America+Since+1989

=America Since 1989= = =

= = 



Presidents and Elections:
 The Election of 1988: **Democratic ticket--> Michael Dukakis (governor of Massachusetts) with VP Lloyd Bentsen (Senator from Texas) Republican ticket--> George H. Bush (Reagan's VP) with Dan Quayle (Senator from Indiana) ** ->Bush charged that Dukakis was not strict enough on crime and weak on national defense ->Earned support by promising no new taxes Winner: ** George H. Bush **

The Election of 1992 : **Republican ticket--> George H. Bush with Dan Quayle** **Independent--> Ross Perot (Texas** **billionaire)** ->Perot has strong showing, wins 20% of popular vote (best 3rd party showing since 1912) ->Clinton presents himself as "New Democrat" with focus on economic issues ->Bush appears tired and out of touch with American public Winner: ** Bill Clinton **
 * Democratic ticket--> Bill Clinton (governor of Arkansas) with VP Al Gore (Senator from Tennessee)**

The Election of 1996: -> Perot also ran; was not as successful as 1992 run -> Clinton's previous term had brought new economic success Winner: **Bill Clinton**
 * Democratic ticket--> Bill Clinton with Al Gore **
 * Republican ticket--> Bob Dole (Senator from Kansas) with VP Jack Kemp (Housing secretary of New York) **

The Election of 2000: **Democratic ticket--> Al Gore (VP under Clinton) with Joe Lieberman (Senator from Connecticut)** Winner: ** George W. Bush **
 * Republican ticket--> George W. Bush (Governor of Texas) with Dick Cheney (Former Secretary of Defense) **

The Election of 2004: **Democratic ticket--> John Kerry (Senator from Massachusetts) with John Edwards (Senator from North Carolina)** **Republican ticket-->** ** George W. Bush (Governor of Texas) with Dick Cheney (Former Secretary of Defense) Winner: George W. Bush

The Election of 2008 Democratic Ticket--> Barack Obama (Senator from Illinois) with Joe Biden (Senator from Delaware) Republican Ticket--> John McCain (Senator from Arizona) with Sarah Palin (Governor of Alaska) ** Winner: **Barack Obama**

** The Middle East **
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===The U.S. became interested in the Middle East in the early 80’s as a new and bountiful source of oil. When Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded oil saturated Kuwait in 1990, the U.S. along with some other members of the U.N. (Saudi Arabia, U.K., Egypt) confronted the Iraqi army and forced them out of Kuwait. This caused the U.S. to have to occupy Kuwait and several other places in the Middle East. ===

** Important Supreme Court Events 1989-Present **

 * Resignation of Thurgood Marshall (1991)
 * Nomination of Clarence Thomas (1991)- nominated by Bush
 * Nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1993)- Nominated by Clinton
 * Resignation of Sandra Day O'Connor (2004)
 * Nomination of Sonia Sotomayor (2009)- First latino women judge; nominated by Obama
 * //Bush v Gore// (2000)- Determined that George W. Bush won the election by winning the electoral vote, even though Gore won the popular vote
 * //Citizens United v Federal Election Commission-// Determined that corporations should be allowed to donate as much as possible to campaigns

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Disasters At Home**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * September 11th, 2001- 4 US planes were hijacked by terrorists, 2 flew into the Twin Towers, one went to the Pentagon, and another was diverted to a field in PA. Thousands were killed. Al Qaeda was suspected to be the culprit.

Hurricane Katrina- In August 2005, a hurricane broke the levy surrounding New Orleans and destroyed thousands of homes. Many were left displaced or dead.

Columbine Shooting- In 1999, two troubled high schoolers planned and killed themselves and 13 other students at Columbine High School. As a result, many questioned whether U.S. gun laws were strict enough.** = = =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Technology = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The 90s and early 2000s were a time of new ideas and products that allowed consumers accomplish things more easily. Finally, no more spending hours in the library or listening to old casset tapes or CDs. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * ===<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Cell Phones-__ Motorola had the first brand of cell phones on the market, weighing in at 28 ounces. Originally, cell phones used more for utility than for style. Slowly, cell phones became sleeker, more stylish, and had applications like camera, texting, or the internet. ===


 * ===<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__The Development of the Internet-__ Development of the internet allowed average Americans access to information that was unreachable before. ===

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Apple The link above connects to Apple's website. Apple has emerged as a leader in technological development and releases new devices and gadgets every year that make an impact throughout the world.
 * ===<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Ipods-__ Ipods were first on the market in 2001. People download music from their computers and listen to it anywhere! ===

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Legislation
====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">American with Disabilities Act (ADA)- in 1990. Employers could not discriminate against people with disabilities (physicial and mental impairments). Work places sometimes have to be changed to allow for people with disabilities. ====

====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No Child Left Behind- President Bush passed this in 2001. Increased the central government role in education across the country. The act established requirements for public schools. ====

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Patriot Act- The USA PATRIOT ACT,
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act” An act that strengthen defense to counter terrorism by increasing what the government could know and decreasing personal privacy. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">media type="youtube" key="EY1zNAkZWZg" height="385" width="640" align="center" ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)- (1996) replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Emergency Assistance (EA), and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs with TANF which gave states and territories grant money that they had regulation and could allocate however they wanted. Also known as the Welfare Reform Act. ====

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=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pop Culture! =

|| <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Office ||= <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rap ||= <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Digital Photography || ||
 * = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Movies! || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Television ||= <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Music ||= <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art ||
 * = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Farenheit 9/11
 * = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Super Size-Me

|| <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Techno || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Computer Graphics || || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">John and Kate plus 8 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Electronica || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Multimedia || || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Sopranos || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mash-URemixesps || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vira3Dl Video ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[[image:http://californiafaultline.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/recount-movie-poster.jpg width="236" height="321" caption="http://californiafaultline.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/recount-movie-poster.jpg"]]Recount || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amazing Race
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">W.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">World Trade Center
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fast Food Nation || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Entourage ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">United 93 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Real Housewives of Atlanta ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An Inconvenient Truth || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deadliest Catch ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Shawshank Redemption || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Seinfeld ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Superbad || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">60 Minutes ||  ||   ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Economic Issues:
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The economy under President Clinton enjoyed great success, aided by investment in the housing market and in internet based businesses. This boom, however, led to overzealous speculation in both areas, which has slowed down their progress and caused a severe downturn in both areas. In addition to speculation, the economy was hit hard by lenient bank regulations and unscrupulous business ethics on Wall Street. This banking crisis led to the late 00's bank regulatory proceedings in congress and the outing of several unethical bank presidents. This crisis more than any other in recent memory has affected people's trust in big businesses and cautious spending habits.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Source:Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Labor Department

Unemployment has skyrocketed to almost double digits in recent years, peaking in 2007 at 9.4%. Government spending has increased greatly in order to combat this problem, and the results of President Obama's actions have yet to be determined.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Immigration:
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Recently, an influx of Mexican and other Central American immigrants have entered the United States. A key point of contention is the proliferation of illegal aliens. A recent Arizona law gives law enforcement the right to arrest any individual the officer suspects is an alien.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Biblio-
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [] [] http://www.semp.us/publications/disaster_dictionary.php?letter=P http://www.workworld.org/wwwebhelp/temporary_assistance_for_needy_families_tanf_.htm http://www.thatsweird.net/Pictures/fahrenheit9.11.jpg http://elev8.com/files/2009/12/top-5-cell-phones1.jpg