Blog 3.3

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/25/budget.healthcare/index.html

A recent CNN news article reports how Obama is seeking that wealthier Americans “deal with a tax increase and pay higher Medicare premiums to help fund a $634 billion health care ‘reserve fund’ aimed at reforming the system.”  So what is a reserve fund?  It is basically a “piggy bang…used for reforming the system by cutting costs and trying to deal with the 46 million Americans without health insurance”.  The number of “wealthy” about which he is speaking is about 1.5 million people (seniors earning over $170,000 a year who already pay for Medicare “Part B”).  In order to raise $318 billion for the health care fund, the administration will raise the tax liability of wealthy Americans earning at least $250,000 by limiting how much they can write off for “itemized deductions such as mortgage insurance and charitable contributions.”  This is sure to set off a firestorm by the Republican Party; it is exactly what many of them stand against.  However, I see that at this time, those in opposition need to look at this issue from the views of ones other than themselves.  Times are really rough for some and perhaps going to get worse.  Investing in some of the lives of those less fortunate could have tremendous rewards in the future.  

Blog 3.2

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090224/ap_on_go_ot/health_costs;_ylt=AssOPQ70OiyCT36zYrAnl20NJ_wE

In an AP article written by Mike Morkrzycki, it reports that healthcare cost keeps the doctor away.  A fourth of American’s said in a study that “someone in the family put off health care in the past year because of cost, including 16 percent who postponed surgery or a doctor’s visit for chronic illness.”  The study found that even a high percentage of people are now deciding to care for their problems using home remedies rather than seeing a doctor.  Also, a Kaiser survey found that most (59%) of Americans believe the country would be better off if health care were reformed.  This is unfortunately something that comes as no surprise to me.  When people are low on money, then things such as health are put off—a truth that I find incredibly sad.  I have strong opinions over this topic; I know that investing more in it’s people will help the United States on so many different levels.  The survey also said that Republicans were more skeptical on healthcare reform.  I feel like when people are obviously putting off their lives for reasons of money, all should feel pretty confident in reform.

Blog 3.1

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29394788/

According to an article by the Associated Press on February 25, 2009, Medicare costs “vary wildly across the country.”  It goes on to give a specific example, which surprised me, a lot—the government is paying twice as much for treating a patient in Miami as in San Francisco.  The Dartmouth Atlas Project said that the “more expensive medical technology is only part of the picture; it is “people” who control healthcare spending, according to a lead study author and a medicine professor, Elliot Fisher.  He also believes that when there are local hospitals, there seems to be a “local medical health race”, whereas single hospitals are more “focused” on primary care.  These findings are interesting in a time when President Obama/ Congress has large plans to tackle healthcare reform.  Through reading this article, something I did not know is just how expensive Medicare is: this year it’s expected to cost more than $500 billion.  That being said, I am appalled that this money is not being efficiently used across the country.  The article mentions that doctors should opt for “conservative care”, which I tend to agree with.

Blog 2.3

1.               Just last week, I blogged on who would become the secretary of health and human services.  That article was about the somewhat controversial Governor of Tennessee, Phil Bredesen.  This article on MSNBC’s website says that it is the Kansas Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, who has emerged as the favorite.  She has had eight years of experience as her state’s insurance commissioner as well as six years running the state Medicaid program (as governor).  Obama has said that he has long-term plans of hugely expanding healthcare coverage; this issue is where the two parties have “deep ideological divisions”.  This is where she could potentially be an asset for the Obama administration—she has a strong record of “partisan politics as a democrat in one of the country’s most Republican states”.  Next week, Obama plans to turn his attention to health care with a “blueprint that will begin to advance his ideas about covering the uninsured”.  If this is true, it is unknown when Obama may nominate her; it could be as early as next week.  I do not know a lot about her, but from this article, I think she would be a wiser pick than Governor Bredesen.  Again, this topic is one on which I am very passionate, and I will be following it very closely in the coming weeks.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29275480/

Blog 2.2

1.     This CNN News article is about U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Asia.  She has arrived in South Korea, her third country out of four on her Asian tour.  She comes at an interesting time because U.S. officials just yesterday “cited evidence that North Korea was gearing up for a launch of a long-range missile.”  While Pyongyang is now disputing that evidence, they did say Thursday that as a country, they were ready for an “all-out confrontation” with South Korea.  These sound like scary words, but I thought it was interesting how the spokesperson for the South Korean Unification Ministry responded—simply by saying this rhetoric has been going on for years and it is only an attempt to “widen the ideological divide within South Korea.”  Clinton said this week it would be very unhelpful for North Korea to foolishly attempt a missile launch and that the U.S. is “watching very closely” the actions by North Korea.  I have worried about North Korea doing something stupid for years, and I really liked what Sec. of State Hillary Clinton had to say on the issue.  One of the most important parts of the government is to protect the people, and with her in this position, I do feel safe.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/19/clinton.koreas/index.html

Blog 2.1

1.     While most of the pressure is on the Obama administration to make sure things work out under his new economic stimulus plan, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said Thursday that “banks and lending institutions must step up to the plate making sure that the administration’s new home foreclosure initiative succeeds.”  This Yahoo! News article by the Associated Press goes on to say that the administration is not only working to improve the mortgage crisis but now also the jobs crisis.  Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, said that there would “still be some borrowers who lose their homes to foreclosure…but [it] should have a significant reduction in the foreclosure rate.”  This part got me to thinking about all of this.  Yes, it is a huge amount of money, but if some people are still going to lose their home, then obviously it’s not the answer we are all looking for.  When you lose your home, that’s the entire world to you, no matter how many “others” are helped.  Bair went on the say (on the Today Show) that she hoped that the “loan modifications beginning in March would temper the ongoing declines.”  This gave me some hope because it means that a lot of what is happening with the stimulus will have almost an immediate impact, helping millions of Americans.  

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obama_foreclosures;_ylt=AjI5NVcTbisYNFlaAcOLEkys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJjdjd0NDI3BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwMjE5L29iYW1hX2ZvcmVjbG9zdXJlcwRwb3MDMgRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNodWRzZWNyZXRhcnk-

Blog 3

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29116793/

1.     One Government Issue that I am particularly passionate over is healthcare…and how it must be reformed.  In this published article by the Associated Press, I learned that the Obama Administration is reportedly considering Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen as the health secretary.  While, yes, he “knows the pitfalls of soaring costs” better than nearly anyone, he is unfortunately best known for making huge healthcare cuts.  In 2005, he cut 170,000 adults from Tennessee’s Medicaid program.  Critics tend to fault him for this and are throwing their support in favor of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.  However, many believe Bredsen’s “stand shows he’s willing to tackle the toughest of problems.”  Dennis Smith, who was in charge of Medicaid during to 2005 cuts that were made, said that Bredesen’s actions were “necessary and appropriate” because Tennessee lacked certain controls within the program.  As one could perhaps suspect, the choice has drawn praise from conservatives because of Bredesen’s willingness to cut when spending is out of control.  I was not sure how I felt about Bredesen until I read this quote: “I certainly believe there's an underlying right and the federal government ought to be financing a basic level of health care for everybody".  If he truly believes that, then I would not fear his appointment and would wish him the best in making universal healthcare a reality in the U.S.

Blog 2

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090212/ap_on_go_co/bailout_banks;_ylt=AnsrFz4b5YXC3fo8DT4d6DKyFz4D

Eight chief executives from the nation’s top banks met in Washington, D.C. to “assure lawmakers that an infusion last fall of the $165 billion in taxpayer money to their banks was good for consumers”.  This Yahoo! News article by Jim Kuhnhenn reported the banks as saying that lending has increased, and this is something vital towards helping businesses grow (and thus, the economy strengthen).  The executives said to the House that they would pay back the taxpayer money by 2012 and “sooner if they could help it”.  In addition, lawmakers asked over and over if the “Troubled Asset Relief Program” had helped extend credit; the executives said yes.  Republican Gary Ackerman was skeptical of how much it has helped saying that he has not been deaf to the voices he hears of people who cannot get loans, refinance their houses, and send their children to college.  One small part of the article that had an effect on me was the fact that all of the executives admitted to taking their bonuses at the end of last year that were “in the millions”.  At a time when they are asking for (tax) money, I think it ridiculous that they took that money and didn’t allow it to stay in the company to help those in real need.  

Blog 1

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090212/ap_on_go_co/congress_stimulus;_ylt=AuPXN1rOecQVKKAsUMFpxfyyFz4D

 After what felt like years, the democratic-controlled congress and the White House passed a stimulus bill to help the struggling economy.  I am excited about this because the bill, as stated in the Yahoo! News article by David Espo, has the potential to create millions of jobs.  Something I thought to be very interesting is the fact that Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, said that most of the bill is “dedicated to providing tax relief for 95% of American workers”.  I see this as important work towards bipartisanship simply because many people think of Democrats as working towards raising taxes, while Republicans work to lower them.  However, I am also very aware that this bill is not the most popular on the Republican side.  Many believe this bill to be “wasteful spending” and think that over time, it could be disastrous.  One reason the bill took so long to pass was the provisions of the bill.  Nancy Polosi, for example, did not approve of it until there was an explicit section devoted towards funding for school construction.  Being a democrat, I feel like I should be agreeing with all of this; however, I simply do not know enough about the economy and stimulus packages to have a strong opinion.  It all sounds good, but where is the money coming from?  If it doesn’t work, will I be one of the ones paying for the damages?  Of course, I am hoping the best…