Over time, the United States government has faced a slew of social, political, and economic issues that necessitated a mixture of science, experience, and political leadership.
As such, the paper examines three issues: the need for reforms to mental health drugs for children, a tax rise on people making more than $ 250,000, and the debate about whether to change the position on funding for space travel. Taking these topics into consideration, the essay expands on the past, analysis of the issue, and substantive evidence supporting the claims.
Should funding for the U.S. space program be changed?
Historically, NASA has been allocated $ 526.178 billion between 1958 and 2011. President Obama had cut funding to NASA in a bid to lower expenditure. However, on inauguration of President Trump, a bill was passed to allocate $ 19.1 billion to NASA. This value is a 4.4 percent raise from Obama's government value of $ 18.3 billion (United States & United States, 2016). Other legislation relating to this is the 2017 NASA transition Authorization.
The U.S. is in huge debt and it is adding this deficit by spending huge amounts on space programs. NASA is one of the programs that require huge allocation and therefore, the question arises on whether this spending should be reduced or not. On the other hand, there is the aspect of the negative effects of cutting funding on space programs (Byerly et al., 2014). There is the issue of loss of jobs, loss of competitiveness of U.S. space program and also few private companies are willing to take over NASA's program because of the little profits expected.
Report by Space Exploration states that NASA added over $ 180 billion to the economy since 2005. Over 60 percent of this value was derived from commercial services by firms in the space technology industry (Byerly et al., 2014). Among other benefits includes building of commercial infrastructure and similar support industries. Furthermore, it supports the systems in major government agencies such as department of defense, national reconnaissance office, department of energy and the Federal Aviation Administration. From this argument, it is evident that the benefits of continued space funding outweighs the costs. The economic benefits are far greater than most people realize it (United States & States, 2016).
Issue: Should taxes on people making over $ 250,000 a year be changed?
The current tax policy is based on the 2013 income brackets illustrated as follows: 10 % (for individuals earnings between $ 0 and $ 8950), 15 % ($ 8950 - $ 36250), 25 %( $ 36250 - $ 87250), 28 % ($ 87850 to $ 183200), 33 % for ($ 183200 to $ 398350) and 35 % for individuals earning above $ 398350. History of the rise of taxes has been in strong inclination to liberal policies and there has been minimal interference by the national government (Larson, 2013). Republican government was oriented on liberation of fiscal policies. It was related to cut in government expenditure, free open market development and minimal fiscal pressure. On the other hand, the Democratic government was more inclined to regulations that strived to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. The Obama administration was more inclined to the rising taxes on the rich, especially those earnings over $ 250,000 (Larson, 2013).
The biggest economic problem of this issue is that higher taxes on individuals earning over $ 250,000 will be a stumbling block to the economic growth of the country. The reasons for this is that individuals in this class will consume less and will focus on savings. The rich will suffer substantial financial losses, which impacts on the general economy. The political problem of this matter is that it will involve too much resources and time spent on government economic policy and over-regulation of the economy. Historically, regulation evokes strong political opposition, excessive interference and severe criticism. On the social front, raise in taxes is intertwined with the rising gap between the rich and the poor. It may trigger a clash between civilians and law enforcement agencies. With such growing social disorder, there will be a growing problem in maintaining social justice. Therefore, for those reasons it can be concluded that increasing tax charges will bring about more problems than solutions.
Issue: Should changes be made regarding mental health drugs for minors
According to Brown et al., (2015) over 20 million children are on psychiatric drugs and four children die every four months due their side effects. These drugs may contain stimulants that cause addiction, heart stroke, insomnia and even psychosis. The use of mental health drugs in minors has skyrocketed in the 21st century. To begin with, there is the issue of potential of long term side effects. Also, there is safety and security problems of using the drugs around children both at home and other surroundings. The issue of using mental health drugs is rooted from the fact people require a quick fix to psychological problems. There are other ways of treating such problems and they include family therapy and changes in the child's environment (Brown et al., 2015). However, the society opts for an instant fix in order for the effects to be felt sooner, which essentially changes an individual's behavior. Drugs are also resorted to in situations where there are no practitioners for first line of non-drug treatment. The above mentioned side effects are reason to drastically change the laws in order to ensure more control on the use of mental health drugs for minors.
The mental health services under the Federal government and federal state coordination play a significant role in this issue. The current laws under this mental issue can be subdivided into the mental equal coverage legislations, minimum mandated mental benefit legislations and mandated laws (Brown et al., 2015). Principally, the current laws encourage this issue. The equal coverage laws prevents insurers from discriminating from coverage offered for mental illness. Also, the government ensures that state laws cover some costs relating to mental illness and substance abuse. Extensive research should be done in this field and proper legislations need to be put in place.
Conclusion
The analysis explains three major social and economic issues that are substantial in the cohesiveness of the U.S. government. The issues analyzed include: Tax policy that seeks to impose more tax on individuals earning income above $ 250,000, the necessity of funding space exploration and the issue of drug therapy on minors. The paper gives the history of the issues, the problem in hand and the conclusion or recommendation for the matter.
References
Brown, R. T., Carpenter, L. A., Simerly, E., & Stein, M. T. (2015). Mental health medications for children: A primer. New York: Guilford Press.
Byerly, R., Byerly, R., Leshner, R. B., Whitney, P. L., National Research Council (Estados Unidos). (2014). Issues and opportunities regarding the U.S. Space Program: A summary report of a Workshop on National Space Policy. Washington D.C: National Academies Press.
Larson, J. S. (2013). Tax cuts: Issues and analyses. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
United States., & United States. (2016). NASA program costs: Space missions require substantially more funding than initially estimated : report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives. Washington, D.C: The Office.
