The United States government is arguably the best government in the world because of its ability to change and fix the problems within and democratic power within the people. Since the start of America it has been this way, with the creation of three branches for checks and balances and splitting the legislative branch into two parts, the Senate and the House of Representatives, to equally represent states.
As of recently, however, this self fix approach has seemed to run out, perhaps because of the president himself. Since 2001, we have been in a war in Iraq with an undefined enemy and still have no plan of returning troops to home. At first, the supposed objective was to find the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that the terrorists in Iraq were building and disable their operations. Now, there have been no WMDs found, nor have we planned an escape route. We can’t just leave Iraq as quickly as we went in because the Iraq government would collapse. Instead, we should be slowly returning our troops to home as we train the Iraqi troops how to deal with their internal conflicts. If another objective is necessary before departure, it should be clearly stated what it is and how it is going to be accomplished, then executed as quickly as possible.
When President Bush entered office, he was left with the highest surplus in U.S. history from President Clinton. Now, the economy is failing and seems to be spiraling downward uncontrollably as big businesses are beginning to bankrupt and the U.S. has the largest deficit in their history, even more than the Great Depression. Now, insurance giant AIG and mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are on the brink of bankruptcy. The government’s solution to the problem is to bail them out by lending them money to keep them out of bankruptcy and taking over while they are dismantled. A potential fix for the economy would be to increase taxes on people and businesses making loads of money. There should be tax breaks, however, for companies based on percentage of American workers because this will lead to more money circulating in the American economy. Once the economy is stable again, there should be laws created restricting pollution and enforcing efficiencies. Businesses should be rewarded for going green and get tax breaks as an incentive.
On the positive side, there are many good things to having a Democratic government, especially voting. With political parties, however, people focus too much on the party itself as opposed to the individual candidate and his or her views. Controversial issues like abortion and the death penalty can be discussed and laws changed based on votes. (Personally, I’m pro-choice and pro death penalty, but it really bugs me when people are against the death penalty, yet pro-choice. How can you allow a fetus to be killed, but allow a murderer to live?) Also, the government is able to provide mechanisms to correct societal wrongs through means of litigation, media and enough freedom of speech for people to be able to convey important ideas.
The government and economy need to adjust in order to sustain themselves as times change and the U.S. is good at this. With a new president coming into office in January, there should be plenty of changes on the drawing board.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I enjoyed listening to your ideas. Do you expect to see a lot of changes even if the new president is from a Republican?
You had said that "a potential fix for the economy would be to increase taxes on people and businesses making loads of money. There should be tax breaks, however, for companies based on percentage of American workers because this will lead to more money circulating in the American economy."
How do you support this assumption - it looks like an opinion without a basis (don't blame Bush, that's too easy. He's handing out checks to you me and everyone).
How much is "a lot of money"?
Tell us more about the "companies based on percentage of American workers" theory... ARe you saying that the more employees a business has, the bigger the tax break?
Technically, America is a constitutional republic, and not a democracy. While this may seem pedantic, it is an important distinction. A democracy is essentially tyranny by the majority; a constitutional republic specifies a limited central government with most of the actual power coming from the state legislatures and local governments. It also locks in a constitution to require this sort of practice. The Constitution is quick to point out that anything not explicitly pointed out as being a power of the federal government is reserved for the people or for the state governments (See Amendment IX and X).
Why is this important? The problems you bring up all stem from the fact that our elected leaders are essentially ignoring the Constitution, and every problem you mentioned is linked to that.
1) No declaration of War: The Constitution requires a declaration of War before going to war -- that didn't happen. Congress abdicated its responsibility of this, rather shamefully.
2) The economy: Government has no business in the economy -- that's why we're having these problems in the first place. Specifically, both the Great Depression and our current crisis can be linked to fiat money and the creation of the Federal Reserve.
There are a few links I can provide for further reading on this subject:
Recession or Depression? (Lewrockwell.com)
The Federal Reserve Monopoly over Money (by Ron Paul)
Ron Paul against the Bailout
He's Forever Blowing Bubbles (Gary North).
One question I would pose for you: Where have your understandings of our economic system come from, and have you taken the time to challenge these beliefs?
You make several logical points. You mention government structure, war, foreign relations, economy, taxes, abortion, death penalty, ecology and voting. Each could be the subject of an interesting debate.
My own views generally run as follows: Stay out of the business of other countries, lower taxes, balanced budget, pro-life and pro-conservation.
Nice work.
Dude
With the upcoming election, thoughts are high about what exactly will change and if there really is something that can be done to spark the economy. As a college student with accumulating college loans, I get worried about the completion of my education with the possibility of loan providers going bankrupt as well.
Another thing that needs to be addressed is America's health care policy. I am going into the health care field, and seeing how poor our health insurance and health care systems are, it worries me as well. We pay very high taxes, but have poor accessibility to health insurance. Going to the emergency room or a walk-in clinic is a fiasco because they are flooded with people who do not have coverage. Neither McCain nor Obama have a strong strategy to increase the availability of health insurance or decrease the cost.
The economy is definitely reaching an all time low. Retired people are on edge hoping that social security and other government regulated funding does not run out. If something is not done to our economy soon, we will lose our prosperity and respect as a country, and slowly tumultuate.
Post a Comment