1.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
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Flag
United States
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The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
2.
Political campaign
–
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referendums are decided. In modern politics, the most high-profile political campaigns are focused on elections and candidates for head of state or head of government. The message of the campaign contains the ideas that the wants to share with the voters. It is to get those who agree with their ideas to them when running for a political position. The message often consists of talking points about policy issues. The points summarize the ideas of the campaign and are repeated frequently in order to create a lasting impression with the voters. In many elections, the party will try to get the candidate off message by bringing up policy or personal questions that are not related to the talking points. Most campaigns prefer to keep the message broad in order to attract the most potential voters, a message that is too narrow can alienate voters or slow the candidate down with explaining details. Barack Obama ran on a consistent, simple message of change throughout his campaign, however, even if the message is crafted carefully, it does not assure the candidate a victory at the polls. For a winning candidate, the message is refined and then becomes his or her in office, in a modern political campaign, the campaign organization will have a coherent structure of personnel in the same manner as any business of similar size. Successful campaigns usually require a campaign manager to coordinate the campaigns operations, apart from a candidate, they are often a campaigns most visible leader. Political consultants advise campaigns on all of their activities, from research to field strategy. Consultants conduct candidate research, voter research, and opposition research for their clients, activists are the foot soldiers loyal to the cause, the true believers who will carry the run by volunteer activists. Such volunteers and interns may take part in such as canvassing door-to-door. Modern political campaigns have set new standards for how successful campaigns are conducted day-to-day. The daily schedule of a campaign is hyperextended, and often has no definite beginning or end, only a series of tasks to be completed by certain benchmark times, or, most often. COB for political campaigns is generally defined as the time at night at which your supervisor is required to report his/her numbers, only a very small fraction of campaign workers do the bulk of their work during traditional business hours
Political campaign
–
Presidential campaign button for
Abraham Lincoln, 1860. The reverse side of the button shows a portrait of his running mate
Hannibal Hamlin.
Political campaign
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Democrat John Edwards makes a campaign speech in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2007.
Political campaign
–
A political rally in
Chinatown, Los Angeles, featuring
Betty Ford campaigning for her husband, U.S. President
Gerald Ford, during the
1976 presidential campaign.
Political campaign
–
NDP leader
Jack Layton and
Bloc Québécois leader
Gilles Duceppe greet babies - a traditional campaign activity - at the
Fête nationale du Québec in
Montreal
3.
Ballot initiative
–
In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote. The initiative may take the form of an initiative or an indirect initiative. In a direct initiative, a measure is put directly to a vote after being submitted by a petition, in an indirect initiative, a measure is first referred to the legislature, and then put to a popular vote only if not enacted by the legislature. It is a form of direct democracy, the Canadian province of British Columbia has a citizen initiative law known as the Recall and Initiative Act. The original proposal was put to voters in a referendum held in October 1991 and was supported by over 83% of voters and it was subsequently put into force by the incoming NDP government. The first referendum was held under this legislation on September 2011 on the subject of repealing the Harmonized Sales Tax, details of its use in BC are available on the Elections BC website. The rejected Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe included an indirect initiative right. The precise mechanism had not been agreed upon, critics underlined the weakness of this right of initiative, which did not ultimately entail any vote or referendum. A similar scheme under the name, European Citizens Initiative, has been put forward in the now ratified European Lisbon Treaty. It follows very similar rules to the ones outlined in the European Constitution and these citizens would thereby obtain the same right to request the Commission to submit a legislative proposal as the Council has had since the establishment of the European Communities in 1957. This, however, does require that the signatures come from a significant number of Member States and it is suggested that this significant number will need to be around a quarter of member states, with at least 1/500 of the citizens in those member states supporting the initiative. With the variety of languages within the European Union, this creates a significant hurdle for people to navigate. In 2013 the subjects of ongoing open initiatives of the European Citizens Initiative are e. g. about water and sanitation as a human right, unconditional Basic Income, or to End Ecocide in Europe. It remains to be if the ECI evolves into a full initiative or remains in its present state of a de facto petition. Since March 1,2012, groups of at least 50,000 Finnish citizens with suffrage have had the right to send a citizens initiative to the Parliament of Finland. A limited, indirect form of initiative was added to the French Constitution on 28 March 2003 as part of decentralization reforms. However, the only power these local referendum initiatives confer on citizens is the ability to add propositions to their local assemblys meeting agenda, the decision as to whether to submit citizen propositions to a popular vote rests with the local assembly. All German states have the right to initiative, however, there is no constitutional citizens initiative in Germany at a federal level
Ballot initiative
–
Signature collection point at
The Body Shop in
Kluuvi shopping centre,
Helsinki, for one of the first citizens’ initiatives in Finland, about banning
fur farming.
4.
Federal Election Commission
–
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1974 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Commission is made up of six members, who are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. Each member serves a term, and two seats are subject to appointment every two years. By law, no more than three Commissioners can be members of the political party, and at least four votes are required for any official Commission action. The chairmanship of the Commission rotates among the members each year, however, a member may serve as chairman more than once by serving beyond the six-year mark if no successor is appointed, for example, Ellen Weintraub was chairman in both 2003 and 2013. Although the Commissions name implies broad authority over U. S. elections and this database also goes back to 1980. Private organizations are prohibited from using these data to solicit new individual donors. The FECs bipartisan structure, which was established by Congress, renders the agency toothless, critics also claim that most FEC penalties for violating election law come well after the actual election in which they were committed. Additionally, some claim that the commissioners tend to act as an arm of the regulated community of parties, interest groups. Others point out, however, that the commissioners rarely divide evenly along partisan lines, critics such as former FEC chairmen Bradley A. Smith and Lee Goodman, and Stephen M. Since 2008, 3-3 votes have become common at the FEC. From 2008 to August 2014, the FEC has had over 200 tie votes, joan D. Aikens – April 1975 – September 1998. Thomas B. Curtis – April 1975 – May 1976, Thomas E. Harris – April 1975 – October 1986. Neil O. Staebler – April 1975 – October 1978, vernon W. Thomson – April 1975 – June 1979, January 1981 – December 1981. Robert Tiernan – April 1975 – December 1981, william L. Springer – May 1976 – February 1979. John Warren McGarry – October 1978 – August 1998, max L. Friedersdorf – March 1979 – December 1980. Frank P. Reiche – July 1979 – August 1985, Lee Ann Elliott – December 1981 – June 2000. McDonald – December 1981 – January 2006, Thomas J. Josefiak – August 1985 – December 1991
Federal Election Commission
–
Federal Election Commission
5.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
–
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were Senators Russ Feingold and John McCain, the law became effective on 6 November 2002, and the new legal limits became effective on January 1,2003. The decision in Citizens United v. FEC overturns this provision, although the legislation is known as McCain–Feingold, the Senate version is not the bill that became law. Instead, the legislation, H. R. 2356—introduced by Rep. Chris Shays, is the version that became law. Shays–Meehan was originally introduced as H. R.380, in the aftermath of Watergate, Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974, which put new limits on contributions to campaigns. Both the Republican and Democratic parties nonetheless used this money to support their candidates, in 1992, President George H. W. Bush vetoed a bill passed by the Democratic Congress that would have, among other things, restricted the use of soft money. President Clinton pushed for a bill, but was unable to get both houses to agree on one bill. In 1995, Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold jointly published an op-ed calling for campaign finance reform, in 1998, the Senate voted on the bill, but the bill failed to meet the 60 vote threshold to defeat a filibuster. All 45 Senate Democrats and 6 Senate Republicans voted to invoke cloture and this effectively killed the bill for the remainder of the 105th Congress. McCains 2000 campaign for president and a series of scandals brought the issue of finance to the fore of public consciousness in 2001. McCain and Feingold pushed the bill in the Senate, while Chris Shays, in just the second successful use of the discharge petition since the 1980s, a mixture of Democrats and Republicans defied Speaker Dennis Hastert and passed a campaign finance reform bill. The House approved the bill with a 240-189 vote, sending the bill to the Senate, the bill passed the Senate in a 60-40 vote, the bare minimum required to overcome the filibuster. Throughout the Congressional battle on the bill, President Bush declined to take a strong position, provisions of the legislation were challenged as unconstitutional by a group of plaintiffs led by then–Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, a long-time opponent of the bill. President Bush signed the law despite reservations about the constitutionality of the ban on issue advertising. He appeared to expect that the Supreme Court would overturn some of its key provisions, but, in December 2003, the Supreme Court upheld most of the legislation in McConnell v. FEC. These organizations have established on both sides of the political aisle, and have included high-profile organizations such as the Media Fund. 527s are financed in part by wealthy individuals, labor unions. 527s pre-dated McCain–Feingold but grew in popularity after the law took effect, in May 2004, the FEC voted to not write new rules on the application of federal campaign finance laws to 527 organizations
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
–
BCRA's lead sponsors, Senator
John McCain (
R -
AZ) and Senator
Russ Feingold (
D -
WI)
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
–
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
6.
Citizens United v. FEC
–
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission 558 U. S.310 is a U. S. constitutional law and corporate law case dealing with the regulation of campaign spending by organizations. The United States Supreme Court held on 21 January 2010 that freedom of speech prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation. The principles articulated by the Supreme Court in the case have also extended to for-profit corporations, labor unions. This would violate a federal statute prohibiting certain electioneering communications near an election, the court found the provisions of the law that prohibited corporations and unions from making such electioneering communications to conflict with the U. S. Constitution. However, the court upheld requirements for disclosure by sponsors of advertisements. The case did not affect the federal ban on contributions from corporations or unions to candidate campaigns or political parties. The Supreme Court reversed this decision, striking down those provisions of BCRA that prohibited corporations and unions from making independent expenditures, the majority decision overruled Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce and partially overruled McConnell v. Federal Election Commission. The Court, however, upheld requirements for disclosure by sponsors of advertisements. The case did not involve the federal ban on contributions from corporations or unions to candidate campaigns or political parties. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 – specifically §203, which modified the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,2 U. S. C. § 441b – prohibited corporations and unions from using their general treasury to fund electioneering communications within 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election. The FEC dismissed the complaint after finding no evidence that broadcast advertisements for the film, in the wake of these decisions, Citizens United sought to establish itself as a bona fide commercial film maker, producing several documentary films between 2005 and 2007. By early 2008, it sought to run television commercials to promote its political documentary Hillary, The Movie and it also sought to enjoin the funding, disclosure, and disclaimer requirements as applied to Citizens United’s intended ads for the movie. In accordance with rules in section 403 of the BCRA. The court held that the Supreme Court in McConnell v, on July 18,2008, the District Court granted summary judgement to the Federal Election Commission. In accordance with the rules in the BCRA, Citizens United appealed to the Supreme Court which docketed the case on August 18,2008. The Supreme Court heard oral argument on March 24,2009 and then asked for briefs on June 29. During the original argument, Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm L. Stewart argued that under Austin v
Citizens United v. FEC
–
Justice Kennedy, the author of the Court's opinion.
Citizens United v. FEC
–
Justice Stevens, the author of the dissenting opinion.
7.
Supreme Court of the United States
–
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court of the United States. In the legal system of the United States, the Supreme Court is the interpreter of federal constitutional law. The Court normally consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight justices who are nominated by the President. Once appointed, justices have life tenure unless they resign, retire, in modern discourse, the justices are often categorized as having conservative, moderate, or liberal philosophies of law and of judicial interpretation. Each justice has one vote, and while many cases are decided unanimously, the Court meets in the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D. C. The Supreme Court is sometimes referred to as SCOTUS, in analogy to other acronyms such as POTUS. The ratification of the United States Constitution established the Supreme Court in 1789 and its powers are detailed in Article Three of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the court specifically established by the Constitution. The Court first convened on February 2,1790, by which five of its six initial positions had been filled. According to historian Fergus Bordewich, in its first session, he Supreme Court convened for the first time at the Royal Exchange Building on Broad Street and they had no cases to consider. After a week of inactivity, they adjourned until September, the sixth member was not confirmed until May 12,1790. Because the full Court had only six members, every decision that it made by a majority was made by two-thirds. However, Congress has always allowed less than the Courts full membership to make decisions, under Chief Justices Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth, the Court heard few cases, its first decision was West v. Barnes, a case involving a procedural issue. The Courts power and prestige grew substantially during the Marshall Court, the Marshall Court also ended the practice of each justice issuing his opinion seriatim, a remnant of British tradition, and instead issuing a single majority opinion. Also during Marshalls tenure, although beyond the Courts control, the impeachment, the Taney Court made several important rulings, such as Sheldon v. Nevertheless, it is primarily remembered for its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which helped precipitate the Civil War. In the Reconstruction era, the Chase, Waite, and Fuller Courts interpreted the new Civil War amendments to the Constitution, during World War II, the Court continued to favor government power, upholding the internment of Japanese citizens and the mandatory pledge of allegiance. Nevertheless, Gobitis was soon repudiated, and the Steel Seizure Case restricted the pro-government trend, the Warren Court dramatically expanded the force of Constitutional civil liberties. It held that segregation in public schools violates equal protection and that traditional legislative district boundaries violated the right to vote
Supreme Court of the United States
–
Chief Justice Marshall
Supreme Court of the United States
–
Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
–
The Roberts Court, October 2010 Back row (left to right):
Sonia Sotomayor,
Stephen G. Breyer,
Samuel A. Alito, and
Elena Kagan. Front row (left to right):
Clarence Thomas,
Antonin Scalia,
Chief Justice John Roberts,
Anthony Kennedy, and
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Supreme Court of the United States
–
Roberts, John
John Roberts (
Chief Justice)
8.
Campaign Reform Act of 2002
–
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were Senators Russ Feingold and John McCain, the law became effective on 6 November 2002, and the new legal limits became effective on January 1,2003. The decision in Citizens United v. FEC overturns this provision, although the legislation is known as McCain–Feingold, the Senate version is not the bill that became law. Instead, the legislation, H. R. 2356—introduced by Rep. Chris Shays, is the version that became law. Shays–Meehan was originally introduced as H. R.380, in the aftermath of Watergate, Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974, which put new limits on contributions to campaigns. Both the Republican and Democratic parties nonetheless used this money to support their candidates, in 1992, President George H. W. Bush vetoed a bill passed by the Democratic Congress that would have, among other things, restricted the use of soft money. President Clinton pushed for a bill, but was unable to get both houses to agree on one bill. In 1995, Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold jointly published an op-ed calling for campaign finance reform, in 1998, the Senate voted on the bill, but the bill failed to meet the 60 vote threshold to defeat a filibuster. All 45 Senate Democrats and 6 Senate Republicans voted to invoke cloture and this effectively killed the bill for the remainder of the 105th Congress. McCains 2000 campaign for president and a series of scandals brought the issue of finance to the fore of public consciousness in 2001. McCain and Feingold pushed the bill in the Senate, while Chris Shays, in just the second successful use of the discharge petition since the 1980s, a mixture of Democrats and Republicans defied Speaker Dennis Hastert and passed a campaign finance reform bill. The House approved the bill with a 240-189 vote, sending the bill to the Senate, the bill passed the Senate in a 60-40 vote, the bare minimum required to overcome the filibuster. Throughout the Congressional battle on the bill, President Bush declined to take a strong position, provisions of the legislation were challenged as unconstitutional by a group of plaintiffs led by then–Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, a long-time opponent of the bill. President Bush signed the law despite reservations about the constitutionality of the ban on issue advertising. He appeared to expect that the Supreme Court would overturn some of its key provisions, but, in December 2003, the Supreme Court upheld most of the legislation in McConnell v. FEC. These organizations have established on both sides of the political aisle, and have included high-profile organizations such as the Media Fund. 527s are financed in part by wealthy individuals, labor unions. 527s pre-dated McCain–Feingold but grew in popularity after the law took effect, in May 2004, the FEC voted to not write new rules on the application of federal campaign finance laws to 527 organizations
Campaign Reform Act of 2002
–
BCRA's lead sponsors, Senator
John McCain (
R -
AZ) and Senator
Russ Feingold (
D -
WI)
Campaign Reform Act of 2002
–
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
Campaign Reform Act of 2002
9.
Philip Murray
–
Philip Murray was a Scottish-born steelworker and an American labor leader. Murray was born in Blantyre, Scotland, in 1886 and his father, William Murray, was a Catholic coal miner and union leader who emigrated from Ireland to Scotland prior to his sons birth. His mother, the former Rose Layden, was a mill weaver. Rose died when Philip was only two years old, William Murray remarried and had eight more children. Philip was the oldest boy, and after only a few years of public education, in 1902, Philip and his father emigrated to the United States. They settled in the Pittsburgh region and obtained jobs as coal miners, young Philip was paid for each ton of coal that he mined. By the following year, they had saved money to bring the rest of the family to America. Murray was working in a mine in 1904 when he became involved in the United Mine Workers of America. Feeling that a manager had purposefully altered and lowered the weight of the coal he had mined, the other coal miners went on strike to demand his reinstatement. In response, the company threw Murrays family out of their company-owned home, Murray was shocked and angered by the companys actions. Convinced that unions were the only means workers had of protecting their interests, Murray became an avid, in 1905, Murray was elected president of the UMWA local in the Pittsburgh area town of Horning, Pennsylvania. Determined to become the best local president he could, he enrolled in an 18-month correspondence course in mathematics, although he had little formal education, he completed the course in just six months. Murray married Elizabeth Lavery on September 7,1910, in 1911, Murray became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Murray, who favored co-operation with management rather than militancy, came to the attention of UMWA President John P. White, after White won the UMWA presidency in 1912, he appointed Murray to a vacant seat on the UMWA executive board. White then backed Murray in 1916 when Murray ran for president of UMWA District 5, despite his relative conservatism, however, Murray became a close associate of John L. Lewis. He supported Lewiss bid to become a UMWA vice president in 1917, in return, Lewis appointed Murray to the position of vice president. Murray became a supporter of and assistant to Lewis. Lewis handled relations with employers and politicians, and Murray handled relationships with UMWA members, Murray strongly supported Americas entry into World War I and worked closely with government officials and employers to ensure that labor cooperated in the war effort
Philip Murray
–
Murray
Philip Murray
–
Philip Murray as he appeared in the summer of 1936.
10.
Sidney Hillman
–
Sidney Hillman was an American labor leader. Sidney Hillman was born in Žagarė, Lithuania, then part of the Russian empire, on March 23,1887, sidneys maternal grandfather was a small-scale merchant, his paternal grandfather was a rabbi known for his piety and lack of concern for material possessions. Hillmans father was himself a merchant, more concerned with reading. From a young age Sidney had shown great promise, mastering the rote memorization upon which the cheder education of the day was based. By the age of 13, Hillman had memorized several volumes of the Talmud, the next year he was chosen by the Hillman rabbinical clan to go away to attend yeshiva in Vilijampolė, a small town across the river from the city of Kaunas. It was hoped that Sidney would follow in the Hillman family tradition by becoming a rabbi, things did not proceed as planned, however. While in Slobodka, Hillman began to attend the secret meetings of an illegal study circle headed by a local druggist. Hillman became a leading activist in the Bund, leading the first May Day march ever conducted by the organization through the streets of Kovno in 1904. Hillman was arrested shortly thereafter for his activities and sat in prison for several months. In 1906, Tsarist counterrevolution in the form of police raids, in the summer of 1907, Hillman emigrated once again, this time setting out for America aboard the Cunard liner Cedric, arriving in New York City on August 8. Hillmans prospects were poor in New York and he set out for Chicago, where a friend. In Chicago, Hillman worked briefly picking orders in a warehouse for $6 a week before finding a slightly better-paying job in the infants department of Sears. Hillman remained in position for nearly two years before being fired in the spring of 1909 during a downturn of business. The unemployed Hillman found work in the garment industry as an apprentice garment cutter for Hart Schaffner & Marx and it would prove to be Hillmans last job as a worker at the bench. When a spontaneous strike by a handful of workers there led to a citywide strike of 45,000 garment workers in 1910. That strike was a one and pitted the strikers against not only their employers and the local authorities, but also their own union, the United Garment Workers. When the UGW accepted a settlement, the membership rejected the offer and continued the strike, winning some gains at Hart. Hillman became an agent for the new local
Sidney Hillman
–
Hillman addressing a 1944 political rally
Sidney Hillman
–
The mausoleum of Sidney Hillman in
Westchester Hills Cemetery.
11.
John Doolittle
–
John Taylor Doolittle, American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2009, representing Californias 4th congressional district. In the 109th Congress, he held a role as the Deputy Whip for the Republican party in the House. He was succeeded in the House of Representatives by Tom McClintock, Doolittle was born in Glendale, California. He grew up in Cupertino, California, graduating from Cupertino High School in 1968 and he graduated with honors with a B. A. in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also has a law degree from McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, in Sacramento, Doolittle spent two years as a missionary in Argentina for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before going to law school. Doolittle is married to the former Julia Harlow and they have a son and daughter. In 1979, Doolittle worked as an aide to State Senator H. L. Richardson, the founder of Gun Owners of America. In a 1980 race for the California State Senate, Doolittle, then 29, stunned everyone by narrowly defeating Democrat Albert S. Rodda, dean of the state Senate and chair of the Senate Finance Committee. But by a quirk of redistricting, Doolittle was able to keep his seat until 1984, when he won another term by beating Ray E. Johnson. An administrative law judge found him guilty of violating campaign finance laws when his campaign helped his Democratic opponent. Doolittle easily won re-election in 1988, from 1987 to 1990, he was chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus. In 1990, Republican Norman D. Shumway, also a Mormon, in the November general election, Doolittle defeated Patty Malberg, a Democrat from Lincoln, getting 51% of the vote, in what was then the 14th Congressional District. Doolittles district was renumbered as the 4th in 1992, and he was reelected with 50 percent of the vote, however, he was reelected with 61 percent of the vote in 1994 and didnt face another close race until 2006. In his first years in Congress, Doolittle was a member of the known as the Gang of Seven. He is in favor of partial privatization of Social Security, saying he would like to see people gain ownership over their own funds and he opposes gun control and abortion rights. After the old Republican Study Committee had its funding yanked in 1995 and he alternated the chairmanship with Dan Burton of Indiana, Sam Johnson of Texas and Ernest Istook of Oklahoma until 1999. In January 2006, The Union newspaper of Grass Valley, California quoted Doolittle as saying that A liberal front is underway to find God, in February 2006, Doolittle was praised by the El Dorado Irrigation District for his assistance in obtaining funds for hydroelectric power projects. Doolittle is known for support of the Auburn Dam project, despite environmental concerns, a mid-1990s preliminary United States Geological Survey report cited concerns about the potential of earthquakes caused by that project
John Doolittle
–
John Doolittle
12.
Bose Corporation
–
Bose Corporation /ˈboʊz/ is an American privately held corporation, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, that designs, develops and sells audio equipment. Founded in 1964 by Amar Bose, the company sells its products throughout the world, forbes estimates that in the 2015 financial year, Bose received revenue of US$3.5 billion and employed approximately 11,700 people. Bose is best known for its home audio systems and speakers, noise cancelling headphones, professional audio systems, the company has also conducted research into suspension technologies for cars and heavy-duty trucks and into the subject of cold fusion. Bose has a reputation for being particularly protective of its patents, trademarks, a majority of Bose Corporations shares were given by Amar Bose in 2011 to his alma mater and former employer, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, while they receive cash dividends, they are prohibited from selling their shares in Bose and are unable to participate in the management, the company was founded in 1964 by Amar Bose. Eight years earlier, Bose, then a student at MIT, had purchased a stereo system and was disappointed with its performance. This led him to research the importance of reverberant sound on perceived audio quality, Bose began extensive research aimed at clarifying factors that he saw as fundamental weaknesses plaguing high-end audio systems. e. The listeners head as a sonic diffraction object as part of the system, eight years later, he started the company, charging it with a mission to achieve Better Sound Through Research, now the company slogan. In an interview in 2007 Bose talked about a review that kept the company alive. One magazine in the United States High Fidelity, a really credible magazine, had one reviewer named Norman Eisenburg who really knew his music, in those days I used to take the loudspeaker to the reviewer. I packed my son and loudspeaker in the car and went off and he came out with a review titled Surround and Conquer. He was not known to do things like that, everybody in the press knew he knew music, and it resulted in rave reviews one after another, and we were able to survive. Boses first loudspeaker product, the model 2201, dispersed 22 small mid-range speakers over an eighth of a sphere and it was designed to be located in the corner of a room, using reflections off the walls to increase the apparent size of the room. An electronic equalizer was used to flatten the spectrum of this system. The results of listening tests were disappointing and he believes that distortion is much overrated as a factor in perceived quality in the complex sounds that comprise music. The ultimate test, Bose insists, is the perception of audible quality. This reluctance to publish information is due to Boses rejection of these measurements in favour of more meaningful measurement and this led to a speaker design that aimed eight identical mid-range drivers at the wall behind the speaker, and a ninth driver towards the listener. The purpose of design was to achieve a dominance of reflected over direct sound in home listening spaces
Bose Corporation
–
Bose retail store in
Century City
Bose Corporation
–
Bose Car Audio
Bose Corporation
–
The Bose SoundLink Mini uses
Bluetooth to play audio from cell phones and other portable devices
13.
Richard Pombo
–
Richard William Pombo is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, having represented Californias 11th congressional district from 1993 to 2007. Pombo lost a bid to Democratic challenger Jerry McNerney on November 7,2006. Pombo came in third in that four-way GOP race, with 20.8 percent of the votes, Pombo was born in Tracy, California,18 miles south of Stockton. He attended Cal Poly, Pomona, for three years before dropping out to work for his familys cattle and dairy business and he is a descendant of Portuguese immigrants. Pombo is married to the former Annette Cole and has three children, even after being elected to Congress, he returned to his 500-acre ranch near Tracy every week. Pombo is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, from 1990 to 1992, Pombo served on the Tracy City Council. In 1992, Pombo won the Republican primary by defeating several candidates in a race for a seat in a district newly created by redistricting. California had added seven seats in the House after the 1990 census, Pombos strongest opponent in the Republican primary was moderate Republican Sandra Smoley, a Sacramento County Supervisor. In November, Pombo defeated Democrat Patti Garamendi, although the district had a Democratic majority and was carried by Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Pombo was reelected from this district in 1994,1996,1998 and 2000, Californias 11th district was significantly altered as a result of the 2000 round of redistricting. The District lost a portion of Sacramento County to the neighboring 3rd District, the district was pushed westward into the San Francisco Bay Area when it picked up some of the more Republican-leaning portions of the East Bay-based 10th District. Pombo was reelected in 2002 and 2004 after the re-districting, in Congress, Pombo had a conservative track record. In 1994, during the Republican Revolution, he was one of the signatories of the Contract with America and he was a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee. He was given the nickname The Marlboro Man by President George W. Bush, Pombo is especially known for his defense of private property rights. This was spurred by the Southern Pacific Railroads abandonment of the Altamont Pass route through Tracy, Pombo owned land adjacent to the abandoned railroad line. Pombo argued that the abandoned easement should legally revert to the adjacent property owners rather than to the park district. He argued that as the easement was granted based on a promise that the land would be used for railroad purposes only, Pombos case resulted in Congress passing the Rails to Trails Act. In a New York Times editorial, Pombo was called a product of the extreme property rights movement
Richard Pombo
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Richard Pombo
14.
Nancy Pelosi
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Nancy Patricia DAlesandro Pelosi is an American politician who is the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, representing Californias 12th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, Pelosi represents Californias 12th congressional district, the district was numbered as the 5th during Pelosis first three terms in the House, and as the 8th from 1993 to 2013. She served as the House Minority Whip from 2002 to 2003, Pelosi is the first woman, the first Californian and first Italian-American to lead a major party in Congress. On November 17,2010, Pelosi was elected as the Democratic Leader by House Democrats, Pelosi is Italian-American and was born Nancy Patricia DAlesandro in Baltimore, Maryland. She is the youngest of six children of Annunciata M. Nancy, who was born in Campobasso, South Italy, on 25 March 1909, Congressman from Maryland and a Mayor of Baltimore. Pelosis brother, Thomas DAlesandro III, also a Democrat, was mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971, Pelosi was involved with politics from an early age. In her outgoing remarks as the 60th Speaker of the House and she graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, a Catholic all-girls high school in Baltimore, and from Trinity College in Washington, D. C. in 1962 with a B. A. in political science. Pelosi interned for Senator Daniel Brewster alongside future House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and she met Paul Frank Pelosi while she was attending Trinity College. They married in Baltimore at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on September 7,1963, after moving to San Francisco, Pelosi worked her way up in Democratic politics. She became a friend of one of the leaders of the California Democratic Party, in 1976, Pelosi was elected as a Democratic National Committee member from California, a position she would hold until 1996. She was elected as party chair for Northern California on January 30,1977, and for the California Democratic Party, Pelosi was appointed Finance Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of the U. S. Senate Democrats, in 1985. That same year, she ran to succeed Chuck Manatt as chair of the Democratic National Committee, Pelosi left her post as DSCC finance chair in 1986. Phillip Burton died in 1983 and was succeeded by his wife, in late 1986, Sala became ill with cancer and decided not to run for reelection in 1988. She picked Pelosi as her successor, guaranteeing her the support of the Burtons contacts. Sala died on February 1,1987, just a month after being sworn in for a full term. Pelosi represents one of the safest Democratic districts in the country, Democrats have held the seat since 1949 and Republicans, who currently make up only 13 percent of registered voters in the district, have not made a serious bid for the seat since the early 1960s. She won the seat in her own right in 1988 and has been reelected 10 more times with no substantive opposition and she has not participated in candidates debates since her 1987 race against Harriet Ross. The strongest challenge Pelosi has faced was in 2008 when anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan polled 16%, in the House, she served on the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, and was the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee until her election as Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi
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Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
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An early congressional photo of Pelosi taken in 1993.
Nancy Pelosi
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Pelosi (right) with Vice President
Dick Cheney behind President George W. Bush at the
2007 State of the Union Address making history as the first woman to sit behind the podium at such an address. President Bush acknowledged this by beginning his speech with the words, "Tonight, I have a high privilege and distinct honor of my own – as the first President to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker".
Nancy Pelosi
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Pelosi conducts convention business during the first day of the
2008 Democratic National Convention in
Denver, Colorado.
15.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
–
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission 558 U. S.310 is a U. S. constitutional law and corporate law case dealing with the regulation of campaign spending by organizations. The United States Supreme Court held on 21 January 2010 that freedom of speech prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation. The principles articulated by the Supreme Court in the case have also extended to for-profit corporations, labor unions. This would violate a federal statute prohibiting certain electioneering communications near an election, the court found the provisions of the law that prohibited corporations and unions from making such electioneering communications to conflict with the U. S. Constitution. However, the court upheld requirements for disclosure by sponsors of advertisements. The case did not affect the federal ban on contributions from corporations or unions to candidate campaigns or political parties. The Supreme Court reversed this decision, striking down those provisions of BCRA that prohibited corporations and unions from making independent expenditures, the majority decision overruled Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce and partially overruled McConnell v. Federal Election Commission. The Court, however, upheld requirements for disclosure by sponsors of advertisements. The case did not involve the federal ban on contributions from corporations or unions to candidate campaigns or political parties. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 – specifically §203, which modified the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,2 U. S. C. § 441b – prohibited corporations and unions from using their general treasury to fund electioneering communications within 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election. The FEC dismissed the complaint after finding no evidence that broadcast advertisements for the film, in the wake of these decisions, Citizens United sought to establish itself as a bona fide commercial film maker, producing several documentary films between 2005 and 2007. By early 2008, it sought to run television commercials to promote its political documentary Hillary, The Movie and it also sought to enjoin the funding, disclosure, and disclaimer requirements as applied to Citizens United’s intended ads for the movie. In accordance with rules in section 403 of the BCRA. The court held that the Supreme Court in McConnell v, on July 18,2008, the District Court granted summary judgement to the Federal Election Commission. In accordance with the rules in the BCRA, Citizens United appealed to the Supreme Court which docketed the case on August 18,2008. The Supreme Court heard oral argument on March 24,2009 and then asked for briefs on June 29. During the original argument, Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm L. Stewart argued that under Austin v
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
–
Justice Kennedy, the author of the Court's opinion.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
–
Supreme Court of the United States
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
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Justice Stevens, the author of the dissenting opinion.
16.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
–
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D. C. Circuit, is the appellate court for the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Circuit, as all the U. S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a basis by the Supreme Court. C. Circuit from having to take appeals from the local D. C. trial court, while it has the smallest geographic jurisdiction of any of the United States courts of appeals, the D. C. Circuit, with eleven active judgeships, is arguably the most important inferior appellate court, aside from the agencies whose statutes explicitly direct review by the D. C. Circuit, the court hears cases from other agencies under the more general jurisdiction granted to the Courts of Appeals under the Administrative Procedure Act. Given the broad areas over which federal agencies have power, this gives the judges of the D. C. Circuit a central role in affecting national U. S. policy. As of February 2016, three of the eight justices on the Supreme Court are alumni of the D. C, Circuit, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Elena Kagan was nominated by Bill Clinton to the seat that Roberts would later fill. In 1987, the Reagan Administration put forth two failed nominees from the D. C, however, in recent years, several nominees were stalled and some were ultimately not confirmed because senators claimed that the court had become larger than necessary to handle its caseload. The court has a history of reversing the Federal Communications Commissions major policy actions, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit meets at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse, near Judiciary Square in downtown Washington, D. C. From 1984 to 2009, there were seats on the D. C. One of those seats was eliminated by the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007 on January 7,2008, with immediate effect, Courts of Appeals are published in the Federal Reporter, an unofficial reporter from Thomson Reuters. The Chief Justiceship was a seat, the President would appoint the Chief Justice. On June 25,1948,62 Stat.869 and 62 Stat.985 became law and these acts made the Chief Justice a Chief Judge. In 1954, another law,68 Stat, Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve unless the circuit justice is also on the panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is nominated to be chief
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
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E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
–
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Cir.)
17.
Club for Growth
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The Club for Growth is a 501 conservative organization active in the United States, with an agenda focused on cutting taxes and other economic issues. The Club for Growth PAC endorses and raises money for candidates who meet its standards for fiscal conservatism, according to Politico, The Club for Growth is the pre-eminent institution promoting Republican adherence to a free-market, free-trade, anti-regulation agenda. The Club for Growth was founded in 1999 by Stephen Moore, Thomas L. Rhodes, Moore served as the first president of the Club from 1999 until December 2004, when board members voted to remove Moore as president. Pennsylvania United States Senator Pat Toomey served as president from 2005 until his resignation in April 2009, Former Indiana Congressman Chris Chocola succeeded Toomey. Chocola served as president through December 2014 and he remains a member of the Club’s board. Former Indiana Congressman David McIntosh was named president in January 2015, in 2010, the Club’s political arms spent about $8.6 million directly on candidates and bundled another $6 million from Club members, directing those funds to candidates. In 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Club members donated at least $4 million, founder Stephen Moore has said, We want to be seen as the tax cut enforcer in the party. Unlike many other political action committees, the Club for Growths PAC regularly participates in funding candidates for primary elections, the Club focuses more on open seats than on challenging sitting Republicans, but it has helped to unseat a number of incumbent Republicans. Each election cycle, the Clubs PAC endorses candidates and encourages donors to support the endorsed candidates, promoting a more conservative agenda, the Club is known for targeting establishment Republican candidates. In 2003, the original Club for Growth strongly opposed the Medicare prescription drug benefit proposal, the Club for Growth strongly supported the Bush tax cuts of 2003 and ran television ads against two Republicans who voiced opposition to the tax cuts. According to The New York Times, Last spring, Moore attacked two Republican Senators who were resisting the latest tax cut, George Voinovich of Ohio and Olympia Snowe of Maine. He ran ads in each of their states in which he compared them with the French president, karl Rove, President Bushs political advisor, stated that the ads were stupid and counterproductive. In 2005 Pat Toomey became president and the Club for Growth created a congressional scorecard, the Club’s first key vote alert was an amendment sponsored by a Democrat. Representative Earl Blumenauer offered an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have reduced the sugar program by 6 percent. The Club for Growth supported the amendment, which failed, 146–280, the Club fought to support the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement in 2005, running print advertisements in local Beltway publications in the Washington, DC area. According to Roll Call, Former Rep. Pat Toomey, president of the Club for Growth, the Club opposed the 2005 highway bill. President Bush threatened to veto the bill but did sign it, the Christian Science Monitor quoted David Keating saying, For fiscal conservatives, its frustrating to watch. Hes beginning to lose all credibility with these veto threats. Keating said to the Chicago Sun-Times, It is a pork-laden bill, the Christian Science Monitor reported Toomey saying, This is a defining moment
Club for Growth
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Club for Growth
18.
Steven T. Walther
–
Steven T. Walther is a member of the United States Federal Election Commission and its former chair. He was first sworn in as a Commissioner on January 10,2006, although his name was placed before the Senate for confirmation in June,2007, his recess term expired on December 31,2007, before the Senate acted. On June 24,2008, he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and sworn in on June 27 as a Commissioner, during his legal career Mr. Walther has been active in professional legal and judicial organizations and activities, as well as numerous civic activities. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association. He has been active in ABA initiatives focusing on relations, human rights. He was appointed by the ABA President to serve as the ABA Representative to the United Nations and he has been a member of the Board of Trustees and lecturer for the National Judicial College, both in the United States and in Russia. Mr. Walther has lectured extensively, both domestically and internationally, on rule of law, human rights, litigation and international law issues and he is a member of the American Law Institute and the International Bar Association. Mr. Walther is a president of the State Bar of Nevada, the Western States Bar Conference. He is a past chair of the 6,000 member Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, from 1971 until his FEC appointment, Mr. Walther served as a member of the Nevada State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. He received his J. D. degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley in 1968 and he received his undergraduate degree, with a major in Russian, from the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1965
Steven T. Walther
–
Steven T. Walther
19.
Advisory opinion
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Some countries have procedures by which the executive or legislative branches may certify important questions to the judiciary and obtain an advisory opinion. In other countries or specific jurisdictions, courts may be prohibited from issuing advisory opinions, the International Court of Justice is empowered to give advisory opinions under Chapter IV of its Statute when requested to do so by certain organs or agencies of the United Nations. These opinions are non-binding, but Pieter H. F, in his view, an advisory opinion derives its status and authority from the fact that it is the official pronouncement of the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It is also empowered to give advice on laws and proposed legislation. List of Advisory Opinions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the High Court of Australia is prohibited by the Constitution of Australia from issuing advisory opinions, a binding determination requires a controversy between two parties. Under Canadian law, the reference question mechanism is equivalent to an advisory opinion, the Supreme Court Act gives the federal Cabinet the power to refer questions to the Supreme Court of Canada on any questions of law. The Supreme Court then has jurisdiction to hold a hearing on the reference, the Attorney General of Canada participates in a federal reference. The provincial and territorial Attorneys General have the right to intervene, the parties make detailed written submissions to the Court, which then holds a hearing. It typically reserves its decision, later releasing a written opinion, the Court has a discretion to refuse to answer questions which are too ambiguous or will not provide an answer with any meaning. The Provincial governments and some of the territories have a power to refer questions to their highest appeal courts for an opinion. This power is set out in their respective provincial laws defining the powers of the appellate courts, the Supreme Court Act gives an automatic right of appeal from a reference decision of a provincial Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. In India, the President of India can request the Supreme Court of India to provide its advice on certain matters and this procedure is called Presidential Reference. According to Article 143 of the Constitution of India, the President of India may refer to the Supreme Court of India, however, it is not binding on the Supreme Court to answer questions raised in the reference. It is unusual in that Courts will not normally exercise jurisdiction in a case without a justiciable matter, Courts normally will not conduct a case on a hypothetical question. On account of the nature of Article 55, the Court must limit itself to the questions asked, whilst the Court gives what is termed an Opinion, one must realise that it is a constitutional opinion based on law. While this doctrine is still in force, there has been a liberalization of these requirements in recent years. Over a century later the Court dismissed a case there was no actual controversy between the parties, thus, any opinion rendered would be advisory. Many state courts are barred from issuing advisory opinions, although there are often specific exceptions to these limitations
Advisory opinion
–
United States Federal Civil Procedure doctrines
20.
Mitt Romney
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Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by his parents George and Lenore Romney, he spent 2½ years in France as a Mormon missionary, starting in 1966. He married Ann Davies in 1969, and they have five sons, by 1971, he had participated in the political campaigns of both parents. He earned a BA at Brigham Young University in 1971 and a joint JD–MBA at Harvard University in 1975, Romney entered the management consulting industry, and in 1977 secured a position at Bain & Company. Later serving as Bains chief executive officer, he helped lead the company out of a financial crisis, in 1984, he co-founded and led the spin-off company Bain Capital, a highly profitable private equity investment firm that became one of the largest of its kind in the nation. Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served during his business career as the bishop of his ward and then stake president in his home area near Boston. After stepping down from Bain Capital and his leadership role in the LDS Church. Upon losing to longtime incumbent Ted Kennedy, he resumed his position at Bain Capital, years later, a successful stint as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics led to a relaunch of his political career. He also presided over the elimination of a projected $1. 2–1.5 billion deficit through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and the closure of corporate tax loopholes. He did not seek re-election in 2006, instead focusing on his campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U. S. presidential election and he won several primaries and caucuses, however, he lost to the eventual nominee, Senator John McCain. His considerable net worth, estimated in 2012 at $190–250 million, following his term as Governor of Massachusetts in 2007, Romney was the Republican Partys nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. He won the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, becoming the first Mormon to be a major party presidential nominee and he was defeated by incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 general election, losing by 332–206 electoral college votes. The popular vote margin was 51–47 percent in Obamas favor, following the election, he initially kept a low profile, and later became more visible politically. Willard Mitt Romney was born on March 12,1947, at Harper University Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, one of four born to automobile executive George W. Romney. His mother was a native of Logan, Utah, and his father was born to American parents in a Mormon colony in Chihuahua, of primarily English descent, he also has Scottish and German ancestry. Another great-great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, helped lead the early Church, Romney has three elder siblings, Margo, Jane, and Scott. His parents named him after a friend, businessman J. Willard Marriott, and his fathers cousin, Milton Mitt Romney. Romney was referred to as Billy until kindergarten, when he indicated a preference for Mitt, in 1953, the family moved from Detroit to the affluent suburb of Bloomfield Hills. His father became the chairman and CEO of American Motors the following year, soon helping the company avoid bankruptcy, by 1959, his father had become a nationally known figure in print and on television, and the youngster idolized him
Mitt Romney
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His Excellency Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
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Romney began attending
Cranbrook School in 1959.
Mitt Romney
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Mitt's father George (pictured here in a 1968 poster) lost the Republican presidential nomination to
Richard M. Nixon and later was appointed to the
Nixon cabinet.
Mitt Romney
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Mitt's mother Lenore (promoted here on a button) lost a Senate race in 1970, and he worked for her campaign.
21.
Winning Our Future
–
The 2012 presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich, former U. S. Representative from Georgia and Speaker of the House began shortly following the 2010 midterm elections and he was politically active during the midterm elections, and helped several Tea Party-backed Republicans with his endorsements and fundraising abilities. In early 2011, he chose to run for president and left his position as a political analyst for Fox News to seek the 2012 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. He suffered campaign staff troubles in June but by November had revived his campaign through strong debate performances, in November and early December 2011, Gingrich was the front-runner of the Republican primaries, gaining momentum in the early states of Iowa, Florida, and South Carolina. By December, however, Gingrichs polling success had attracted renewed media scrutiny and his support began to wane and he was fourth in the first two contests of the 2012 primary season held on January 3 and 10, a result attributed to a wave of opponent-financed attack ads. He subsequently focused his attention on front runner Romney, dubbing him a timid Massachusetts moderate, after strong debate performances in the week prior to the South Carolina primary, he managed to revive his campaign by winning all of that southern states delegates on January 21. Although Gingrich captured 32% of the vote in Florida on January 31, after low percentages of the votes in early February, the Newt 2012 campaign counted on a strong showing in the March votes in the South, particularly in Alabama and Mississippi. Gingrich came a second in both, and announced he would not drop out. On April 25,2012, he announced he would suspend his campaign on Tuesday, May 1 and he withdrew from the race on Wednesday, May 2. Gingrich was first elected to Congress in 1978, and served as Speaker of the House after helping to orchestrate the 1994 Republican Revolution in part with the Contract With America and he stepped down as Speaker and resigned from the House in 1999. Since then, he has published historical novels and served as a political consultant. He was previously speculated as a candidate in the 2008 election, for most of 2010, Gingrich spent a considerable amount of time campaigning throughout the early primary states, particularly Iowa and New Hampshire. In 2011, he took part in the Conservative Political Action Conference, Gingrich had maintained he would not officially decide whether or not to pursue the office of president until at least February 2011, and would announce his decision sometime in March. It was erroneously announced on May 1,2011, that Gingrich had formed an exploratory committee and he actually launched an exploratory committee on May 3, when he started his new website. The website, entitled Newt Exploratory 2012, features a photo of Gingrich with his wife, Callista, the Getty Images-licensed background was found to have been previously used on the website of the late Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. He officially declared his run for president on May 11,2011, through Twitter and YouTube, on May 15,2011, Gingrich was interviewed by David Gregory on Meet the Press. Gingrich answered, I dont think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering, I dont think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate. Perceived to be criticism of the Republican Partys plan to reform Medicare for the 2012 United States federal budget, on June 9,2011, Gingrichs campaign manager, his press secretary, and senior aides in early primary states resigned en masse
Winning Our Future
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Newt Gingrich for President 2012
Winning Our Future
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Newt Gingrich speaking to voters in Des Moines, Iowa
Winning Our Future
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Gingrich at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, ahead of the Ames Straw Poll.
22.
Newt Gingrich
–
Newton Leroy Newt Gingrich is an American author and politician from Georgia who served as the 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. He represented Georgias 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1979 until his resignation in 1999, in 2012, Gingrich was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination. In the 1970s, Gingrich taught history and geography at the University of West Georgia, during this period he ran twice for the United States House of Representatives before winning in November 1978. He served as House Minority Whip from 1989–95, a co-author and architect of the Contract with America, Gingrich was a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional election. In 1995, Time named him Man of the Year for his role in ending the four-decades-long Democratic majority in the House, as House Speaker, Gingrich oversaw passage by the House of welfare reform, and a capital gains tax cut in 1997. In 1998, the House passed the first balanced budget since 1969 and he resigned altogether from the House on January 3,1999. Since leaving the House, Gingrich has remained active in policy debates. He founded and chaired several policy think tanks, including American Solutions for Winning the Future and he has written or co-authored 27 books. In May 2011, he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, on May 2,2012, Gingrich ended his presidential campaign and endorsed front runner Mitt Romney, who won the nomination. After being raised Lutheran and spending most of his life as a Southern Baptist. He has been married three times, with the first two ending in divorce after he had affairs with other women. He has two children from his first marriage and has married to Callista Gingrich since 2000. On July 15,2016, Trump officially announced that Pence would be his running mate, Newton Leroy McPherson was born at the Harrisburg Hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 17,1943. His mother, Kathleen Kit, and father, Newton Searles McPherson, married in September 1942, the marriage fell apart within days. He is of German, Scottish, and Irish descent, in 1946, his mother married career Army officer Robert Gingrich, who adopted Newt. Robert Gingrich was a career Army officer who served tours in Korea, in 1956 the family moved to Europe living for a period in Orléans, France and Stuttgart, Germany. Gingrich has three younger half-sisters, Candace and Susan Gingrich, and Roberta Brown, Gingrich was raised in Hummelstown and on military bases where his father was stationed. He also has a half-sister and half-brother, Randy McPherson, from his fathers side, in 1960 during his junior year in high school, the family moved to Georgia at Fort Benning
Newt Gingrich
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Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
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Rep. Gingrich meets with President
Ronald Reagan, 1985.
Newt Gingrich
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Gingrich's official portrait as Speaker
23.
Center for Responsive Politics
–
The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D. C. that tracks the effects of money and lobbying on elections and public policy. It maintains an online database of its information. Its website, OpenSecrets. org, allows users to track federal campaign contributions and lobbying by lobbying firms, individual lobbyists, industry, federal agency, and bills. Other resources include the financial disclosures of all members of the U. S. Congress, the president. Users can also search by ZIP codes to learn how their neighbors are allocating their political contributions, CRP was founded in 1983 by retired U. S. Senators Frank Church of Idaho, a Democrat, and Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, in the 1980s, Church and Scott launched a money-in-politics project, whose outcome consisted of large, printed books. Their first book, published in 1988, analyzed spending patterns in congressional elections from 1974 through 1986 and it was titled Spending in Congressional Elections, A Never-Ending Spiral. In 1996, CRP launched its online counterpart, OpenSecrets. org, the website is a clearinghouse for data and analysis regarding money in politics. CRP hosts a Revolving Door database which documents the individuals who have passed between the sector and K Street. At the end of 2013, the organization reported $1.56 million in annual revenue, sheila Krumholz has been the CRPs executive director since December 2006, having previously served for eight years as the CRPs research director. She first joined the organization in 1989 and served as the assistant editor of the first edition of the printed volume Open Secrets
Center for Responsive Politics
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Center for Responsive Politics
24.
Campaign finance
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Campaign finance refers to all funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referenda. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political committees are vehicles used in aggregating funds to keep campaigns alive. Political finance is also popular terminology, and is used internationally for its comprehensiveness, Campaign finance deals with the costs of democracy, a term coined by G. Alexander Heard for his famous analysis of campaign finance in the U. S. Political campaigns have many expenditures, such as the cost of travel of candidates and staff, political consulting, Campaign spending depends on the region. For instance, in the United States, television advertising time must be purchased by campaigns, whereas in other countries, the need to raise money to maintain expensive political campaigns diminishes ties to a representative democracy because of the influence large contributors have over politicians. So some have come to equate campaign finance with political corruption and these views have led governments to reform campaign financing in the hope of eliminating big money influence. The causes and effects of campaign finance rules are studied in science, economics. Some countries rely heavily on donors to finance political campaigns. In these countries, fundraising is often a significant activity for the campaign staff, for example, one survey in the United States found that 23% of candidates for statewide office surveyed say that they spent more than half of their scheduled time raising money. Over half of all candidates surveyed spent at least 1/4 of their time on fundraising, one study finds that political donations gives donors significantly greater access to policy makers. Most countries that rely on donations to fund campaigns require extensive disclosure of donations, frequently including information such as the name, employer. These kind of donations can come from individuals, as well as groups such as trade unions. However, critics of this claim that it leads to votes being bought. Other countries choose to use government funding to run campaigns, funding campaigns from the government budget is widespread in South America and Europe. Not all government subsidies take the form of money, some systems require campaign materials to be provided at low rates to the candidates. Critics sometimes complain of the expense of the government financing systems, conservative and libertarian critics of the system argue that government should not subsidize political speech. Other critics argue that government financing, with its emphasis on equalizing money resources, in many countries, such as Germany and the United States, campaigns can be funded by a combination of private and public money. In some electoral systems, candidates who win an election or secure a number of ballots are allowed to apply for a rebate to the government
Campaign finance
–
An infographic explaining
American system of campaign finance, by the
Sunlight Foundation
25.
Limited liability company
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A limited liability company is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a structure that combines the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a corporation. An LLC is not a corporation, it is a form of a company that provides limited liability to its owners in many jurisdictions. LLCs do not need to be organized for profit, a Limited Liability Company is a hybrid business entity having certain characteristics of both a corporation and a partnership or sole proprietorship. An LLC, although a business entity, is a type of unincorporated association and is not a corporation, the primary characteristic an LLC shares with a corporation is limited liability, and the primary characteristic it shares with a partnership is the availability of pass-through income taxation. It is often more flexible than a corporation, and it is well-suited for companies with a single owner, in the absence of express statutory guidance, most American courts have held that LLC members are subject to the same common law alter ego piercing theories as corporate shareholders. However, it is difficult to pierce the LLC veil because LLCs do not have many formalities to maintain. So long as the LLC and the members do not commingle funds, membership interests in LLCs and partnership interests are also afforded a significant level of protection through the charging order mechanism. The charging order limits the creditor of a debtor-partner or a debtor-member to the share of distributions. Limited liability company members may, in circumstances, also incur a personal liability in cases where distributions to members render the LLC insolvent. State statutes typically provide automatic or default rules for how an LLC will be governed unless the operating agreement provides otherwise. Similarly, the phrase unless otherwise provided for in the by laws is found in all corporation law statutes. The limited liability company has grown to one of the most prevalent business forms in the entire United States. Under the amendment, parties to an LLC remain free to expand, restrict, section 18-101, a Delaware LLC operating agreement can be written, oral or implied. It sets forth member capital contributions, ownership percentages, and management structure, like a prenuptial agreement, an operating agreement can avoid future disputes between members by addressing buy-out rights, valuation formulas, and transfer restrictions. A written LLC operating agreement should be signed by all of its members, for U. S. federal income tax purposes, an LLC is treated by default as a pass-through entity. Thus, income from the LLC is taxed at the tax rates. The default tax status for LLCs with multiple members is as a partnership, an LLC with either single or multiple members may elect to be taxed as a corporation through the filing of IRS Form 8832
Limited liability company
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Basic investment types
Limited liability company
26.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
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The union also represents some workers in the computer, telecommunications, broadcasting, and other fields related to electrical work. It is an organization, based on the principle of collective bargaining. Its international president is Lonnie R. Stephenson, and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the beginnings of the IBEW were in the Electrical Wiremen and Linemens Union No. 5221, founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1890, by 1891, after sufficient interest was shown in a national union, a convention was held on November 21,1891 in St. Louis. At the convention, the IBEW, then known as the National Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, was officially formed, the American Federation of Labor gave the NBEW a charter as an AFL affiliate on December 7,1891. The unions official journal, The Electrical Worker, was first published on January 15,1893, at the 1899 convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the unions name was officially changed to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The union went through lean times in its years, then struggled through six years of schism during the 1910s. That body still functions today, and has largely resolved strikes in the IBEWs jurisdiction in the construction industry. The IBEW added additional training programs and courses as needed to keep up with new technologies, including an industrial electronics course in 1959, the IBEWs membership peaked in 1972 at approximately 1 million members. The membership numbers were in a slow decline throughout the rest of the 1970s and the 1980s, membership as of 2013 stands at about 750,000, according to their official website. At the Labor Archives of Washington State, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
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IBEW obligation at Local 405 hall in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
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IBEW
27.
American Bankers Association
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The American Bankers Association is a Washington, D. C. -based trade association for the U. S. banking industry. ABA is considered the largest financial group in the United States. Relying on help and intelligence from peer bankers in the form of frequent correspondence, Howenstein escaped his dilemma, Howenstein later recalled, The 1873 panic was a well spring of subject matter for correspondence and we cashiers availed of it for the general information. We were acquaintances before we had more of each other than handwriting. But the time had now come for something better, with our pens we had wished each other the good cheer of a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and that scarcely discharged the pensiveness of our unrelief of bank work. We wanted to meet each other, among the ABA’s earliest activities was the American Institute of Banking, which was founded in 1903 to provide professional education via examinations and certificates through local chapters. AIB provided a path to careers in banking to collegiate training in finance. The ABA, first headquartered in New York City, organized its activities through sections focused on particular bank types, the trust company section was organized in 1896, followed by one for clearing houses in 1899, savings banks in 1902, and state bankers associations in 1908. The ABA’s growth continued with the emergence of the Federal Reserve System, in 1915, the ABA organized a section for national banks and an additional section for state banks in 1916. To facilitate advocacy before the Comptroller of the Currency, the bank section opened the ABA’s first office in Washington. The state bank section also used the Washington office to represent its banks’ interest before the Federal Reserve, the Educational Foundation went on to house the ABA’s youth financial literacy initiatives. The 1930s saw an expansion of the ABA’s professional development activities led by Harold Stonier, Stonier founded the ABA Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University in 1935 with 220 students. The school later moved to Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 2007, ABA launched other professional development programs in the years that followed, including for bank marketers, compliance officers, trust bankers, and commercial lenders. Federal-level advocacy became increasingly important to ABA members over the 20th century, with these changes in the industry, the ABA consolidated its operations in its current Washington, D. C. location in 1971, closing the New York office. The ABA achieved a goal with the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in November 1999. The ABAs activities are overseen by a board of directors consisting of several bankers, the association is led by four volunteer banker officers and a paid president and CEO, and the offices of chairman, chairman-elect, and vice chairman rotate annually. Previous notable ABA officers include, George Fisher Baker, ABA treasurer from 1875 to 1895, co-founder of the First National Bank of New York in 1863, lyman J. Gage, ABA president from 1883 to 1886 and U. S. Treasury Secretary from 1897 to 1902. Representative from 1893 to 1895 and ABA president from 1897 to 1898, francis Henry Fries, textiles businessman and ABA trust company division president from 1911 to 1912
American Bankers Association
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American Bankers Association
American Bankers Association
American Bankers Association
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A plaque marks the building where the ABA was first organized in 1875, Saratoga Springs, New York.
28.
National Beer Wholesalers Association
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The National Beer Wholesalers Association is a trade association that represents the interests of more than 2,850 beer distributors throughout the United States before government and the public. The organization works to strengthen and maintain the system of alcohol regulation. In 2007, NBWA was named among Washingtonian Magazines list of Great Places to Work, the association is led by Craig A. Purser, who became President & CEO in 2005. NBWAs primary mission is to advocate for state-based alcohol regulation while providing leadership, the National Beer Wholesalers Association Political Action Committee is the largest Political action committee in the licensed beverage industry. The NBWA PAC was also ranked as the 12th largest on Political Finance’s list of Top 100 PACs for the 2001-2002 election cycle
National Beer Wholesalers Association
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National Beer Wholesalers Association
29.
International Association of Fire Fighters
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The International Association of Fire Fighters is a labor union representing professional fire fighters and emergency medical services personnel in the United States and Canada. The IAFF was formed in 1918 and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO in the United States, the IAFF has more than 300,000 members in more than 3,200 affiliates in every U. S. state and in Canada. IAFF members protect 85 percent of the U. S. population, the IAFF is one of the most active lobbying organizations in Washington. Its Political Action Committee, FIREPAC, is among the top 25 federal PACs among the more than 4,000 in the country, the IAFF was formed in 1918 when fire fighters worked 24-hour shifts on continuous duty and received salaries as low 29 cents an hour. The IAFF has fought for better wages, benefits and working conditions and improved safety for its members, the IAFF is a member driven organization — for fire fighters, by fire fighters. The IAFF has announced plans to open the Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Treatment and Recovery in 2017 located in Upper Marlboro, the center also will serve to train and educate peer support members in the treatment of post-traumatic stress and substance abuse in the fire fighter population. The ultimate goal is to develop protocols for fire departments to use to fire fighters. It endorsed the successful gubernatorial candidacies of Rick Perry, Terry McAuliffe, and Mitch Daniels, examples of the IAFF’s endorsement of Republicans in 2010 include Senators Lisa Murkowski and Chuck Grassley, and Representatives Sam Graves, John Shimkus, Geoff Davis and Peter King. Each year the IAFF hosts a national conference in Washington. The IAFF legislative conference is the largest legislative conference of any union in the country, FIREPAC is the federally registered political action committee of the IAFF. FIREPAC was established in 1978 and has grown into the top one percent of all federally registered PACs, during the 2009 –2010 election cycle FIREPAC raised $5.3 million and was the tenth largest PAC in terms of donations to federal candidates. Within organized labor, FIREPAC has been the most bi-partisan PAC during the last decade, the IAFF follows a simple philosophy when it supporting candidates – they support those who support them, regardless of party affiliation or one’s political leanings. The IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial is a permanent remembrance of IAFF members, an annual memorial observance is held each year in September in Colorado Springs, Colorado. More than 7,400 names of fallen IAFF members are etched on the wall, the International Association of Fire Fighters is the largest national sponsor of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The 300,000 members of the IAFF in the United States, the contributions of fire fighters go towards MDAs summer camps for children, professional and public health education and other programs. IAFF members have donated nearly $558 million to MDA since 1954, ^ - Membership information from IAFF website. ^ - IAFF 48th Convention resolutions, retrieved 16 November 2006
International Association of Fire Fighters
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IAFF
30.
International Union of Operating Engineers
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Founded in 1896, it currently represents roughly 400,000 workers in approximately 170 local unions and operates nearly 100 apprenticeship programs. IUOE Local 3, based in Alameda, California, is the largest building and construction trades local in the U. S. with jurisdiction covering four states, California, Nevada, Hawaii, Local 3 is headed by Business Manager Russ Burns. IUOE Local 4, based in Medway, Massachusetts, has over 4,500 members in central and eastern Massachusetts, eastern New Hampshire, and Maine. IUOE Local 14-14B, based in Flushing, New York, represents approximately 1,600 members working in the five boroughs of New York City. IUOE Local 98, based in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, represents approximately 1,300 members in Western Massachusetts, Western New Hampshire, and Vermont. Local 150, based in Countryside, Illinois, is the third-largest local in the International with jurisdiction in parts of three states, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa, Local 150s President and Business Manager is James Jim Sweeney. Local 150 represents the most traditional Operating Engineers employees in the International, Local 150 has an advanced Operating Engineers apprenticeship program. Local 825 covers New Jersey and the counties of New York State. The Local 825 Business Manager is Greg Lalevee, the Local 825 training center is located adjacent to the NJ Turnpike. Local 137 represents the Operating Engineers in the counties of Westchester, Putnam, the branch is headquartered in Briarcliff Manor, New York, in a former dairy processing building for Briarcliff Farms. Members of this branch are currently working on the largest infrastructure project in New York and one of the largest in the nation, Local 115s Business Manager is Brian Cochrane and its President is Wayne Mills. Local 115 runs a Training Institute that is accredited with Private Career Training Institutions, students learn how to operate many different pieces of heavy equipment in a real-life environment at its Maple Ridge Training Facility, a 41-acre site operated by the Training Association. This state-of-the-art facility also features a facility and heavy equipment inventory worth more than $3 million as well as computer simulation equipment, courses are also offered in other centres around the region. Experienced and professional instructors provide courses in excavator, backhoe, dozer, grader, asphalt laydown, Local 115 also provide all courses necessary for the BC Association of Crane Safety ticketing process. However, a court judge disagreed. Russell Zinn found that HD Mining, the owner of the mine, had fulfilled the requirements set out in a federally mandated Labour Market Opinion. Official website Local 115 BC & Yukon |http, //www. iuoe115. com/ George E. Flood Papers 1933-1960.25 cubic feet
International Union of Operating Engineers
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Local 94 headquarters, New York
International Union of Operating Engineers
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IUOE
