Neida Mbuia-Joao CAP Congress Position Paper Ban NSA spying The National Security Agency has been

n illegally collecting information on foreign nations since 2006 (Carter, Capeluto) Judge Royce C. Lamberth has stated on May 8, 2006, that government lawyers have not used any NSA intercepts of phone calls and e-mails inside the US to build their terrorism cases. (Carter, Capelouto) Top Secret spying programs collected domestic emails and telephone records (Carter, Capelouto) Documents released by Snowden reportedly alleged the NSA monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone. Some reports also suggest the United States carried out surveillance on French and Spanish citizens. (Capelouto, Carter) NSA spying allegations have damaged US relationships with friendly foreign nation (Capelouto, Carter). Subject of American spying reportedly dominated a meeting at a European Summit (Smale). Smale provides a quote from the leader of the European Parliament asproof of theforeidn relations damages NSA spying has caused,"For us, a limit has been reached, said Martin Schulz, chairman of the European Parliament. Talks cannot be conducted, he said, when you suspect that the other side has spied on you in advance to know your position. He cited also his Parliament's rejection late Wednesday of the Swift agreement on sharing banking data with the United States as an example of European opposition to the U.S. demands for data.

The NSA uses counterterrorism as a misleading sales pitch for them to k eep their funding and support (Timm). The NSA has an almost unlimited agenda which the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act does not very specifically limit. Here is a quote enumerating the powers of the NSA, "information with respect to a foreign power ... that relates to ... the conduct of the foreign affairs of the United States." It apparently contains very vague language (Timm). 56 percent of Americans believe it is acceptablefor the NSA to be collecting telephone records (Howerton). 45 percent of Americans say the government should be able to go even further and monitor all online activity if it would prevent future terrorist attacks (Howerton).

Marc A. Theissen of the Washington Post questions people who oppose the NSA programs by asking how we would stop terrorist attacks without them (Howerton). NSA programs helped to stop 54 possible terrorist attacks both in the U.S. and in Europe (ProPublica).

End the War on Drugs The so-called War on Drugs has taken a large toll in terms of money, lives, and the well-being of many Americans, especially the poor and less educated (Becker and Murphy). There is temptation for lower class black and hispanic students to drop out of high school and attempt to make money off of the drug trade (Becker and Murphy). The incarceration rate has increased exponentially from 330,000 in 1980 to an estimated 1.6 million today (Becker and Murphy). 50% of inmates in federal prisons and 20% in state prison are in for drug related offenses (Becker and Murphy). People entering jail for petty drug offenses have less of a chance for legal employment and gaining good job skills after they exit prison (Becker and Murphy). While of the country is in favor of government efforts to curb drug use and distribution, the same proportion believes that said efforts have failed (Issitt, Finely). There are now over one million nonviolent drug offenders in U.S. prisons. According to research by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), drug arrests display an acute racial bias, as approximately 74 percent of incarcerated drug offenders are African American, while African Americans constitute only 15 percent of the drug-using population. Similar studies have shown that police are more likely to target ethnic minorities and economically underprivileged persons for drug arrests (Issit, Finely). Since the 80s when the campaign began, hundreds of judges and prosecutors have spoken out about the disparity between the severity of drug crimes and the federally mandated penalties (Issitt, Finely) The war on drugs has targeted the economically disadvantaged and minorities (Issitt, Finely). 19 billion was on anti-drug programs in 2003 alone (Pearson). In 2003, polls recording a 10 percent drop in drug use amongst teenagers, reportedly as a result of the war on drugs (Pearson). Much progress was apparently made in dropping teens abuse of ecstasy, alcohol, cigarettes, and other more illicit drugs (Pearson). The war on drugs is an international fight that requires multinational support (Pearson). In 2005 a study revealed that over 20 percent of eighth graders and over 48 percent of

twelfth graders had already used an illicit drug (Lee, Newton). Apparently drug use and abuse leads to billions being wasted on welfare programs for addicts such medical treatment and unemployment benefits (Lee, Newton). Quantifiable progress has already been made in reducing both the supply of drugs pouring into the country and the frequency of drug use among Americans. For example, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has worked with governments throughout the world to implement drug eradication tactics in which large swaths of drug crops are sprayed with chemicals released from airplanes that are designed to kill weeds and plants (Lee, Newton). Obama Administration has not kept its promises about shifting focus in drug war from prosecution and to public health and treatment (Nadelmann).

Defund Obamacare

Obamacare is making locally owned practices a thing of the past (Gottlieb). ObamaCare shifts money to favor the delivery of outpatient care through hospitalowned networks (Gottlieb). Obamacare turns doctors into hospital employees,and pays them a flat rate per hour, rather than shifting their pay depending on how much money they make (Gottlieb). Obamacare lowers the quality of medical care in two significant ways: Often they see fewer patients and perform fewer timely procedures. Continuity of care also declines, since a physician's responsibilities end when his shift is over (Gottlieb). Romney was a bit wishy-washy on the subject of ObamaCare as he signed a bill very similar to it when he was given credit in Mass., but opposed ObamaCare simply because that is what GOP voters wanted to hear (Cannon). The Supreme Court Gave states the option to decline the Medicaid expansion (Cannon). 14 states have enacted statutes or constitutional amendments that explicitly prohibit state employees from even assisting in the imposition of such penalties, a key function of an exchange (Cannon). There are fourteen lawsuits that allege that the Affordable Care Act violate peoples first amendment right to religious freedom (Cannon). Obamacare is unpopular, unsustainable and vulnerable for the same reasons it always has been. It imposes too many costs on too many people and makes healthcare more costly and scarce, not less (Cannon). The current state of health care costs: The average annual health-insurance premium for a family that gets coverage through work: $16,351. The median income last year for a family of four: $79,698. The gross annual income for a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage: $15,080 (Gelles). Obamacares ability to provide low cost health to low income people and families is being grossly undermined (Gelles). We all pay something, and some may pay a bit more, but we all get a more humane system (Gelles).

47 million Americans, and 1 in 7 elderly people in the U.S. still lack proper health insurance (Gelles). Increase gun control

Countries with a lower rate of gun ownership have significantly fewer gun related deaths than those with high rates of gun ownership (Perry). The United States has the highest amount of gun ownership in the developed world at 88.8 percent of people owning guns (Perry). The U.S. also has the highest rate of firearms related deaths at 10.2 deaths per every 100,000 people (Perry). The two countries with the lowest amount of gun ownership(Japan and the Netherlands) also had relatively low rates of gun related death (Perry). Gun ownership and gun related deaths are a bit of a vicious cycle, It seems conceivable that abundant gun availability facilitates firearm-related deaths. Conversely, high crime rates may instigate widespread anxiety and fear, thereby motivating people to arm themselves and give rise to increased gun ownership, which, in turn, increases availability (Perry). The shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre had known mental health problems that should have disqualified him from legally purchasing a firearm. The only reason he wasnt disqualified is because his profile had not been uploaded to NICS, the National Instant Check System (Goddard). Many state and federal laws regarding guns are inefficient and ineffective (Goddard). The existing Brady Act [system of background checks for gun purchases passed in 1993], as it is written, is too weak to protect future Americans from another Seung-Hui Cho or other prohibited purchasers (Goddard). In reference to the authors personal experience with the ineffectiveness of gun laws: I bought, or watched a friend buy, 9mm's, 22's, Tech-9's, and Mack-11's. I bought an AK47 without showing any ID or going through any background check. I even bought the same type of gun that shot me. Each transaction took less than 5 minutes. And when I was done, either I, or the purchaser I went with, would turn all weapons over to the police. The sickening thing about what I did and the footage you just saw was that everything was completely legal under our current law (Goddard). Incomplete records and loopholes in the law have stopped background checks from doing their job (Opposing Viewpoints: Updated Background Check System). Critical changes need to be made to current laws to ensure that all people with mental illnesses are listed in NICS, including automatically recording them in NICS if they have been expelled from a college based off of mental health problems or if they have been compelled by a court to take medication or get treatment for a mental illness.

Raise minimum wage There is a very high unemployment rate for the 16-19 year old demographic (Gorry).

Higher minimum wages generate a tradeoff between higher wages for the employed and higher rates of unemployment. When minimum wages increase, many workers who earn less than the new higher minimum wage lose their jobs (Gorry). Companies have also been unwilling to hire and train unskilled workers. Increasing the minimum wage will only make this problem worse (Gorry). A full-time minimum wage employee earns $14,500 a year, roughly $4,000 below the poverty line for a single mother with two children (Martin). If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since 1968, it would now be almost $10.60 an hour. If it had kept pace with increases in employee productivity, it would now be $22.00 an hour (Martin). Women suffer especially hard blows because of the low minimum wage (Martin). Women represent nearly two-thirds of all minimum wage workers and are a large majority of workers in the 10 largest occupations typically paying less than $10 an hour: They constitute 88 percent of home health-care professionals, 88 percent of maids and housekeepers, and 94 percent of childcare workers (Martin). Raising the minimum wage could help close the gender wage gap. Currently, women are paid 77 cents out of every dollar that a man is paid. THe wage gap for women of color: Black women make 64 cents on the dollar and hispanic women make only about 55 cents on the dollar. (Martin) Initial feedback from a wage increase stimulated by college students at San Jose State has been quite good. Obama officially backed a 10 dollar minimum wage on November 11, 2013 (Investors Business Daily). Economists David Neumark... and... William Wascher have spent their careers studying minimum wages. They found that, by and large, they reduce employment of young, lowskilled people. The last time the minimum wage was increased, in July 2009, Neumark estimated a loss of 300,000 jobs (Lane). There are lots of risks involved in raising the minimum wage, such as a lowered employment rate among the young, the chance that the studies showing that past increases in the minimum wage did not damage the economy are false, and the possibility that the rate at which the minimum wage will increase is too high, leading to damage of the economy (Lane).

Ban Natural Born Citizenship The phrase natural born citizen is extremely vague under the Constitution (Madison). Natural born citizenship is not strictly limited to people who were born on American soil (Madison). Constitution framer James Wilson said, a citizen of the United States is he, who is a citizen of at least some one state in the Union (Madison).

The adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment changes the view because for the first time we have a written national rule declaring who are citizens through birth or naturalization (Madison). Natural born citizens are classified under the 14th amendment as people who were born under the jurisdiction of the U.S. (Madison). This national rule prevents us from interpreting natural-born citizen under common law rules because it eliminates the possibility of a child being born with more than one claim of allegiance (Madison). When a child inherits the citizenship of their father, they become a natural-born citizen of the nation their father belongs regardless of where they might be born (Madison). Eliminating the natural-born clause might expand the presidential talent pool and improve the contest. It would almost certainly foster a more ethnically diverse field of contenders (Morely). Natural born citizenship is discriminatory against the many, possibly very well qualified, candidates for president who cannot run because of their national origin (Morely). The motivation of the constitution's framers to include the NBC clause was, the fear of foreign influence over an official who would be commander in chief of the armed forces and would have significant foreign relations duties and so on (Morely). Abolishing natural born citizenship could work out well for both parties as it would give substance to the Republican rhetoric of inclusion, and it would signal to hispanics that the Democratic Party is serious about working on inclusive immigration laws (Morely). The natural born citizenship clause perpetuates the extremist birther beliefs that, Barack Obama is so far outside of the mainstream to be un-American