Monday, May 26, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Health Care
UK: 8% of GDP spent
-No family premium
-socialized medicine
-slightly less freedom/choice
-lots of preventative care
Japan: 8% of GDP spent
-$280 per month in cost
-social insurance
-most hospitals/care centers are privatized
-low cost but many hospitals are not profitable because of such low costs
Germany: 10.7% of GDP spent
-$750 per month added to income tax
-Buy into "sickness funds"
-Most pay in but poor receive assistance
-Many doctors feel underpaid
Taiwan: 6.3% of GDP spent
-$650 per year for a family of 4
-system like Medicare but everyone has some type of it
-lowest admin costs in the world
-also doesn't make money for gov.
Switzerland: 11.7% of GDP spent
-$750 per month with subsidies for poor
-everyone must have insurance
-universal coverage for all
-extremely expensive but still behind US
I would personally like to have socialized medicine like that of Britain. I think that this makes the most sense for many reasons. Firstly, preventative care is the first layer. A focus on preventative care simply makes sense. I think this is much more preferable to the more expensive reactionary system that we have. On top of this, there are no premiums because people simply pay taxes to pay for health care. The only setback that I see us the necessitated use of a gatekeeper. Fortunately, this is simply an annoyance, not a problem. Overall, I believe that this is the most productive and most sensible system for health care.
-No family premium
-socialized medicine
-slightly less freedom/choice
-lots of preventative care
Japan: 8% of GDP spent
-$280 per month in cost
-social insurance
-most hospitals/care centers are privatized
-low cost but many hospitals are not profitable because of such low costs
Germany: 10.7% of GDP spent
-$750 per month added to income tax
-Buy into "sickness funds"
-Most pay in but poor receive assistance
-Many doctors feel underpaid
Taiwan: 6.3% of GDP spent
-$650 per year for a family of 4
-system like Medicare but everyone has some type of it
-lowest admin costs in the world
-also doesn't make money for gov.
Switzerland: 11.7% of GDP spent
-$750 per month with subsidies for poor
-everyone must have insurance
-universal coverage for all
-extremely expensive but still behind US
I would personally like to have socialized medicine like that of Britain. I think that this makes the most sense for many reasons. Firstly, preventative care is the first layer. A focus on preventative care simply makes sense. I think this is much more preferable to the more expensive reactionary system that we have. On top of this, there are no premiums because people simply pay taxes to pay for health care. The only setback that I see us the necessitated use of a gatekeeper. Fortunately, this is simply an annoyance, not a problem. Overall, I believe that this is the most productive and most sensible system for health care.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Global Warming and Stuff Like That Annotated Bibliography
A Fierce Green Fire. Dir. Mark Kitchell. American Masters, 22 Apr. 2014. PBS.org. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
This documentary film chronicles and recaps the main stages of the fight over earth. In the beginning it speaks about older and more niche issues. Some examples of these include herbicide damaging ecosystems where bird eggs were eventually damaged. This was later proven to include some faulty science but nonetheless it created a movement in the US. It began activism. This small example later grew and many groups emerged. These groups did things like protect whales and seals. Some became large global groups and others specialized in smaller areas. Greenpeace, for example, moved on to bigger things than whales while the Sea Shepards continue to fight whaling ships with more aggressive tactics. The film concludes with the global picture of pollution and climate change. It talks about various global summits to stop this change and how in each one the US has come up short in terms of compromise. Overall, it is a look at the history and present times for activism in the field of conservation.
Fountain, Henry. "Study Finds Less Green in the Congo Rain Forest." The New York Times [New York, NY]. The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
This article describes a new study coming out on the lack of water in the Congo. Apparently trees are thinning and their ability to photosynthesize is actually decreasing. This has led to much less green in the area. Satellite imaging has been used to see the extent of the drought and the lack of water in the Basin. Scientists also have found that this drought has gotten worse in the past decade. They say that less green has been a common trend and it is expected to go on.
Main, Douglas. "Global warming threatens baby seals." Fox News. Fox, 25 July 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Global warming has led to increased temperatures in arctic waters just above the east coast of the US. This area is home to many seals. Unfortunately, these seals are in danger. With waters warming, scientists predict that schools of fish may be going further south than they normally do. As younger, more inexperienced, seals go after these schools for food, they often venture further from home than usual. This extra distance, combined with the varying ice, has led to baby seals (usually young males out to hunt) becoming disoriented. In the past years we have found thousands of these seals washing up on the east coast of the US either in poor condition or dead. Scientists warn that these changing temperatures in the north may be a very significant problem for seals everywhere.
This documentary film chronicles and recaps the main stages of the fight over earth. In the beginning it speaks about older and more niche issues. Some examples of these include herbicide damaging ecosystems where bird eggs were eventually damaged. This was later proven to include some faulty science but nonetheless it created a movement in the US. It began activism. This small example later grew and many groups emerged. These groups did things like protect whales and seals. Some became large global groups and others specialized in smaller areas. Greenpeace, for example, moved on to bigger things than whales while the Sea Shepards continue to fight whaling ships with more aggressive tactics. The film concludes with the global picture of pollution and climate change. It talks about various global summits to stop this change and how in each one the US has come up short in terms of compromise. Overall, it is a look at the history and present times for activism in the field of conservation.
Fountain, Henry. "Study Finds Less Green in the Congo Rain Forest." The New York Times [New York, NY]. The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
This article describes a new study coming out on the lack of water in the Congo. Apparently trees are thinning and their ability to photosynthesize is actually decreasing. This has led to much less green in the area. Satellite imaging has been used to see the extent of the drought and the lack of water in the Basin. Scientists also have found that this drought has gotten worse in the past decade. They say that less green has been a common trend and it is expected to go on.
Main, Douglas. "Global warming threatens baby seals." Fox News. Fox, 25 July 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Global warming has led to increased temperatures in arctic waters just above the east coast of the US. This area is home to many seals. Unfortunately, these seals are in danger. With waters warming, scientists predict that schools of fish may be going further south than they normally do. As younger, more inexperienced, seals go after these schools for food, they often venture further from home than usual. This extra distance, combined with the varying ice, has led to baby seals (usually young males out to hunt) becoming disoriented. In the past years we have found thousands of these seals washing up on the east coast of the US either in poor condition or dead. Scientists warn that these changing temperatures in the north may be a very significant problem for seals everywhere.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Essay 20
a) The NAACP often targets the judiciary, specifically the supreme court, to act in favor of their beliefs. Brown v. Board is an example of this.
b) A characteristic of the NAACP is that they sometimes do not have majority support. For this reason it makes more sense for them to go to the supreme court than, say, congress.
c) Another of the NAACP is that it is a relatively poor interest group. For this reason, it makes more sense to hire a few lawyers that it does to launch a spendy national campaign for their ideas.
(1999_2)National interest groups often target national-level policymaking institutions to achieve their policy objectives.
Select one of the following national interest groups.
- AARP
- AMA (Medical Association
- NAACP
- NAM (national assoc. of Manufacturers)
For the group you selected do each of the following.
- a identify one major national-level policymaking institution that this group targets.
- b describe one resource or characteristic of the group you have chosen and explain how it influences the choice of the target you have identified in (a)
- c describe another resource or characteristic of the group you have chosen and explain how it influences the choice of the target you have identified in (a).
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_gov_pol_us_99.up_7047.pdf
b) A characteristic of the NAACP is that they sometimes do not have majority support. For this reason it makes more sense for them to go to the supreme court than, say, congress.
c) Another of the NAACP is that it is a relatively poor interest group. For this reason, it makes more sense to hire a few lawyers that it does to launch a spendy national campaign for their ideas.
(1999_2)National interest groups often target national-level policymaking institutions to achieve their policy objectives.
Select one of the following national interest groups.
- AARP
- AMA (Medical Association
- NAACP
- NAM (national assoc. of Manufacturers)
For the group you selected do each of the following.
- a identify one major national-level policymaking institution that this group targets.
- b describe one resource or characteristic of the group you have chosen and explain how it influences the choice of the target you have identified in (a)
- c describe another resource or characteristic of the group you have chosen and explain how it influences the choice of the target you have identified in (a).
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_gov_pol_us_99.up_7047.pdf
Essay 19
One way that media contributes to candidate centered campaigns is by focusing on the race between candidates and less on the issues. This leads to more of a person v. person election and less of an issues v. issues election. Another way the media contributes to candidate centered campaigns is by covering the personality of the candidates more than the issues that they favor. One way a presidential candidate uses the media which has contributed to candidate centered campaigns is by making public appearances that have nothing to do with issues and all to do with candidate personality. Another way that a presidential candidate uses the media which has contributed to candidate centered campaigns is by creating ads that paint themselves as saints and opponents as idiots. These ads often leave out significant facts about issues and focus on personal attack.
(1999_1)In the 1990’s presidential election campaigns have become more candidate centered and less focused on issues and party labels. The change has been attributed both to how the media cover presidential campaigns and to how candidates use the media. Identify and explain two ways in which the media have contributed to candidate-centered presidential campaigns. Identify and explain two ways in which presidential candidates’ use of the media has contributed to candidate-centered campaigns.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_gov_pol_us_99.up_7047.pdf
(1999_1)In the 1990’s presidential election campaigns have become more candidate centered and less focused on issues and party labels. The change has been attributed both to how the media cover presidential campaigns and to how candidates use the media. Identify and explain two ways in which the media have contributed to candidate-centered presidential campaigns. Identify and explain two ways in which presidential candidates’ use of the media has contributed to candidate-centered campaigns.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_gov_pol_us_99.up_7047.pdf
Essay 18
a) One key characteristic of the merit system is that hiring is based on practical experience or ability.
b) Bureaucratic independence occurs for many reasons. One is the fact that in the federal bureaucracy agencies are independent. For example, regulatory agencies are completely independent from the things that they investigate. Another way that bureaucracy gains independence is by having more technical expertise than, for example, policymakers.
c) Congress can order investigations into bureaucracy to check them by doing something like an Internal Affairs investigation. The courts can check bureaucracy by determining the constitutionality of bureaucratic activities/interpretations. Interest groups can check bureaucracy by bringing public attention to things that bureaucracy does wrong and therefore convey change.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap10_us_govt_politics_scoring_guidelines.pdf
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Essay 17
a) One trend in the graph is that the percent of southern state seats in the house held by democrats has gone down as shown below.
b) Incumbency advantage led to the election of more democratic house members and less presidents because there were democrats in the house before 1948 and with the incumbency advantage they could more easily win seats as opposed to presidents who usually lacked incumbency advantage. Differences between state and national parties also contributed because they were largely separate entities and therefore voters who liked democrats in their state did not necessarily like them for the presidency.
c) In the modern day, social conservatives are now more associated with republicans whereas they used to be associated with democrats. More women have moved to become democrats in recent decades. Also, labor union workers have moved and are now mostly democrats.
b) Incumbency advantage led to the election of more democratic house members and less presidents because there were democrats in the house before 1948 and with the incumbency advantage they could more easily win seats as opposed to presidents who usually lacked incumbency advantage. Differences between state and national parties also contributed because they were largely separate entities and therefore voters who liked democrats in their state did not necessarily like them for the presidency.
c) In the modern day, social conservatives are now more associated with republicans whereas they used to be associated with democrats. More women have moved to become democrats in recent decades. Also, labor union workers have moved and are now mostly democrats.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap10_us_govt_politics_scoring_guidelines.pdf
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