Nixon’s presidency Essay Example for Free

Nixon’s presidency Essay There are three major issues emphasized during the 1969-1974 term of President Richard Nixon: Vietnam, domestic policies, and the infamous Watergate affair. Nixon inherited the Vietnam War from Lyndon Johnson. The war had caused years of turmoil among Americans who believed that America should not even participate in the war in the first place. In an aim to bring peace, he initiated the Vietnamization of the war, centering of the withdrawal of the US troops. For a while, the plan seemed to be working, but the damage had already been done. Back home, America found herself with a dissenting generation. The war had already drained the country’s economy, inflation was high, crimes and civil rights movement were rapidly swelling. Nixon tried to solve this by injecting domestic policies that involved increasing interest rates to curb borrowing and introducing what the president called â€Å"affirmative action programs,† initiatives that hired minorities and women. Some African Americans who were able to finish college benefited from this but majority were still poor and stayed in slums. Furthermore, people blamed the Supreme Court for the rising incidents of crime so Nixon filled the court with conservative justices. However, while this alleviated the bevy of civil rights movement, it did not entirely solve the crimes. What it did was that it ushered an â€Å"us vs. them† sentiment, a battle between Nixon and those who opposed him, people who Nixon thought were countering the American values. During Nixon’s term, the activism was popular-environmental, consumer, and feminist movements were formed. People had become liberalized, more aware of their rights and surroundings. It seemed that Nixon’s gameplan was not working. Nixon’s economic strategy also failed to work. It was not until 1971 when the president started a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents that his efforts finally started to pay off; inflation and unemployment had lessened. This improvement, along with having positive foreign relations helped him earned a reelection. But it only ushered the road to Nixon’s downfall. The illegal activities of the Committee to Reelect the President erupted into what became known as the Watergate Scandal which led to the president’s resignation. From a popular man, Nixon placed himself in a world of lies, crimes and deception. His presidency was in shambles. The lesson of the scandal became clear: that there would always be the dangers of uninhibited executive power and opportunities for political abuse. It was and still is something American will forever be cautious of. Maybe just for that, however painful and shameful it sounds, Americans are grateful for Nixon.

Downfall of the Roman Empire :: Ancient Rome Roman History

Downfall of the Roman Empire The Roman Empire was strong for a time. It was founded on geography, family values, military strength, and wise leadership. It flourished because of social, economic, political, military and religious strengths. However, when the very things that make a civilization flourish start to decline, the civilization will also lead to a downfall. The first reason for the fall was economic decay. The rulers of Rome had expensive lifestyles. To aid their image, they needed money. They gained money through taxation on the poor. In response to the torment of tax collectors, the poor fled to barbaric lands. The poor made up a large percentage of the Roman population. Barbarians disrupted trade on the Mediterranean sea. Rome's gold and silver were being drained into buying luxuries from China, India, and Arabia. The government decreased the silver content in money. The value of the money also decreased. Diocletion attempted to curb the inflation. He issued an edict that fixed maximum prices and wages throughout the Empire. It was an unrealistic and unenforceable idea which failed. The emperors still felt the tax issue needed to be addressed. They decided to make the hereditary class of tax collectors pay the difference. In other words, if a poor person could not pay their full share, the tax collector paid the rest. This concept wi ped out a whole class of moderately wealthy people. Later, slavery split communities. Rome believed the workers of society should not benefit from slavery. Slaves then had to reason to try hard or improve. Eastern slaves started doing technical work. Thus, all technical work was looked down upon. Labor was cheap and worthless. Upper-class Romans were content with what they had become. They felt no need to improve their inventions, they were content with slaves. Another reason for the fall of Rome was political issues. Citizens no longer displayed patriotism, they were indifferent. Only the rich ran for office. Only the rich could run for office. It had become too expensive to hold office. The officers were forced to pay for public engagements themselves. The wealthy men destroyed Greco-Roman civilization. The loss of Greco-Roman civilization led to the decline of classical civilization. The general pattern of the classical civilization was based upon slavery being at the root of society. The army had proven itself to produce many leaders. The army needed to be maintained. Again, taxes were forced mainly on the poor or made more people impoverished.

Cost Accounting Past FInal

January 10,800 February 1 5,600 March 12,200 April 10,400 May 9,800 The inventory of finished products at the end of each month is to be equal to 25% of the sales estimate for the next month. On January 1, there were 2,700 units of product on hand. No work is in process at the end of any month. Each unit of product requires two types of materials in the following quantities: Material A-4 units Material B- 5 units Materials equal to one half of the next month's production are to be on hand at the end of each month.This requirement will be met on December 31st, 2012. REQUIRED: a) Prepare a budget showing the quantities of each type of material to be purchased each month for the first quarter of 2013 Question Two (20 marks) KILL Industries use weighted-average process costing to determine the cost of goods manufactured. The firm began the current year with 20,000 units in process, 75% complete. Work was begun on an additional 90,000 units during the period. The period ended with 8,000 u nits in process, 40% complete.Materials are added at the beginning of the process, labor when the units are 50% complete, and overhead is re sold for scrap at $0. 10 each. Normally, 2% of the units inspected are expected to be rejected. Costs attached to beginning work-in-process were $80,000 for materials, $120,000 for labor, and $150,000 for overhead. Current costs for the period were $371,000 for materials, $475,000 for labor and $865,280 for overhead. One hundred thousand good units were completed and transferred out during the period. ) Prepare a cost of production report for this department using weighted average process costing using the vertical format (as taught in class, not in the text) b) Prepare Journal entries to record the activities for the month Question Three (22 marks) Pfizer-Plow Pharmaceuticals is a major seller of cold remedies. Its product line consists of aspirin, cough lozenges, cold capsules and a nasal spray. The firm manufactures only the cold capsules in Puerco Ricoh.The other products are purchased from firms which specialize in the manufacture of those products: For the first quarter of 2012, management of Pfizer-Plow prepared the following master budget: Sales Aspirin 10,000 cases Lozenges 20,000 cases Capsules 20,000 cases Spray 5,000 cases Total Sales Aspirin Lozenges Spray Manufacturing Costs: Caffeine 40,000 grams 400,000 Antihistamine 60,000 grams 300,000 Aspirin concentrate 100,000 grams 350,000 Direct labor 40,000 hours Overhead (all fixed) 500,000 Total Costs Net Income Through excellent SIT inventory control, the firm was able to keep purchases and production exactly equal to unit sales.The firm uses actual process costing for its manufacturing operation. A summary of the actual results for the first quarter of 2012 follow: Cost of purchases 1 ZOO cases 20,000 cases $200. 00 a case Capsules 2000 cases $310. 00 a case ,000 cases $390. 00 a case Actual Manufacturing costs incurred during the period were: Caffeine 45,000 g rams $427,500 Antihistamine 64,000 grams $384,000 Aspirin Concentrate 1 1 5,000 grams 414,000 Direct labor 43,000 hours Overhead 482,000 a) Determine actual cost net income b) Calculate I.Sales quantity variance it. Sales mix variance iii. Sales Price variances ‘v. Material yield variance v. Material mix variance v'. Material price variances c) Reconcile actual net income to the master budget in a single statement, including any other appropriate variances Question Four (12 marks) revived more Buts of heat per cord of wood than any other wood burning fireplace insert or stove. One model, the Heatproof, sells for $1,800, and a new model, the Heat Queen, sells for $1,200.A traditional costing system ‘. The BBC system b) Which system would most likely do a better Job of measuring costs for this product emphasis/keep or drop decision? Explain. C) Franklins controller points out that the BBC information could also be used to identify and eliminate non-value added activities. Explain how BBC and BAM can be used for this purpose. Question Five (18 marks) The steam-generating department of the Sotto Company provides the power necessary to run the machines in two production departments, Pl and UP.Based upon past experience, it has been determined that the total costs of operating the team generating equipment contains a fixed element of $30,000 per year and a variable element of $2. 00 per 1,000 cubic meters of steam. In addition to any allocated overhead costs, Pl has direct fixed overhead of $20,000 per year and UP has direct fixed overhead of $10,000 per year. Direct variable overhead in Pl is $1. 00 per machine hour. Direct variable overhead in UP is $2 per machine hour.Each machine hour in Pl requires the use of 1,000 cubic meters of steam. Each machine hour in UP requires the use of 250 cubic meters of steam. Maximum yearly machine hours in Pl and UP are 20,000 and 30,000, respectively. Under current economic conditions, management expects to utilize 10,000 machine hours in Pl and 30,000 machine hours in UP during 2013. A) Determine the expected 2013 operating costs of the steam-generating department.

How Senators Use the Filibuster to Stop Legislation

The term filibuster is used to describe a tactic used by members of the U.S. Senate to stall or delay votes on legislation. Lawmakers have used every trick imaginable to filibuster on the floor of the Senate: reading names from the phone book, reciting Shakespeare, cataloging all the  recipes for fried oysters. The use of the filibuster has skewed the way legislation is brought to the floor of the Senate. There are 100 members of the upper chamber in Congress, and most votes are won by a simple majority. But in the Senate, 60 has become the most important number. Thats because  it takes 60 votes in the Senate to block a filibuster and bring an end to unlimited debate or delay tactics. Senate rules allow any member or group of senators to speak as long as necessary on an issue. The only way to end the debate is to invoke cloture, or win a vote of 60 members. Without the 60 votes needed, the filibuster can go on forever. Historic Filibusters Senators have effectively used filibusters -- or more often, the threat of a filibuster -- to change legislation or block a bill from being voted on the Senate floor. Sen. Strom Thurmond gave the longest filibuster in 1957 when he spoke for more than 24 hours against the Civil Rights Act. Sen. Huey Long would recite Shakespeare and read recipes to pass the time while filibustering in the 1930s. But the most famous filibuster was conducted by Jimmy Stewart in the classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Why Filibuster? Senators have used filibusters to push for changes in legislation or to prevent a bill from passing with less than 60 votes. It is often a way for the minority party to yield power and block legislation, even though the majority party chooses what bills will get a vote. Often, senators make their intent to filibuster known to other senators to prevent a bill from being scheduled for a vote. Thats why you rarely see long filibusters on the Senate floors. Bills that will not be approved are rarely scheduled for a vote. During George W. Bushs administration, Democratic senators effectively filibustered against several judicial nominations. In 2005, a group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans - dubbed the Gang of 14 - got together to reduce filibusters for judicial nominees. The Democrats agreed not to filibuster against several nominees, while Republicans ended efforts to rule filibusters unconstitutional. Against the Filibuster Some critics, including many members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have seen their bills pass in their chamber only to die in the Senate, have called for an end to filibusters, or to at least lower the cloture threshold to 55 votes. They allege the rule has been used too often in recent years to block important legislation. Those critics point to data that show the use of the filibuster has become too common in modern politics. No session of Congress, in fact, had attempted to break a filibuster more than 10 times until 1970. Since then the number of cloture attempts has exceeded 100 during some sessions, according to the data. In 2013,  the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate voted to change the rules on how the chamber acts on presidential nominations.  The change makes it easier to set up confirmation votes for  presidential nominees for executive branch and judicial nominees with the exception of those for the U.S. Supreme Court by requiring only a simple majority, or 51 votes, in the Senate.