30th Birthday since IOUSA

 As of now, about half way through my senior year of high school we are 16 trillion dollars in debt. Just three years ago in 2009 our country was 6 trillion dollars in debt. Within 3 years we have more then doubled our debt here. So what do I think life and our economy will be in 2024.... well as of now, not so good. If our country decides to make the budget cuts starting in 2014, that's good for our country in a way because that means we are making the effort to pay off the debt but that isn't good for people in my generation because they will cut the cost of medicare and retirement, so that means that when i no longer have to work i will not get those extra benefits for retirement which could effect my life when that time comes. When I reach the age thirty I hope to have a great career where I can raise my family and send them off to college, but I don't even know if that will be likely anymore.
  One thing our country needs right now is a leader who can change this and help our debt and the people at the same time, and it will take a strong leader to be able to accomplish such an extreme task. Our choice for electing Bush made our debt sky-rocket. And then the re-election of Obama, seems like not such a great idea either since the time that he was in office he doubled the debt. I am not yet 18 yet but I know that by the time that I am thirty I will make sure I keep up with the economy and know which leader will provide the needs for the people to help our country become more stable instead of hanging on a thread. I want to be able to send my kids to college and let them live the life that I have, but how do we do that when we are soo far from comfort? Just depends on the direction our country takes and what changes our president will make to help us.

Health Care Reform

Health Care Reform

The Health Care Reform, also known as Obamacare, has got citizens all across America worried about how this new system might affect them. Especially after the 2012 elections when Obama was re-elected as the President of the United States over Mitt Romney. As Romney announced during the debates he told America that he was going to make changes to the system to hopefully gain more power for the elections. But Obama took the lead and now there is no turning back from the Obamacare system. Is Obamacare really as bad as everyone is saying, or is it just rumors that are being spread across America about how taxes will be dramatically raised and people will now be forced to go on a health care system. Well the truth is, it really all depends on your standpoint. How old you are, if you are married, if you have health care or not, or your social status, rich, poor, or middle class.

First off, it is true that Obamacare will be making sure that everyone has health care insurance (Roy Avik).  And it makes a big difference to the people who don’t already have it. Some people may say its worthless, and don’t want to pay the extra money through the year because they believe they don’t get sick or injured often. Well in 2011 the average amount a single person had paid for for health insurance, per month, would be around 183 dollars (PR Newswire). (More if you have more people in your family). Those people who pay already could get regular check ups to stay healthy and if they break a bone or get sick, they would be safe at the hospital and not expect such high priced bills. At Kaiser Permanente I would go to the doctors to get a check up, and the upfront cost, or the bill that could be sent to your house would be a total of five dollars. Well if my family was uninsured and my father didn’t get the great opportunity of having insurance through his work it would cost a lot more. It’s said that most hospitals don’t call it a check up if you are uninsured. Basically what they do is you come in you pay 125 dollars for the exam and then 200 dollars plus for the lab work. And to me a regular check up is an important aspect to make sure your diet is healthy and that you get your regular shots so that you are not bound in the hospital from some crazy disease.So just right there is 325 dollars, around two months paid of insurance that you refused to get.(PR Newswire). So in a way Obama’s choice “health wise” for making sure that everyone has the correct insurance is a great idea.

Now lets talk about the classes, how does it affect you if you are considered “rich”, “poor”, or just the regular middle classed man and how your age can also come into play. Well if you have more money and considered rich there are many obstacles that you could have dodged in order to not pay for your insurance. But those obstacles are now undodgeable. Obamacare is reinforcing that a small percentage of your income is now directly going to help pay for the new system that is taking place in 2014 (Tulsa World) As for the middle class, there will be changes noticeable and some pretty unnoticeable ones as well. If you are already paying for insurance and have been then you are used to the amount you have to take out of your paychecks in order to stay insured. Well, the price will be raised, but hardly enough for you to notice much of a change. The amount that will be taken out of your pocket than from before will be about 0.9 percent (Tulsa World). It is understandable how you may be frustrated from both points, and its agreeable that you should have the choice to whether or not you get to pay for you insurance. But now that this new act is coming to place it’s better to become more understanding. On the positive side for younger people, up until the age of 26 you are able to stay on your parents health care insurance, and to prevent unwanted pregnancies the new system is slowly having hospitals give out free birth control to people who are insured (Investor's Business Daily). And as for the poor you yourself are in a better place then you might believe. Although you will be forced to have insurance, you will be eligible to get medicare, which will be saving a lot of people from such high expenses.

This brings me to talk about medicare. Medicare has been around since the late 1960’s and is meant to help pay for insurance for the the elder that are above the age of 65 or with people with disabilities. Something new has been found though. Researchers have found that the people that get medicare the most are actually the wealthy people in our country (Investor's Business Daily). Which generally makes sense considering that they are making more money, and because of the fiscal cliff coming soon this next year people clearly believe that reducing the amount of expenses for medicare is to make the wealthier pay more. Make sense? Well, maybe so. Now in 2013, all of the elders are from the “boomer” generation making medicare expenses shoot through the roof. In a way it makes you think though, what is Obama going to do now? Obamacare is forcing everyone to go out there and get health insurance, no matter how bad you refuse to pay, they will find a way. But is this going to hurt us more? What truly is the reason why SO many people are frustrated with this new Obamacare? Is it because of the debt we are in? Is it because Obama truly does care about the people that don’t have health care might get hurt or sick and be in desperate need? Or should it just be someone's own personal choice?

Here are some more facts on the outcome that 2013 has coming for us. Obama is going to try to force a lot of tax cuts in order to fix the debt that we are in right now. And so far it is known that obamacare is the largest tax increase in history. Obamacare has twenty one distinct tax increases were around twelve of them are hitting single americans that make less than 200,000 or married citizens that make less than 250,000 a year (Washington Post). There will also be an increase of itemized tax deductions for medical expenses. Currently that deduction for medical expenses is 7.5 percent, but starting this new year it will increase to 10 percent. The medicare payroll tax will increase to 3.8 percent this next year leaving the Health Flexible Spending Accounts to $2,500 per year (Washington Post). So with all these crazy increases coming at us this next year makes me even go a little cross eyed.

          Overall it seems to me that Obamacare will affect you differently depending on your own standpoint in the economy and your life, and depending on how much money you make each year, the age you are, or even if you are married or not. Debates and talks are still going on throughout the white house to what will be finalized and what still needs to be talked upon. But overall there will be an increase in taxes for the rich the poor, and mostly the middle class. It is also one hundred percent certain that Obamacare will be enforced on everyone no matter who you are. That can be applied to you by doing it yourself if you do not already have it, or having the state come and make you do it through them. Either way you will be put on some sort of plan. Although things seem to be all over the place, it’s mostly because of what our country is experiencing with in a whole. With the fiscal cliff coming soon, no one knows exactly what to expect with all the budget cuts the president will have to enforce.The economy needs help and one of the only ways it will be paid for is to make us pay more taxes. Whether that be through the groceries you buy at the supermarket or the the medical expenses you will be enforced to pay soon, it is going to happen.

Work Cited

Work Cited.

"Another Threat To ObamaCare." Investor's Business Daily 27 Nov. 2012: A12. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

"Fallin rejects health-care exchange." Tulsa World [Tulsa, OK] 20 Nov. 2012. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 29 Nov. 2012

"Health Care Reform." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

Roy, Avik. "Redeeming Obamacare: how to introduce the Affordable Care Act to free markets." National Review 3 Dec. 2012: 39. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

"Transparency on Health Care Costs Enhanced in Virginia." PR Newswire 13 Nov. 2012. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

Williams, Juan. "The Spent Rage Against Obamacare." Washington Post 28 Sept. 2012. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

Fiscal Cliffffffffffff

PayROLLLL tax Holiday: So if I were to explain this to someone from my school i would keep it as simple as it appears to be. Baisically the Payroll tax holiday is when the government takes a certain percentage of money out of your pay check. This money was used to help you pay for the things that you need, like gas and food or rent. But now that gas prices have risen the question is to continue this payroll holiday or not, because people are wondering how much they are actually benifiting from it now.

Sequester: The sequester is started with the BCA (Budget Control Act). The act was made to cut the cost of certain things like the defense spending or medicaid to save the money that we are in debt with. The goal is to have 1.2 trillion dollars by the time 2021 starts. The act begins on January 1 2013. And an estimated amount of the budget cuts that we will be having in the year of 2013 is around 109 billion dollars.

AMT: It stands for Alternative Minimum Tax. Its baiscially another part of taxes that people will have to pay to make sure that the people who have very high income pay their taxes instead of using special tax benifits to pay little or no taxes. But now it is hitting the regular person who pays their normal taxes every year like they are supposed to but now they have to pay that extra tax money.