Studied by 32 people
Insurance Program:
A self-financing government program based on contributions that provide benefits to unemployed or retired persons
Assistance Program
A government program financed by general income taxes that provides benefits to poor citizens without requiring contributions from them.
Means Test
An inquiry into the financial position of someone applying for financial aid.
Social Security Act, 1935
It created a social insurance program designed to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after retirement.
Medicare and Medicaid, 1965
It established Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for people with limited income.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) 2010
The law provides numerous rights and protections that make health coverage more fair and easy to understand, along with subsidies to make it more affordable.
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), 1935
A grant program to enable states to provide cash welfare payments for needy children who had been deprived of parental support or care because their father or mother was absent from the home, incapacitated, or deceased.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Children (TANF), 1996
It provided cash assistance to families with children experiencing poverty.
Agency Capture
Process whereby regulatory agencies come to be protective and influenced by the industries they were established to regulate.
\n Environmental Impact Statements:
A report required by federal law that assesses the possible effect of a project on the environment if the project is subsidized in whole or part by federal funds.
Domestic Policy
include all government laws, planning and actions involving internal issues of national importance, including:
Healthcare
Poverty
Crime
Environment
Education
Immigration
Incremental Policy
small scale adjustment in an existing program
Comphesneice Policy or Punctuating Policy:
Dramatic change in the federal government role
Distributive Policy
benefits all groups in society
Example: Social Security or Medicare, National Parks, national defense, education funds
Redistivice Policy
Taking resources away form one group( usually in the form of taxes) to distribute to another group
Example: Wealth redistribution programs such as Head Start, welfare; redistribution of income
Zero-Sum Games: Rob peter to pay Paul; one loses resources equivalent to one who gains resources
Counter Distributive Policy
Takes resources away from all groups to solve a common problem
Example: places restrictions on high pollution vehicles to improve air quality
Utilizes a cost/benefit analusz ro see if change makes sense
Medicare
Federal health insurance for elderly and disabled
Medicaid
Health insurance for low income families
National Health Insurance
Goal of insuring uninsured
Affordable Care Act, 2012
Social Welfare Policies
Provide benefits to individuals based on either Entitlements or Means-Tested Programs
Means-Tested Programs:
Based on need like food stamps or medicaid.
Controversial due to philosophical differences
Deserving Poor vs Undeserving Poor
Social Darwinism vs Cyclical / Structural Poverty
Relative Deprivation
perception by an individual that they are not doing well economically in comparison to others
Poverty Line
Income threshold below which people are considered poor
1 person = 11,170
4 person = 23,050
43.6 million, about 14.3%, officially poor in 2009
Feminization of Poverty:
Increasing concentration of poverty among women
Governments Affect on Income
Government can affect income via two ways: Taxation and Expenditures
Government forms of taxation
Progressive Tax: bigger % from rich
Proportional Tax: same % from all
Regressive Tax: bigger % from poor
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): refundable credit for working people who earn low incomes
Government forms of Expenditures
Transfer Payments: benefits directly to individuals
Cash, food stamps, low % loans
Welfare conflict
Media portrays recipients as minority when majority are white
Americans tend to see welfare recipients as overwhelmingly African-American, lazy and undeserving
Efficacy of Groups - Social Welfare Policymaking
Elderly: well-organized with high amount of resources which is successful
Poor: vote less, less money, few organizations which is less effective
Evolution of “Welfare State”
1789-1935: parents care for children who take care of parents as they age
1935: Social Security Act created as part of FDR’s New Deal
Money for retired and disabled
Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
1964: LBJ’s “War on Poverty”
Medicare/Medicaid
1980s: De-funding of social welfare programs under Reagan
1996: Welfare Reform Act, WJ Clinton
Must find work within 2 years
Total of 5 years welfare
AFDC changed to TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
Deficit
This occurs when the federal government's spending exceeds its revenues.
National Debt:
Total amount of money the federal government owes, which includes that spent and interest.
Gross Domestic Product:
The dollar amount of all final goods and services produced within a country's national borders in a year.
Monetarism
A theory that the government should control the money supply to encourage economic growth and restrain inflation.
Keynesianism
the belief the government must manage the economy by spending more money when in a recession and cutting spending when there is inflation.
Economic Planning:
The belief that government plans, such as wage and price controls or the direction of investment, can improve the economy
Supply-Side Theory:
The belief that lower taxes and fewer regulations will stimulate the economy.
Federal Reserve System (“Fed”):
Consisting of twelve Federal Reserve districts, the Fed facilitates exchanges of cash, checks, and credit. It regulates member banks and it uses monetary policies to fight inflation and deflation.
\n Monetary Policy:
Regulating the money supply, controlling inflation/deflation, adjusting the interest rates to regulate the economy, the cost of money, and adjusting the band reserve requirements.
Fiscal Policy:
Using government spending and taxation to influence the economy. This includes decisions on how much the government spends on various programs, how much it collects in taxes, and how it manages its budget.
Globalization:
The increasing interconnectedness of people, cultures, economies, and nations facilitated by technology, trade, and cultural diffusion.
Budget
A policy document that allocates burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures).
Fiscal Year
A twelve-month period that is used for bookkeeping, or accounting, purposes. Usually, the fiscal year does not coincide with the calendar year. For example, the federal government's fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30.
Budget Resolution
A resolution binding Congress to a total expenditure level, supposedly the bottom line of all federal spending for all programs
Entitlements
Those benefits guaranteed by law paid to individuals by the federal government, such as Social Security.
Sequester
The practice of using mandatory spending cuts in the federal budget if the cost of running the government exceeds either an arbitrary amount or the gross revenue it brings during the fiscal year.
\n Discretionary Spending:
Those areas of the budget that the congress can change year to year and includes the 13 appropriation bills that fund the various agencies of the federal government
Problems with healthcare in US
Key Indicator = Infant Mortality
U.S. spends more, as a % of GDP (gross income products), than any other nation (17%)
Even though we spend the most per capita per nation, we do not live the longest.
Why IS US Healthcare So Expensive?
Overbuilt medical facilities
Few incentives to be efficient
No ‘single-payer’ system, government, private insurance, and individual out-of-pocket
New Drugs and Technology
Malpractice lawsuits, insurance and Defensive Medicine
Uninsured and Underinsured
Quality of Health
Income: 25% of those are less than $25,000 per year, uninsured
Race:
31% of Latinos
19% of African Americans
Twice infant mortality of whites
15% of whites uninsured
5+ years of life expectancy over African Americans
Age: 7 million children uninsured; 18-29 year olds
Evolution of Healthcare
WWII: wage freezes led to healthcare benefits being added to employment as an incentive for hiring
Medicare: about 43 million people or 14 %
Medicaid: about 43 million people or 14%
Children’s Health INsurance Program (CHIP): 11 million
Who was the first president that took started implementing environmental policies and took conservation seriously?
Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy Roosvelt
Implemented many policies for conservation of the national environmental features
Encouraged the Newlands Reclamation Act
1970’s Impact on Environmental Policies
The 1970's hippie era had a major contribution to environmental policies through advocating for more environmental regulation and protection.
Environment Protection Agency
Nation's Largest Regulatory Agency
Environmental Impact Statements
Clean Air Act
Water Pollution Control Act
Endangered Species Act
Global Warming
Concerns over Nuclear Power
Since the 3 mile island incident, No new nuclear plants have been constructed since 1978 but still makes up 21% of our energy
Strategic Oil Reserve:
Created after 1973 embargo underground salt caverns song the Gulf of Mexico. Its primarily a crude petroluem reserve, an emergency stockpile, meant to shield the US from energy supply crunches
Future Sources/Issues With Oil Explorations
Difficulty to find or access
Pipeline Issues
Public Lands
Offshore Drilling
Three Mile Island Incident
A partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 reactor on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania, near the Pennsylvania capital of Harrisburg. It began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, and released radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment, affecting the people who lived there.
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