Elections: Improving the Voting System

I read an article by the New York Times that explains many of the major flaws in our voting system today.

Recently there have been fights in Pennsylvania about voter identification requirements and if the point of them is to stop fraud or simply to keep the minority and the poor from being able to vote. In New York, a new design of the ballots that has been thought of as very confusing and hard to understand has now been passed to be used in this years election. In Florida, 140,000 voters were registered in four other states as well as Florida. 60,000 of them were also registered in North and South Carolina. Possible changes that could help are impartial election administration, better voter list maintenance, uniform photo ID requirements and paper trails for electronic voting machines. Voting registration rules used to exclude immigrant or blacks from voting. The registration rules can make the difference between a victory and a defeat when the election is close. Because of technical mistakes on the forms or the envelopes there were 400,000 ballots rejected in the 2008 and 2012 general elections combined.

Vocabulary: Bipartisan: of or involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other's policies.

While reading this article I realized that there are many simple solutions to these problem that will make the election more accurate. I believe that every citizen of the United States should have the right to vote. Minority and the poor should still be able to register to vote. The forms for the ballot should be clear, easy to read, and easy to understand. Everyone should be able to access information that explains the ballot so that no one will be confused and have questions when they are filling out the ballot. That obviously wouldn't solve all of the problems but 400,000 people is too big of a number that could and should be reduced.  

"Voter ID Issue Is One of Many for U.S. Voting Systems - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/us/voting-systems-plagues-go-far-beyond-identification.html>.

9/21/12

Elections: Immigration & Health Care

Immigration:

I read an ABC News article comparing Obama and Romney's ideas on immigration. It explained in detail about deportation, dream act, border fence, Arizona's immigration law, and English as the official language.

1. Deportation: Romeney says self-deportation is the best way. By self deportation he means that sooner or later the immigrants will realize it is better to leave this country and return home because they do not have the proper documentation to make a living in the U.S. He also supports an E-Verify system that forces employers to check the legal status of their employees before hiring them. Obama says it isn't right to "expel talented young people". Instead of deporting young immigrants Obama said he would give them a two-year work permit. The Obama administration will not deport anyone who came here before they were 16 and are currently under 30, been in the country for five strait years, have a high school diploma or in school currently, a GED or have served in the military.
2. Dream Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors): Obama agrees with the Dream Act and would sign it as soon as possible. It would give undocumented immigrants a way of citizenship if they attended college or serve in the military. Romney however would veto the Dream Act.
3. Border Fence: Obama will not add to the fence, it is "complete". It only covers 649 miles of the 1,900-mile border. Romney says that a fence must be built and cover the entire border including a second layer making it more difficult to get through.
4. Arizona's Immigration Law: Obama says he is pleased with how the Supreme Court is handling Arizona's Law to "show me your papers". Romney hasn't said that he supports Arizona's Law but he did say that the right thing to do is drop the lawsuits against Arizona.
5. English as the Official Language: Romney supports making English the official laguage, making all official documents such as drivers licenses all English as well. Obama disagrees, if a spanish speaking citizen is trying to learn English here they should not be deported because their main language is Spanish.

While reading this article I found that although I understood why Obama said and chose what he did, I agreed with almost all of Romney's ideas and choices more then Obama's when it comes to immigration.

Health Care:
For Mitt Romney I read an article by The Washington Post about how Mitt Romney's health care plans don't exclude seniors. His overall plan wouldn't cover anyone over the age of 55. He plans to revoke the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid funding. In doing so that would mean higher Medicare premiums, and wellness visits as well as prescription drugs would coast more. It would cut $716 billion in Medicare spending.
For Barack Obama I read an article from the Huff Post about his health care and how it affects 6 million Americans because they will face a tax penalty for not having insurance. The average penalty in 2016 would be about $1,200, raising $6.9 billion. In 2014 every legal citizen of the U.S. will face a tax penalty if they do not have health insurance. However, there are exceptions. If there is a financial hardship, religious objection, or other circumstances they will not be faced with a tax penalty. The law will provide government aid to help middle and lower-class afford the coverage.

I strongly disagree with Romney that a good solution is to cut back on the support for seniors. I believe that if anything there should be more support for those seniors who need it. On the other hand I do not agree that forcing every person to have health insurance is exactly the right thing to do. However I do understand some of the reasoning behind the law. I do not believe that either of these ideas are reasonable solutions.

Bibliography

ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, RICARDO. "Obama Health Care Law Tax Penalty Will Hit 6 Million Uninsured: CBO." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/obamacare-cbo-report_n_1898370.html?view=print&comm_ref=false>.

"On Immigration, Obama and Romney Agree On Virtually Nothing - ABC News." ABCNews.com  - Breaking News, Latest News & Top Video News - ABC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/immigration-obama-romney-agree-virtually/story?id=17273505#.UFslshy9JCc>.

"Romney health plans would affect seniors’ care, studies find - The Washington Post." Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/romney-health-plans-would-affect-seniors-care-studies-find/2012/09/16/73202530-fb88-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_print.html>.