Changes

Congress quickly passed the Patriot Act of 2001, which authorized extensive phone and email surveillance of Americans possibly connected with terrorism, and authorized deportation or detention of suspected terrorists.  The internal surveillance and fighting in Afghanistan became known as the "War on Terrorism," which began in 2001 and continues to this day.

Congress quickly passed the Patriot Act of 2001, which authorized extensive phone and email surveillance of Americans possibly connected with terrorism, and authorized deportation or detention of suspected terrorists.  The internal surveillance and fighting in Afghanistan became known as the "War on Terrorism," which began in 2001 and continues to this day.

More controversial was President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, after its dictator Saddam Hussein refused to disarm and refused to cooperate with inspections of its nuclear program.  Some feared he was developing "weapons of mass destruction," though no hard evidence of that has ever been found.  More plausible is that Saddam Hussein was harboring or funding terrorists, and there is no doubt that his regime was brutal to Iraqis themselves.  Americans captured Baghdad, Iraq's capital, remarkably quickly, but actually the enemy had gone "underground" to engage in terrorist attacks against our troops for the next several years, possibly aided by Iran.  In 2007, President Bush approved "the surge" to stop the terrorist attacks, and it was remarkably successful.  American troops remain in Iraq to this day, though Barack Obama (elected in November 2008) promised early in his campaign to pull them out.   

More controversial was President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, after its dictator Saddam Hussein refused to disarm and refused to cooperate with inspections of its nuclear program.  Some feared he was developing "weapons of mass destruction," though no hard evidence of that has ever been found.  More plausible is that Saddam Hussein was harboring or funding terrorists, and there is no doubt that his regime was brutal to Iraqis themselves.  Americans captured Baghdad, Iraq's capital, remarkably quickly, but actually the enemy had gone "underground" to engage in terrorist attacks against our troops for the next several years, possibly aided by Iran.  In 2007, President Bush approved "the surge" to stop the terrorist attacks, and it was remarkably successful.  American troops remained fighting in Iraq until 2010, when President Barack Obama pulled them out.  After the American military left, defenseless Christian churches suffered from horrible violence against them.

President Bush was unsuccessful at immigration "reform" that would have granted amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in the nation, and given them a path to American citizenship.  President Bush did support and sign into law the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," which allows students of public schools that repeatedly do poorly on mandatory tests to transfer to another public school that has a better record on these tests.  Ted Kennedy's staff wrote most of the bill, and before long both conservatives and liberals were criticizing many of its burdensome regulations on the school system.  The Act does seem to have improved accountability of public schools slightly, but does not generate new alternatives.  Political activism by homeschoolers resulted in adding a provision to protect us against being subjected to the mandatory public school tests; any state that attempts to do that (and there was legislation in New Jersey to require that) will automatically lose millions of dollars in federal funding.  Homeschooling had become mainstream by 2008.

President Bush was unsuccessful at immigration "reform" that would have granted amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in the nation, and given them a path to American citizenship.  President Bush did support and sign into law the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," which allows students of public schools that repeatedly do poorly on mandatory tests to transfer to another public school that has a better record on these tests.  But the liberal Senator Ted Kennedy's staff wrote most of the bill, and before long both conservatives and liberals were criticizing many of its burdensome regulations on the school system.  The Act does seem to have improved accountability of public schools slightly, but does not generate new alternatives.  '''Alert political activism by homeschoolers resulted in adding a provision to protect us against being subjected to the mandatory public school tests; any state that attempts to do that (and there was legislation in New Jersey to require that) will automatically lose millions of dollars in federal funding.  Homeschooling continued to grow.'''

In November 2008, Barack Obama was elected president and the Democratic Party won large majorities in Congress.  They pushed into law the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," also known by its critics as "ObamaCare".  This law imposes a penalty on working adults who do not purchase health insurance, making it the first time that Congress has penalized people unless they bought something.  There are many legal challenges to the law and Republicans vow to repeal it if they win back control of Congress and the presidency.  In 2010, Republicans did win a landslide in the House of Representatives, but could not win a majority in the Senate.  In 2012, the chances of Republicans winning back the Senate too are high (note that only a third of the Senate is elected every two years, while every seat in the House is elected).

In November 2008, Barack Obama was elected president and the Democratic Party won large majorities in Congress.  They pushed into law the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," also known by its critics as "ObamaCare".  This law imposes a penalty on working adults who do not purchase health insurance, making it the first time that Congress has penalized people unless they bought something.  There are many legal challenges to the law and Republicans vow to repeal it if they win back control of Congress and the presidency.  In 2010, Republicans did win a landslide in the House of Representatives, but could not win a majority in the Senate.  In 2012, the chances of Republicans also winning back the Senate are high (note that only a third of the Senate is elected every two years, while every seat in the House is elected).

The Democrats also enacted a "Stimulus" economic packages which consisted of hundreds of billions of dollars in new federal spending, throwing the nation into enormous debt.  Republicans have made this a political issue and seek cuts in federal spending and the enormous federal debt.

In 2009 the Democrats enacted a "Stimulus" economic packages, which consisted of hundreds of billions of dollars in new federal spending, throwing the nation into enormous debt.  Republicans have made this a political issue and seek cuts in federal spending and the enormous federal debt.

== The Supreme Court ==

== The Supreme Court ==