Marriage Equality

Same sex marriage is currently legal in 35 states either from legislative action, popular vote, or court decision. In Kisha Naik's article on Legalizing same sex marriage in all states, she argues that, “Gay people should have the same rights just as everyone else in this country; they are human beings and citizens of the United States so they need to be treated with equality.” I agree, gay people should have marriage equality just like everyone else. Many may disagree due to religious views and say that it “redefines marriage”. Weather you think it is right or wrong who has the right to define marriage in the United States?

Kentucky recently finished a 6^th circuit federal court case on same sex marriage. The results were not enough for the plaintiff or Governor Steve Beshear. Beshear has "consistently taken the position that the citizens of Kentucky deserve to have the highest court of the land determine" whether there is a constitutional right to gay marriage.(1) The plaintiffs filed a petition on Nov. 18^th asking the Supreme Court to hear their case.

I hope that the Supreme Court chooses to hear this case, or a similar case. A decision needs to be made. The question is not can gay people can get married, its who has the right to define “marriage”.

Free Education in America

Obama once said, “The single most important thing we can do is to make sure we’ve got a world-class education system for everybody. That is a prerequisite for prosperity.” Tuition rates climb higher every year, mostly due to the lack of federal funding. Many Americans are forced to either accumulate massive debt to attend college or not attend at all. 70% of those who attend and graduate accumulate an average debt of $29,400(1). Why not develop a system where Americans can attend college for little or no money?

I'm not expecting any increase in federal funding to colleges and universities to be helpful with our national debt over 18 trillion. I'm more interested in restructuring the higher education system to help lower tuition rates. Since the 1960-1970's the structure in which a college operates hasn't changed much. Over the last 50 years federal funding has decreased and tuition rates have risen but the structure in which the college operates is still the same. Here are a couple changes I believe would help college become nearly free.

First, we need to re-allocate the money already given to colleges and universities. The cost of all public universities is $62.6 billion. The government gives out $69 billion of student aid to the neediest students. Why are we still giving grants to the neediest to attend college when the majority who attend are struggling with debt? Why not give the federal student aid money to colleges and universities, with the requirement that they lower their tuition rates? Not only could the average American attend college debt free but the neediest students wouldn't have to apply for government aid as an only option.

Second, we need to streamline the education system. For example, Rosetta Stone, is proven to be cheaper and more effective than classroom learning. Rosetta Stone uses picture association to teach you a new language, proven to be much more effective than repeating, memorizing, and testing in a classroom. Other subjects could be consolidated and administered by colleges for cheaper rates than hiring a professor. One university has already risen to the challenge. Stanford University started a free on-line class on artificial intelligence earlier this year. Enrollment in the class quickly rose above 100,000. While passing the class will not award any “Carnegie credits” (official college credit), finishing the class in the top 1000 would be an amazing success. Stanford then keeps the results of the course like a transcript. I think Stanford has the right idea. Consolidating and streamlining certain classes from established universities would make tuition cheaper.

A “world class education-system for everybody,” is possible. Many countries have already adopted the idea of free education. Germany offers over 900 programs in English for free and is eager to attract foreign students. Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, Brazil, Finland, and France also charge no tuition. America needs to reallocate financial aid and streamline education before we can have a “world class education-system” equal to other countries.


Sources:
(1): http://ourfuture.org/20140117/tuition-free-public-college-education-is-possible-demand-it

USPS Loosing Billions

In Susannah Hootman's article titled, "America the Inefficient," she explains how the USPS reported a 1.9 billion dollar loss this quarter. I had no idea that this old type of communication was becoming such a national money pit. Most of the way I communicate is though e-mails, texts, and phone calls.

While I like the internet more as a communication device, I can't help believe that my P.O. Box is a safer place to receive confidential information. I would not mind paying more for postage and P.O. box rental if it meant getting the USPS out of the red.

I feel that the USPS should be preserved. America has been using and spreading USPS since 1775. The system, set up by Benjamin Franklin, was one of the only government agencies explicitly authorized by the U.S. Constitution. It currently provides 8 million jobs, processes 158.4 billion mail-pieces a year, and handles 40% of the world's mail. I don't believe private corporations would be able to handle the mass amount of mail the USPS processes. Private carriers would have to spend a lot of money to match the infrastructure and employees of USPS.

In the end the only thing keeping the USPS in the red is Congress. They can't agree whether to prevent facility closures or to reform the USPS processing network. Either way disagreeing is just wasting time and money. Congress needs to quickly come together and decide how to resolve this situation.  

College Tuition Reform

Currently Russia has the highest percentage rate of adults with a university education. This was once a position held by the United States, but because government funding has fallen, tuition rates for students have risen, and college debt has risen, many students fail to graduate. College tuition has

raised 1120% since 1978, four times faster than the increase in the consumer price index(1). The national student loan debt has reached 1.2 trillion dollars, far higher than credit card and auto loan debt(2). All this data truly shows is that America is becoming a harder place to become educated and financially stable. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, “Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”(8) I believe America needs to make a few more changes before higher education is truly “equally accessible.”

First, for college to be “equally accessible” it has to be equally affordable. The average cost of one year of tuition and fees in 2013-2014 was $30,094 at private colleges, and $8,893 for state-resident public colleges(3). In 1976, with a summer job at $2.20 an hour, you could save up enough money for an entire year of tuition and fees at a state college. Today, with minimum wage in Texas at $7.25, a summer job would pay for about a quarter of a year's tuition. Even if minimum wage were $15 an hour, a summer's work would only cover half a year's tuition. For most people, a loan is the only financially possible way to go to college, although high interest rates and high monthly payments force some Americans to drop out. President Obama recently signed into law a new way of setting interest rates for federal education loans. Also the cap was set for monthly payments to be 10% of the borrowers disposable income and forgives the balance after 20 years of payments(6). I believe that Congress needs to continue to cap education loans and not profit off the backs of college students. This will help keep default rates down and make a college education more accessible to people with low income.

Secondly, college tuition has risen greatly for a few different reasons. The high demand for education has caused colleges to react in different ways, for instance, research universities spend so much that they need to compensate with higher tuition rates. Private schools also spend a lot and increase tuition due to lack of funding. Most public universities are just trying to make up for the lack of state funding. For most community colleges even with increased tuition payments, they still have to cut spending(7). The government should give more funding to public universities so they can lower their rates. Private colleges then would have to lower their rates to compete. While some colleges and universities are struggling due to lack of funding and higher demand, some are expanding administration and sports funding(4). This money should not be spent on non-educational programs. Colleges and Universities have no government cap on tuition or profit so they are allowed to charge and spend however much they want. Whether you're a new student or a returning student, tuition and fees usually rise slightly every year. I think the government needs to step in and cap the amount colleges charge for tuition in correlation to much operating costs. This will force colleges to budget their spending and keep tuition at a reasonable price.

With affordable college loan payments and lower tuition rates, higher education will be “equally accessible” to more Americans. I think these things will help Americans regain their position as number one in percentage of college graduates.

Sources:

(1): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/15/cost-of-college-degree-increase-12-fold-1120-percent-bloomberg_n_1783700.html

(2): http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/americans-owe-1-2-trillion-student-loans-article-1.1796606

(3): http://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=10064

(4): http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/12/opinion/la-oe-dreifushacker-college-cost-20100912

(5): http://www.buzzfeed.com/gregschoofs/how-much-college-did-your-summer-job-pay-for

(6): http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-signs-student-loan-interest-rate-legislation-into-law/2013/08/09/98fb0426-00f2-11e3-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

(7): http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/28/the-tuition-is-too-damn-high-part-iii-the-three-reasons-tuition-is-rising/

(8): http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Ebola Patient Identifies Major Security Risks

On October 8^th a Liberian man diagnosed with Ebola died at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Thomas Eric Duncan died of this fatal disease and it was reported that one of his nurses came down with a fever, then was able to board a plane. On October 16^th Michael Gerson, an opinion writer for The Washington Post, states 3 ways in which, "Ebola Challenges America's Ability to Adapt."

He starts by mentioning that the infectiousness of Ebola increases as the patient (Thomas Eric Duncan) grows sicker. None of the other people reported to be with Thomas Duncan contracted the disease even in tight quarters. Gerson believes that the safety of the health-care workers was not properly protected. The hospital should have gone to greater lengths to protect its workers from such a contagious disease.

Secondly, he identifies how proper protection for health-care workers is a skill that not every hospital has. The Dallas hospital protocols on this type of situation were either non-existent or changed constantly after Duncan arrived. Gerson writes that, “Any crack in a glove, any touching of the eye,” can be enough to spread Ebola and that many hospitals are, “poorly prepared to take very ill Ebola patients.” Gerson thinks to properly handle another situation like this there either needs to be Federal “Ebola SWAT teams” or proper transfer of such patients to a competent facilities.

Thirdly, he states that the federal response to the situation had a serious weakness. The CDC ( Center for Disease Control and Prevention) assumed that the Dallas hospital would have no trouble isolating its Ebola patient. Obviously, this assumption was incorrect. Gerson blames the CDC for letting a nurse who was exposed to Duncan, board a plane with a fever.

Gerson's main questions are, “Can government learn from its mistakes? And will it be allowed to? “ He also mentions that even with an election coming up, he hopes that the government can find the time to strengthen the protocols of the CDC.

He ends the article with some perspective. The World Health Organization says by the end of the year there could be 10,000 new cases of Ebola in West Africa each week. Even though the outbreaks usually occur in secluded places in Africa, with the possible collapse of Liberia, Guinea, or Sierra Leone refugees could spread the disease to more populous places quite quickly.

I think that Michael Gerson makes a good argument that even though it's election season and this type of case doesn't come up that often, America needs to correct a few things to help protect our country from such diseases. Gerson lays out three ways in which we could have done things better, he asks if America can correct these issues, and he ends with an alarming statistic on Ebola in Africa. I believe the CDC made this biggest mistake in this situation. Protocols should be practiced and precautions should have been taken to quarantine the patient and protect the health-care workers.

Higher Education, The New American Debt

The Department of Education released Wednesday that the default rate on student loans has dropped to 13.7%. This is slightly better than 14.7% in 2012, although the data shows that 650,000 borrowers who started paying on their debt in 2011 had already entered default by 2013. The editorial board of The New York Times wrote on October 2, (Original Article) that it believes that the government needs to pressure schools and loan companies to educate students to at least pay their minimum payments in order to reduce the default rate. Going into default for students loans is just as bad as defaulting on a credit card. It can affect your credit score which then affects the borrower's ability to get jobs, apartments, loans, or grants to continue going to school. Even worse, the borrower could have his wages garnished or his income tax withheld.

Currently, schools are urged to keep their student's default rate under 30%. If they cannot do so for three years then the school will lose their eligibility for the federal loan program and the Pell Grant program. Schools who lose these types of programs may have to shut down. The schools with the highest default rates have been and are still for-profit schools. Some even have such high rates that they are at risk of losing government aid. Schools in the past have tried to tilt the scale by pooling data across multiple campuses or pushing students into repayment plans that don't actually reduce the total amount due.

The Federal Government needs to step in and regulate the amount which students are paying on their debt. There needs to be a system where the minimum payments correlate with the borrower’s income. This will help students survive financially without having to default on their loans.

More Troops Needed In Iraq

The United States is currently involved with missions targeting the Islamic State (a jihadist group) that has seized large parts of territory in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. has 1600 troops currently stationed in Iraq but recent events are asking for more. Craig Whitlock writes in The Washington Post on Sep. 19 (Original Article) that as the Islamic State pushes farther into Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno (The Army chief of staff) urges the U.S. to send in a small number of ground troops.

On September 10^th President Obama sent an additional 475 troops, and he is not sure if more troops will be needed in the coming months. Any recommendations from military officials will have to first be approved by Chuck Hagel (Defense Secretary) before receiving White House approval. France in now conducting airstrikes on the Islamic State in Iraq also. I think that specialty forces should be deployed to help combat this extremist group. I do not think that we should deploy another “surge” of ground troops but a small group would help. Just a few extra troops to help secure the US embassy and to train Iraqi fighters.