Blog+Reflections


 * __Ezra Klein__**
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"The New Census Numbers" "A Public Option Compromise That Might Actually Work?" "The Medicare Advantage Scam" "For Some Women, Recession Means Having Fewer Children" "Why America 'cares' less about cost control than other countries"
 * Not much has changed in the census numbes in the past year. Poverty rose and so did the amount of people without health insurance. With this, the average income of a worker dropped a little bit. These numbers are originally from 2008, so the reason for the unemployment rate was due to the start of the financial crisis. The reason for the increase in uninsured Americans is due to the fact that middle class citizens, the majority of Americans, do not get help by any special programs like the low-income families. To help insure an increase in the amount of people with health insurance, the Obama administration is working to reform healthcare "around the employer market."
 * The Democratic party has finally come up with a public option that makes everyone happy. This option gives insurance coverage to people but gives states the right to "opt out." The Senate Democrats have decided to mix things up and start backwards. They are "beginning with a national public option and giving state governments the right not to have one." Everyone who has a public plan is able to opt out and then the state would vote in any way they choose on whether or not to make the option availiable in their health care exchanges. This keeps the administrative structure but gives state sthe right to not participate, and makes everyone happy.
 * The whole point of this blog is to show how seniors are not getting all of the money that tax payers are paying towards Medicare. Whether they deserve all of this money or not, they should not only recieve 14% of what they should be getting. It is not fair for others to ask tax payers to over pay even though only 14% goes to what they think they are paying for. What is the other 86% paying for, what are the other costs and profits? I like his last statement "Sometimes, it almost seems as if this country deserves to go bankrupt." In some ways I agree because we are doing it to ourselves, the government is taking money from their own people.
 * This article truly shows how the current recession affects almost every aspect of life. Many people would not think of how childbirth rates are affected during a recession, they are more concerned with keeping their jobs. It all kind of makes sense though because the more children you have, most likely means the more money you spend and some people do not have that extra money to spend. I think the problem is not that women are deciding to have children later in life when they have a more stable family, but the true problem is those women who decide not to have children at all. The other problem is that woman don't feel that thier gynecological visits are as important as something else and decide that they don't need to spend the money and go. This could cause a great increase in untreated infections and diseases.
 * This article makes it seem like that America is far behind than many other coutries. It seems that America has had a answer on how to fix health care, to put it on a budget. Why didn't anyone agree to this when the health care crisis hit or even before that? The article makes it seem that due to the structure of governement that America has, nothing can ever get done. It's really sad that the United States could propose putting health care on a budget but our government can't get thier acts together to make it happen.

"Taxing bank size" "Poll: Support for health-care reform rising" "Congressional inaction isn't an option" > debt will reach over 300% by 2050. Clearly you can see that not only did the stimulus have to fail, but many oter things must have had to have happen in order for things to get this bad. Congress needs to step in, things can't get any worse. If they decide not to do anything, people are going to be have to be satisfied with a crisis on their hands. "Americans not getting fatter" "A percentage point here and a percentage point tere and soon you're talking real money" "The case for, and against, culinary school"
 * Very big banks as well is interconnected banks might be in for a new surprise. The administration is considering placing a tax on these big and interconnected banks. It's nice to see that it will benefit these banks which in turn also help almost everyone, because almost everyone goes to a bank. It all seems like a great idea, they even state that if the tax is put onto customers, it will benefit everyone. The only question is what are the disadvantages? For the most part, when one problem is solved, another one is created.
 * The poll represented shows people's opinion about which way they sway about the health reform. For those who support it, it has gone up since last November but it is no where near where it was in September and October. Fortunately, it looks like those who oppose it seem to be going ddecreasing at a slow but steady rate. It is sad to see that people have to opinion. It makes it look like that people do not care what happens to them or the future pertaining to health care.
 * This graph shows that Congress needs to step in. It shows that the deficit needs needs to reduce by 3 percent by 2019 or
 * Based on the title, you would thing that this is a good thing, that people are starting to exercise and eat healthier to lose weight. It's actually the total opposite. According to Dr. Ludwig, people are just not capable of getting any fatter, they have reached thier limit. It is sad to see that even though people know te risks of being overwieght, it does not seem like they are doing anything about it. I know that if I had a health issue that reversible, I would try as hard as possible to reverse it.
 * Just by looking at this chart you can see the steep incline of the rate of increase on health care each year. It is ridiculous to see that if it keeps increasing on the same path that it is increasing today, no one will be able to afford it. By the year 2082 it will double its price from the previous year. It shows that the yearly percent increase needs to increase at a slow and steadier rate, not at the 8% increase per year. If it continues this way, the future generations will not be able to have health care.
 * In orfer to get a secent job, for most people, you must earn some sort of a college degree. For chefs, this topic can be debated. Some people have natural talent and just climb there way to the top. For others, they go through schooling in hope that they will some day make it. The question is, is it really worth paying all the money when you can just work your way to the top. For me, I think getting an education should be the top priority, it can;t hurt to have some sort of a degree. Others may think that chef's need more experience, it is more of what they can do, not what they have learned at culinary school. For some, it might jnot just be worth the money.

"It's just you, Democrats" "Your economic problem in graphs" "Do Americans oppose health care reform? Why?"
 * Based on looking on the chart, the percent share of CCP will still increase over the next 10 years. It's a little saddening that the government is having such trouble trying to fix this problem. The amount of people lacking insurance should have not increased so rapidly from 49.1 million people to about 57 million people. We all know the short term affects, but the long term affects can cause even more trouble. People will lose houses that they would have been able to keep, and people suffering from pain that could have easily been treated. Not only will a large portion of people be uninsured, but the sick will become "sicker."
 * From looking at the chart you can see that while the change in income increases for many wealthy people, there is no change for the middle class. You can see that the middle class is suffering from this economic crisis, but the wealthy busniesses are being untouched, nothing is truly affecting them, atleast money wise. The gap between the rich and the middle class will increasingly grow until the economy starts to improve. The richer will get richer and the poorer will get poorer. Even when it starts to look up how long will it take until things actually get back to order?

"The Public Action Act" "Does the Affordable Care Act end health discrimination for kids before 2014?" "The Unemployment Rate and November."
 * Based on the chart, it can be seen that more people oppose the healthcare reform bill compared to those who support it. Most people stated that the reason why they oppose the bill is because they are afraid of a increase in insurance cost and therefore make it less affordable. The Congressional Budget Office stated that overall there would be a 1% decrease, but that does not mean that there wont be an increase of up to 2% for some individuals. I think people are harping on the idea that thre might be an increase, but do not realize that the products they buy might be cheaper, even up to 10% cheaper. I honestly think that the public is poorly informed, or that the public doesn't care enough to personally check things out on their own. Either way, I don' think they public has enough information to make a decision on whether or not agree with the bill.
 * In this article it talks about an alternative to help out the health insurance mess. Congressman Alan Grayson suggests that Medicare is offered to everyone. Instead of trying to create something new, why not just use something that already works? It worked for those who are ober 65 and for the most part they are very pleased with it, so why not extend it to everyone else because more than likely everyone else will be happy as well. I think this idea should be considered since it will make everyone happy and it saves money by not having to implement and try out another idea that might not work out.
 * The main question and conern for people with this new health reform is what will happen to children before 2014? The immediate effect of the bill is that it ends health discrimination against children. According to this article, this affect would be easy to put in place because children aren't expensive to insure. This means that if a child is diagnosed with cancer, an insurance company cannot increase the insurance payments. I think this is a win-win situation for everyone.
 * From this chart we can see that the unemployment rate has been steady for the past year. Although it is not great, it is also not increasing either. The first line in blue shows the normal unemployment rate while the other line in red shows a "broader measure of employment distress. It includes 'marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons.' " The main thing to point out here it what it causing the the high unemployment. That question needs to be answered before anything can continue.

"The Predictable Tragedies of Arizona's Anti-Immigrant Law"
 * I understand that the state of Arizona is trying to limit the amount of undocumented workers in the state but this new policy is not the best way to go about it. It gives the police a reason to pull over anyone and can use the excuse that they looked suspicious. How do they know what vehicles look suspicious. People will start to resent the cops, especially the ones that are here legally. The relationships between the police and people will deteriorate.