Bush and Problems

Student hour today: 1:45-2:45

For Monday, read Johnson, ch. 12.

 9/11

• A firsthand account of the White House by a CMCer
• "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001." (Johnson 364-365)
• Expanded Surveillance and Search Authority: The act expanded law enforcement's ability to surveil communications, including domestic and international wiretaps, and allowed for secret "sneak and peek" searches .
• Increased Information Sharing: It broke down legal barriers that had kept law enforcement, intelligence, and national defense agencies from sharing information, allowing them to "connect the dots" to prevent attacks.
• Strengthened Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Controls: The act implemented stricter anti-money laundering measures, such as customer identification requirements for U.S. banks and expanded scrutiny of high-risk accounts, to hinder the financing of terrorism.
• Homeland Security Act of 2002
• The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the position of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)

Between GWOT and Iraq (more later), domestic policy took a back seat, but there were significant efforts:

Faith-Based Initiatives

• Exodus Liberalism
• Social Gospel and the Welfare State

• Why did Gore support the concept?
• Baptist, attended Vanderbilt Divinity School
• Clinton signed limited "charitable choice"
• Wanted to hold the South

• Why did Bush support it?
• "Small group" evangelical
• "Compassionate conservative" triangulation
• Appeal to Black and Latino voters
• 
  
• Support was broad but shallow
• Reasons for skepticism and opposition?
• "Devil is in the details" (Black 105)
• Tocqueville's warning that "any alliance with any political power whatsoever is bound to be burdensome for religion. It does not need their support in order to live, and in serving them it may die."

Medicare Prescription Drugs (Johnson 367-368):

Social Security reform flops in 2005.  

• Bush thought his narrow victory was a mandate. It wasn't.
• Deficit had gone from $128b in FY2001 to $413b in FY2004.

Iraq: by 2005, clear that it was going badly

Katrina

The crash

Margot Robbie explains mortgage-backed securities:

Richard Thaler and Selena Gomez explain collateralized debt obligations: