Monthly Archives: October 2008

Here are several cartoonists’ depictions on the state of welfare programs, social security, etc…The illustrations provide a different perspective of welfare. Feel free to express your thought on how you interpret the illustrations.

Cartoon 1

Cartoon 2(Note: The small boat says “social programs”.)

Cartoon 3 (Note: As of 2007, there was a flood of baby boomers who took advantage of their social security benefits. Editorial cartoons depicted the rush that the elderly took on the system. The old man represents AARP.)

Cartoon 4 (Note: President Ronald Reagan, along with representative Republicans from Florida (Mica and Dantzier) and Wyoming (Cubin), along with a mother on welfare and her rights being dumped as useless).

Roshni Ally

I never actually read the magazines that come to my house,  but once I saw the cover of Newsweek magazine and Sarah Palin with the caption “She’s one of the Folks” (And that’s the problem) I was tempted to read, but don’t worry, I’m going to enlighten you guys about another major issue in the Presidential Election. (I got some points from “Vetting McCain’s Health Plan” in an issue of Newsweek, for this blog).

So, I was having this discussion with my boss who is about 75 years old and still working fulltime as a lawyer about his health care and how it was going to change once our new President is elected. We both agreed on how health care will never be the same once our new President is elected into office, since both candidates have different views on improving the health care system. Both proposals from the candidates have their positives and negatives.

OBAMA is pushing for more beneficial medical services than before and for FREE. Basically, with these free medical benefits available to almost everyone, these services will become much more impersonal. We are definately not going to see our regular doctor, nor would we have a choice in the type of health care we seek, The positive aspect of this proposal is that we wouldnt have to pay for these services, including surgeries because the government would pay for it. Even though you may think that the government paying for our surgeries is a positive, it is truly not, because having the surgery will no longer become an option for us. Some administrator sitting in the government’s office, will be deciding on if we really need the surgery or not. NO LONGER A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US AND THE DOCTOR. Just a relationship between the government’s office and the doctor.

McCAIN is not really going to reform medical care as much depending on your age. His plan is simple, he would tax the value of employer-paid health insurance as part of your income and in return, he would give everyone a refundable tax credit- $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for family coverage. His plan would eventually fall out in a couple of years because of health care inflation, where the overall value of these tax credits will die out. What sucks is that if you are uninsured, you would have to be able to afford the premiums up front and then you would receive the tax credit later on, so the tax credit would let you be able to purchase coverage for the following year. Now I would consider this a good deal if you are in your 20s, 30s, 40s and maybe 50s, but once you hit your 60s and have a modest income, it may be a problem with your rising health concerns. HOWEVERRRRRR, once you hit 65, doesnt Medicare kick in? So McCain’s plan doesnt seem too bad.

Who’s health care proposal would you guys prefer?

If you’re wondering what my boss preferred, he said neither, and told me he was going to take a long vacation of about 4 years, until we find a new presidential candidate with a better health care plan. 😛

Guess I need to find a new job =]

DR.RON PAUL GREAT link that tells us about how Dr. Ron Paul think about welfare state

The Financial Crisis and how it will affect the welfare to work policy

I read this article and thought it was interesting. A policy call the welfare to work policy was enacted to keep the labor market active when a recession is threating. What it does is trampoline does unempolyed people back to work and not just work as a saftey net for people to rely on it. With the Finacial Crisis thats going on, it is expect that up to 3 million people will be unempolyed within the next 12 to 18mths. This policy will also greatly help the impact of the recession, or else it will cost more in the long run to take care of the problem. Do you feel that the program will be successful in what it set out to do, or will it just cause more people to rely on the welfare system? Obviouly if those people don’t recover from the recession then they will have no other choice but to rely on it. Does this cause another problem for us having to pay higher taxes lather to recover this money?

I recently heard an amazing observation about this presidential race that I wanted to share. I know our nation has deeply rooted racial biases that most of the time, are hidden from plain sight. The notion that there is a political science term called the “Bradley Effect”, which essentially says that for a black man/woman to win a politcal election, he must have a lead in the polls that is at least 5% or better is very alarming. The rationale is that in the actual voting booths, white people will not be able to allow themselves to vote for someone who is not white because of their deeply rooted racial biases. The observation I heard was that if Obama gets elected, obviously he will be the first black president, but he will also be the first president to the newest generation of people age 8-12. That age (sometimes earlier) is typically where you start realizing what your country is, how your country works, and more importantly who is in charge of your country. I know for me having Bill Clinton as that first president I actually remember had a profound effect on me. He was hip, played the saxophone, articulate and was young and brash. Him being the president was something I was “proud” of. Imagine if that new generation saw a black man as president. Seeing an african-american in the oval office wouldn’t be “weird”, it would be normal. I feel like it would shatter many of the deeply rooted racial biases inherent in politics today, and society altogether. Maybe not for earlier generations, but for later generations to come. I’d love to hear your comments on this, if you agree/disagree etc.

Just recently the American citizens were given a very bitter financial pill to swallow. To make it go down abit better I heard alot of sweetners were  added like caps on manager salaries and the like. It kind of reminds me of when I was a kid and I used to be given code liver oil that tasted very bad but it did cure you. They later came with orange flavored ones but it still tasted bad.

I hope the bailout finally cures or at least repairs some of the financial mess. The best thing about it is the joint unity of the Republican and Democrats to pass it through