American Government - Policy and Politics Ch.13
Terms
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- Baby-Boom Generation
- The exceptionally large number of Americans born during the late 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's.
- Social Security
- A federal pension and disability insurance program funded through a payroll tax on workers and their employees.
- Medicare
- A federally funded health insurance program for the elderly.
- Medicaid
- A federal program designed to provide health insurance coverage to poor people, the disabled and elderly Americans who are impoverished.
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) (H)
- A federal agency created to nurture cultural expression and promote appreciation of the arts. (H)
- Welfare State
- Government that takes responsibility for the welfare of it's citizens through programs in public health, public housing, old-age pensions, unemployment compensation, and the like.
- Subsidy
- A financial incentive given by government to an individual or a business interest to accomplish a public objective.
- Income Redistribution
- The government taking items of value, especially money, from some groups of Americans and then giving items of value, either in cash or services, to other groups of Americans.
- Apartheid
- A system of institutionalized racial discrimination.
- Depression
- A severe and prolonged economic slump characterized by decreased business activity and high unemployment.
- Recession
- An economic slowdown characterized by declining economic output and rising unemployment, less severe than a depression.
- Inflation
- A decline in the purchasing power of the currency.
- Laissez Faire
- An economic philosophy holding that government intervention impedes the free market force that drives a healthy economy.
- (H)Budget Year. (H)
- Fiscal Year(FY)
- Tax Preference
- A tax deduction or exclusion that allows individuals to pay less tax than they would otherwise.
- Tax Exemption
- The Exclusion of some types of income from taxation.
- Tax Deduction
- An expenditure that can be subtracted from a taxpayer's gross income before figuring the tax owed.
- Tax Credit
- An expenditure that reduces an individual's tax liability by the amount of the credit.
- Excise Tax
- Levies assessed on the manufacture, transportation, sale, or consumption of a particular item or set of related items.
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- The total value of goods and services produced by a nation's economy in a year, excluding transactions with foreign countries.
- Tax Incidence
- The point at which the actual cost of an item falls.
- Progressive Tax
- A levy that taxes people earning higher incomes at a higher rate than it does individuals making less money.
- Proportional Tax
- A levy that taxed all persons at the same percentage rate, regardless of income.
- Regressive Tax
- A levy whose burden falls more heavily on lower income groups than on wealthy tax payers.
- Ability to Pay Theory of Taxation
- The approach to government finance that holds that taxes should be based on an individual’s ability to pay.
- Flat Tax
- An income tax that assesses the same percentage tax rate on all income levels above a personal exemption while allowing few if any deductions.
- Sales Tax
- A levy assessed on the retail sale of taxable items.
- Budget Deficit
- The amount of money by which annual budget expenditures exceed annual budget receipts.
- Budget Surplus
- The amount of money by which annual budget receipts exceed annual budget expenditures.
- Balanced Budget
- When the budget receipts are equal to budget expenditures.
- National Dept
- The accumulated indebtedness of the federal government.
- Consumer Price Index(CPI) (H)
- A measure of inflation that is based on the changing cost of goods and services. (H)
- Cost-of-Living Adjustment(COLA) (H)
- A mechanism designed to regularly increase the size of a payment, to compensate for the effects of inflation. (H)
- Means-Tested Program
- A government program that benefits to recipients based on their financial need.
- Privatization
- A process that involves the government contracting with private business to implement government programs.
- Welfare Programs
- Government programs that provide benefits to individuals based on their economic status.
- Earned Income Tax Credit(EITC) (H)
- A federal program designed to give cash assistance to low-income working families by refunding some or all of the taxes they pay and, if their wages are low, giving them an additional refund. (H)
- Supplemental Security Income(SSI) (H)
- A federal program that provides money to low-income people who are elderly, blind, or disabled who do not qualify for Social Security. (H)
- Aid to Families with Dependent Children(AFDC) (H)
- A federal welfare program that provides cash to the parents or guardians of children living in low-income families. (H)
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families(TANF) (H)
- A federal program that provides temporary financial assistance and work opportunities to needy families.
- Entitlement Program
- Government program providing benefits to all persons qualified to receive them under law.
- Fiscal Policy
- The use of government spending and taxation for the purpose of achieving economic goals.
- Mandatory Spending
- Expenditures that are mandated by law, including entitlements and contractual comments made in previous years.
- Discretionary Spending
- Budgetary expenditures that are not mandated by law or contract, including annual funding for education, the Coast Guard, space exploration, highway construction, defense, foreign aid, and the FBI.
- Appropriations Process
- The procedure through which Congress legislatively allocates money for a particular purpose.
- Authorization Process
- The procedure through which Congress legislatively establishes a program , defines it’s general purpose, devises procedures for it’s operation , specifies an agency to implement the program, and indicates an approximate level of funding for the program but does not actually provide money.
- Incremental Model of Budgeting
- A theoretical effort to explain the budget process on the basis of small (incremental) changes in budget categories from one budget to the next.
- Interest
- Money paid for the use of money.
- Monetary Policy
- The control of the money supply for the purpose of achieving economic goals.
- Capital Gains Tax
- A tax on investment income.
- Pork Barrel Spending
- Expenditures to fund local projects that are not critically important from a national perspective.
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Federal Reserve Board (FED)
(H) -
An independent regulatory commission that makes monetary policy.
(H) - Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
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A committee of the Federal Reserve that reviews the economy and adjusts monetary policy to achieve the goals of price stability and full employment.
(H) -
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
(H) -
An interest group representing the interests of older Americans; can purchase group health insurance, mutual funds, and prescription drugs at a discount.
(H) - Plea Bargain
- A plea to a criminal case to reduce their sentence pnding that they confess to the crime.
- Tort Case
- A personal injury case
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Laws in-acted by congress
-Chief Justice John Marshall - Marbury V. Madison
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Doctrine of Implied Power
-Chief Justice John Marshall - McCulloch V. Maryland
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Impairment of congress
-Chief Justice John Marshall - Dartmouth College V. Woodward
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Congressional Power
-Chief Justice John Marshall - Gibbons V. Ogden
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Slavery/Citizenship
-Chief Justice Roger Taney - Dred Scott V. Sandford
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Segregation/Seperate but equal/Citizenship
-Chief Justice Melville Fuller - Plessy V. Ferguson
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Segregation/Seperate but equal/Citizenship
-Chief Justice Earl Warren - Brown V. Board of Education
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Illegal Search and Seizure/Exclusionary Rule
-Chief Justice Earl Warren - Mapp V. Ohio
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Self Incrimination
-Chief Justice Earl Warren - Miranda V. Arizona
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Abortion/Due Process & Privacy
-Chief Justice Earl Warren - Roe V. Wade
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Recounts of Presidential Elections
-Chief Justice William Rehnquist - Bush V. Gore