The Energy Market, an Economic Giant

Although the uprising in Libya has brought the United States a series of unwanted issues, it serves as a primary example to many lessons learned during an international crisis. For the past 2 years, Obama has attempted to cut about $36 billion in subsidies to oil and gas companies.

Money Out the Window

In The National Review blog post "A Physician’s Check-up on the One-Year-Old Health-Care Law," Senator Tom Coburn talks about the issues of the 1 year-old healthcare plan also known as "Obamacare." Tom Coburn, Senator of Oklahoma, is not only well-educated about the economics and politics of our country, but also a medical doctor. As a Republican Senator, he is most likely trying to gain support from the American people (both Republican and Democratic) and fellow Senators with his education and opinion about the issue. The Democratic House passed this 2,700 page bill that I'm can assure you no sane individual read in its entirety. By spending tax dollars to run the bill ads, only about half the U.S. population actually support this plan. 
There is no doubt that our government has a long-run fiscal disaster ahead of us if we continue to spend money on ineffective programs. This $2.6 trillion monstrosity has more than just a few things wrong with it. Before this bill was enacted, Medicaid already denied care by about half of physicians. Half the time this healthcare "plan" doesn't even cover what is needed for the individual's health, further wasting tax dollars. It also increases the middle-class taxes by $813 billion. Sen. Tom Coburn highlights many more problems with this healthcare plan. In summary, this law results in higher taxes, costs,  spending, and deficits. 
As an economics student, I extensively studied this subject in "Health Economics" and several other courses. My opinion is long-winded and very strong. The Medicaid/Medicare system is so inefficient it is frustrating. There are too many moments I find myself thinking "They really can't be that stupid to think this will work."  In example, an individual has the option to avoid Medicaid, yet decide to purchase it in the event they become ill. 

Wasteful Government Spending

In today's newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, there was a particular article titled "Both Sides Embrace Government-Waste Study" about government spending that caught my interest. Both the Democratic and Republican party have come to an agreement on the vast wasteful nature of the United States government. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report unveiling billions of US taxpayer dollars going to waste on dozens of overlapping programs. The government offers financial support to several different programs in areas of defense, education, and transportation. By consolidating these programs, the efficiency of these organizations would drastically increase saving billions of dollars. The government needs to look at more pressing issues, such as the rising government deficit which is expected to reach $1.65 trillion in 2011 and the high possibility of reaching the  debt ceiling by early April. This article is very interesting because it talks about the various inefficiencies in how the US government is currently run, its impractical spending, and how we should look to improve in the future. Also, it is super cool to see how both parties have agreed to work together to make our country a better place!