Entitlement Programs

2006-2 In recent decades, entitlement programs have constituted a substantial portion of the United States federal budget. Social Security is the largest entitlement program in the US. From the information in the chart above, and your knowledge of the US government and politics, perform the following tasks.
(a) Define entitlement program
(b) What is the primary source of revenue for the Social Security program
(c) Identify one threat to the future of the Social security program should the trends depicted in the chart continue
(d) Describe on demographic trend that threatens the future of the Social Security program and explain how it is responsible for the threat that you identified in (c )
(e) Explain how any one of the trends in the chart above would change if the age of eligibility for social security were raised.

a) Entitlement programs are government-sponsored programs providing mandated/guarantee/required benefits to those who meet eligibility requirements/qualifications.
b)  The primary source of revenue for the Social Security program is taxes of different sorts mostly payroll and earned income taxes,
c) One threat to the future of the Social security program is the increasing number of retirees who can not be sustained by the smaller number of people entering the work force so we are going to run out of money for seniors. The trends in the cart should continue.
d) There are more older people and people are living longer, that is why we may run out of money.
e) If the age eligibility for social security was increased the amount of money we have for social security would stop decreasing at such a fast rate and hopefully even out and start increasing again soon. 



http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/_ap06_gopo_us_sg.pdf

BP oil spill bibliography

"The Spill." PBS. PBS, 26 Oct. 2010" Web. 17 Mar. 2014.This PBS frontline video illustrates the shortcuts BP has taken in the last ten years and the consequences of that. BP has been cutting budgets since the nineties and as a result they have had multiple disasters such as the Alaska disaster, the huge fire in Texas, the tanker falling over in the gulf and the huge oil spill in the gulf. All of these happened because BP has been cheep and refused to check and repair issues. PBS Frontline is a reliable source and I plan to reuse this source.

Granatstein, Solly. "Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 16 May 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. This 60 minutes video explains the issues and mistakes made that resulted in the deep water horizon rig explosion. A survivor of the explosion tells the story of the explosion and what led up to it. The two weeks before, many mistakes were made that were not reported so as to keep costs down. This is typical of BP. I trust this source it is an informational news chanel that creates movies. Although they may be bias the information is factual and I would not hesitate to reuse this site.

 Krauss, Clifford. "Oil and Gasoline." - Petroleum. The New York Times, 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. This is a daily update on oil use and oil companies by The New York Times yesterday's update was on how BP's ban in the gulf was lifted and how they plan to attend the auctioning off of new drilling sites next week. This will be the first auction BP attends since their agreement with the environmental protection agency. There have been 3 auctions since BP spilled millions of gallons into the gulf and killed 11 people. This article also goes over previous BP accidents. This is a reliable source and I plan on using it again.

President influence over domestic policy

2008-2)A number of factors enable presidents to exert influence over Congress in the area of domestic policy. However, presidents are also limited in their influence over domestic policy making in Congress.

-The Constitution grants the president certain enumerated powers. Describe two of these formal powers that enable the president to exert influence over domestic policy.

-Choose two of the following. Define each term and explain how each limits the president’s ability to influence domestic policy making in Congress.

*Mandatory spending

*Party polarization

*Lame-duck period

Two of the formal powers that enable the president to exert influence over domestic policy are legislative powers and appointment powers. With legislative powers the president can exercise use of the pocket veto and chooses whether to sign legislation. He also chooses who to appoint to certain offices such as the secretary of state.

Mandatory spending and party polarization limit the presidents ability to influence domestic policy. Mandatory spending is spending not controlled by annual budget decisions. This limits presidential influence by making it difficult to make budget cuts that accomplish policy goals. Party polarization is increased inter party differences. This results in a lack of moderates to build coalitions with and increased party opposition of policy goals. 


http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_us_gopo_q2.pdf

Congressional Reappointment

2008-1) Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted, politicians often engage in gerrymandering.
(a) Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states.
(b) Define congressional redistricting.
(c) Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting.
(d) Describe two limits that the United State Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting.

a) Congressional reapportionment occurs every ten years when the 435 house seats are reevaluated based on the census. It is important to states because as opinions change and numbers of people in states change states want to have a representative congress.
b) Congressional redistricting is when you re draw district lines for the house.
c) Congress gerrymanders during redistricting so as to win certain districts and hold power using packing and cracking and to maintain incumbency.
d) Two limits that the United State Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting are they must be equally populated and can not be drawn based on race.


http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_us_gopo_q1.pdf

Meth Bibliography

"Big Pharma And Meth Cooks Agree: Keep Cold Meds Over The Counter." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

This radio show/ article explains and analyzes the meth outbreak of the last 20 years. NPR analyzes the production of meth and the danger in it. Much of the information in this article is on underground meth cooks cooking in their own kitchens using the shake and bake method and the how these methods are affecting America. I believe this is a credible site because NPR, National Public Radio, is a well known reliable educational source. This source was very helpful to my research and I plan to use it again.

Byker, Carl. "The Meth Epidemic." PBS Frontline. Ed. Andrew Metz. WGBH

    Educational Foundation, 17 May 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

    <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/>. This video was an

    hour long informative video on the effects of meth use on the human body,

    families and our nation. Frontline tracks the spread of meth across the

    United States beginning in Oregon and spreading across the Mississippi and

    finally gaining recognition from Congress. After many years of issues in

    the west lawmakers were finally able to put amphetamine behind the counter

    and slow the meth making process in America. PBS Frontline is a highly

    qualified source whose goal is to inform the public on important issues and

    policy. Frontline videos analyze issues and inform. These videos are meant

    to be understood by the general public. I found this video very helpful and

    explanatory and plan to use this source again.

Hall, Katy. "The Methiest States In The U.S. (INFOGRAPHIC)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

This article describes how to make meth, and meth incidences and popularity in U.S. today. Thousands of meth labs around the country are still prevalent today. The shake and bake method has spread from the west and is now most popular in the Midwest, Missouri outranks the rest of the states with 1,825 meth lab busts and seizures. Pharmaceutical companies have been resisting the regulation of pseudophedrine for years. Only Oregon and Mississippi have succeeded in passing a law on it. I believe this is a credible source and will not hesitate to use it again. The visuals were great on this site.

Government distrust

Trust and confidence in government has declined in recent decades. This may be partially attributed to our divided government. Because we have one party controlling the executive office and another controlling one or both sections of congress there is distrust and strife in the government. Citizens tend to trust the government less when it is divided because moderates are frozen out and extremes drive legislation and the fighting between parties leads to little or no actual passing of bills and making things happen. Increased cost of election campaigns has also driven up government distrust. This is because people worry that elitism will take over when candidates need money for campaigns. The wealthy and large incorporations will be the ones contributing and people worry that will give big money too much in into the government. Decline in government trust has lead to greater protest and cynicism toward all government action it has also lead to decline in voting and more people claiming to be moderate or independent to avoid affiliation.


3) Trust and confidence in government have declined in recent decades.
(a) Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government. Be sure to include a definition of divided government in your response
(b) Explain how the increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government.
(c) Explain two specific consequences of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior. 

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/ap04_sg_gopo_us_37090.pdf

Reelection of Incumbents

       The graph below shows incumbency reelection rates in the House and Senate. The graph displays many patterns. Two of them are, the tendency for Senate incumbency reelection rates to fluctuate much more than in the House and the tendency for Senate reelection rates to go up when House rates go down and vise versa. Two factors that contribute to incumbency advantage are the fact that citizens are afraid of change and as an incumbent you have greater access to the media and name recognition. People like things that they already know. The fact that your congressman hasn't done anything that really bothers you, even if the other guy's opinions are closer to yours, will usually lead you to choose the one that is already in office because it feels safer. Incumbency advantage is an issue for American politics because it makes congress less representative of the people. If we were electing new legislators every couple of years we would know that they are up to date and are educated on current issues and what the people want.

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_govpol_us_01_7046.pdf









(2001_2) the graph above shows reelection rates for incumbents in the House and Senate. From this information and your knowledge of of the US politics, perform the following tasks. (Fig 12.1)
a) identify two patterns displayed 
in the graph
b) identify 2 factors that contribute to incumbency advantage. Explain how each factor contributes to incumbency advantage.
c) Discuss one consequence of incumbency advantage for the US political process