Background on Abortion

Buzzwords in the abortion debate:
• ‘Roe v. Wade’ refers to the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
• ‘Right to Choose’ refers to a pro-choice stance, upholding Roe v. Wade.
• ‘Right to Life’ refers to a pro-life stance, seeking to overturn or limit Roe v. Wade
• A ‘Litmus test’ requires Vice Presidential & Supreme Court nominees to agree with one’s abortion view.
• ‘The Human Life Amendment’ would be a Constitutional Amendment overturning Roe v. Wade. There is currently no such Amendment pending, but proponents regularly introduce ‘Human Life Bills’ in Congress.

The debate on abortion generally focuses on when human life begins. The courts often focus on ‘viability’, the point at which the fetus could survive outside the womb. Viability naturally begins at about 6 months of pregnancy, but with modern medical advances the age of viability is pushed back substantially. Strong pro-life advocates believe that the fetus should be protected from the moment of conception.

The details of abortion legislation focus on what the states can regulate and what they can ban in later trimesters:
• ‘Partial-Birth Abortion’ refers to a late-term abortion method which induces a breech delivery and collapses the fetal skull before completing delivery. This procedure is banned in 24 states, but pro-choice advocates, including President Clinton, have sought to overturn state laws with a federal ruling.
• Each state decides if ‘Parental Consent’ is required for teenagers seeking abortions. The Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that spousal consent cannot be required by the states.
• Each state also determines rules about ‘informed consent’, about 24-hour waiting periods, and about when viability occurs after the 1st trimester.
• ‘Clinic Access’ laws refer to what pro-life protesters may and may not do at the entrances to abortion clinics, and how far away they must stay. Clinic access became an issue after several abortion clinics were bombed and several abortion doctors were shot in recent years.

Background on Budget & Economy

The accumulated borrowing is the ‘National Debt’ that the government must repay in the future. The current federal debt stands at about $5.5 trillion, which is the equivalent of roughly $20,000 per person. The federal government pays about $200 billion in annual interest on the national debt.

However, the government reports the budget surplus or deficit from a ‘Unified Budget’ which does include the Trust Fund. Hence the growth of the Fund offsets the shortfall in the budget. In 1998, the budget surplus was reported as $40 billion on the unified budget. Discounting the Trust Fund, the budget would have been in deficit by $50 billion.

Greenspan’s primary responsibility is to set the interest rates that the government pays on its bonds. Those rates in turn determine bank interest rates, mortgage lending rates, and other interest rates.

When interest rates rise, in theory, inflation increases and the economy slows down. Hence, Greenspan raises interest rates (‘tightens money’) when he sees the economy as ‘overheating,’ and lowers interest rates (‘loosens money’) when he sees inflation threatening.

Background on China

China is formally known as ‘The People’s Republic of China’, or ‘PRC.’ The PRC is home to nearly a billion and a half people, over 20% of the world’s population. The PRC has been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party since 1949.

Taiwan is known as ‘The Republic of China’ or ‘ROC.’ Taiwan is an island off the coast of the PRC, and has a democratically elected government. Taiwan is home to 21 million people, but its economy is comparable in size to the PRC. Taiwan split from the PRC during the Communist Revolution, when the former government was driven off the mainland by the Communists.

The US has promised to defend Taiwan against an invasion from China. China has promised to invade if Taiwan declares independence, most recently in July 1999 when Taiwan's President declared the ‘One China’ policy a fiction.

The candidates’ views on the Cox Report focus on what should be done to prevent further Chinese spying, and on what the government should do about past Chinese spying.

Congress reviews MFN status annually to decide if China should be granted MFN status for the next year. Granting MFN status in recent years has been tied to the improvement of China’s human rights record. Talks are held between the US and the PRC to decide which human rights violations will be addressed, and then MFN status is granted.

The term ‘MFN’ has been replaced this year by ‘Normal Trading Relations’, abbreviated ‘NTR’, which means the same thing.

China is seeking membership in the WTO because that would ensure China of free trade with other WTO members. If granted WTO membership, China would no longer be subject to its annual MFN review. But China would also have to abide by the WTO trade rules themselves, which would mean lowering their import tariffs against US goods.

Background on Crime

Much of the current controversy about the death penalty focuses on the circumstances where it should be applied, and on its unequal application among racial and socioeconomic classes. About 52% of death row inmates are Black or other minority, versus 17% in the general population. Over 98% of death row inmates are male.

Background on Defense

‘Loose Nukes’ refer to the sale or theft of nuclear weapons from the former USSR. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) addresses loose nukes, and is the primary arms control treaty under negotiation today. Existing treaties address ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) and SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), both of which can reach the US; recent negotiations include non-missile nuclear threats.