Brendan Forte
Extra Credit
Ten
Trillion and Counting
Summary
This
video was based on all of the government’s success and failure throughout the
past years. The United States of America is suffering a huge economic crisis,
and it is only expected to get worse. For example, the National debt is
expected to reach 21 trillion dollars by 2017. Ten Trillion and Counting magnifies Obama’s duties as president,
and trying to get the United States out of the turmoil left from Bush’s
two-term presidency.
It
is recognized that Obama was brought into an economic disaster caused very much
by President Bush, and this video specifies in detail, Obamas reality the day
he was inaugurated into presidency. Throughout the Bush administration there
were two wars, including the war in Iraq, two huge tax cuts, many deficits, and
the constant increase in the national debt. All of these events during the bush
administration was the beginning of political and economic weakness in America.
Body
Obama
walked into a bad time period. It was a financial meltdown, stock market crash,
and a recession capable of becoming a depression. After he signed, $787 billion
dollars of Nation debt continued. Obama has tried to tackle the health care
problem, which many people believe is the biggest plan that consisted of 3.5
trillion dollars. Of that 35 trillion, 630 billion dollars was the first
crucial step to reforming health care. After all, 48 percent of the federal
budget is put towards Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Economic
This
documentary mentions many economic issues. Obama walked into presidency while
the country was already in debt. His economic challenge included a frozen
financial system (no credit), a rate that has not been seen since 1982, and an
unemployment rate reaching double digits and still increasing. Obama believed
health care was a big problem, and he invested about 630 billion dollars into
it. Some say that by 2019, our expected debt is to be close to $23.1 trillion.
Obama’s plan includes borrowing more money, to get back to where we want to be
down the road. While money is still being spent, debt is going to continue to
increase, and hopefully with more money, the problems can be fixed.
Political
There
is a lot of talk about politics. In the documentary they talk about how Bush
brought the economy down. During his presidency there were two wars, tax cuts,
and a constant increasing debt. After Bush’s two terms, Obama stepped in as
President, during a rough time period. He now has to re-gain peoples
confidence. Obama said, “We are in this position due to the greed and
irresponsibility on the part of some”. He has also said “There has been failure
in the ability to make hard choices”. He faces challenges that he must try
conquer in order to fix the debt problems of our nation.
Demography
This
situation effects a huge population of people. It a problem faced by our nation.
Debt is ongoing and influences American people’s lives in several ways. Some
people can’t get jobs, cant pay taxes, and some cannot afford needs to live.
With our nation going into deeper debt, it is not helping the situation. The
entire population is affected one way or another and some people are in worse
conditions then others.
Culture & Geography
These two topics
were not mentions directly in the video. Although it is not mentioned, it is
seen that in our culture, we feel that there has to be a solution, or an
answer. Many people argue over what the right solutions to our problems are.
People from all over the United States are struggling and are strongly opinionated
about the choices of our President.
Conclusion
From
watching this documentary, one can understand the harsh economic reality
America is suffering through. At one point, in recent years, America was weak
enough to go into a depression, and the stock market was also ready to crash.
It is now understandable how many important decisions are made in government
and how greatly these decisions can effect everyday life. Hopefully in the
future, Obama can find a solution to try to decrease the national debt.
Bibliography
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tentrillion/view/
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