In the Best Interest of the Public

931 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Population growth and economic development

In the past, there have been laws pass that are defiantly not in the interest of the average citizens, but not all of which are necessarily unconstitutional. I often wonder if our elected officials are in touch with the needs of the masses. In touch with the ill’s that plague our country. Or only looking out for themselves and their wealthy donors. Many others wonder the same. The majority of the legislation has not reflected the best interest of the public as much as it should and in some cases not at all.
Throughout our history we have issues that have never fully been resolved, like regulations, poverty, and other social issues. We have had officials that try to address the major issues and we have had some that break apart existing laws or complete repeal the law that help the majority. For example until the enactment of Glass-Steagall in 1933 we had many panics, recessions and depression, mostly caused by bad business and banking deals. So then is it a complete coincidence that nine years after the repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999 we have the worst economic crises in almost 80 years? I can’t with any confidence say that there is no link between the two.
With economic crises comes higher poverty and unemployment rates. One cause of poverty is low wage, which is rarely dealt with or raised. The minimum wage has been raised about 21 times since 1938. In the 1980’s the “trickle down” economics was put into play, my personal thought is that big business uses this excuse to pocket more money, while the middle and lower class get less. The truth is that nothing has yet to trickle down, yet some hold to this belief in economic theory. A man that I have come to admire, Pope Francis, articulately and eloquently said “Some people con...

... middle of paper ...

...them and consequently oppress the lower classes.
I would have to say on this matter, it depends on the person, but I feel that majority are not honestly thinking about the average citizen. I cannot think of one republican that presents themselves in a way that is truly in the interest of the American people. I can think of a few democrats on the national level, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren, and my personal favorite Bernie Sanders. I’m sure there are more than that that are genuinely fighting for the majority but it seems that far too many are more interested in their own personal pocket book or personal interest. I feel that I could be more confident in saying that our congress represented the people if there were less of an influence and conflicting interest. Until then I will have to say that I truly believe that they are not representing the American people.

Show More
Related

  • Roosevelt Vs Hoover Essay

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    After nearly a decade of optimism and prosperity, the United States took a turn for the worse on October 29, 1929, the day the stock market crashed, better known as Black Tuesday and the official beginning of the Great Depression. The downfall of the economy during the presidency of Herbert Hoover led to much comparison when his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, took office. Although both presidents had their share of negative feedback, it is evident that Hoover’s inaction towards the crisis and Roosevelt’s later eccentric methods to simulate the economy would place FDR in the positive limelight of fixing the nation in one of its worst times. Herbert Hoover was sworn into office when the economic status of the country stood at its highest and the nation was accustomed to a prosperous way of living. When the stock market plummeted and took its toll on the citizens from coast to coast, it was out of his control.

    Read More

  • Modern Interpretation of The First Amendment

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    A great deal of bills have been written and passed as legislation under the pretense that they would better outline the citizen’ rights and ensure their freedoms. Yet occasionally these laws are created with disregard to what is stated in our Constitution. At times they distort and twist the original meaning of the work, counter acting the purpose of creating the Amendments. The intention of Amendments was to be an outline of the rights of the people. They were to ensure that there would not be a repeat of what the framers had experienced when they set out on their mission to draft a document that would govern our country for years to come. Little by little our elected officials have been discounting our Constitution. There are many resulting repercussions; the most dear to everyone being the individuals rights. The end result of these interpretations being that our people are hurt, as we are slowly being stripped of our rights as U.S. citizens.

    Read More

  • Major Influences on Congress Members

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...o keep their jobs, Congress members must please the majority of a state and in the nation. Citizens are the people who help campaign and vote to re-elect you or have someone take your job. Members when voting must remember that and consider voting in favor of what the majority in their state wants even if he or she disagrees. If they do not listen to state residents who are the voters, this can lead to someone sitting down in their former seat.

    Read More

  • Barbara Ehrenreich Nickel And Dimed Analysis

    1459 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty and low wages have been a problem ever since money became the only thing that people began to care about. In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, she presents the question, “How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled?” This question is what started her experiment of living like a low wage worker in America. Ehrenreich ends up going to Key West, Portland, and Minneapolis to see how low wage work was dealt with in different states. With this experiment she developed her main argument which was that people working at low wages can’t live life in comfort because of how little they make monthly and that the economic system is to blame.

    Read More

  • Great Depression vs. The Great Recession

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since being founded, America became a capitalist society. Being a capitalist society obtains luxurious benefits and rather harsh consequences if gone bad. In a capitalist society people must buy products and spend money to keep the economy balanced, but once those people stop spending money, the economy goes off balance and the nation enters a recession. Once a recession drastically takes a downturn, the nation enters what is known as a depression. In 2008 America entered a recession and its consequences were severe enough for some people, such as President Barack Obama, to compare the recent crisis to the world’s darkest economic depression in history, the Great Depression. Although the Great Depression and the Great Recession of 2008 hold similarities and differences between the stock market and government spending, political issues, lifestyle changes, and wealth distribution, the Great Depression proved far more detrimental consequences than the Recession.

    Read More

  • Congress

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    all our laws are not perfect but for the most part our Congress does a good

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Raising Minimum Wage

    1668 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many people against raising the minimum wage create arguments such as, “it will cause inflation”, or, “ it will result in job loss.” Not only are these arguments terribly untrue, they also cause a sense of panic towards the majority working-class. Since 1938, the federal minimum wage has been increased 22 times. For more than 75 years, real GDP per capita has consistently increased, even when the wage has been

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Raising The Minimum Wage

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the decade, a continuous firing debate still remains, whether to raise the minimum wage or keep as it is. People believe that raising the minimum wage can hurt the economy. More will lose jobs than gain. Though all are true, the amount of poverty shown throughout the decades are jaw dropping. That is in fact one of the leading factors. As there is yin and yang, the demand for a higher minimum wage is no coincidence or selfishness as others perceive as is. The poverty shown throughout the decade is deadly prominent. Minimum wage should be raised as people are not gaining enough money compared to the past, despite with more education, too many low quality jobs, “in active” unemployment are outcasted from the statistics, and finding jobs is more difficult than it was decades ago.

    Read More

  • The Balancing Act Between The Individual Interest And The Common Good

    1612 Words  | 4 Pages

    The proper relationship between the individual's interests and the common good is a delicate balancing act that political philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Sophocles have tried to define. For philosophers such as Socrates and Plato, the common good trumps the individual interest when those interests interfere with what they believe is right for society as a whole. For others like Aristotle and Locke, a consensus on what the common good is must be defined within the reality that individual interests exists; meaning, they cannot be completely discarded for the good of society. I believe that in a free society, where the common good to doesn't have to be forced upon its citizens, the common good should impose upon the individual's interest only as much as citizens will allow without feeling such impositions are unreasonable restrictions on their lives.

    Read More

  • Minimum Wage And The Wage

    2449 Words  | 5 Pages

    The minimum wage today has a lot of issues; some people say it is not enough to live comfortably. Many agree that there needs to be an increase in minimum wages and by doing that it can help with our issues of poverty. Statistics show that a worker who is full time and earning minimum wage makes only $15,080 a year, which is under the federal poverty line for a family of two. (Gitis, 2013) The problem with that is $15,080 is not a sufficient amount that a person can live and grow on. “A family of two can consist of a mother and son or daughter, father and son or ...

    Read More

  • Minimum Wage: Impact on American Poverty

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    Currently, in the United States, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 for the past six years; however, in 1938 when it first became a law, it was only $0.25. In the United States the federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times since 1938 by a significant amount due to changes in the economy. Minimum wage was created to help America in poverty and consumer power purchasing, but studies have shown that minimum wage increases do not reduce poverty. By increasing the minimum wage, it “will lift some families out of poverty, while other low-skilled workers may lose their jobs, which reduces their income and drops their families into poverty” (Wilson 4). When increasing minimum wage low-skilled, workers living in poor families,

    Read More

  • Analysis: 'Play Spent'

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    The gap in wealth between the rich and the poor continues to grow larger, as productivity increases but wages remain the same. There were changes in the tax structure that gave the wealthy tax breaks, such as only taxing for social security within the first $113,700 of income in a year. For CEOs this tax was paid off almost immediately. Free trade treaties broke barriers to trade and resulted in outsourcing and lower wages for workers. In “Job on the Line” by William Adler, a worker named Mollie James lost her job when the factory moved to Mexico. “The job in which Mollie James once took great pride, the job that both fostered and repaid her loyalty by enabling her to rise above humble beginnings and provide for her family – that job does not now pay Balbina Duque a wage sufficient to live on” (489). When Balbina started working she was only making 65 cents an hour. Another huge issue lies in the minimum wage. In 2007, the minimum wage was only 51% of the living wage in America. How can a person live 51% of a life? Especially when cuts were being made in anti-poverty and welfare programs that were intended to get people on their feet. Now, it seems that the system keeps people down, as they try to earn more but their benefits are taken away faster than they can earn. Even when workers tried to get together to help themselves they were thrown

    Read More

  • Greed In America

    2000 Words  | 4 Pages

    People are in need of a raise, they need something that would help them live a better life. Democracy exist for people to choose whom meets their expectations, and makes it a reality. Such an act would have a great advantage on the economy making it a stronger economy in time .It would also benefit the society as a whole, making it more balanced .In order to do that the government must balance minimum wage with inflation, otherwise inflation is just increasing leaving minimum wage behind. Business owners want to keep the wages as it is with no increase. That’s because they want to sustain their profit, with no decrease. They make unfounded connections by equating a raise with economic crisis , owners would have to cut off worker to keep up with wages, and that it would result in lower profit. Workers would then save money by not relying on social programs .This issue is really important, where it discusses three major points, the effect of minimum wage on the economy, inequality that has risen due to the huge gap between classes, and how it would make a difference for the American citizen living under the poverty line. One aspect that wasn’t mentioned in the literature is, if minimum having the government incumbents solve this problem. The second is considering increasing the number of state laws that mandate that minimum wage increase whenever inflation

    Read More

  • The On The American Government

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American government prides itself on the foundational principle of democracy which allows individual voices to be heard. Afterall, the roots of power in our nation stem from the people. The Constitution was established to ensure the balance of powers among the federal government, state legislature, and the common people. Time, however, has worked against the American people in the battle towards democracy. The idea of a governing body drawing its power directly from its constituents has been undermined by the corrupt nature of modern politics where politicians act out of self-interest. While the Constitution and later amendments had every intention of securing basic liberties, certain limitations later undermined the original intentions of the founding fathers to give power back to the people by placing the larger majority of power in the hands of the state.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Minimum Wage

    1961 Words  | 4 Pages

    There has been a lot of talk in the newspaper, political speeches, online and even on the news about how minimum wage should be higher. The minimum wage starts at $7.25-$9.15 depending on what state you live in. A lot of people can’t live on this type of salary and afford to feed their family. Society has felt the increase cost of living and a lot of middle class with no education have a lot of financial difficulties. States say how they are creating jobs, but nothing has been done for those that start out on minimum wage. Wendy Morrison who wrote “Raise the Wage” states that “The decline of Historical Consensus states that there was a substantial divide between public opinion and opinion with the economics profession on minimum wage.” She

    Read More

More about In the Best Interest of the Public

Open Document