Economy
- Our Plan:
- Foreign Aid:
- Decrease aid to Israel from $3.075 billion to $2.075 billion
- Decrease aid to Pakistan from $2.102 billion to $1.25 billion
- Decrease aid to Iraq from $1.683 billion to $0.5 billion ($500 million)
- Keep aid to Afghanistan at $2.37 billion
- Keep aid to Afghanistan the same to help support the gov’t and prevent ISIS from spreading further
- Keep aid to Afghanistan the same to help support the gov’t and prevent ISIS from spreading further
- Keep aid to Egypt at $1.557 billion
- Could save the U.S $3.825 billion
- Decrease aid to Israel from $3.075 billion to $2.075 billion
Military Spending:
Cutting defense spending doesn’t mean cutting defense (we can defend our own nation just as much, but we need to stop spending money on fighting other nations’ battles)
- The US spends more money on defense than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, United Kingdom, India, and Germany combined
- http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/are-cuts-to-the-defense-budget-necessary
- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/us/politics/senate-approves-defense-bill.html
- Reduce Nuclear Arsenal: Keep what we already have and not make anymore
- Could reduce tension w/ other countries
- Could reduce tension w/ other countries
- Reduce Military to pre-Iraq War size: Decrease a little bit
- We have more than 500,000 ground troops and aren’t even fighting a ground war
- Military technology is evolving; ultimately, this is what makes us strong.
- We should leave some of the US military weapons in Afghanistan when we eventually pull out (this costs nothing because the weapons are already made and by the time we leave, the Afghans will be ready to use them on their own)
- We have more than 500,000 ground troops and aren’t even fighting a ground war
- Reduce # of troops in Iraq, but not Afghanistan
- Could possibly decrease tensions
- Con- ISIS could gain more power in Iraq (however, the Iraqi citizens do not trust us anyway and are making it virtually impossible for us to help them-they are brainwashed by ISIS)
- Cut the 450 Iraqi training forces to 350
- Could possibly decrease tensions
47% of the population is dependent on the government; although we would like to help everyone out, we simply cannot afford this
- Reduce unemployment to less than minimum wage; if you offer people more money for doing nothing than you offer them for working, many will take advantage
- Do not provide for illegal immigrants; if we keep doing this, more immigrants will come and take advantage
- Child Welfare- Do not provide more money per child born after the parents began depending on welfare. (In other words, don’t increase a family’s welfare when they have another child.) This prevents people from having more children to get more aid; people who do this are likely not spending the money on their kids anyway.
3. Unemployment:
- In November 2015, the unemployment rate dropped to 5% and has fallen much faster than economists have expected. (the rate was expected to reach 5% throughout 2016).
- Obama’s Plan to Create Good Jobs in America:
- businesses receive a $3000 refundable tax credit for each full-time employee hired (decrease amount to $1500; this way, either the number of workers hired will double or the government will be able to collect more tax money from them)
- Raise business investment expensing limit to $250,000 (benefits small firms by allowing them to grow) keep
- Eliminate capital gains for investment in small businesses (businesses will have more money because all profit will be theirs to keep). keep
- Rebuilding roads, bridges, and schools (construction workers needed). -keep, but only if necessary (keep, but do not carry out projects for the sole purpose of creating jobs because they cost the government money) -the jobs are temporary anyway
- Developing new battery technology and produce new fuel-efficient cars (pushed for $50,000 in loan guarantees to help) keep because it will save us tons of money on fuel if the project is successful
2 and 4. Reducing Welfare
47% of the population is dependent on the government; although we would like to help everyone out, we simply cannot afford this.
Most states offer basic aid such as healthcare, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment, cash aid, and housing assistance.
- Reduce unemployment to less than minimum wage; if you offer people more money for doing nothing than you offer them for working, many will take advantage
- Limit the amount of time that a person can receive unemployment to 6 months (excluding disability) This prevents people from taking the government’s money with no intentions of stopping.
- Do not provide for illegal immigrants; if we keep doing this, more immigrants will come and take advantage. If I moved to another country, I would not be able to live there for free; it just isn’t practical.
- Child Welfare- Do not provide more money per child born after the parents began depending on welfare. (In other words, don’t increase a family’s welfare when they have another child.) This prevents people from having more children to get more aid; people who do this are likely not spending the money on their kids anyway.
- Medicare/Medicaid:
- Increase age of Medicare to 70
- Decrease standard of annual income for receiving Medicaid
- Increase age of Medicare to 70
- For Question # 4: In addition to saving the government money, this will decrease the unemployment rate by forcing people who take advantage of the system to find jobs.
5. Taxation:
- Favor the Progressive Tax
- ‘The rich get richer & the poor get more poor’
- Right now, the tax systems in most states are “upside down.” On average:
- ‘The rich get richer & the poor get more poor’
Middle-9.4%
Upper-5.4%
- Even though the rich work hard for their $, they’re US citizens and should contribute to their country
- Not all of the rich worked hard for their money, some inherited it
- If the rich work hard for their money, does the middle class not work hard for their money? Do our parents not work hard for the money they earn?
6. Outsourcing:
- Keep outsourcing how it is
- Products that are made overseas are affordable to Americans b/c they’re made overseas
- We would need to pay factory workers more than other governments pay theirs; then, products would cost more and consumers would not be able to afford them
- Products that are made overseas are affordable to Americans b/c they’re made overseas
Education
School Drop-out Crisis:
- Regular meetings with guidance counselors to talk about problems to assist kids who are struggling
- Keep extracurricular activities running, with a variety of options that appeal to the majority
- Sports
- Clubs
- Sports
- More observations by New York State
- Get rid of Common Core
- Causes too much stress for younger children
- Puts too much pressure on teachers
- Expensive implementation (new textbooks and materials)
- Schools need to update technology and many assessments will be taken online, but schools in poor or low income areas can’t afford up to date tech. and computers
- Pre-K will be more important
- Pre-K costs are expensive, as opposed to in Finland, where Pre-K is free but US gov’t can’t afford to give free pre-K
- Pre-K costs are expensive, as opposed to in Finland, where Pre-K is free but US gov’t can’t afford to give free pre-K
- Causes too much stress for younger children
- Decrease number of regents students take
- Take 3 regents in high school; 1 freshman, 1 sophomore, 1 junior year
- Freshman year: Algebra
- Sophomore year: English
- Junior year: US History & Gov’t
- Freshman year: Algebra
- Take 3 regents in high school; 1 freshman, 1 sophomore, 1 junior year
- Weigh SAT and ACT less or align the material on the test with what students learn in school
- Once a week in every 11th grade English class focus on SAT prep
- Once a week in every 11th Math class focus on SAT prep
- Once a week in every 11th grade English class focus on SAT prep
- Students have the same teacher for a few years, and make classes smaller, which will provide jobs for teachers -> stimulate the economy
- Kindergarten-2rd grade
- 3th grade-6th grade
- 7th grade-8th grade
- 9th grade-12th grade
- Kindergarten-2rd grade
- Start teaching students a second language, like Spanish, in kindergarten
Gallery
ISIS:
- Continue airstrikes against ISIS
- Continue drawing on our substantial counterterrorism capabilities to prevent ISIS attacks
- Work more with other nations to combat ISIS OR unite with other nations
- Move US troops fighting on ground in other middle eastern countries to help fight with Kurdistan troops
- Some of the troops we pull out of Afghanistan will be sent to assist the Kurds
- Some of the troops we pull out of Afghanistan will be sent to assist the Kurds
- Work more with other nations to combat ISIS OR unite with other nations
- Increase humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians displaced by ISIS
- Cons to going to war with ISIS gives terrorists too much influence over American foreign policy
- “Do we really want to endure a series of endless wars?” (Huffington Post)
- “The normal ‘pottery barn rules’ apply. We broke it. We cannot walk away now” (Huffington Post)
- Post Paris Terrorist Attacks: Form a coalition with France, Great Britain and other nations
- Need to have a Middle Eastern led coalition
- Need to have a Middle Eastern led coalition
- Need to flip the switch and show people what the people living under the control of ISIS are going through
- DO NOT support putting boots on the ground
- ISIS wants the US to put in ground forces to fuel their arguments that Americans think they’re better than everyone else
- IF we put boots on the ground, the ground force needs to be led by the Middle Eastern nations
- ISIS wants the US to put in ground forces to fuel their arguments that Americans think they’re better than everyone else
- Favor Obama’s original plan to pull troops out by the end of 2016
- Haven’t accomplished many things in the 14 years we’ve been there
- Losing American lives when nothing is getting accomplished
- Cost money that the US doesn’t have
- Afghan people are hard to persuade
- ISIS is obtaining and using US military weapons hundreds of thousands dollars worth of US military weapons
- tanks, machine guns, short range anti-aircraft artillery, rockets (captured from Iraqi and Syrian military stocks), and extensive supplies of ammunition
- tanks, machine guns, short range anti-aircraft artillery, rockets (captured from Iraqi and Syrian military stocks), and extensive supplies of ammunition
- Haven’t accomplished many things in the 14 years we’ve been there
- Focus our military efforts towards ISIS post pulling out of Afghanistan
- If we focus our efforts on ISIS and we wipe it out, the gov’ts in the Middle East will be able to stand by themselves
- If we focus our efforts on ISIS and we wipe it out, the gov’ts in the Middle East will be able to stand by themselves
- Have all troops removed by 2016 but increase homeland security
- BUT PLAN COULD BE SLIGHTLY CHANGED BASED ON FUTURE SITUATIONS
- BUT PLAN COULD BE SLIGHTLY CHANGED BASED ON FUTURE SITUATIONS