War On Students Pt.2 “The Lottery Analysis”

 

 

The lottery was very hard to sit down and watch for me as an African American and someone that is striving for higher education. The truth behind the documentary is something that we as American’s try to put on the back burner. Education is the most important key to success in America. So I find it very hard that state funded schools with a major majority of their students being low income, graduate with not being able to read.  I feel like this is a very often occurrence a lot of the low income students just slip through the crack’s because no one has established an equal opportunity for them to succeed.

Trying to bridge the achievement gap is a goal that everyone would love to see happen but nothing is ever as simple as it sounds. The charter schools make a very strong argument that they are a first step to bridging the gap. I like the idea of creating more charter schools because the stats on most are more than satisfying. I believe that if a public school like the one shown in the movie is not preforming as expected then they should be shut down and turned into a charter school. It’s silly to keep an under-performing school to keep operating knowing that kids just go along not grasping simple fundamentals. America has always seen that innovation is a great thing and helps us advance so why not convert more schools into charter schools and see where it takes us.

On the other side of things I do not like the fact of having lottery drawings to choose which students can go to that charter school. I feel as if every child should be able to go to a charter school if they want to. If the problem is not enough space then they should be able to take over a low preforming bigger school. The main point is that the students will benefit from this change and be able to receive a better education. But this also goes back to another point if there were more charter schools they would not be an issue of not having enough room for children and it would eliminate the drawings.

I think that the days of a traditional school are on the verge of not existing anymore with the pressure of competing with other countries it’s almost certain that we have to do something about educating the youth. This means that the attention needs to be more focused on allowing educational growth for all children not just the rich and the one that can afford to send their kids to better schools. We have been through educational reforms in the past with the same concepts and tricks so why not give charter schools a chance to help our students achieve more than they would in a regular traditional school.

When reviewing this movie there was not a very strong argument to keep traditional schools around. Nothing stuck out to me that we should keep traditional schools around all I heard was that it was unfair to the parents which I don’t believe. The parents should want the best for their child. If that means letting a charter school come into your old school so be it that could start something much more important than your selfish wants. One of the parents said we should give the low preforming schools a chance to straighten up get it together but as we all know it is only a very few schools that have actually done that. And when they did change things around it took more than a year or two so by that time you have kids missing most of what they need to learn to help them reach higher education.

Johnathon W.G.Williams I

Hold up we talking about Health Care Reform!

Introduction

As of June 11, 2010 there are 45 million uninsured Americans in the United States. President Obama proclaimed that the landmark law will require that all Americans will carry health insurance coverage. But the Republican Party says this is a betrayal of the will of the American people. This law will extend coverage to about 32 million of the nation’s 45 million that’s uninsured. This policy has made conservatives argue that the government has no right to require individuals to purchase insurance. The impact this will have on my life means that I will be required to carry health insurance after the age of 26 so I will have to be prepared to take steps in making sure I am insured.  This essay will show the public concerns of this Reform and how it will affect the lives of millions. This essay will also show how this landmark law will affect the nation’s economic statues and what that means for policymakers.

The Problem

            President Obama stated that we must address the cost of health-care in our nation he said we have to do something about making health-care affordable. “High-cost health care now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds” (Obama p. 390). The premiums have grown substantially faster than wages and are causing an average of 1 million Americans to lose their health insurance coverage. Currently “we pay about $250 billion a year for employer subsides, and most of that goes to higher income people” (McClellan p.377). Policymakers are having a hard time trying to figure out why the current Medicare taxes the middle and low class families more than that of the higher class families. The new landmark law created will change the current Medicare tax from current middle class families 2.9% and higher class 1.1% to middle 2.9% and higher 3.2%. This is a 2.1% increase on tax for the higher class families which policymakers believe will help solve middle class families being able to have coverage.

Steffie Woolhandler argues “If the bill works as planned there will still be 23 million uninsured people in 2019, of whom about a quarter will be illegal immigrants”(woolhander p.377). This brings up another problem that many who get insurance will be underinsured because of the simple fact that 16 million of  the newly insured would be enrolled in Medicaid. Many doctors do not accept Medicaid because of the lower payments. The significance of this is that many will be allowed to go to the emergency room but they will have trouble getting primary care for conditions like high blood pressure. Another argument that arises is that forcing employers to offer health insurance. The National Federation of Independent Businesses say’s “It’s a bad idea anytime but is particularly destructive in the current economic environment”. Making policy maker’s question, how can we let Americans be insured through the company when the company itself is struggling. The big picture here is that small businesses will be halted in growing if they have to insure all their employees.

What undeniably persuaded policymakers to act was the public government run health insurance plan proposed by professor Jacob Hackler from Yale university. This plan would compete against the public option plan which would allow the creation of more jobs and help out small businesses. The idea of people experiencing breaks in insurance coverage would improve health and trim some cost. According to Mathematica Policy Research “adults with continuous insurance are healthier and at lower risk for premature death than those who have intermitted coverage” (p.381). This idea of substantial coverage pushed policymakers to act and speed up the process of health care reform in the United States of America.

The policy Response

            There are several new laws put in place by congress due to the policy response and the pressure to reform health care. One of the new laws put into place is the High Risk pool this will insure that people with preexisting medical conditions are able to afford insurance. Conservatives feel that by allowing this all we are doing is creating an excuse for government to be involved in health care. Senator Orrin hatch said “the bill’s so called individual mandate, requiring everyone to purchase insurance is unconstitutional”(Hatch p.378). Another law put into effect is the Young adult coverage this allows people under the age of 26 to be covered under their parent’s health insurance. Policy makers see this as a good thing because it limits the young people not being covered it will end a cycle of families not being covered.

The benefit limits had to be altered because in the past, people with serious illnesses were almost forced to lose their coverage due to lifetime limit of the dollar value on their coverage. Along with benefit limits there is Medicaid expansion that allows states to offer Medicaid coverage to all poor people. Now this is a big issue with Republicans politicians and republicans in general. They argue that federal spending will explode. Rick foster say’s “federal health spending will rise by 311 billion by 2019 thanks the law”(Foster p.392). The projections republicans have say that this part of the law will cost 2.5 trillion over a decade.

Policy makers think the solution to the success of small business is in this law called Business tax credit.  This will allow small business whose workers annual wage is under 50,000 get tax credits if they provide health insurance. There is also regulating insurance premiums this law states that insurers report the proportion of premiums dollars they spend on medical services. This will establish a process for judging annual premium increases and if they are justified.

Conclusion

            In conclusion the policy to make Obama health care reform in affect has a lot of conflict along with it but it is clear to see that all the arguments posed about it are coming from the conservative side of the line. Many of the arguments are good points but the statistical evidence for the pros side because the policy makers to put in affect these laws that I went over.  This issue of making health care more affordable has been a common interest with the public and policy makers presidents from Bush to Clinton have tried to debacle this problem with little options to go. Obama’s health care seems to be a little more in depth because we have little to no choice in changing how we do things all we need is for the republicans and conservatives to get on board.

The biggest law put into effect that will have the most significance would have to be    to me the young adult coverage law. This is something I have been worried about with more people going to college due to the economic state we would see an increase amount of young people not insured. You would be asking young people to pay for insurance on top of trying to pay tuition at an early age. But seeing how the law states that we can be under our parents insurance till the age of 26 is great it takes away a burden for a little while and I can focus on trying to pay for school.

I can also see the benefit limits being a big impact on my life because of the simple fact that you never know when a serious illness is going to be placed upon me it can happen at any time. So in knowing that if this is the case my insurance cannot drop my coverage because it is an ongoing illness. These new laws put into place supporters say puts in place mechanisms for coverage expansions. In other words these new laws will pave the way to helping to come up with a healthcare reform that will benefit many not if all Americans.

Johnathon W.G. Williams I

Illuminati Swag

Let me start by giving this pretense.  I’ve done no research on the topic because I believe the entire subject of the Illuminati is a distraction and joke, the only reason I take the time to write an article on it is because I’m making a larger argument about the hype of the illuminati, not its existence. That being said, I don’t know if this is a popular view or not, just a random observation I’ve made.  With that; I begin…

My problem with this illuminati nonsense is centered on the fact that most of the celebrities claimed to be in the illuminati are black, and furthermore, despite these claims from many people who believe (or at least doesn’t not believe it) continue to patron these celebrities.  Let’s break down what we are really saying when we claim these black celebrities are in the Illuminati. We are saying that somewhere in the course of one’s rise to the top that they sold their soul to the devil in order to reach ultimate success.  Is the idea that a black man or woman can reach success by their own hard work that implausible? So the only way to believe that black people can reach fame was by dealing with the devil. Black people are just incapable of success, barring some sort of Satanic plot… Spare me

A wise man once said, “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” Well Black America, shame on you! We’ve seen this ploy before and it looked like this.  In the Bible, after Cain killed his brother, Abel, God and Cain had an exchange seen below:

“Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth”  In response, Cain lamented, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”  God responded, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him” (Genesis 4: 11-16) ß Ok I, after I did look this up so I had the exact reference, everything else is off the cuff.

The demarcation the Lord gave to Cain was known as the “Mark of Cain,” and this sigma was assumed to be dark skin; at least that would social Darwinist used as their excuse. Racists and slavers of old used the sigma as a justification of slavery, claiming that negros were descendants of Cain. Using that logic, they even went so far as to say that what they did to slaves was blessing to the savages. Well we now know how completely asinine that idea was, but we’ve failed to take a lesson from it.

Now here we are debating among ourselves as to whether Jay-Z and Bee have sold their soul for fame and fortune. Well while we mull it over, how about we bring back the whips and saddle back on the plantations… Why are we, I say we as the black community, perpetuate this nonsense? It may not have been racist in origin but regardless it sure as hell looks that way. And our celebrities are no better! Instead of denying it many times they play it up with hand signs and cryptic music videos. It’s sickening.

First of all, if they were in the Illuminati, they suck at it because it’s supposed to be a secret. But again, I’m not here to disprove the Illuminati. But think about the message we send. Think about the message we send to that little girl who wants to be a famous singer like Beyonce one day. “No, babygirl, you’ll never be anything until you sell your soul.” See where I’m going with this? And what the hell (no pun intended) does that make you; bumping to the music of a devil worshiper. Does it take one to know one?

Stop the madness. Enforce the idea that any person, white black or otherwise, can make it to success without “dark magic.” Here’s an idea, if we have to wrap ourselves in the mystical, how about we say that these celebrities devoted their lives to the Lord?!?! Nah there’s no money in that…

Bottom line: Wake up! Realize the full implication of what you claim when you say things.

 

~WQW