Foreign policy

Up until the World Wars the United States had not taken part of to many wars that occurred on a global scale. After these efforts the United States began to take on the role of global police and continues this role. This has led to US involvement in the Cold War, Vietnam War, and the Korean War. The most recent wars in which we have involved ourselves in are the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq.

The US was rightful in declaring war on Afghanistan because of the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11th 2001. The United States had the backing of its allies from the United Nations and this led to a speedy success in the sense that the US was able to take down the Taliban regime with the increased troops due there ally backing. The US then made the mistake of leaving Afghanistan before it had help to set up a new government and ensure the Afghans were able to protect themselves. By withdrawing prematurely the United States threatened the sovereignty of Afghanistan and the countries surrounding it. Now that the US has increased its activity in Afghanistan once again they must make sure that a stable government is set up and this government must be able to rule within its borders or the US will inevitably have to become involved again.

The US was not right when the invaded Iraq because they did so without probable cause and the without the backing of their allies in the United Nations that would have led to a faster success and less US casualties. The US did do the right thing by ensuring they had helped to set up a stable Iraqi government and that this government was able to defend themselves and their people from harmful outside influences such as the Taliban.

Therefore moving forward the United States should continue its global police role and refrain from taking military action if they do not have the backing of their allies. But, the US should take action if they are provoked in some sort of way by terrorist or a country in general. If the Taliban or North Korea were to attack the US should take immediate action to prevent further harm of Americans. However, the United States should not take on an imperialistic role and start invading countries because the use of goods and raw materials from these potential colonies could benefit the US economy.

Healthcare in the United States

One of the big issues in congress of late has been health care reform. Although it is just now coming back into the main stream it has been addressed by multiple presidents but attempts at reform have fallen short. This does not mean that we should give up hope and stop fighting for reform because there are currently between 36 and 46 million people in America that are uninsured. This number is debated because it includes 9.7 million people that are present in America but not citizens. Even if the we use 36 million instead of 46 million it still means that approximately 11.7% of Americans are without health care.
Some common misconceptions about health care reform are that there are or will be "death panels," the U.S. has the best health care system in the world, and Canadians have to come to America for better health care in emergencies. "Death Panels" do not exist in countries with universal health care. The officials work with the individuals to find the option that will result it the greatest quality and longevity of life. They serve as a way to prevent people from choosing the most expensive option based on the misconception that if it cost more it must be better. Also, the United states does not have the best health care system in the world. We actually have a very inefficient system and rank only 37th in the world despite spending the most on health care. The usual top countries in the rankings are countries such as Britain, Canada, France, and Japan all of which have a universal system. Lastly, some people claim Canadians flock to the United States for better health care. As I previously stated Canada ranks higher in the World Health Organizations ratings. Canadians do not have to wait for emergency procedures and receive non-emergency procedures in about 2 months waiting time.
Some steps the United States can take to reform the health care system is to eliminate the gap between insurance and prescription drug plans, cap out of pocket expenses, don't allow policies to be canceled and require companies to provide insurance for their employees and their employees families. Firstly, Americans with insurance and those without insurance have to pay significant amounts of money for prescriptions. These expenses lead to the American system being inefficient. to solve this the government could impose reform mandates that require insurance companies to cover some of the gap. Secondly, insurance companies only pay for a portion of procedures and leave the policy holders to pay for the rest of the procedure. This puts more and more people into debt thus worsening the financial crisis in America. Thirdly, a law should be passed that prohibits insurance companies from canceling policies when policy holders are in need of a life saving or life improving procedure. For example,insurance cancel policies because of prior conditions such as cavities and acne. Cavities are tooth decay which is a result of gum disease and gum disease can cause heart problems. The companies use this line of reasoning to cancel policies when people need them the most. Lastly, the government should require companies/businesses to provide insurance for their employees and their families. This could be done in a cost efficient manner by the government giving companies write offs for their taxes for going along with the new policy. This would keep the financial burden of Americans and lessen the dependency on medicaid. Medicaid is still used by those employed and still fall below the poverty line by making this change the burden on this individual part would be lessened.
America must take action and pass health care reform the benefits the people as a whole. It is necessary for our progression as a civilized country and to preserve future generations. Compromises should be made on the issue but these compromises should not be so great that nothing is accomplished.