Medical Marijuana and How it can Help Solve the Problem of Budget Deficit

Marijuana or Cannabis plant is a green, brown or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves of the hemp plant. It is often referred to as a psychoactive drug as it has the capability to alter the workings of the brain. Illicit usage of such drug is prohibited by most countries as it can cause severe health problems and may cause crimes too. Several crimes with regards to homicide, rape and murder were widely attributed to the suspect having consumed a high dosage of Marijuana. But despite of its unwanted effects, it too can provide medicinal benefits when processed and used at the right manner.

More commonly, Marijuana is known to be an effective cure for common ailments such as headaches and menstrual cramps. Just recently, it has also been tried and tested with several severe diseases such as glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and the Tourette's syndrome. There have also been unofficial studies linking Marijuana to the cure of lung cancer. In Puerto Rico, there have been reports that a chronic smoker who also smokes pot will less likely develop lung cancer compared to chronic smokers who does not smoke pot. The medicinal value of Marijuana may be huge only that research is still needed to tap all the wonders it can do.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter said that Marijuana may in fact help the government recover from the ills brought by the huge budget deficit. In the state of Denver, Gov. Ritter used Medical Marijuana registrations amounting to over $9 million to help the state meet a $60 million fiscal emergency. The state expects a sudden surge in registrations which could reach 150,000 by the end of the year compared to 41,000 in 2009. He sees that the government can take advantage of the huge demand for medical Marijuana to raise funds and avoid any further deficit.

A Marijuana card reportedly costs $90 per year. Several legislators and policymakers are eyeing the potential of implementing taxes and other fees for the access to Marijuana medicine in order to supplement fiscal funding. In a time of recession, the government is finding ways to save money, cut cost and generate funds to maintain stability among its resources. The medical marvels of Marijuana may indeed have a huge potential. The only problem I see is the danger it could impose if there is easy access to it. The federal government should impose policies and regulations which will create controls in order to avoid the abuse of this drug.

Stimulus Bill for Education Sector: Schools are Just Saving and Not Rehiring

The recent economic recession has not only affected the financial sector but also the education sector as well. Lack of school funding has caused school districts to lay off thousands of teachers, a few administrative employees and some blue collar staff. According to estimates, there were not less than 300,000 teachers who lost their teaching jobs because of inadequate funds to supplement their salaries. The budget cuts in education also hampered educational reform and reduced the quality of teaching that the schools are producing especially that the teacher to student ratio has become more undesirable.

With the massive degree of public outcry initiated by thousands of state teachers, Washington eventually came up with a solution to prevent future layoffs and rehire back those teachers. The U.S. Congress approved a legislation that will provide $10 billion in stimulus aid to school districts in order to protect its workforce. Intriguingly, instead of rehiring those teachers who recently lost their jobs, district schools have instead saved the money in order to prevent future layoffs.
They argue that with the economic outlook not going any better, it is best for them to preserve the money and prepare for another trying future.

Schools have predicted more budget shortfalls and deficits to come enabling them to save money as much as possible. For example, in Los Angeles, estimates show that over $280 million in budget shortfall will be acquired next year that could threaten more jobs and further increase unemployment levels. Reports show that the district removed 682 teachers and over 2000 support workers just this spring. Recent indications show that the district might again remove over 4,500 workers next year. In New Jersey, over 3000 teachers were removed in May and are still uncertain whether they get their jobs back.

While economic uncertainty still looms, this federal aid package for the educational sector will only create a minor impact unto teachers. Schools are still worried about future outcomes and thus would save the money instead of using it to hire more workers or teachers. While protecting and preserving jobs will definitely contribute to a better economy, there is still a massive disappointment among teachers and individuals who recently lost their jobs and expects a rehiring to happen. The federal government should make sure that schools will ultimately utilize the additional funding to bring back those teachers. But then again, until the economy hasn’t normalized, more and more problems will just surface and people will never be happy again.

Lesser Spending Power from Retirees: Another Huge Threat to the Economy

For decades, the United States of America has been a major economic player and the only remaining superpower in the world. Despite of this highly respected status, the US economy has slowly but steadily declined with the recent economic recession creating havoc among financial institutions and business entities. Another troubling fact is the continuous rise in unemployment levels all throughout the nation. Massive layoffs implemented by big and small companies have contributed to lesser consumer income and spending. Lesser revenue collection while overspending on various government programs that resulted in a huge budget deficit have only made matters worse.

Despite the recent failure of the government to stimulate economic recovery, there is another looming problem which will eventually pose a bigger threat to the already suffering economy. In the years to come, a whole lot of people will eventually retire without having enough savings. With the devastating effects of the global recession that has continued to plague businesses, workers born in between the years 1946 to 1964 will have less money during retirement. The problem here is that these retirees will eventually spend less because of their lack in savings.

The financial crisis has affected not only the cash savings of individuals but also the value of their house as well. Close to zero interest rates on house mortgages benefited house buyers while leaving retirees to suffer from not having enough financial resources. It is expected that about 36 million Americans will be turning 65 in the next decade. With lower bond yields and a falling stock market, these retirees are facing a bleak and struggling future. Lower asset values will easily translate in lesser money for retirees to spend during their time of retirement.

Research showed that as of the year 2008, people aging from 65 to 74 were already spending 12.3% lesser than they did 10 years earlier. There was a 46% drop in car spending, 35% drop in home and household furnishings and 27% drop from eating in restaurants or food chains. Despite of this, they eventually spent 75% more on health care and 131% more on health insurance. This clearly showed how older people are now faced with the serious task of retiring without having enough money to buy basic commodities and enjoy life.

These implications are not only limited to people who will be retiring during the next decade. Younger people of today will now have to save more money by reducing consumption in order to ensure a brighter future. Without appropriate jobs for everyone, more people will eventually suffer poverty as they grow older. Also, the economy will be at a standstill if consumer spending is reduced. Economic recovery will only be achieved if the consumers are given back the capability to spend and buy goods and services. Job creation should really be the primary focus of the government if they want to save America and avoid double-dip recession.

Senate Democrats: Extend Jobless Aid

With business establishments and institutions going bankrupt, more and more American citizens lose their jobs and are pushed to the brink of poverty. The American taxpayers are not anymore satisfied with the way they are living today. The middle class sector is desperate to find a job and is slowly losing their homes. Everyone is hoping that the government will realize the huge mess that the nation has incurred and will present the necessary solutions and strategies to bring back the old productive nation they once have.

As a sign of relief, the US government will be passing a bill that will extend jobless aid given to unemployed citizens. It will give an average of $309 per week to unemployed persons. The house is expected to pass the bill to president Obama for his signature by the least on Wednesday. The bill is projected to benefit a little over 2.5 million Americans and give them a temporary yet useful source of income.

The extension of jobless benefits is seen as a wise especially during this bad times where people are really struggling to find a good source of living. But we should also be made aware that the republicans and democrats have always opposed each other. Republicans argue that these benefits should be done by doing spending cuts from the budget that the government has. The government currently has an estimated budget of $3.7 trillion.

Republicans argue that further increasing the budget deficit will only endanger the nation of huge and unmanageable debts. What they should do is extend employment benefits without accumulating a further increase in budget deficit or without altering the national debt. They propose spending cuts which would generate money without having the need to borrow.

The future of America relies on every decision that the US government takes. We don’t want to see our future sons and daughters suffering from the debt and poverty, do we? Let us urge to government to take the right decisions and implement only projects and bills that are economically feasible and useful to every citizens of this nation. The extension of the unemployment benefits will surely help a lot of people recover from the ill effects of unemployment. But Congress and the White House should implement this bill without adding up to the national debt. I would have to agree with the republicans suggesting spending cuts instead of increasing the national debt. We should not only think of the present situation but also consider the future as well.

President Obama may be Leading America to Uncertainty

The US is really experience a dark and trying time. Wall Street, which is touted as the most powerful and most influential financial district in the world, has suddenly collapsed. More business firms and corporations are facing enormous debts and some have already declared bankruptcy. The American people are the ones who are suffering the most. Every day, there are more workers who are being removed from their jobs. People are losing their source of living and are also losing the basic services they usually get from the government. Taxes are so high that most people are not anymore capable of getting their health premiums. It may seem that what the Obama Administration is doing is not really working.

The policies that the Obama Administration has presented might seem very attractive. But the real truth is, the nation is just slowly getting drowned by too much budget deficit. Some analysts across the globe think that Obama may have only worsened the situation. For one, Pres. Obama proposed to increase massive spending and create a financial bailout fund for banks. Because of this, the national debt has increased dramatically. Did you know that the national debt of the American nation is beyond $13 trillion? And it is continuously increasing because of the policies that was devised and implemented by the president. What will happen to the American people if the national debt will reach $50 trillion? That will be mean total disaster for the nation.

Before Obama became president, he was a charismatic public figure bringing with him the promises of peace, prosperity and freedom. It was very favored by most Americans as it would further improve their lives. Now that he has the seat of power, things seem to change. He even told the nation that the US can only manage to sustain 2 percent of their oil needs. It was conceived as a lie because as far as experts are concerned, the US has plenty of oil reserves even surpassing that of the Middle East. If we begin to drill these reserves now, we can create more jobs and eventually lessen the prices of Gasoline.

We should all realize that Obama needs a really good adviser. He may be leading America into the Dark Age. We don’t and we never need to spend so much of our budget. What we need is to spend on more important things such as work benefits, education and health. We don’t need to waste so much of our money on national defense when the idea of a full scale war is very inevitable.

To Cut Government Spending is Never a Solution

We all hear about the struggling economy of the United States of America and their ever rising budget deficit. More and more American citizens are facing the incredible situation of unemployment or going near the poverty line. One solution that was proposed to solve these issues was to cut government spending on basic yet critical services. The services include giving employee benefits, unemployment benefits and so forth.

But how are we so certain that cutting government funding for services will lead us to the promise land? If there’s one thing that a government should and must do, it is to empower its citizens and provide the best possible service it can give. If the government will cut down on these services, then more people will suffer. The unemployed sector will get poorer as benefits will be reduced to dust. Instead of mitigating the problem, it is only making it worst. How good of a decision is that?

If we were to analyze the real cause of this problem, it may have come from a bigger conspiracy involving rich and powerful personalities. The US government provided huge tax cuts to rich companies. These alone caused instability on the economy wherein rich people get richer while less-privileged people suffer the burden of more taxes.

It isn’t a problem of the government spending too much for its citizens but it is a problem of spending for something that is not worth it. The government is spending billions of dollars into military equipment and technology. Add the fact that the current wars that the US is involved with are also eating up much of the budget the government has. They whole-heartedly spend billions of dollars for war while they cut or reduce their services for the country’s citizens? Where is the essence of the government being the empowering force unto its citizens?

The government should face the reality that most Americans are unsatisfied and unhappy of the way the government is running the country. There is really a big problem on the priorities that were set by congress regarding budget spending. Tax cuts on rich people are really not so ideal at all. Projects should be more focused on human development and livelihood instead of buying a thousand missiles which is not even needed at all. I hope that they do realize that cutting government services will not only pull down the economy but also destroy nation. Let us all be aware of this crisis and stand up to make our voices be heard.

Congress Can Still Improve the Economy Quickly

The great recession has really taken its toll on the American people. A handful of individuals have lost their job and are living a very difficult financial life. Business owners are also struggling to keep their company at bay and continue with their operations. The recession has brought so much trouble to the world especially to America that almost everyone is angry and unsatisfied with the way the government is playing.

The US economy has been unstable and has been the primary reason why so much people don’t have a job nor has a stable source of income. It is a given fact that the rate of unemployment has risen to a very alarming rate. Voters are very much upset and unpleased with the way the US economy has been doing. They all blame it to the recklessness of big Wall Street banks that left the economy crumbling. And now people are seeking for congress to pass a bill that would help mitigate this problem.

It is assumed that in the next couple of months, the state and local government will be implementing a lay off that would remove about 600,000 up to 800,000 employees. This event is triggered because of the reduced revenues brought by the recession and bigger demand for more critical services. This is certainly one of the worst fiscal crisis that the state and local government is facing. With the weak economy already in play, a massive lay off of government employees would spell doomsday.

Americans who are already unemployed are already suffering so much. People are seeking for jobs yet the economy can’t give them one. With the election going near, there are some points that congress can do to at least improve the situation and stop the continuous rise of budget deficit. Congress should first solve the problems that are occurring in the state and local government. A bill that will provide fiscal relief to these governments will help mitigate the problem and ensure that basic essential services are delivered.

The Congress should also extend unemployment benefits. Surveys show that more people are deprived of unemployment benefits. This is very much critical in ensuring that people who do not have a job may still receive enough benefits that would assist him/her in a very difficult situation. It is very important to point out that economic growth is something we really need. It provides an indicator that the deficit is shrinking and the economy is well alive again. But the most important thing is that people should be put to work again. They should continue to produce goods and services that would improve life and keep our society going.