I decided to do my research paper on the topic of veteran suicide because it is something I care deeply about. I feel that the American people often politicize and overlook the topic of veterans healthcare. Despite how people feel about certain wars, military decisions, or the government in general, the people that choose to fight for the country do not deserve to be punished. At the end of the day the people that are part of the armed forces are employees of the government and they deserve the government to treat them correctly. I believe that everyone, not just veterans themselves, are stakeholders in this issue especially with it being an election year. The men and women who fight overseas and help protect us here at home are voluntarily putting themselves in harms way in order to help keep us safe. Because of them the American people are safer and the soldiers who give us this safety deserve the best, which they clearly are not receiving. Situations like the VA scandal prove the lack of care coming from the government. This is a bipartisan issue, one that can only be fixed with cooperation from both sides of the aisle. 

While I do believe strongly that the government needs to do more to assist veterans with their healthcare, especially their mental health, I plan to explore both sides of the argument in order to remain unbiased. I am going to research examples of the government's lack of help such as the VA scandal but I am also going to research what has been done since that to fix it. I also will use quotes from politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties because maintaining objectivity is a what will make my argument stronger. 

There are several things I need to learn more about with this topic in order to prove my point that the government needs to do more for veteran's mental health. I need to learn about the rate of suicide among veterans throughout history, to see if it is increasing or decreasing. I also think it is important for me to know more about the government budget allotment that is for veterans healthcare. By understanding those two patterns it will help me figure out why and how the rate of veterans committing suicide is so high. The rate of the veteran suicide is alarmingly elevated but I am going to research if this is a new thing or if this has been a problem throughout American history. 

A big part of this topic is learning what has been done to try and combat the problem. What are politicians saying about this issue? And are they actually doing what they say? I want to know what the current presidential candidates are saying about this problem. Bringing this issue to the forefront of the minds of the American people is the key to fixing it.

I hope to prove that the United States government is not doing enough to protect the veterans it employees. I believe that I can definitely make an eight to ten page paper out of this. By providing the background information and exploring things like budgets and patterns there is plenty to discuss. Also by including information on the VA scandal and what has been done since is important. Most of the sources I have found tend to agree and support my argument, providing statistics and numbers that back up the high rates of veteran suicides and overall lack of healthcare. For example, on of my sources reports on the number of veterans that passed away while waiting for treatment at the VA hospitals. However in order to create a solid argument I need to spend more time learning about the counter argument. I need to gather a few sources that say the government is doing enough and work to prove why they are wrong.

To improve my research question I may extend it to include a slightly broader scope, touching on all of veteran's healthcare, but put extra focus on the mental health portion. By expanding the question to include all healthcare I can develop a stronger thesis. Keeping the subject a bit broader makes it easier to argue. If I leave the question as it is there is not too much of a scope. However if I extend it to cover all veterans healthcare then it is a broader scope. It falls towards the middle of the scale on complexity. While the overall concept of the lack of healthcare for veterans is fairly simple by studying budget patterns and doing a historical analysis the problem becomes more complex. In terms of controversy this falls fairly in the middle, probably slightly towards the less controversial side, simply because no matter where you stand politically mental health is a serious issue. However the solutions to this problem are what make it controversial. Some people believe that the government is providing enough money while others believe that it is nowhere close to enough. 

Overall I believe that studying the concept of veteran healthcare, with an emphasis on mental health is a strong topic. It is one that impacts thousands of soldiers and their families every year. With it being an election year politicians are faced with answering questions about the scandal and addressing the voted renewed interest in the topic. It is also key to study the trends in the number of veteran suicides to make sure that this number is decreasing not increasing. There is plenty of information on this topic out there, and a lot of it helps support my argument that the government is not doing enough. I will use this research carefully to support my point that more must be done to protect the lives of thousands when they return from fighting abroad. 
