Name____________________________________________________ Mods
15-16
1. Andy Card, White House Chief of Staff resigned. Card has become a target after White House missteps undermined the President: a botched response to Hurricane Katrina, the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the _________________ _____________, the firestorm around the Dubai ports deal.
2. Republicans point out that Bolten has very good relationships on Capitol Hill and ________________________________ those relationships between the White House and those on Capitol Hill is a priority now.
3. Congress returned to Washington this week amid signs that Republicans are increasingly worried about losing majority control. In the Senate, Republicans have a _____ to _____ edge. In the House, there are 202 Democrats and 231 Republicans; strategists from both parties say Democrats have a realistic shot at gaining the _____ seats to take control.
4. House Democrats are targeting ______ Republican-held seats in the Democratic leaning states in the Northeast (NY, PA, NH, CT, and NJ). Democrats say their central strategy is working – tying Republicans to an unpopular President Bush.
5. Republican Thomas Reynolds (R) from NY says, “It always gets back to ______________ elections, ___________ politics, and that’s how we’re going to win Republican majority in the 2006 election.” Polls say voters don’t think very highly of Congressional Republicans; they also show concerns about Democrats, (voters unsure of exactly what it is they stand for).
6. Caspar Weinberger has died; he held senior positions under three Republican Presidents. While serving as Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Defense, he presided over the largest peace-time military ___________-_______ in the nations’ history.
7. Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard and driver, Saleem Hamdan, was caught in 2001 and was sent to the prison at Guantanamo Bay . He was ready for trial before a new military commission under rules drawn up by President Bush shortly after 9/11. Hamdan’s lawyers say no president has the power to create a whole new ______________ ________________.
8. Justices Alito and Scalia supported the government, while new Chief Justice Roberts abstained from voting, since he upheld the President’s rights as a lower court judge. The majority of the Justices said the President cannot set up military _____________________________________ on his own and then tell the federal courts to keep their hands off of the cases.
9. Demonstrations in Paris are occurring because of proposed new labor laws. They were intended to encourage ___________________ by removing some of the restrictions on _____________________.
10. A new government law would give companies flexibility to hire and fire workers, but it also has a controversial proposal, companies could fire employees under the age of ______ without cause.
11. Striking workers crippled the nation’s transportation systems. ______% of trains were stopped on the tracks. ______ of all flights were cancelled. Even the Eiffel Tower was closed.
12. After France’s riots in immigrants
neighborhoods last fall, Prime Minister Dominic de Villepin promised more
jobs. Almost ______ of the youth in
France are unemployed. The day ended in
a stand-off. The students were threatening
even more demonstrations and de Villepin was vowing that he won’t back down.
13. In Costa Mesa, there is a population of 100,000 and about 1/3 is Latino. At the heart of a local debate is the mayor’s plan, approved by city council, to have local police enforce __________________________________ laws and get rid of illegal immigrants who commit crimes. Many communities frown on the idea, fearing that it creates a strain between officers and Latinos.
14. In Waveland, Mississippi, they need upwards of $100 million to repair infrastructure. FEMA says it has approved $39 million, but only $_____ million has come through to the city.
15. In Biloxi, Mississippi, casinos are thriving and have rebounded stronger than expected. In February last year, nine casinos were operating and reported $________ million in revenue. In the last month, with only three casinos open, they pulled in $_________ million.
CNN Student News
– Wednesday, March 29
16.
France has relatively high unemployment with about _____ of every _____
workers out of a job. It's difficult and sometimes expensive, for French
businesses to fire someone. So employers are hesitant to hire new workers.
17.
Students and workers protest against the conservative government's job
reform they say exploits youth. They demand Prime Minister Dominique de
Villepin scrap his contract for first-employment, or ________, before they'll
agree to talk.
18.
The CPE, expected to take effect next month, allows businesses to fire
youth up to age 25 in the first two years of employment, without giving a
____________________________. That would strip youth of France's strict labor
protection.
19.
The more immediate fear here was violence that flared around the
protest, mainly by youth from poor immigrant neighborhoods hit by rioting last
fall. Here, plain-clothed police worked
with student security in armbands, trying to spot trouble in advance.
______________ police stood in side streets, ready to intervene.
20.
Opinion polls indicate a public divided - a majority think the CPE as it
is should be withdrawn, but half think it could be modified. By refusing to
withdraw the CPE, Prime Minister de Villepin has in effect
_______________________________ the students and the unions to show just how
strong they are.
21.
A Word to the Wise... clarion
call (noun) an urgent call to ___________________.
22.
Israel's getting some new leadership. The vote came about two months
after Israel's former prime minister, Ariel Sharon, had a massive
_____________________. Ehud Olmert is
the man who took over, but Olmert's Kadima party didn't get enough votes to
dominate - that means it'll have to work with other political parties to get
things done.
23.
Israel's parliament is a notoriously nasty place to work. There's no
decorum here and a lot of _______________________. Men like Shimon Peres, used
to red-carpet treatment abroad, can barely get a sentence out in the Knesset
(Israel's parliament) without being heckled. What seems like anarchy is the
product of a unique political system.
24.
The entire country of Israel is considered one voting district. Voters,
as this television ad shows, do not vote for individuals, but only for
political parties. The party is then allocated seats in the 120-member
parliament based precisely on the _____________________________________ of
votes it received in the election.
25.
It's a system designed to provide the maximum amount of representation.
The only hurdle is that a party needs to win at least _______________ of the
national vote to win a seat.
26.
Now, on average _________________ different parties will win seats, and
in Israel's entire history, no one single party has ever won enough seats to
govern alone. The system dates back to the early days of Israel's founding in
1948.
27.
If you're exceptionally organized, great under pressure, and up on
events that affect the country, White House Chief of Staff could be the job for
you. Behind the presidency, it's the most ________________________ position in
the West Wing, responsible for keeping tabs on events and communication inside
the huge federal government.
28.
Flanked by his cabinet, the president stood in the rose garden to
acknowledge the shakeup and the departure of Chief of Staff Andy Card. Card is a key figure in the White House and
a key figure in modern American ____________________. On 9-11, he informed the
president of the attacks on the World Trade Center. The long-time staffer is
also a long term friend of both Bush presidents. In the Oval Office, the
president announced Card's return to private life and the appointment of Joshua
Bolten.
29.
This shake-up comes as Republicans raised pressure to make internal
staff changes to reverse the president's
_____________________________
__________ poll numbers.
30. An amazing rescue story out of Texas. A blind man and his elderly neighbor kept _____________ __________________ in each of their homes, to watch out for one another's safety. When a fire broke out at the elderly woman's house on Tuesday, Jim Sherman heard her cries for help over the monitor. So Sherman, despite being blind, made his way over to his neighbor's house and rescued her and three kittens that had been born that night.