Speech

Hello! Let me start off by saying that my name is Giovanni A. Navas, a junior at Cal State University Northridge. Over the past few weeks I have been researching the United States budget deficit as well as the points of view that each political party displays towards this topic. Taking that into consideration, I am here today to talk about my point of view in this issue. Whether you’re Republican, or a Democrat, wealthy or poor, I do not know. But I can speak for most when saying that the Republican Party’s inability to compromise with our president is bringing the country farther into debt.

Our president, who is now serving his second term, has stated several times that our priority to cutting the deficit would be fixing the loopholes that allow the wealthiest Americans to become wealthier as well as bringing in more revenue to the federal government. He does also acknowledge that modest changes in programs such as Medicare can alleviate some of budget deficit and he will be willing to Compromise to get it done. Just to refresh your memory a bit, the United States president is elected for the people, BY the people, to serve his/her term. The people, being us Americans, have chosen Barack Obama TWICE now to fix the problems that we as individuals cannot. To say that the Republican Party’s point of view in solving this issue is the right way to go would be quite on the contrary since a DEMOCRATIC president was elected to represent us as a whole. If we would have wanted the Republicans to handle our problems, then there would have been a Republican in the Oval Office. That being said, there isn’t.

 

Which brings me to my next point; the Republican's answer to our budget deficit. They believe that the answer to our problem would be to tax every American the same tax rate no matter the amount of money they make. This would be like taxing the full time employ of a Big 5 sporting goods store the same rate that you would tax the owner of Big 5. I don’t think there’s anyway of sugar coating this move and to say it’s unethical and preposterous would be putting it nicely. Not only does it make the wealthy, wealthier, but it takes away the little bit of money that lower income can’t afford to give away. Wealthy Americans have the ability to give back without drastically changing their way of lives. Those that can give more should give more, in order to allow the heads of our government to do their jobs.

 

It’s time for Republicans in government to set everything else aside, whether its losing the election or just being as stubborn as a spoiled toddler, whatever it may be the time is now. Americans, Democrats, and the majority of the United States are all waiting up, and it’s about that time that the Republicans get with the program. Only then, will we be able to truly fix the trillions of dollars that we owe.  

Speech Excercise

The video above is the President of the United States of America (Barack Obama) adressing in a press conference some of the major problems the government is currently faced with. Included in this speech was the discussion about our budget defieit as well as decsions that needed to be made by both Congress and Republicans to compromise with the President and Democrats. Republicans where blamed for not authorizing the raising of the deficit ceiling in order to pay off America's "bils". Not doing so would ultimately push investors away from doing business in the United States and therefore contributing to the deficit.

This video above also catches the president's statements toward Republicans by saying that they where taking an "unbalanced approach" to cutting the budget deficit. He accuses them of "doubling down" on groups such as emergency respnders, seniors, and middle class families when a single loop hole among the wealthiest americans could avoid the burdens that lower income level americans would have to face. The common theme in both these videos is that Republicans have been a pretty big pain to work with since they are unwilling to compromise with the Democratic party.

Editorial

Editorial

Democrats and Obama alike belive that the only way to fix the budget deficit would be to increase taxes on the wealthy while also taxing large corporations a larger amount. This topic is discussed in a Los Angeles Times Article titled, "Two sides still far apart in budget proposals" which was written by Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli.


Compromise Will Set You Free


Whether you believe it or not, America's budget deficit is as much a reality as the phone bill you will have to pay at the end of the month. It’s a lingering issue that must be dealt with promptly and with compromise from both political parties. However, this will be very difficult to accomplish when both sides have very different views and plans.

 
On one side of the spectrum, you have the Republican Party who believes that the only way to the fix the budget would be to tax every American equally while also cutting back on Medicare. While this plan may restore balance to the budget, it will do so by making the poor even poorer. As Obama states in the Los Angeles times article, Balance will be achieved “on the backs of the poor, the elderly, students who need student loans and families that have disabled kids”. When you think about it, the Republican’s plan to fix the deficit is easily compared to a high school lunch break situation that many have unfortunately been witness too. What is being referred to is the bullying of someone who is much weaker, in status or wealth, for their lunch money in order to buy themselves food. Essentially, this is what the Republican party aims to do when they propose taxing the wealthy as much as the poor. Choosing to fix our deficit by squeezing the little bit of income some Americans have been faced with is something that cannot be allowed

 
 Democrats on the other hand have a more rational approach believing that higher taxes for those who can afford it, such as the wealthy and large corporations, is the best way to go. Although we would like to believe this plan is flawless, it is not so perfect. The Los Angeles article stated later on that, “Democrats, meanwhile, sitting down to lunch with the president, offered a counterproposal that would raise nearly $2 trillion toward deficit reduction, with equal parts coming from taxes and spending cuts. But their plan does not balance the budget for the foreseeable future”. Thus, this plan would only be a temporary solution to the budget problem and would not completely eliminate the problem..


Therefore, Obama has taken the time to talk to Republicans and Democrats in order to come to a more ethical oriented conclusion. The Los Angeles Times article also mentions that, "Obama hopes to set the stage for a broader deal by improving his often-rocky relations with Congress, one visit at a time. The president has scheduled three more visits on Capitol Hill this week, meeting Wednesday with House Republicans and Thursday with Senate Republicans and House Democrats". It is evident that an effort is being made to combat this situation and hopefully they can build off the democratic proposition with compromise that will leave the Republicans satisfied.

Mascaro, Lisa Memoli, A. Michael. “Two sides still far apart in budget proposals”. 12 March 2013. LAtimes. 13 March 2013 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-budget-20130313,0,7468860.story

 

United States Budget Cuts

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times on March 2, 2013, The pain of $85 billion in across-the-board cuts will kick in next month. Agencies will be forced to order air traffic controllers, food inspectors, prosecutors, janitors and other federal workers to take one or two days of unpaid leave for every two-week pay period.As many as 100 airports with fewer than 150,000 landings and takeoffs a year, such as Santa Monica Airport, are being threatened with closures of the air traffic control towers.

Press Release


March 6, 2013
For Immediate Realease
Hawthorne, Ca


It is no surprise that the United States is in a recession. We see it everywhere whether its higher gas prices or the sudden increase of a burger at your favorite burger joint. Whatever the case may be, it is evident and an unfortunate reality. The 85 billion in budget cuts will not be felt immediately but will definitely be felt over time. A decrease in jobs, decrease in wages, decrease in the amount of raises one may receive, or an increase in pay cuts. These will all be a common theme throughout this sequential effort to restore the political and economic reality we are faced with.

 
As an article from the Los Angeles times stated, the greatest hit will be to the defense budget, which would see spending for 2013 cut 7.9%. On the other hand, Non-defense spending would be reduced 4.6%. The 7.9% budget cut to military spending amounts to the billions with other effected areas of the economy such as Medicare and school grants adding to the load. As the president of United States, Barack Obama, stated, “Starting tomorrow, everybody here, all the folks who are cleaning the floors at the Capitol ... they're going to have less pay, the janitors, the security guards. They just got a pay cut, and they've got to figure out how to manage that, that’s real." Obama later goes on to blame the Republican Party for such harsh measures by stating that," they chose the steep cuts rather than agree to compromise. He insisted the only way to avert the cuts was a package that combined reduced spending with new revenues from higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations." Republicans on the other hand argued back by stating later in the article that Republicans had already agreed on higher taxes to avoid the fiscal year situation and should thus focus on spending done in Washington. Whatever the situation maybe, it is obvious that an agreement must be made sooner than later in order to avoid a potential government shutdown.

My name is Giovanni Anthony Navas and I am a junior at California State University Northridge. For my report writing class, I am researching the United States Budget Deficit as well as the cuts that go along with it.  I have gathered information using the California State University Library Database and have used the Pro Quest Search engine. To read the full article in the Los Angeles Times, visit

 http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/1313844543/13CA7CBEA84646DFA6F/15?accountid=7285 or search the article using the latimes website.

 

I can be contacted at gan14201@gmail.com

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