Kingpoleon
Atlas Star
Posts: 22,144
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« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2017, 02:03:18 AM » |
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The Truth About the Gold Standard
By Alexander Madison
Senator Palmer’s support for the gold standard has left many questioning the legitimacy of his complaints, and if the gold standard effectively solves the problems he claims it does. It is our responsibility to the people of America to tell the truth here, regardless of how powerful people who disagree are. As such, I have assembled the facts as they are, to answer the questions above.
Yes, it is true that inflation continues to hurt business owners as they increasingly see their profits worth less on the dollar and their employees demanding more on the dollar. By raising prices and salaries, businesses are contributing to the problem of inflation and currency not backed by anything. Luxury consumption contributes further to this problem. However, as we clearly see, inflation is the mark of a healthy economy.
The gold standard, at the end of the day, is a temporary solution that would only work in a recession or a period of extreme growth, probably greater than 5%, with inflation also above 6% and unemployment below 4%. As we are in neither situation, and a temporarily backed currency would have problems of its own, I would under no circumstances recommend a gold standard.
That being said, I do intend to begin a vast survey of community leaders, including Erik Prince, Mary Kay Henry, Connie Rice, Cathy Lanier, Ann E. Dunwoody, Helen Gym, and Larry Goodpaster, as well as several economists and businessmen*. By listening to dialogue from many, many people, I hope to begin to find solutions to many problems, including this one.
At the end of the day, I must oppose this attempt at instating the gold standard. However, I believe Senator Palmer’s attempt is one he sincerely believes in, and we would be better off as a country if every politician had the courage to suggest ideas that seem out there. We can’t afford the usual routine in Washington anymore.
Addressing President Warren’s Plans
By Alexander Madison
We have heard President Warren’s Platform. And while we do our best to remain neutral, this objectively is nonsensical appeals to everyone. “Protect manufacturing jobs” - how? By scaling back NAFTA? Maybe that would temporarily help some manufacturing workers, but “scaling back” free trade has a horribly negative effect on most workers, especially small businesses and racial minorities. It empowers the big businesses to dominate, supports a closed society, and indicates to the world that we are not interested in them. We can not afford this.
A safe withdrawal of troops from the Middle East. Unilaterally. Instead of working to establish peace in Israel and support human rights and democracy in Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt, we are telling the Middle East that our focus is now elsewhere. Until I see diplomacy begin, we can’t afford to withdraw our power from the region.
Low tuition fees can best be achieved by using the Department of Education, Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury to negotiate on behalf of college students. If you get a score above a thirty on the ACT and have a GPA above 3.0, we should give incentives to all colleges and universities for scholarships. In general, we need to promote communities getting involved with their youth and encouraging them to start businesses or to otherwise support their goals.
A federal minimum wage of fifteen dollars is going to hurt people who live in poor states. For those who live in poor states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, especially minorities there, this is going to severely hurt employment opportunities. President Warren, maybe you saw a woman named Sarah at the Town Hall in Augusta. She makes ten dollars an hour. Under your proposal, it is very likely that she would be let go. And, let me tell you, there are scores of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Sarahs.
A raise to $11.50 an hour would help many people with very few to no people losing their jobs. It would also benefit the working poor, as would providing a larger tax credit for people with children under eighteen. Raising the child tax credit to four times what it is now for people making under $30,000 annually would have little effect on the revenue of our country, and greatly help families with children. It’s easy to say, “Oh, we’ll pay for tuition.” But when poor families often can’t afford to let their children graduate public high school, what makes anyone think they can afford to let their children attend free college?
Now, your federal infrastructure bill would require raising gas taxes. Are you prepared to raise gas taxes enough, considering the use of cars and fuel is, besides education, the number one stimulant of socioeconomic mobility? Or would you prefer to add to our staggering debt even more with this project of yours?
President Warren, these are tough questions and criticisms, but I hope you didn’t expect your job or my questions and criticisms to be easy.
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