Political Issues
By Tom Murse, About.com Guide
The Economy: A Study In Crisis
The U.S. economy began is in the worst crisis since the Great Depression. How did we get here? What can Congress and the White House do to help the economy recover?
- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
- What's Your Take On The Stimulus Bill?
- Beware of Chart-Junk! Debunking Speaker Pelosi's Scary Graphic
- CBO: "Stimulus" Package Has Negative Long-Run Payoff
- Wall Street: A Failure To Regulate
- The History Of US Government Financial Bailouts
- What Is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
- What Caused The Great Depression?
- "The Government" Now Owns 80% Of AIG, The Nation's Largest Insurer
- The Second Gilded Age?
- The Economy: Campaign 2004
The Federal Budget and The National Debt
The US federal debt exceeds $10 trillion; the value of our entire national output of goods and services (GDP) in 2004 was only $12 trillion. The debt is growing due to deficit spending, which has reached record levels under this administration. Explore issues surrounding the federal budget, from tax reform to the federal debt, from budget proposals to expenditures.
- US Budget Deficit: 2008 Doubles 2007
- Sobering Budget News: "Spending Our Way to Financial Ruin"
- US Federal Budget Process
Health Care
The issue of health care includes access to insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, abortion. Health care was a major concern of voters in the 2008 presidential election.
- Issue Summary: Health Care
- Congressional Ban On Lead In Toys Has Unintended Consequences
- What Is Medicare?
- Issue Summary: Abortion
- Obama On Abortion
- The Bush White House: Redefining Birth Control As Abortion
- Politics & Medicine: FDA Rejects Intrinsa
- When Patient And Provider "Rights" Collide
- Battle Over Insuring Children
- A Poster Child For SCHIP (The Politics of The Personal Attack)
- Supreme Court Upholds Oregon Right-to-Die Law
Immigration
Immigration reform -- expanding the number of legal immigrants and blocking access to the country by illegals -- is a major political issue. Business wants access to a larger pool of cheaper labor; Americans fear illegal immigration destroys the nation's integrity.
- Immigration Issues: Shades of Grey or Black-and-White?
- Immigration Public Opinion Poll
- Anti-Immigration Rhetoric At Odds With Data
- US Immigration By Decade - 1820-2004
- US Immigration as Percent of Population - 1820-2004
- Politicization at Justice Includes Immigration Judges
- House Bill on Immigration Was Republican-Driven
- Immigration: "Virtual Fence" Deployed; Fines Boosted
Iraq and Afghanistan
The second War in Iraq has morphed from an event supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans to one opposed by a slim majority. What are the issues surrounding the war as it enters its fifth year? How is it related to the war in Afghanistan?
- Iraq Insists On Withdrawal Timeline
- Oil Politics, At Home and Abroad (In Iraq)
- Vietnam and Iraq: The Tragedy of Unlearned Lessons
- Declassified Report: No Al Qaeda Link In Pre-War Iraq
- The Pat Tillman Story
- How Many US Allies Have Troops In Iraq?
- Tracking The Surge
- Quality of Life Indicators In Iraq
- Five Year Anniversary: Homeland Security
- Iraq War Reaches Four-Year Milestone
- The Taliban "Never Left" Afghanistan
- Facts And Data on Conditions In Iraq
- Iraq Timeline: Bush Strategies
Net Neutrality: The Fight For Internet Infrastructure
Imagine that your cellphone provider is T-Mobile and your closest friend has only a landline provided by Qwest. Because of common carrier regulation, each telephone provider must treat incoming calls as though both phones were on the same network, even if they aren't. This neutrality was mandated by Congress because telephone networks were (and still are) considered infrastructure. Internet network neutrality means that Internet service providers and network owners concern themselves only with efficiently moving bits — not with the content embodied by the bits - just like telephone carriers do.