$70 to deliver a baby?

By tuc02050 | Published: December 6, 2012

By: Fatia Kasumu

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/02/opinion/greene-birth-bill/index.html?hpt=us_mid

This article was interesting to read because of all the things I did not know about the medical/Obsterics industry. The author found out that it cost his mother in the 40’s $70 to deliver him in the hospital. Today that would be an equivalent to $726 dollars. This article is limited to Texas and Ohio however. I would like the author to go more in-depth as to what states cost the most? Is there a discrepancy when a child is born with a defect? The article references a doctor about why this is so and the changes in times and medical innovation. I feel that he should have interviewed a parent that had a first-hand experience on the cost to have a baby and what did insurance companies cover?

 

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No Fiscal Deal Without Higher Tax Rates On Rich, Obama Says

By Francesca Viola | Published: December 4, 2012

As tension grows between the two political groups, more and more democrats and republicans are stating their opinions as to what should be done concerning the fiscal situation. In a recent article written by Mary Bruce, Bruce explores the fiscal situation. Bruce begins the article by revealing, how according to President Obama the fiscal cliff would not subside unless Republicans raise rates 2 percent of income-earners. Though he is not looking to gain 100 percent support from the Republican party, but he is not contemplating agreeing to their plan to which he believes is vague and could come out of the pockets of middle class families. The article continues to explain the efforts on behalf of the president and congress to come up with different tactics to eliminate the fiscal situation. Through the article, Bruce presents the argument clearly, allowing the reader to decide for themselves which one is the better alternative. I would have liked to see more commentary from the opposing sides but the evidence she did supply was suffice in providing both arguments.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/12/no-fiscal-deal-without-higher-tax-rates-on-rich-obama-says/

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Obama Being Pressured into Pipeline

By Francesca Viola | Published: December 4, 2012

I came across an Associated Press article that ran on Philly.com. The article was quite brief and touched on a proposed pipeline that is set to span across several U.S. states as well as Canada. The article highlighted the fact that there is mounting bipartisan support for the pipeline and that President Obama may soon approve the pipeline despite rejecting the initial proposal in January. There have been several changes to the pipeline route that were put in place to satisfy environmental concerns.

What I take away from the brief article is the emphasis on the bipartisan support of the pipeline. Despite your politics, it is good to see a changing trend in Washington of politicians now perhaps being will to go across the aisle to make things happen in the United States. This is what many Americans want and this article does a good job of showing an example of bipartisanship without overtly making it seem as though this is more than what it is. It is a step in the right direction and journalists have the power to reveal steps like this to the populous in their work. I personally feel like that is a responsibility that journalists musn’t forget.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20121201_ap_pressuremountingonobamaoverpipelinedecision.html

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Possible Michigan Bill that Would Relax Gun Control Laws

By Francesca Viola | Published: December 4, 2012

In recent days, gun control and even gun culture have come to the forefront of discussion through mainstream media. Since Javon Belcher, former linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, murdered his girlfriend and then committed suicide by gun at the team’s facilities, the issue over lax gun control legislation has become a significant issue. It is unfortunate that something like this has to happen to facilitate discussion, but sometimes that’s all that will help lead the discussion.

There is a bill currently pending in the Michigan Senate that would do away with permit to purchase regulations and the state’s handgun database registry, which is causing various politicians as well as police forces to be in an uproar over it. This database registry has been rather helpful in capturing various criminals throughout the state who have committed various violent crimes. House Bill 5225, which passed the House in June on a 74-36 vote, would require destruction of the database, which matches the make and model of each handgun sold in Michigan with the name and address of the purchaser.

This seems highly helpful to law enforcement and politicians to keep the public safe and secure, however as we are seeing with the Javon Belcher incident, there are people who feel as if gun laws are too strict now and need to be regulated to allow people more freedoms to bear arms no matter the potential risk. However, as this article in the Detroit Free Press indicates, there is just too much at stake to allow this to go into effect.

 

 

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Kyle Noone Media Critique

By Francesca Viola | Published: December 4, 2012

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/04/15677908-one-month-later-republicans-find-plenty-of-blame-for-election-loss?lite

I had a hard time writing this, knowing it was my last blog post and all, but even great things like media critiquing blogs must end some time.

The article I read centered on finger pointing in the Republican party over Mitt Romney’s defeat in the presidential election. I can’t believe its already been a month since election day, but it seems its already time to get ready for 2016. Apparently their are multiple schools of thought in the Republican camp as to why Romney lost. One being Romney was a flawed candidate, and another being that the Republican Party itself gave off a poor image that ended up hurting Romney.

The article began in the direction with a quote from possible 2016 candidate Bob Mcdonnell that both reasons were to blame and the party had top revolutionize how they campaign in the 2016 race. Two supporting arguments were that democrats were able to define Romney as a wealthy businessman who made his money at the expense of others, and the fact that the Republican Party as a whole was viewed unfavorably by more people in the country than it was favorably.

Blunders on the Republican parties behalf like Richard Mourdock’s widely publicized quote about rape and abortion were also brought up, along with changing demographics, as other reasons for the defeat.

I thought the piece was well thought out and used categories well to separate facts and organize thoughts not to confuse the reader. With an abundance of information it can sometimes be hard for a reader to follow along.

I’ll miss you Owl Watch.

-Kyle

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Fiscal Cliff- Saylor

By Francesca Viola | Published: December 4, 2012

One hot topic during debates between Romney and President Obama was on the fiscal cliff and what they proposed to do.  Now that the campaign’s over, and Obama is back in office, the topic of fiscal cliff is back in the air.  CNN produced a piece on the recent offers between both the Republican’s and Democrat’s and mentioned that it is going nowhere.  “Right now I would say we’re nowhere. Period. We’re nowhere. We’ve put a serious offer on the table by putting revenues up there to try to get this question resolved, but the White House has responded with virtually nothing,” Boehner said on “Fox News Sunday.”  The article mentioned that the Democrat’s are not taking the Republican’s seriously and it’s causing major issues with negotiations between the two parties.  “While Boehner admitted that going over the fiscal cliff would be detrimental to the economy, he said out-of-control spending is mortgaging the future of the next generation and must be reined in. Accordingly, the speaker said going over that cliff is a distinct possibility.”  Boehner also said, “I’m determined to solve our debt problem. We have a serious debt problem and it is going to be dealt with.”

 

This isn’t very surprising to me because it seemed that throughout this whole election, both parties took opposite sides when it came to the fiscal cliff.  It will be interesting to see what the next offer entails because the Republicans do hold the majority in the House.  It would’ve been interesting to see some other people from the House in support of the Democrat’s and why they’re lowballing the Republican’s offers and ideas.  I guess we will have to sit and wait and see what the outcome will become.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/02/boehner-flabbergasted-at-fiscal-cliff-proposal/?iid=EL

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Is the Campaign Season Over?

By Francesca Viola | Published: December 4, 2012

The upcoming weeks and months are projected to be fairly challenging for those in Washington. The fiscal cliff is looming, Susan Rice is not going away and President Obama is coming out of his re-election as a stronger and more aggressive president, although maybe not in ways expected. This story sheds an interesting light on what we might be able to expect from our government in the upcoming months. The article describes several differences between the way the President dealt with Republicans through out their first term and how he is coming across now. Mara Liasson says that since the president has bee criticized during his first term for caving to soon and not being a tough enough negotiator, he is running an aggressive public campaign and taking the issues to the voters. So maybe the campaign season isn’t really over. If the President thinks the best way to get his policies approved is to go to the people he will continue to do so.

What i would also like to know from either this article or a follow up is how he is going to make himself more public. The media does a fairly good job of reporting on the president’s speeches and ideas but if he really wants the public to get on board he personally will have to reach out like during his first campaign.

I would also like to hear a direct response from Republicans as to how they feel they will be able to work with a tougher president. Or if they think it will be possible at all. Although the article says this tougher stance has drawn a budget proposal from the republicans, that is only one issue in a long list that will have to be worked out. The bottom line is someone’s gotta give and it might just be the American people.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/12/04/166471435/obama-changes-tack-with-congressional-republicans

 

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Kyle Noone Media Critique

By Francesca Viola | Published: November 27, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/us/politics/now-touring-the-debt-duo-simpson-bowles.html?ref=politics

 

My media critique is about Erskine Bowles and Allen K. Simpson, better know as Simpson-Bowles. The pair led a bi-partisan fiscal commission that was a perceived failure. Now they travel the country giving lectures on economics almost anywhere people will listen to them. I liked the theme of the pair being a sort of capitol hill odd couple. I think that kept readers entertained.  The good thing was it entertained readers, but still provided information. That entertainment can go a long way when talking about something that many may get bored or confused with rather quickly. When I clicked on it, I thought it would more or less make a joke out of the situation, but I actually learned about the two.  I’m not an economics expert and will never pretend to be, but its always positive to learn about issues that are not always covered so in depth.

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Republicans Say Raising Tax Rates Alone Will Hardly Put Dent In Budget, Deficit

By Francesca Viola | Published: November 27, 2012

Republicans are not holding their tongue when it comes to budgeting and deficits of the United States. Estimated by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, regulators believe President Obama’s tax plan would bring in $82.3 billion annually. Unsatisfied with Obama’s plan, Republicans are vocally expressing their dissatisfaction. According to Republican Tom Price, “the president’s plan to increase taxes on the upper 2 percent (of American earners) covers the spending by this federal government not for eight years, not for eight months, not for eight weeks but for eight days”. As the article continues, the author continues to provide supporting evidence revealing economist claim the plan could possibly lead to the country falling over the “fiscal cliff”, creating a new recession. In the end, the author concludes with an interesting quote from Mike Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, explaining how the opposing parties feel about the deficit situation.

The author clearly presents the information in a concise way. Typically known for being a conservative website, I was quite surprised to find the article to semi-balanced. While the article included a number of statements representing the Republican stance on the deficit, including a few opposing quotes from a Democratic representative could have added to the article.

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/27/republicans-say-limiting-tax-cuts-alone-will-hardly-put-dent-in-budget-deficit/#ixzz2DUCCWUIP

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The Politics of the Cabinet

By | Published: November 27, 2012

Cabinet appointments aren’t often contested by Congress, especially not when made by a 2nd term President. However, several Senate republicans have made it clear to the White House they would block the nomination of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice as Secretary of State, replacing outgoing Secretary Hillary Clinton. Rice came under fire after a series of appearances on the Sunday morning talk shows in September, where she reported information that turned out to be erroneous regarding the US Embassy attacks in Libya. Rice claims that she was using information given to her by the various intelligence agencies, while the Republicans, led by Senator John McCain, have claimed that her information either displayed “colossal incompetence or a massive cover-up” in remarks on the Senate floor in the wake of the attacks and subsequent talk show appearances.

The ongoing debate, in some respects, reflects yet another topic being used in Washington as a political football of sorts. Even if the Republicans concerns are legitimate, and as of now, there is no reason to suspect that they aren’t, from an outsider’s point of view, it just looks like more Republican congress vs Democratic president political posturing. Politics has been presented in large part in the media as a game with a scoreboard, that every debate point has a clear winner and a clear loser, which isn’t really the case in a real world discussion. The post-election season is always interesting because not every topic is immediately accompanied with how this affects the poll numbers. However, with cabinet appointments, and the approaching “fiscal cliff” approaching, this season appears to be just as politicized as ever.

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