The China Trade Act Of 2000 Essay Example for Free

The China Trade Act Of 2000 Essay The China Trade Act of 2000 was introduced in Congress to allow free trade with China as with other favored nations. Trade with communist countries was currently allowed only on a year-to-year basis under the Trade Act of 1974, unlike the permanent basis offered other countries. Many members of the business community, and then President Clinton wanted this stipulation lifted once China joined the World Trade Organization, which was forthcoming. This required an act of Congress. Since Republicans typically favor big business, this allied President Clinton (D) with many Republicans and against many members of his own party, as well as labor unions. The president desired to push this bill through before his term in office ended. Clinton gathered support for this bill by speaking with hundreds of lawmakers, either individually, in groups or by phone. A $10 million ad compaign, the largest ever, was launched by the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable. There were many in the legislature concerned about granting permanent free trade to China due to Chinas history of human rights violations including religious persecution, denial of political rights and labor issues. The bill was closed to amendments and most Republicans supported the bill. However, it was not clear if there would be enough votes to ensure passage of the bill. Organized labor was the biggest opponent of the bill. Even Vice President Al Gore broke ranks with the president and said the bill would only move American jobs to China. Large corporations lobbied heavily in support of the bill. Governor George Bush and General Colin Powell were even asked to help convince undecided Republicans to support the Democratic presidents goals. The bill passed the House with no amendments by a surprisingly wide margin. The business community unleashed an unprecedented campaign that was hard for anyone to match, said the president of the United Auto Workers. The bill was then handed to the Senate and immediately several opponents of the bill began a filibuster. A cloture, motional requiring 60 Senators to cut  off debate, was activated and scores of amendments offered by Senators failed. The bill passed without amendment with an 85-15 vote. The process for passage of the China Trade Act of 2000 took about 1 year from start to finish. Opinion It is interesting that a Democratic president lobbied heavily for a historically Republican platform. I am also glad to see that many from both parties worked together to accomplish an important goal. The process to pass a bill is a lengthy process. Lawmakers and special interest groups felt passionate about his issue, causing some to split from their party alignment, join ranks with the opposing party, and lobby heavily to ensure passage of this bill.

Ronald Regan :: essays research papers

Ronald Reagan At the end of his two terms in office, Ronald Reagan viewed with satisfaction the achievements of his innovative program known as the Reagan Revolution, which aimed to reinvigorate the American people and reduce their reliance upon Government. He felt he had fulfilled his campaign pledge of 1980 to restore "the great, confident roar of American progress and growth and optimism." On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. He attended high school in nearby Dixon and then worked his way through Eureka College. There, he studied economics and sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays. Upon graduation, he became a radio sports announcer. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood. During the next two decades he appeared in 53 films. From his first marriage to actress Jane Wyman, he had two children, Maureen and Michael. Maureen passed away in 2001. In 1952 he married Nancy Davis, who was also an actress, and they had two children, Patricia Ann and Ronald Prescott. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan became embroiled in disputes over the issue of Communism in the film industry; his political views shifted from liberal to conservative. He toured the country as a television host, becoming a spokesman for conservatism. In 1966 he was elected Governor of California by a margin of a million votes; he was re-elected in 1970. Ronald Reagan won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate former Texas Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush. Voters troubled by inflation and by the year-long confinement of Americans in Iran swept the Republican ticket into office. Reagan won 489 electoral votes to 49 for President Jimmy Carter. On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to duty. His grace and wit during the dangerous incident caused his popularity to soar. Dealing skillfully with Congress, Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national defense. He embarked upon a course of cutting taxes and Government expenditures, refusing to deviate from it when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large deficit. A renewal of national self-confidence by 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes.

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McDonald’s Case Study ‘Beef Controversy’ Group 9: SaurabhJanwalkar -75 Dhvani Parekh- 89 Karan Savardekar – 103 Nikita Thakur – 113 SwapneelVaidya – 117 McDonald’s ‘Beef Fries’ Controversy McDonald's is the world's largest chain of hamburgerfast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald. In 1948 they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles.McDonald’s was started as a drive in restaurant by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald, in California. The business was generating US $200000 per annum in 1940’s. They introduced a new concept called self service and designed their kitchen for mass production with assembly line procedures. Prices were kept low; speed, service and cleanliness became the success factor s for business. The original mascot of McDonald's was a man with a chef's hat on top of a hamburger shaped head whose name was â€Å"Speedee†. Speedee was eventually replaced with Ronald McDonald by 1967 when the company first filed a U.S. trademark on a clown shaped man having puffed out costume legs. As word of their success spread, franchises started showing interest. Ray Kroc finalized a deal with McDonald brothers in 1954. He established a franchising company the McDonald System Inc and appointed franchises. By the end of 1960’s Kroc had established over 400 franchising outlets. In 1965 McDonald’s went public. By the end of 1970’s, McDonald’s had over 5000 restaurants with sales exceeding three billion US dollars. By 1998, McDonald was operating 25,000 restaurants in 116 countries, serving more than 15 billion customers annually.However controversies started erupting one after the other for the company. The biggest controversy was the McDonald ’s Beef Fries controversy. The lawsuit which was filed in Seattle, US alleged that the company had, for a decade, duped vegetarian customers into eating French fries that contained beef extracts. This issue caused a great furoreamong the customers. Q1. Analyse the various allegations levelled against McDonald’s before the French fries controversy. What perpetual processes contributed to so much hostility and criticism despite McDonald’s being the number one fast food chain in the world?McDonald’s has a long history of lawsuits being filed against it. It had been frequently accused of resorting to unfair and unethical business practices. Some of the allegations are as follows. * In the late 1990’s the company had to settle over 700 incidents of scalding coffee burns. McDonalds kept the coffee at 185 ° F which is 20 ° F hotter than the standard temperature at other restaurants. An 81 year woman suffered third degree burns on her lower body that r equired skin grafts and hospitalization for a week. After McDonalds dismissed her request for compensation for medical bills she filed a lawsuit against the company. Another case was filed by a woman who was permanently scarred by an extremely hot pickle slice in a hamburger. * A customer who found the crushed head of a rat inside his hamburger also filed a lawsuit. * Nutrition: It was alleged that Mc Donald’s sell high-fat, low fibre food which can cause diseases such as cancer, heart problems, obesity and diabetes. But McDonalds refuted the allegation saying that scientific evidence has never been conclusive and that it had a right to sell junk food just like chocolate or ice-cream manufacturers did. Environment: It has also been accused of destroying tropical forests to facilitate cattle ranching. * Advertising: It was alleged that the heavy advertising by McDonalds was exerting a negative influence on children and exploiting them. * Employment: McDonalds is accused of off ering low wages and forcing local food outlets out of the business. Charges of discrimination, curtailing workers rights, understaffing, few breaks, illegal hours, poor safety conditions, crushing unionization attempts, kitchens flooded with sewage and selling contaminated food were also leveled against the company. Animals: McDonald’s slaughters hundreds of thousands of cows, chickens, lambs and other animals per year. * Expansion:It was alleged that McDonalds was creating a globalized system in which wealth is drained out of the local economies into the hands of a very few rich elite. This resulted in self sufficient and sustainable farming being replaced by cash crops and agribusiness under control of multinationals. * Free speech:It has also been alleged that McDonalds uses its clout to influence media and legal powers to intimidate people into not speaking out against the company.These are the various allegations leveled against the company. Q2. Discuss the French Fries controversy and critically comment on the company’s stand that it had never claimed the fries were vegetarian. Do you think the company handled the controversy effectively from the point of management of rumour? The French fries controversy: In May 2001, a class action lawsuit was filed against McDonald’s in Seattle, US. The lawsuit alleged that McDonalds had duped vegetarian customers into eating French fries that contained beef extracts.The French fries served at McDonald’s were falsely promoted as being 100% vegetarian. The French fries controversy began in 2000 when a Hindu Jain software engineer Hitesh Shah based in US happened to read a news article which mentioned that the French fries at McDonalds contained beef. Shah sent an email to the customer service dept of McDonalds regarding the contents to which they replied that McDonald’s French fries suppliers use a miniscule amount of beef flavouring as an ingredient in the raw product.They also said that they follow the ‘Code of Federal Regulations’ and that beef was not listed as an ingredient because normally the ingredients in ‘natural flavors’ are not broken down. Then a popular Indian-American newspaper, West India, carried Shah’s story and the news created widespread outrage among Hindus and vegetarians in the US. McDonald’s immediately released a statement saying that they never claimed that the French fries were 100% vegetarian. They said that the fries were cooked in pure vegetable oil and the company never stated that the fries were appropriate for vegetarians.They also said that it was upto the customer to ask about the flavor and its source. Later the activists found a letter sent by the company’s corporate headquarters to a consumer in response to an inquiry about vegetarian menu items. The mail clearly bundled French fries along with garden salads, whole grain cereal and English muffins as a completely vegetarian item . Further it was reported that many McDonald’s employees repeatedly told customers that there was absolutely no meat product in the fries.The ‘beef fries’ controversy attained a greater dimension in India as 85% of the country’s population was vegetarian and the non-vegetarians also did not consume beef usually because Hindus consider cows to be holy and sacred. Meanwhile in June 2001, another class action lawsuit was filed in the District Court in Travis County, Austin, Texas on behalf of all Hindus in Texas, alleging that Hindu moral and religious principles had been violated by their unintentional consumption of French fries that were flavoured with beef.Later two more lawsuits were filed in Illinois and New Jersey, taking the number of cases to five. Our views: We do not think that McDonald’s handled the controversy effectively as: * They did not accept their mistake in the start and McDonald’s said that they had never proclaimed French f ries to be appropriate for vegetarians while their employees repeatedly told customers that there was absolutely no meat product in the fries. * Also they blamed their mistake on the customers by saying that the customers should have asked about the flavors and its source.This enraged the vegetarian customers further. * As the public outrage intensified, McDonald’s released its conditional apology on its website admitting that the recipe for the fries used a miniscule trace of beef flavoring. However they did not accept that they misled the customers and they were not truly apologetic of their actions. * They said that they were complying with the law in terms of disclosing their ingredients, but they should have gone beyond the law and should have paid attention to consumers who avoid certain food product for religious, ethical and health reasons. McDonalds’ paid 10 million US$ to vegetarian ,religious groups & various groups devoted to Hindus , Sikhs & children nutri tion which the Indian attorney Harish Bharti thought was insufficient in monetary terms. * They gave an unconditional apology on the company website, newspaper & various other publications. * Also McDonald’s decided to convene an advisory board to advice on vegetarian matters. Q3. Discuss the steps taken by McDonald’s to play down the French fries controversy and critically comment whether the company will be able to come out of this unscathed.The French fries controversy impacted the image of the McDonald’s badly because of this McDonald’s was facing losses & protests from various groups. Steps taken by Mc Donald’s to play down the French fries controversy * In March 2002, McDonald’s announced to pay 10 million US dollars to the religious groups in a proposed settlement. Around 60% of this payment went to vegetarian organizations and the rest to various groups devoted to Hindus and Sikhs, children’s nutrition and kosher dietary pract ices. * It also decided to pay 4000 US $ each to the 12 plaintiffs in the five lawsuits. They also gave a detailed apology on the company website, newspapers and in various other publications. * McDonald’s also decided to convene an advisory board to advice on vegetarian matters. * They apologized for their mistakes in the newspapers. McDonald’s acknowledged that after switching over to vegetable oil in the 1990’s for the purpose of reducing cholesterol, mistakes were made in communicating to the customers about the ingredients in French fries. They apologized for the miscommunication and the hardships caused to the customers. Our views:No, we do not think that McDonald’s would come out completely unscathed because: * The Company would lose the customers base whose sentiments have been hurt because of this controversy. * People will now think twice before going to McDonald’s even after the companies claim not to use beef oil in the fries because Mc Donald’s had made false promises earlier as well. * Also it was revealed that McCain Foods was still in the process of growing the appropriate potatoes and needed another 2 yrs to begin supply, therefore the French fries were being sourced from the US. The brand & ethics of the company have been dented because of this controversy which McDonald’s would take a long time to build back their image. But with all this McDonald’s also implemented some positive policies which will help them regain their brand image. * They set up an advisory board to advise on vegetarian matters * McDonald’s also developed a special menu for Indian customers taking into consideration Indian culture and religious sentiments. They maintained quality standards by rejecting Lamb Weston’s supply of partially fried French fries as they did not meet quality standards. Suggestions: * Can come up with pure veg. restaurants. * No beef oil should be used in the frying process. * Sep arate veg. kitchens from non-veg. restaurants. * Should maintain the quality standards * Give details about the menu i. e. ingredients on the company’s website. Employees should also be made aware about the ingredients in food.

Essay on Shall He Find Faith When He Comes - 582 Words

â€Å"SHALL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH?’ Back in the mid-70s when I was a teenager and a babe in Christ there was a painting I would see all the time. The picture was of a large city from a distance; in the sky above the city was Jesus Christ and throughout the painting were Christians being caught up in the air to Him. Also scattered through the image were car wrecks, a plane crash and other disasters that were caused by the masses of people disappearing as they are taken up to Christ. The painting was of the rapture. As long as I remember Christians have portrayed the rapture as an event that will cause mass chaos; every major city in America having multicar pileups because of drivers disappearing, thousands dying in plane crashes all over†¦show more content†¦If not as many are going in the rapture as we thought we must conclude that there are not as many true Christians as we think. This is a sobering thought. Salvation is by faith without works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:27-28; Romans 4:1-5). If someone is trusting in Christ plus the fact they have joined a church, or been baptized or done some other good work is there salvation only by faith in Christ? Christ said, â€Å"Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it† (Luke 17:33). If you are seeking to gain eternal life though your own good works or by some religious ceremony, you won’t find the eternal life you seek in those places. Saving faith is not a faith that sits back and does nothing; saving faith will produce works (James 2:17-20); saving faith will change a person’s heart (2 Corinthians 5:17); saving faith will cause a person to turn away from sin (Luke 13:1-5; 2 Peter 3:9). The Bible gives us a warning that not all faith is saving faith, â€Å"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble† (James 2:19). 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