Changes

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.  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.

By the end of 2008 the economy was in a severe downturn, with unemployment increasingly rapidly, and this contributed to victories by the Democratic Party in Congress and the presidency.  43 out of 50 states have a budget deficit (more expenses than revenue), and since nearly all states have laws requiring them to balance their budget, they need to cut back programs and fire government workers.  The federal government itself faces a large deficit and congressmen are considering a "stimulus package" to spark economic improvement, as President FDR did (unsuccessfully) with the New Deal.

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).

Barack Obama resigned from his position as one of the two U.S. Senators from Illinois upon being elected president.  That created a vacancy to be filled, according to Illinois law, by the Democratic Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich.  On December 9, 2008, the Governor of Illinois was arrested by federal officials based on secret tape recordings of his recent phone conversations.  "Federal authorities said wiretaps caught Blagojevich conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat in exchange for financial benefits for himself and his wife, Patti."<ref name="Scandal">http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/09/illinois.governor/index.html</ref>  The investigation in this case could become the top news story of early 2009, as there were reportedly at least five people trying to be appointed to that U.S. Senate seat.  "Obviously, like the rest of the people of Illinois, I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney's office today," President-Elect Obama said. "But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."<ref name="Scandal"/>

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.

 

Completely independently, when Hillary Clinton recently resigned from her U.S. Senate seat from New York to become Secretary of State in the upcoming Obama Administration, Caroline Kennedy (daughter of former President John F. Kennedy but never elected to public office) immediately and surprisingly asked to be nominated by the New York Governor as Hillary's replacement.  Caroline Kennedy, and particularly her powerful uncle Ted Kennedy, supported Barack Obama's candidacy for nomination by the Democratic Party at a pivotal moment in early 2008.

 

"Politics is like an iceberg - 90% of it is below the surface" is a famous observation.

== The Supreme Court ==

== The Supreme Court ==