Unit 7 Lesson 8 Challenges at Home

Question 1

Describe Bush’s election? Which state did it depend on?

Answer 1

the result rested on the electoral votes of one state: Florida. The initial results gave Bush a small lead, but winning Florida would have given Gore the votes he needed to win the election. Democrats expressed concern over confusion among Florida voters and problems with counting the ballots.

They asked the Florida Supreme Court to force a recount of the Florida votes. The recount began, but in December 2000, the United States Supreme Court ordered the recount to stop.

Bush, therefore, won the electoral votes of Florida and the presidential election of 2000. Al Gore conceded the election but voiced his disapproval of the Court’s decision.

Question 2

The election of 2000 showed sharp divisions within the country. How is this?

Answer 2

Most Americans in the South and Mountain West voted for Bush. Most Americans in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and on the West Coast voted for Gore. In the Senate, the Republican and Democratic parties were divided evenly with fifty seats each

Question 3

President Bush entered office in 2001 what were his intials plans and why did they change?

Answer 3

President Bush entered office in 2001 with plans for tax and education reform. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, however, changed his presidency and the lives of Americans.

Question 4

Bush led the nation as it fought back against the attacks. Americans showed an outpouring of patriotism in the months that followed. Bush benefited from that and from his strong response to the attacks, including the launch of a global war on terrorism. How did Ameircans feel about Bush?

Answer 4

In September 2001, 90 percent of Americans approved of the job that Bush was doing as President.

Question 5

What was Bush’s response to the dot-com bubble bursting and the ecomnoimic recession?

Answer 5

In the same year, as the dot-com bubble burst, the United States slipped into an economic recession. Bush advocated for tax cuts to stimulate the economy.

Question 6

What was Bush’s agrument for lower taxes for wealthy Americans and corporations?

Answer 6

He argued that if wealthy Americans and corporations paid lower taxes, they would be able to invest more money in the economy. Congress responded by passing the largest tax cuts in American history.

Question 7

How did the tax cuts and the war on terrorism affect the federal deficit?

Answer 7

These tax cuts, when paired with the war on terrorism, increased the federal deficit, the amount of spending greater than income. The deficit added to the national debt.

Question 8

How did the election of 2004 go for Bush

Answer 8

Recovery from the 2001 recession occurred slowly. Still, when Bush ran for reelection in 2004, his popularity was high. Many Americans were reluctant to change leaders when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were still underway. Bush easily won

Question 9

When Bush began his second term in 2005, more than half of Americans approved of the job he was doing as President. Over the next four years, however, Bush’s popularity steadily declined. What were his average disapproval ratings throughout his presidency?

Answer 9

His average approval rating during his first term was 62 percent. During his second term, Bush’s approval rating averaged 37 percent. It reached a low of 25 percent in November 2008.

Question 10

Several factors caused President Bush’s popularity to drop. Name the factors

Answer 10

The economy recovered from the 2001 recession by 2004, but not all Americans felt the recovery. Unemployment remained high and the percentage of people living in poverty increased.

Question 11

How did Bush lose popularity in 2007?

Answer 11

Then, beginning in 2007, the country experienced another recession as the housing bubble burst and home values tumbled. The huge federal deficit that resulted from Bush’s prior tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan added to the problems.

Question 12

What was the federal deficit number and how did it make Americans feel?

Answer 12

By 2008, the deficit totaled $455 million, the highest in history. Americans worried about their own economic future and the federal debt’s effect on the next generation.

Question 13

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, Louisiana. When the storm hit, the city flooded with water. About 1,500 people died. Two thirds of the city’s residents were displaced from their homes. How did Hurricane Katrina cause PResident Bush to lose populairty?

Answer 13

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was not prepared to deal with the results of Katrina. President Bush, vacationing in Texas, seemed unaware of the disaster’s extent, even though television broadcasts showed the horrifying scenes. The Bush administration received heavy criticism for its handling of Katrina. Bush’s popularity rating dropped. During the 2006 midterm elections, Democrats took control of Congress for the first time since 1994.

Question 14

In 2008, Americans struggled with a deepening economic recession, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grew unpopular. A Democratic presidential victory seemed certain. How did the 2008 elections go who was the repblican canidate?

Answer 14

Senator John McCain of Arizona was the Republican candidate. McCain was a U.S. Navy veteran who emphasized his foreign policy experience and support for the war in Iraq.

Question 15

Who won the election of 2008?

Answer 15

The Democratic candidate was Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. Obama expressed his opposition to the war in Iraq and promised voters that he would bring “hope” and “change” to Washington. Voters responded to his promises and handed him a clear victory. The son of a Kenyan father and an American mother, Barack Obama became the nation’s first African American president.

Question 16

What problems did President Obama encouter when he entred the office?

Answer 16

President Obama entered office facing the economic recession and ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In response to America’s economic problems, he allowed some of the Bush-era tax cuts to expire and signed an economic stimulus bill.

Question 17

Why were Americans still unhappy even though the recession ended?

Answer 17

The recession ended in 2010, in the technical sense that the economy resumed slow growth. Many Americans saw little economic improvement, though. Many faced foreclosure. Unemployment peaked at close to ten percent. The poverty rate remained high.

Question 18

How did Obama change relations with the middle east?

Answer 18

Obama campaigned on a promise to end the war in Iraq. In keeping with that promise, the last combat troops left Iraq in 2011. During his first term, however, Obama broadened the fight against terrorists. In 2012, Americans were involved in combat missions in Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.

Question 19

How did Obama not get his promise?

Answer 19

Obama also extended the USA Patriot Act and gave up on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. He found that making promises as a candidate was different from enacting those changes as a president.

Question 20

What is obama care?

Answer 20

Beyond foreign policy and the economy, Obama devoted his first term to reorganizing the country’s healthcare system. In March 2010, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed “Obamacare.” The act required all Americans to purchase health insurance and provided funding to help lower-income Americans pay for insurance.

Question 21

How did different groups feel about Obama care?

Answer 21

Support for the act was divided along party lines. All Republicans voted against it. In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld most provisions of the act, but it remained controversial. Critics argued that the act increased health insurance prices for some Americans who were already insured.

Question 22

What was a political gridlock?

Answer 22

In the 2010 elections, Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives. In the middle of his first term in office, Obama suddenly faced the challenge of working with a Republican-dominated House. Republicans also won seats in the Senate and several state governorships. Political gridlock resulted from the politically divided Congress. Republicans blocked passage of bills Obama supported. Republicans were limited in what they could accomplish since Democrats controlled the Senate. Congress experienced a political stalemate.

Question 23

Describe a circumstance that shows the polictical gridlock?

Answer 23

The congressional deadlock was apparent during debates about the federal budget and the debt ceiling from 2010 to 2012. Republicans wanted to cut spending and reduce taxes. Democrats wanted to protect federal programs and raise taxes on wealthy Americans to pay for them. They argued that economic hardship in America made support for existing federal programs essential.

Question 24

In 2012, as President Obama ran for reelection, his approval rating hovered around 50 percent. Unemployment remained high, and economic recovery was still slow. Voters were frustrated by the political gridlock in Washington.
How did the 2012 election go?

Answer 24

American support for the war in Afghanistan had dwindled. In spite of these challenges, Obama won the election against his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney. Obama received 51 percent of the popular vote to Romney’s 47 percent.

Question 25

What elminated the jobs for Americans?

Answer 25

The movement of American jobs overseas contributed to these problems. Outsourcing of jobs lowered prices for consumers, but it resulted in job losses and global competition for American workers. Computers and robots also eliminated the need for many jobs.

Question 26

The gap between the wealthy and the poor:

Answer 26

The wealth of the richest Americans exploded during the 2000s. On the other hand, the financial situation for members of the middle and working classes worsened. These changes led to a growing gap between the wealthiest Americans and others and to a debate about income inequality.

Question 27

In the early 2000s how many immigrants entered US they were mainly what races?

Answer 27

During the early 2000s, about one million immigrants entered the United States each year. Most of these immigrants came from Latin America and Asia.In 2010, just over half of the immigrants in the United States were Latin

Question 28

Why did Latinos and Asains come to America?

Answer 28

Latino immigrants came to the United States to escape political unrest and economic hardship and to seek opportunity. Asian immigrants came to the United States for many of the same reasons. In 2010, just over a quarter of the immigrants in the United States were Asian.

Question 29

How did Americans feel about all the immigrants?

Answer 29

Americans’ responses to immigrants varied. Some Americans valued immigrants’ strong work ethic and the cultural diversity that they brought to the country. Other Americans worried about job competition and decreases in wages as the number of workers increased. They also worried about the cost of providing education, healthcare, and other services to immigrants. In response to these concerns, conservative politicians worked to restrict immigration and strengthen patrols of America’s borders.

Question 30

Afrimative action in kerl

Answer 30

The U.S. Supreme Court played a significant role in these changes. In the 1960s, policymakers began to promote affirmative action, or a preference for hiring African Americans, women, or members of other groups that had faced discrimination. Eventually, local governments and universities adopted affirmative action policies to make sure that employees and students came from diverse ethnic backgrounds.