Unit 4
Terms
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- speech and debate clause
- Congress cannot be sued for slander when in session
- mandate
- because president was elected by nation, and he has wide public support; "political capital"
- Majority/Minority leader
- floor leaders and legislative strategists
- Congressional power over Bureaucracy
- Oversight, appropriations, investigations, sunset laws
- Speaker of the House
- presiding officer of the House, appoints Rules committee, assigns bills to committees, may recommend leaders but cannot appoint
- delegate
- legislator who follows belief of people
- White House Office
- the personal staff of the President, incl the chief of staff, policy offices and political offices; incl. National Security Council
- whips
- assistant floor leaders, informp party leaders of mood in House, keep head count for important votes, persuade members to vote with party
- government corporations
- operates like a business corporation; allowed to make money through sale of services; US Postal Service
- Senior Executive Service
- a flexible mobile corps of senior career executives who work closely with presidential appointees to manage government
- US v. Curtiss-Wright
- president given wide abilities for foreign policy
- congressional-executive agreements
- formal agreement between the US president and leaders of other nations but still requires approval by Congress
- monetary policy
- manages the economy by controlling the money supply (federal board of reserves)
- deficit
- the annual difference between revenue received and money spent
- central clearance
- reviews of all executive branch testimony, reports, and draft legislation by the OMB to ensure that each communication to Congress is in accordance with the president's program
- discretionary spending
- money spent on programs which the spending rate can be changed
- advantages of incumbency
- gerrymandered districts, franking privileges, media and name recognition, PAC and interest group money, case work
- rule of propinquity
- closer to the president, people feel they have more power; EOP more important than cabinet members
- War Powers Resolution 1973
- if president committs troops Congress must be told w/ion 48 hours and must approve w/in 60 days
- redistricting
- redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census to accommodate population shifts and keep the districts as equal in population as possible
- national debt
- the total amount of money borrowed to finance the annual deficits
- Boland Amendment
- an act passed by congress that said the president could not support the Contras; Reagan ignored it during the Iran-Contra affair
- open rule
- floor amendments may be made during debate
- hold
- way of preventing legislation by delaying a bill hearing, force compromise; (asking for more time for a personal reason)
- Executive Office of the President
- informal advisers: loyal solely to the President; incl. Council of Economic Advisers, Office of Management and Budget, White House Office, and Office of Administration
- Positions of President
- commander in chief, diplomat in chief, administrator in chief,
- economic sanctions
- denial of import or export of goods with a target country; only works if multilateral
- cloture
- procedure for terminating debate (stops a filibuster)
- Senate
- looser rules, unanimous consent, foreign treaties ratified, extended debate, amendments allowed, filibusters allowed
- nongermane amendments
- riders, earmarks, unrelated amendments to bills; Christmas tree legislation
- riders
- may be added by senate; extra provisions in order to gain support or prevent it
- oversight
- responsibility to question executive branch officials to see whether agencies are complying with the wishes of Congress
- Senate majority leader
- true leader in senate, recognized first for debates, true leader of majority party
- bully pulpit
- president able to use media and influence to get programs passed
- line item veto
- president crosses out parts of budget bills that he doesn' like; ruled unconstitutional by Clinton v. NY
- take care clause
- laws must be faithfully executed even if president disagrees--> president claiming inherent powers to faithfully protect the nation
- formal powers of president
- commander in chief, proposing treaties, appointment power, granting pardons, veto power, take care clause, special sessions of Congress
- pocket veto
- if the president does not sign a bill within 10 days of congress adjourning then the bill is killed and is not sent back to congress
- trustee
- legislator who votes independently of constituency based on personal judgement of circumstances
- Senate leadership
- VP, president pro tempore, majority leader, minority leader, whips
- GATT
- General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; international trade organization ehtat encourages free trade by lowering tariffs and other trade restrictions
- discharge petitions
- if signed by a majority in House, bill may bypass committee and go to floor; rescue tool
- entitlement programs
- programs that provide benefits to eligible citizens
- inner cabinet
- economy, crime, foreign and domestic policy
- Federal Register
- the official journal of the US bureaucracy that informs the public of proposed rules, changes to rules, and new rules
- Federal Reserve Board
- establishes banking practices and regulates currency in circulation as well as the amount of credit available
- conference committee
- also called the third house of congress; reconciles the passed versions of bils from both houses and then sends a nonamendable version back to both houses for passage
- sunset law
- law passed for a short amount of time to decide whether a bureaucracy should remain; otherwise money fades into sunset
- political offices
- help president manage image, get reelected
- tax expenditures
- loss of tax revenue due to laws that provide tax incentives or benefits to individuals or businesses
- rule
- ticket to the floor of the House
- how president influences Congress
- mandate of the people, state of the Union, threat of a veto
- distributive policy
- programs that give benefits to all citizens; Social Security, education, national defense
- independent agencies
- smaller and more focused than departments; mst report to the president
- Inner Cabinet
- Treasury, State, Justice, Defense
- redistributive policy
- programs that take benefits from some (taxes) and give to others; medicaid, food stamps
- Clinton's well fare reform
- turned welfare over to states; public assistance is limited, must be searching for a job
- Important house committees
- appropriations, rules, ways and means, commerce
- Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act
- congress regains control of the budget; creates the congressional budget office, required president to submit requests for recissions of appropriations
- progressive tax
- tax graduated so that people with higher incomes pay a larger percent of their income
- Cabinet
- heads of their departments: loyal to departments over President
- House- assigning members to committees
- Dem- Steering and Policy Committee; Reps- Committee on Committees
- informal powers of president
- war powers, executive privilege, executive orders, media, precedent, mandate
- president pro tempore
- ceremonial head, fills in for VP when gone
- AFDC
- Aid to Families with Dependent Children; states matched federal funds, created a means testl congress set time limits on public assistance
- signing statement
- a statement written when a president signs a bill into law; used to change the interpretation of the law
- policy offices
- advise the president on domestic and international issues
- important senate committees
- appropriations, armed services, finance, foreign relations
- corporate wellfare
- supported by taxes but rarely used by poor; ex: college loans, tax deductions
- executive agreement
- a formal agreement between the US president andthe leaders of other nations; does not require senate approval; Mexico smart border, NAFTA
- means-tested entitlements
- entitlement programs whose benefits are restricted to those in need
- regressive tax
- tax where people with lower incomes pay a larger percent of their income (sales tax)
- fiscal policy
- attempts to manage the economy by controlling taxing and spending for programs
- Office of Management and Budget
- creates budget requests and seeks to make the bureaucracy better
- logrolling
- voting to help a colleagues bill in exchange for a vote on another bill; reciprocity;
- White House Office of Global Communications
- political office; makes US look good in foreign countries; propaganda
- special/select committees
- address temporary priorities of Congress, conduct investigations
- Hatch Act
- bans civil servants from running for elected office; may not solicit money within their organization
- iron triangles
- the alliance among congressional committees, interest groups, and federal departments/agencies
- Lee Atwater
- the Republican president maker (think Karl Rove); he made the Willie Horton commercial for George Bush Sr. against Dukakis
- types of standing committees
- authorizing, appropriations, rules and administrations, revenue and budget
- ex. of oversight
- police patrol, fire alarm, whistle blowers
- Head Start
- preschool programs for poor students
- issue networks
- temporary alliances among loosely connected groups for a specific issue
- House of Representatives
- tighter rules, tax bills, more powerful committee leaders, Rules Committee sets terms of debate, may have closed rule, no filibusters allowed
- Congressional Record
- a publication of all congressional proceedings
- standing committee
- permanen committee established in a legislature; focuses on a specific policy area
- Bush Doctrine
- US would attack any nation harboring terrorists, attack unilaterally, massive force, promote freedom and democracy
- Council of Economic Advisers
- advises the President on the state of the economy
- reapportionment
- assinging congressional seats by Congress after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts
- uncontrollable spending
- portion of federal budget that is spent on programs that Congress and president are unwilling to cut; ex: Social Security
- joint committee
- members forom both House and Senate study an issue of interest, oversee congressional support agencies
- executive orders
- formal order by president to direct action by the federal bureaucracy,
- health care reform proposals
- single payer, spending caps, individual responsibility for coverage
- bureaucracies difficult to control
- dense layers of management, overlap across departments and agencies, red tape and paper pushing
- administrative discretion
- authority given by congress to federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgement in implementing the laws
- budget process
- agencies estimate» OMB » president» Congressional Budget Office » final budget resolution
- ex. of environmental policy
- superfund, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act,
- legislative veto
- when Congress vetoes agency regulations; declared unconstitutional in INS v. Chadha
- independent regulatory commissions
- govt. entities that are independent of the president; regulate the economy; ex: SEC, FBR, FCC
- SSI
- Supplemental Security Income; monthly payments to disabled people over 65 who can prove their income
- Senate- assigning members to committees
- Dem- Steering Committee; Reps- Committee on Committees
- mandatory spending
- money that must be spent but Congress has no control over the spending rate; interest on national debt, social security,
- economic policies
- laissez-faire, Keynesian, trickle-down, supply side
- Departments
- largest organization in the government with the largest mission; act as umbrellas over agencies
- gerrymandering
- redrawing the legislative boundaries to benefit a party, incumbent, or group
- North American Free Trade Agreement
- agreement between US, Canada, and Mexico; largest free trade zone in the world; signed by Bush Sr in 1992
- closed rule
- no floor amendments may be made, usually given to prevent a bill from passing
- House Rules Committee
- most important House Committee, decides calendar of bill hearings, grants rules to bills
- continuing resolutions
- proclamations extending authority for federal spending for a specified amount
- Office of Personnel Management
- agency that administers civil service laws, rules, and regulations; incl. the Merits Systems Protection Board
- environmental impact statements
- must be filed by federal agencies for any project using federal funds to asses the potential effect of the new construction or development on the enviroment