comment on peer 2 (Han Tran)

I agree with Tran is saying about gun control. I don’t think that gun control should be taken lightly I believe that we need more supervision on guns not less like the NRA is doing in Georgia. I think that it is a bad idea to remove some of these restrictions such as not fingerprinting the gun owners. If we can’t match the gun to its owner then we have no idea who committed a crime. When the NRA says that we won’t finger print people it gives them more of a reason to commit a crime because they know it won’t be traced back to them. So I believe that Han Tran is right in saying that we should be more cautious with our gun regulations. 

comment on peer (jay)

I agree that marijuana should be legalized. However I don’t think it will help lower the crime rate or that it would give an economic boost and help people find more jobs. Jay says that if marijuana was legalized that it would bring down the crime rate I don’t think this is true. If marijuana is legalized then there would not be a market for it but robbers are going to steal and people are going to kill for their own purpose. Jay also says that by opening stores it would cut out the middle man that’s true but, if the cartel can’t sell marijuana they will just change their business to meth or heroine. Jay argues that people will open pot stores and we can tax the marijuana but what stops people form just growing on their own. However let’s say people do not grow their own weed but pot heads are too lazy to do anything they won’t even get off the couch. So I believe we will just have a super-giant like Walmart making more money off marijuana like they do current off everything else. If weed was legalized most people would smoke all day and lay on a couch and we get nothing done. 

Health Care reform save lives?

In the article written by Tara Culp-Ressler talks about how health care reforms can help reduce mortality rates. According to a new study done by Annals of Internal Science it shows that mortality rates have dropped in Massachusetts after their new health care reforms in 2006. The research shows that Massachusetts, compared to other similar areas, dropped their mortality rates by 3% after expanding their health coverage. Then Culp-Ressler argues her point and warns people that “Massachusetts is just one stare and their findings could be due to specific factors there that won’t lead to quite the same results nationally.”  However if the same results were achieved nationwide we could save more than 17,000 lives a year. The author also mentions that the life expectancy of Americans as a whole has been increasing but the poor people’s lives are getting shorten then the rest of us.

                I believe that the author is trying to send a message to everyone in America about healthcare reform. The author is saying that health care reform is not all bad and that a smaller version of Pres. Obama's health care reform has already happened in Massachusetts. The healthcare reform in Massachusetts has led to a lower mortality rate and the author thinks that if we give Obama Care a chance then we could achieve the same results nationally. The author supports her claims with research done by New York Times and Annals of Internal Medicine. The author does mention that the lower mortality rate in Massachusetts could be just a fluke, a single event that had nothing to do with the changes in their health care policies.  

Obama and Affordable Care Act

             The health bill that everyone was fighting against has already passed and 6 million people have already signed up with 3 more days left in the enrollment period. When Pres. Obama was running for office he promised that there would be changes in current health care and he has done that by passing the Affordable Care Act. There is a lot of controversy about what the new Affordable Care Act brings to the table. The goals for the Affordable Care Act are to lower insurance rates, get more people covered and to get better coverage not to raise insurance rates for everyone so they cannot afford coverage. One of the biggest changes that the Affordable Care Act has had on the current health care is that people cannot be denied coverage for preexisting conditions. For example if a child was born with Asthma insurance company could deny the child health care because that is considered as a preexisting condition. In the United States there are more than 17.6 million children with preexisting conditions that can no longer be denied coverage. Another thing that Affordable Care Act has changed is that people do not have limits on their health care. Such as a person with a chronic illness like cancer cannot be denied coverage because they have reached a dollar limit set by their insurance company. I think that Pres. Obama has done what he promised when running for his presidency and the Affordable Care Act is a good thing that has happened to the health care system.

The article written by Larry Kudlow is completely against Obama Care. Kudlow talks about how President Obama is making changes to his own plan but does not go on to explain what the changes consist of. The article is pushing the republican idea, that if they get elected, they would put a hold on Obama Care. Then, he goes on to list a bunch of things that is wrong with Obama Care to scare the reader in going against the plan. However, Kudlow never mentions the good things that Obama Care has done, such as how insurance can't cherry pick who they want to cover and who they don't. The writer's intended audience would be the people supporting Obama care and get them to change their minds. The author does not have much credibility according to me. He does not show where this information is coming form and it is completely one sided. I do not agree with the author at all because Obama care has actually lifted the hold that insurance companies had on us. For example, we can get treated for a prior illness that we had before getting the insurance.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/371710/three-year-obamacare-moratorium-larry-kudlow

Health care delays

On Jan 14, 2014 CNN published an article dealing with veterans and their health care. According to this article there have been delays in diagnosing and treating veterans at the VA hospital. These delays have caused at least 19 veterans to die and there are more veterans waiting to be diagnosed or to be treated. The writer of the article goes on to mention that it is still unclear if the people at the VA have fired or demoted anyone for these delays. The writer even speculates that the people responsible have been receiving bonuses for their work. I think that people should be informed about what is happening to our country’s veterans who have protected us. It’s also wrong to let people die when could help them. 
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html?iref=allsearch