Opinion

In my opinion I believe the government is doing a good job in helping us. They provide aid in lots of different ways if you need it. They provide aid to small business owners, farmers, schools, and the poor. They also help protect the environment and consumers from buying harmful foods and drugs. So overall after reading this chapter I believe the american government is doing a good job!

Education

• The government plays and important role in education and provide help to local schools in several forms. In the recent year more than 1 billion dollars in direct aid was contributed as well as more than 10 billion additional funds distributed throughout the states. Throughout the years the government has had lots of programs that aid higher eduction. For example congress passed the Morrill Act in 1862 which granted the states about 11.3 million acres of public land for endownment of colleges.

Public Assistance Programs

• The government provides lots of assistance to the public. They provide aid to families where the main wage earner has been disabled,left, or died. But many people argue that these programs promote fatherless families by encouraging men to leave their families so that they can get special benifits. The government also provides food stamps to increase the food-buying power of the low income families. There is also a medicaid program that helps pay hospital, doctor, and other medical expenses for low income families. The government provides lots of aid to its people and if you need help you know its out there.

Health and Public Assistance

• The United States has two kinds of social programs, they are social insurance and public assistance programs. The social programs where designed to help the elderly,ill, unemployed citezens. Public assistance programs distribute public money to the poor people. But in order for this to happen the government must use general tax revenues to pay for them.


• Whether you are the employer,employee, or are self-employed you must pay a social security taxes. The money from this tax goes towards you retirement.

Agriculture and the Environment

· The government provides lots of aid to farmers. The department of agriculture provides important services to farmers. They help farmers market their produce, stabilize farm prices, conserve land and develop rural areas, and promote research in agricultural science. The farmers’ home administration was established to provide loans for farmers to buy land, livestock, seeds, equipment, and fertilizer, to build homes, to dig wells and to obtain disaster relief.They also advices farmers on the demand for crops, current prices, transportation methods, and when and where to sell their products.

· The government does not only protect the farmers but they protect the land, air, and water. To help lower air pollution the government has the clean air act. This act, which has been modified throughout the years, requires automobile-emission testing. To help lower water pollution the government established Water Quality Improvement Act which prohibits the discharge of harmful pollutants in to the waterways. The department of agriculture has been a part of the restoration of millions of acres of forest used for outdoor recreation, timber, wildlife, and more.

Government and Labor

· Throughout the 1800’s labor unions were formed to try and negotiate better wages, working hours, and working conditions. The employers often refused and the unions were forced to go on strike. There were up to 37000 strikes throughout the 1800s, until the government took control and established the department of labor. Today the department of labor sets minimum wages, maximum working hours, and prohibit child labor to keep the people happy.

Government and Business

· The federal government provides four types of subsidies to businesses. They are tax incentives that allow them to deduct certain expenses from the tax returns, government loans that provide funds for businesses at low interest rates, free services like census reports and weather information and lastly direct cash payments to businesses whose products or services are considered vital to the general public.

· The SBA or Small Business Administration offers credit subsidies and gives free advice and information to small businesses. Regional offices of the SBA offer classes on sound management practices for the small business owners. Businesses can also look for advice from the SBA on how to fix their problems. The SBA also has programs to help women and minorities in business. So as you can see the government provides lots of help to businesses.

Consumer Protection

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  Before the 1900s corporations did not care whether their products were healthful or safe. Some awful stuff was going on in the food and drug industries. They would mislabel foods and sell foods contaminated by additives. Meat products were often tainted because of the unsanitary conditions in processing plants. Also consumers were tricked into buying worthless and dangerous medicines. The book, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair described the horrid conditions of the meat-packing houses and wrote some magazine articles about those conditions and aroused public fury. Due to this congress passed the Pure Food and drug act, which made it illegal for a company to sell contaminated, unhealthful, or falsely labeled foods or drugs. Also the meat inspection act was passed which provided for federal inspection of all meat-packing companies that sold meats across state lines. The FDA or Food and Drug administration protects us from improperly labeled foods and drugs. They inspect thousand of foods drugs and other products every year to keep us safe.





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  The federal Trade Commission (FTC) protects consumers against misleading and fraudulent advertising. They review all the claims made on the products advertisement and determine whether the advertisement is false or unfair. Because of FTC, cigarette manufacturers must put a health warning on the packages and all manufactures must list the contents of packaged product on the label. Congress also created the Consumer Product Safety Commission to protect against unreasonable risk of injury from hazardous products. Therefore the CPSC investigates injuries caused by merchandise and creates standards of safety for each product. If they fail those standards the CPSC can order it of the market. In the year 2007, they imposed record setting of 473 recalls.




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  The government also protects small investor form being mislead about the value of stocks and bonds. The Securities and Exchange Commission regulate the trading of securities or stocks and bonds and licenses people who sell them to the national market.

Government and Commerce

The Constitution Basis

The constitution grants congress two powers. The powers "to lay and collect taxes," for general welfare, and the power to "regulate commerce." These powers are vested in congress by the commerce clause in article 1, section 8. The founders of the constitution made this clause to allow the government to regulate interstate commerce which is production and transportation of goods, communications, mining, and the sale of stocks and bonds. Regulating includes prohibiting, promoting, protecting, assisting, and establishing standards for many aspects of interstate commerce. There are more than 100 federal agencies and commissions that regulate American businesses.

Antitrust Legislation

· Trusts were really popular in the late 1800s and having trust created monopolies. Congress tried to stop monopolies by passing the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Act in 1890. These were the first two sections of the Antitrust;

Section 1: "Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal."

Section 2: "Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States."

Violating section two of the trust a felony today. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was responsible for carrying out the provision of the act. They could define unfair competitive practices, issue orders to halt these practices, examine corporate purchase of stock, and investigate trade practices. The FTC had many duties and responsibilities such as enforcing laws that prohibit false advertising and requiring truthful labels on textiles and fur. They also regulate packaging and labeling of certain consumer goods, require full disclosure of the lending practices of finance companies and retailers who use installment plans, and checks consumer credit agencies. Today instead of trust and monopolies the economic power belongs to oligopolies, which is the control of an industry by a few group of firms.