Action Kit

scandal — A typical Friday night in Washington D.C.; most prominent politicians will experience some sort of scandal, proving how little importance most have; unfortunately, scandals get more news coverage than most issues and often distract from more important topics.

Selective Service — See conscription.

Senate — The national government and all but one state have one; upper house of the legislative branch, typically smaller than the lower house; in the national government, there are two Senators from every state - population has no bearing on this.

soft money — An aspect of campaign finance; refers to all the money used indirectly by and for candidates for office; although there have been laws and Supreme Court rulings aimed at defining and curbing campaign contributions, it has had little impact on most campaigns; parties, groups and the candidates themselves continue to find way to cheat the system and raise expanding amounts of money with each passing election cycle; see campaign finance, hard money, public financing. (Federal Election Commission's finance disclosure information)

socialism — Not a synonym for communism; socialism refers to the larger philosophy that encompasses communism; the opposite of capitalism, socialism is state ownership of production and services - and in effect, the people own the state; something that has been socialized has been turned over to the government's control; there is a Socialist Party in the U.S. (Socialist Party USA's Web site)

Social Security — Actually refers to the large program of social welfare, which includes benefits not only for the elderly or disabled, but also to programs for children, needy families, the unemployed and more; Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP are parts of Social Security; most often used to refer to Medicare programs; funded by taxes on wages; for several decades, it has been projected that the system will run out of money in the early 21st century - despite having decades of time to solve the problem, there have been no effective reforms. (Social Security Administration's official Web site)

spin — See doublespeak.