1) What did the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility Act of 2009 do and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act do that impacts college students? 430
a) The CARD act of 2009, restricted credit card companies from raising interest rates on existing balances. It also prevented credit card companies from charging a fee for exceeding their borrowing limit unless these customers had explicitly requested this service. It also made it more difficult for credit card companies to target those under 21 years of age- since they now had to provide either proof of parental consent or proof of financial capability.
i) The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility act made loans available to more students by having the federal government loan directly to students. This change eliminated billions in subsidies paid to the banks that had offered student loans. It also blocked a proposed interest rate increase, keeping the rate at 3.4%
2) What is a constituency and what relationship are they supposed to have to their representatives? 437
a) The constituents of a district are the residents in an area for the elected official.
3) What is a bicameral legislature and what are the houses of Congress? 437
a) A legislative assembly is composed of two chambers/houses.
4) What are the formal qualifications for holding office in Congress? 437
a) House
i) Minimum age: 25 years old ii) US Citizenship: at least 7 years as a US Citizen iii) Length of term: 2 years iv) Number representing each state: depends on population
v) Constituency: Local
b) Senate
i) Minimum age: 30 years old ii) US Citizenship: at least 9 years as a US citizen iii) Length of term: 6 years iv) Number representing each state: 2 per state
v) Constituency: Local and National
5) According to Table 12.1, what are the differences between the House and the Senate? 437-8
a) The age requirements are different, as are the citizenship requirements. The term for the Senate is 6