Public Congress

March 23, 1992 http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FChristopher-Hitchens%2Fe%2FB000APSKR0%3Fqid%3D1278211708%26sr%3D1-2-ent&tag=doc06-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325

Barbara Levy Boxer (born November 11, 1940) is the junior United States Senator from California and a member of the Democratic Party. Boxer was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, becoming the second female Jewish U.S. senator, after Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She was reelected in 1998 and in 2004 for a term ending in January 2011.

With the convening of the 110th Congress, Boxer became the first female chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee and, following the resignation of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) from the post, she was also chosen as chair of the Select Committee on Ethics. This made her the only senator to preside over two committees simultaneously. She holds the record for the most popular votes in a statewide contested election in California, having received 6,955,728 votes in her 2004 re-election over former Republican Secretary of State Bill Jones.

She currently holds the position of Chief Deputy Whip of the Democratic Majority.

On August 17 at the Republican convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, George H. W. Bush called on Quayle to be his running mate in the 1988 United States presidential election. The choice immediately became controversial. Press coverage of the convention was dominated with questions about “the three Quayle problems”, in the phrase of H. Brent Bozell, executive director of the Media Research Center, a conservative group that monitors television coverage. The questions involved his military service, a golf trip to Florida with Paula Parkinson, and whether he had enough experience to be President. Quayle seemed at times rattled and at other times uncertain or evasive as he tried to handle the questions. Delegates to the convention generally blamed television and newspapers for the focus on Quayle’s problems, but Bush’s staff said they thought Quayle had mishandled the questions about his military record, leaving questions dangling. Although Republicans were trailing by up to 15 points in public opinion polls taken before the convention, they received a significant boost that put them in the lead, which they did not relinquish for the rest of the campaign.

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http://www.mindbites.com/lesson/4301-american-government-campaign-finance

This lesson was selected from a broader, comprehensive course, American Government. This course and others are available from Thinkwell, Inc. The full course can be found at http://www.thinkwell.com/student/product/americangovernment. The full course covers constitutional principles, civil liberties, civil rights, people and politics, choosing representatives, political institutions, public policy, key Supreme Court cases, changes in democracy, and more. The course features three renowned professors: Gerald Rosenberg, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, Mark Rom, an Associate Professor of Government and Public Policy at Georgetown University, and Matthew Dickinson, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College.

Gerald Rosenberg directs the American Politics Workshop and lectures at the law school at the University of Chicago. He holds a Masters Degree in Politics and Philosophy from Christ Church, Oxford University, has a law degree from the University of Michigan, and has a Ph.D. from Yale. As a specialist on the judiciary, Prof. Rosenberg is the author of The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change? and spent the 2000-2001 academic year teaching at Northwestern University Law School as Jack N. Pritzker Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law. He has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and spent the 2002-2003 academic year teaching US law at Xiamen University in China. He has also been awarded the Llewellyn John & Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Chicago.

A three-time winner of his school’s Outstanding Faculty Member Award, Mark Rom received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin and worked for four years as a senior social science analyst for the General Accounting Office. Prof. Rom is the author of Fatal Extraction: The Story Behind the Florida Dentist Accused of Infecting His Patients with HIV, Poisoning Public Health, Public Spirit in the Thrift Tragedy, and coauthor of Welfare Magnets: A New Case for a National Standard.

Matthew Dickinson received his Ph.D. from Harvard. A specialist on the presidency, he is the author of Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power and the Growth of the Presidential Branch. Prof. Dickinson has published numerous articles and has provided television commentary on the presidency, presidential decision-making, and presidential advisers. His current research examines the growth of presidential staff in the post-World War II era.

Duration : 0:2:33

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish

President Obama turned his attention to financial reform after his victory in March on health care.

On April fourteenth he met with congressional leaders from both parties at the White House.

He said there are some areas on which Democrats and Republicans can agree. “If theres one lesson that weve learned,” he said,

“it’s that [an] unfettered market where people are taking huge risks and expecting taxpayers to bail them out when things go sour is simply not acceptable.”

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wrote in the Washington Post that the deep financial crisis is close to the end. But he said the nation must not forget the near-collapse of the banking system in two thousand eight without fixing the causes.

He told the American Society of News Editors in Washington that no one is arguing against new financial protections. The debate now,
he said, involves how to design a system that lets big financial companies fail without harming the economy.

In December, the House of Representatives passed the
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That bill would create a new consumer financial protection agency. It would also increase investor protections and let shareholders vote on the pay of top company officials.
And it would create a group to identify and regulate companies that are so big, their failure could threaten the economy.

Republicans opposed the bill. That was also true in March when the Senate Banking Committee approved its own version. That bill would not create an independent consumer agency, but instead a new office at the Federal Reserve, the central bank.

Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the bill would make future bailouts
more likely, not less likely.

Both measures in Congress call for
a system to supervise derivatives. These contracts are used for different purposes, including investment and protecting against loss. The largely unregulated market in derivatives is estimated at
six hundred trillion dollars.

Government rescues of banks considered “too big to fail”
angered the public and helped fuel a conservative movement.
The Tea Party also opposes the new health care law and argues for lower taxes and less government.

On April fifteenth they protested to mark Tax Day, when Americans have to pay any federal taxes they owe.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report.

(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 16Apr2010)

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Many Americans are unemployed because there are few jobs available for them.

Information retrieved 6/16/10 from http://www.epi.org/analysis_and_opinion/entry/policy_responses_to_long-term_unemployment/

Regarding EPI:

The Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit Washington D.C. think tank, was created in 1986 to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers. Today, with global competition expanding, wage inequality rising, and the methods and nature of work changing in fundamental ways, it is as crucial as ever that people who work for a living have a voice in the economic discourse.

EPI was the first — and remains the premier — organization to focus on the economic condition of low- and middle-income Americans and their families. Its careful research on the status of American workers has become the gold standard in that field. Its encyclopedic State of Working America, issued every two years since 1988, is stocked in university libraries around the world. EPI researchers, who often testify to Congress and are widely cited in the media, first brought to light the disconnect between pay and productivity that marked the U.S. economy in the 1990s and is now widely recognized as a cause of growing inequality.

EPI’s staff includes eight Ph.D.-level researchers, a half dozen policy analysts and research assistants, and a full communications and outreach staff. EPI also works closely with a national network of prominent scholars. The institute conducts original research according to strict standards of objectivity, and couples its findings with outreach and popular education. Its work spans a wide range of economic issues, such as trends in wages, incomes, and prices; health care; education; retirement security; state-level economic development strategies; trade and global finance; comparative international economic performance; the health of manufacturing and other key sectors; global competitiveness and energy development. Its research is varied, but a common thread runs through it: EPI examines issues through a “living standards” lens by analyzing the impact of policies and initiatives on the American public.

Source: http://www.epi.org/pages/about_the_economic_policy_institute/

Unemployment occurs when a person is available and willing to work but currently without work.[1] The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed. The unemployment rate is also used in economic studies and economic indices such as the United States’ Conference Board’s Index of Leading Indicators as a measure of the state of macroeconomics. (Wikipedia, Unemployment)

Unemployment Rate is the percentage of the total labor force that is unemployed but actively seeking employment and willing to work. (Investopedia)

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s.[1] It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century, and is used in the 21st century as an example of how far the world’s economy can decline.[2] The depression originated in the United States, starting with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday), but quickly spread to almost every country in the world.[1] (Wikipedia, Great Depression)

In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity over a period of time.[1][2] During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way. Production as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, investment spending, capacity utilization, household incomes, business profits and inflation all fall during recessions; while bankruptcies and the unemployment rate rise.

Recessions are generally believed to be caused by a widespread drop in spending. Governments usually respond to recessions by adopting expansionary macroeconomic policies, such as increasing money supply, increasing government spending and decreasing taxation. (Wikipedia, Recession)

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http://www.mindbites.com/lesson/4303-american-government-media-influence-on-elections

This lesson was selected from a broader, comprehensive course, American Government. This course and others are available from Thinkwell, Inc. The full course can be found at http://www.thinkwell.com/student/product/americangovernment. The full course covers constitutional principles, civil liberties, civil rights, people and politics, choosing representatives, political institutions, public policy, key Supreme Court cases, changes in democracy, and more. The course features three renowned professors: Gerald Rosenberg, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, Mark Rom, an Associate Professor of Government and Public Policy at Georgetown University, and Matthew Dickinson, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College.

Gerald Rosenberg directs the American Politics Workshop and lectures at the law school at the University of Chicago. He holds a Masters Degree in Politics and Philosophy from Christ Church, Oxford University, has a law degree from the University of Michigan, and has a Ph.D. from Yale. As a specialist on the judiciary, Prof. Rosenberg is the author of The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change? and spent the 2000-2001 academic year teaching at Northwestern University Law School as Jack N. Pritzker Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law. He has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and spent the 2002-2003 academic year teaching US law at Xiamen University in China. He has also been awarded the Llewellyn John & Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Chicago.

A three-time winner of his school’s Outstanding Faculty Member Award, Mark Rom received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin and worked for four years as a senior social science analyst for the General Accounting Office. Prof. Rom is the author of Fatal Extraction: The Story Behind the Florida Dentist Accused of Infecting His Patients with HIV, Poisoning Public Health, Public Spirit in the Thrift Tragedy, and coauthor of Welfare Magnets: A New Case for a National Standard.

Matthew Dickinson received his Ph.D. from Harvard. A specialist on the presidency, he is the author of Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power and the Growth of the Presidential Branch. Prof. Dickinson has published numerous articles and has provided television commentary on the presidency, presidential decision-making, and presidential advisers. His current research examines the growth of presidential staff in the post-World War II era.

Duration : 0:3:20

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On December 1974 Congress passed Public Law 93-531 “The Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act”. It authorized the partitioning of the Joint Use Area (JUA) and established the Navajo-Hopi
Indian Relocation Commission (NHIRC) which moved Navajo people from the reservation lands. Countless of the most traditionally and culturally intact Dineh (Navajo) people were forced to re-locate to cities like Shiprock and Tuba City.

This 1985 documentary traces the history of both tribes and the events that led to this devastating land grab by Peabody Coal and Bechtel Corporations, assisted by our own government(major players included Barry Goldwater,Morris Udall,John McCain, and President Ford). The goal: access to coal and uranium resources.

Narrators include Martin Sheen, Buffy
Sainte-Marie and Burgess Meredith.

This documentary won the 1986 Best Documentary Academy Award, but you’d be hard pressed to find it in video stores or on-line.

Duration : 0:10:1

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http://www.mindbites.com/lesson/4302-american-government-campaign-finance-reform

This lesson was selected from a broader, comprehensive course, American Government. This course and others are available from Thinkwell, Inc. The full course can be found at http://www.thinkwell.com/student/product/americangovernment. The full course covers constitutional principles, civil liberties, civil rights, people and politics, choosing representatives, political institutions, public policy, key Supreme Court cases, changes in democracy, and more. The course features three renowned professors: Gerald Rosenberg, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, Mark Rom, an Associate Professor of Government and Public Policy at Georgetown University, and Matthew Dickinson, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College.

Gerald Rosenberg directs the American Politics Workshop and lectures at the law school at the University of Chicago. He holds a Masters Degree in Politics and Philosophy from Christ Church, Oxford University, has a law degree from the University of Michigan, and has a Ph.D. from Yale. As a specialist on the judiciary, Prof. Rosenberg is the author of The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change? and spent the 2000-2001 academic year teaching at Northwestern University Law School as Jack N. Pritzker Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law. He has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and spent the 2002-2003 academic year teaching US law at Xiamen University in China. He has also been awarded the Llewellyn John & Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Chicago.

A three-time winner of his school’s Outstanding Faculty Member Award, Mark Rom received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin and worked for four years as a senior social science analyst for the General Accounting Office. Prof. Rom is the author of Fatal Extraction: The Story Behind the Florida Dentist Accused of Infecting His Patients with HIV, Poisoning Public Health, Public Spirit in the Thrift Tragedy, and coauthor of Welfare Magnets: A New Case for a National Standard.

Matthew Dickinson received his Ph.D. from Harvard. A specialist on the presidency, he is the author of Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power and the Growth of the Presidential Branch. Prof. Dickinson has published numerous articles and has provided television commentary on the presidency, presidential decision-making, and presidential advisers. His current research examines the growth of presidential staff in the post-World War II era.

Duration : 0:3:31

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Special Promotion: http://www.netflix.com/tyt

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7/16/09 – Rep. John Flemming (R-LA): Under the current draft of the Democrat health care legislation, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health care option, keeping their existing health plans and services on Capitol Hill. If Members of Congress believe so strongly that government-run health care is the best solution for hard working American families, I think it only fitting that Americans see them lead the way. Public servants should always be accountable and responsible for what they are advocating, and I challenge the American people to demand this from their representatives.

More: http://tinyurl.com/ms2abx

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David Finn
Chairman, Ruder Finn, Inc.
Mr. Finn has had an outstanding career spanning more than fifty years as a key executive in the field of public relations and as a widely published author. As co-founder and CEO of Ruder Finn, Inc., one of the largest independent public relations firms in the world, he has been a leader in exploring the ethical and philosophical dimen-sions of public relations as well as in creating innovative approaches that have enhanced its effectiveness and broadened its contributions. He is also an accomplished photographer of sculpture, a painter and a writer on art, with over 70 books to his credit.

Clients of Ruder Finn have included many Fortune 500 corporations as well as privately-held companies, trade associations, foreign governments and agencies, colleges and universities and not-for-profit organizations.

Mr. Finn has played a major role in the work the firm has done for international clients in France, Greece, Japan, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and other countries. He has been an advisor to the World Bank, and in the United States has been involved in programs for the White House, the United Nations and various government agencies including the Federal Reserve Board. He has written a periodic column for Roll Call, the newspaper of the Congress, and articles by him have been published in Forbes, Fortune, Harper’s, the Saturday Review, the Harvard Business Review, the California Business Review, Across the Board, Management Review, and Reader’s Digest. He produced a series of public service ads on “The Art of Leadership” for Forbes magazine.

His book, Public Relations and Management, published by Reinhold, has been translated into several languages including Japanese, Spanish and Arabic. The Corporate Oligarch, published by Simon & Schuster, has also been translated into Japanese.

An advisor to clients on major public issues, he has counseled senior executives and government officials on matters involving the environment, education, the arts, public health, nutrition, minorities and the economy. He has lectured and presented papers on public relations and communications at the American Assembly; the Conference of Science, Philosophy and Religion; Columbia University Graduate School of Business; Drexel University; International Association of Business Communicators; American Library Association; the Atomic Industrial Forum. For many years he was adjunct professor of public relations at New York University, and he taught a course, “The CEO as a Whole Man,” at the New School for Social Research.

Books on art that Mr. Finn has written include How to Visit a Museum, How to Look at Sculpture, How to Look at Photographs and How to Look at Everything (all published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.). His photographic books have been devoted to different periods of history, including ancient Egypt, classical Greece, and western art from the 12th-20th centuries. Mr. Finn’s photographs and paintings have been shown in several one-man exhibitions at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, the Musee de Cluny and l’Orangerie in Paris, the American Cultural Center in Madrid, the Art Gallery of Toronto, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and in galleries in Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris and New York.

Mr. Finn was formerly Chairman of the Board of Cedar Crest College, and a member of the board of directors of the Institute for the Future. He is on the board of the Academy of American Poets; The American Forum for Global Education; The New Hope Foundation; MUSE Film and Television; and is Treasurer of the Business Committee for the Arts. He is a former editor-in-chief of Sculpture Review magazine.

Mr. Finn is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was appointed by President Clinton as a member of the Advisory Council for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A graduate of The College of the City of New York, Mr. Finn and his wife live in New Rochelle, New York, and have four children and ten grandchildren.

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