G15

Balanced budget:  a balanced budget is when revenues are equal to expenditures. This means that the government can not spend more than it takes in. 

Federal entitlements: Government payments to groups of people that are eligible and meet requirements. 

An example of an entitlement program is Medicare. This makes it difficult because by the government providing this service, they are essentially hemorrhaging  money. They're obligated to continue along with this program, which means that the government is in a slight hole. There's really no way to get out of providing medicare, because tax payers money goes towards this cause, so the service is expected. 

 

A consequence is simply the fact that the longer the government continues with this charade, the more in debt they will be. More importantly, future generations, for example my generation, are forced to wonder whether or not there will be sufficient funds when it comes time for us to retire. 

Projected revenue for 2012: $2.5 trillion 

Expenditures: $3.8 trillion

Budget deficit: $1.3 trillion

(http://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/federal_budget)

Current debt: $16,530,485,224,524

source: http://www.usdebtclock.org/

G12 (Sick!!!)

Substance: 
1. Obama proposed that minimum wage be increased from $7.50 an hour to $9 an hour, as well as reducing tax loopholes. He also urged with congress to increase the effort against climate change. Lastly, Obama wants to change how medicare is paid for. This change will be based upon the way treatment is received. He urged for bipartisanship. 

Style: 
2. Obama played the card of emotion in his speech, playing to the hearts and minds of the audience. He spoke with a calm tone, adding a subtle yet dramatic effect when he made long pauses. For example, when he discussed gun violence, he mentioned the names of different victims, causing the news to hit at home. Obama attempts to act as a connecting force between two political parties by mentioning McCain. 

Response: 
3. The camera liked to zoom in on people who had either good or negative responses to the speech. More often than not, the camera was zoomed where Obama was trying to make a point. Whenever the military was mentioned, there would be a standing ovation. 

G10

1. It seems that health care, or the public well-being, seems to be the most important to the president, considering the fact it takes up $931.26 of the budget. Following closely behind health care is social security, which also directly reflects the well-being of our country. These are important to the president because a country can not survive without health care. Immunizations, medicine, and checkups help provide a stable environment for success. If we were still a country who had a health care system comparable to a third world country, then the progress of the US would be much smaller, meaning that the global power would compress. Social security is important as well because this acts as an incentive to American's.

2. Originally, the president was leaning towards a goal of having revenue come in a $1.6 trillion and $1.4 trillion. However, as of right now, the president is willing to compromise by raising $1.2 trillion in revenue. In addition to this, he is no longer advocating to increase the percentage of taxes on families with income above $250,000. To replace this idea, he offered up the idea of using a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts for families who earn less than $400,000 a year. To meet these goals, the White House is proposing limiting the tax benefits of itemized deductions to 28% for taxypayers. The estate tax would also return to the parameters it held in 2009, meaning that a house worth $3.5 million would be taxed at a 45% rate. The goal of this idea is to cut the spending budget by over $800 million, allowing more money to be allocated to other programs. This new proposal would act as a safety shield for the lower middle class, meaning they would be less hurt by inflation.

3. The people more likely to be opposed to this idea are of course, the Republican party. However, this is not simply due to the fact that they both are centered around different issues and have different core values. The Republican party wants to increase the age of eligibility for social security, raising the age from 65 to 67. With this compromise, there would be over $400 million saved annually. After Obama proposed this idea, Boehner said "Any movement away from the unrealistic offers the President has made previously is a step in the right direction, but a proposal that includes $1.3 trillion in revenue for only $930 billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced. We hope to continue discussions with the President so we can reach an agreement that is truly balanced and begins to solve our spending problem." which shows his opposition.


Information taken from the following source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/obama-fiscal-cliff-offer_n_2319075.html

G9

1. In my opinion, I would increase taxes as well as cut spending. In terms of the rate of taxes, I would only increase by a couple percentage points for people earning over a certain amount of money. This would be semiannual ordeal, meaning that every six months there would be a large lump sum of a tax, thus creating a reserve of money available for different organizations. In terms of cutting spending, I would only cut in certain departments, such as the military and allocate the money to departments such as education and health care. Since the US already spends more than the next four countries on its military, I don't think that the cuts would be such a big deal. If more money is allocated to education, the overall well-being of citizens will increase, thus creating more people available to work in the workforce, increasing our economies worth. If money money was put into the education system, the level of knowledge would increase ten fold of the majority of citizens. Since we already have intelligent citizens, this increase would not to that much, it would allow people who are potentially on the brink of poverty and middle class to jump the gap and increase their well-being. 

2. For my first choice, I decided to cut the spending for the military by 100B or whatever the number was. My idea was if I did this, then I would be able to allocate money to different areas where it was needed more. I also chose to increase spending for the medical field. M y idea behind this was to increase the well-being of America's citizens, thus making the workforce larger. This did not have a negative impact, however it also did not have a postitive outcome. Instead, this canceled out anything that could have potentially caused harm. My third decision was to increase spending for the school system. I chose to do this because as a song so famously says, the children are our future. With stronger educational values, the workforce will be strengthened and the quality of life for most people will eventually increase. I chose to protect the health care field as well as the education system because the two groups directly effect America's future. They're both things that are not only required by law, but they're necessary to maintain the level of authority we have. The strong school system will help in terms of increasing our competitive advantage, and in turn will help us grow stronger as a country.

G7

1a. Congress gives the agencies power because since they're smaller and more compact, they're able to get more things. Congress gives agencies power to execute federal laws, since they lack the necessary people to execute laws. Not only does this save congress time, but it prevents the group from getting the blame if something goes sour. Another reason is groups are simply more efficient. Since they're made in order to follow through on a few specific things, problems will be solved in a much quicker fashion.

2a. Environmental Protection Agency: EPA: the basic objective of the EPA is to protect the environment. They can send out information, hold conferences, and spread awareness concerning the world.

FCC: Federal Communications Commissionn: determines what is able to be broadcasted on airwaves, such as the television and radio. The FCC can make laws in order to maintain a certain level of cleanliness on air.

Federal Reserve Board:
The federal reserve board regulates money and is the important bank for the United States as a whole, more important than individual banks such as Wells Fargo or BBT. They're able to manage the money supply for the US.

3a. Congress uses oversight committees , and these committees allocate money to different groups. In order to make sure that groups follow legislative orders, they give the groups money. If they do not follow the orders or go through on what they said they would, congress can simply stop allocating money to the groups. By providing groups with a budget, the groups have little leeway to make mistakes and go off the rail. Another example is the fact that congress oversees all the actions of the groups.