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| | {{Government Lectures}} | | {{Government Lectures}} |
| − | <under development>
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| | Ron Paul, a Republican congressman and candidate for the Republican nomination for president, explained the election outcome this way:<ref>http://www.ibtimes.com/ron-paul-obama-got-re-elected-because-majority-receiving-check-866900</ref> | | Ron Paul, a Republican congressman and candidate for the Republican nomination for president, explained the election outcome this way:<ref>http://www.ibtimes.com/ron-paul-obama-got-re-elected-because-majority-receiving-check-866900</ref> |
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| | == Lame Duck Congress == | | == Lame Duck Congress == |
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| − | == Fiscal Cliff == | + | There about six weeks left to the current session of Congress, between now and the Christmas break, during which new laws can be enacted by the House and Senate, and the Senate can ratify treaties. This is called the "lame duck" session of Congress, or simply the "lame duck Congress," because nearly 80 congressmen are still in office despite not being re-elected last Tuesday. |
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| | + | It is risky when congressmen hold power without any accountability to the American people, as occurs in a lame duck Congress. Tensions are even higher now because of the "fiscal cliff," which we will explain next. |
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| | + | === Fiscal Cliff === |
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| | + | The federal government has been broke for years, and neither President Obama nor Congress have been willing to anger the public by cutting spending. The more in debt the United States becomes, the less the Democrats and Republicans have been able to agree on how to solve it. |
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| | + | To postpone the hard economic decisions until after the election, Congress and President Obama agreed to create a "fiscal cliff" whereby automatic spending cuts and tax increases totaling $700 billion (that's billion, not million) occur. Those automatic changes will occur in January if no law is passed to avoid it. Almost immediately after the election politicians began discussions to try to avoid this $700 billion automatic "cliff", which is expected to harm the economy. |
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| | + | But there is no easy agreement: the federal government is losing money at a rate that is even faster than the $700 billion savings. In other words, even if the automatic cuts and tax increases occur, the United States will still be running an annual deficit. |
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| | + | Simply put, the United States government has become like a bankrupt company that continues to spend more money than it makes. In the business world, such companies go out of business, but that is not an option for the United States government either. |
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| | + | === Filibuster Rule in the U.S. Senate === |
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| | == What is next for the political parties? == | | == What is next for the political parties? == |