I'm in a public speaking class (which I hate, I'm just taking it so that I can get my degree and get out). Anyway, I have to give a ten minute speech over policy. Basically, what the status quo is and why it needs to be changed. I'm having trouble coming up with a topic. There are some taboo topics that I'd rather not touch, such as: abortion,etc. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!
What's a good speech topic for a change in public policy?
1. Affirmative Action
2. Gay/Lesbian Rights (to marry, etc.)
3. Citizenship (rights of illegal immigrants v. U.S. need for workers)
4. Environmental policy
5. Education System
6. Labor organization
7. Health Care Reform
9. Welfare reform
10. Language (should English be an official language?)
11. Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy
12. Taxes
What's a good speech topic for a change in public policy?
Why don't you speak about Healthcare reform?
Why other countries can provide it to their citizens and most Americans (young,middle age, poor, middle-class) don't have any healthcaarand what the gov't could do to fix it.
The status quo here is that you can either afford ins. or you have to go without.
I'd stay away from healthcare reform. While many countries do guarantee health care coverage, the standards of such coverage are usually quite low, and the taxes in these countries are also very high comparatively. Higher taxation will place an even heavier burden on the lower and middle class people, and there is no way that the government would try to get these funds by strictly raising upper class tax rates. Government officials rely on the wealthy for donations and pork barrel funding, so any vote to raise their taxes will end up in their ultimate defeat in elections. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.
Perhaps you could talk about the public works system currently in place. Basically, when the local, state, or federal government spend money to %26quot;improve%26quot; conditions, they ultimately fail. Some examples are the building of new roads, expansion of existing roads, and building new public schools. When funds are set aside or generated by taxes, these projects are based on current figures. By the time the work is done, the new structure is already overburdened because of lack of proper planning. For example, say the county decides to build a new high school. They use current enrollment figures to design the new building; in this case, we'll say there are 450 high school aged people in the area. So the government builds a school designed to teach 450 students. The problem is, by the time the plans are drawn up, approval is given, contractors are chosen, and school is completed, there are 730 high school aged people in the area. So the school opens up and is already overcrowded.
The policy shift should be towards building with the future in mind, not as an afterthought. The same thing with new roads, which are already crammed by the time they open. Growth is going to continue, so our local, state, and federal governments need to learn to plan for tomorrow, not look at what is going on today. I hope this helps.
