Tuesday, February 8, 2011

d c Opinion Leads

Do you enjoy reading long opinion leads? Here they are.... Going to be about US national debt.


Startling statement-
Here is a fact, the US national debt is now at 14.1 trillion dollars and increases as 75 million dollars a hour. What this means is that every citizen of the United States of America has to pay 45,000 dollar just to get rid of the national debt. However, a trillion dollars is a pretty abstract concept, after all its just a number. But consider this, if you spent 1 dollar per second, it would take you a whopping 31,000 years to spend one trillion dollars. In total, that comes out to be 437,100 years to pay off the US national debt. Now that’s a big number.

Narrative-
On a rainy day, Jimmy was hit by a car while walking across the street. He was hit by a drunk driver, who drove away carelessly after committing the act. He suffered agonizing pain for over an hour while the already strained medical system struggled to keep up with the increase in crime across the nation, a direct result of the massive budget cuts to police departments across the US. The medical system did not fare much better, Medicare and Medicaid have been discontinued in light of the ballooning national deficit. Cuts to all government departments have occurred just to squeeze money to pay off debt interest. This is a grim future, one that may very become true with the ever increasing national debt.

Compare and Contrast-
When our nation was just an infant 220 years ago, in 1791 the US national debt was just 75 million dollars; today the US national debt increases by that number every hour.

Rhetorical Question-
Do you enjoy the benefits of medicare? What about social security? How about having a good free public education system? Well, if the US national debt continues to spiral out of control due to poor fiscal management and political motives then you may very well not receive the same benefits that your parents got to enjoy.

Twist-
The US national debt of 14.1 trillion dollars is just a number and has no real actual meaning says leading economist Zachary Karabell. Thomas A. Faulhaber, executive director of the Harrison company and editor of The Business Forum Online, disagrees, stating how the US national debt has a direct and tangible impact on the US economy.

7 comments:

  1. HEY BUDDY! :D
    I like your startling statement. It's certainty startling. Maybe put in something about how long america's been "industrialized" or whatnot. Or like, how long we've had to spend d:

    I don't really like your narrative. It's scary and I blanked out for a second in the middle.

    your BEST FRIEND EVER,
    nat.

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  2. Hey man, I really like your leads. They are interesting. They weren't boring (like I assumed they would be).

    - Fly on the Wall

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  3. I like the way you stated the first one! It really puts the debt into perspective and shows how enormous it really is.
    -Claudia

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  4. Favourite is the compare/contrast. Twist is a little wordy, same with the startling statement, rhetorical q. is a little off-putting from the in-your-faceness, and narrative just feels completely random.

    ~ IBI

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  5. The first is the best. It provides the most facts.

    - EJE

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  6. The one that caught my attention was the second one. The others were overwhelming with their constant stream of numbers.

    ~OMO

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  7. JUST KIDDING YOU'RE NOT MY BEST FRIEND ANYMORE.
    I still like your first one.

    ~your ex-best friend, nat.

    ReplyDelete