Baby Bush and Obama 2000 and on

The 2000 Election Most bitterly contested election in 100 years Gore/Lieberman Moderate populism Shadow of Clinton Bush/Cheney “Compassionate Conservative” Roughly ½ of eligible voters went to polls Voting irregularities Florida

The Aftermath…. Close election in Florida Bush lead pop vote in FL, Gore wanted recount in 4 Democratic counties Ballot irregularities, inaccurate registration, incomplete lists, old voting machines, butterfly ballots, hanging chads Katherine Harris (R-Sec State & manager of Bush campaign in FL) refused recount, declared Bush winner Florida Supreme Court approved recount Bush appealed to U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 Court supported Bush and ruled against it Gore won national popular vote Bush won electoral college vote (Mainly because all ballots were not counted in FL, he kept the 27 electoral votes)

President George W. Bush (“Baby Bush”) Reversal of Clinton’s policies $1.3 Trillion tax cut Economic recession Globalization and Y2K Rolled back environmental protection Immigration, borders and cheap labor

US & Globalization The very same capitalist system promoted by the US, exported globally, brought changes to the US Immigration to US fueled by globalization and movement of capital, search for cheap labor Global capital left the US, wages declined, cheap goods imported, produced by lower wage workers Attack on unions, benefits, entitlements “Wal-Mart economy” Small population, massive resource use & pollution 2000 Mexico was second largest trading partner Cultural intermixture vs. fear and reaction

September 11th, 2001 Attack on World Trade Center Nearly 3,000 dead Islamic fundamentalists attacked symbol of economic and cultural imperialism OR economic freedom and opportunity… Bush became a “War President” Osama Bin Ladin

Invasion of Iraq, 2003 Bush administration tied 9/11 attacks, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda to Iraq and Saddam Hussein (no evidence to support it) Global terrorist threat and “Axis of Evil” Remake the Middle East into pro-Western democracies favorable to the US “Mission Accomplished” War dragged on but did not result in the capture of Bin Laden (not until 2011) Cost the US several trillion dollars

The Act Improves Counter-Terrorism Efforts in Several Ways: USA Patriot Act “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” The Act Improves Counter-Terrorism Efforts in Several Ways: The Patriot Act allows investigators to use the tools that were already available to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking Allows law enforcement to use surveillance against more crimes of terror. Allows federal agents to follow sophisticated terrorists trained to evade detection. Allows law enforcement to conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists. Allows federal agents to ask a court for an order to obtain business records in national security terrorism cases. 2. The Patriot Act facilitated information sharing and cooperation among government agencies so that they can better "connect the dots." 3. The Patriot Act updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats. Allows law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist-related activity occurred. Allows victims of computer hacking to request law enforcement assistance in monitoring the "trespassers" on their computers. 4. The Patriot Act increased the penalties for those who commit terrorist crimes. Prohibits the harboring of terrorists. Enhanced the inadequate maximum penalties for various crimes likely to be committed by terrorists Enhanced a number of conspiracy penalties Punishes terrorist attacks on mass transit systems. Punishes bioterrorists Eliminates the statutes of limitations for certain terrorism crimes and lengthens them for other terrorist crimes.

Hurricane Katrina and President Bush August 29, 2005- hit the Gulf Coast region (Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana) New Orleans was hit especially hard Levees broke and the city was flooded President Bush’s response was seem as inadequate. Bush criticized for praising the director of FEMA (Director Brown) when FEMA was actually mishandling the emergency response FEMA did not seem to know where the emergency shelters were located or how many people were in need. Considered the biggest domestic failure of the Bush administration.

2008- The Election of Barack Obama Constitutional Lawyer, Harvard Law Review First African American President Moderate/liberal Economic crisis Health Care National debt Crippled GOP