Obama Vs. Clinton Essay

The Affordable Health Care Act is a very in-depth process. The changes to the health care system were attempted to be passed in prior years by Bill Clinton. However, it failed at this time and was implemented in the United States by the current president Barack Obama. The Congress diversity of Democrats vs. Republican’s was very similar in both Clintons and Obamas time in office. There were many steps that were taken in creating this policy, and some of those steps succeeded, and some of those steps failed. Any new process would be expected to have some issues to work through as it was created. The Affordable Health Care Act still has some issues to work on, but many steps succeeded and that is why it has been implemented during Obamas term. Health Care Reform was in some ways similar in both Obama and Clinton’s proposals, but greatly different as well. Clinton’s main focus in the policy was to make health care mandatory for all Americans and have universal coverage. Employers would pay 80 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums, with the employee covering the remaining costs (Khan, 2014). However, both policies have the same goal of providing health insurance to all people. Each policy creates the ways of completing this task differently. Clinton’s health care reform plan was very complex. It involved high levels of government involvement in the health care industry. A federal national health board would have overseen the health system, and would be tasked with regulating premiums and overseeing benefits (Khan, 2014). Health care alliances at the state level would conduct a similar task, and states would have had the authority to regulate plans and have the option to create a single-payer system (Khan, 2014). The policy would be more of a government takeover, than assisting Americans with health  insurance. This was something that was not found to be favorable by many stakeholders. Obama’s reform allows for people with private insurance to keep their insurance. He is creating a government insurance company to compete with the private insurance companies. However, Obama still faces struggles with Republicans being opposed to this idea as well. The concern of finances was also purposed similar in both policy creations. Both presidents plan on the bill not adding to the deficit of the country. Another similarity between the two plans was that insurances companies could no longer deny a client because of their previous medical conditions. This has been another successful step in the process. Health Care Reform was created very similar but still with great differences between each president. The Affordable Health Care Act was successful for Obama mostly because of the way he pushed the bill through congress. Obama used Clinton’s health care reform failures as lessons and a blueprint of what not to do. This made him about to learn from past failure and make changes along the way. Different steps were taken in creating both of the policies. As Clinton moved slowly on this policy, Obama pushed his through quickly (Oberlander, 2014). Moving quickly was a decision that helped the policy succeeding, whereas, moving slowly caused it to fail. However, both presidents did pitch their speech about the Affordable Health Care Act before a joint session of Congress. This was not a successful step for either president. Both Obama and Clinton did not have great support for the policy, and this caused great suffering. Obama allowed for alternative methods in this policy whereas Clinton did not. Although both presidents had a wonderful idea, the steps that they took in implementing the policy are what changed the success of it. Both policies have similar stakeholders. When discussing health care insurance the stakeholders do not often change because the policies were slightly different. Stakeholders consist of business, insurance companies, and the American Medical Association. Other stakeholders consist of the people of the United States of America. There was much skepticism about the policy plans that both presidents were rolling out by the people of America. It is important that the presidents did not only look at stakeholders of large companies, but the everyday people of the community and employees of the health care industry as stakeholders as well. There were also government stakeholders in both  policies. However, the government level of stakeholders was greater in Clinton’s policy because his consist of government takeover. Stakeholders are crucial to the success of any policy. The Affordable Health Care Act has so far been successfully implemented by Obama. However, like any other new policy there are some issues still to be worked on. Obama was a success on passing this policy because he used the mistakes of the past to make his policy succeed. Even though there were struggles and steps that failed in Obama’s plan as well, there were more that succeed. Clinton’s policy was more government based and had many failures. The stakeholders for both presidents’ policies were similar. The Affordable Health Care Act has been in progress by many presidents for many years. However, it has been Obama’s plan that has been the most successful. Reference Oberlander, J. (2014). Long Time Coming: Why Health Reform Finally Passed. Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/6/1112.full Khan, H. (2014). Throwback to 1993? What’s New About Democrats’ Health Care Plans. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/HealthCare/health-care-reform-president-obama-path-bill-clinton/story?id=8675596

Karate Kid

It's bad enough moving to a new city, but when that city is located in China, it’s almost too much to handle for 12 year old Dre Parker. It's not easy being the new boy in class when you don’t know the language, and it’s even harder, when the cool boys use Kung Fu to rule over the other pupils at school. Fortunately, Dre meets some nice classmates, including the cute girl (he fancies) Mei Ying. However, it turns out that Cheng, the leader of the Kung Fu gang at his school, also likes May, and is not particularly thrilled that Dre and May are becoming friends. Dre has hardly set foot into his new apartment, before Cheng uses his Kung Fu skills to give Dre a real beating. From this moment on, Cheng is constantly on Dre’s back. Dre becomes increasingly unhappy and longs to go back to the United States. But one day, as he is pushed into a corner by Cheng and his friends, he gets unexpected help. Mr Han, the caretaker of the apartment building where Dre lives, appears from nowhere and defends Dre with an incredible display of Kung Fu. This becomes the turning point in Dre’s new life. Mr Han decides to teach Dre the traditional combat sport, giving the boy a chance to win the respect from his classmates. Thus begins a long training period that ends up with a final battle between Dre and Cheng’s gang at the local Kung Fu competition. †The Karate Kid† is a remake of the classic 1984 film of the same name. The new version is a well-made film that will certainly engage the imagination of both young and old. The story is largely the same as the original, however, a number of elements have been renewed, making â€Å"The Karate Kid† anno 2010 better than most remakes. The film's theme focuses largely on the inner struggle of Dre. The young boy must adjust to a country with a foreign language, and a completely different culture and a city where he has almost no friends. When he is exposed to physical abuse, the previously well-adjusted boy becomes quite distressed. But Dre has great inner strength, and as his friendship with Mr Han develops, he learns more than Kung Fu. Dre understands that he is in charge of his own fate/future, and it is up to him whether he will give up, or fight to gain the respect he deserves. Such a message is well suited for children and young people, who will hopefully use this knowledge in their own lives. This film will probably promote martial arts to many young boys, and hopefully they will understand Mr Han’s clear statement that Kung Fu is a sport for wisdom and defence / an art to be used to create peace, not to hurt and combat an enemy. I think the †The Karate Kid† has a PG rating, due to several violent scenes involving Kung Fu fighting, the film is not recommended for children under the age of 8 from the online website.

Analyse the presentation of Crooks Essay

Analyse the presentation of Crooks in â€Å"Of Mice and Men†. Comment on how this helps to create a realistic picture of 1930’s California  John Steinbeck’s â€Å"Of mice and men† was written in the 1930’s, a time of great depression throughout the world. It was a time when racism was still widespread in America. It is based on a ranch in California. In the story Crooks is the only black person on the ranch. Crooks is disabled, with a crooked back where â€Å"a horse once kicked him†. It describes him as having â€Å"pain tightened lips† because of this. He is also described as being â€Å"a proud aloof man†. He is shown to be an educated man through the fact that he owns a dictionary and tries to research what rights he does have by using his â€Å"mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905.† The fact that Steinbeck uses the word mauled infers that it was used a great deal. In the story, Crooks was treated with little respect. He acts like he wants no real contact with the white workers on the ranch by â€Å"keeping his distance and demanding that other people kept theirs†. I think that he really wanted some friends but doesn’t show it because no-one will be friends with him. The boss also has no respect for him and takes his anger out on him for no reason when he is mad. He lives in a tack room built onto the side of the barn because he is unwanted in the bunkhouse. This is probably due to the fact that the society of the time believed in racial segregation. He has no friends on the ranch and is totally isolated. He had no rights or a say on what goes on on the ranch or in America for that matter. There were thousands like him all over America that were stuck in the same situation. They were not treated well for what seems to me a trivial reason. The book was very controversial at the time as Steinbeck portrays Crooks as being the same inside as any other man. This is a view that challenged all of the other contemporary views at the time. A lot of people were outraged at this as they thought of Crooks and other black people as somehow inferior to them. The fact that we only meet Crooks at all is an accident. I think he hated his life there on the ranch, but had no way to get out of it. In the first part of the book (chapters 1-3) we find out the views of Crooks from the other characters there. The racism towards him may have been innocent as the racism in the country then was inherent (passed down through the generations). We now move on to chapter 4, where we find out about Crooks and his own opinions through an accidental encounter with Lennie. It all starts when Lennie is in the barn with his pup and everyone else has gone into town. He sees the light from Crooks’ little hut which is built into the barn. He stumbles in and Crooks acts like Lennie is unwanted – â€Å"Crooks scowled but Lennie’s disarming smile defeated him.† I think that he actually thought about it and realised that he could do with some company. Steinbeck uses Lennie’s character to ‘accidentally’ stumble upon him because Lennie does not understand the political views of the world at that time, so he walks right in and talks to him the right way, treating him with respect, as he would anyone else. Crooks then settles down a bit and pours out what seems to be his entire life story to Lennie, now he finally has someone to talk to. He tells him about his life before working on the ranch. He speaks of the fact he was happy before, and says that his father had a chicken ranch. Maybe this meant he would prefer to be back there, missing his relatives who he knows would treat him as an equal. He also talks about that he used to play with the local white kids and that his â€Å"ol’ man did not like that†. He then proceeds to say â€Å"I never knew why till long later why he didn’t do that. But I know now.† During the conversation, Crooks asks Lennie what he would do if George (who he relies on completely) never came back. It seems like Crooks is getting excited over having an advantage over a white person, â€Å"Crooks’ face lighted with pleasure at his torture† but later on you think about it and realise what Crooks was trying to do. He was showing Lennie what it would be like to be him, to have no-one and be completely alone. He then explains this to Lennie: â€Å"a guy needs somebody – to be near him†¦A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.† Through this we realise how truly lonely he really is. Lennie starts talking about his and George’s dream of getting their own ranch somewhere. Candy then appears at the doorway and Crooks lets him in. Candy confirms all that Lennie says and they share their dream with him. Crooks then realises that they might succeed in getting a ranch. He then says â€Å"†¦If you†¦guys would want a hand to work for nothing – just his keep, why I’d come and lend a hand.† He suddenly realises what this could mean for him. He sees this as an opportunity to escape from his life on the ranch and make a new life for himself He is still holding onto that dream when suddenly Curley’s wife appears in the doorway. She makes all three men feel uncomfortable. She comments that everyone else had â€Å"left the weak ones here.† This is ironic really because what she doesn’t realise is that she too is classed as a ‘weak one’ for being female (women were still unable to vote then and males were the dominant gender). Crooks is then taken in by the dream to the extent that he forgot his place. For a moment he seems as brave as any man. He stood up to Curley’s wife and demands her to leave – â€Å"You ain’t got no rights comin’ in a coloured man’s room†¦Now you just get out.† Curley’s wife then threatens him: â€Å"You keep your place Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it wouldn’t even be funny.† The reality then hits him. His dreams shattered. He then remembers his place, at the bottom of society. â€Å"Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego – nothing to arouse either like or dislike.† Being threatened like this pushes him back down to earth, and he realises that she is right. She could easily get him lynched if she wanted to. I think that overall Steinbeck succeeds in creating a roughly realistic picture of the general attitudes towards racism in the 1930’s. He creates a convincing character in Crooks that makes you think of the ethics behind racism overall. Why does it happen? Why are people different on the outside any different on the inside? I think that Steinbeck’s intentions were to present these and other questions to the reader and make them think about the reasoning behind traditional racist attitudes.

I will attach the documents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

I will attach the documents - Essay Example It is not to argue that the conditions of slavery still too exist without any substantial changes. Of course, blacks have progressed a lot and the same goes for the way the mainstream society looks at the black people. But, what remains unchanged or being endlessly reproduced is the slave mindset. It is the very legacy of the slavery that it still permeates all the aspects of social life of the nation in general and the personal lives of black people in particular. The effects of slavery are continuingly expressed in the family lives, world outlook, and self respect and so on of the black people. Issues and Concerns of Black Liberation Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery is a groundbreaking study in the field of cultural psychology. Akbar has famously asserted that â€Å"slavery that feeds on the mind, invading the soul of man, destroying his loyalties to himself and establishing allegiance to forces which destroy him, is an even worse form of capture. The influences that p ermit an illusion of freedom, liberation, and self-determination, while tenaciously holding one’s mind in subjugation, is the folly of only the sadistic† (Akbar, 1996, p.VI). ... Here, although I completely agree with Akbar’s proposition that the legacy of slavery is still tormenting both the minds and souls of black people, it is difficult to buy his argument that black people are completely subjugated by the master narrative. For Akbar, the subjugation of blacks or the mental colonization of the blacks by the whites is total, unlimited and infinite as it knows no outside. From a dialectical perspective, on the contrary, one could argue that the white/black relationship is mutually dependent and, at least in the mental space, the blacks are more liberated than the whites as they have nothing to lose from the abolition of slavery. In other words, the idea of total ‘capture’ of black mind by the oppressor ideology itself is a negation of the subjectivity and active agency of the black people. It does not hold true if we look at the real life examples. In many cases, it is not through a hegemonic ideology, but through sheer repression (throu gh ku klux klan or police/military actions) and economic violence (denial equal opportunity, discrimination etc.), the black bodies are made to be docile. For Akbar, the problems of the blacks that arises not only from the retrogressive material conditions which exist in a repressive White society, rather, he locates the black subjugation in the realm of consciousness by arguing that â€Å"the slavery that captures the mind and imprisons the motivation, perception, aspiration and identity in a web of anti-self images, generating a personal and collective self-destructive, is more cruel than the shackles on the wrists and ankles† (Akbar, 1996, p.V). Here, also, Akbar fails himself into the deeply entrenched racist trap and believes that the power of the master is all-pervasive

Taxation portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Taxation portfolio - Assignment Example It is due to this reason that students without business background often get intimidated whenever they embark of taxation as a course to study. Nonetheless, it is important to understand taxation concepts and how they impact on businesses as they prepare to enter professional practice. Globalization has forced governments to acknowledge the significance of small businesses in the present competitive markets. In this regard, governments have formulated regulations to implement numerous taxes with a view of maximizing revenue collection. Globally, small and medium enterprises are known for their contribution to economic growth, entrepreneurship and employment creation. Basically, small businesses are known universally as engines for economic growth. This paper focuses on the tax aspects of a small-scale wine business in Australia and also tax implications of individual employees. Taxation consequences This is because they stimulate economic growth and therefore, play a critical role in wealth creation. In Australia, small and medium enterprises account for 37% of economic production and employ roughly 3.7 million people. Nevertheless, similar to other small and medium enterprises across the globe, compliance with government regulations heavily impacts on their operations. This is because SME’s bear significant costs of compliance cost relative to their size. According to Hasseldine and Anold, government regulations, in particular, tax compliances are a major issue for SME’s (370). For instance, following intense political debate, the Australian government introduced good and services tax (GST) which was one of the significant tax reform policies. This was an outrage on the economic impact of GST to SME’s starting with start-up taxation costs. Compliance costs as defined by Kumar, are those costs incurred by businesses in meeting the requirements in order to comply with a given tax structure besides payment of tax itself (35). Such costs inclu de legal and other professional fees, acquisition costs among others. GST compliance costs popularly known as commencement costs are usually incurred by the business in preparation to comply with GST legislation. According to National Audit Office, SME’s forms the large component of the informal sector and are known to evade tax (44). Pope and Fernandez observed that complex tax registration, and high tax rates are the main contributing factors to problems experienced by SME’s in the Australian tax system (15). Value-Added Tax Act provides that Australian economy cannot compete effectively with other world economies when SMEs continues operating in an informal sector (9). In this vein, it is therefore, paramount to reduce the informal sector by putting in place a simplified tax system. Australian government acknowledges the significance of SMEs to the economy and has been providing support to entities falling under this group by way of reducing tax and tax compliance b urden. In addition, the government has also simplified reporting requirements and record keeping. For instance, in 2006 budget, the Australian government passed to reduce taxes on SMEs by AUS$ 435 million over the following four years. As such, SMEs continued to receive more assistance by aligning thresholds, streamlining definitions and reducing tax complexity and compliance costs. SMEs are required by law to maintain record of their sales, which includes income earned excluding GST. Tax compliance and administration

Care Delivery and Care Management in Nursing Case Study

Care Delivery and Care Management in Nursing - Case Study Example (Kurtzman and Corrigan, 2007, 20-36). This patient, Mr. John Smith has mental disability. Maintenance of Safe Environment: The nurse plans therapeutic interventions for clients with actual or potential risks for safety based on the nursing assessment of the risks and a development of a care plan for the specific client through a process called nursing process (Scott-Cawiezell and Vogelsmeier, 2006, p. 179-215). Nursing Process: The Roper et al. model for nursing offers a framework where during care, the nurse is able to ensure that his individuality is taken adequate care of and provided due weightage. The Roper-Logan-Tierney model recommends a problem-solving approach in the nursing process (Roper, Logan, and Tierney, 1983, 17-19). Deriving from this, nursing process can be defined as a systematic approach to planning and delivering nursing care. This process comprises of four main stages, namely, assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. After the problem is determined, the nurse can then assess the needs of the patient. Depending on the needs, a plan of care is developed, depending on which the nurse can determine nursing goals. Once the goal is set, the chosen nursing care strategies can then be implemented, after which, it is also important to evaluate the care process, since any gap can be rectified through evaluation (Roper, Logan, and Tierney, 1983, 17-19). Assessment: Assessment is a cyclica... Smith. His main and actual problem was that he was unable to maintain his own internal and external safe environment due to his confused and impaired cognitive state. Rate of breathing, pattern of chest movement, presence of cyanosis, and pulse oximetry are important steps of assessment. It is important to remain aware that if needed, oxygen needs to be prescribed. Neurological assessment needed to be undertaken to assess the state of confusion and cognition. The aggression was also needed to be assessed. A safe external environment needed to be assessed by positioning of Mr. John Smith on bed, protective devices, and his own mobility. Apart from these, it was also important to assess whether all equipment for emergency care was within reach and was in working order. These included oxygen, suction apparatus, emergency trolley and resuscitation kit (Lesa and Dixon, 2007, 166-172). Identification of the Actual and Potential Problems: While assessing Mr. Smith, his actual and potential problems were prioritized. He was elderly with confusion and memory loss. Therefore, he was dependent for his care and needs. His religious and spiritual needs were also important parts of the assessment. His most important need was his care needs in terms of safety. Once his respiratory safety was ensured, his other actual problems were identified. He was having a problem with mobility due to age and confused state. This would call for positioning in the bed, safety arrangements in the bed and bed to chair mobility. Due to bed-ridden condition, he might have pressure sore or deep vein thrombosis (Roper, Logan, and Tierney, 1983, 43-44). Independent movement was also unsafe. He could end up having falls that is a safety risk. He was having aggression that

The oil sands of Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The oil sands of Canada - Essay Example In the first part of the video, the narrator establishes the fact on the demand of oil resources for energy consumption all over the globe. From heating the home to the common city lifestyle, energy generated from the oil is arguably empirical for the contemporary world. But with higher demands and lesser oil reserves, the narrator observes, there is a need to find new ways on obtaining oil resources; and oil sand is this new way of generating oil material. In the 60 Minutes film with the title â€Å"The Alberta Oil Sands,† on the other hand, its main thesis is the growing popularity of Canada as the next country that produces oil resources to the world particularly to the United States. Moreover, the film narrator remarks that the oil companies in Athabasca provide high amount of salary to their workers in order to lure them to work for a long period of time amidst the distance and unfriendly climate condition marked in such region in Canada. And finally, in the â€Å"Dirty Oil† video documentary, the film subtly criticizes the oil sands acquired, processed, and consumed by oil companies for the reason that this oil type greatly harms the human habitat and the environment. In watching these films, the most surprising part to me was the fact that sands can be a substitute for oil. Well yes, not all sands, nevertheless, the truth remains that tar sands -- an uncommon type of sand -- can be converted into energy. There is a need, of course, to process this particular sand type through modern technologies prior to its oil conversion. I must admit that technology or its invention is no longer surprising to me. With vast array of gadgets and technological items visible in the modern world, I seem to find technology per se as something quite common. Perhaps the reason why I am surprise to know about oil in sand is because the term â€Å"oil† is widely defined in terms of liquid form. Meaning to say, the oil resource is acquired in its liquid form and is not processed extensively using sophisticated technological equipments and techniques. In the long span of my life, it has been inculcated in my brain that oil is not solid but liquid. And seeing or knowing oil in sand is very mind twisting to me. Of the three films that I agree the most -- with respect to thesis or main idea -- is the Dirty Oil video documentary. In this film, the argument is substantially taken from the environmental perspective. It is true that America and the rest of the world are addicted to oil. Nonetheless, as the documentary argues, there are consequences to the choice of utilizing oil as an energy-generating medium. The tar sands, for example, are taken into the factory for processing and conversion to usable oil. The dilemma created in this sort of process method is an environmental one: gas emission that pollutes the air. Conversely, the Dirty Oil film gives a recommendation on how to produce or create energy without necessarily destroying the nat ural ecology and environment: via wind energy among other environmental friendly energy technology. On the other hand, the AOSP and 60 Minutes films are largely framed in the organizational, economic, and political spheres. In AOSP, the narrator merely states the companies that comprise the oil project prominent in Canada. One of the rationales for pursuing this project is to provide the world with oil reserves amidst its demand for energy. Admittedly, I do not agree to this line of argument. For one, energy can be generated or created without