Domestic Policy Summary: Social Insurance

The domestic policy is identified as administrative decisions made by to government that relating to
things that would affect the people of the country. The two broad social insurance programs in America
are Social Security and Medicare. Social Security provides income support for people, such as, people
with disabilities, support for the elderly, retired, and deceased individuals. Social Security is represented
as a benefit to those who had insufficient or no income. Social Security is handled on payroll through the
Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). With those retirement workers, they receive pension, which
is a partial amount of money received to pay for retirement. One problem is that not all retired workers
receive a pension or that a pension isnt enough to support them, so some workers work til they cannot do
it anymore, or they save up money their whole life, just to be able to have a decent retirement. According
to the textbook, it says that, Many Americans worry that Social Security funds will run out before they
can begin collecting benefits. (4). I think, that in order to receive a pension from the government,
workers must meet a high expectation, which isnt easy for some workers and company pensions can get
stingy with benefit distribution. According to an article by Scott Burns, he states that America is a highly
taxed nation. Burns argues that those retirees that come from wealth, will have a long span of social
security benefits, while those of low income would only earn social security benefits for a minimal
amount of time. This issue with Social Security also correlates with the distribution of wealth and insists
on higher benefits for low income workers. Certain suggestions to lessen the funding problem are: raise
the retirement age, have higher tax rates to the wealthy that have benefits, taxing all income instead of
making it based on wages and salaries, and to raise the payroll tax rate. ````Medicare is a federal health
insurance program primarily to those who are age 65+, and for the younger ones with disabilities.
Currently, one form of insurance is called Obamacare, which is given insurance that is offered to those
who cannot afford insurance, but it is one way the President gives security to the people and protect
them. Medicare has been very successful, but the ongoing issue is the costs of Medicare. The situation is
represented as more people adding up in the workforce, while the number of those who pay taxes are
decreasing. The cost of healthcare is increasing, which draws the people to questionable concern.
Medicare is a great program and very benefitting, although, it is quite risky on its prices. The people were
not pleased with Tom Ryans speech about seniors using government-funded vouchers as a way the
people can shop for health insurance. The people argued and insist that the government should not
affiliate with medicare.
My position on the issue of Social Security is that the benefit distribution shouldnt be based on meeting a
certain requirement. I dont think it is fair that retirees from high paying jobs are the more likely to
receive such benefits, and it should be all retirees. People work hard their whole life so that they can
enjoy their retirement, but how corrupt could that be if they do not earn the social security income
because of not meeting a requirement/expectation. Even now, the children of retirees spend part of their
income to support their retired family members. My opinion on the issue of Medicare is that the price
shouldnt be so high, or else, many people will move to Obamacare. As great as the program does good
health benefits to the lives of others, the price can ironically kill them. In my opinion, Medicare should be
equal to all members and properly handle the funding. In the article, Social Security, Medicare, Maggie
Haberman talks about President Obama was very much in favor of Medicare and how it had been a great
benefit to his grandmother. This article analyzes the presidents supportive opinion about Medicare, and
he also strongly disagrees about Tom Ryans proposition about the vouchers.

Citations:
Burns, Scott. "The Great Equalizers: Social Security, Pensions." The Great Equalizers: Social Security,

Pensions. February 20, 2016. Accessed February 21, 2016.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/business/the-great-equalizers-social-security-pensions/nqRrX
/.

Haberman, Maggie. "Social Security, Medicare." POLITICO. October 03, 2012. Accessed February 21,
2016. http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/10/social-security-medicare-137429.

Hiltzik, Michael. "More Signs That 'gaming' by the Sick Is Not a Problem in Obamacare." Los Angeles
Times. February 17, 2016. Accessed February 21, 2016.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-gaming-by-sick-americans-is-not-a-problem-inobamacare-20160217-column.html.
Foreign Policy Summary:
The foreign policy is identified as administrative decisions made by the government that deals with other
countries, for example: trade. One of the economic and social issues from the problems of the post-cold
war world, was the issue of global economic instability. With the United States being the worlds largest
trading nation, the American leaders have been concerned with maintaining a stable global financial
market, without reaching an economic collapse. Arguably, the economy of America is closely even with
the global economy. A fun fact is that America is the most populated country in the world. Large
contributions to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank is what keeps America strong. As
we all have noticed, money is the number one issue that all people face, either it can make you or break
you. Since America is a capitalist economy and market economy, the main focus is money. An example of
a historical event of America reaching a financial collapse is the Great Recession. During the great
recession, the national budget was in crisis and the economy had weakened and many people lost their
jobs and a big portion of people in America were struggling. Also during the Great Recession, the U.S.
had to share financial and economic leadership with other countries-- China and Germany.
My position on this issue is that money is the never ending issue of the American system. Another fact is
that America owes China tons of dollars. When America financially hit rock bottom, the country had to
borrow money and share leadership with other countries. In the article by George Friedman, the things
that occurred in the post-cold war was U.S. power, China being the center of global industrial growth, and
Europe had risen again as a massive and integrated economic system. Through history, trade was always
the best way of financial interaction and through the years, financial interaction had progressed. With the
problem of global economic stability, I can infer that we are preventing America from hitting a massive
financial collapse, like the Great Recession. This new era that formed in the post-civil war world led to
America making many financial mistakes but in this entered era, the link of America with China and
Europe seeks for three goals: economic power, military power, and financial power.
Citations:
Friedman, George. "Beyond the Post-Cold War World." Stratfor. April 02, 2013. Accessed February
22, 2016. https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/beyond-post-cold-war-world.

Griswold, Mark. "Instability in the Post-Cold War World." The Political Bistro. May 15, 1999. Accessed
February 22, 2016. http://thepoliticalbistro.com/instability/.