Health Reform

After reading a few of the articles I strongly support the policy agenda of the United States having mandatory comprehensive health reform by 2014. Reading some of the stats of what America can look like if we keep our health system the way it is with how the American people eat and exercise is really scary. The way I see it, it would be a lose-lose situation for everyone because middle and higher income families would be the ones with most people uninsured and to add on top of this the fact that premiums will get increasingly higher for both employees and employers will make it less like for people to afford insurance. It honestly to me looks like the housing crisis scenario that we are in currently, prices will continue to go up and up until everything eventually comes crashing down and then where will the American people be? I think that government should be involved in this new implementation of health reform and that it should be on a national federal level and not left up to the states. There should be quite a few health plans so that people can cater it to their lifestyles and livelihoods and not have to sacrifice their saving at the same time. The way I see it government should put its hand in with anything regarding health care; make it affordable while still making a competitive industry where we still have doctors getting paid for there expertise and where research and development is still something to be profitable from. I don’t think that health care should be so affordable that if makes the practice of research and development lose its profitability and become obsolete. I like the efforts that the government is currently putting into the whole be healthy… exercise plan it has going on but what I really think that government should put its efforts into is parks and recreation because coming from the video only 30 minutes a day can a significant difference in the health of the American people. Building parks and new and creative recreation options would promote better life styles and better communities. One of the major concerns is whether this will be implemented on a state-by-state basis or if it will be federal and I feel like its all economics that is driving the states to not want to reform. I think this is a stupid reason to let money come between the overall health of the American people; we need to look and pay attention to the stats of how much of a bad condition everyone will be in if we do not have reform. I understand that everyone might not want health insurance because of money and other aspects but if the whole nation were to come under one umbrella that would make if more affordable for everyone and everyone will get the help they need.      

Extra-Credit High-Speed Rail

I think that the feasibility of the phoenix metropolitan area getting a high-speed light rail is very low. As seen from the videos just the cost of obtaining a high-speed light rail that only services about 3% of the population is not probable at all. It just doesn’t make sense for economists to support such an example initiative when people are choosing to drive or fly more and more. Another reason why a high-speed rail would not work here in the states is that unlike really high gas prices in Europe our gas prices are still manageable. Another thing that I know economists will be considering is the usability of the train tracks and how once the track lines are set they are only good for trains and that’s it. On the other hand with roads that have a life of 50 or so years they can always be upgraded  or have versatility with usage. I honestly think that we are doing good with the light rail we have right now, and we do not need a high-speed rail that is going to save us 20 minutes of our time but cost this nation billion of dollars. Also it is not ok that we spend so much money for such a small amount of people. I believe the video said that only about 17,000 people will even use the high-speed rail and honestly all that money could be used to better the lives of the millions of people in our nation. I even think that gentrification is also going to be a huge deal with the high-speed rail but also the limited number of stops the rail will be able to have.   

Assignment #3 - Our wayward public education system

What I got from the videos with regards to the core problems and causes surrounding education in America is that everything is stemming from the government and its policies regarding not only faculty but also school programs and things like that. I have personal investment in this because I have been on both sides of the school system, those that are excelling and seem to receive a lot of money and those that are failing both students and the community. After watching Waiting For Superman, and knowing that it has its biases, I strongly believe that the way the American education system treats its faculty and its students is very wrong.  Giving tenure to teachers that don’t deserve it and not allowing students to attend which ever school they like is at the root of why American public schools rank lower than schools in Finland, France, and South Korea.  It is highly important that we educate our children better because they are not only the foundation of a great society, they will be the workers that will one day pay for our Social Security.  The last thing our country needs is an uneducated and unskilled labor pool.  America vitally needs an innovation when it comes to public schooling, lest we fall further down the list of national public education.  We must remove unneeded bureaucracies and red-tape from public schools if we want to give our children a chance to succeed in this global economy.

Assignment #2 - Where would I live???

So I am going to take on the persona of a recent graduate with a MBA in Tourism. I am 24, I am looking for the best city for me to begin my career, and most of all I am married with no children! I start looking at cities like Las Angeles, New York, basically any major cities up and down the east and west coast. After hours and hours of doing research from my home in the desert of Arizona I came across Jacksonville, Florida and after doing a little more research on the city this is what I found... 

Jacksonville has a population of 773,800 with an average home price of 291,000 and 54” of precipitation and 0” of snow, really big things that are very appealing to my wife and I. Jacksonville is America’s youngest city with the average age being 32 and has opportunities for recreation and leisure as far as the eye can see with water being incorporated into almost everything. Everything about Jacksonville is positive, it is periodically rated one of the best cities to live in and with my major being Business Tourism I can not find a better place to live at that would offer me more than what this city offers me. Jacksonville, for me, would be the prime spot for me to start off my career and progress while at the same time having the time of my life and enjoying endless possibilities with all the nightlife and various new things to try. I feel like being a young adult between the ages of 20 and 30 I would be able to find my niche almost anywhere and in addition Jacksonville as having a huge Latino population would be a plus to both me and my wife.

We would definitely move into the center of the city, we are a couple both with good paying jobs so we will be looking into apartment/loft style living. Our occupations and what we do during our free time would be most important to us so commute times and congestion would not really bother us. Seeing as Jacksonville is an up and coming city we would be very pleased living in the city. Things that affect us and would make us relocate would be things like having a child or our occupations moving towards the outer rings of the city. Also environmental aspects like the cleanliness of the air and the rise of smog would definitely make me consider moving my family to a rural area of Jacksonville with a nice big home, nice green yard and a nice neighborhood. All this would be later in our lives because right now it would be all about just my wife and I.

 

Assignment #1 - part 2 - Policy Approaches

So all this talk about policies and the steps they have to take in order survive the policy life cycle is totally brand new to me but I am excited to see what I can learn and take away from this course. The questions that were asked in class about if Rosa Parks was an extraordinary person or if change can happen with just a few people caught my interest a lot as did the answers from the class whether they were strongly agree or strongly disagree. I know I had a few words to say about each question but I held back, speaking up in class is something that I am going to work on. With regards to the lecture on Thursday and everything we learned I would have to say that I most resonate with is the communitarian approach but I also have to add that I myself have some of the individualists qualities and views as well. I like how there is a greater good with the communitarian approach and everything and everyone benefits from everyone not only being preoccupied with themselves but with the community as a whole. I think that society and cities and communities should carry this approach of the communitarian with them because of the morals and values it instills, not like the mindset that most people today have of "ohh someone else is going to take care of that problem" or "I'll do something when I see someone else start first". We fail in the aspect of INITIATIVE greatly but with the approach of communitarian it is the perfect breeding ground for creating initiative. On the other hand I can not say all of this without giving credit to the approach of the individualist and everything that it brings to the table. Is it so wrong for someone to want to work hard so that they can reap what they sow? Is it wrong to be selfish? because I do not think it is at all -to a certain degree mind you. We obviously can see (according to the readings) that the approach of individualism dominates over anything here in the U.S. and so it should since this is the land where dreams come true; what would happen to our dreams with the approach of communitarian and what would happen to those that are free-loaders because it only takes one in a communitarian society to start the dominoe effect and start corrupting others. The way I would love to see it is an individual approach with the betterment and the community as a whole always on the minds of the people.

Assignment #1 - part 1 - ABOUT ME!

Hello everyone my name is Jose Juan Giron Jr. and my major is currently Business Tourism from W.P. Carey but I really want to get into the Tourism major that is part of the College of Public Programs Downtown as well. I am a senior this year but I will be staying here another year, what I like to call my "victory lap", and graduate in May 2013. Something that I always let people know about myself is that I am a first generation college bound student so everything I am doing is not just for me but for my whole family and those after me. Another fact about myself that I make sure people know about me is that I am a proud brother and gentleman of Tau Psi Omega Fraternity, Inc. which is a multicultural fraternity with an emphasis on community service and academics. Ummm everything else is pretty straight forward, I am an easy person to talk to, I like to think that I a chill dude and that I am always down to go do something. So just hit me up on here, in class, on facebook, or wherever and I am really excited and looking forward to this class and this semester.