Date: 3/13/13 Activity: 2000 Election

Warm Up:none

-Homework:

Test Tomorrow 3/14

-Power point review will be posted on hw page of website today

-study from ALL papers!

Welcome to Contemporary U.S. and World History

Pg Assignment Date

17 Reagan Power Point Notes 2/26

18 Reagan Chart 3/4

19 Bush Power Point Notes 3/4

20 Conservative Essay Prompt 3/4

21 The Clinton Presidency 3/7

22 Clinton Impeachment 3/7

23 Domestic Study Guide 3/7

24 Election 2000 ppt wkst 3/11

The Conservative TideCAUSES:

• Distrust in the Government• Dissatisfaction with liberal

policies• Revival of Evangelical

Christianity • Reagan as a spearhead of

conservatism • Inflation and unemployment • Emergence of the New Right

and conservative coalition

EFFECTS • Republican control of the

presidency and then the Congress

• Cuts in taxes and government spending

• Dramatic increase in national debt

• More conservative Supreme Court

• Increased defense spending• Deregulation

Compare and contrast supply side and demand side economics. Identify two groups that would favor each economic philosophy.

Supply Side Economics • - saved money for

corporations will allow them to invest in jobs and production, which will “trickle down” to everyone else.

• -supply side economics will cause an influx of investments by the wealthy, prompting new growth.

Demand Side Economics •Demand side economics, on the other hand, focuses on stimulating the average consumer to spend more money by cutting taxes.

•Demand Side Economics, says that if taxes are to be cut, they should go to those who earn the least amount of money. The reason is that low-income workers spend virtually all of their incomes. Money given to them goes right back into circulation, fueling a boom in consumer spending.

What types of social programs did Reagan keep in tact?

-ones that supported the middle class, such as social security, medicare, and veterans’ pensions

What did the Reagan administration INCREASE spending on the most?

-defense, specifically the Strategic Defense Initiative, AKA: Star Wars

What did conservatives complain there was too much of?

-government (regulation, involvement)

What did the Reagan administration DECREASE spending on?

• Social programs that benefited the lower class such as welfare, mass transit, food stamps, Medicade, school lunches and school loans

What was Reagan like? -he was a charming, former actor who had

great public speaking skills.

Who formed the Moral Majority? -evangelical and fundamentalist Christians

who wanted a restoration of traditional moral and “Family” values.

Why did Jimmy Carter have problems while he was in Congress?

-He never had held a Federal political office and thus was an “outsider” in Washington, -He relied mostly on advisors from his home state of Georgia -He refused to compromise and make political deals

Who would support the following policies? Liberals or Conservatives?

1. Reduced taxes for corporations

2. Stricter gun control laws

3. Requirement that welfare recipients work

4. Social programs for the needy 5. The right to choose whether or not to have an abortion 6. Restrictions on labor unions

7. Increased military spending 8. Increase taxes on wealthy and corporations.

1. C

2. L

3. C

4. L

5. L

6. C

7. C

8. L

What was the name of the court case that gave women certain rights concerning abortion?

Roe v Wade

Those who are against abortion are called:

Pro Life

Those who are for abortion rights are called:

Pro Choice

What were some of the results of Reaganomics?

– Tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations– Increased defense spending – Decrease in spending on social programs that– helped the lower class– deregulation on businesses – increased national debt (deficit)

What was the Contract With America? • the promise to give America certain changes if

they voted for a Republican Congress. • pledged to balance the budget, cut taxes, limit

the terms of Congressmen, tougher crime laws and reform the welfare system.

Who did President Clinton choose to head his initiative for universal health care?

• Hillary Rodham Clinton

Was Clinton successful in his initiative for universal health care? • No

Why was Clinton being investigated by Kenneth Star? What was this investigation called?

• He was originally being investigated on misuse of funds for his gubernatorial election. This was called the Whitewater Investigation. During the investigation, he uncovered an improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a white house intern.

The House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton on two charges, what were they? •Perjury and obstruction of justice •Starr accused Clinton of lying under oath about the affair during a deposition for a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones.

Was Clinton found guilty? •No. 67 (2/3)Votes were needed to be guilty. The perjury charge was defeated 45 votes for conviction to 55 against, while the obstruction of justice charge was defeated 50 to 50. In February of 1999, Clinton was acquitted of all wrong-doing by the Senate.

In the 2000 election, who kept messing up the predictions of who won? • the news stations

How is the number of electors a state has determined? • based on the number of representatives (varies

based on population_ AND senators (always 2)

Is it possible to win a presidential election WITHOUT winning the majority of popular votes? • yes, the electors are technically the ones voting.

What are the arguments for the electoral college?

• REQUIRES WIDESPREAD POPULAR SUPPORT TO WIN (AVOIDS SECTIONALISM)

• MAINTAINS FEDERAL CHARACTER OF U.S.

• ENHANCES STATUS OF MINORITY GROUPS

• ENCOURAGES STABILITY THROUGH THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM

What are the arguments against the electoral college?

• PROPORTIONALLY MORE INFLUENCE FOR SMALLER POPULATION STATES

• CAUSES TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO BE PAID TO KEY “SWING STATES”

• A CANDIDATE CAN WIN MORE POPULAR VOTES BUT STILL LOSE THE ELECTION

• DISADVANTAGE FOR THIRD PARTIES

Explain how each of the following contributed to distrust of government:

1.Watergate:• -president of U.S. was involved in a cover-up

of a crime, and then even though 25 people were sent to jail, he was pardoned.

2. Ford’s pardon of Nixon and the Vietnam draft dodgers:• -favoritism for politicians, unconditional

pardon for Nixon with conditional one for draft dodgers.

Explain how each of the following contributed to distrust of government

3. Three Mile Island nuclear accident:• The fact that people were told nuclear energy is safe and then

this accident occurred, scared people and made them not trust the safety measures put in place by government. The people demanded increased federal regulations and oversights of nuclear plants, improved plant design, improved operator training and improved emergency plans.

• 4. Election of 2000:• This raised many questions about the fairness of our voting

system. -popular vote vs. electoral college-voting systems (butterfly ballots/hanging chads,

computerized) -swing states, newscaster predictions…etc.

Complete the chart by explaining the economic issues facing Ford and Carter:

Issue Explanation of issue How it was dealt with

 Inflation 

went from 6% to over 10% by the end of 1974 due to rise in gasoline and heating oil costs 1979- inflation soared from 7.6% to 11.3 % b/c of OPECUp to 14% by 1980

WIN (Whip Inflation Now) to cut back on oil and gas usage. (Ford)  

Complete the chart by explaining the economic issues facing Ford and Carter:

Issue Explanation of issue How it was dealt with

 Oil 

America relied too much on imported oilin 1979 violence in the Mid-East, as well as another major price hike in Oil from OPEC

National Energy Act (Carter) –taxed gas guzzling vehicles

Complete the chart by explaining the economic issues facing Ford and Carter:

Issue Explanation of issue How it was dealt with

 Unemployment 

Hovered around 7%. Carter couldn’t decide whether unemployment or inflation was more important to deal with. He went back and forth on whether he was going to cut taxes or not to stimulate the economy and was unsuccessful altogether.

Explain the views of a liberal and a conservative on each of the following:

  Liberal Conservative

 Size of government

Should be involved Small government involvement

Government spending on social programs

Should be spending to help those in need 

Should be limited, people should be able to help themselves.

 Defense spending

Should be limited  

Should be increased

 Tax cuts

For the lower and middle class

For wealthy and corporations

Explain how the New Right, the Moral Majority and the Conservative Coalition represented a rise in conservatism:

The New Right: •Right-wing grass root groups across the country emerged in the 1970s to support and promote single issues that reflected their key interests

The Moral Majority •was an organization formed by evangelist Jerry Falwell and consisted mostly of evangelical & fundamentalist Christians who wanted a restoration of traditional moral and “Family” values.

Goals of Conservative Coalition movement:•-shrink the size of the federal government and reduce spending•-promote family values and patriotic ideals•-stimulate business by reducing government regulations and lowering taxes•-strengthen the national defense

List and explain the three main policies of Reaganomics:

1. Budget cuts in social programs that benefited the lower class.

2. Tax Cuts for the wealthy and corporations with the idea of “supply-side” economics: saved money for corporations will allow them to invest in jobs and production, which will “trickle down” to everyone else.

 

3. increased defense spending – Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) (Star Wars) – to defend against enemy missiles

Label each as a program maintained or cut by President Reagan:

1.Social Security2.Medicare 3.Urban mass transit4.Food stamps5.Welfare 6.Medicaid

1.maintained2.maintained 3.Cut4.Cut 5.Cut 6.Cut

What is deregulation? Explain one positive and one negative aspect of deregulation:

• Deregulation is the process in which a government may remove or reduce certain restrictions in matters of business to have a more efficient operation of markets

•Positive of deregulation is increased competition which can result in lower prices for consumers. •Negative of deregulation is it can lead to monopolies and environmental problems due to selfish interests of the corporations.

What was the significance of President Reagan’s appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court? How do they show further evidence of the rise of conservatism? •he was able to appoint four conservative justices to the Supreme Court •it ended the liberal control over the Court that had begun under Franklin D. Roosevelt.  

•Why was President Clinton considered a New Democrat?

•He moved more toward the “center” of the political scale. He believed we needed to focus on growing private business and move people off of welfare for the economy to grow.

•In what ways was President Clinton a more conservative Democrat than John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson were in the 1960s? Please site specific examples to support your answer:

•cut spending by billions, lowered taxes to win Rep support, and included programs to help children and aid healthcare.

•placed limits on how long people could receive welfare benefits and ended federal guarantee of welfare. Instead it granted states “block grants” to spend on welfare or other social concerns.

Define Impeachment:•An impeachment is to bring federal charges against a public official.

Identify the two charges brought against President Clinton.1. perjury

2. Obstruction of Justice

2000 Election Candidates

1. Republican2. Democrat3. Third Party

(Green Party)

1. George W. Bush (young one)

2. Al Gore 3. Ralph Nadar

Define Winner takes all system:•Candidates who win a majority of electors in each state (50% + 1 Vote) win that ENTIRE state.  Explain the impact that Clinton’s impeachment had on the 2000 election: •Al Gore wanted to be known for being in office as VP for 8 years, but wanted to distance himself from Clinton’s scandals.

Why was the recount never completed in the Election of 2000?

• 12/9 The Supreme Court held that the FL Supreme Court’s method for recounting ballots was unconstitutional.

• 12/12 The Court held that no alternative method could be established within the time limits established by the Florida legislature.

List one of the apparent conflicts of interest associated with the 2000 Florida Presidential election:

•Jeb Bush – governor of Florida

•Katherine Harris (Sec of State for FL) and campaign chairwoman and her “Scrub List” •Supreme Court (5/9 for Bush)