Essay --

Good morning/afternoon everybody. Today, I am here to discuss the overall wealth of America, in hopes to better justify our economy. It is to my understanding that as of this moment, the United States and its economy stands fairly well, increasing total tax revenue by 13%, from $2,482.241 (two trillion four hundred eighty two billion) in 2012, to $2,806.386 in 2013. In addition, we were able to decrease our budget deficit by an additional 27%, with a final deficit standing at $811.851. Although our standings are settled at a decent position, there are ways we could execute even greater; and that is through the improvement of health and human services, the return of our nation’s military from the Middle East, education, alternative energy, and the regulation of taxes. One of the major focuses of our proposal is the improvement of health and human services. Prior to my election, there has been concern about this department due to the recent government shutdown. From October 1 through October 16, the United States entered this shutdown, and reduced most routine operations after Congress failed to enact funds for the fiscal year 2014. The principal factor to this shutdown was The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. What this law required was for all Americans to have health insurance—regardless if they truly need it or not—so the total costs towards Medicare and Medicaid spending would decrease. However, it is not worth disrupting government funding to undercut healthcare costs. Congress has one key duty in the Constitution, and that is to pass spending bills that fund the government. With no compromise, our government may experience another one of these disastrous events. To fix this predicament.. . ...ity that continues to be a problem is the amount of alcohol and cigarette users here in the states. The adverse health affects from alcohol consumption accounts for an estimate of 75,000 deaths, while cigarette smoking accounts for an estimate of 443,000 deaths each year in the United States. To promote a healthier lifestyle, in addition to internalizing the externality, we will be placing a $0.10 tax on alcohol and a $0.50 tax on cigarettes, in hopes to reduce demand and utilization. However, if alcohol and cigarette users continue to be unresponsive to the change in price, consumers would still continue to purchase these products, and it would eventually benefit the government in terms of raising money with minimum waste, for it would raise revenue with minimal distortion. In other words, as a result of this tax raise, we will be increasing revenue $5.323 billion.