question

A tax where the rich pay proportionately higher taxes as a share of their income than the poor is also known as a(n)

answer

Progressive tax

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In 2011, under pressure from the tea party movement, congressional Republicans opposed

answer

Raising the federal debt ceiling

question

Monetarists argue that government can control the economy's performance simply by

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controlling the money supply

question

The administration of _________ was notable for especially boosting increases in defense spending

answer

Ronald Reagan

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The ____________ passed by congress in 1974, created congressional budget committees to supervise the budget review process aided by a staff of more than 200 in the new Congressional Budget Office.

answer

Budget and Impoundment Control Act

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The total federal tax burden on U.S. citizens _________ the 1950s.

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Has actually decreased since

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The role of appropriations committees is to

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Decide which programs will be funded

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The idea of tax cuts for the rich that will then "trickle down" to working people in the form of additional jobs and income, is consistent with

answer

Supply-side economics

question

If government cuts taxes to encourage people to spend more money in order to stimulate economic growth, it is using

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Fiscal Policy

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Which of the following comprise the largest portion of the impoverished?

answer

Person under eighteen years old

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The central value underlying Lyndon Johnson's Great Society was

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Equality

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Say the government provides $45,000 to a folk life festival in Nevada; this would be an example of a

answer

Distributive Policy

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________ was enacted as part of the Great Society

answer

The Economic Opportunity Act

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In 2014, the official U.S. poverty threshold for a family of four was a cash income below

answer

$23,850

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Which of the following events did not spur greater interest in federal aid to education?

answer

All of the Above spurred greater interest in federal aid to education

question

Critics of the No Child Left Behind Act argued that its emphasis on testing would mean that

answer

Options B and C are True (Teachers would "teach to the test" and ignore subjects that were not tested, The federal government would fail to provide sufficient funds to help schools meet the law's standards.)

question

The concept of an "illegal immigrant" emerged in 1924 when the United States passed immigration legislation favoring immigration from ________ and limiting immigration from ___________.

answer

Western Europe; eastern Europe and Asia

question

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was created of

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World War II

question

National Security Agency head, Michael Hayden, defended which program when it became public?

answer

Secret electronic eavesdropping on U.S. citizen without court warrants

question

One unusual feature of the bombing campaign in Libya to oust Muammar Gaddafi was

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The bombing was done largely by European countries, with the United States in a supporting role

question

The United Nations played little role containing the Soviet Union after World War II because

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The Soviet had veto power in the U.N. Security Council

question

The intelligence community is actually composed of _________ agencies in the executive branch

answer

Sixteen

question

The key difference between an executive agreement and a treaty is

answer

A treaty must be ratified by two-thirds of the Senate

question

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in order to

answer

Protect Western Europe

question

________ is a term that has been used to describe the U.S. posture toward the Soviet Union in the 1950s

answer

Containment

question

When John Maynard Keynes suggested deficit financing by the government to stabilize the economy, he was advocating the use of

answer

Fiscal Policy

question

A theory that markets known best how to promote growth and should be left unregulated is consistent with the

answer

Efficient market hypothesis

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Economic criticisms of Keynesian theories include

answer

Options A and B are true

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The main function of the Office of Management and Budget is to

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Assist the president in compiling agency budget requests to produce the national budget

question

As of 2012, the current chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is

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Ben Bernanke

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The business cycle is

answer

Periods of expansion and inflation alternating with periods of contraction and unemployment

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One famous monetarist theorist is Nobel Laureate

answer

Milton Friedman

question

Laissez-faire thought today is often compared as similar to

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Friedrich Hayek and the "Austrian School" of economics

question

Market economies are loosely called

answer

Capitalist economies

question

Social welfare policy in the United States today has been significantly shaped by the

answer

Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Great Society

question

Social Security is referred to as a pay-as-you-go system, meaning that

answer

Today's workers support today's program beneficiaries

question

Which of the following was not a part of President Obama's Affordable Care Act?

answer

The first prescription drug benefit was added to Medicare

question

Today Medicaid enrolls more that 60 million people at a cost of

answer

$339 Billion

question

Among those who are less likely to have health insurance are

answer

All of the Above

question

President Reagan argued that instead of the federal government being responsible for guaranteeing the economic and social well-being of less fortunate citizens, such responsibility should be borne more by

answer

State and Local government

question

A(n) _______ is a general plan of action adopted by government to solve a social problem, counter a threat, or pursue an objective

answer

Public Policy

question

Since the last declared war, over _______ American military personnel have died in fighting in places like Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan

answer

100,000

question

The 1947 National Security Act established which of the following organizations?

answer

Options C and D are true (CIA & National Security Counsel)

question

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law by president

answer

Bill Clinton

question

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States adopted a new orientation based on its status as a(n)

answer

Superpower

question

The period of warmer relations between the United States and the soviet Union that began during President Nixon's administration was called

answer

Detente

question

The Key effect of the Marshall Plan was that it

answer

Made European countries better able economically to resist Soviet interference

question

The President who failed to convince the Senate to approve his League of Nations treaty was

answer

Woodrow Wilson

question

According to Keynesian theory, the government should spend more or cut taxes when

answer

Aggregate demand is too low

question

The president shares all of the following powers with the senate except

answer

Serving as commander in chief of the armed forces

question

The 1997 environmental Kyoto Protocol set binding greenhouse gas reductions for industrialized countries, but exempted which two countries?

answer

India and China

question

The concept of "mutual assured destruction" meant that

answer

If either of the two major superpowers attacked the other with nuclear weapons, the victim could still retaliate and destroy the attacker

question

The National Security Agency (NSA) is located within the

answer

Defense Department

question

Which of the following statements describes the relationship between the president and the secretary of state?

answer

Each president defines the role of the secretary of state in different ways

question

Suppose a state decides to reduce tax credits for low-income workers in order to finance tax cuts for businesses and corporations; this would be and example of a

answer

Redistributional Policy

question

The current Social Security tax is assessed at a rate of 6.2 percent of the wages workers earn in 2014 up to

answer

$117,000 of wages earned

question

The national DREAM Act would

answer

Allow illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children to become eligible for legalized status

question

Under the new provision of TANF, families can receive no more than a total of _______ of benefits in a lifetime

answer

5 years

question

Roughly __________ percent of Americans have no health insurance

answer

16

question

The phrase "uncontrollable outlays" refers to the fact that

answer

Much of the budget is already committed by past contracts and agreements

question

The essence of supply-side economics is that

answer

Taxes should be cut to stimulate investment, and government regulation of business should be decreased

question

The ___________ supervises the development of the president's budget

answer

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

question

How much of the 2013 federal budget can be classified as uncontrollable or relatively uncontrollable?

answer

Over 65 percent

question

Which of the following taxes is not a major source (as in over 10 percent) of the federal government's revenue?

answer

Estate taxes

question

Hayek's "Austrian School" of economics would be especially favored by

answer

Libertarians

question

Developing budgets by using last year's budget as the base and adding an amount to cover the increased costs of doing business (inflation) and any new programs is called

answer

Incremental Budgeting

question

Monetary policies are largely determined by

answer

The Federal Reserve Board

question

The House Armed Services Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee are __________ committees that review portions of the budget that pertain to their area of responsibility

answer

Authorization

question

The __________ empowered the national government to collect taxes on income

answer

Sixteenth Amendment

question

The New Deal occurred under President

answer

Franklin D. Roosevelt

question

President ____________ passed the Medicare drug program expanding welfare benefits for seniors

answer

George W. Bush

question

The Johnson administration's promise to end poverty in a decade did not come to pass, and critics who claimed President Johnson's war on Poverty failed based their assessments of the fact that

answer

Poverty became more concentrated in rural and inner city areas

question

President ____________ proposed that individual workers be allowed to invest their own Social Security payroll taxes in the stock market

answer

George W. Bush

question

Health insurance providers have become increasingly concerned with the amount of risk they assume by providing insurance, and as a result have

answer

Options B and C are true

question

When government intersperses itself as a referee, setting rules as to what kinds of companies can participate in what kinds of market activities, it is engaged in

answer

Regulation

question

The United States withdrew from Vietnam

answer

in 1973

question

The assumption underlying the massive U.S. military buildup after world war II was that

answer

The Soviet Union was an aggressive, expansions power

question

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 placed the responsibility for preparing the federal budget in the hands of

answer

President

question

The total amount of money in the federal budget scheduled to be spent in a given fiscal year is the budget

answer

Outlay

question

An example of a regressive tax in America is the

answer

Social Security tax

question

President ________ embraced supply-side economics

answer

Reagan

question

What was the nature of the early opposition to Medicare?

answer

It was attacked as socialized medicine

question

American federalism is often praised because the states can be like fifty _______ for developing policy

answer

Laboratories

question

A major cause of the feminization of poverty is that

answer

Many women are forced to leave the full-time work to become heads of household

question

Under the provision of the 1996 welfare reform law known as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), adult recipients of welfare payments have to become employed within

answer

2 years

question

Some critics of the War Powers Resolution argue that it has

answer

Given the president more powers to wage war

question

U.S. citizens are often critical of the provision of foreign aid, but they also

answer

Routinely overestimate what the nation spends on aid

question

George W. Bush replaced the policy of containment with the doctrine of

answer

Preemptive action

question

Over __________ American lives were lost before the United States withdrew from Vietnam

answer

58,000

question

Traditionally the Federal Reserve has tended to be more concerned about ______ than ________.

answer

Inflation; unemployment

question

A government spending in excess of tax revenues of tax revenues to combat an economic slump is known as

answer

Deficit Financing

question

One goal of the Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was to

answer

Create budget committees to supervise a comprehensive budget review process

question

Problems in computing the consumer price index (CPI) include

answer

It does not differentiate between inflationary price increases and other price increases

question

Most industries prefer not to be regulated, but when regulation becomes inevitable, they usually prefer that it come

answer

from the federal government, so that it will be uniform nationwide.

question

Which poverty program ended in 1996 when President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Opportunity to Work Act?

answer

Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC)

question

In the wake of President Johnson's Great Society programs, critics of social welfare spending argued that antipoverty policies

answer

made poverty more attractive by removing incentives to work.

question

The age at which the full benefits of social security can be paid to an individual born in 1960 or later is

answer

67

question

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provided national government aid to local school districts in order to improve the education of

answer

economically disadvantaged children.

question

A pact between heads of countries concerning their joint activities is also known as a(n)

answer

executive agreement

question

What percentage of the U.S. government budget goes to foreign aid?

answer

Less than 1 percent

question

The end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union is generally dated to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, which occurred during the administration of

answer

George H. W. Bush.

question

In its history, the senate has defeated ___________ treaties

answer

Twenty-one

question

It may be in the best interest of the United States to provide aid to poorer nations because

answer

great disparities in wealth may lead to political instability

question

The economic opportunity act provided federal assistance to the states for job training

answer

Options A and B are true

question

One difficulty with the block grant funding program set up by TANF is

answer

the funding is set to a fixed amount and does not change in response to increased need

question

Adam Smith's "invisible hand" refers to

answer

the economic force that converts individual pursuit of personal profit into societal good

question

Social Security and veterans' pensions, which provide benefits to which individuals have a legal right and which cannot be reduced without changing the law, are also referred to as

answer

Entitlements

question

The number of income brackets was reduced in the administration(s) of

answer

Ronald Regan

question

The fiscal year 2013 budget that Obama submitted applies to the twelve months beginning after

answer

October 1, 2012

question

Part A of Medicare pays for ________; Part B of Medicare pays for ________.

answer

Hospital Insurance; physicians' fees

question

Government programs designed to provide the basic living conditions necessary for all citizens are called

answer

Social welfare programs

question

The value of the goods and services actually produced is called the nation's

answer

Gross domestic product

question

Which of the following did not occur, after the passage of Reagan's Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981?

answer

Inflation grew from about 3 percent in 1981 to 13 percent in 1983

question

___________ committees are responsible for raising the revenue to run the government

answer

tax

question

President Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) enacted in 2010

answer

All of the above are true

question

Congress has used the power to declare war _________ times.

answer

five

question

The SALT I Treaty in 1972

answer

Limited the growth of strategic nuclear weapons

question

which of the following statements concerning the Federal Reserve Board is correct?

answer

The board of governors is appointed by the president.

question

Before 1921

answer

all of the above are true

question

the Federal Reserve has the ability to sell government securities such as US Treasury Bills which

answer

raises interest rates

question

President ________ abolished several social welfare programs shifting the emphasis from economic equality to economic freedom.

answer

Ronald Regan

question

concering the controversy over illegal immigration several states are requiring employers to check their workers' residency status using a federal program known as

answer

E-Verify

question

social security is social insurance that provides economic assisstance to people face with

answer

A, B and C (unemployment, disability, old age)

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