Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Public Opinion
Tuesday, January 26, 2016

8:19 PM

Attitudes and Public Opinion
• Public Opinion
○ "Preferences of the adult population on matters of importance to the government"
5 Elements of Public Opinion
1
...
Intensity of Opinion
○ If people feel intensely about an issue they are more likely to vote, and if people are
more likely to vote, elected and unelected officials will be more likely to listen to
them
○ Ex:
 Opinion on Gun Control
3
...
Interest and Knowledge of the Issues
○ Opinions may be more volatile or misinformed when there is a lack of knowledge on
some issues, such as domestic versus foreign policy issues
 Public may be more susceptible to false arguments when they do not know as
much, as in public opinion on foreign aid
5
...
Affordable Care Act
• Confusing Questions
• Over-Simplified Questions
• Value-laden Questions
What's a politician to do?
• Pay close attention to the motivated
• Don't mistake opinion of the moment for who will vote on election day
• Communicate concern regardless of issue

Chapter 7 Page 3

Mass Media
Tuesday, February 02, 2016

10:58 AM

Importance of Mass Media
• Primary conduit of info about politics
• We have more types of media than ever before
• Where do people get their news?
• Information overload
• What's important?
○ Factual knowledge or factual analysis?
Who owns the media?
• Government
○ Very, very little
○ Ex:
 PBS
• Private Sector
○ Many businesses own many media outlets as well as entertainment
○ Ex:
 Advocacy coverage
 Fox, MSNBC, CNN
• The Public
○ More and more online and through watchdog organizations like Wikileaks
Press as Watchdogs
• A check on the unchecked and secretive power of government
• Muckraking
○ The way to fame and fortune
○ Ex: Watergate
• Now we have Democratization of the media
○ Wikileaks, blogs, websites, etc
• Outsiders fact check the media online
○ More important to fact check the huge number of websites going for exposes
Freedom of the Press
• Doctrine of No Prior Restraint means there is a presumption against censorship
○ Near v
...
Virginia
○ New York Times v
...
Family crime
Priming
• We are "cognitive misers"
○ The brain takes cues in one are for use in another, related area
• The media, by covering one story, activates other impressions, stories and thoughts in the
viewer's mind about other issues
○ If media cover terrorism and threats, we are more apt to evaluate presidents on how
well they are protecting us
○ If we read a story about economic problems, we are more likely to evaluate president
on his effectiveness
Chapter 8 Page 5

○
on his effectiveness
Framing
• The ability to set the context, to frame the issue, to interpret the facts, and potentially to
provide legitimacy for people, issues, or groups
• What is the "frame" of a story?
○ The perspective or angle that organizes information and guides our thinking
• Frames generated by
○ Culture
 David vs
...
"Freedom of choice"
○ Media
 Right vs
...

○ Co-workers who share with you
• Collective Action
○ Depends upon social networks; can create new networks
○ Ex: black churches during the Civil Rights Movement
The Decline of Social Capital?
• Robert Putnam and "Bowling Alone"
○ Shows Americans have become increasingly disconnected from the family, friends,
and neighbors that make up this civil society and, therefore, disconnected from their
democracy
○ Less social capital
○ Over 500,000 interviews
○ Attending Club Meetings
 Down 58%
○ Family Dinners
 Down 43%
Why the Decline?
• Looks to technological "individualizing" of our leisure time via television, internet, etc
• Technology atomizes us leading to less participation and less tolerant society
Are new forms of social capital emerging?
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Tumblr
Social Media & Participation
• The average internet user is more likely to have close ties
• 15% of non-internet users have no close ties
• Social media users are considerably more likely than non-users to have
○ Volunteered
Social Media and Political Participation
Chapter 10 Page 9

Social Media and Political Participation
• Opens up new ways to politics
• "Participatory Politics"
• Engagement highest in African Americans (75%)

Chapter 10 Page 10

Political Parties of the US
Tuesday, February 23, 2016

10:59 AM

Political Parties
• Organized groups that seek to gain office and exercise political power through legislation, executive
action, and control of government agencies
• Not in the constitution
• Also networks of supporters in industry, trade unions, think tanks, non-profit organizations, political
groups that support parties that are not formally part of the parties but work with them
Party
• Party Organization
○ National party organizations
○ State party organizations
○ Pyramid
 Highest: National Committee
 High: State Committee
 Low: County Committees
 Lowest: Precincts
• Party in Government
○ Senate
○ House
• Party in the Electorate
○ Card carrying members
○ Party identifiers
What do parties do?
• Recruit and nominate candidates for office/connect them with supporters
○ Look for experience
○ Representational qualities
○ Right personality
○ Most select themselves
• Facilitate governing across executive, legislative, and judicial (a little bit) branches
○ Party members share similar preferences and goals
• Educate and inform voters
○ The party label as decision cue
• Get people out to vote
• Attract new members to build majority coalitions
National Headquarters
• Party Leader
○ Most powerful/popular, usually president
• Campaign
○ Most campaigning is done by candidates
• Finance
○ Party Fundraising
• Communication and Marketing
○ Try to provide a consistent message to voters and build bigger coalitions
• Research
○ On public preferences, party platform, and election strategies
• Compliance
Chapter 9 Page 11

• Compliance
○ With federal laws on elections
National Convention
• Republicans in Cleveland
• Democrats in Philadelphia
• Only once every four years
• Officially nominates president and vice president
• Ratifies party platform
• Ratifies changes in party rules
What is party identification?
• Individual voter's psychological ties to one party
• NOT the same as ideology
• Formed early (often inherited from parents), rarely changes in later life
• "Strength" of party identification
○ Name only
○ Loyal voter
○ Party activists
○ Who gets to be included - everyone or a few?
Take notes on
• Party History
• Third Parties
Third Parties
• Third Parties rarely do well
• Ross Perot got 19% of the vote in 1992
○ Didn't get any electoral votes
○ Lack of financial support
○ Lack of media coverage
○ Voters believing the 3rd party votes are "wasted"
○ Winner take all system - electoral laws
Electoral Laws
• Plurality System
○ Winner takes all
○ US has plurality; single member district system
• Run-off Majority Voting
○ Initial election with all candidates
○ If there is no majority, top two vote getters among all candidates compete in run-off election
• Proportional Representation
○ Used widely in many democracies
○ Within districts
○ Across whole country
Election systems that rely on single member districts and plurality voting systems favor a two party system
Parties then compete over the median voter - the voter at the mid-point in voter ideology
Spatial Model of Duverger's Law and the Median Voter

Chapter 9 Page 12

Jane 6 Pack

Green Party

Dems

Reps

Libertarians

Impact of Third Parties
• Third party voting is expressive
• Win local and state offices occasionally
• If big enough, they encourage the major parties to move to capture the lost votes
• Get issues on the agenda through media coverage and public awareness
The Model of Responsible/Strong Party Government
• Are parties strong enough to act on their agenda?
• Four principles of responsible party government
1
...
Voters should choose candidates on the basis of party programs
3
...
Voters should hold the governing party responsible at the next election for executing its program
Pro's and Con's of Strong Parties and Weak Parties
• With Strong Parties
○ Pro's
 Voters will know what the parties will do in power
 Decisive government
○ Con's
 Party loyalties may detract from the job of representation
• With Weak Parties
○ Pro's
 Representatives who act more as delegates
○ Con's
 Voters will know less of what to expect from government
 Difficulty in passing legislation
Party Strength History
• Party Machines - 1870-1920
○ Was the heyday, but some are still around
• Boss Tweed
• Gangs of New York
• Reform period 1910's-1920's
○ Progressive Era Reforms
○ Appointed boards of experts to manage government, non-partisan offices, civil service reform,
primary election system
History of Party Strength
• Modern parties and bipartisanship
○ 1930's-1980's
○ Dominance of Congressional Democrats, especially from South, but ideological diversity in both
Chapter 9 Page 13

○ Dominance of Congressional Democrats, especially from South, but ideological diversity in both
parties
• Era of Division
○ 1990's-Present
○ Ideological diversity within parties mostly disappears as conservative Democrats join the Republican
party
○ Primary system encourages candidates with more extreme views who can turn out the activist,
passionate party members who are most likely to vote (ex
...
59% of the two-party vote, but won 46
...
Joseph J
...
, widow of a socially prominent Texas Businessman
...
Federal Election Commission (2010)
• Allows for unlimited campaign spending by non-profit, incorporated organizations and associations
• Money is free speech
Iron Triangles
• Tight mutually beneficial connections between congressional committees, executive agencies and interest groups
○ Bureaucrats
 Award contracts
 Resolve disputes over rules and regulations
 Propose new regulations
 Activities benefit interest groups/businesses they regulate, and indirectly benefit members of Congress
○ Members of Congress
 Pass legislation favorable to interest groups
 Pressure bureaucrats on behalf of interest groups
○ Interest Groups
 Provide jobs for constituents
 Provide campaign contributions
 Super PACs jobs for members of Congress
 The Revolving Door
Chapter 11 Page 16

 The Revolving Door
What does Lobbying get Interest Groups?
• Corporate Welfare
○ Federal Subsidies to Businesses
 The Cato Institute estimates that federal subsidies to corporations cost taxpayers almost $100 billion
every year
 Both Sanders and Cruz argue against it
 The argument is that business subsidies are needed to help American companies better compete in the
global economy
 Subsidies to the fast food industry
□ Research by University of Illinois and UC Berkeley documents that taxpayers pay about $7
Billion each year in indirect subsidies to the fast food industry because they pay wages so low
that taxpayers must pay for public benefits for their workers
 Value-Added Marketing Grant Program
□ Hand out about $56 million this year to "producers of agricultural commodities" to help them
make and market their products
 Export-Import Bank
□ Loans and insurance subsidies to companies that want to develop export markets overseas
 Enron received billions
 Federal Maritime Administration's Title XI
□ Program guarantees loans made to companies to purchase vessels constructed in US
 One billionaire owner received $1
...
9 Billion in sugar trade barriers every year
□ US consumers pay twice as much for sugar than people in other countries
□ Foreign motorcycle tax in 1980's
 4
...
4%
○ Federal Tax Breaks
 Hollywood production companies received a $430 million tax benefit for filming in the US
 Mortgage deduction
□ Home mortgage deduction, which costs taxpayers $70 Billion per year
□ Huge subsidy for real estate, banking, construction, and home owners
○ State and Local Subsidies to Corporations
 Over 48 big corporations received over $100 million each in recent years
 GM was biggest with $1
...

 We would be prosecuted
 Companies protect bosses by paying off government
 JP Morgan saved $4 Billion
Special Bills for Special Interests
• The Wright Amendment (1979)
○ Restricted non-stop flights out of Love Field in Dallas to locations within Texas and neighboring states
○ Restrictions lifted as of Fall 2014
○ Protected the interests of American Airlines by making Southwest Airlines flights less attractive to
consumers
• One senator sponsored a provision in a defense bill that give a company the exclusive rights to operate cruise
ships in Hawaii and government loans to build ships
○ The company eventually went bankrupt, costing taxpayers $187 million

Chapter 11 Page 17

Elections
Thursday, March 10, 2016

11:07 AM

Elections
• An election campaign is an organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate
over other competing for the same office
• Election
○ The process by which individuals vote to determine outcomes for public office
• Primary Election
○ A preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who
will run for public office in a subsequent election
○ Frequently used
• Caucus
○ Registered members of parties get together in small meetings around the state to
select candidates
○ Not frequently used
• Closed Primary
○ Voters must register their party affiliation to vote on that party's potential nominees
• Open Primary
○ Any voter, regardless of party registration or affiliation, could choose either party's
ballot
○ Texas has an open primary
• All seats in the House of Representatives, one-third of the seats in the Senate, and
numerous state and local offices are filled in a general election held on the Tuesday after
the first Monday in November in even-numbered years
• Voters choose a president indirectly through the electoral college, composed of electors
pledge to one of the candidates
○ Every 4 years
○ State electoral votes = # senators + # representatives
○ Winner take all system in each state except Maine and Nebraska
What Determines Presidential Election Outcomes?
• Incumbents usually win, with some key exceptions
• Presidential approval
• The economy
○ When GDP grows by at least 2
...
5% he loses
• To win the candidate still must
○ Achieve high turnout among supporters
○ Encourage some defection from opposition
○ Reduce opposition turnout
○ Win independent voters
Key Elements of the Presidential Campaign
• Battleground States
• Debates
• Not screwing up
○ Especially if it fits into already existing "frame"
Funding Election Campaigns
• Very Expensive
Chapter 12 Page 18

• Very Expensive
• Where does the money come from
○ Individual Donations
 Individuals contribute directly or by hosting fund-raisers
○ Contributions by Political Action Committees
 Restrictions on amounts that can be given to these groups
○ Political Party Contributions
 Limited amounts funded by committees within a political party
○ Public Funding
 Comes from federal government through income tax; only available to
presidential candidates
Individual and Direct Contributions to Candidates
• Individual contributions limited to $2,500 to a specific candidate in each of the primary,
run-off and general elections
• Limits contributions to $5,000 per year to any national political action committee
• Permits a contribution of $30,800 per year to any national party committee
• Indexed to inflation
• No limit on the number of contributions to different candidates
Difference Between PAC's and 527's/501(c)(4)s
• PACs raise money to give to parties and individual candidates
○ Can be operated by any sort of group
○ Limits on amount of donations
• 527s/501(c)(4) Groups
○ No limit on donations
○ No limit on spending
○ Must not coordinate with parties or candidates
○ Cannot explicitly advocate a vote for a candidate
527 Groups vs 501(c)(4) Groups
• 527
○ Explicitly political
○ Donor disclosure requirements
• 501(c)(4)
○ "Social Welfare Organizations"
○ Political activity cannot be main activity (less than 50%)
 Must be involved in other "educational activities"
○ No donor disclosure requirements
Super PACs
• Hybrid of 527's and 501(c)(4) groups
• Independent expenditure-only committees
• Super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations
and individuals
• Super PACs spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates
• Super PACs must report their donors to the Federal Election Commission
• Super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates
• Cannot coordinate with candidates
• There are loopholes

Type of entity 501(c)(4)s

527s not subject

Chapter 12 Page 19

Super

All others required

Type of entity 501(c)(4)s
engaging in
outside

527s not subject
(social
to FEC reporting
welfare
requirements for
organizatio
political
ns)
committees

Super
PACs

All others required
to register with FEC
as a political
committee
maintaining federal
account

spending
Are there limits
on the size of
contributions
that can be
made to entity?

NO

NO

NO

YES

Is entity
required to
disclose most of
its contributors?

NO

YES

YES

YES

Is entity allowed
to advocate for a
candidate?

NO

NO

YES

NO

Can entity give
directly to
campaign?

NO

NO

NO

YES

"Campaign" Ads
• Done by Super PACs
• Carl Rove Bullshit
The Federal Election Commission
• The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency charged
with administering and enforcing federal campaign finance law
• The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the US House, Senate,
Presidency and Vice Presidency
• Federal Campaign Finance Law covers three board subjects
○ Public Disclosure of funds raised and spent to influence federal elections
○ Restrictions on contributions and expenditures made to influence federal elections
Chapter 12 Page 20

○ Restrictions on contributions and expenditures made to influence federal elections
○ Public financing of Presidential campaigns
Public Financing of Presidential Campaigns
• Financed by those who agree to use $3 of their taxes to finance presidential campaigns
• Today, just 11% of taxpayers check off the box - 28% two decades ago
○ Check-off dollars are given only to presidential candidates who demonstrate broadbased public support - those who in the primary elections raise over $5,000 in each of
20 states
○ General election nominees must agree not to accept any private contributions (from
individuals or PACs)
○ Candidates must promise not to spend more than $50,000 of their own money on their
campaign
○ Recipients of public funds must adhere to a limit on total spending
○ Parties may also receive funds for conventions
Campaign Strategies and Tactics
• Three Basic Strategies
○ "Party-centered strategy" - "Contract with America"
○ "Issue-oriented strategy" - "It's the economy, stupid"
○ "Image-oriented strategy" - Obama - "Post Partisan" - "Yes, We Can"
Campaign Planning
• A campaign informs the public about the candidate and the party's platform, their stand on
important topics
• Campaign Staff
○ Campaign Manager
○ Finance Chair
○ Pollster
○ Media Coordinator
○ Scheduler
○ Issue Advisers
• Campaign Strategy
○ Identify Supporters and Potential Supporters
○ Target the Message
 Polls and Focus Groups
○ Package the Candidate
On the Campaign Trail
• Candidates spend most of campaign time on swing states
○ Where support for candidates is about equal, or in states where their support is
greatest
Tackling the Issues
• Candidates use stump speeches, or standard speeches usually less than 20 minutes long,
express candidate's beliefs on key issues
Negative Campaigning
• In advertising, candidates mostly use negative campaigning, attacks on opposing
candidate's weaknesses
• 90% of ads at some points are negative
○ Public doesn't like it, but it works
Chapter 12 Page 21

House of Representatives
• 435 House Seats
• Allocated to each state based on population
• Minimum of 1 per state
• Reapportionment
• Redistricting

Gerrymandering
• Political Reasons
○ Constitutional
• Racial Reasons
○ Not constitutional
Redistricting
1
...
Sweetheart
○ Equal sacrifice
○ Ex: Iowa
3
...
Cracking
○ Minimize power of population in one area by dividing it up into multiple district
○ Ex: Austin, TX
Incumbency
• Re-election in House and Senate
• Depends on whether the seat is
○ Open seat (no incumbent)
○ Safe seat (party composition of district/state means 60%+ of regular voters from your
party)
○ Competitive seat (district/state may be up for grabs; voting range 45%-55%)
○ Out of 435 house members, only about 40-50 competitive seats
○ An incumbent, the current officeholder asdfasdf

Incumbency Advantage
• Constituent Service
○ Pork
○ Casework
• Money
• Other Advantages
○ Franking
○ Media Exposure/Name Recognition
Elections in Texas
• Texas voters select officials in all three branches
• Texans vote on many more local offices than other states
○ County, city, public school districts, hospital district, railroad BS, etc
• State constitutional amendments and local tax policy
Chapter 12 Page 22

• State constitutional amendments and local tax policy
Primaries
• Primary Elections
○ 2nd Tuesday in March
• Runoff Primary
○ 2nd Tuesday in April
• Governor
Restrictions on the Franchise
• Women
○ 1918 Texas legislature granted right to vote
○ Could vote in primary not general
○ 1919 Texas ratifies 19th Amendment
○ First southern state to ratify
• White primaries and other racial barriers remained
• Poll Tax
○ Equal to several days' wages for a farm worker
○ Had to be paid in advance of election day
○ Politicians would often pay the fees of poor white voters
○ Banned by the 24th Amendment in 1964

Current Qualifications to Vote
• 18
• US Citizen
• Resident of Texas for 30 days
• Resident of the county for 30 days
• Cannot be a current felon, but Texas felons can vote after completing sentence
• Must be mentally competent
• Valid ID Law
Voter Turnout
• Texas turnout rates are very low
○ Usually rank among bottom five states
• Despite ease of voter registration and voting processes, turnout remains low
• Factors associated with Texas low turnout
○ No statewide party competition
○ Little mobilization by either party relative to efforts in other states
○ Low socioeconomic status (income/education)
○ Younger population
Campaigns
• A serious campaign for statewide office in Texas is very expensive
• 2012 GOP Senate Primary - $26 million spent
○ Ted Cruz spent $7 million
○ David Dewhurst spent $19 million
• Republicans do tend to spend more in Texas
• Why are Texas campaigns costly?
Chapter 12 Page 23

• Why are Texas campaigns costly?
○ Extensive travel
○ Large number of media markets
○ Require experienced campaign professionals
○ Polling the large electorate is expensive

Chapter 12 Page 24

Budget
Thursday, March 31, 2016

11:05 AM

The Federal Budget
• The Federal Budget is the annual statement of the federal government's outlays and
revenues
• The Federal Budget has two purposes:
1
...
To achieve macroeconomic objectives
• Fiscal Policy is the use of the federal budget to achieve macroeconomic objectives, such as
full employment, sustained economic growth, and price stability
• Revenues come from personal income taxes, social security taxes, corporate taxes, customs
and duties placed on foreign imports and excise taxes (gas, tanning salons)
• Personal income taxes are the largest revenue
• Outlays are transfer payments, expenditure on goods and services, and debt interest
• Transfer payments are the largest item of outlays
Budget
• Revenue - FY 2015 = $3
...
7 trillion
○ Mandatory
○ Discretionary
• Revenue - Expenditures = -$400 billion
○ Surplus
○ Deficit - current FY 2015 = -$426 billion
• National Debt = $18
...
Establishes a program or agency and the terms and conditions under which it operates
2
...
Gives Congress the authority to spend money
Appropriations Committees
• A appropriations act is a law passed by Congress that provides federal agencies legal
authority to incur financial obligations and the Treasury Department authority to make
payments for designated purposes
○ Derives from the Constitution, which in Article I, Section 9, provides that "no money
shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law
...
When someone buys a Treasury bond, they are lending the government
money, and the government pays them interest
• The debt ceiling is the borrowing limit that Congress sets for itself
...
Cheaper to borrow
 Increases inflationary pressure & tends toward lower unemployment
○ Less money = "expensive" money
...
It can change the reserve requirement which is the amount of cash banks must keep
on deposit at a regional federal reserve bank, an increase in the requirement reduces
how much money a bank can lend
b
...
The Fed can buy and sell government securities such as US treasury bonds on the
open market
 When it buys securities it puts out money into the open market and when it sells
the process is reserved
• Federal Reserve Chair = Janet Yellen
When does Government intervene in the economy - What markets do not produce
• When the market fails to provide goods or services to fulfill the demand of consumers,
such as public goods like defense, postal service, government steps in
1
...
Government production-defense
b
...
Grants-direct payments with no expectation of repayment - price supports to
agriculture, certain industries, such as solar energy, student education
d
...
Tariffs or taxes on foreign imports to keep domestic producers viable
f
...
When there are negative side effects to consumption or production, such as pollution companies lose money from introducing pollution control devices
...
When there is imperfect competition/monopoly results in under production of a good at
an exaggerated price
...
Although some industries have fewer firms,
like airlines
4
...
Used car dealers do not have to let you know all
defects
What does the government do to correct market failures - Economic Regulations
• Regulatory Tools
Budget and Economic Policy Page 31

• Regulatory Tools
○ Rules that require producers to perform certain behaviors which are backed up with
threat of imprisonment of fines
a
...
Price-setting
 Medical services
c
...
It contained:
○ A retirement benefits system for the primary worker (changed in 1939 to include
survivors benefits and benefits for the retiree's spouse and children, and disability
benefits were added in 1956)
○ Paid for by Social Security tax on employees and employers each pay half, or 6
...
7 trillion
How will Social Security be funded?
• In the 1940s-50s Social Security was successful because there were high ratios of
contributing workers to retired individuals
• Today the ratio has dropped considerably from 16:1 to 3
...
2% of their earnings into SS system up to $118,500 in 2013
○ Gradual increased to 7
...
6% would eliminate the financing gap
○ 69% of Americans support raising their own SS taxes by 1%
• Raise full retirement to 68 or 70
○ Full retirement age to receive full benefits increases to 67 for everyone born in
1960/later
○ If increased to 68 by 2028 - eliminates 15% of SS deficit
○ If increased to 70 by 2050 - eliminates deficits by 25%
• Chained CPI
○ SS benefits are adjusted for inflation each year based on Consumer Price Index (CPI)
○ If "chained" CPI would decrease annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by 0
...
0%
• There were 46
...
4 billion in 2013 and supplied roughly 47
...
08 per month in food assistance
○ According to the Governmental Accountability Office in 2009, there was a payment
error rate of 4
...
86% in 1999
 Mostly government error
○ Military families spend $100 million dollars in SNAP benefits on site at military
bases every year about 900,000 veterans live in households that use food stamps, or
SNAP benefits

Unemployment Insurance
• Unemployment benefits generally pay eligible workers between 40-50% of their previous
pay for workers who have become unemployed through no fault of their own
• Funded mostly by state and federal payroll taxes on employers
• Typical unemployment benefits period is six months, although extensions are possible
during economic downturns
Politics of Poverty Assistance
• Policy Debate
○ Causes of poverty and effects of public assistance are hotly contested
• Public Opinion
○ Mixed about poverty and solutions
○ People want to be compassionate, but are also concerned about dependence on
assistance
• Political Parties
○ Also mixed
○ How much government intervention should there be, and which type?
• Group Organization
○ Poor are less organized
• Programs are poorly funded and restrictively designed due to lack or political clout

Social Policy Page 36

Healthcare
Tuesday, April 12, 2016

11:40 AM

Medicare - Health Insurance for the Elderly
• 7/30/1965 - LBJ signed the Medicare Bill (w/ Social Security Amendments)
• Paid for by payroll tax of 1
...
45% deducted from the employee's paycheck = 2
...
The
mandate does not apply to employers with 49 or less FTE
• Employers with less than 25 FTE with average annual wages of less than $50,000 qualify
for employer tax credits
• Those with 10 or less FTE with average annual wages of less than $20,000 qualify for the
full credit of up to 50% of their share of employer premiums
Social Policy Page 37

full credit of up to 50% of their share of employer premiums
Health Care Exchanges
• Most states use the Federal Health Care Exchange to shop for and purchase health
insurance although some states maintain their own exchanges
○ State Health Insurance Exchanges
• Marketplace provide a set of government-regulated and standardized health care plans from
which individuals may purchase health insurance policies eligible for federal subsidies
• Put people in a pool of consumers to make it affordable for people and profitable for
business
• All private health insurance plans offered in the Marketplace must offer:
○ Emergency services
○ Hospital coverage
○ Mental health
○ Substance abuse services
○ Prescription drugs
○ Rehabilitative services
Health Insurers
• Cannot turn applicants down who have history of illness
• Cannot terminate coverage
• Must renew coverage
• Cannot charge more to those with history of illness (older people can be charged maximum
of 3 times that of younger people)
Religious Exemptions
• Can religious groups be exempt from being forced pay for contraception as a part of the
required health care insurance beliefs?
• Zubik vs
...
45% to 2
...
8% extra tax on
investment income, for individuals with income over $200,000 individual or families with
incomes over $250,000
• "Cadillac Tax" on employer health plans with values above $10,000 individual/$27,500
families, beginning 2018
• Tax = 40% of amount above thresholds
• Reduce payments to Medicare managed care plans
• 10% tax on indoor tanning services

Social Policy Page 38

Foreign Policy
Tuesday, April 19, 2016

11:11 AM

Internationalism vs
...
Trying to escape European past/problems
b
...
Resources were not there for assertive foreign policy
d
...
) and was feasible, we did it
• US was isolationist only in comparison to today, but certainly not naïve in the ways of the
world

Dates
• US Isolationism 1789-1898
• US Internationalism 1898-1918
○ Spanish-American War
○ Cuba/Caribbean
○ World War I
• US Isolationism 1919-1941
• US Internationalism 1945-Present
○ World War II
○ Korean War
○ Vietnam War
○ Persian Gulf War
○ Iraq and Afghanistan
Foreign Policy
1
...
Anti-Communism, credibility, making the world safe for democracy)
vs
...
Defending South Korea, protecting access to Persian Gulf)
○ Do we need a crusade to get us engaged in the world - make things "clearer than the
truth" in Dean Acheson's words about communism
 Resulted in Vietnam but also Cold War commitment
○ Do we need a universal goal to sustain the energy of internationalism, like the Axis of
Evil?
2
...
Commitments (Better at balancing the two before the Cold War - JFK - "bear
any burden")
○ Containment was the Cold War strategy of blocking Soviet and communist expansion
 Avoiding imperial overstretch
□ Asymmetric containment of Soviet Union and communism by matching
our strengths, like nuclear weapons against their weaknesses
□ Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) as an asymmetric strategy
 Over-commit and over-stretch
□ If the Soviets build weapons, we build ten more
□ If the Soviets back Cuba & Fidel Castro, we back anti-Castro exiles
Grand Strategy
• A complete and coherent view that identifies the most important foreign policy goals and
most suitable means of achieving those goals
...

Especially important for "hegemon" or dominant power
Foreign Policy Page 39

Especially important for "hegemon" or dominant power
• Enduring National Interests
1
...
Economic Prosperity
3
...
Constitution - Enumerated Powers
a
...
Treaties
 President negotiates and treaties are approved with advice and 2/3 consent of
Senate
 What does "with the advice and consent of the Senate" mean?
□ Treaties where the Senate is consulted are more likely to be ratified, but
presidents increasingly resort to executive agreements at a 20-1 ratio
 Executive Agreements
□ An agreement made by the President or his representative without the
approval of Congress
 Since 1945, 94% of all commitments have been made in this way
□ WWII Lend-Lease
□ Vietnam Peace Agreement
 The CASE Act of 1972 requires the president report these agreements to the
Congress
 Supreme Court has ruled presidents can unilaterally abrogate treaties
(Goldwater vs
...
Belmont 1937)
 Relatively few treaties are rejected
□ Most are never submitted for ratification if support is not guaranteed
c
...
Us decision makers often assume events are analogous and that if a strategy worked once
it will work again
○ Munich and Vietnam syndromes
2
...
Preference for Doctrines
○ Monroe Doctrine (1823)
 No European colonization in western hemisphere
○ Teddy Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine (1904)
 US will intervene in disputes between Europe and Latin America
○ Truman Doctrine (1947)
 US will resist those who seek to intervene in and overthrow friendly
government
○ Nixon Doctrine (1969)
 US as the arsenal of democracy, not the army
○ Carter Doctrine (1980)
 US will insure flow of oil through Persian Gulf
○ Reagan Doctrine (1985)
 US will aid those seeking to overthrow communist governments - "Support for
freedom fighters is self-defense"
...
Exceptionalism - Where does this belief come from?
a
...
Emphasis on liberty, democracy, and opportunity
2
...
Universality of Democracy and Human Rights - at first US supposed to be an example and
a beacon (JQ Adams - US should not "go abroad in search of monsters to destroy") but
later became a model
a
...
"
b
...
"
c
...
Preference for Simple Distinctions and Clarity - good vs
...
Belief in the Inevitability of Progress and Possibility of Solutions - also rooted in
pragmatism and the belief in the superiority of fixes - an engineer's approach to the world
a
...
Lack of Interest in the World
a
...
Humanitarian Objectives
i
...
Health Improvement
2
...
Gaining favor with government
3
...
Tool to encourage peace and prosperity in other countries which is good for
everyone
• Trade Agreements - free trade benefits everyone (which is why presidents of both parties
are always for it), but will hurt less competitive industries
○ NAFTA (1994) - US, Mexico, and Canada
○ World Trade Organization (1995)
1
...
Monitors government policies to ensure compliance with WTO rules
3
...
Assure allies
ii
...
Deter behavior
iv
...
Force should only be used in support of vital interests
2
...
Use whatever force is necessary for decisive victory
4
...
Force should be a last resort
US Foreign Policy-Makers
• Bureaucracy
○ CIA
 Gathers, analyzes, and disseminates intelligence and conduct other operations as
directed by the president
○ National Security Council (NSC)
 Led by National Security Advisor - to advise president on foreign policy
○ Department of State
Foreign Policy Page 43

○ Department of State
 In charge of US diplomacy with nations of the world
○ Department of Defense
 The strong arm of US foreign policy, but also a tool for better relations with
foreign states through training programs, weapon sales, military bases overseas,
military exercises
 Joint Chiefs of Staff
□ Provides president professional military advice
• International Institutions
○ World Bank
 End extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity - thru low interest loans and
grants to developing countries, and sharing of expertise
○ International Monetary Fund (IMF)
 Its members are represented through a quota system based on their relative size
in the global economy
1) Provide a central fund of currency reserves for countries to ease their
balance of payment problems -- the entire flow of money in and out of a
country
2) Negotiates adjustments in currency values to prevent disruptive
fluctuations
3) Poverty reduction
• United Nations (1945)
○ General Assembly - all nations of the world
○ Secretary General - leader of the UN
○ United Nations Security Council
 15 members, 5 are permanent
□ "Winners" of WWII: France, China, Russia, US, UK
 10 elected by General Assembly - 2 year terms
○ Majority Rule
 9 of 15 votes to carry resolution
 5 permanent members each have a "veto power" (over vote kills a measure)
• UN Security Council
○ Can impose obligations on member countries
○ Can authorize military intervention
○ Can provide "peace-keeping forces"
 A neutral arbiter with a gun, although will take sides and fight when authorized
 Current UN Peacekeeping Operations
□ 16 operations at approx
...
Preventive Deployment
 "To prevent disputes from arising between parties, prevent existing disputes
from escalating"
2
...
Peacekeeping
 Deploy UN presence w/ consent of parties concerned as means to monitor truce
while talks on peace agreement proceed
□ Kashmir
4
...
Not used to foreign policy without villains and without big threats - need the emotional
component - foreign policy in complicated world is much more difficult and unsatisfying
2
...
Hegemonic Leadership is expensive and exhausting
Can we meet the world on some of its terms?

Foreign Policy Page 45



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