AP GOPO- Chapter 14: Section 4.10 Ideology and Social Policy

-social welfare: support for disadvantaged people to meet their basic needs. Many believe that the government should play a key role in providing social welfare.

-liberal views on social policy: government should provide a safety net for people in need and provide for it with higher taxes.

-entitlements: government services that Congress has promised by law to citizens, the ‘safety net’ that liberals believe should help those in need. Examples include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, block grants, financial aid, food stamps, and money owed on bonds.

What is a critique of entitlements?

-They are major contributors to annual deficits and the overall debt

-mandatory spending: Congress defines criteria that will award cash to individuals, groups, or state and local governments. Mandatory spending is paying those who are legally ‘entitled’ to these funds.

Social Security:

-largest entitlement program

-passed amid the Great Depression (1929- 1939)

-created a federal safety net for elderly or those out of work

-expanded role of government

-created an insurance program requiring employed to pay a small contribution via a payroll tax into an insurance fund designed to assist unemployed and financially-struggling retirees

-Officially called Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)

-requires most employed citizens 12.4 percent (employers pays 6.2 and employee pays 6.2) into a trust fund kept separate from general treasury

-contributes 20% of the budget

-daredevils suggest privatizing or raising retirement age

-Social Security has become third rail of politics bc no one wants to touch SS because of the shock wave in constituent disapproval that might hurt a candidate politically)

Medicare:

-government run insurance program for citizens over 65

-Medicare law helps funds Medicare through payroll tax of 1.45 percent paid by employer and employee

-law covers hospitalization, physicians’ services, public-private partnership known as Medicare Advantage allowing companies to provide Medicare benefits, and prescription drug benefit

Medicaid:

-health care program for the impoverished who cannot afford necessary medical expenses

-to be eligible, applicant must meet minimum-income thresholds, have a disability, or be pregnant

-Medicare and Medicaid largely administered by states and paid for by federal government

-Medicare and Medicaid make up nearly 20% of federal budget

-conservatives and libertarians oppose expensive government programs

-Reaganomics stressed lowering taxes and supporting free market activity. Lower taxes caused welfare programs (such as food stamps and construction of public housing to be cut back

-Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:

-put into practice the idea of expanding government regulation of health insurance and making the service more affordable

-Conservative and libertarians opposed government involvement in health care, believing that private companies do a better job providing social services

-conservatives believe that labor is an element of free market that should not be regulated by government

-wages should be determined by supply and demand

-liberals believe that labor has a unique element in the market place. For example, workers with higher wages tend to be more motivated to do a good job and remain with an employer

-conservatives view organized labor as a negative influence

-liberals view organized labor as a force lifting workers into a position of some power, through collective bargaining, which has resulted in 40 hour week, employer-provided health care, and many other benefits

-during liberal or progressive domination of government, laws were passed preventing collusion by corporations, created executive branch that regulates labor organizations, created rules on alleged unfair labor practices, created minimum wage, and required companies to pay employers overtime pay

-closed shop: company policy or labor contract requiring all employees to join local union

-Republic Congress allowed states to outlaw closed shop

-liberals believe government shouldn’t regulate private, personal matters

-conservatives think government needs to protect core values even if doing so intrudes on some individual freedoms

-liberals and conservatives disagree on where the balance between individual liberty and national security lies

-Liberals favor stricter limits on government surveillance

-Conservatives are more supportive of government surveillance efforts

-both parties support the requirement that request for information need to be approved by court authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

-On matters related to education and religion, conservatives want less government intrusion than liberals

-vouchers: diversions of public funds to families to defray costs of private schools

-conservatives argue that freedom to choose educational environment and curriculum of their children is fundamental. Believe private schools create competition for public schools and provides an incentive for public schools to improve

-liberals worry that funds diverted from public schools will weaken an already challenged system

-conservatives are more opposed to government interference in practice of their religious beliefs, even when that practice may clash with federal nondiscrimination laws