Everyone seems to have their own say and their own twist on how our government needs to take control of the lack of health care offered to citizens of the United States. As it is known, Democratic candidates want universal health care for all people, while the opposing Republican candidates have an alternate plan. Basically, democrats want to put in more money from the federal government to help provide health care. However, although providing health care brings forth a heated debate, there is also a bigger issue at hand, which is the rising cost of health care. Furthermore, a Republican candidate, Rudolph Giuliani wants to lower taxes, which will in turn allow employees to pay for private health care instead of getting it from their employers. He hopes to move away from the system where employers supply employees with health care. On the other hand, Republican candidate Mitt Romney wants the states to have more decision-making ability and have the people be able to deduct their out-of-pocket expenditures.
Basically, I thought this was a fascinating article because it really reveals the major points of each main Republican and Democratic presidential candidate. However, the author also talks about how expensive health care now is. If we lower the costs of health care, I don’t know how exactly, then we will be able to better provide health care for all United States citizens. I remember watching a movie done by the same guy who made "Supersize Me." He was homeless for some time and just a simply injury of hurting his wrist made him go from making the bills to basically living in debt. A visit to the health clinic was around $200 alone and since he had to work during the day he could not go to the free health clinic in his neighborhood. The $200 visitation fee to see a doctor put him back and with the money it cost to wrap up his wrist, he was at a loss as to how he was going to pay the bills. After seeing this money and learning about health care, i definitely agree the health care prices need to be lowered and the government should have a part in supplying health care for its citizens.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tax Cuts Anyone?
Senator Barack Obama, one of the democratic candidates running for President, proposed a tax cut that would reduce taxes for the middle class and elderly. Although I believe that reducing taxes might be benificial for individuals struggling with having enough money to support their family, I do not agree with his plan to increase the amount of money wealthier individuals have to pay.
Democrats think that wealth should be evenly distributed while Republicans believe that they earned their money, so wealthy people should not have to give it away to others. This does not mean that Republicans are selfish and not willing to help our country, but the parties just have differing opinions. Well that is at least what i believe being a Republican :) On September 18, 2007, Barrack proposed a plan to cut down taxes for the middle class and elderly up to eighty billion dollars a year. His means of paying for these tax cuts would be to raise capital gains taxes on the wealthy. He hopes to reach out to the working middle class Americans and show his support for them. He wants to make the gap between the rich and poor smaller instead of widening as it is now. One of the most interesting statements was, “later, aides said the top rates would be 20 percent to 28 percent. Most people now pay 15 percent on capital gains, with lower-income people eligible for a 5 percent rate.” (1) I thought this statement was very interesting, but definitely unfair. The jump from fifteen to twenty-eight is huge.
I see Obama’s speech and plan to lower taxes for the middle class and elderly as a way of getting more voters. He is appealing to the general public because he knows that a majority of Americans are in the middle class. However, I do not think that making the upper class pay more is just. They worked very hard for their money and enough of it is already being taken out of their paycheck. Imagine working for an hour only to have about a little more than a third of it taken away. And what about all the talk about providing universal health care? Who will pay for that? Of course, wealthy Americans through their tax dollars. Yes i agree the gap between the rich and poor should be closed, but it isn't easy seeing money well earned being forked over to the government.
Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/us/politics/19obama.html
Democrats think that wealth should be evenly distributed while Republicans believe that they earned their money, so wealthy people should not have to give it away to others. This does not mean that Republicans are selfish and not willing to help our country, but the parties just have differing opinions. Well that is at least what i believe being a Republican :) On September 18, 2007, Barrack proposed a plan to cut down taxes for the middle class and elderly up to eighty billion dollars a year. His means of paying for these tax cuts would be to raise capital gains taxes on the wealthy. He hopes to reach out to the working middle class Americans and show his support for them. He wants to make the gap between the rich and poor smaller instead of widening as it is now. One of the most interesting statements was, “later, aides said the top rates would be 20 percent to 28 percent. Most people now pay 15 percent on capital gains, with lower-income people eligible for a 5 percent rate.” (1) I thought this statement was very interesting, but definitely unfair. The jump from fifteen to twenty-eight is huge.
I see Obama’s speech and plan to lower taxes for the middle class and elderly as a way of getting more voters. He is appealing to the general public because he knows that a majority of Americans are in the middle class. However, I do not think that making the upper class pay more is just. They worked very hard for their money and enough of it is already being taken out of their paycheck. Imagine working for an hour only to have about a little more than a third of it taken away. And what about all the talk about providing universal health care? Who will pay for that? Of course, wealthy Americans through their tax dollars. Yes i agree the gap between the rich and poor should be closed, but it isn't easy seeing money well earned being forked over to the government.
Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/us/politics/19obama.html
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Our Government needs to take action in the fight to prevent further Global Warming
Global warming. Fact or Fiction? After attending several conferences, where professors working at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) gave lectures about the effects of global warming, I am now a firm believer that global warming is indeed a fact. Just look at the weather. Last month while I was in Spain, the Thames River in London over flowed while other parts of Europe struggled with temperatures in the 120 °F. After sitting in the sun all day, my car is so hot that I need to wait a few minutes before I drive if I want to save my fingers from third degree burns. The world around us is changing, whether we accept it or not. So, when is our government going to do something about this?
After reading Josef Herbert’s article, “Governors Seek Action on Global Warming,” it was apparent that individual states are working to increase awareness and make changes in the hopes of decreasing greenhouse gases. By doing so, governors are hoping that the federal government will see eye to eye with the separate states and start taking action. So far, twelve states are working to limit the amount of carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere by auto-vehicles, with hopes that many more states will follow.
It is about time that the Bush administration accepts global warming and does something, anything, to help prevent it. In my opinion, even if global warming is fiction, like some scientists claim, what is the harm in helping protect our ozone layer and nurture the environment? We only have one world to live on, and the constant abuse of over population is putting pressure on our limited resources and acts as a threat to our future. In ten or twenty years when the younger generation starts to have families and children, what will the earth be like then? Although preventing global warming would be a costly project and not to mention extremely difficult, changes must be made in order to protect the earth. The United States, one of the most powerful nations, needs to get their act together as a nation instead of separate states and take this problem seriously. At least state governments and governors are working to prevent global warming. Hopefully, the upcoming elections will result in a new President whose concern for the government is far greater than what Bush has shown.
After reading Josef Herbert’s article, “Governors Seek Action on Global Warming,” it was apparent that individual states are working to increase awareness and make changes in the hopes of decreasing greenhouse gases. By doing so, governors are hoping that the federal government will see eye to eye with the separate states and start taking action. So far, twelve states are working to limit the amount of carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere by auto-vehicles, with hopes that many more states will follow.
It is about time that the Bush administration accepts global warming and does something, anything, to help prevent it. In my opinion, even if global warming is fiction, like some scientists claim, what is the harm in helping protect our ozone layer and nurture the environment? We only have one world to live on, and the constant abuse of over population is putting pressure on our limited resources and acts as a threat to our future. In ten or twenty years when the younger generation starts to have families and children, what will the earth be like then? Although preventing global warming would be a costly project and not to mention extremely difficult, changes must be made in order to protect the earth. The United States, one of the most powerful nations, needs to get their act together as a nation instead of separate states and take this problem seriously. At least state governments and governors are working to prevent global warming. Hopefully, the upcoming elections will result in a new President whose concern for the government is far greater than what Bush has shown.
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