One of the foundations of Barack Obama’s term has been the creation of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). Now that President Obama has been reelected, he will continue to push for health care reform in the United States. However, as expected there are both those who support the act and those who want to repeal the act entirely. In this entry, we will attempt to uncover the two sides of the argument.
Shawn: What supporters say
Tristan: What critics say
Overview of Affordable Care Act (ACA):
The ACA was enacted into law on March 23, 2010 as an attempt to decrease the amount of uninsured members in today’s society and to lower the costs of health care. It aimed to reform healthcare to become more accessible to all citizens. The ACA aims to stop denial of care and higher health insurance fees on women and people with preexisting conditions. In June 2012, the ACA was brought to the Supreme Court in an important case called National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius. The ruling on the case ultimately sided for the creation of the ACA, as most of the provisions were upheld, including a requirement that most Americans have to have health care by 2014.
Shawn:
Although some argue against the implementation of the ACA, the ACA will ultimately benefit many citizens in the long run. One of the groups that will benefit are young adults. One of the benefits of the ACA is that young adults can use their parents’ health care plan up until the age of 26. This is a good thing because this allows young adults to not have to get their own health care plan and still be covered by their parents. Before the Affordable Care Act was passed, health care plans and companies could remove young adults from their parents’ plan based on their age, if they were a student, or where they lived. Now, these applications don’t apply, giving students who just graduate out of college and their parents a sense of relief.
Tristan:
While Obama Care may provide students who are covered under their parents health care plan, it leaves those that are not covered by their parents in the dust. College students that have been covered by their college’s health care plan will suffer under the affordable care act. Since most college students are relatively healthy, many colleges provide cheap health insurance plans. The affordable care act changes this by raising the insurance payout cap to at least 500,000 dollars. What does this mean? This means that the Affordable Care Act increases the cost of college healthcare plans by as much as 1,112%! The University of Puget sound had to increase their health care plans from $165 to as much as $2000. This is just one more way that the Affordable Care Act just makes healthcare a little less affordable.
Shawn:
In addition to young adults benefiting from the ACA, members of the lower to middle-class will be aided by the new implementations. Lower income and middle-class families will receive substantial aid, making health care premiums more affordable. Consequently, health care will become a lot more accessible than it was before, decreasing the amount of people who were uninsured. Before, lower income families had trouble obtaining health care. However, because of the ACA, health care has been made accessible to everyone no matter what the person’s socioeconomic class is.
Tristan:
ACA is simply not what it seems. Though it may provide expanded, more universal coverage, who is paying for it and at what costs? If deficit reduction is a true priority then the ACA needs to be repealed, it is simply too costly for the government to provide. Furthermore, in order to fund this law cuts funds to research and development and innovation in the field of medicine and as a result some firms have already cut workers. What the ACA does provide though is expansive coverage that not everyone needs, and it forces those individuals to heft the burden of keeping premiums down for more elderly sickly people. Because coverage will be so expansive and so many people will be covered by it, the quality of healthcare will have to be driven down.
The ACA provides the perfect case of a high risk low reward scenario--which is the exact opposite of what America needs. The ACA is simply too difficult to finance, too unwieldy to implement, and puts far too much strain on health care practitioners. What America needs is a health care system that limits cost and restores consumer choice for patients. We need to develop a system of health care that fosters competition to guarantee low prices. The ACA is not what America needs right now.
Shawn:
The primary goal of the ACA is to make sure everyone in America is healthy, through affordable quality health care. The ACA puts in place a system where everyone has the opportunity to have health care, no matter a person’s gender, socioeconomic class, age, or pre-existing condition. For example, insurance companies no longer have the right to charge higher rates for women because of their gender. No one will be denied coverage if they have a pre-existing condition, such as asthma or diabetes. These are just some ways of how the ACA is changing the former system. Because of these changes, people in the country are already benefiting from the law. The ACA will continue to implement laws that allow everyone an equal chance at obtaining health care because people should not have to worry about being covered or being dropped from their coverage. Supporters of the law agree that the reason the ACA is so important is because everyone is entitled to health care.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Comparing 2008 election to 2012 election
2012 Presidential Election Map Breakdown:
2008 Presidential Election Map Breakdown:
After comparing the results from the 2008 election and the 2012 election, a lot of the same outcomes occurred. The only two differences were Indiana and North Carolina, both of which voted Democratic in 2008, switched over and voted Republican in 2012. Indiana, who has been largely supporting Republicans over the past decades, switched support in 2008 and voted Democratic. Different from Indiana, North Carolina is considered a swing state. Swing states refer to those states that could go either way come election time and are crucial to determining the outcome of an election. Of the nine swing states, President Obama won eight of them. These states include: Florida, Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada.
Election Information
On November 6th, 2012, President Obama was reelected as our nation’s president.
Here are some of the details of the election.
As of November 10, 2012, the popular vote results are:
Obama received 61,799,296 votes
Romney received 58,572,421 votes
In terms of electoral votes (candidates need 270 electoral votes to win):
Obama received 332 electoral votes
Romney received 206 electoral votes
Voting by age:
18-29: 60% voted Democratic. 37% voted Republican.
30-44: 52% voted Democratic. 45% voted Republican.
45-64: 47% voted Democratic. 51% voted Republican.
65 and older: 44% voted Democratic. 56% voted Republican.
Note the drastic difference between the younger generation and the oldest generation. This may be due to the generation differences. The Greatest Generation, born during the depression, holds more traditional views, while Generation Y born during the 80’s 90’s and the early 2000’s have more progressive views.
Voting by gender:
Men: 45% voted Democratic. 52% voted Republican.
Women: 55% voted Democratic. 44% voted Republican.
In this statistic it is clear that more women vote Democratic than Republican. This may be because of Romney’s lack luster stance on women. Furthermore, Romney’s performance during the presidential debate regarding women’s rights was mediocre at best.
If you want to find out more statistics about the presidential election and some of the other elections, visit: http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/main
Here are some of the details of the election.
As of November 10, 2012, the popular vote results are:
Obama received 61,799,296 votes
Romney received 58,572,421 votes
In terms of electoral votes (candidates need 270 electoral votes to win):
Obama received 332 electoral votes
Romney received 206 electoral votes
Voting by age:
18-29: 60% voted Democratic. 37% voted Republican.
30-44: 52% voted Democratic. 45% voted Republican.
45-64: 47% voted Democratic. 51% voted Republican.
65 and older: 44% voted Democratic. 56% voted Republican.
Note the drastic difference between the younger generation and the oldest generation. This may be due to the generation differences. The Greatest Generation, born during the depression, holds more traditional views, while Generation Y born during the 80’s 90’s and the early 2000’s have more progressive views.
Voting by gender:
Men: 45% voted Democratic. 52% voted Republican.
Women: 55% voted Democratic. 44% voted Republican.
In this statistic it is clear that more women vote Democratic than Republican. This may be because of Romney’s lack luster stance on women. Furthermore, Romney’s performance during the presidential debate regarding women’s rights was mediocre at best.
If you want to find out more statistics about the presidential election and some of the other elections, visit: http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/main
Why I created a blog
Our project was inspired by the citizenship unit in Power and Participation, which is a fantastic class you should all consider taking. In our citizenship unit, something that I really connected with is the idea of social matrixes.
If you have seen the Matrix movies, a social matrix is based upon the same idea. In the matrix, people are stuck within a fake world while their bodies exist somewhere else. This same idea applies to social matrixes. People are stuck in their own world of media they chose to get their information from, the people they talk to, and their general interactions with the rest of the world. The idea of the social matrix is incredibly relevant in San Francisco. Most people in San Francisco are very progressive, liberal, and incredibly Democratic. And, most people in San Francisco will choose to shut off most other opinions, such as Republican views, and conservative ideas.
This is why i chose to create our blog and also why it is in the format that it is. Our blog aims to be a bipartisan source, in which people can see both sides of an issue. I chose to write for the Republican side because it is something most people in California will not look at. Shawn’s side, the Democratic view, informs Democrats of what their parties views are. The goal of our blog is to ultimately advocate civic awareness, by informing people on party stances and what the current political state is.
Tristan You
Friday, November 9, 2012
Why I created a blog
Some of you may be wondering why I chose to create a blog about some of the controversial topics in politics. After taking the class Power and Participation (which you should all consider taking), I learned a lot about how the level of civic engagement in today’s society is at an all time low. The younger generation in America isn’t aware of the issues that are discussed in today’s government. Why is this happening?
In today’s current society, a lot of citizens distrust the government because all they see is dysfunction and inaction. However, in order to restore our nation’s democracy and reverse the trend, young people need to start becoming more informed and more engaged in the current problems in today’s government.
Through the class, I realized how important it is for citizens to participate in today’s government and keep informed about what is going on. That is why I decided to create a blog with Tristan. Through our blog, we could use it as a way to try and educate the community about today’s issues and reverse the lack of knowledge and participation in politics. Our goal is to hopefully give readers a better understanding of the crucial topics that are talked about in today’s government. As I’ve learned throughout the class, we are all fortunate to live in a country where we have a chance to influence the government’s decisions and have our voice heard, therefore we have an obligation to take advantage of the opportunities we’ve been given.
Shawn Sie
Friday, October 26, 2012
You Sie Foreign Policy Differently
Topic: Foreign Policy and Defense
Tristan: Republican
Shawn: Democratic
One of the most controversial issues in today’s politics is the issue of foreign policy. Both Democrats and Republicans have very different viewpoints on what is best for the country. In a dialogue style format, Tristan You and Shawn Sie will take a deeper look into the different perspectives and uncover the ideas that make each side unique.
Tristan:
The Republican party follows Ronald Reagan's approach to national defense, the same plan that ended the cold war. There is peace through strength. This requires being vigilant in the face of terrorism, rising up against the threat of nuclear proliferation, and keeping our military and ballistic missile defense system up to date and modern. Not only do we plan on keeping foreign aggression away by maintaining a strong military, but we also believe in maintaining and growing our foreign alliances and relationships that lead to peace and growth.
Shawn:
The Democratic Party believes in being “stronger in the world, safer and more secure at home.” This entails ending the wars in the Middle East, spending efforts to address the increasing threats towards our country, strengthening and building relationships with other nations, working to increase global prosperity, maintaining our nation’s strong military, and upholding the core values our nation was founded on. By achieving these goals, the Democratic Party is driven to continue to solve the problems both domestically and globally to help ensure a safe home for all.
Tristan:
Your party says that the Democratic Party wants to maintain America’s strong military. Yet you want to cut the defense budget by over 487 billion dollars. If these cuts are made, there will be over a million layoffs of skilled workers. Additionally your own secretary of defense said that these cuts will be devastating. “The half-trillion in additional cuts demanded by sequester would lead to a hollow force incapable of sustaining the missions it is assigned”. The democratic party says that they will maintain the nation’s military but your policies do not reflect that. How can you create more jobs when you are just taking them away by making cuts to something that is fundamental to the safety of America?
Shawn:
For more than a decade, our country has been at war. Eleven years of constant deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have left soldiers’ families hoping that their loved one would come home safe. Now that the wars are slowly ending, the country has an opportunity to revamp our armed forces and ensure that the nation’s army is capable of dealing with the threats of the 21st century. Troops will have less deployments, giving them more time to train and prepare for the missions they will have to face. As the need for a large military decreases with the ending of the wars, the Democratic Party will seek to create a more agile and flexible military that still ensures our nation’s security.
The Democratic Party stresses international cooperation. The Democratic Party believe that solving some of the largest threats to our country, such as the creation of nuclear weapons and increase in cyber and biological attacks, require global cooperation from everyone. That is why the Democratic Party is committed to “modernizing [the United Nations] infrastructure for the 21st century--working to reform international bodies and strengthen national and multilateral capabilities to advance peace, security, and opportunity.” What is the Republican’s stance on international cooperation and how do they plan on ending the constant threats our country is facing?
Tristan:
The Republican party acknowledges that the proliferation of both nuclear and biological weapons, as well as the rise in cyber attacks are issues that need to be addressed. This is why the Republicans believe not only in a strong military but growing and building upon our foreign alliances and relationships. In regards to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, America is the only country not modernizing its nuclear defense, only through maintaining military superiority can we deter nuclear threats. While China and Russia are world competitors equipped with nuclear arms, the acquisition of nuclear weapons to unstable regions present a much larger threat. North Korea and Iran are continuing to strive for the successful development of nuclear weapons, if they ever successfully created a nuclear weapon the consequences could be grave. The Republican party see’s Iran's goals towards nuclear proliferation as a real threat and believe that the United States needs to lead the charge to prevent them from attaining nuclear weapons. This is why we need to modernize our missile defense systems, instead of undermining our nuclear defense programs.
Cyber threats are an ever increasing threat to the nation. The republican party will modernize cybersecurity in order to make sure that our most protected secrets are kept safe. Defending against Cyber threats also means making sure China is playing by the rules. The Republican Party believes in cracking down on Chinese hackers, as well as Chinese counterfeit goods. We want to maintain a strong and peaceful relationship with China, but we also want to make sure China is not harming American society.
Shawn:
The Obama administration has made progress on the major issues concerning our country. Whether the issue is ending the war in Iraq, defeating al-Qaeda, protecting the country from biological and cyber threats, or preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, the Obama administration has made strides to preventing all of these issues.
Through the ending of the war in Iraq and striking major blows to al-Qaeda, the Obama administration has been able to address other threats to our nation, such as the prevention of nuclear, biological, and cyber threats. In addressing nuclear threats, the Democratic Party is committed to putting in place crippling sanctions and consequences for countries who do not comply with their obligations to not create nuclear weapons. When it comes to Iran, President Obama is committed to making sure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon and will continue to increase the pressure on Iran to live up to the obligation they have to not acquire nuclear weapons.
With issues pertaining to cyber threats, the Democratic Party is dedicated to investing in advanced research and development to defend against the increasing amount of cyber threats to our country. The Democratic Party also wants to promote cybersecurity awareness and help businesses protect against cyber attacks. In terms of biological weapons, President Obama will work to reduce the chances of having an outbreak of infectious diseases and will reduce the chances of the potential for exploitation.
Closing Statements:
Tristan:
The Republican party places American safety and success as our top priority. We believe that Americans need to feel safe at home. By building upon our military and modernizing our equipment and defense systems the Republicans can keep America safe. America is faced with numerous and varied threats, but by maintaining a strong military and not making cuts that will undermine our nation's defense we can keep the American people safe. Furthermore Republicans will strengthen our foreign relationships and make sure that there is global cooperation.
Shawn:
Through the protection of the nuclear, biological, and cyber threats, the Democratic Party is committed to the safety of America and building relationships between other countries. Because there is less of a need for a larger military, the nation can now focus their attention on the other numerous threats that affect our country. In addition, the Democratic Party realizes the need to work with other nations to solve the world’s problems. That is why they are striving to create new relationships and strengthen old ones to help ensure international cooperation.
Which side do you agree with?
Leave comments below.
If you want to find out more about each party's views, visit:
http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform#stronger-world
http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_home/
Tristan: Republican
Shawn: Democratic
One of the most controversial issues in today’s politics is the issue of foreign policy. Both Democrats and Republicans have very different viewpoints on what is best for the country. In a dialogue style format, Tristan You and Shawn Sie will take a deeper look into the different perspectives and uncover the ideas that make each side unique.
Tristan:
The Republican party follows Ronald Reagan's approach to national defense, the same plan that ended the cold war. There is peace through strength. This requires being vigilant in the face of terrorism, rising up against the threat of nuclear proliferation, and keeping our military and ballistic missile defense system up to date and modern. Not only do we plan on keeping foreign aggression away by maintaining a strong military, but we also believe in maintaining and growing our foreign alliances and relationships that lead to peace and growth.
Shawn:
The Democratic Party believes in being “stronger in the world, safer and more secure at home.” This entails ending the wars in the Middle East, spending efforts to address the increasing threats towards our country, strengthening and building relationships with other nations, working to increase global prosperity, maintaining our nation’s strong military, and upholding the core values our nation was founded on. By achieving these goals, the Democratic Party is driven to continue to solve the problems both domestically and globally to help ensure a safe home for all.
Tristan:
Your party says that the Democratic Party wants to maintain America’s strong military. Yet you want to cut the defense budget by over 487 billion dollars. If these cuts are made, there will be over a million layoffs of skilled workers. Additionally your own secretary of defense said that these cuts will be devastating. “The half-trillion in additional cuts demanded by sequester would lead to a hollow force incapable of sustaining the missions it is assigned”. The democratic party says that they will maintain the nation’s military but your policies do not reflect that. How can you create more jobs when you are just taking them away by making cuts to something that is fundamental to the safety of America?
Shawn:
For more than a decade, our country has been at war. Eleven years of constant deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have left soldiers’ families hoping that their loved one would come home safe. Now that the wars are slowly ending, the country has an opportunity to revamp our armed forces and ensure that the nation’s army is capable of dealing with the threats of the 21st century. Troops will have less deployments, giving them more time to train and prepare for the missions they will have to face. As the need for a large military decreases with the ending of the wars, the Democratic Party will seek to create a more agile and flexible military that still ensures our nation’s security.
The Democratic Party stresses international cooperation. The Democratic Party believe that solving some of the largest threats to our country, such as the creation of nuclear weapons and increase in cyber and biological attacks, require global cooperation from everyone. That is why the Democratic Party is committed to “modernizing [the United Nations] infrastructure for the 21st century--working to reform international bodies and strengthen national and multilateral capabilities to advance peace, security, and opportunity.” What is the Republican’s stance on international cooperation and how do they plan on ending the constant threats our country is facing?
Tristan:
The Republican party acknowledges that the proliferation of both nuclear and biological weapons, as well as the rise in cyber attacks are issues that need to be addressed. This is why the Republicans believe not only in a strong military but growing and building upon our foreign alliances and relationships. In regards to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, America is the only country not modernizing its nuclear defense, only through maintaining military superiority can we deter nuclear threats. While China and Russia are world competitors equipped with nuclear arms, the acquisition of nuclear weapons to unstable regions present a much larger threat. North Korea and Iran are continuing to strive for the successful development of nuclear weapons, if they ever successfully created a nuclear weapon the consequences could be grave. The Republican party see’s Iran's goals towards nuclear proliferation as a real threat and believe that the United States needs to lead the charge to prevent them from attaining nuclear weapons. This is why we need to modernize our missile defense systems, instead of undermining our nuclear defense programs.
Cyber threats are an ever increasing threat to the nation. The republican party will modernize cybersecurity in order to make sure that our most protected secrets are kept safe. Defending against Cyber threats also means making sure China is playing by the rules. The Republican Party believes in cracking down on Chinese hackers, as well as Chinese counterfeit goods. We want to maintain a strong and peaceful relationship with China, but we also want to make sure China is not harming American society.
Shawn:
The Obama administration has made progress on the major issues concerning our country. Whether the issue is ending the war in Iraq, defeating al-Qaeda, protecting the country from biological and cyber threats, or preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, the Obama administration has made strides to preventing all of these issues.
Through the ending of the war in Iraq and striking major blows to al-Qaeda, the Obama administration has been able to address other threats to our nation, such as the prevention of nuclear, biological, and cyber threats. In addressing nuclear threats, the Democratic Party is committed to putting in place crippling sanctions and consequences for countries who do not comply with their obligations to not create nuclear weapons. When it comes to Iran, President Obama is committed to making sure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon and will continue to increase the pressure on Iran to live up to the obligation they have to not acquire nuclear weapons.
With issues pertaining to cyber threats, the Democratic Party is dedicated to investing in advanced research and development to defend against the increasing amount of cyber threats to our country. The Democratic Party also wants to promote cybersecurity awareness and help businesses protect against cyber attacks. In terms of biological weapons, President Obama will work to reduce the chances of having an outbreak of infectious diseases and will reduce the chances of the potential for exploitation.
Closing Statements:
Tristan:
The Republican party places American safety and success as our top priority. We believe that Americans need to feel safe at home. By building upon our military and modernizing our equipment and defense systems the Republicans can keep America safe. America is faced with numerous and varied threats, but by maintaining a strong military and not making cuts that will undermine our nation's defense we can keep the American people safe. Furthermore Republicans will strengthen our foreign relationships and make sure that there is global cooperation.
Shawn:
Through the protection of the nuclear, biological, and cyber threats, the Democratic Party is committed to the safety of America and building relationships between other countries. Because there is less of a need for a larger military, the nation can now focus their attention on the other numerous threats that affect our country. In addition, the Democratic Party realizes the need to work with other nations to solve the world’s problems. That is why they are striving to create new relationships and strengthen old ones to help ensure international cooperation.
Which side do you agree with?
Leave comments below.
If you want to find out more about each party's views, visit:
http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform#stronger-world
http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_home/
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