Chapter 22-Domestic Policy Flashcards
IMMIGRATION REFORM AND CONTROL ACT OF 1986. This act tried to limit undocumented immigration by requiring employers to verify that potential employees were qualified to work in the United States.
IRCA
A PERSON FLEEING A COUNTRY TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION OR DANGER.
refugee
REFUGE OR HUMANITARIAN PROTECTION GIVEN BY A COUNTRY. This is one of the two programs that the United States offers to provide refuge or humanitarian protection. A asylum is a program for people who are already in the United States and their immediate relatives.
asylum
A DOCUMENT ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT THAT SHOWS A PERSON HAS PERMISSIONS TO LIVE AND WORK IN THE UNITED STATES. The goverment issues this to people who become legal permanent residents.
green card
A SPECIAL DOCUMENT, REQUIRED BY CERTAIN COUNTRIES, ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COUNTRY THAT A PERSON WISHES TO ENTER.
visa
A PRESIDENTIAL ORDER THAT PARDONS A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE COMMITTED AN OFFENSE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.
amnesty
NUMERICAL LIMITS ON HOW MANY IMMIGRANTS ARE ALLOWED IN FROM EACH COUNTRY. In 1920s, the two laws that were passed set quotas, that were based on how many people from each country had already been here by a certain date.
quotas
A PROCESS BY WHICH A GROUP OF PEOPLE BECOME AMERICAN CITIZENS THROUGH AN ACT OF CONGRESS. Congress uses this process to grant citizenship to people who had been living in the territory that is now Texas.
collective naturalization
This oversees federal highways and their funding, applies federal safety standards to trucks and buses, and plans and researches highway construction and maintenance.
Federal Aid Highway Act
AKA HOUSING CHOICE VENDOR PROGRAM. Now the largest low-income housing program in the country. Lower income families receive vouchers from their local public housing agency and use them to rent homes or apartments from private landlords.
Section 8
GOVERNMENT-SUBSIDIZED HOUSING FOR LOW INCOME FAMILIES. The federal governmeent has given aid to local governments to construct and operate public housing for low-income families.
public housing projects
TWO MORTGAGE CORPORATIONS. privately owned companies, but they were protected by the federal government. They were exempt from state and local income taxes and regulated by HUD. There was an assumption that the U.S. government would bail them out of financial trouble. The two companies ended up facing bankruptcy crisis, which made the federal government take control in order not to lose billions of dollars. Congress had an issue with the way they were bailed out.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION. guarantees banks and other private lenders against losses on loans they make to those who want to build or buy homes.
FHA
A federal agency created to promote building and purchasing houses
HUD
SINGLE SET OF STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATH. As of 2013, 45 states and the District of Columbia had voluntarily adopted the standards.
Common Core State Standards
PASSED BY CONGRESS. Gave veterans of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War grants to attend college.
GI bills of rights
PASSED BY CONGRESS. This act granted the states more than 13 million acres of public acres of public land for the endowment of colleges to teach agriculture and the mechanical arts.
Morrill Act
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND. This is a law had a goal to close the “achievement gap” between white and minority students, as well as between rich and poor. The NCLB set standards to help schools achieve these goals.
NCLB
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERE ADMINISTRATION. Has scientists monitoring wetlands.
NOAA
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. Agencies that scientists can apply to to receive funding to conduct their research.
NSF
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL. A federal agency that focus on controlling the speed of infectious disease.
CDC
CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM. Provides coverage to about 8 million children whose families earn too much to receive Medicaid but still cannot afford private insurance.
CHIP
REQUIREMENT THAT EVERYONE BUY INSURANCE. In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that individual mandate was constituional, but other parts of Medicaid expansion were not.
individual mandate
The four major components are expanding Medicaid, preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to sick people or charging them more than others, requiring all Americans to buy health insurance, and requiring large employers to provide health insurance to their employees.
Affordable Care Act of 2010
TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES. This was a new program to provide lump-sum payments to the states and gives states wide authority to design and operate their own welfare programs. The goal was to make this aid a temporary solution until permanent work and self-sufficiency were reestablished.
TANF
SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. The purpose of this program was to increase the food-buying power of low-income families and to help dispose of America’s surplus agricultural production.
SNAP
SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME. This was set up by Congress in 1974, and brought all state programs for low-income persons who are elderly, blind, or disabled under federal control.
SSI
SSA. This Administration is an independent executive agency with local offices around the country. People worry about them staying afloat financially.
Social Security Administration
This law marked the beginning of federal social policy aimed at providing at least some economic security for all Americans. It was created to ease the state’s suffering. This act set up uemployment insurance programs for people who were out of work.
Social Security Act of 1935
DESIGNED TO HELP PEOPLE PAY HOSPITAL, DOCTOR, AND OTHER MEDICAL BILLS FOR PERSONS WITH LOW INCOMES. General federal, state, and local taxes fund this program, and it aids more that 71 million people at a cost of more that $414 billion each year.
Medicaid
1965 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STARTED FUNDING HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS FOR SENIORS AND THE POOR. Medicare became one of these programs, and it is voluntary, and it helps pay for people over age 65.
Medicare
PROGRAMS IN WHICH THE FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS COOPERATE TO PROVIDE HELP FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT OF WORK. This is one of the components of the Social Security Act.
unemployment insurance
A GOVERNMENT PROGRAM DESIGNED TO HELP ELDERLY, ILL, AND UNEMPLOYED CITIZENS. Social Security is an example.
income security program
PROCEDURE USED TO EXTRACT FUEL FROM SHALE DEPOSITS. This procedure has raised environmental concerns. The U.S. became the world’s leading oil producer, largely because of fracking.
fracking
PROGRAMS ORDERED BUT NOT PAID FOR BY FEDERAL LEGISLATION. When implementation costs grew each year, state and local leaders were complaining about these mandates, leading to the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
unfunded mandate
PASSED IN 1972. All polluters, whether they were cities, industries, or farmers, needed a permit to dump waste into waterways
Water Pollution Control Act
This was the federal government’s attempt to clean up the air and water. This agency was given jobs to create regulations aimed at protecting our environement
EPA
THE PROGRAM UNDER WHICH CONGRESS BUYS FARMERS’ CROPS IF THE MARKET PRICE FALLS BELOW THE SUPPORT PRICE. This is an example of the government intervening with sabilizing prices for the agricultural industry, unlike the way they do it for other industries.
a “Farm Bill”
WIND, SOLAR, AND GEOTHERMAL SOURCES OF ENERGY. The government has provided loans to renewable start-up companies and devoted some public lands to renewable energy production.
renewable energy
A LAWSUIT BY A PRIVATE CITIZEN TO REQUIRE A BUSINESS OR GOVERNMENT AGENCY TO ENFORCE A LAW. in 1970, the Clean Air Act was the first environmental law to allow citizen suits.
citizen suit
AGRICULTURAL POLICY LEGISLATION. Each bill is depated and passed every five to seven years, and each one has a different name, they are usually just called a “Farm Bill”.
price supports
U.S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. At the federal level, farm policy is administered by the USDA. Its chief functions are to help farmers market their produce, stabilize farm prices, conserve land, and promote research in agricultural science.
USDA
STATE LABOR LAWS THAT REQUIRE THAT ALL WORKPLACES BE OPEN SHOPS WHERE WORKERS MAY FREELY DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO JOIN A UNION. This is necessary because workers should have the choice whether or not to join a union. These laws attract business to the state. There is controversy on these laws, and some people say they were created to weaken unions.
Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959
This law aimed to limit the power and activities of unions.
Taft-Harley Act
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD. This board was created to strengthen the labor laws, and had power to supervise elections to determine which union a group of workers wanted to represent it. The board could also hear labor’s complains and issue “cease and desist” orders to end unfair labor practices.
NLRB
A hotel owner who was paying less than minimum wage claimed that the law deprived the employer of freedom of contract. The Supreme Court upheld the minimum wage set by the Industrial Welfare Committee of the state of Washington.
West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937)
CREATED IN 2002. When the SEC failed to catch a bankruptcy problem, this act required chief executive officers and chief financial officers of publicly traded companies to personally sign SEC reports and pay penalties if improper accounting is discovered.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
This was created in the Great Depression, and this commission regulates the trading of securities, or stocks and bonds.
SEC
This is a result of the consumer movement, and was created in 1972. This was set up to protect consumers form “unreasonable risk of injury from hazardous products”. They establish safety standards for a wide range of products, that they must meet.
CPSC
CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU. Congress created this after the recession of 2007-2008 exposed issues in the baking and consumer finance sectors. They enforce federal consumer financial protection laws, educate Americans about financial services, and restricts unfair or deceptive practices.
CFPB
This administration protects the public from poorly process and improperly tested prepared food, cosmetics, drugs, and other products.
FDA
CREATED IN 1906. These laws made it illegal for a company engaged in interstate commerce to sell contaminated, unhealthful, or faslely labeled foods or drugs and provided for federal inspection of all meatpacking companies that sold meats acrosse state lines.
Pure Food and Drug Act
NOVEL BY UPTON SINCLAIR. This novel is where Upton SInclair exposed the horrific conditions in a meatpacking house. Congress passed a lot of federal consumer protection laws in response, to avoid unsafe practices in the food industry.
The Jungle
Independenet regulatory agency that works to prevent unfair trading practices. They work to create standards, that companies must follow.
FTC
PROHIBITED CHARGING HIGH PRICES IN AN AREA WHERE LITTLE COMPETITION EXISTS, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME CHARGING LOWER PRICES IN AN AREA WITH STRONG COMPETITION. This act also said that businesses could not buy stock in other corporations in order to reduce competition, and outlawed interlocking directorates.
Clayton Antitrust Act
IMPORTANT LAW TO BREAK UP MONOPOLY. Violating this law is a felony. It states, “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwirse, or conspiracy, in restraint of trad eor commerce among the several states, or with foreign nations is herby declared to be illegal…Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or cimbine or conspire with any other person or persons to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several states…shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.”
Sherman Antitrust Act
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. This is an independent federal agency that gives free advice and information to small business firms. Competition is important to the free enterprise system, so federal, state, and local governments try to help small businesses. The purpose of this administration is to give a place where small businesses can seek advice or help.
SBA
EXISTS TO “FOSTER, PROMOTE, AND DEVELOP THE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES”. Main functions are to provide information services, financial assistance, and research and development services.
Department of Commerce
This agreement was signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States in 1992, and was designed to gradually eliminate trade restrictions amongst trading partners.
NAFTA
CREATED IN 1959. This act made it a federal crime to misuse union funds and also protected union members from being intimidated by union officials.
right-to-work law
A WORKPLACE WHERE ONLY MEMBERS OF A UNION MAY BE HIRED. Regulating unions was necessary because people said that workers were being forced to join unions, and employers were not allowed to hire nonunion employees. A closed shop avoids strikes because employers were required to establish one.
closed shop
THE PRACTICE OF NEGOTIATING LABOR CONTRACTS. Collective bargaining is usually practiced by workers or unions, because they want to negotiate their specific wages, hours, and working conditions on their labor contracts.
collective bargaining
A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT, INCLUDING A BOND, NOTE, AND CERTIFICATE, THAT IS SOLD AS A MEANS OF BORROWING MONEY WITH A PROMISE TO REPAY THE BUYER WITH INTEREST AFTER A SPECIFIC TIME PERIOD. The Securities and Exchange Commission regulates the trading of securities. They regulate stocks and bonds.
Security
SITUATION IN WHICH ONLY A FEW FIRMS DOMINATE A PARTICULAR INDUSTRY. Today, oligopolies hold our economic power. For example, the phone industry is an oligopoly, because Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile control over 90% of the industry.
oligopoly
THE SAME PEOPLE SERVING ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF COMPETING COMPANIES. This could also be very bad for the economy because it diminishes or takes away competition for a certain business, and can create a monopoly.
interlocking directorate
A BUSINESS THAT CONTROLS SO MUCH OF AN INDUSTRY THAT LITTLE OR NO COMPETITION EXISTS. Monopolies are prevented because if a company holds too much power, it could cause a catastrophe. The Standard Oil Company was convicted of being a monopoly.
monopoly
- A GRANT OR GIFT OF MONEY. The government uses subsidies to aid businesses, and today, there are four types. Tax incentives, free services, government loans, and direct cash payments are all types of subsidies.
subsidy
A TAX PLACED ON AN IMPORT TO INCREASE ITS PRICE IN THE DOMESTIC MARKET. In America, tariffs are used to protect American industries from foreign competition. By lifting tariffs, it creates free trade between countries.
tariff
A SYSTEM IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT REGULATES PRIVATE ENTERPRISE. In a mixed economy, the government promotes and protects private enterprise, like our economic system in America. For example, placing tariffs on foreign items protects workers’ jobs and business.
mixed economy
