Net Neutrality

1. Which U.S. Senator called net neutrality “the First Amendment issue of our time,” referring to the right to free speech guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution? a. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) b. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) c. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) d. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) 2. In 2005, the FCC issued a statement that American internet customers have rights. Which of the following was not on this list? a. Access lawful content of their choice. b. Run the lawful applications of their choice. c. Use the e-commerce retailer of their choice. d. Connect lawful devices of their choice. 3. Which companies are strong advocates of net neutrality? a. Amazon b. Google c. Microsoft d. Yahoo e. A, C and D 4. True or false? In early 2016, India banned Facebook’s Free Basics application to “support net neutrality.” a. True b. False

Welfare Reform

1. In 2014, there were 7 million U.S. families with children living below the federal poverty line of $23,850 per year. What percentage of those families received cash welfare benefits in 2014? a. 23 families in 100 b. 39 families in 100 c. 46 families in 100 2. As of 2015, the average monthly welfare check for a family of three in the U.S. ranged from ___ per month in Mississippi to ___ per month in New York. a. $98/$360 b. $112/$436 c. $170/$789 3. Under the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which of the following rules were established? a. Welfare recipients must find jobs within two years of their first payment. b. Welfare recipients may receive payments for a maximum of five years.  c. States were given primary responsibility for administering welfare checks. d. All of the above.

Cuba Embargo

1. President ______ sent his press secretary to buy 1,200 Cuban cigars the night before he signed the embargo in Feb. _____. a) Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961 b) John F. Kennedy, 1962 c) Ronald Reagan, 1988 2. Which of the following countries in the United Nations has not denounced the Cuban embargo? a) France b) Brazil c) Israel 3. Cuba is the most populated country in the Caribbean, with more than ____ residents. a) 11 million b) 20 million c) 40 million 4. Referred to as “the island nation,” Cuba is about the size of which state in the U.S.? a) California b) Rhode Island c) Pennsylvania

Fracking Regulations

1.The main ingredient in natural gas, ________is also a greenhouse gas that is harmful to the ozone. a) Carbon dioxide b) Methane c) Chlorofluorocarbon 2. Typically, _____ gallons of water are used to frack a well although some wells consume much more. a) 500,000 to 1 million b) 1 to 2 million c) 2 to 8 million 3. Over the last decade, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, the Bush family and hedge fund manager Michael Burry (portrayed by Christian Bale in The Big Short) have all invested in what commodity, anticipating a future shortage? a) Water b) Oil c) Gas d) Coal

Apple v. FBI 1. Which of the following technology leaders have publicly supported Apple’s position? a. Sundar Pichai – Google CEO b. Bill Gates – Microsoft Co-Founder c. Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook CEO d. A and C e. All of the Above 2. Which founding document did the federal judge in California cite to justify ordering Apple to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino terrorist? a. Bill of Rights b. Declaration of Independence c. Fourth Amendment, U.S. Constitution d. All Writs Act of 1789 3. Which amendment of the U.S. Constitution do privacy advocates point to? a. First Amendment b. Second Amendment c. Eighth Amendment d. Ninth Amendment Guantanamo Bay 1. In what year did President Obama signed into law legislation that barred any spending on transferring detainees to the U.S.? a. 2009 b. 2010 c. 2011 d. 2013 2. Closure of the facility will save taxpayers $1.7 billion over ___ years. a. 8 years b. 10 years c. 20 years 3. In what year did the United States originally lease from Cuba the 45 square miles of land and water at Guantanamo Bay? a. 1903 b. 1952 c. 1988 d. 2002

Presidential Authority 1. Which president has issued the most executive orders during his time in office? a) Franklin D. Roosevelt b) Ronald Reagan c) Barack Obama 2. Which of the following large policy changes have been the result of presidential executive orders? a) Louisiana Purchase b) Desegregation of public schools c) Freeing of slaves during Civil War d) Internment of Japanese-Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor e) All of the above 3. The grant of “executive power” is found in _____of the U.S. Constitution a) Article I, Section 8 b) Article II, Section 1 c) Article II, Section 4 Campaign Finance 1. In 2010, The Supreme Court decided that limiting corporate spending on political campaigns is a violation of free speech rights in which court case? a. Buckley v. Valeo b. Citizens United v. FEC c. Brown v. Board of Education 2. In what year was the Federal Election Commission (FEC) launched? a) 1975 b) 1983 c) 1990 3. Which legislation required full reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures, limited spending on ads and began federal public financing of presidential elections? a) The Publicity Act b) The Tillman Act c) Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)

CLIMATE CHANGE 1. The most widely discussed global impact of climate change is: a. Deforestation b. Increase in the average sea level c. Soil erosion 2. Though Americans make up just 4 percent of the world’s population, we produce ____ of the carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel burning – by far the largest share of any country. a. 25 percent b. 8 percent c. 15 percent 3. According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the temperature in the U.S. has increased by _____ in the last 50 years. a. 5 degrees b. 10 degrees c. 2 degrees SOCIAL MEDIA 1. What year did Facebook introduce the “Like” button? a. 2008 b. 2009 c. 2010 2. What is the fastest growing age demographic on Twitter? a. 25-32 b. 33-54 c. 55-64 3. In the United States, government regulation of speech, regardless of how offensive or hateful, is generally held to be unconstitutional under the ___Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. a. Fourteenth b. First  c. Fourth Note: Visit sgap.org for the answers.

Student Loan Debt Q: Which student loan payment plan allows you to stick with one monthly payment amount until your loans are repaid?

1. Income-based repayment
2. Pay As You Earn
3. The standard 10-year repayment plan

Q: Where can student borrowers find out how much and what kind of federal loans they’ve borrowed?

1. A college’s net price calculator
2. The National Student Loan Data System
3. Their tax return

Q: A student borrower’s monthly loan payments eat up one-quarter of her paycheck, and she works in a public service job. What might be the best repayment option for her?

1. Public Service Loan Forgiveness
2. Entering forbearance
3. Income-contingent repayment

Q: The Pay As You Earn plan caps payments at __ percent of discretionary income and forgives remaining debt after __ years.

5. 5.5 percent, 15 years
6. 8 percent, 10 years
7. 10 percent, 20 years

ISIS – Syria Q: The Syrian population is about 90% Muslim, mostly from which sect?

1. Kurd
2. Shia
3. Sunni

Q: Syria gained independence from French control in what year?

1. 1872
2. 1946
3. 1957

Q: In March 2013, ISIS took over which Syrian city?

1. Raqqa
2. Damascus
3. Mosul

Q: In what year did Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, change the name of his group from ISI to ISIS to include Syria?

1. 2001
2. 2013
3. 2011

(Note: Answers are in Bold Type.)

Minimum Wage Issue Q: When was the last time the federal minimum wage was raised?

1. 2012
2. 2009 (correct)
3. 2006

Q: What’s the federal minimum wage for tipped employees, such as waiters and waitresses, nail salon workers and parking attendants?

2. $2.13 (correct)
3. $4.40
4. $6.54

Q: What’s the average age of a minimum-wage earner?

1. 21
2. 28
3. 35 (correct)

  High-Speed Rail Issue Q: The first high-speed rail system was launched in Japan in what year?

1. 1964 (correct)
2. 1981
3. 1998

Q: California’s high-speed rail will be capable of speeds of more than ___ miles per hour?

1. 160
2. 200 (correct)
3. 350

Q: How much of their income does the average U.S. household spend on transportation?

1. 9%
2. 18% (correct)
3. 29%

Restore the Oath of Allegiance Act: Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization throughout the United States. Once Congress sets those laws in place the Executive Branch, specifically U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is tasked with carrying out those laws based on the power granted to them in Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Q: According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approximately how many immigrants become naturalized citizens each year?

• 500,270
• 680,000
• 720,300

Q: What is the number one barrier to becoming a U.S. Citizen for the 8.5 million immigrants who are eligible to do so?

• The amount of time it takes to go through the process
• The amount of money it takes to become a citizen
• An issue with a language barrier

Debt Ceiling: Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the “power of the purse.” This means that Congress alone has the ability to tax and spend public money to pay for the national government and all that includes. Q: When spending bills are introduced they have to originate in a specific House, according to the U.S. Constitution.  Which House would this be?

• The White House
• The House of Representatives
• The Senate

Q: When was the last time this country was free of public debt?

• 1836
• 1916
• 1993

Answers: Restore the Oath of Allegiance Act: Q: According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approximately how many immigrants become naturalized citizens each year? A: Approximately 680,000 immigrants become naturalized citizens each year. It can vary from year to year, for instance, in 2014 654,949 people were naturalized and in 2013 777,416 people were naturalized. Q: What is the number one barrier to becoming a U.S. Citizen for the 8.5 million immigrants who are eligible to do so? A: The number one barrier to becoming a U.S. citizen is a language barrier. Although the $680 application fee is another commonly cited reason.   Debt Ceiling: Q: When spending bills are introduced they have to originate in a specific House, according to the U.S. Constitution.  Which House would this be? A: According to the U.S. Constitution spending bills have to originate in the House of Representatives and then go to the Senate for approval.   Q: When was the last time this country was free of public debt? A: There were three straight years of no public debt from 1834 through 1836.

Q. Who was the first Republican president to be elected? A. Abraham Lincoln B.  Ulysses S. Grant C.  Rutherford B. Hayes Answer: Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but handily defeated the three other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, a U.S. senator for Illinois.    Q. Who was the first presidential candidate to run (and win) as a Democrat? A. Martin Van Buren B.  Andrew Jackson C.  James K. Polk Answer: The first Democratic Party president of the United States was Andrew Jackson. There have been a total of 15 Democratic Party presidents, including Barack Obama.   Q. Who said it? Match the names to the quotes. A. Thomas Jefferson B. Franklin Roosevelt C. George Washington D. John Adams E. Theodore Roosevelt F. Lyndon Johnson 1. “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson   2. “Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” – George Washington   3. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt   4. “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt   5. “Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.” – John Adams   6. “Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.” Lyndon B. Johnson

Trivia Answers October, 2014 1. Lewis & Clark: https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/lewis-clark/ (National Archives) In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson guided a splendid piece of foreign diplomacy through the U.S. Senate: the purchase of Louisiana territory from France. After the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was made, Jefferson initiated an exploration of the newly purchased land and the territory beyond the “great rock mountains” in the West. Jefferson chose his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, an intelligent and literate man who also possessed skills as a frontiersman. Lewis in turn solicited the help of William Clark, whose abilities as draftsman and frontiersman were even stronger. Lewis so respected Clark that he made him a co-commanding captain of the Expedition, even though Clark was never recognized as such by the government. Together they collected a diverse military Corps of Discovery that would be able to undertake a two-year journey to the great ocean. (From the National Archives) 2. A sudden thunderstorm, called a tornado by some: https://blogs.archives.gov/prologue/?p=1453 (Public Broadcasting System)  While historians and meteorologists can’t quite commit to whether D.C. experienced a serendipitous hurricane, tornado, tropical storm, or severe thunderstorm, they all agree that the weather turned quite nasty on the redcoats. According to one British account of the day the White House burned: Of the prodigious force of the wind it is impossible for you to form any conception. Roofs of houses were torn off by it, and whisked into the air like sheets of paper; while the rain which accompanied it resembled the rushing of a mighty cataract rather than the dropping of a shower. The darkness was as great as if the sun had long set and the last remains of twilight had come on, occasionally relieved by flashes of vivid lightning streaming through it; which, together with the noise of the wind and the thunder, the crash of falling buildings, and the tearing of roofs as they were stript from the walls, produced the most appalling effect I ever have, and probably ever shall, witness. This lasted for nearly two hours without intermission, during which time many of the houses spared by us were blown down and thirty of our men, besides several of the inhabitants, buried beneath their ruins. Our column was as completely dispersed as if it had received a total defeat, some of the men flying for shelter behind walls and buildings and others falling flat upon the ground to prevent themselves from being carried away by the tempest… 3. A potato famine: https://www.pbs.org/destinationamerica/usim_wn_noflash.html (National Archives) Between 1845 and 1850, a devastating fungus destroyed Ireland’s potato crop. During these years, starvation and related diseases claimed as many as a million lives, while perhaps twice that number of Irish immigrated — 500,000 of them to the United States, where they accounted for more than half of all immigrants in the 1840s. Between 1820 and 1975, 4.7 million Irish settled in America. In 2002, more than 34 million Americans considered themselves to be of Irish ancestry, making Irish Americans the country’s second-largest ethnic group.

Trivia During the Civil War, no flag became a more popular symbol of Union loyalty than the worn and imperiled standard belonging to 19th-century sea captain William Driver. His defiant flying of it—from his Nashville, Tennessee, household during the midst of the conflict— made national news. 1. One of our nation’s most treasured relics is Old Glory. What is it? During the Civil War, no flag became a more popular symbol of Union loyalty than the worn and imperiled standard belonging to 19th-century sea captain William Driver. His defiant flying of it—from his Nashville, Tennessee, household during the midst of the conflict— made national news. 2. What is it? Who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance? The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth’s Companion on September 8, 1892. 3. Presidents Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays are now officially celebrated as one federal holiday called “Presidents’ Day.” When is it? President’s Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated every year on the third Monday of February to honor George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and also all the Presidents of the country. 4. In the patriotic song, what did Yankee Doodle call the feather in his hat? Here are the words to the patriotic song: Yankee Doodle went to town Riding on a pony; He stuck a feather in his hat, And called it macaroni 5. Why were there 13 stars on the first flag? The first official national flag, was approved by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. It contained 13 stars, representing the original 13 colonies. 6. The Great Seal of the United States is a bald eagle. What two items does it hold in its claws? In one claw is an olive branch, while the other holds a bundle of thirteen arrows. The olive branch and arrows “denote the power of peace and war.”