The Submerged State
The Submerged State

Author: Suzanne Mettler

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-08-31

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 0226521664

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“Keep your government hands off my Medicare!” Such comments spotlight a central question animating Suzanne Mettler’s provocative and timely book: why are many Americans unaware of government social benefits and so hostile to them in principle, even though they receive them? The Obama administration has been roundly criticized for its inability to convey how much it has accomplished for ordinary citizens. Mettler argues that this difficulty is not merely a failure of communication; rather it is endemic to the formidable presence of the “submerged state.” In recent decades, federal policymakers have increasingly shunned the outright disbursing of benefits to individuals and families and favored instead less visible and more indirect incentives and subsidies, from tax breaks to payments for services to private companies. These submerged policies, Mettler shows, obscure the role of government and exaggerate that of the market. As a result, citizens are unaware not only of the benefits they receive, but of the massive advantages given to powerful interests, such as insurance companies and the financial industry. Neither do they realize that the policies of the submerged state shower their largest benefits on the most affluent Americans, exacerbating inequality. Mettler analyzes three Obama reforms—student aid, tax relief, and health care—to reveal the submerged state and its consequences, demonstrating how structurally difficult it is to enact policy reforms and even to obtain public recognition for achieving them. She concludes with recommendations for reform to help make hidden policies more visible and governance more comprehensible to all Americans. The sad truth is that many American citizens do not know how major social programs work—or even whether they benefit from them. Suzanne Mettler’s important new book will bring government policies back to the surface and encourage citizens to reclaim their voice in the political process.

White House Diary
White House Diary

Author: Jimmy Carter

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2010-09-20

Total Pages: 589

ISBN-13: 1429990651

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The edited, annotated New York Times bestselling diary of President Jimmy Carter--filled with insights into his presidency, his relationships with friends and foes, and his lasting impact on issues that still preoccupy America and the world. Each day during his presidency, Jimmy Carter made several entries in a private diary, recording his thoughts, impressions, delights, and frustrations. He offered unvarnished assessments of cabinet members, congressmen, and foreign leaders; he narrated the progress of secret negotiations such as those that led to the Camp David Accords. When his four-year term came to an end in early 1981, the diary amounted to more than five thousand pages. But this extraordinary document has never been made public--until now. By carefully selecting the most illuminating and relevant entries, Carter has provided us with an astonishingly intimate view of his presidency. Day by day, we see his forceful advocacy for nuclear containment, sustainable energy, human rights, and peace in the Middle East. We witness his interactions with such complex personalities as Ted Kennedy, Henry Kissinger, Joe Biden, Anwar Sadat, and Menachem Begin. We get the inside story of his so-called "malaise speech," his bruising battle for the 1980 Democratic nomination, and the Iranian hostage crisis. Remarkably, we also get Carter's retrospective comments on these topics and more: thirty years after the fact, he has annotated the diary with his candid reflections on the people and events that shaped his presidency, and on the many lessons learned. Carter is now widely seen as one of the truly wise men of our time. Offering an unprecedented look at both the man and his tenure, White House Diary is a fascinating book that stands as a unique contribution to the history of the American presidency.

U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual
U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual

Author: Gpo Style Board

Publisher: WWW.Militarybookshop.CompanyUK

Published: 2010-09-01

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 9781907521621

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This, the 30th edition of the "United States Government Printing Office Style Manual," is the first revision to this authoritative style manual since 2002. The "GPO Style Manual, as it is popularly known, is issued under the authority of section 1105 of Title 44 U.S.C., which requires the Public Printer, as head of the GPO to "dtermine the form and style in which the printing...ordered by a department is executed...having proper reagrd to economy, workmanship, and the purposes for which the work is needed." The Manual is prepared by the GPO Style Board, composed of proofreading, printing, and Government documents specialists from within GPO, where all congressional publications, and many other key Federal Government documents are prepared. The first "GPO Style Manual" appeared in 1894. It was developed orginally as a printer's stylebook to standardize word and type treatment and remains so today. Through successived editions, however, the "GPO Style Manual" has come to be widely recognized by writers and editors both within and outside the Federal Government as one of the most useful resources in the editorial arsenal. This new, revised version of the "GPO Style Manual" has been thoroughly redesigned to make it more modern and easier to read, and the content has been updated generally throughout in keeping with current usage.