Crisis in American Institutions 14th Edition Skolnick Currie Test Bank

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 978-0205610648

PART ONE: CORPORATE POWER
1. Mark Zepezauer, Take the Rich off Welfare
Multiple Choice
1.1 Zepezauer uses the term “wealthfare” to describe ________________.
a. trade shows, conventions, and fairs hosted by banks and brokerage firms that publicize the latest investment
products and tools.
b. the new term established with the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 that replaced the term “welfare” in an effort
to lessen the stigma associated with the receipt of government benefits.
c. the money government gives away to corporations and wealthy individuals.
d. none of the above
ANSWER: C Ref page: 20
1.2 During the Great Depression, 25 percent of the American population lived and worked on farms. Today, that
figure has dropped to ______ percent.
a. 2
b. 5
c. 10
d. 15
ANSWER: A Ref page: 20
1.3 Which of the following crops receive 90 percent of all federal subsidies?
a. corn, wheat, strawberries, rice, and cotton
b. corn, rice, apples, strawberries, and cotton
c. corn, wheat, sugar beets, strawberries, and tobacco
d. wheat, corn, rice, cotton, and soybeans
ANSWER: D Ref page: 20
1.4 The federal government defines “farm” as which of the following?
a. any land that produces $1,000 or more in agricultural products
b. any land whose products are used for human or animal consumption, or fuel, and which is the primary
residence of a farmer
c. any land used to produce food for humans or animals that may or may not be sold at market
d. none of the above
ANSWER: A Ref page: 21
1.5 The tobacco industry has been receiving federal subsidies since _____.
a. 1886
b. 1902
c. 1933
d. 1955
e. 1964
ANSWER: C Ref page: 25
True/False
______ 1.6 The majority of U.S. farmers receive agricultural subsidies from the government.
ANSWER: F Ref page: 20
______ 1.7 Farmers who receive government subsidies must live the state in which their subsidized farms are
located.
ANSWER: F Ref page: 21
______ 1.8 Agribusiness subsidies, such as price supports, import restrictions, and market and production
quotas help keep food prices in the U.S. lower than on the world market.
ANSWER: F Ref page: 22
______ 1.9 According to the government, “farmers” include individual persons, municipal governments,
universities, prison systems, and Fortune 500 companies.
ANSWER: T Ref page: 21
______ 1.10 Because of production quotas established by the government, peanut and tobacco farmers must be
licensed by the government.
ANSWER: T Ref page: 22
Essay/Discussion
1.11 Describe the original purpose of agricultural subsidies. Using specific examples, describe how the government
strayed from that purpose, according to Zepezauer.
1.12 Select one type of agribusiness subsidy and describe the various ways in which the government subsidies the
business. Why does the government continue to subsidize this business?
1.13 Describe the various ways in which tobacco is subsidized. How has the tobacco lobby responded to proposals
to end tobacco subsides, as well as public pressure to discourage smoking?
Part One Corporate Power
2. Robert S. McIntyre, Tax Cheats and Their Enablers
Multiple Choice
2.1 What advantages do big corporations have over individuals in sheltering their income from tax?
a. They have tremendous lobbying power in Congress, which enables them to get special tax concessions
enacted that ordinary citizens could not.
b. Unlike individuals, corporations can break themselves into different entities on paper and treat phony, nonexistent
transactions among those entities as if they actually happened.
c. The 1986 Tax Reform Act freed corporations from paying any state income taxes.
d. a and b above
ANSWER: D Ref page: 29
2.2 American corporate taxes have _________ since 2001.
a. increased
b. stayed the same
c. decreased
ANSWER: C Ref pages: 31-32
2.3 If U.S. corporations paid the same effective tax rate now that they paid in the 1950’s, corporate tax payments to
the U.S. Treasury would be __________ than they actually are.
a. $500 billion
b. $380 billion higher
c. $400 million higher
d. $400 million lower
ANSWER: B Ref page: 32
2.4 Which law was enacted to reform the nation’s tax laws?
a. 1987 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
b. 1986 Tax Reform Act
c. Citizens for Tax Justice Law of 2002
d. Yukos-Mordovia Reform Act of 1989
ANSWER: B Ref page: 29
2.5 Which of the following reasons are given by McIntyre to explain why the 1986 Tax Reform Act has failed
to have a lasting effect?
a. New tax loopholes were enacted.
b. New tax-dodging schemes were discovered
c. Tax reform laws were insufficiently enforced.
d. all of the above
ANSWER: D Ref page: 29
True/False
______ 2.6 Corporate tax-dodging is a relatively recent phenomenon in the U.S. For example, as recently as
the 1950’s, corporate taxes paid for about a third of the federal government.
ANSWER: T Ref page: 29
______ 2.7 Despite the 1986 Tax Reform Act, corporate tax-sheltering has “run amuck”, according to
McIntyre.
ANSWER: T Ref page: 29
______ 2.8 The 1986 Tax Reform Act assured that corporate tax-dodging would be held in check.
ANSWER: F Ref page: 29
______ 2.9 Due to tax reform efforts in the U.S., federal and state corporate income taxes amount to an everincreasing
percentage of our GDP.
ANSWER: F Ref page: 31
______ 2.10 From 2001 to 2003, American companies such as Toys “R” Us avoided paying state income taxes
on nearly two-thirds of their U.S. profits, resulting in a cost to state governments of $42 billion.
ANSWER: T Ref page: 31
Essay/Discussion
2.11 Why is it easier for big corporations to cheat on their taxes than individuals who earn almost all of their money
from wages?
2.12 What did Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes mean when he said taxes are “the price of
civilization”?
2.13 Describe the advantages big corporations have over individuals in sheltering their income from taxes.
Part One Corporate Power
3. Neil Postman and Steve Powers, The Commercial
Multiple Choice
3.1 CPM refers to:
a. cost per thousand
b. commercial price market
c. cash price thousand
d. constant positive market
ANSWER: A Ref page: 33
3.2 Which of the following media outlets reaches the largest audience?
a. USA Today
b. The Wall Street Journal
c. the Sunday morning news shows Face the Nation, Meet the Press, and This Week
d. ABC, CBS, and NBC weekday evening television news
ANSWER: D Ref page: 34
3.3 The demographic profile of news program viewers consists of the following:
a. geographic region, educational attainment, and age
b. age, sex, and income
c. age, family composition, and race/ethnicity
d. family composition, educational attainment, and income
ANSWER: B Ref page: 34
3.4 A voting point refers to which of the following?
a. the cost to advertisers to reach each one thousand people watching a particular program
b. one percent of the 112.8 million households in the U.S. tuned in to a particular program
c. the ranking of television news programs based on the number of households that are tuned in
d. points awarded to television programs by viewers based on a representative probability sample of U.S.
households
ANSWER: B Ref page: 34
3.5 A rating point is worth about ________ for each thirty-second network commercial, but a commercial on a hit
series can bring in ________ more per commercial that what is charged for an average series.
a. $32,000; $10,000
b. $224,000; $60,000
c. $10,000; $32,000
d. $60,000; $224,000
ANSWER: C Ref page: 35