Manifesto 2.0, Yo!

1. If a large corporation were to go out of business, causing severe problems of unemployment and greatly disrupting the market, should the federal government subsidize them?

I believe it would be beneficial in the long run for the government to subsidize the failing company. Although there is obviously a reason the company is failing in the first place, subsidizing it would give it a second chance to be successful - whether through the same management, or someone new in charge. It would also prevent a severely large amount of people from losing their jobs and source of income; there's enough job shortage as it is, and adding an entire company's worth of job-hunters into the market would help in no shape or form. As well as that, there is the fact that it would disrupt the market, and with the market as unsteady as it already is, that is something the economy does not need. While some companies may have no hopes of survival or redemption when going out of business, I believe it would often be important to at least try and get them back on their feet in order to keep things steady.

2. After looking at the 2011 budget (revenues & expenditures), my manifesto leads me to support/criticize it because...

The 2011 budget, while fairly acceptable, could also easily be improved. Medicare is extremely important, and I am glad to see that the spending on that rose in 2012; defense is important as well, of course. However, according to the interactive graphic on the 2013 budget, things that are also incredibly important are having their budgets cut. Things such as employment training, operation and maintenance, and student aid are being cut by up to 50%, which is not acceptable. Yes, it is important to provide for things like medicare and defense, but by taking that money away from student loans and other important things the government isn't doing any good. By looking at the 2013 budget, my manifesto has definitely led me to criticize the federal governments choices in that respect.

3. In keeping with my manifesto and after watching the movie I.O.U.S.A. explain the debt crisis faced by our nation, I propose the following solution...

It will definitely not be easy to fix the debt crisis we've managed to accrue, nor will it happen overnight. Some cuts will be necessary while we pay off what we owe; also, people need to begin giving back as well. Not just in taxes (which is important as well) but in charity as well. The US manages to send off fairly large sums of money to other countries in need - why not donate some of that to our own country to try and fix the hole we're digging ourselves into? People definitely need to pay their taxes as well; I'm not suggesting a switch in tax plans, because that would probably just end up costing us more money, but in order for the system we have to work people have to go along with it. Another way to save money would be to pay higher officials less. Yes, they have important jobs, but do they really need as much as they're paid? Surely, they could allow some of it to help pay off the debt they're all scrambling to find a solution to. Paying off the debt will be a combination of many things that eventually pay off over time; the country just has to figure out how to enforce them and work together to do it.