Chapter
Nineteen: Domestic Policy
Web Links
(page references
match the sixth edition)
p. 623 - The American people returned President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt to office for a second term in 1936.
Riding the wave of his extraordinary popularity, and
backed by a veto-proof Democratic Congress, Roosevelt
confronted an obstructionist Supreme Court. His plan was
to "pack the Court" with new, liberal justices
sympathetic to his enlarged view of national power.
Roosevelt's proposed this plan, draped in the benign form
of an effort to reorganize the federal courts, in a
national radio address. Listen to this fireside
chat and then consider
whether or not a modern-day president could reach a
similar audience as effectively.
p. 624 - Critics have never given President Lyndon
Johnson high marks for speech-making. But these critics
may be confusing the image with the message. Johnson
lacked the attractive traits of his predecessor, John F.
Kennedy. Johnson's speech introducing the Voting Rights
Bill to Congress in 1965 is perhaps his finest address.
It is a passionate commitment to political and racial
equality. Listen
to the speech and then
judge for yourself whether or not it qualifies as good
political oratory.
p. 625 - The empoverished have a way to share views on
the WWW.
The Sticky Wicket is an
irregular posting of stories and links related to poverty
in America.
p. 632 - Ask any senior citizen for a COLA and you are
likely to get a number rather than a drink. COLA is a
Cost of Living Adjustment and it impacts government
benefit programs in a big way. As the cost of living
rises, so do major benefit programs like social security.
Some economists have argued that the method for arriving
at the COLA actually overstates the real rise in the cost
of living. In short, senior citizens may getting more
than Congress bargain for. Check
out the COLA calculation
methodology.
p. 634 - Medicare is a complicated program, imposing
taxes on workers and co-payments of various sorts on
beneficiaries. Ask any senior citizen and you are likely
to get this information. If no one qualified is in the
immediate vicinity, you can get
the information from
this web site.
p. 640 - When President Bill Clinton advocated a change
in the welfare system, he probably did not have in mind
the overhaul that resulted from a Republican-controlled
Congress. The debate over welfare reform had been brewing
for years. A
libertarian perspective
on the choice between work or welfare reveals core value
preferences familiar to you.
p. 641 - The Welfare Information Network provides a
clearinghouse for information, policy analysis and
technical assistance on welfare reform. It is chock-full
of details regarding the TANF and other welfare-related
reforms. Click
here for details
regarding eligibility and benefits.
Web Links 