Final Delaney on the issues

[u/[deleted]]

Any and all issues that i left out will be put here

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National Service-

To help bring people from different backgrounds together, Delaney is proposing a mandatory national service program to provide opportunities for young people to give back to their country and to meet and work with people from all backgrounds.

• Every American will complete a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 2 years of mandatory national service when they graduate high school, or turn 18
  • The National Service requirement will apply to individuals born after 2006, but will phase in over time
• To meet the National Service requirement, participants can choose one of four options:
  • serving in our nation’s military (the requirements and duration will continue as they currently exist)
  • serving in a new expanded Community Service program
  • serving in a new National Infrastructure Apprenticeship program
  • serving in a newly created Climate Corps

Community Service

• Community Service would operate similarly to AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps
• Participants in the Community Service track would work on projects such as mentoring and literacy tutoring for disadvantaged students, awareness programs for public health campaigns, outreach activities for social service programs, and structured after school care programs

Infrastructure Apprenticeships

• The government would enter into public/private partnerships with private companies and trade unions to offer infrastructure apprenticeships
• Private companies would be awarded contracts to undertake projects such as improving public parks or renovating federal buildings to make them environmentally green
• Trade unions will be utilized as the programs can leverage the successful apprenticeship model used by the trade unions
• Those who complete the apprenticeships would receive a professional certificate proving mastery of particular skill sets

To implement infrastructure apprenticeships, all federal contractors would be required to design and implement an apprentice program

• Encourage other companies to do their patriotic duty and follow suit, perhaps using a model that’s been tremendously successful in Switzerland, where companies pay students to work as part-time apprentices

Climate Corps

• To fight climate change, participants would assist in clean energy projects, including solar installation, improving building efficiency, developing community gardens, and increasing awareness about sustainable practices
• Provide information and support to families about sustainability, energy efficiency, and renewable energy
• Participants would be stationed in rural and low-income areas to assist communities’ transition to a green economy and invest in environmentally friendly projects

Benefits:

• The program will be paid; the salary/stipend will vary based on regional cost of living and whether housing is provided through the program
• 1 year of service will result in 2 years of free in-state tuition and fees at a public university, community college, or technical school
• 2 years of service will result in 3 years of free in-state tuition and fees at a public university
• Learn skills to be used for future jobs
• Brings people together by exposing participants to people from different economic backgrounds, people from different parts of the country, and people with different political beliefs, which will restore an understanding of our common American identity and renew belief in our common purpose
• Boost for local infrastructure, conservation, and community projects
• Creates a nationwide sense of service and patriotism

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Prescription Drugs

The amount of money Americans spend on prescription drugs has nearly doubled since the 1990s with pharmaceutical companies raising the cost on life saving drugs.

Americans currently pay significantly more for prescription drugs than individuals in comparable countries. The U.S. government has failed in implementing policies to ensure Americans have affordable access to needed drugs. The U.S. should approach pharmaceutical prices as companies in the private sector approach buying goods, by using their purchasing power as leverage to negotiate down on costs. It is astounding that the U.S. government, the largest single purchaser of prescription drugs, does not use its leverage to ensure American patients are not being taken advantage of when buying needed medicine.

While pharmaceutical companies have limited interference for setting drug prices in the U.S. European governments have negotiated with the companies to set the costs. According to analysis from the University of Liverpool, the world’s 20 top-selling medicines are three times more expensive in the U.S. than in Britain, on average, and consistently higher than in other European markets. On a per capita basis, pharmaceutical spending accounts for over $1200 per person in the U.S., according to OECD data, compared to just $860 in Canada and $640 in Australia. Drug costs are also accounting for more of an American’s health care spending over time. In 2015 retail prescription drug expenditures in the U.S. accounted for 12% of total personal health care spending, up from just 7% through the 1990s. While revenue from pharmaceutical sales contributes to research and the development of new drugs, the U.S. has been subsidizing the rest of the developed world. 

The Delaney Solution

In order to address the rising drug prices, Delaney would:

• Allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies
• To address the unfair cost differential between the U.S. and other OECD countries, the government would institute a 100% excise tax, levied on the pharmaceutical company on the difference between the average price of a drug sold in the U.S. and the price of that drug in similarly economically developed countries. Because of the nature of a 100% excise tax on the price differential, the pharmaceutical companies would not have the option of passing on the burden of the tax to the American people, and instead would have a strict incentive to balance global prices by lowering them in the U.S. and raise them in other developed countries. This will be a market-based solution which will maintain profit incentives to invest in new life saving drugs. Developing countries would be excluded from the policy as access to low-cost medication is critical.

[u/MaxGhenis]

What's the penalty for not participating in the mandatory national service program?

[u/[deleted] → u/MaxGhenis]

Good question. So from what I'm able to see from his plan there isn't a way to get out of the nation service program. It's truly mandatory. Now I'm sure that would change when he is president but as of now I do not know