October 5, 2012

The rate of unemployment in the United States fell to 7.8 percent in September, down from 8.1 percent in August, the U.S. Department of Labor announced today. The September unemployment rate was the lowest since January 2009, before the full effects of the Great Recession were fully felt through the whole economy. The U.S. economy added 114,000 jobs in September, beating all expectations. According to Labor Department data, the construction industry added 5,000 jobs, the government sector added 10,000 jobs, and the health care sector added 44,000 jobs. Economists note that today’s figures as well as other indicators point to a steady, if slow, recovery from the economic crash that began in September 2008.

The seal of the United States Department of Labor. (World Book illustration)

Political experts pointed out that a 7.8-percent unemployment rate takes President Barack Obama back to the same jobless rate he inherited when he took office in 2009, which they see as psychologically important in this election year. Conservative commentators reacted to the news with the suggestion that the figures were “cooked” by the Labor Department to make the president look good in the final weeks of the election campaign. The Secretary of the Department of Labor, Hilda Solis, responded that it is “ludicrous” to think the statistics could have been manipulated: “I’m insulted when I hear that because we have a very professional civil service.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Bank 2008 (a Back in Time article)
• Bank 2009 (a Back in Time article)
• Economics, U.S. 2008 (a Back in Time article)
• Economics, U.S. 2009  (a Back in Time article)
• Economic Crisis: The Banking Meltdown (a special report)
• Economic Crisis: The Government Jumps In (a special report)
• Economic Crises – Then and Now (a special report)

October 3, 2012

A Pennsylvania judge ruled yesterday that voters do not need valid photo ID’s to cast a ballot in the upcoming presidential election. The judge, Robert Simpson, did not overturn the law, but rather delayed its implementation on the grounds that the authorities had not done enough to ensure that potential voters had access to the new documents. The judge noted in his ruling that for the November 6 presidential election voters can be asked to produce the newly required photo ID, but those without one can still vote. Judge Simpson had upheld Pennsylvania’s photo ID law in August, but the state supreme court subsequently instructed him to hold further hearings on whether enough had been done to ensure “liberal access” to the picture ID cards.

In a historical photo, African Americans vote in Harlem in 1964. Opponents of voter ID laws in 2012, including civil rights organizations and the Democratic Party, feared that such laws may disenfranchise elderly and minority urban voters. (courtesy AP/Wide World)

Voter ID laws–generally backed by the Republican Party “to prevent electoral fraud”–have triggered a nation-wide debate over voting rights. Opponents of such laws, including civil rights organizations and the Democratic Party, maintain that voter fraud is rare and that such laws make it harder for people to vote. They argue that the elderly and urban minorities often depend on public transportation and, therefore, do not have driver’s licenses. Courts have upheld voter ID laws in Georgia, Indiana, and New Hampshire. They have been blocked in Texas and Wisconsin. South Carolina’s voter ID law is currently under court review. Historically, lower voter turnouts have benefited Republican candidates.

August 31, 2012

Mitt Romney officially became the 2012 Republican candidate for president of the United States on Thursday, August 30, ending his six-year quest for the nomination. Two days earlier, Romney had polled 2,061 votes, more than the 1,144 needed for the nomination, during roll-call voting by delegates at the Republican National Convention. In his acceptance speech, Romney spoke of his childhood and family. He also contended that continuing high unemployment had led many Americans to give up on President Barack Obama and argued that “Now is the time to restore the promise of America.”

Mitt Romney (Abby Brack, Romney for President, Inc.)

Romney became his party’s presumptive nominee in April, when the last of a wide field of challengers dropped out of what had been a contentious Republican primary season. That month, Rick Santorum suspended his presidential campaign. By April, Newt Gingrich and Representative Ron Paul of Texas also had failed to pick up enough convention delegates to be considered serious contenders.

Romney, 65 years old, is a former governor of Massachusetts and a successful businessman. He founded Bain Capital, a private investment firm, in 1984. Romney gained national attention after serving as president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Before he took over, the 2002 Olympics had been plagued by scandal and financial problems. Romney had previously been a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. president in 2008 but lost to Arizona Senator John McCain.

Additional articles in World Book:

• Election campaign
• Political party

August 28, 2012

The Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, reconvened on Tuesday, August 28, after a one-day postponement triggered by concerns about potentially dangerous weather produced by Tropical Storm Isaac. Party officials opened the convention on Monday but recessed less than one minute later. Uncertainty about the path of the storm, which had caused widespread damage in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, led Republican officials on Saturday to shorten the convention from four to three days. However, on Sunday, Isaac turned northwest, away from Tampa and toward the Gulf of Mexico. Tampa and other areas in central and southern Florida were hit only by strong winds and heavy rains.

Mitt Romney (Abby Brack, Romney for President, Inc.)

On Tuesday, delegates voted for their nominee for president. Mitt Romney received 2,061 votes, more than the 1,144 votes needed to win the Republican nomination. He was to be formally nominated Thursday, August 30. Speakers on Tuesday evening included Ann Romney, Mitt Romney’s wife; Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey; and Rick Santorum, former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, who ran against Romney for the presidential nomination.

Additional articles in World Book:

• Election campaign
• Political party

June 19, 2012

The Muslim Brotherhood called today for mass demonstrations across Egypt to protest sweeping new powers assumed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The council has overseen Egypt’s transition after the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Brotherhood leaders threatened to flood the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities with tens of thousands of protesters if the military continues its attempt to “rebuild [the] old regime.”

According to the Brotherhood, the official results of the presidential election on June 16 and 17 confirm that its candidate, Mohamed Morsi, won with 51.7 percent of the vote, compared with former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq’s 48.2 percent. Just as the polls were closing on the 17th, the Supreme Council issued a declaration granting itself sweeping new powers. While the council declared that it would turn over power to who was elected president, it stripped the office of any authority over the army; it also gave itself control over the budget and control of who will write a new, permanent constitution.

Two days before the presidential election, Egypt’s supreme court–stacked with Mubarak-era appointees–ruled that last year’s parliamentary elections had been unconstitutional. The decision dissolved the parliament, effectively handing over all legislative power to the council.

If Morsi’s victory is confirmed in the official results scheduled to be announced on June 21, he will be the first Islamist elected as a head of state following 2011′s extraordinary wave of pro-democracy uprisings, which came to be called the “Arab Spring.” An Islamist advocates Islamic political rule, which usually involves the imposition of Shari`ah law, the moral and legal code of Islam.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians protested against the government of President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011. The sometimes-violent demonstrations led to Mubarak’s resignation in February 2011. (© John Moore, Getty Images)

Additional World Book articles:

• Egypt 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)

May 23, 2012

Heavy turnout marked the first of two days of voting in Egypt‘s first free presidential election. The election is also the first competitive presidential election in the Arab world. Thirteen candidates were vying for the right to become Egypt’s first democratically elected leader following the 2011 overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt as a dictator for nearly 30 years. Mubarak was swept from office by massive public demonstrations during a period of protest and political unrest in several Middle Eastern countries that was referred to as the “Arab Spring.” Mubarak routinely stood for election, often winning an overwhelming share of the vote, but the elections were widely considered as shams by independent observers.

The presidential candidates include both Islamists (who favor a government based on Islamic law) and secularists (who favor the separation of government and religion). Some of the candidates served under Mubarak. If none of the candidates captures 50 percent of the vote, the top two winners will face each other in a runoff in mid-June. The presidential election followed a three-week campaign that included Egypt’s first American-style television debate. Chief among the issues in the race was the increase in lawlessness and crime since the abolition of Mubarak’s police state.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians protest against the government of President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011. The sometimes violent demonstrations led to Mubarak’s resignation in February. (© John Moore, Getty Images)

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the military dictatorship that took control of the government after Mukarak’s ouster, has promised to hand over power after the election of a new president and the ratification of a new constitution. However, many Egyptians remain suspicious of the military, which has muzzled opposition to its rule and controls a sizeable portion of the country’s economy. In April, an administrative court suspended a committee appointed to draft a new constitution. Military officials have also indicated their unwillingness to submit to full civilian rule.

Egypt held elections for its new parliament in late 2011 and 2012. Islamist parties won an overwhelming majority of seats in the People’s Assembly, the lower house. The Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, took approximately 40 percent of the seats, and the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party won 21 percent.

Additional articles in World Book:

• Tahrir Square
• Egypt 1922 (a Back in Time article)
• Egypt 1981 (a Back in Time article)
  
• Egypt 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a Special Report)

April 11, 2012

Rick Santorum suspended his presidential campaign yesterday, ending his quest to become the Republican Party’s nominee in 2012.  “We made a decision over the weekend, that while this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign today, we are not done fighting,” stated the former Pennsylvania senator at a press conference. An aid confirmed that he had called Mitt Romney earlier in the day to tell him of his decision.

Santorum’s move leaves Romney, the former of governor of Massachusetts, as the party’s nominee in all but name only. His remaining challengers, Newt Gingrich and Representative Ron Paul of Texas, have failed to pick enough convention delegates to be considered serious contenders.

Rick Santorum (U.S. Senate)

Additional World Book articles:

• Tempest in a Tea Party (a special report)
• 2008 Election: A Pivotal Choice (a special report)

March 21, 2012

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won the March 20 Illinois Republican primary for the nomination for president of the United States. The former Massachusetts governor won decisively, taking 46.7 percent of the vote. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum came in second with 35 percent. Texas Representative Ron Paul came in third with 9.3 percent of the vote, while Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House, took fourth place with only 8 percent. A voter turnout of only 24 percent made this Illinois’s lowest turnout for a presidential primary in 70 years.

The win follows Romney’s overwhelming victory in the Puerto Rico primary on March 18, in which he took all of the territory’s 20 delegates. Romney had 522 delegates going into the Illinois primary and will take at least 41 of that state’s 54 delegates. He thus widened his lead over Santorum (who will take at least 10 of the Illinois delegates, adding to his previous total of 252) as the candidates head into the Louisiana primary on March 24.

Mitt Romney won the Puerto Rico and Illinois Republican primary elections, putting him well ahead of former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in the delegate count. (Courtesy of Abby Brack, Romney for President, Inc.)

March 13, 2012

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum won both the Alabama and Mississippi Republican primaries on March 12. The former senator from Pennsylvania took 35 percent of the vote in Alabama, compared with the 29 percent scored by both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. In Mississippi, Santorum received 33 percent of the vote, compared with 31 percent for Gingrich and 30 percent for Romney.

Rick Santorum (U.S. Senate)

Political experts suggested that with these victories, Rick Santorum can now claim to be Romney’s only credible rival for the nomination. However, Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, still has a commanding lead in the delegate count in the race to the Republican convention in August–494 out of the 1,144 needed. By comparison, Santorum has 251, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has 131, and Congressman Ron Paul has 48.

Additional World Book article

• Tempest in a Tea Party (a special report)
• 2008 Election: A Pivotal Choice (a special report)

Feb. 29, 2012

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney on February 28 won both the Michigan and Arizona primaries for the Republican nomination for president of the United States. In Michigan, Romney took 41 percent of the vote, compared with former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum’s 38 percent. Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich came in third and fourth with 12 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Romney’s win was more decisive in Arizona with 47 percent of the vote, compared with Santorum’s 27 percent. Gingrich came in third with 16 percent and Paul fourth with 8 percent.

Political experts noted that the Romney camp considered Michigan, where Romney was born and grew up, vital to the future viability of his campaign. Ten states vote on March 6–Super Tuesday–but most experts doubt that Romney will take enough of these states to become the clear winner.

Mitt Romney won both the Michigan and Arizona primaries for the Republican nomination for president of the United States.