Democratic Values. Rebuilding democracy’s moral foundation

Approach 1

zealot['zelət] 1) зилот 2) фанатический приверженец; фанатик religious zealot — религиозный фанатик zealot ['zelət] zeal·ot a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals

mortgage ипотека, закладная 1) Ипотечный кредит, при котором в качестве обеспечения ссуды заемщик передает кредитору права на недвижимость. Условия такого кредита могут существенно варьироваться, в связи с чем существует около 30 видов ипотечного кредита, которым широко пользуются американцы 2) Обращающийся долговой инструмент, обеспеченный правом на недвижимость

A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan. However, the word mortgage alone, in everyday usage, is most often used to mean mortgage loan.

The word mortgage is a Law French term meaning "death contract," meaning that the pledge ends (dies) when either the obligation is fulfilled or the property is taken through foreclosure.[1]

A home buyer or builder can obtain financing (a loan) either to purchase or secure against the property from a financial institution, such as a bank, either directly or indirectly through intermediaries. Features of mortgage loans such as the size of the loan, maturity of the loan, interest rate, method of paying off the loan, and other characteristics can vary considerably.

In many jurisdictions, though not all (Bali, Indonesia being one exception[2]), it is normal for home purchases to be funded by a mortgage loan. Few individuals have enough savings or liquid funds to enable them to purchase property outright. In countries where the demand for home ownership is highest, strong domestic markets have developed.

The Mortgage industry of the United States is a major financial sector. The federal government created several programs, or government sponsored entities, to foster mortgage lending, construction and encourage home ownership. These programs include the Government National Mortgage Association (known as Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (known as Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (known as Freddie Mac).

Fixed-rate mortgage are common in the United States, unlike most of Western Europe where variable-rate mortgages are more common.[1][2] The United States has home ownership rates comparable to Europe, but overall default rates are lower in Europe than in the United States.[1] Mortgage loan financing relies more on secondary mortgage markets and less on formal government guarantees backed by covered bonds and deposits.[1][2] Prepayment penalties are discouraged by underwriting requirements of large organizations such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.[1] Mortgages loans are often nonrecourse debt, unlike the most of the world.[1]

The US subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the 2007–2010 financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backing said mortgages.[3] The earlier Savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s and National Mortgage Crisis of the 1930s also arose primarily from unsound mortgage lending. The mortgage crisis has led to a rise in foreclosures, leading to the 2010 United States foreclosure crisis.

gas-guzzler неэкономичный автомобиль gas-guzzler noun Date: 1973 a usually large automobile that gets relatively poor mileage

Gas-guzzler commonly refers to a vehicle that consumes fuel inefficiently.

The term originally came into use in the US when congress established Gas Guzzler Tax provisions in the Energy Tax Act of 1978 to discourage the production and purchase of fuel-inefficient vehicles. The gas guzzler tax had applied only to cars (not trucks) and was collected by the IRS.[1]

Today the term is often used[citation needed] to refer to SUVs or other semi-large vehicles that qualify as "light trucks". Nevertheless the term extends to all fuel-inefficient vehicles, from antiquated V8 American classics to Italian-bred sports cars. A Lamborghini Murciélago, a Plymouth Roadrunner, and a Hummer H1 might all be classified as gas-guzzlers, though they are very different cars.

Reasons for bad fuel economy

There are several reasons for bad fuel economy in cars, vans and trucks:

Large displacement engines: A large displacement engine generally requires more fuel to run it than a smaller engine[citation needed].

Small displacement engines: An excessively small engine often requires more fuel to run than a moderately bigger engine[citation needed] which can deliver more power per piston bore than its smaller equivalent. A smaller engine has to burn more fuel to produce power similar to a larger bore engine[citation needed], thus causing the mean fuel economy to go down under normal operating conditions. This situation is often found in Germany or Ireland[2] where a motor taxation system is used which taxes cars based on engine capacity.

Heavy weight: A heavy vehicle requires more work to accelerate than a lighter vehicle, requiring more powerful (larger displacement) engine with higher fuel consumption to achieve a similar power-to-weight ratio.

Large drag coefficient: A less aerodynamic vehicle must deflect a greater volume of air when moving at the same speed than a more aerodynamic one. To overcome this drag, a more powerful engine with higher fuel consumption is needed.

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Means to decrease fuel consumption

Then there is the reduction of vehicle weight, with a switch to monocoque construction instead of body on frame construction and an increased use of lightweight materials, aluminium, plastics and high strength HSLA steels instead of ordinary mild carbon steel.

Gas-guzzlers are not only seeing a scale back in engine size and weight but also in the type of fuel used to power it to prevent environmental damage caused by the use of fossil fuels. For example, some light truck manufacturers are adopting hydrogen fuel technology in order to provide the consumer a vehicle with a much lower running cost[citation needed]. The problem with these alternative fuel technologies is that they are either too expensive for widespread use and/or they are scarcely available especially in smaller countries.

Diesel technology is widespread in light trucks, especially in Japan and Europe. The bad reputation of diesel fuel and the previously bad quality of the fuel, however, have led to the rarity of such vehicles in the U.S market. The excessive particle emissions of diesel engines have also been cut back with particulate filters, which are offered for most modern diesel engines.

Driving habits and vehicle maintenance are easy to change and can have a big impact on fuel efficiency. Sudden acceleration, poorly maintained vehicles (frequency of oil changes and brand) and gasoline brands can also impact overall fuel efficiency by over 20%.[3][4][5]

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Gas guzzler tax

Main article: Gas Guzzler Tax

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Basics

The U.S government introduced the Gas Guzzler Tax as a part of the Energy Tax Act. The tax was introduced to tax the purchase of inefficient vehicles at the same time that Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were introduced. The Gas Guzzler Tax applies only to vehicles classified as cars, as opposed to light trucks. Since 1991, cars with a combined fuel economy rating under 22.5 mpg-US (10.5 L/100 km; 27.0 mpg-imp) miles per gallon have been subject to the tax. Light trucks, which includes virtually all sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and vans, are not subject to the tax.

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Criticism

The primary criticism of the tax is that it does not apply to light trucks. As a result, relatively few vehicles are subject to the tax. When the tax was first introduced, light trucks were viewed as primarily work related vehicles. With the shift towards consumer uses for SUVs and pickups, the original rationale for exempting trucks is considered invalid by critics of the current tax law.

military draft призыв на военную службу

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service.[1] Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names. The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1–3 years on active duty, then transfer to the reserve force.

In China, the State of Qin instituted universal military service following the registration of every household.[2] This allowed huge armies to be levied, and was instrumental in the creation of the Qin Empire that conquered the whole of China in 221BC.

Conscription is controversial, because of conscientious objection to service, or political objection to service for a disliked government, or an unpopular war, and because it violates individual rights. Those conscripted may evade service, sometimes by leaving the country.[3] Some selection systems accommodate these attitudes by providing alternative service outside combat-operations roles or even outside the military, such as Zivildienst in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

As of the early 21st century, many states no longer conscript soldiers, relying instead upon professional militaries with volunteers enlisted to meet the demand for troops. The ability to rely on such an arrangement, however, presupposes some degree of predictability with regard to both war-fighting requirements and the scope of hostilities. Many states that have abolished conscription therefore still reserve the power to resume it during wartime or times of crisis.[4] In the United States, conscription, also called "the draft", ended in 1973, but males between 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service System to enable a reintroduction of conscription if necessary.

Conscription in the United States (also called compulsory military service or the draft) has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War. The United States discontinued the draft in 1973, moving to an all-volunteer military force, thus there is no mandatory conscription.

However, the Selective Service System remains in place as a contingency plan; men between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register so that a draft can be readily resumed if needed. In current conditions conscription is considered unlikely by most political and military experts.[1]

Jury duty is service as a juror in a legal proceeding. When a person is called for jury duty in the United States, that service is compulsory: one must attend or face strict penalties. Employers are not allowed to fire an employee simply for being called to jury duty. (However, they are typically not required to pay salaries during this time.) When attended, potential jurors may be asked to serve as a juror in a trial, or they may be dismissed. See jury selection and Taylor v. Louisiana. Jury duty has been criticized by some libertarian groups as involuntary servitude[1] that is akin to conscription.[2][3] Most regard jury duty as essential to the administration of justice, and as such it is considered a condition of US citizenship.

The Supreme Court has held, in Butler v. Perry, 240 U.S. 328 (1916), that the Thirteenth Amendment does not prohibit "enforcement of those duties which individuals owe to the state, such as services in the army, militia, on the jury, etc."

no-fault law/no-fault option закон об абсолютной ответственности, закон об ответственности без вины no-fault law закон, устанавливающий абсолютную ответственность [ответственность без вины]

tax deduction 1) налоговый вычет, налоговая скидка а) (уменьшение налогооблагаемого дохода путем вычитания из валового дохода определенной суммы при расчете налогооблагаемого дохода) to use tax deduction — применять налоговый вычет See: tax benefit , asset conversion , capital allowances , dividends received deduction , home office deduction б) (сумма, которую налогоплательщик может вычитать из валового дохода при расчете налогооблагаемого дохода) Syn: income deduction , deduction See: tax-deductible , tax credit 2) взимание налога, удержание налога (вычет налога из валовой суммы дохода налогоплательщика) tax deduction at source — удержание налога у источника дохода See: tax at source

Income tax systems generally allow a tax deduction, i.e., a reduction of the income subject to tax, for various items, especially expenses incurred to produce income. Often these deductions are subject to limitations or conditions. Tax deductions generally are allowed only for expenses incurred that produce current benefits, and capitalization of items producing future benefit is required, sometimes with exceptions. Most systems allow recovery in some manner over a period of time of capitalized business and investment items, such as through allowances for depreciation, obsolescence, or decline in value. Many systems reduce taxable income for personal allowances or provide a range of income subject to zero tax. In addition, some systems allow deductions from the tax base for items the tax levying government desires to encourage. Some systems distinguish among types of deductions (business versus non-business).

tax exemption , освобождение от налога Законами США и отдельных штатов устанавливаются некоторые виды собственности, продаж и дохода, которые освобождаются от уплаты по ним налога. Например, в большинстве штатов от налога освобождается собственность учебных заведений tax exemption 1) освобождение от налогов, освобождение от налогообложения, налоговое освобождение (установленное законом освобождение от уплаты каких-л. налогов для какой-л. категории налогоплательщиков или хозяйственных операций)

Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some systems. Tax exempt status may provide a potential taxpayer complete relief from tax, tax at a reduced rate, or tax on only a portion of the items subject to tax. Examples include exemption of charitable organizations from property taxes and income taxes, exemptions provided to veterans, and exemptions under cross-border or multi-jurisdictional principles. Tax exemption generally refers to a statutory exception to a general rule rather than the mere absence of taxation in particular circumstances (i.e., an exclusion). Tax exemption also generally refers to removal from taxation of a particular item or class rather than a reduction of taxable items by way of deduction of other items (i.e., a deduction). Tax exemptions may theoretically be granted at any governmental level that imposes taxation, though in some broader systems restraints are imposed on such exemptions by lower tier governmental units.

tax credit tax cred·it an amount of money that can be offset against a tax liability tax credit 1. налоговая льгота Разрешенный законом прямой вычет (доллар за доллар) определенных расходов, обычно общественно значимых, из общей налогооблагаемой суммы расходов 2. отсрочка уплаты налога tax credit налоговый кредит а) (разрешенный законом прямой вычет определенных расходов, обычно социально мотивированных или общественно важных, из общей суммы налоговых обязательств (в отличие от вычетов, уменьшающих налогооблагаемую базу))

A tax credit is a sum deducted from the total amount a taxpayer owes to the state. A tax credit may be granted for various types of taxes, such as an income tax, property tax, or VAT. It may be granted in recognition of taxes already paid, as a subsidy, or to encourage investment or other behaviors. In some systems tax credits are 'refundable'[1] to the extent they exceed the relevant tax. Tax systems may grant tax credits to businesses or individuals, and such grants vary by type of credit.

Perot, (Henry) Ross (р. 1930) Перо, (Генри) Росс Техасский бизнесмен. Окончил военно-морскую академию [Naval Academy, U.S.] и в 1953-57 служил на флоте. В 1957-62 работал в компании "ИБМ" [International Business Machines Corp. ], после чего основал свою фирму "ЭДС" [Electronic Data Systems (EDS)]. В 1984, когда стоимость компании оценивалась более чем в 2 млрд. долларов, он продал ее корпорации "Дженерал моторс" [General Motors Corp. ]. Занимался инвестиционными проектами, недвижимостью, в 1988 вернулся в компьютерный бизнес. В марте 1992 под лозунгом недовольства народа основными партиями выступил в качестве независимого кандидата на президентский пост и получил большую поддержку, опережая в ходе кампании Дж. Буша [Bush, George Herbert Walker] и У. Клинтона [Clinton, William Jefferson (Bill) ], но 16 июля неожиданно для всех объявил о прекращении своей кампании. 1 октября возобновил ее, но несмотря на огромные расходы на рекламу, в значительной мере потерял поддержку избирателей. Основные положения его программы предусматривали устранение дефицита бюджета жесткими методами, сотрудничество между федеральными властями и промышленностью, создание условий для большей конкурентоспособности США на мировом рынке. Несмотря на поражение, набрал более 19,2 млн. голосов (19 процентов от общего числа)

Henry Ross Perot (pronounced /pəˈroʊ/; born June 27, 1930) is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988. Perot Systems was bought by Dell for $3.9 billion in 2009.[2]

With an estimated net worth of about US$3.4 billion in 2011, he is ranked by Forbes as the 99th-richest person in the United States.[1]Contents [hide]

1 Early life

2 Business

3 Early political activities

4 1992 presidential candidacy

5 Reform Party and 1996 presidential run

6 Later activities

7 Family

8 Honors

9 Electoral history

10 References

11 Further reading

12 External links

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Early life

Perot was born in Texarkana, Texas, to Luly Maye Perot (née Ray) and Gabriel Ross Perot.[3] His father was a cotton broker.[4] He attended a private school called Patty Hill. He graduated from Texas High School in Texarkana in 1947.[5] One of Perot's boyhood friends was Hayes McClerkin, later Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives and a prominent Texarkana, Arkansas, lawyer.[6]

Perot joined the Boy Scouts of America and made Eagle Scout in 1942, after only thirteen months in the program. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.[7][8]

Perot entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949 and helped establish its honor system.[7] By the time he graduated in 1953 he was president of his class and battalion commander.[citation needed] By late 1954, Perot was made a lieutenant, junior grade. In 1955, however, Perot expressed some discontent with his life in the U.S. Navy in a letter to his father. He quietly served the remainder of his four-year commitment and resigned his commission.[citation needed]. Perot married Margot Birmingham of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1956.

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Business

After he left the Navy in 1957, Perot became a salesman for International Business Machines. He quickly became a top employee, filling his year's sales quota in two weeks,[9] and tried to pitch his ideas to supervisors who largely ignored him.[citation needed] He left IBM in 1962 to found Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Dallas, Texas, and courted large corporations for his data processing services. Perot was refused seventy-seven times before he was given his first contract. EDS received lucrative contracts from the U.S. government in the 1960s, computerizing Medicare records. EDS went public in 1968 and the stock price rose from $16 a share to $160 within days. Fortune called Perot the "fastest, richest Texan" in a 1968 cover story. In 1984 General Motors bought controlling interest in EDS for $2.4 billion.

In 1974 Perot gained some press attention for being "the biggest individual loser ever on the New York Stock Exchange" when his EDS shares dropped $450 million in value in a single day in April 1970.[10]

Just prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the government of Iran imprisoned two EDS employees in a contract dispute. Perot organized and sponsored their rescue. The rescue team was led by retired U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Arthur D. "Bull" Simons. When the team was unable to find a way to extract their two prisoners, they decided to wait for a mob of pro-Ayatollah revolutionaries to storm the jail and free all 10,000 inmates, many of whom were political prisoners. The two prisoners then connected with the rescue team, and the team spirited them out of Iran via a risky border crossing into Turkey. The exploit was recounted in a book, On Wings of Eagles by Ken Follett, which became a best-seller. In the 1986 miniseries, Perot was portrayed by Richard Crenna.

In 1984 Perot bought a very early copy of the Magna Carta, one of only a few to leave the United Kingdom. It was lent to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where it was displayed alongside the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. In 2007, it was sold by the Perot Foundation, in order to provide "for medical research, for improving public education and for assisting wounded soldiers and their families."[11] The document sold for US$21.3 million on December 18, 2007 to David Rubenstein, managing director of the Carlyle Group and kept on display at the National Archives.[12]

As Steve Jobs lost the original power struggle at Apple to found NeXt, his angel investor was Perot who invested over 20 million dollars because he believed in Jobs and did not want to miss out as he had when had the chance to invest in Bill Gates' fledging Microsoft.[13]

In 1988 he founded Perot Systems Corporation, Inc. in Plano, Texas. His son, Ross Perot, Jr., eventually succeeded him as CEO. In September 2009, Perot Systems was acquired by Dell for $3.9 billion.[14]

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Early political activities

In the same year that Perot organized the rescue mission in Iran, Texas governor Bill Clements requested his assistance developing policy to reduce illegal drug use.[citation needed] Perot led the Texas War on Drugs Committee that proposed five laws, all of which were passed by the legislature.[citation needed]

In 1983 he was called upon by Democratic Governor Mark White to help improve the quality of the state's public education, and ended up leading the effort ("Select Committee on Public Education") to reform the school system, which resulted in major legislative changes.[citation needed] The best known of Perot's proposals that were passed into law was the "No Pass, No Play" rule, under which it was required that students have passing grades in order to participate in any school-sponsored extracurricular activities.[citation needed] The intent was to prevent high school sports from being the focus of the school's funding, and to emphasize the importance of education for the students who participated in sports.[citation needed] Another key reform measure was a call for teacher competency testing, which was strongly opposed by the teachers unions in Texas.[citation needed]

Perot became heavily involved in the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. He believed that hundreds of American servicemen were left behind in Southeast Asia at the end of the U.S. involvement in the war,[15] and that government officials were covering up POW/MIA investigations in order to avoid revealing a drug smuggling operation used to finance a secret war in Laos.[16] Perot engaged in unauthorized back-channel discussions with Vietnamese officials in the late 1980s, which led to fractured relations between Perot and the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.[15][16] In 1990, Perot reached agreement with Vietnam's Foreign Ministry to become its business agent in the event that diplomatic relations were normalized.[17] Perot also launched private investigations of, and attacks upon, U.S. Department of Defense official Richard Armitage.[15][16]

Perot stands next to a portrait of George Washington at his office in 1986.

Beginning in the late 1980s and continuing in the early 1990s, Ross Perot began speaking out about what he described as the failings of the United States government.[citation needed] Perot asserted that the United States "had grown arrogant and complacent after the War" [referring to World War II] and was no longer the world's greatest nation. Instead of looking into what was to come, he argued, America was "daydreaming of [its] past while the rest of the world was building its future."[citation needed] He said:

Go to Rome, go to Paris, go to London. Those cities are centuries old. They're thriving. They're clean. They work. Our oldest cities are brand new compared to them and yet… go to New York, drive through downtown Washington, go to Detroit, go to Philadelphia. What's wrong with us?

[citation needed]

In Florida in 1990, retired financial planner Jack Gargan funded a series of "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" (a reference to a famous quotation from the 1976 political and mass media satire movie, Network) newspaper advertisements denouncing the U.S. Congress for voting for legislative pay raises at a time when average wages nationwide were not increasing.[citation needed] Gargan later founded "Throw the Hypocritical Rascals Out" (THRO), which Ross Perot supported.[citation needed]

Maya Lin, architect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial received harassment from Perot after her race was revealed: he was known to have called her an "egg roll" after it was revealed that she was Asian.[18]

Perot did not support President George H. W. Bush and vigorously opposed the United States involvement in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War.[citation needed] He unsuccessfully urged Senators to vote against the war resolution, and began to consider his own presidential run.[citation needed]

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1992 presidential candidacy

Main article: Ross Perot presidential campaign, 1992

On February 20, 1992, he appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and announced his intention to run as an independent if his supporters could get his name on the ballot in all fifty states. With such declared policies as balancing the federal budget, a firm pro-choice stance on abortion, expansion of the war on drugs, ending outsourcing of jobs, support for gun control, belief in protectionism on trade, advocating the Environmental Protection Agency and enacting electronic direct democracy via "electronic town halls," he became a potential candidate and soon polled roughly even with the two major party candidates.[19]

Perot's candidacy received increasing media attention when the competitive phase of the primary season ended for the two major parties. With the insurgent candidacies of Republican Pat Buchanan and Democrat Jerry Brown winding down, Perot was the natural beneficiary of populist resentment toward establishment politicians. On May 25, 1992 he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine with the title "Waiting for Perot," an allusion to Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot.[20]

Several months before the Democratic and Republican conventions, Perot filled the vacuum of election news, as his supporters began petition drives to get him on the ballot in all fifty states. This sense of momentum was reinforced when Perot employed two savvy campaign managers in Democrat Hamilton Jordan and Republican Ed Rollins.[citation needed] In July, while Perot was pondering whether to run for office, his supporters established a campaign organization United We Stand America. Perot was late in making formal policy proposals, but most of what he did call for were intended to reduce the deficit. He wanted a gasoline tax increase and some cutbacks of Social Security.[citation needed]

By the summer Perot commanded a lead in the presidential race with thirty-nine percent of the vote.[21] By mid-July, the Washington Post reported that Perot's campaign managers were becoming increasingly disillusioned by his unwillingness to follow their advice[22] to be more specific on issues, and his need to be in full control of operations[22] with such tactics as forcing volunteers to sign loyalty oaths.[23] Perot's poll numbers began to slip to 25%, and his advisers warned that if he continued to ignore them, he would fall into single digits. Co-manager Hamilton Jordan threatened to quit, and on July 15, Ed Rollins resigned after Perot fired advertisement specialist Hal Riney, who worked with Rollins on the Reagan campaign. Rollins would later claim that a member of the campaign accused him of being a Bush plant with ties to the CIA.[24] Amidst the chaos, Perot's support fell to 20%.[25] The next day, Perot announced on Larry King Live that he would not seek the presidency. He explained that he did not want the House of Representatives to decide the election if the result caused the electoral college to be split. Perot eventually stated the reason was that he received threats that digitally altered photographs would be released by the Bush campaign to sabotage his daughter's wedding.[26] Regardless of the reasons for withdrawing, his reputation was badly damaged. Many of his supporters felt betrayed and public opinion polls would subsequently show a large negative view of Perot that was absent prior to his decision to end the campaign.[27]

In September he qualified for all fifty state ballots. On October 1, he announced his intention to reenter the presidential race. He said that Republican operatives had wanted to reveal compromising photographs of his daughter, which would disrupt her wedding, and he wanted to spare her from embarrassment. Scott Barnes, a private investigator and security consultant who had testified to that effect, later recanted his story. He revealed in 1997 that he had deceived Perot about the existence of the photographs, and that he had created the hoax with others who were not involved with any political campaign. Barnes was a Bush supporter, and believed that if it were revealed that Republicans were involved in dirty tricks, it would harm Bush's candidacy.[28]

He campaigned in 16 states and spent an estimated $12.3 million of his own money.[29] Perot employed the innovative strategy of purchasing half-hour blocks of time on major networks for infomercial-type campaign advertisements; this advertising garnered more viewership than many sitcoms, with one Friday night program in October attracting 10.5 million viewers.[30]

Perot's running mate was retired Vice Admiral James Stockdale, a highly-decorated former Vietnam prisoner of war (POW). In December 1969 he organized and flew to North Vietnam in an attempt to deliver thirty tons of supplies to beleaguered American POWs in North Vietnam. Although North Vietnam blocked the flights, the effort was instrumental in bringing the plight of those POWs to the world's attention and their captors soon began treating them better.[7]

At one point in June, Perot led the polls with 39% (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton). Just prior to the debates, Perot received 7-9% support in nationwide polls.[31] It is likely that the debates played a significant role in his ultimate receipt of 19% of the popular vote. Although his answers during the debates were often general, many Democrats and Republicans conceded that Perot won at least the first debate. In the debate he remarked: "Keep in mind our Constitution predates the Industrial Revolution. Our founders did not know about electricity, the train, telephones, radio, television, automobiles, airplanes, rockets, nuclear weapons, satellites, or space exploration. There's a lot they didn't know about. It would be interesting to see what kind of document they'd draft today. Just keeping it frozen in time won't hack it."[32]

Perot denounced Congress for its inaction in his speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 1992. Perot said:

This city has become a town filled with sound bites, shell games, handlers, media stuntmen who posture, create images, talk, shoot off Roman candles, but don't ever accomplish anything. We need deeds, not words, in this city.[33]

In the 1992 election, he received 18.9% of the popular vote, approximately 19,741,065 votes (but no electoral college votes), making him the most successful third-party presidential candidate in terms of the popular vote since Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 election.[citation needed] Unlike Perot, however, some other third party candidates since Roosevelt have won electoral college votes. (Strom Thurmond had 39 in 1948, George Wallace had 46 in 1968 and John Hospers won one in 1972). Compared with Thurmond and Wallace, who polled very strongly in a small number of states, Perot's vote was more evenly spread across the country. Perot managed to finish second in two states: In Maine, Perot received 30.44% of the vote to Bush's 30.39% (Clinton won Maine with 38.77%); in Utah, Perot received 27.34% of the vote to Clinton's 24.65% (Bush won Utah with 43.36%). Although Perot won no state, he received the most votes in some counties, including Trinity County, California.

A detailed analysis of voting demographics revealed that Perot's support drew heavily from across the political spectrum, with 20% of his votes coming from self-described liberals, 27% from self-described conservatives, and 53% coming from self-described moderates. Economically, however, the majority of Perot voters (57%) were middle class, earning between $15,000 and $49,000 annually, with the bulk of the remainder drawing from the upper middle class (29% earning more than $50,000 annually).[34] Exit polls also showed that Ross Perot drew 38% of his vote from Bush, and 38% of his vote from Clinton, while the rest of his voters would have stayed home had he not been on the ballot.[35]

Based on his performance in the popular vote in 1992, Perot was entitled to receive federal election funding for 1996. Perot remained in the public eye after the election and championed opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), urging voters to listen for the "giant sucking sound" of American jobs heading south to Mexico should NAFTA be ratified.

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Reform Party and 1996 presidential run

Perot tried to keep his movement alive through the mid-1990s, continuing to speak about the increasing national debt. He was a prominent campaigner against the North American Free Trade Agreement, and even debated with Al Gore on the issue on Larry King Live. Perot's behavior during the debate was a source of mirth thereafter, including his repeated pleas to "let me finish" in his southern drawl. The debate was seen by many as effectively ending Perot’s political career.[36] Support for NAFTA went from 34% to 57%.

In 1995, he founded the Reform Party and won their nomination for the 1996 election. His running mate was Pat Choate. Because of the ballot access laws, he had to run as an Independent on many state ballots. Perot received eight percent of the popular vote in 1996, much less than in the 1992 race but still an unusually successful third-party showing by U.S. standards. He spent much less of his own money in this race than he had four years before, and also allowed other people to contribute to his campaign, unlike his prior race. One common explanation for the decline was Perot's exclusion from the presidential debates, based on the preferences of the Democratic and Republican party candidates (as described by George Farah in Open Debates).

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Later activities

Perot attending the 2009 EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C.

Later in the 1990s, Perot's detractors accused him of not allowing the Reform Party to develop into a genuine national political party, but rather using it as a vehicle to promote himself. They cited as evidence the control of party offices by operatives from his presidential campaigns. Perot did not give an endorsement during Jesse Ventura's run for governor of Minnesota in the 1998 election, and this became suspicious to detractors when he made fun of Ventura at a conference after Ventura had a falling out with the press. The party leadership grew in tighter opposition to groups supporting Ventura and Jack Gargan. Evidence of this was demonstrated when Gargan was officially removed as Reform Party Chairman by the Reform Party National Committee.

In the 2000 presidential election, Perot refused to become openly involved with the internal Reform Party dispute between supporters of Pat Buchanan and of John Hagelin. Perot was reportedly unhappy with what he saw as the disintegration of the party, as well as his own portrayal in the press; thus he chose to remain quiet. He appeared on Larry King Live four days before the election and endorsed George W. Bush for president. Despite his earlier opposition to NAFTA, Perot remained largely silent about expanded use of guest worker visas in the United States, with Buchanan supporters attributing this silence to his corporate reliance on foreign workers.[37] Some state parties have affiliated with the new (Buchananite) America First Party; others gave Ralph Nader their ballot lines in the 2004 presidential election.

Since then, Perot has been largely silent on political issues, refusing to answer most questions from the press. When interviewed, he usually remains on the subject of his business career and refuses to answer specific questions on politics, candidates, or his past activities.

The one exception to this came in 2005, when he was asked to testify before the Texas Legislature in support of proposals to extend technology to students, including making laptops available to them; additionally, changing the process of buying textbooks, by making electronic books (ebooks) available and by allowing schools to buy books at the local level instead of going through the state. In an April 2005 interview, Perot expressed concern about the state of progress on issues that he had raised in his presidential runs.[38]

In January 2008, Perot publicly came out against Republican candidate John McCain and endorsed Mitt Romney for President. He also announced that he would soon be launching a new website with updated economic graphs and charts.[39] In June 2008, the blog launched, focusing on entitlements (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security), the U.S. national debt and related issues.[40]

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Family

Perot is married to Margot Birmingham; they have five children (Ross Jr., Nancy, Suzanne, Carolyn, and Katherine). As of 2007, the Perots have 15 grandchildren.

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Honors

On April 22, 2009, Ross Perot was made an Honorary Green Beret at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina, that also honored the OSS, Alamo Scouts and the First Special Service Force, elite World War Two units that were inducted into the "1st Special Forces" Regiment.

Mr. Perot was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1988.

On September 18, 2009, the Texarkana Independent School District named him (1947 graduate of Texas High School) as a 2009 Distinguished Alumnus.[41]

In May 2009, he was appointed an honorary chairman of The OSS Society.

On October 15, 2009, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point awarded him with the distinguished Sylvanus Thayer Award.[42]

In honor of his 80th birthday, the bridge connecting Walton and University drives in Texarkana, Texas, was named the H. Ross Perot Bridge.[43]

On Oct. 2, 2010, Perot was given the William J. Donovan Award from the OSS Society at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C. He is the 26th receipent of the award.[44]

On October 28th, 2011 the Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas announced it was naming a new species of the dinosaur genus Pachyrhinosaurus after the Perot family. The new species is named Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum [45]