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Individual mandates for health insurance would be a disaster if that were the only health care reform on the table.  That’s why Obama rejected the idea when Hillary Clinton proposed it when campaigning for the primaries.  The full picture of health care reform includes provisions that may be made more effective by requiring the population to have some form of health insurance, such as lowering costs for health care over time and ending  abusive practices of for-profit insurance companies. None of the proposed changes alone would make a huge difference in our health care system, or even be advisable, without the presence of the others.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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Sadly, I missed the show talking about TAG -- for me, growing up in California, the GATE program was an all-day, every day separate class, and so it simply was my experience with public education from 3rd to 5th grade. I think that it was a very good basic education that would be a great place to start for anyone -- not just those who are identified as having certain "gifts" and "talents". For me, though I had done well in school before that time because I simply knew I should, I was pretty bored and didn't care all that much, but in the GATE program the interactive learning and focus on critical thinking and analysis engaged me and caused me to love learning. I think all students, regardless of IQ or performance on aptitude tests, would succeed better in such an environment. To my understanding, this would be in direct contrast to the current policy for the educational system as well as the economic shortfalls that have the net effect of discouraging creativity in teaching and learning. I would like to hear others' experiences of what worked for themselves or their children. I would also appreciate a discussion on how, as others have mentioned here, parents, teachers, and administrators, and even kids themselves, might be able to work within the current system, or change the current system, to be more effective and creative in providing true education in the public system.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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This reply is inspired by oregon606's comments, but also applies to the discussion in general:
Having traveled to Mexico and Brazil, I would say an American would probably not be provided the same social assistance that we currently have or wish to have for people coming to the U.S. I don't think it's a fair comparison, because there is no way that, as an American, you would need these services at all. In fact, there are many services that are lacking in these countries for their own citizens, whereas the US does have many services they offer to any US citizen.
That being said: a) tax payers in the US include many Latino families and families originally from other countries who are legally living and working and paying taxes here. There is certainly no reason to deny them social services when we (meaning any US citizen) may also benefit from other services for different times in our own lives; b) the dream is not to benefit from the hard work of others, but to go to a place where you have the opportunity to even work in the first place; c) it is in "our" best interest to support social services that meet the gaps in communities, because it is the best insurance against poverty leading to increased crime, emergency-room usage, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, that "we" complain we pay so much for through taxes, whether the source is Latino communities, or any community where poverty exists.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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