Clinton https://www.morningsidecenter.org/ en 2016 Presidential Election: A Dialogue https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/2016-presidential-election-dialogue <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>2016 Presidential Election: A Dialogue</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Objectives</h4> <p><strong>Students will:&nbsp;</strong></p> <ul> <li>Read a profile of an American voter this election season and attempt to step into their shoes</li> <li>Explore the difference between debate and dialogue</li> <li>Practice dialogue in a roleplay that is held in a fishbowl</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;<br> <strong>Social and emotional skills:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Active listening; listening to diverse opinions</li> <li>Managing feelings</li> <li>Assertiveness</li> <li>Appreciating multiple points of view</li> <li>Conflict resolution skills<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <h4>Materials Needed</h4> <ul> <li>Today's agenda on chart paper or on the board</li> <li>Space in your class to set up two concentric circles with chairs for the purpose of a&nbsp;fishbowl (see description below)</li> <li>Printouts of <a href="/sites/default/files/files/Voter%20Profiles(1).pdf">these profiles of voters</a> (profiles are also included at the bottom of the lesson)</li> <li>Six name pages or pieces of paper that can serve as name badges<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <h4>Gathering<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Ask students what they've noticed about how the presidential candidates have engaged with one another over the past months. What words would they use to describe the candidates' interactions? Chart the words students share on the board or on chart paper posted for all to see.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Next, ask students to raise their hands if they've heard voters argue about who they'll support in the election and why.&nbsp; Ask students what words they would use to describe these interactions. With a different color marker, chart the words students share.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Now invite students to look at the words on the chart and discuss some or all of the following questions:<br> &nbsp;<br> What do you notice about the words on the chart?<br> What does that tell you about the kind of election season we've had in 2016?<br> How do you think these words relate to promoting understanding?<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Check agenda and goals for the day<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Refer back to the chart you created and note that this election period has been combative and has included several acrimonious debates. The country is deeply divided. People have strong feelings about the election, and these emotions tend to play into the conversations, arguments, and debates people have about the candidates and the issues.<br> &nbsp;<br> In today's lesson, we're going to try to approach things in a different way. Rather than debating the issues, which is a method often used in class to discuss opposing opinions, we're going to have a dialogue instead.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Introduction: Debate &amp; Dialogue<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Introduce students to a comparison of debate and dialogue:<br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>Debate:</strong>&nbsp; Most of us are familiar with debate as a way to argue a point. Debate is an approach that takes place between opponents who are combative, who are trying to prove each other wrong. It's often a zero sum game that's all about one side winning, the other losing. In debate, opponents listen for flaws and weaknesses in the other side's argument. They defend their own assumptions as truth, assuming theirs is the one right answer or perspective. There is little to no investment in the relationship, and in a heated debate people may belittle, criticize, or even ridicule the other side.<br> &nbsp;<br> Ask students if this sounds familiar. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>Dialogue</strong>: Dialogue, on the other hand, is a cooperative endeavor that takes place between partners. In dialogue, people listen so that they can understand the other's position, seeking to find common ground that allows all parties to win. In dialogue, partners reveal their assumptions and reexamine their various positions, assuming that different people have pieces of the answer and that together we can work on stronger solutions. Dialogue requires that the partners respect one another and be open-minded, open to being wrong and open to change.<br> &nbsp;<br> Ask students, does this sound familiar?<br> &nbsp;<br> If you have time, ask some of the following questions before going into the substance of your lesson:</p> <ul> <li>Which is more prevalent at school: debate or dialogue?&nbsp;</li> <li>What about in our advisory group? [if your school has one]</li> <li>Which approach do you see used most often in the world beyond school?&nbsp; The elections?</li> <li>Which approach do you think is most useful when working as a group?</li> <li>Which is most useful when trying to resolve conflict?</li> <li>What is a key skill that is needed for dialogue?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <h4><br> Roleplay/Fishbowl Activity<br> <strong>The American Electorate: A Microcosm</strong><br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Split your class/advisory into six groups. Provide each group with a nametag or badge, and a profile of one American voter this election season.&nbsp; (Please download and print <a href="/sites/default/files/files/Voter%20Profiles(1).pdf">this pdf,</a> which includes six profiles.)&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Instruct students to read the profile and explain that their group will be speaking as this voter in a class discussion. Explain that the profiles are adapted from media stories about real people. In their small group, invite students to discuss their profile so that they can better understand the voter whose role they will be playing.&nbsp; Before beginning the fishbowl activity, ask each group to create a name tent for their voter, which they will put on the floor in front of them. It should be easily readable, and should include which voter they are, Voter A, B, C, D, E or F and three key piece of information about this voter that they'd like the others in the group to know.<br> &nbsp;<br> Set up your class in a fishbowl - that is, two concentric circles. The inner circle will include one representative from each group; others from their group will be seated behind them in the outer circle. &nbsp;(See <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/engaging-your-class-through-groupwork">this description</a> of group work strategies for more on how fishbowls work.)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Ask students to really take on the role of their voter, step into their shoes as they enter into this dialogue. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Remind students that the goal of the dialogue is to better understand the other people/voters in the group. Explain that there is likely to be disagreement and that's okay. You may want to kick off the discussion by asking the voters in the inner circle a few questions, such as:</p> <ul> <li>What do you think is the biggest problem facing this country? Why?</li> <li>Which candidate do you plan to support? Why?</li> <li>What kind of policies do you think would address the problems you are most concerned about?</li> <li>How are you feeling personally about the state of the country or your community?</li> </ul> <p>Allow the dialogue to play out for a bit. Then, give other voters seated in the outside circle a chance to participate. If they would like to take the place of the person from their group in the inner circle, they can tap on that person's shoulder to indicate that they'd like to join the dialogue on behalf of their voter. The two should switch seats. Allow the dialogue to play out again, again encouraging voters to continue to get to know each other. Offer additional chances for students in the outer circle to participate and let the dialogue continue for as long as students are gaining understanding, and interest remains high. Then bring the group back together as a large circle.<br> &nbsp;<br> Debrief the process using some or all of the following questions:</p> <ul> <li>What was that like for you?&nbsp; Why?</li> <li>What was it like for you to talk with people who, in some cases, had very different opinions from your voter?</li> <li>What was it like for you to step into someone else's shoes and share their perspective?</li> <li>Were there shared concerns even among voters who supported different candidates?</li> <li>What did you learn from this dialogue?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <h4>Closing</h4> <p>If you were to forget everything you did today, what would be one take away?</p> <p>&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3><br> VOTER PROFILES</h3> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><strong>VOTER A</strong></h4> <p>&nbsp;<br> <strong>You are a 55-year old Muslim man of Lebanese descent living in upstate New York.&nbsp; You are a registered Republican.&nbsp; </strong><br> &nbsp;<br> Your first choice in the primaries was Republican Carly Fiorina, a former executive at Hewlett Packard. As a strong business person, you couldn't understand why she wasn't doing better in the polls. When it was clear she wasn't going to win, you turned to Republican candidate Ben Carson. You felt he was smart and honest, though his lack of foreign policy experience was a concern.<br> &nbsp;<br> When you and your wife watched the Republican debates, your wife would leave the room because she couldn't stand watching Donald Trump. You yourself had a hard time with some of his behavior and rhetoric. You thought he was pompous and arrogant but you figured that was a strategy. And it worked: he beat 16 candidates and won the Republican nomination.<br> &nbsp;<br> You figure that Trump is a negotiator: if he wanted to buy a building for $20 million, he would come to the table offering five or maybe ten. That's how you viewed his claim that he'd build a wall on the Mexican border and throw out eleven million undocumented immigrants. It was an aggressive first move. With some back and forth, Trump would arrive at some more reasonable way to deal with illegal immigration. You don't think it's possible or desirable to throw out all undocumented immigrants, except felons of course. But you do think it's important to establish an effective border.<br> &nbsp;<br> You describe yourself as an American of Arab descent. Both your grandfathers immigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon as children. As a third-generation American, &nbsp;you're sad to have lost touch with your roots, but you do not regret the assimilation that was the cause of this loss. You think that when people come to America, they should assimilate (that is, adapt to the culture and take it in).<br> &nbsp;<br> You believe that if people want to come here, they should learn to speak English, and they should follow American laws. If they don't want to do that, they shouldn't come. That's not to say that people can't practice their customs, that's fine. But they have to abide by the Constitution.<br> &nbsp;<br> You think political correctness is destroying the country.&nbsp; You think Democrats are hypocrites for celebrating America's diversity, but then when talking about immigrants, they claim they are just like us: they work hard and love their families. And that might be true for most immigrants, but it ignores the fact that some people come from places that are vastly different from America and they bring this with them.&nbsp;There are people who love America the way it is and they don't want things to change.&nbsp; And this is not because they feel hostile towards immigrants or wish them harm.&nbsp;To deny that change is taking place is pushing people to vote for Trump.&nbsp; It's certainly pushing you in that direction.<br> &nbsp;<br> (This profile is adapted from an article in the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/in-the-heart-of-trump-country">New Yorker</a> magazine.)<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><strong>VOTER B</strong></h4> <p>&nbsp;<br> <strong>You are a 48-year-old third-generation Latino man from West Virginia.&nbsp; You're running for state senate as a Democrat, but support Trump for president.&nbsp; </strong><br> &nbsp;<br> Most people in your area are Trump supporters. This makes perfect sense to you. You figure that if Trump does twenty per cent of what he promises, he'll be a decent President - and maybe he really will "make America great again," as he promises.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Coal-mining used to be a major industry in your area. It provided good-paying jobs for lots of people and supported the local economy. But the mines have mostly shut down. In recent years, prescription drug addiction has reached new highs and is the cause of a lot of theft in and around town.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Now when you drive around the area, you see a lot of abandoned houses, dilapidated, with overgrown lawns. Other homes are surrounded by garbage—old cars, tires, toys, broken TVs. It drives you crazy. Coal isn't coming back and West Virginia needs a new industry.&nbsp; Tourism would be great, but how are you ever going to be able to pull that off when the place looks like a garbage dump?&nbsp; You love your home and seeing it go to hell makes you angry.<br> &nbsp;<br> You spent the first 24 years of your adult life in the military. You served all over the world, fought wars, built up other countries and retired as a major. You've been a Democrat since you were 18. Your parents were Democrats, so you were, too. Back then, "being a Republican was like cursing. Republicans were greedy people who didn't take care of the working man."<br> &nbsp;<br> When you came back from the Army, you realized that most of the politicians in your part of the world, Republicans and Democrats alike, were crooks who didn't care about anyone but themselves.<br> &nbsp;<br> Most people in your area are registered Democrats, so when you decided to run for local office, you opted to run as a Democrat. In the national elections, though, you haven't always voted for Democrats. And in the 2016 presidential election, you're for Trump. West Virginia is historically Democratic. But in 2000, the state turned Republican.&nbsp; You believe this happened because Democratic nominee Al Gore was an environmentalist whose election would be very bad for coal.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Coal is not the only issue though. Trump also appeals to you because of his stance on immigration.&nbsp; You support Trump's hard stance against illegal immigration, but not because you're prejudiced against Latinos. Your own family comes from Mexico. Your grandfather swam across the Rio Grande to settle north of the border. Your father was born in West Virginia and you were too. But, you argue: "When you start talking about bringing in refugees and when they get here they get medical and dental and they get set up with some funds—what do we get?" So when Donald Trump says he's going to take benefits away from people who come here illegally and give them to people who work, that sounds pretty good to you..&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Trump's promise to "put America first" resonates with you. It's rare that a national politician seems to care about the situation your state is in. You feel Trump actually cares, which is why you're willing to ignore things he says that sound nuts or that you disagree with.<br> &nbsp;<br> (This profile is adapted from an article in the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/in-the-heart-of-trump-country">New Yorker</a> magazine.)<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><strong>VOTER C</strong></h4> <p>&nbsp;<br> <strong>You are a 38-year-old male of Cuban descent.&nbsp; You've voted Republican your whole life, but you're not sure how you'll vote this year.&nbsp; </strong><br> &nbsp;<br> You come from a long line of civic and political leaders who are the Republican bedrock of Florida's Cuban community.&nbsp; You consider yourself as a Republican through and through.&nbsp; You've helped build and maintain south Florida's Republican base.<br> &nbsp;<br> But this year is different. You haven't yet decided whether you'll vote along party lines.&nbsp;Trump's disparaging remarks about Mexicans have given you pause. And you're not alone.&nbsp; Many in the Cuban-American community express solidarity with other Latin-Americans who see Donald Trump as anti-Hispanic. Trump's nationalistic populism also smacks of the government strongmen many Latin Americans fled to come to the U.S.<br> &nbsp;<br> Still, you say, "There are aspects of Trump that appeal to parts of the Cuban-American culture: strong leadership, the ability and willingness to say bold things." Trump's strength and his willingness to call it as it is are enticing, especially when faced with Clinton, who's the exact opposite.<br> &nbsp;<br> The concern for you is when Trump crosses the line "from bold to wild, unpredictable."&nbsp; You're offended by his crudeness and bullying. His uninformed policy pronouncements worry you. You haven't endorsed Trump or Clinton and are still not sure about your vote. Neither candidate has engaged Cuban or other Hispanic voters with any sincerity, you feel.<br> &nbsp;<br> On the Cuban American radio station that you listen to, the host has been expressing his concerns about Trump.&nbsp; He's asked his listeners to compare Trump's claims that "I am your voice" and "I alone can solve" societal ills to the early appeals of authoritarian leaders like Cuba's Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, the late President of Venezuela.<br> &nbsp;<br> "It goes well beyond immigration to the very nature of our Latin-American problem," this radio host says. "Many of us remember how it starts. It starts with questioning institutions. Then you destroy institutions — you being the only person in the world who can save the nation from collapse."&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Trump's authoritarian attitude worries you.<br> &nbsp;<br> This profile is adapted from an article in <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-09-19/shifting-cuban-voters-could-be-the-difference-in-florida">US News</a>.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><strong>VOTER D</strong></h4> <p>&nbsp;<br> <strong>You are a white female voter from the rustbelt in Ohio.&nbsp; You want the America of tomorrow to be better for your grandkids. You are undecided about which candidate to support.</strong><br> &nbsp;<br> You are 68 years old.&nbsp; You have six children, 25 grandchildren and a handful of great-grandchildren. You were born in a small city in Ohio's rust belt and have lived here your whole life.&nbsp; In the 1980s, you worked at a small manufacturing company. That was the last time you had a job. You receive about $700 each month in Supplemental Security Income. $450 Of it goes to rent for your home in the south side of town. This doesn't leave much to live on.<br> &nbsp;<br> This part of Ohio has been in decline since the 1960s when foreign imports started to undercut the local economy. During the 1980s, the area lost over 25,000 manufacturing jobs. Poverty soared. You can still see the remains of steel mills, a reminder of what used to be. Now they're desolate and weed-covered.<br> &nbsp;<br> When you show people around your town, you point out: "Where these are trees now, it all used to be mills. ... All these vacant lots here, these all used to be filled with bars and restaurants. That's where the steelworkers, when they would get off, would come."&nbsp;You live in the poorest part of Ohio - one of the poorest parts of the country, in fact. &nbsp;Systematic problems have plagued your city for decades: a lack of jobs, problems with the education system, rampant violence, and poor employment training are just a few issues that people struggle with.<br> &nbsp;<br> You voted for Obama in 2000 and 2004 but are undecided this year. You think Clinton is a "nice lady and everything," but it's Bernie Sanders who you were drawn to in the primaries. You liked Sanders' promise of free college because not all of your children were able to afford college.<br> &nbsp;<br> You've seen a number of the 2016 presidential candidates come through your city, during the primaries. Now again during the presidential election, Trump and Clinton are here every month it seems. You haven't yet heard either candidate discuss what you believe is one of the most pressing issues facing your area: deteriorating infrastructure.&nbsp;There seems to be a lot of interest in Trump—particularly his message about national security. But in the end, you're not sure those are the issues you want to hear about.<br> &nbsp;<br> You want to hear what they all have to say about how they're going to help communities like yours on infrastructure, education and jobs.<br> &nbsp;<br> You admit that you're somewhat intrigued by the idea of Clinton becoming the first female president, but you don't actually think either candidate can (or will) help you or your community. You say: "It doesn't really matter to me, because nobody's gonna help me anyway."&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Compilation profile made up of voter profiles from the rustbelt in Ohio featured on <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/24/politics/gallery/rust-belt-voters-profiles/">CNN</a> and in <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/rust-belt-trump-ohio-clinton">Mother Jones</a>.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><strong>VOTER E</strong></h4> <p><strong>You're a young woman from rural Iowa, currently studying at the Central Iowa Community College.&nbsp; You caucused for Bernie Sanders in the primaries.&nbsp; You still "feel the Bern." </strong><br> &nbsp;<br> As a young woman who supported Bernie Sanders in the primaries, you were frustrated and outraged by the attacks of older feminists for your refusal to "vote according to your gender" in the primaries. You think that voting for a woman candidate because of her gender is sexist. Young women like you recognize that gender isn't what makes a person a feminist.<br> &nbsp;<br> Your vote in the primaries was based on policy, not on getting the first woman into the White House. "You want somebody that values all of your principles and the morals that you stand for."&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> You felt that Sanders gave a voice to young voters and their concerns. He advocated for things such as making tuition free at public colleges and universities.&nbsp; Hillary just wasn't able to connect with you or your issues. Moreover, there was so much about her that you felt was questionable. She just didn't do it for you.<br> &nbsp;<br> When Hillary became the nominee, you felt lost for a while. You had no idea who you might support in the election. Early on, Trump appeared to have made some interesting points. He even sounded like a Democrat at times. But then, he started going off the rails.&nbsp; You considered sitting this one out altogether, but these past few months have made it clear that that is not an option either.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Trump's has shown himself to be belligerent, boorish, racist, sexist and a whole bunch of other kinds of scary. He's crossed all lines. It's hard to believe that hasn't adjusted his approach or stance. You'd think he'd try to present himself differently, if only to appear presidential. You see him as a populist, a demagogue. (Merriam Webster defines a demagogue as someone who who makes use of popular&nbsp;prejudices&nbsp;and false claims and promises in order to gain power.)<br> &nbsp;<br> You and your father have butted heads over Trump and Hillary in recent months.&nbsp; He's trying to "educate" you about the "real" Hillary Clinton. He brings up Benghazi, the emails, and the private server, AGAIN. Initially you tried to shrug it off, but tensions have been rising when you're at home. He argues that she'll be soft on terror and wonders "if the country is really ready for a woman president." You're insulted.&nbsp; And this, coming from your dad who's always told you to be all you can be and to fight for your rights.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> You assume your dad is backing Trump. Your dad is a good guy, but he's being played.&nbsp; It's showing you, though, the importance of voting this election.&nbsp; You actually think Hillary is strong, intelligent and is the kind of experienced politician who knows how to play the Washington game. Last year, this is exactly why you turned to Bernie, but now, with everything that has happened, you'll vote for her, come election day.<br> &nbsp;<br> This profile is compiled from an article on millennial voters in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/20/clinton-hasnt-won-millennials-sexism-isnt-to-blame">Guardian</a>.<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4 style="font-size: 12px;"><br> <strong>VOTER F</strong></h4> <p><strong>You're a 34-year-old female lawyer&nbsp;of&nbsp;African descent, practicing in a large city on the West Coast.&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Even&nbsp;though you're&nbsp;not&nbsp;particularly excited about Hillary, there's no doubt in your mind that that is&nbsp;who&nbsp;you'll vote&nbsp;for.&nbsp;You tell people: "I&nbsp;don't want the first woman president to be elected because the other person sucks, but that's where I think we are.&nbsp;People either say, ‘Donald Trump is not where it's at, so I'm going to vote for Hillary.' Or you have people say, ‘Donald Trump is not where it's at, so I'm not going to vote at all.' And that's not cool."</p> <p>You've noticed that the Clinton campaign&nbsp;has struggled to connect&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;millennials&nbsp;that were at the core of&nbsp;Obama's&nbsp;campaign&nbsp;in 2008 and 2012.&nbsp;&nbsp;She's part of the political system that young people feel has failed them. And though voting rights were an important victory of the civil rights era, you don't feel you owe it to anyone to participate in the presidential election.&nbsp;</p> <p>You get that Black&nbsp;millennials&nbsp;are upset with&nbsp;Clinton&nbsp;for supporting her husband's 1994 crime bill and using the term "super predator" to describe young offenders.&nbsp;You feel she apologized, though, and that&nbsp;she deserves some credit for that. &nbsp;She has since pledged to work towards criminal justice reform. &nbsp;You feel that it's&nbsp;up to us as people, as voters, to put pressure on our political leaders to fight for our communities. &nbsp;Sitting out is not the answer. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>You are taking it upon yourself to engage young voters in your neighborhood, asking them to think about what might happen if Republicans win the election. &nbsp;What if they take the White House AND keep control of both houses of Congress? You encourage people to focus on state and local elections, because this is the level at which officials make decisions about policing and education, issues that directly affect all of our lives and issues -- and that you know are important to young Black voters in your community.</p> <p>If you had your choice of who would become&nbsp;president, it&nbsp;would&nbsp;probably be Michelle Obama, but she's not running, Hillary Clinton is. You're&nbsp;pleased&nbsp;that the first lady and the president have become more vocal in their support for Clinton in recent months. They, along with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren,&nbsp;are able to&nbsp;connect with&nbsp;the&nbsp;young voters that Clinton&nbsp;been struggling to get through to.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>You tell your friends that they cannot afford not to vote, especially given that the next president will determine the nature of the Supreme Court. All of the things that we've worked so hard for, not only as African Americans,&nbsp;but&nbsp;as women, can be gone—tomorrow. We cannot allow someone who does not care about us to win. So if that means voting for Hillary Clinton, then so be it.</p> <p>This file is compiled from a report in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/black-millennials-lack-excitement-about-the-presidential-election/2016/10/18/79072b70-8cb5-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html">Washington Post</a>.<br> &nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-10-24T10:50:03-04:00" title="Monday, October 24, 2016 - 10:50">October 24, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Mon, 24 Oct 2016 14:50:03 +0000 fionta 373 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Are Our Political Parties Realigning...Again? https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/are-our-political-parties-realigningagain <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Are Our Political Parties Realigning...Again?</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>To The Teacher:</h4> <p>The Republican Party often presents itself as "the party of Abraham Lincoln," the president who ended slavery in the United States. Over the past several decades, however, upwards of 80% of African-American voters have supported the Democratic candidate for president, and Republicans have struggled to garner support from African American voters. So what has changed?</p> <p>In this lesson students consider how the Republican and Democratic Parties have evolved over time, on race and other issues. The lesson includes two student readings.&nbsp; The first reading summarizes the evolution of Republicans since its early days as "the Party of Lincoln." The second reading looks at the process of "political realignment" through which the parties change and come to represent different constituencies. It will also ask if we might be experiencing a new political realignment today, amid insurgent challenges to the major party establishments by candidates such as Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3>&nbsp;</h3> <h3><strong>Reading 1:</strong><br> <strong>The Party of Lincoln?</strong></h3> <p><br> The Republican Party often presents itself as "the party of Abraham Lincoln," the president who ended slavery in the United States. Over the past several decades, however, upwards of 80% of African-American voters have supported the Democratic candidate for president, while Republicans have struggled to garner support from African American voters. So what has changed?</p> <p>It is true that the Republican Party, founded in 1854, was created as an anti-slavery party, based in the North. Abraham Lincoln, elected in 1860, served as the first Republican president and issued the emancipation proclamation during the civil war. However, while modern-day Republicans are quick to claim Lincoln, they fail to note that in the late 1860s and 1870s, their Party was also the party of "Radical Reconstruction"—an era that is not celebrated &nbsp;by conservatives in the South, who make up the core of the modern Republican Party. As historian Eric Foner wrote in a March 28, 2015, article for the <em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/opinion/sunday/why-reconstruction-matters.html?_r=0">New York Times</a>:</em></p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">In 1867 Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts...These set in motion the establishment of new governments in the South, empowered Southern black men to vote and temporarily barred several thousand leading Confederates from the ballot. Soon after, the 15th Amendment extended black male suffrage to the entire nation.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">The Reconstruction Acts inaugurated the period of Radical Reconstruction, when a politically mobilized black community, with its white allies, brought the Republican Party to power throughout the South. For the first time, African-Americans voted in large numbers and held public office at every level of government. It was a remarkable, unprecedented effort to build an interracial democracy on the ashes of slavery.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>By the late 19<sup>th</sup> century, Reconstruction was defeated and state governments throughout the South were dedicating themselves to suppressing the Black vote and reestablishing white supremacy. Over time, the Republican Party became a more conservative, business-oriented party. As political commentator Steve Kornacki wrote in a September 2, 2010 article for <a href="http://www.salon.com/2010/09/02/haley_barbour_race_history/">Salon</a>:</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">For a century after the Civil War, the South was deeply and overwhelmingly Democratic, a consequence of the "humiliation" visited upon white Southerners by the Republican-initiated Reconstruction that followed the Civil War. The level of support enjoyed by Democratic candidates in the region is almost too astronomical to fathom now. In 1912, Woodrow Wilson took 42 percent of the vote nationally in a four-way presidential contest. But in South Carolina, he snared 95 percent. In Mississippi, 88 percent... The region’s congressional delegation was uniformly Democratic — and, thanks to the South’s one-party status, disproportionately influential, with lifelong incumbents taking advantage of the congressional seniority system to secure the most powerful committee gavels.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">For decades, they comfortably coexisted in the national Democratic Party’s other major source of support, the machine-folk of the urban North. But as civil rights became a national issue — and as the Great Migration of Southern blacks to the cities of the North and West turned civil rights into a priority for Democrats outside the South — the coalition began to splinter. When the party ratified a civil rights plank at its 1948 convention, Southern Democrats staged a walkout and lined up behind Strom Thurmond, South Carolina’s governor and (like all Southern Democrats of the time) an arch-segregationist. Running under the Dixiecrat banner, Thurmond won four Deep South states that fall.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Throughout the ’50s and early ’60s, Southern Democrats sat in political limbo. Their national brethren were inching their way toward a full-on embrace of civil rights, but the GOP wasn’t much of an alternative, not with Dwight Eisenhower endorsing integration and not with the party’s Northern-dominated congressional ranks strongly backing civil rights legislation.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">1964, though, is what changed everything. In signing the Civil Rights Act, LBJ [President Lyndon B. Johnson] cemented the Democrats as a civil rights party. And in nominating anti-civil rights Barry Goldwater for president (instead of pro-civil rights Nelson Rockefeller) the GOP cast its future fortunes with the white electorate of the South. LBJ trounced Goldwater nationally that fall, winning more than 60 percent of the popular vote. But in the South, voters flocked to the Republican nominee, with Goldwater carrying five states in the region. Mississippi, the same state that had given FDR 97 percent of its votes 28 years earlier, now gave Goldwater 87 percent. That fall, Thurmond, now a senator, renounced his Democratic affiliation once and for all and signed up for Goldwater’s GOP. The realignment was well underway, and it had everything to do with race.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Today, more than 150 years after the Republican Party's founding, many policy positions held by conservatives in the Party stand starkly at odds with many of the positions held by Republicans during Lincoln's time. In a February 12, 2016 article, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lincoln-modern-gop-republicans_us_56bdea90e4b0b40245c61bb5">Huffington Post</a> editor Alana Horowitz Satlin writes:</p> <p class="rteindent1">Federal Income Tax: In 1861, Lincoln&nbsp;OK’d the nation’s first federal income tax. Meanwhile,&nbsp;today’s Republicans push&nbsp;for lower and fewer taxes....</p> <p class="rteindent1"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Funding For Public Education:&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">In 1862,&nbsp;Lincoln signed a law&nbsp;giving states land grants which they could sell and use the money to fund old colleges or build new ones. Meanwhile, today’s Republicans have voted to cut&nbsp;crucial funding for higher education and blocked efforts to make college more affordable —&nbsp;such as&nbsp;President Barack Obama’s plan&nbsp;to make community colleges free.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="rteindent1"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Expansion Of Presidential Powers:&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">The Republicans of today&nbsp;often accuse Obama&nbsp;of abusing his presidential power. Using executive action, Obama has green-lit&nbsp;gun control&nbsp;and&nbsp;immigration reforms, as well as implemented&nbsp;paid sick leave&nbsp;for federal employees and a mandate protecting LGBT workers.&nbsp;Guess who else increased the power of the executive branch and ran an increasingly activist federal government?&nbsp;Yep, that’s right: Lincoln.&nbsp;In fact, the University of Virginia’s Miller Center calls Lincoln "the most activist President in history."</span><br> &nbsp;</p> <p>While some may still call the Republican Party "The Party of Lincoln," the party's track record suggests a more complex history.</p> <h4><br> For Discussion:</h4> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? Do you have any questions about what you read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>According to the reading, what was Radical Reconstruction? Why might it be unpopular with modern Republicans?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What were some of the major historical changes that contributed to the shifting composition and political positions advocated by the Republican Party?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What are some of the policy positions that Republicans hold today that members of their party might have opposed in the 1800s?</li> </ol> <p style="margin-left:.5in;">&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Reading 2:<br> Is a New "Realignment" Underway?<br> &nbsp;</h3> <p>The process through which parties attract new coalitions of voters and gradually shift their political positions is known as "realignment." Realignment is something that has been experienced by both major parties in the United States. It explains, for one, how conservatives in the South went from being a solidly Democratic voting bloc to a solidly Republican one.</p> <p>Realignment isn’t just something that happened in the past. The groups of voters that support each party continues to shift from time to time, as do the parties' stances on major political issues. In the past year, the presidential candidates Senator Bernie Sanders (Democrat) and businessman Donald Trump (Republican) both challenged the established orthodoxies of their respective parties. This has led some commentators to speculate that another wave of political realignment might be taking place in America.</p> <p>In a July 15, 2016 article for <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-15/party-realignment">Bloomberg.com</a>, journalist Peter Coy describes the concept of party realignment:</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">We like to think of the two major parties as fixed, known quantities, like donkeys and elephants. But they’ve always been chameleons. The Democratic Party traces its roots to 1792. The Republican Party goes back to 1854. They’ve survived by changing with the times, sometimes radically, even to the point of swapping positions on key issues, whether civil rights, foreign policy, or taxation. Republican hero Ronald Reagan began his political life as a New Deal Democrat. He switched his registration in 1962, before he ran for office. He always insisted he wasn’t the one who changed: "I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The party left me."<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>In a March 11, 2016, article for the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/after-2016-will-the-political-parties-ever-look-the-same/2016/03/11/07a18da6-e709-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html?utm_term=.5ab24755c30b"><em>Washington Post</em></a>, journalist John B. Judis discussed how political scientists developed the theory of realignment:</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">In 1932, GOP ineptitude in the face of the Great Depression turned a solidly Republican majority into a Democratic one. After World War II, political scientists developed a theory of realignment to explain the shift. A succession of writers has attempted to refine and adapt that theory to analyze the development of American politics. It’s a useful way to understand the current eruptions.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">The theory was born 60 years ago, in&nbsp;a paper&nbsp;by Harvard political scientist V.O. Key. In 1955, Key demonstrated that the Democratic realignment of 1932 had been anticipated by the "critical" 1928 presidential election, when Democrat Al Smith won urban, working-class parts of New England that had previously gone Republican. The predominately Catholic voters in these places would subsequently flock en masse to the Democrats. Key was among the first political scientists to document that a shift of ethnic and class voting blocs from one party to another (or the emergence of new voting blocs) could create the basis for party realignments.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">In 1967, MIT political scientist Walter Dean Burnham built on Key’s work. In "Party Systems and the Political Process," Burnham laid out a new theory of realignments, suggesting that they’re cyclical and strike every 30 to 40 years. He called them "America’s surrogate for revolution." They could be foreshadowed by Key’s critical elections, but were precipitated by wars or depressions that exposed the inadequacy of prevailing party ideologies.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>So, will the 2016 Presidential election prove to be another key moment of realignment? In an April 25, 2016 report, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/04/25/475551861/populist-candidates-appeal-to-voters-who-feel-theyre-unheard">National Public Radio</a> correspondent Mara Liasson quoted several experts who believe that the fundamental composition of the two major parties is unlikely to change in the near future. Nevertheless, internal battles within each party may effect the Democrats' and Republicans' stances on bigger issues. Liasson stated:</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">The big question is what effect this year's populist politics will have on both parties over time. In the past, populist movements have forced a realignment or a reshuffling of voters. Think George Wallace leading Southern whites out of the Democratic Party in the late '60s and early '70s. That kind of big shift in voter allegiance is probably not in the cards. There are not many socially conservative, economically populist white Democrats left that could switch to the Republicans. And there are not that many socially liberal, upscale white Republicans left who could switch to the Democrats.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">"I think the party coalitions are pretty well defined," said Michael Lind of the New America Foundation. "The civil wars within the parties are about defining the party platforms more than the party coalitions."</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">For the Republicans, that civil war might lead to a debate about a new policy agenda, a more populist agenda that's less friendly to big business and the wealthy and more attuned to the concerns of the white working class. Henry Olsen, the author of&nbsp;<em>The Four Faces Of The Republican Party</em>,&nbsp;sees that as the lesson of this year's Republican primaries....</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">For the Democrats, populism is also here to stay even though it hasn't had the kind of seismic consequences as it has for the GOP. Bill Galston, a former Clinton White House aide, says there's a lot of economic discontent among "young adults, the working class and the middle class. So there's something real there for Democrats. And it's not going away."</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Hillary Clinton will have to absorb some of Sanders' left-wing populism as she moves forward to the general election. She has already moved toward Sanders on expanding Social Security, if not on breaking up the big banks....</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Trump's populist positions are challenging the Republican Party's basic DNA, its core ideology about foreign policy and trade and limited government. On the Democratic side, Sanders doesn't represent as big a break with Democratic orthodoxy. He represents a wing of the party that's always been there but has just gotten to be a much bigger part of the coalition this year.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Realignment illustrates that the major American political parties are dynamic entities that constantly shift based on voters' changig attitudes.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>For Discussion:</h4> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? Do you have any questions about what you read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>According to the reading, what is the concept of realignment?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think? Do you think the Trump and Sanders candidacies signal a realignment in American politics?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Are there any constituencies or interest groups in American politics that you think might benefit from changing their party allegiance, or even forming a new party? Explain your position.</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-10-21T13:09:46-04:00" title="Friday, October 21, 2016 - 13:09">October 21, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Fri, 21 Oct 2016 17:09:46 +0000 fionta 374 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Trump, Clinton & Taxes https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/trump-clinton-taxes <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Trump, Clinton &amp; Taxes</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h3>Quiz<br> &nbsp;</h3> <p>The following quotations are from the two major party candidates for the presidency. Can you tell which ones are from Donald Trump and which are from Hillary Clinton?</p> <ol> <li>"Imagine your paycheck was 40 percent higher than it currently is. What could you do with 40 percent more wealth?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>"I am proposing an across-the-board income tax reduction--especially for middle income Americans."<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>"Right now, the wealthy pay too little and the middle class pays too much."<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>"The rich will pay their fair share."<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>It’s outrageous that multi-millionaires and billionaires are allowed to play by a different set of rules than hardworking families, especially when it comes to paying their fair share of taxes."<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>"I want to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share, which they have not been doing. I want the Buffett Rule to be in effect, where millionaires have to pay 30 percent tax rates instead of 10 percent to nothing in some cases."<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>"There will be people in the very upper echelons that won't be thrilled with this because we're taking away their deductions."<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>"Hardworking middle class families need a raise—not a tax increase."</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Answers:</em></p> <p>Trump: 1,2,4,7 &nbsp;<br> Clinton: 3,5,6,8</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3>The candidates' plans</h3> <p>Discuss with students some of the tax proposals advanced by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. (Also see <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/taxes-where-do-presidential-candidates-stand">this lesson</a>.)&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Hillary Clinton</strong> has proposed increasing taxes on the wealthy and large corporations to pay for investments (such as helping students pay for college tuition). Her proposals include:</p> <ul> <li>a 4% surcharge on incomes over $5 million</li> <li>ensuring that the wealthiest pay at least a 30% income tax</li> <li>closing tax loopholes that reward companies for shifting profits and jobs overseas</li> <li>limiting the ability of Wall Street money managers to count their income as "capital gains," which are taxed at a much lower rate</li> <li>providing tax relief for people who pay high health care costs or care for an ill or elderly family member</li> </ul> <p><strong>Donald Trump</strong> proposes to cut taxes for everyone. Wealthy people would see the largest cuts. While the average tax cut would be $5,100, those making over $3.7 million per year would see their taxes decrease by $1.3 million. Individuals earning $25,000 or less (couples, $50,000) would pay no taxes.&nbsp;</p> <p>Trump’s plan also includes:</p> <ul> <li>reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%</li> <li>closing some tax loopholes</li> <li>eliminating taxpayers' ability to claim deductions for each of their children as well as a "head of household" provision that lowers tax bills for many single parents</li> <li>providing a childcare tax credit &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Student Reading<br> &nbsp;</h3> <p>Taxes have been a recurring theme in the 2016 presidential campaign. Because wages have largely remained flat (or sometimes even fallen) over the last 50 years, many Americans have looked to tax cuts to help them get by. And politicians have been more than willing to promise tax reductions to get votes. Because nine out of ten Americans identify themselves as "middle class," Clinton and Trump and most other politicians are anxious to aim their statements on taxes at that group of voters.</p> <p>Taxes are a political issue. Congress makes changes to the tax law each and every year. Every tax provision and every change benefits (or hurts) some taxpayers more than others. Since wealth inequality has become a major national issue, taxes too are being examined as a vehicle to either increase or decrease the enormous (and growing) gap between the super wealthy and the rest of the population. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders named specific taxes on the wealthy to make college free and to pay for national health insurance.</p> <p>Let's take a little look at taxes and especially the taxes for those at the top of the economic ladder.</p> <p>The tax system is enormously complicated. (See <a href="http://teachablemoment.org/teachablemoment.org/high/taxes.">this lesson</a> on taxes for more.) People pay property taxes, payroll taxes, excise taxes, user fees, and sales taxes, as well as income taxes at the federal, state and local levels.</p> <p>For most of us, the federal income tax is the largest tax we pay. Officially, the federal income tax is progressive (or graduated) so that those earning the most pay the largest percentage of their income in taxes. The highest rates and the lowest rates, and the tax "brackets" in between have fluctuated since the tax was made permanent&nbsp; in 1913. From 1940 to the 1960s the highest official tax rate was between 80% and 94%. From the 1960s to 1980 the highest rate was around 70%. Since the 1990s the highest tax rate an individual&nbsp; pays has been between 30% and 40%.</p> <p>The highest tax rate for any income group is just that&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">-&nbsp;</span>the <em>highest </em>rate. The tax code provides a huge number of credits and exemptions that allow people to reduce their taxes. Those in the lowest income bracket often pay no federal income tax at all. Middle-class taxpayers can usually reduce their taxable income if they:</p> <ul> <li>support a child or parent</li> <li>pay a mortgage on a house</li> <li>have very high medical expenses</li> <li>give to charities</li> <li>pay college tuition</li> </ul> <p>In addition, there are tax <em>credits</em> which directly reduce one's taxes. Those in the middle class can take credits for:</p> <ul> <li>paying college tuition</li> <li>child care</li> <li>paying into retirement funds</li> </ul> <p><br> "You know, I made $46 million last year. It was a bad year for me. But I can still afford to pay more than my secretary, who has a higher tax rate than I do."<br> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">-</span>Warren Buffett (the third richest person on the planet according to Forbes Magazine)</p> <p>Some tax rules help the wealthy disproportionately. The capital gains tax is one example. Income from investing in the stock market is taxed at 15-20%, while income from actually working is taxed at rates up to 40%. About 80% of stocks are owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans and half of Americans own no stock at all. According to the non-profit group Citizens for Tax Justice, if capital gains were taxed as ordinary income, the U.S. Treasury would gain over $500 billion over the course of a decade.</p> <p>The New York Times recently revealed that Donald Trump claimed business losses of 915 <em>million</em> dollars in 1995. The tax law allows him to spread out that loss, allowing a billionaire such as Trump to pay no taxes at all &nbsp;for 18 years.</p> <p>Here are other ways wealthy people reduce their tax payments:</p> <ul> <li>the deduction for house mortgages can be used for mortgages up to a million dollars for not just for one home but a second home as well. (And for your yacht, if it has sleeping quarters...)</li> <li>the use of family "trusts" to avoid gift taxes and estate taxes</li> <li>storing money abroad in tax havens</li> <li>the ability to manipulate income to maximize lower-taxed compensation (dividends, stock options, etc.) and minimize income taxed at the higher rates</li> <li>the ability to max out on allowable retirement savings</li> <li>special provisions for financial managers (e.g. hedge fund managers) which allow their salaries to be considered (lower-taxed) capital gains</li> <li>setting up a foundation that then pays a salary to the donor or a member of the family</li> <li>using a company expense account for fine dining, company car, apartment or private jet. No taxes are paid by the person receiving these services or the business providing them.</li> </ul> <p>The tax code is over 74,000 pages long. It is full of loopholes and hidden special-interest provisions. With so much money at stake, you can understand why corporations and the very wealthy hire very expensive lawyers to maximize their tax savings.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>For Discussion</h3> <ol> <li>The top 1% pay about 45% of all federal income tax (about 27% of all federal taxes). Is it fair to require them to pay more in taxes?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Republican candidates often advocate simplifying the tax code: one flat tax, pay taxes on a postcard, abolish the IRS, etc. Would these proposals make the tax system any fairer?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>When all candidates say they want to help the middle class and the tax proposals are so complicated, how does one evaluate the&nbsp; parties' positions? (News publications/websites? Other media? Thinktanks? Google?...)<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>In 2012, candidate Mitt Romney (a multimillionaire) attracted attention when he disclosed that he paid only 14% in income taxes. Donald Trump says he pays the lowest taxes he can because he's "smart." Is it ethical for the super wealthy to take advantage of every tax loophole they can?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Some countries attempt to slow the concentration of wealth by taxing the wealth itself (instead of just income). Do you agree with this approach?<br> <br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <hr> <h3><br> Sources</h3> <p><a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/latest-trump-tax-plan-adds-trillions-national-debt-clinton-plan-trims-deficits-taxing-wealthy">http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/latest-trump-tax-plan-adds-trillions-national-debt-clinton-plan-trims-deficits-taxing-wealthy</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Hillary_Clinton_Tax_Reform.htm">http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Hillary_Clinton_Tax_Reform.htm</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/08/the-stock-gap-american-stock-holdings-at-18-year-low.html">http://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/08/the-stock-gap-american-stock-holdings-at-18-year-low.html</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/federal_tax_issues/private_equity/">http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/federal_tax_issues/private_equity/</a></p> <p><a href="http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2012/03/policy_options_to_raise_revenue.php">http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2012/03/policy_options_to_raise_revenue.php</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/">http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.americansfortaxfairness.org/tax-fairness-briefing-booklet/fact-sheet-taxing-wealthy-americans/">http://www.americansfortaxfairness.org/tax-fairness-briefing-booklet/fact-sheet-taxing-wealthy-americans/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/tax-loopholes-mainly-benefit-rich-2.aspx">http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/tax-loopholes-mainly-benefit-rich-2.aspx</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/09/19/stock_ownership_who_benefits_partner/">http://www.salon.com/2013/09/19/stock_ownership_who_benefits_partner/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanellis/2016/09/14/trump-child-care-tax-deduction-has-nothing-to-do-with-child-care/#28ec87afd90c">http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanellis/2016/09/14/trump-child-care-tax-deduction-has-nothing-to-do-with-child-care/#28ec87afd90c</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-10-16T13:10:38-04:00" title="Sunday, October 16, 2016 - 13:10">October 16, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 16 Oct 2016 17:10:38 +0000 fionta 375 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Teachable Instant: Automatic Voter Registration https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/teachable-instant-automatic-voter-registration <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Teachable Instant: Automatic Voter Registration</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Tell students that on June 4, 2015, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivered a major speech advocating the expansion of voter access. Among other policy changes, Clinton called for automatic voter registration at age 18. (See <a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?326400-1/hillary-clinton-remarks-voting-rights">C-Span video</a> of Clinton's full talk at Texas Southern University; her remarks on voting rights begin at about 26 minutes.) &nbsp;</p> <p>Currently, it is up to each individual to take the active step of registering. Only the state of Oregon registers voters automatically, when they get a drivers' license. Though there are constitutional provisions about who is eligible to vote, it is up to the states to decide most of the rules and procedures about voting.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Quiz: Voting facts<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Have your students take this quiz on voting facts:</p> <p><br> <strong>True or False?</strong></p> <p>1) The minimum age for voting in the United States is 18 years.</p> <p>2) In Montana, voting in state elections is mandatory.</p> <p>3) The states with the highest African-American and Hispanic populations have all enacted voter restrictions since 2008.</p> <p>4) People in prison are prohibited from voting in the U.S.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Answers:</strong></p> <p><br> 1) False:&nbsp; It is up to the individual states. 19 states allow 17-year-olds to vote in party primaries if they will turn 18 before the general election. And Tacoma Park, Maryland, allows 16-year-olds to vote in local elections.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>2) False: Not only do no states require voting, there are no states that even require people to register to vote.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>3) Not quite true (but close):&nbsp; According to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, 7 of the 11 states with the most African-Americans have new voting restrictions and 9 of the 12 states with the highest Hispanic populations have new restrictions.</p> <p>4) False: Two states (Maine and Vermont) allow prisoners to vote.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Background<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Share with students some of all of the information below.</p> <p>On March 23, 1971, 18-year-olds were granted the right to vote in the United States. That right was granted by the 26th amendment to the Constitution (ratified in only three months, a record short time). Until then, the voting age had been 21.&nbsp; There was strong pressure to lower the voting age because so many young people were being asked (or forced) to go to war in Vietnam,&nbsp; yet did not have the right to vote.</p> <p>Though Americans can begin voting at 18, mostly they don't. People in the 18-24 age bracket are the least likely to vote of all age categories. Young people are consistently about 30 percent less likely to vote than their grandparents. Even in the 2008 election, in which Barack Obama's campaign generated an unusual level of excitement in young people, only 44 percent of young people voted.</p> <p><br> <strong>Current context</strong></p> <p>The debate over access to voting has become a partisan issue, with the Democratic Party advocating looser rules for voting and the Republican Party successfully advocating tighter restrictions.</p> <p>In the last five years, 22 states (almost all with Republican majority legislatures) have passed laws restricting access to voting. These restrictions include shortening the time allowed for early voting, stricter rules for voter registration drives, eliminating election day registration,&nbsp; and requiring specific kinds of identification for voting. Democrats charge that the restrictions disproportionately affect people of color and young people, groups that tend to vote Democratic. Republicans insist that the tighter rules for voting are necessary to prevent voter fraud, though such fraud is extremely rare.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> For discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <ul> <li>Is greater participation in elections necessarily a good thing? Should the United States (or individual states) take steps to increase participation?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Should legislation on voting rights and access be left&nbsp; to each state or should the rules be national?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>At what age should people be allowed to vote in elections?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>In the countries with the highest rate of voter participation, voting is compulsory. Some <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/22-countries-voting-mandatory/">22 countries</a> require citizens to vote, including Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, and Belgium.&nbsp; Should the United States make voting mandatory?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What are the pros and cons of automatically registering people to vote when they reach the age of 18?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Do you plan to vote once you reach voting age? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Sources<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-calls-for-sweeping-expansion-of-voter-registration/2015/06/04/691f210c-0adb-11e5-9e39-0db921c47b93_story.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-calls-for-sweeping-expansion-of-voter-registration/2015/06/04/691f210c-0adb-11e5-9e39-0db921c47b93_story.html</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/30/a-different-look-at-generations-and-partisanship/">http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/30/a-different-look-at-generations-and-partisanship/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/25/the-gops-millennial-problem-runs-deep/">http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/25/the-gops-millennial-problem-runs-deep/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/state-voting-2014">https://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p20-573.pdf</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/state-voting-2014">http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/state-voting-2014</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/22-countries-voting-mandatory/">www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/22-countries-voting-mandatory/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?326400-1/hillary-clinton-remarks-voting-rights">http://www.c-span.org/video/?326400-1/hillary-clinton-remarks-voting-rights</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2015-06-07T08:02:22-04:00" title="Sunday, June 7, 2015 - 08:02">June 7, 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 07 Jun 2015 12:02:22 +0000 fionta 455 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org