Elections elections elections

As is the case with most presidential elections, one of the primary issues is money and tax reforms. Over the years when an election occurs taxes are always brought into question. And the upcoming elections are no different.

            The democrats want to increase taxes on people to an even amount so that the rich and poor are being taxed proportionally as opposed to one being taxed unfairly. Things like Obamacare are also platforms of the democrat candidates. They want reform it and improve it as well as making it more user friendly and helpful.

            The Republican candidates are promising to get rid of Obamacare as well as cut taxes. Some of the more conservative candidates like Cruz, are practically promising to cut taxes to an even greater extreme than Bush did as well as do away with welfare programs and social security.

            People seem to forget that in order to get anything done, you have to have money coming into the federal government that helps people and is controlled by a central power. However you must also have enough money in the pockets of the individuals to stimulate the economy in a healthy way so the standard of living stays at a good place and minimum wage doesn’t drop. The hard part is finding a candidate who can satisfy the needs of everyone or at least the vast majority of people.

             On the topic of republican candidates and their ideas for the upcoming elections, immigration is on the top of the list. To put it simply, not republican candidate has a policy on immigration that actually benefits the immigrants. That isn’t to say their ideas are wrong or bad, they just favor the issues of money and national security.

            Just a few years ago, one of the candidates worked on a bill that would give undocumented people a chance to become citizens with a fairly simple process. However now, the candidates are so far to the right that most just want the people deported from the country all together.

            This really all relates back to money when looked at from the right way. One of the overwhelming beliefs of most people is that every American should pay taxes. So that leaves two options for undocumented immigrants, they can either apply for citizenship and risk being deported or denied as well as paying hefty costs, or they can simply go under the radar and not pay at all. So the question becomes, do we want to make it easy for them to become citizens so they can pay taxes and contribute to society, or deport them and remove the problem and not actually fix it.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/opinion/elections-have-consequences.html

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lindsey-graham-2016_56782ccae4b0b958f6573e2f

College expenses and why they do not add up

There is a constant problem with people not being able to afford college tuition. With tuition for some schools as high as $60,000 a year, it is not surprising that there are complaints about the cost. Not to mention that over the last few years, the price of not only tuition but also room and board costs has risen. According to College Board tuition in state schools has gone up by 3.4% and for private schools it has gone up by 2.7%.  

            Obviously with these huge price tags on colleges, one thinks “how do I, a middle class working American, pay for my child to go through college?” College Board responded that financial aid can put many people through school. Last year there was an average of $14,200 given to kids to help them pay for tuition. Some of the money came from loans from the schools or scholarships, but a huge portion came from federal funds.

            Some wonder if it is even worth it. Unemployment rates for new graduates is high and often times you find the people with higher education aren’t even in the field they studied because no jobs are available for them.

            When paying those giant tuition bills for college, many people wonder where the money is even going. A lot of the money is going to pay the president of the university. The presidents of these institutions are often payed ridiculous amounts of money for their jobs. Some of the colleges with the highest tuition's, have their administrators being paid millions of dollars while families are scrounging for the money to even send their children to school at all.

            A school like High Point University is ranked one of the most expensive schools to attend, and even made the top 10 most expensive schools in the nation. However its president gate about 3 million dollars a year. It’s interesting that this has not been called into question. However schools do a good job of hiding it. The salary on paper is not always what the person makes. For instance, at High Point, the president’s actual salary is $600,000 but in bonuses and compensation, the president receives much more.

            The high earnings of the administrators has actually recently been brought into question and many people are complaining about how absurd it is that a family with a yearly income of $60,000 is having to find a way to pay $50,000 a year to a college where a huge portion of the money is going to just one or two people.     

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maureensullivan/2015/12/30/where-are-the-bargains-in-college-tuition/

http://time.com/money/4136924/private-college-presidents-salary-benefit-2013/

Saudi Arabia and Iran and their booming problem

According to recent information, Saudi Arabia is raising their gas prices by about 50%. SA is known for having some of the cheapest gas in the world at 24 cents a gallon. This was raised from 16 cents a gallon and has impacted a lot of people. Many people of SA lined up to fill up tanks of gas before the price rose.

The SA people actually have a surprisingly large amount of government benefits that are given to them. Some include things like free health care, and unemployment assistance. Of course the social aspects of the country are still heavily controlled by the government, but on a strictly economic standpoint, the country has some boons for its citizens. One of the greatest accomplishments is the fact that 90% of the people are employed by the government, and some of the remaining are employed by private sectors.

With the price of gas having fallen from 100 a barrel to 34 a barrel, experts believe the country will run out of funds within the next five years if something does not change, because without their main export (crude oil) the country has little else that it makes money from. Also since many of the people are employed by the government, if it loses money, people will be out of jobs as they cannot be paid.

            SA and Iran are constantly in competition over gas exportation. However both countries are militant countries and are at odds with each other. The recent execution of a Shiite cleric also brought tensions to a head between the two countries and the gas competition did not help matters at all. The relationship between military and economy is a strong one in the Middle East and has caused problems for a long time.

            Due to the continuing price drop of oil, both countries are having a difficult time making enough money to support the people and innocents are losing money and the already low standard of living in these countries is dropping lower and lower. Also neither country seems to have any desire to work with the other so very little is even being done between two of the biggest oil exporters in the world.

            Another problem is that both countries are accelerating their production of crude oil. And supply seems to be greater than demand for the world at the present time which is contributing to the falling prices. 

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/05/news/economy/saudi-arabia-oil-budget-gas/

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/03/saudi-arabia-iran-tensions-over-shiite-execution-boost-oil-futures.html