Living in America: Week 11 Notes

1990s: Clinton Impeachment In 1992 Clinton won the election and moved to restore more liberal initiatives 1.Clinton was caught however in a scandal over extra marital affairs he had 2.The House of Reps voted to impeach the president but then Senate found him not guilty 3.The Scandals distracted the nation from economic improvements during the decade

1990s Globalization The 1990s saw America make deals to ensure fair trade, as well as begin to think about her role in climate change 1.NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement): Eliminated barriers of trade between Canada, Mexico, and US 2.Kyoto Signed agreement with other world leaders to begin to limit the emission of Greenhouse gases.

Election of 2000 The election of 2000 was unique…. 1.George W. Bush Republican and Al Gore Democrat were locked in a tight race. 2.Electoral college win came down to Florida 3.Florida vote needed multiple recounts due to abnormal ballots 4.Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore declared the recounts unconstitutional therefore giving the election to George W. Bush 5.Al Gore had more popular votes but still lost the election

2000s: War on Terror After the Terror attack on September 11 th the US took multiple actions to secure the nation 1.Increasing surveillance of the people through laws like the Patriot Act 2.Military Authorizations in Afghanistan and Iraq Elements of the war on terror have been criticized due to constitutional violations and prolonged expensive military operations.

2000s Katrina During the 2005 Hurricane Season, New Orleans and the gulf states were based by category 5 storm: Katrina 1.George W Bush took lots of criticism for the slow government response to the crisis in New Orleans.

2000s: Sun Belt v Rust Belt By the 2000s two different gerographic areas were making headlines 1.Millions of families, and retiring baby boomers have been moving south and out west to warmer weather and job opportunities making the sunbelt one of the most politically important region 2.Millions of factory jobs have now been outsources to china leaving US factories in north and midwest to rust. Hard hit areas such as Detroit have been called the rustbelt

2000s: Social Security The 2000s have also seen a renewed debate over social security, and Medicare. 1.These programs service the elderly 2.As Baby Boomers reach retirement age the future of the programs have been placed in doubt 3.A Political solution will be needed for keep Social Security “Solvent” for future retirees

2000s: Climate Change The industrialized world’s impact on the global climate has now been almost universally accepted. 1. Politically we struggle to find how to support industry, and jobs especially after the recession and still stop greenhouse gases from raising global temperatures.

2000s: The Great Recession Based on over-speculation in the housing market, banks made many bad loans 1.When the “bubble” burst many banks and businesses were threatened with failure 2.Americans were too debt burdened and didn’t have savings 3.Large job losses and deflation of wages hurt the economy starting in The economy has still not recovered fully yet from the Recession

2000s “Post Race World” The 2000s saw many gains for minorities in the election of the first African American President 1.Also the appointment of the first Hispanic Supreme Court Judge (Sonya Sotomayor) 2.However recent outbreaks of Police initiated violence against African Americans has revealed that the nation still has far to go to realize true racial equity