The average voter always has very little information about issues such as defense or foreign policies. 2017 has been an election year for the house of Congress. The main reason why congress is essential to American democracy is because it has the ability to change policies, support programs that are beneficial to its constituents and respond to constituency opinion. For these reasons these elections are a closely monitored nationally. The purpose of this paper is discuss the policies that led to the electing of Ralph Northam into office as the Virginia Governor.
Human rights activists will argue that everyone has a right to life, only making exceptions when a pregnancy is life-threatening. Ralph Northam has served as an Army doctor, and his policy objectives rotate around the right to life. He believes that young girls and women should not lose their lives due to illegal abortions. In the 1976 Hyde Amendment passed by Congress, to cut off federal Medicaid funding for most abortion procedures leaving it to the states’ discretion was met by opposition from Ralph, because he believes it reduces the number of women who are qualified to access healthcare.
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Most people believe the choice not to use contraceptives, especially among adolescents and young adults, put them at risk of unplanned, pre-marital pregnancies, and hence potentially most affected by restrictions on abortion access among groups more likely to use public STD clinics (Sen, 2003). The total spending by the government on healthcare is accruing and is expected to hit $2.7 trillion, adding $352 billion to the national debt (Huntington, et al., 2011). After the Affordable care Act was passed, some polls reported in (Huntington, et al., 2011) that 55% of likely voters favored repealing the bill (243), with only 34% of Americans approving President Obama’s handling of health care, showing that the health care bill has become a burden to the taxpayers. These are some of the statistics Ralph has used to come up with his policy on the right to life
Given the recent rates of school shootings, Ralph Northam has proposed the ban on carrying guns into bars because he believes carrying of guns and has direct impact on the rate of crime. Most legislators believe that increasing the gun ownership rate raises violent crimes and accidental deaths. Ludwig & Cook, (2004) disagrees with this argument. He gives an example of North Carolina through 1997, where there was not a single permit revoked as a result of use of a gun for crime. In South Carolina through 1997, only one permit holder was indicted for a felony, a charge that was later dropped proving that licensed gun holders pose little threat to the society. Ludwig & Cook, (2004) continues by stating that it has become more expensive to carry a gun for self-protection. One reason being the punitive penalties have been imposed on individuals who carry concealed weapons in forty-eight forbidden places, including court houses. Two, it takes averagely longer to fulfill the training requirements for obtaining gun permits.
A leader who understands the issues facing his constituents is able to formulate policies that benefit a nation. Voting just provides citizens with the ability to exercise their democratic rights depending on the policies or propaganda that a leader propels to the voters. The person you elect into office has the ability to improve the standards of living of its citizens or even destroy the economy of an entire nation.
References
Huntington, W. V., Covington, L. A., Center, P. P., Covington, L. A., & Manchikanti, L. (2011). Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: reforming the health care reform for the new decade. Pain physician, 14(1), E35-E67.
Ludwig, J., & Cook, P. J. (Eds.). (2004). Evaluating gun policy: Effects on crime and violence. Brookings Institution Press.
Sen, B. (2003). A preliminary investigation of the effects of restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortions on female STD rates. Health economics, 12(6), 453-464.
