Discussion 13

#3 - A study of household inequality in eighteen developed countries found that the United States had the most unequal distribution of income. Why is that? What can/should the government do about this?

An unequal distribution of income is caused here by our capitalistic economic system. Many of the other 17 developed countries are not as capitalistic as America. The United States having an unequal distribution of income should not be drastically addressed by the United States Government. I align most closely with Equality of Opportunity, allowing for personal advancement via one's own effort, clever ideas, creativity, hard work, and character. I think that governmental welfare programs that help people who are struggling to attain minimum needs for survival (food, clothing, water, shelter, medicine, etc) are good, and that having them controlled by the government ensures that all those in need will actually have provisions available to them. I also strongly advocate for at least free 2 year degrees. I believe we should encourage higher education as a means to rise above low incomes and dead-end jobs. I think that welfare programs need to continue easing recipients back into the workforce so that they will not be living on welfare for the rest of their lives. I also don't want to see a massive minimum wage. I believe in raising the populace to a higher level, not the minimum wage. 

Web Critique 15

Website Name:  http://amnesty.org
Operated By:  Amnesty International
Funded By: Donations

The website of Amnesty International is a very good resource to people who would like to have their eyes open to human rights violations around the world. I believe the best feature of the website is the ability to look, by country, at current human rights violations. There is also a downloadable PDF file titled “The State of the World’s Human Rights”. Amnesty publishes such a report each year outlining the state of human rights by region and by country. They offer the report in a good number of different languages. There are many fantastic education resources on the site, many of which are in other languages than English, such as “Human Rights Bingo”, education blogs, the link to Amnesty’s site www.respectmyrights.org which has two great interactive tools, the Poverty Trap, and the Housing Journey regarding how lack of housing affects human rights, and more. Overall, Amnesty International is doing good work. I don’t personally agree with all of their stances, but they are a loud voice for many many good causes and their website is a big part of their movement. 

Web Critique 14

Website Name:  Office of Family Assistance
Operated By:  Administration for Children and Families
Funded By: Administration for Children and Families

The OFA administers several key federal grant programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Tribal programs, Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood, and Health Profession Opportunity Grants. Their website has a professional, streamlined look to it and has a simple, easily navigable layout to summarize the assistance offered to families from the government. I liked that among the information on the site (which is generally about federal aid to families-often in the form of block grants to states/tribes), they also had links to state and tribal organizations which are the main way that federal aid is doled out to needy families. That is obviously a very helpful service of the website-directing people to where they can actually get the help they need. There is also access to different reports listed by fiscal year among other data. Their programs tab has an extensive listing of their programs and also the associated policy and laws. At the top of the page there are also links to the Administration for Children and Families, the umbrella administration over the OFA, and also to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is over both. Overall this site is pretty good! I can’t really come up with too much to criticize.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Instructor Notes - Policymaking and Domestic Policy

Instructor Notes for Week 15 –Chapter 19- Policymaking and Domestic Policy The USA domestic policy is again being debated by the political parties and members of Congress. The country is at another critical point in the future of our vital domestic programs. If you have time to listen to this hour long debate, you will learn a lot about the issues involved. Here is a sample of what you will hear: “ . . . Now comes Wall Street's "third way" of hijacking the nation's wealth: it's trying to persuade Democratic supporters to support the dismantling of the social contract that has held our society together for 75 years. And it's using many of the same tactics -- and many of the same faces -- it used in its first two forays. If you liked Wall Street deregulation, an inequitable bank bailout, and a get-out-of-jail-free card for bank executives, you're going to love this. The Anti-Social Contract Movement The goal is to cut the popular and successful programs they describe as "entitlements."  Cutting Social Security benefits will reduce political pressure on the undertaxed wealthy, while creating new investment markets for Wall Street retirement funds. Directly or indirectly slashing Medicare and Medicaid benefits also reduces that pressure. It would be more effective, more humane, and more rational to reduce Medicare's costs by reducing the effects runaway greed at every level of our health economy - but that would be bad for their investments. . . .” HuffPost Hill: FIGHT! - Social Security Works' Alex Lawson and Third Way's Jim Kessler battle for close to an hour on Social Security and the social contract. (Lawson's for it.) It's that rare thing in Washington, an actual debate, played out here on Ari Rabin-Havt's Sirius show The Agenda.   (Links to an external site.) The Agenda with Ari Rabin-Havt: Alex Lawson and Jim Kessler debate (Links to an external site.) Read more about it here - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/wall-street-finds-a-third_b_2158836.html (Links to an external site.) ‎11/14/2012 Jim Kessler of the Third Way and Alex Lawson of Social Security Works debate on SiriusXM Left's The Agenda with Ari Rabin-Havt. ................................................................................................................................................................................. Minimum wage is another issue being debated at this time.