Political Issues

ISIS is Making the Biggest Threat to Oil Prices Even Worse

Summary:

Last June, ISIS took control of the city Baiji which is home to the Baiji oil refinery that once supplied around a third of Iraq's domestic fuel supply.  Recently, ISIS set fire to that refinery.

With the insecure alliance between the Middle East's major Arab powers and limited U.S. assistance, ISIS has proven its power, and its ability to take over.  The Middle East controls about sixty percent of the world's proven oil reserves, and if ISIS takes over the major oil field in Iraq, there could be some devastating consequences.  Iraq is the second largest producer in the cartel, and if ISIL presses further into Iraq the price of a barrel of oil could go up to over $100. 

After years of high oil prices, OPEC tried lowering prices and succeeded with prices per barrel being $50.  US rig numbers decreased drastically causing the loss of jobs and a putting a hurting on the companies.  Prices per barrel have been back up to about $65 since the beginning of the year, but by October prices are predicted to go back down with the increase in US shale drilling.  So far traders have ignored the threat ISIS puts on the oil market and the global economy.  

Analysis:  

If ISIS gets a hold of the Iraqi oil fields oil prices could skyrocket and the global economy could be drastically affected.  Even though the US is very reluctant to get involved and send troops over, if we care enough I think we just need to stop procrastinating and take ISIS down.  I know that's easier said than done, but if we don't want to get involved then we need to stop worrying about it or we should just get it over with and do it.  If we procrastinate too long it could be possible that the US could be threatened by ISIS, and then we will have to take action.  Or, if oil prices are affected then we're gonna care, so I think we should take preventative actions because the Iraqi army is obviously not very effective.  It seems like everything in today's society revolves around money, and if oil prices increase drastically, the American people are not going to be very happy.  I don't understand a lot about the economy, but if oil prices are a big enough concern in the US economic policy we should start taking interest and concern in the ISIS threat on Iraqi oil.  

Source:

http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-is-making-the-biggest-threat-to-oil-prices-even-worse-2015-5

Unit 5
Republicans Want to Cut SNAP Funding

Summary:
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as Food Stamps, assists roughly 46.5 million Americans every month.  It is a federal aid program that helps low and no income families buy food and is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The number of people enrolled in the SNAP program greatly increased during the recession a few years ago, but now Republicans want to cut some funding to the SNAP program that would save an estimated $125 billion over ten years by switching to block-grants to states.  The amount of money a state receives currently is determined by the state's needs.  They are proposing that states receive a set chunk of money every year to spend on the program.  Republicans propose that moving SNAP to the state level would reduced administrative costs, but the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities claim that more than 90 percent of the money for SNAP goes right to the EBT cards, and not for administrative purposes, which means the cuts would be directly affecting families.

Analysis:
According to a CBO report a 15 percent budget cut would reduce benefits as much as $600 a year for some families.  When you look at $600 over the course of a year, that isn't that much per month.  It's about as much as a cell phone bill, in some cases it's even less.  Cutting some funds to this program, in my opinion, wouldn't be that bad of an idea.  It could save billions of dollars and save the taxpayers money.  I understand helping out people who are truly in need, but I don't want to be paying taxes to help pay for peoples' Sunday morning coffee and doughnuts. Maybe instead of cutting funding for the program, they can put tighter restrictions on the people they let receive benefits from SNAP and save the money for people who are truly in need.  SNAP is a federal aid program designed to help people, making it part of our Social Policy.  We extensively discussed social policy during unit 5 along with economic policy, foreign policy, and other public policies.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121316/republican-house-budget-proposal-would-cut-snap-food-stamps