Federal Bureaucracy

Ch 7.1, p. 192

Federal Bureaucracy

• Defined: people who work for the gov’t., excluding military personnel.– Roughly 2.7 million ppl– The nations largest employer– 1 in 50 US workers

Vocabs

• Bureaucracy• Bureaucrats• Spoils system LOL Hoover• Civil service

Executive Branch

• President– Executive Office of the President– Vice President– Executive Departments (DOE, etc.)– Regulatory Commissions/Agencies (EPA)– Government corporations (Amtrak)

Spoils System

• Back in the day, Presidents would appoint their cronies to any positions within the federal government.– Sort of like how businesses are run today.

• What’s the problem with a spoils system?

Hoover

Boom…Pendleton Civil Service Act

• In 1883 the spoils system started to fade away.– ALTHOUGH IT STILL EXISTS TODAY!

• Today, about 90% of federal jobs are earned through various accreditation processes.– Welcome to the world of red tape.• Office of Personnel Management

Executive Departments

Ch 7.2, p. 197

Executive Departments

Executive Departments

Independent Agencies

• For example: NASA Not so alive anymore• Regulatory Agencies– FCC and TV

• Corporations– Amtrak– USPS

Schechter Poultry Corp. v. US

• Useless– All about executive agency power• Court says that US Gov’t. doesn’t have power to

regulate businesses via agencies• Later reversed – NOT CURRENT CASE LAW

Size of the Federal Bureaucracy

Pros Cons

Financing Government

Ch 7.3, p. 206

Vocab• Income tax• Progressive tax• Payroll tax• Regressive tax• Proportional tax• Bond• Federal debt• Mandatory spending• Discretionary spending• Fiscal policy• Monetary policy

Federal Budget

• Issued by the President– Typically a political maneuver– Obama’s latest budget• EV tax credit

Various Taxes

• Income• Payroll– Regressive bad for low-income earners b/c it

maxes out at certain income levels• For example: Social Security tax tops out at $97,000

• Proportional

Other Gov’t. Income

• Borrowing– Various bonds– Federal debt Credit Default Swap (genius)

The Federal Reserve

• An independent regulatory commission– Under the Executive Branch– Ben Bernanke is the Fed chairman– Sets monetary policy• Interest rates• Bonds• Etc.

The Same Ole’ Story