Affordable Care Act
nicknamed Obamacare, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010.
Balanced Budget Amendment
constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government
Bonds
certificate given to a lender when they lend money to the government; an IOU from the government
Clear Air Act
United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level.
Clear Water Act
1972 amendments: Established the basic structure for regulating pollutant discharges into the waters of the United States.
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (1974)
An act designed to reform the congressional budgetary process. Its supporters hoped that it would also make congress less dependent on the president's budget and better able to set and meet its own budgetary goals
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Advises congress on the probable consequences of its decisions, forecasts revenues, and is a counterweight to the president's OMB
Council of Economic Advisers
agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy
Debt & Deficit
Deficit is the excess of federal expenditures over federal revenues. When the government has a high deficit, it has to borrow money to pay its dues. The borrowed money then turns into the Federal Debt
Discount Rate
minimum interest rate set by the Federal Reserve for lending to other banks
Discretionary Spending
government spending implemented through an appropriations bill. This spending is an optional part of fiscal policy,
Elite Theory
theory of the state which seeks to describe and explain the power relationships in contemporary society.
Entitlements
having a right to something.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
agency of the Federal government of the United States which was created for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.
Estate Tax
Tax levied on the net value of the estate of a deceased person before distribution to the heirs
Excise Tax
a tax on the production or sale of a good
Fail Labor Standards Act (1938)
Establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.
Federal Reserve Board
Central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act.
Fiscal Year
year as reckoned for taxing or accounting purposes.
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
government agency that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for the United States Congress.
House Ways and Means Committee
chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The government agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury.
Mandatory Spending
United States fiscal policy, mandatory spending is spending on certain programs that are required by existing law.
Majoritarian Politics
traditional political philosophy or agenda that asserts that a majority (sometimes categorized by religion, language, social class, or some other identifying factor) of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and has the righ
Medicaid
provides health coverage to millions of Americans, including eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities
Medicare
United States, Medicare is a single-payer, national social insurance program administered by the US federal government since 1966, currently using about 30-50 private insurance companies
Monetary Policy
the process by which the monetary authority of a country, like the central bank or currency board, controls the supply of money.
National Labor Relations Board
An independent US government agency with responsibilities for enforcing US labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices.
NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement
OSHA (1970)
OSH Act covers most private sector employers and their employees in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
Reagonomics
Economic policies of the former US president Ronald Reagan, associated especially with the reduction of taxes and the promotion of unrestricted free-market activity.
Sequester
isolate
16th Amendment
Allows the federal government to collect income tax.
Social Security Act (1935)
An act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits.
Superfund
fund established to finance a long-term, expensive project.
Taft-Hartley Act (1935)
defined six additional unfair labor practices, reflecting Congress' perception that some union conduct also needed correction
Wagner Act (1935)
single most-important piece of labour legislation enacted in the United States in the 20th century.
ABM Treaty (1972)
treaty between the United States and the USSR
Appeasement
Originally a French term referring to nations neutral in the cold war between the United States and the former Soviet Union.
Atlantic Charter
A joint declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 14, 1941
Bush Doctrine
refers to various related foreign policy principles of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.
Camp David Accords (1979)
agreements between Israel and Egypt
CIA
Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the United States federal government.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
the principal military adviser to the President, Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council.
Collective Security
All for one and one for all" policy of NATO and Warsaw Pact.
Containment
geopolitical strategy to stop the expansion of an enemy. It is best known as the Cold War policy of the United States and its allies to prevent the spread of communism.
Council of Foreign Relations
founded in 1921, is a United States nonprofit think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs.
Cuban Missile Crisis
was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union
Dayton Accords
General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Detente
easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries.
Domino Theory
If one country falls to Communism all countries would fall to Communism.
Fourteen Points
Statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson.
Gold Plated
the tendency of Pentagon officials to ask weapons contractors to meet excessively high requirements.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions (1964)
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia.
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
considers measures about the relations of the United States with foreign nations, protection of United States' citizens.
Iran-Contra Scandal
a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration.
Isolationism
A policy of nonparticipation in international economic and political relations.
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
a treaty renouncing war as an instrument of national policy, signed in Paris in 1928 by representatives of fifteen nations.
League of Nations
A world organization established in 1920 to promote international cooperation and peace. It was first proposed in 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson, although the United States never joined the League. Essentially powerless, it was officially dissolved in 1
Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)
Agreement between the US, Soviet Union, and Great Britain to end the testing of nuclear bombs in the atmosphere or underwater.
Military-Industrial Complex
Eisenhower first coined this phrase when he warned American against it in his last State of the Union Address. He feared that the combined lobbying efforts of the armed services and industries that contracted with the military would lead to excessive Cong
Monroe Doctrine
A statement of foreign policy which proclaimed that Europe should not interfere in affairs within the United States or in the development of other countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Munich Conference
1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany's territory any further.
National Security Council (NSC)
An office created in 1947 to coordinate the president's foreign and military policy advisers. Its formal members are the president, vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of defense, and it is managed by the president's national security assist
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Acts by members of the NPT to detect, secure, and dispose of WMDs.
Operation Desert Storm
The United States and its allies defeated Iraq in a ground war that lasted 100 hours (1991).
Peace Dividend
The expectation that reduced defense spending would result in additional funds for other programs.
Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force.
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
This group is tasked with leading foreign legislation.
Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT)
Series of meetings in the 70's, in which leaders of the US and the Soviet Union agreed to limit their nations' stocks of nuclear weapons.
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Popularly known as "Star Wars," President Reagan's SDI proposed the construction of an elaborate computer-controlled, anti-missile defense system capable of destroying enemy missiles in outer spaced. Critics claimed that SDI could never be perfected.
Truman Doctrine
1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey.
United Nations
An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.
War Powers Act (1973)
Gave any president the power to go to war under certain circumstances, but required that he could only do so for 90 days before being required to officially bring the matter before Congress.
Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer (1951)
President Truman issues executive order to have Sawyer seize all steel mills to avert suspected strikes. Result: The President does not have the power to do this because he does not have the power to seize private property. - infringes on 5th A rights.