Amendment Blog Post

AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The first amendment is still by far the most important amendment our country has created.  It is the foundation of our nation and the reason we consider ourselves "free".  Without freedom of speech, religion, press, etc. we would not be a free country.  We would have no rights, everything people in our society revolves around the base of this amendment.  It gives our people the right to live how they choose and choose their own purposes in life.  This amendment is what gives us the right to our own opinions and without it there would be no such thing as creativity.  Without the first amendment our country would be nothing that it has become today.

Health Care

United Kingdom:
-Average family funded by taxes
- Young/ Elderly exempt from co-pay
-British system: Socialized medicine
-Government provides & pays for healthcare
-NHS distributes funds (taxes) to health care providers
- GP's paid based on numbers of patients they see/ paid extra for keeping patients healthy, and are instrumental in preventive care
-Administrative costs are low
-Patients must see a General Practitioner before seeing a specialist

Japan:
-Average family spends approx. $280 per month
-Co-pay 30% of the cost of procedure
-total amount paid in a month is caped according to income
- Social Insurance system
-All citizens required to have health insurance either through work or non-profit
-If a citizens cannot afford it they receive public assistance
-Almost all doctors/ hospitals are in a private sector/ private health insurance
-Some of the best health stats in world
-No gatekeepers/ can see any specialist
-So successful at keeping low costs almost spend too little on health care

Germany:
-Average family spends approx. $750 per month
-Co-pay $15 per 3 months, few exempt
- Uses Social Insurance model
- Free to buy insurance from one of 200 private nonprofit sickness funds
- Poor receive public assistance to pay premiums
- Sickness funds : nonprofit, cannot deny coverage, compete with each other for members, paid based on size of enrollment
- Single payment system
- Government does not negotiate prices, sickness funds bargain with doctors
-Citizens can see a specialist but must pay a higher co-pay
-Concerns: Doctors feel underpaid, Make less than in U.S., let the richest citizens opt out of sickness funds

Taiwan:
- Average family spends approx. $650 per year (family of four)
- Co-payments account for 20 % of the cost of drugs, dental, and outpatient care
- Exemptions from co-pay for major diseases, childbirth, poor, veterans, etc.
- Use National Health Insurance model
- All citizens must have insurance
- One government run insurer
- Those working split premiums with employers
- poor / veterans fully subsidized
-New health care system decreased the growth of health care spending
- Citizens can see any doctor w/o a referral
- Lowest administrative costs in world
- Each citizen has smart card with all health information and history stored within it
- Not taking enough money to cover care it provides

Switzerland:
-Average family spends approx. $750
- Social Insurance Model
-95 % of population already had insurance when law for the new model was passed
-All citizens required to have coverage
- Automatically assigned to company
- Government provided assistance to those who couldn't afford premiums
- Universal coverage
- Insurance companies not allowed to make a profit on basic care / can make money on supplemental insurance
- Only drug prices set by government
-Second most expensive system in world- behind the U.S.
- Do not have gate keeper doctors

COST OF HEALTH CARE

United Kingdom- 8.3 percent

Japan- 8 percent

Germany- 10.7 percent

Switzerland- 11.6 percent

United States- 15.3 percent

I think the U.S. should adopt some sort of socialized medicine model because the coverage here is so low.  The united kingdom may pay more in taxes, but for everyone to have equal coverage, it is worth it.  The U.S. has one of the lowest life expectancy rates and pays the most on health insurance.  Honestly if our country was risky enough to adopt any other model than we are following now I think we would be better off than we are doing in the moment.

Earth Day

American Masters, a Fierce Green Fire. Dir. Mark Kitchell. 22 Apr. 2014. PBS. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/a-fierce-green-fire/watch-the-film/2924/>.

In A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet, the environmental movement is shown around the world within a span of 50 years.  Grassroots and global activists educate the viewer about one of the largest movements in America.  Throughout the five acts different movements and stories are explained leading up to the summary that our battle against climate change needs to stop.  The conservation movement focused on the 1960's and the Sierra's Club, those who were trying to stop the construction of dams in some of what are now the biggest landmarks in our nation.  Pollution cleanup to help keep toxic waste and other pollutions out of our air and water is focused on along with Greenpeace, a company who helps save animals from these same wastes. Lastly the documentary focuses on Global resources and the fight to save rain forests. 

The Cove. Dir. Jim Clark. OPS. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://www.thecovemovie.com/>.

The Cove is a documentary made in 2009 that focuses on the hunting of dolphins.  In Japan thousands of dolphins are killed in mass groups due to fishing practices.  The film focuses on informing society on the truth and how many recreational hotels and aquariums and how appalling it is.  It also sheds light on the hazards dolphin meat can cause to a human because of the mercury levels, and how many people become poisoned from it.  23,000 dolphins are claimed to be killed in Japan by the whaling industry every year.  The film highlights that these practices are cruel, unnecessary and need to be stopped.

Stamper, Megan. "The Denmark Dolphin Slaughter." Huffington Post UK. AOL UK , Web. 10 May 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/megan-stamper/denmark-dolphin-slaughter>.

This article talks about a mass slaughter that has gained a lot of attention in the media.  While many people believe that people in Denmark are slaughtering dolphins, what they are reading is not entirely true.  Islanders of the Faroe islands in the Norwegian Sea kill long-finned pilot whales, which are not endangered.  The killing is done to help the villagers in the community and is not done as a "rite of passage" as many people have come to believe.  It has been investigated, and the people of this island are not doing anything against the law and are just trying to keep their families healthy.

Personal Statement:

While I am not an activist and I am not very educated on any of the dolphin slaughterings, I do not think is okay or necessary, whether it is dolphins or whales, endangered or not.  People should continue to spread awareness because these animals are too smart and it is cruel unnecessary suffering of animals.  Just like humans all other types of animals should be free to live a happy life, especially because dolphin and whale meat is not crucial for our consumption and their are many alternatives for the materials we use their fat and everything else for.

Essay 20

The AMA, American Medical Association, targets Congress and Medicare.  It is made up of primarily medical students who will at some point encounter Medicare patients while in practice. Since this happens so frequently the AMA wants to have some sort of influence over Medicare and the way in which it runs. It will help set standards for other insurance payers through Medicare policies. The constituents of the AMA include doctors,and medical practitioners.  These members have created rules,policies and ethics as a standard. The "Current Procedural Codes" they set are one of the primary ways that medical and insurance forms are filled out.  The AMA wants to be able to effectively communicate with insurance companies in order to make sure constituency will be paid since most medical procedures are billed to insurers. 

(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

Media has contributed to candidate centered campaigns by focusing on the competition between the two candidates rather than the issues they are supporting or against.  By doing this the campaign will focus more on the backgrounds of the candidates and their personalities.  This makes the campaign less of a issue vs. issue and more of a horse race.  Another way the media contributes to candidate centered campaigns is by making public appearances on TV shows, or news channels in states that support them.  Their faces will also show up on TV ads portraying them as good people and the candidates they are running against as unholy or bad. The ads usually do not focus on anything about the politics of the election and solely on their personalities and attack the opponent.

(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