Anti-Immigration....its working

This week the Los Angeles Times discussed how anti-immigration laws such as the Real ID Act of 2005, the Secure Fence Act of 2006 have been working and that large amounts of immigrants are leaving the United States. The author viewed this as a positive event for our economy, because it opened up more job opportunities for less skilled American citizens. Studies have also shown that the drop in illegal immigrants has also reduced the crime and gang rate significantly in some areas. For example in the Fairfax County of Washington, there has been a 39% drop in gang activity and in Dallas there has been a 20% drop in murder rate. This author was obviously in favor of these trends that were taking place and attributing it to the decrease in illegal immigrants.
I believe that in our country we should make it easier to gain citizenship. There should be an equal chance for all who want to enter this country, but it should be done legally. Currently, I feel like many people immigrate illegally because the government is not efficient in eliciting citizenship. If there was an easier system, maybe there would not be such an influx of people desperately trying to sneak into the country. They would actually probably find that it would be more beneficial to wait and gain legitimate citizenship and get a better job because of it.

Finally, a good universal health care plan....not

This week, I read an article from the Los Angeles Times about Hillary Clinton’s universal health care proposal. As the first lady, Hillary proposed a similar plan in the 1990s but it failed horribly and was strongly opposed. Clinton emphasizes that this time, her plan would not be government run. Instead, it would be mandated that all businesses provide insurance for their employees and that it would all be paid for by raising taxes for the rich. She estimates that this plan would cost the government $110 billion a year. Her proposal would also mandate that everyone would be required to have health insurance, so those that could not get it from their employers would be covered by expanded versions of Medicare or plans that aid federal workers. Clinton’s plan is opposed by Republicans and Democrats alike.
I believe that health care is a very important issue in our country and that everyone should have the ability to get the treatments they need. However, I think that no matter what plan Clinton proposes, it will get shot down because everyone remembers her plan she had back when her husband was in office. Even if she had a better idea this time, I believe people will stay close minded because of past experiences and that Clinton should lay low on the issue of healthcare because if she asserts these strong opinions she could lose popularity. Although universal health care works in other countries, like Canada, the American public, especially the wealthy, would not be willing to have their taxes raised to pay for the health care of the lower class, when they are easily available to provide healthcare for themselves without aid.

What is the best way to vote?

During Wednesday’s class, we discussed how an electoral college is actually the determining factor in selecting the president of the United States. In national elections, the state is given the responsibility to make the decisions, while the will of the people is merely a suggestion. I find it odd that it is urged that the people vote in the presidential election, when in reality, their vote is not the one putting a president in office. We also discussed many pros and cons of the states and electoral colleges making decisions versus the general population. Many good points were made in favor of states and electoral colleges casting the votes, including that the general public is uneducated and can be easily swayed by passions or fads. Counting the votes by the majority of states as opposed to the public also protects the rights of smaller states, who contain less of the country’s population. While all of these make a strong case, I believe the strongest point in favor of electoral colleges was presented in the article I chose for my current event.
In this week’s issue of Newsweek there was an article entitled “Securing (Or Not) Your Right to Vote”. It contained the results of a study done on the electronic voting machines in California, as mandated by Secretary of State Debra Bowen. As many people had feared, it was confirmed that “There were far too many ways that people with ill intentions could compromise the voting systems without detection”. Some proposed solutions were to get a receipt from the voting machine and to turn it in for recounting purposes; however, it has been shown that even these receipts can be manipulated. A “voting integrity” act has been proposed as well, but it has yet to be passed. It a technological age, it is unsettling that the results of something as important as an election cannot be confirmed. Yet, other alternatives, such as going back to the paper ballot, are not favorable either. As we remember back to the presidential election of 2000 with the recount of ballots in Florida, it seems that there is no clear solution.
It may be said that we should not determine the president based on the will of the people because they are uneducated. I believe we should not determine the president based on the will of the “uneducated” public because there is no possible way to determine that their opinions are presented accurately.