of capital for American businesses. The SEC received harsh criticism during the financial crisis in 2008. Analyst pointed to week SEC oversight and regulations as an important factor in the near collapse of the financial sector. Major financial reforms, including the Dodd Frank act of 2010, substantially beefed up the SEC's enforcement capabilities and required the agency to take the lead in implementing many of the key regulations. However, A May 2018 law passed in congress and signed by President Trump eliminated some of the new regulations, especially for smaller banks. Public investment is another important source of growth in the American economy. In the 1930s in again in the late 1970s the federal government promoted public investment as a means to spark economic growth. Some kinds of public investment promote growth as a byproduct of another, more central objectives,. One of the most important of these is spending on the nations defense. Mini analysts credited the rise in military spending associated with the war in Iraq with helping to spur economic growth in 2003.

Military force

The most visible instrument of foreign policy is of course military force. United States United States Has built the worlds most imposing military with Army Navy Marine and Air Force unit stations in virtually every corner of the globe. Do United States is possible for 1/3 of the worlds total military expenditures. The pression military so she just Carlvon clause famously called War politics by other means. By this he means that nations used force not simply to demonstrate their capacity for violence. Rather force or the threat of force is a tool nations is sometimes used to achieve their foreign policy goals. Military force maybe needed to protect a nation security interest and economic concerns. Ironically Forssman also we needed to achieve human Terrian goals. For example in 2014 and 2015 and a national military force was required to protect tens of thousands of Yazidi refugees threatened by Isis forces in Iraq. Without the use of military force humanitarian assistance of the yazidis would have been irrelevant. Military force is generally considered a last resort and avoided if possible because it's use may be problematic. First use military force is extremely costly and both human and financial terms. Over the past 50 years tens of thousand Americans have been killed in hundreds of billions of dollars spent in Americans military operations. Before they employ military force to achieve national goals policymakers must be certain that achieving those goals as essential and that other means are unlikely to succeed.Secondly use military force is inherently fraught with risk. However carefully policy makers are generals plan for military operations results console them be fully anticipated. Variables ranging from the whether to unexpected weapons and tactics deployed by opponents made her calculated military operations and do costly disasters or convert maneuvers that were expected to be quick and decisive into long drawn out expensive struggles. Do you thousand three American policymakers expected to defeat the Iraqi army quickly and easily and they did. Policymakers did not anticipate however that American forces would still be struggling years later to defeat the insurgency that arose in the war aftermath. Finally in a democracy any government that chooses to address culture problems through military means is almost certain to encounter political difficulties. Generally speaking the American public will support relatively short and decisive military engagements. If however a conflict drags on producing casualties and expenses with no clear outcome the public lose his patience and position politicians point to the governments lies and ineptitude.

Promoting business development part two

The national government also promotes business development indirectly through categorical grants. Thus, in order to use motor transportation to improve national markets, a 900,000 mile national highway system was built during the 1930s, based on the formula were by the national government would pay 50% of the cost of the state would provide the other 50%. Over 20 years, beginning in the late 1950s the federal government constructed and additional 45,000 miles of interstate highways. In the system, the national government agreed to pay 90% of the construction costs on the condition that each state provide 10% of the cost of any portion of the highway built within its boundaries. The tremendous growth of highways was a major Boone to the automobile and trucking industries The federal government support specific business sectors with direct subsidies, loans, and tax breaks. In 1953 the small business administration was created to offer loans, loan guarantees, and disaster assistance to small businesses. Recognizing that such businesses often find it harder to obtain financing and to recover from unexpected events such as fires, the federal government has provided assistance or the market would not. Today the small business administration provides more than $44 billion in such assistance to small businesses.

National Security Agency

The national security agency is a highly influential and controversial intelligence agency. Though house with DOD the NSA effectively reports directly to the president and provides the chief executive with the results of its worldwide electronics for being its efforts. Surveillance of electron it communication has a long history in the United States going back to a World War I government effort to read suspicious telegrams. During the 1970s however Congress became concerned about the variety of secret White House surveillance efforts and in 1978 enacted the foreign intelligence surveillance act designed to regulate electronics surveillance by government agencies. The foreign intelligence surveillance act, FISA,Stipulated in order to undertake electronica surveillance of Americans the government would be required to apply for a warrant from a special court created by the statue. SISA stipulated that the court would issue a warrant only If it found probable cause to believe that the target of the surveillance was acting in concert with a foreign power or agent. The 1978 at defined foreign power as a nation state but this was subsequently amended to include nonstate actors such as terrorist groups. The act also allow the president to authoritarian surveillance within the United States without a warrant of the Attorney General certified to the FIS a court that had the target with a foreign intelligence agent and there was a little chance that the privacy of any American citizen would be violated. In June 2013 and in as a contractor named Edward Snowden leaked classified documents describing in essays there to four top-secret prism surveillance program that had operated since 2007.Snowden's disclosures were published in the guardian and the Washington post and revealed that through prison and several other programs and stay had been collecting data on its own as well as collaborating with virtually all major telecommunication companies to intercept examine and store the electron it communications of millions of Americans. These include email social network posts Internet searches and even local telephone calls. In essence NSA appear to have the capacity to monitor in the store all forms of electron it communication. The NSA and it's intelligence collection activity is raise major Questions about the trade off between national security and liberty. Government agencies monitor communications to protect the nations against foreign threats. It doesn't government is dropping also pose own threat to his nations liberties President Richard Nixon for example you surveillance in East dropping to harass his political photos. Do you wish to purchase security by paying for liberty.

The national security council

The national security council was created in 1947 as an entity within the executive office of the president to oversee the foreign-policy establishment, synthesize information coming from the bureaucracy, and help the president develop foreign policy. The NFC is a subcabinet made up by the president the vice president and the secretaries of defense and state plus other presidential appointees including the heads of the CIA homeland security and the director of national intelligence. The heart of the NSC is it staff consisting of about 200 foreign policy experts capable of evaluating political economic and military issues throughout the world.Do you heard of the NSC staff is the presidents national security advisor. Some in essays have been closed presidential confidants and then exercise considerable power because they had the Presidents year and trust. In March she has 18 President Trump need John Bolton as his NSA.

The nonworking poor

The only nonworking able-bodied poor people who receive federal cash assistance are parents who are caring for children. The primary governmental programs Worth the AFDC but are now the state run TANF, they also sometimes run on S in AP and Medicaid. Able-bodied adults who are not caring for children are not eligible for federal assistance other than the food stamps. Page 703 and 704. Children's defense fun, lobbyist group to represent children's interests.

Education policies

Those who understand American federalism already are aware that most of the education of the American people is provided by the public policies of state Moeckel governments. With may be less obvious is that these education policies especially the policy of universal compulsory public education are the most important single force in the distribution and redistribution of opportunity in America. For most of American history the federal government has played only a minor role in education. In the early years in the nation the government assisted schools through the wind ordinance act of 1785 in the Northwest ordinance of 1787 both of which ensure that lands were set aside for public schools and their maintenance. In 1862 Congress established land grants colleges with the Morel act. After World War II the federal government stepped up its role in education policy with the enactment of the G.I. Bill the 1944. The G.I. Bill however was aimed almost entirely at post secondary schooling.

Measuring economic growth part three

The second important condition for economic growth is innovation. The federal government has sought to support innovation in a variety of ways. One of the most important is through the national science foundation. Created in 1950, the national science foundation supports basic research across a range of fields in order to advance fundamental knowledge that may be Bradley useful. Federal government sponsorship of health research begin in the late 1800s. Today, the national institutes of health conducts basic and applied research in biomedicine. The human genome project, the effort to map the basic genetic structure of human life, was initiated by government researchers and only later taken up by private corporations. Recently the NIH has taken the lead in basic research to counter bio terrorism. It's efforts to understand the biology of various infectious agents and to develop vaccines are expected to produce important new knowledge about the human immune system.Research sponsored by the military has long been an important source of innovation for the American economy. Search key 20th century innovations is a radar and nuclear power stemmed from military research. As we saw on chapter 14, military research also created the technology for the 21st-century with a RPANET, the precursor to the Internet. A3 phenomenal condition for economic growth is a sufficient and productive workforce federal immigration policy has played a key role in ensuring in adequate supply of labor throughout American history. Immigration laws routinely give special priority to workers who have skills that are in demand among American employees, immigrants with nursing degrees, for example, have long receive special priority. Today a productive workforce is a highly educated workforce. Education, as we will see in chapter 17, it's primarily the responsibility of state and local governments. The federal government, however, supports the development of a productive workforce with a variety of programs to promote higher education, such as educational grants, tax breaks, and loans. The federal government also sponsors a limited array of job training programs that focus primarily on low skilled workers. Some analyst argue that the federal government must do much more to support the development of a highly skilled workforce in the United States it's a sustain economic growth in the future.

Treasury and commerce

The treasury department and commerce department coordinate the United States international economic and monetary policies and along with the office of the US trade representative work to implement Americans international trade policies. The United States works to discourage other nations from erecting tariff barriers to American goods and to maintain exchange rates between the dollar and other currencies that do not price American goods out of foreign markets or flood the American market with foreign goods. The United States is also alert to efforts by other nations to drive American manufacturers out of business by underpricing exports a practice known as dumping or stealing American technology through reverse engineering or outright piracy. Treasury commerce in the US trade representative are constantly engage in negotiations with Americans trading partners while overall policy is generally set by executive agreements negotiated between the White House and other nations.

Minorities women and children

They are disproportionately poor. It is a result of disadvantages that stem from the position of these groups in the labor market. The 2016 poverty rate for African-Americans was 22.0% and for Latinos it was 19.4%. Both rates are more than double the poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites which was 8.8%. This inequality occurs because minority workers tend to have low wage jobs. They are also more likely to become unemployed and remain unemployed for longer periods of time Then Our Way, Americans. Likely to fall in working poor or the non-working poor. On page 704 and 705.

The elderly

They are the beneficiaries of the two strongest and most generous social policies retirement pensions and health insurance for older Americans or Medicare. The aim of these programs is to provide security and prevent poverty. As these programs have grown they have provided most elderly Americans with economic security and have dramatically reduce the poverty rate among the elderly. In 1959 before many people over the age of 65 receive social insurance the poverty rate for the elderly was 35% by 2016 in a drop to 9.3%. Because of this progress many people called Social Security the most effective anti-poverty program in the United States. This does not mean that the elderly are rich however in 2016 the median income of elderly households was $39,823 well blow the national median income of $59,039.Even with the success of these programs at reducing poverty among the elderly older African-Americans and Latinos are much more likely to be poor than our white seniors. In 2016 the poverty rate for African-Americans over age 65 was 18.5% for Latinos over age 65 it was 17.4% compared to the only 7.1% for non-Hispanic whites over 65. The difference is due in part to do lower wages of these groups during their working years since Social Security benefits are pegged to wages. Social Security made you less to pull immigrants and poverty depending on the number of years their work in the United States. One reason that Social Security and Medicare Are politically strong is that the elderly are wildly seen as a deserving population. They are not expected to work because of their age. Moreover both programs are contributory any work history as requirement for receiving a Social Security pension. But these programs are also strong because they serve as constituency that has become quite powerful. The elderly are a very large group in 2017 there were 50.9 million Americans over the age of 65. Because Social Security and Medicare are not means tested they are available to nearly all people over the age of 65 was the airport or not. The size of this group is of great political important because the rates of voter turn out our grade are among the elderly then I'm on the rest of the population.In addition the elderly have develop strong and sophisticated lobbying organizations that can influence policymaking immobilize older Americans to defend these programs against proposals to cut them. One important and influential such organization is AARP. AARP had 38 million members in 2016 amounting to 1/4 of all voters. It also has a sophisticated lobbying organization in Washington which employees 51 lobbyist in a staff of nearly 50 policy analysis. Although AARP is the largest and the strongest organization of the elderly other groups such as the alliance for retired Americans to which mini retired union members belong also lobby Congress on behalf of the elderly. When Congress considers changes in programs that affect the elderly these lobbyist groups pay close attention. They mobilize their supporters and work with legislators to block changes they believe will hurt the elderly.

Congress

Through his general legislative powers Congress can exercise broad influence over foreign policy. Congress may for example refuse to appropriate funds for presidential actions it deems to be unwise were appropriate. This power of the purse also extends to military action. Not only does Congress have the constitutional power to declare war but under its general legislative powers the most appropriate of the funds needed to support military activities. And federalist 69 Hamilton argues that Congress is power of the purse provides it with in ultimate check on the presidents power as commander-in-chief. Presidents as we saw control several enormous bureaucracies through which to develop and implement foreign and security policies. These include the state and defense departments and the host of other agencies. Congress has far less bureaucratic capacity of its own but it has committees that can influence the nations international military programs. Chief the monkeys are the House and Senate committees charged with overseeing foreign-policy military affairs in the collection of analysis of intelligence.

A powerful China and resurgent Russia page 741

United States China and Russia are the worlds greatest military powers. China is an economic power as well with an economy that in some respects already outpaces Americas and continues to grow. Thucydides trap Do United States has no desire to engage in a military conflict with China but at the same time would preferred to blunt Chinese ambitions. Russia remains heavily armed but economically week. Under its current leader Vladimir Putin Russia has challenge the United States and Europe and in the middle east and has even meddled in American politics. Many of the United States you're being allies depend on Russian energy supplies and engage in a good deal of trade with the Russians. As a result while all agreed in principle that Russia should withdraw from criemea none were prepared to follow the American lead of imposing sanctions and it seems that nothing would be done to dislodge the Russians from the area.

Health policies

Until recent decades no government in the United States national state or local concerned itself directly with individual health. But public responsibility was always excepted for public health. After New York City is newly created Board of Health was created with holding down a cholera epidemic in 1867 most states created statewide public health agencies recognizing that government can play in important role in preventing the spread of disease and reducing the likelihood of injury. At the federal level several agencies are committed to public health. The US public health service was established in 1798. It is headed by the US surgeons general. It includes among other agencies the national institutes of health and I H dedicated to biomedical research in the centers of disease control and prevention which moderate which monitor outbreaks of disease and implement for prevention measures measures and awareness campaigns about HIV and AIDS ebola Zika and other public health threats. Additional federal commitments to the improvement of public health include the numerous laws aimed at cleaning up and defending the government including the creation in 1970 of the environmental protection agency and laws excepting Attempting to improve the health and safety of consumer products regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission created in 1972. In addition to important public health campaigns government now plays in a significant role in providing for individual health which is closely connected opportunity. Those who are uninsured or cannot afford healthcare are more likely to become ill or diagnosed at later disease stages are less likely to receive care and are less able to manage chronic conditions at such as diabetes diabete. Word when hospitalize they are sicker and more likely to die. Health policies and directly at the poor include national nutritional programs such as snap in the school lunch program and Medicaid. Access to healthy food programs for infants and children is associated with basic better school performance. In 2018 federal grants to students for Medicaid totaled and estimated $400 billion up from 41 billion in 1990. Medicaid covers the poor and people who are disabled it also assist the elderly poor who cannot pay Medicare premiums. Because there is no provision for a long-term care in the United States Medicaid has become the de facto program financing nursing home residents when they have exhausted their savings. In fact the disabled and elderly account for 65% of all Medicaid spending. Medicaid is a single largest medical medical insurance program in the United States covering 72.4 million people a number that rose by 24% after the ACA's expansion provisions were put in place.