Describe how a federal policy affects your current or desired workplace.

Instructions:-

Week 2 Discussion 1

If you are a business major, how does the insurance mandate in the Affordable Care Act affect local, state, and national businesses and their employees?

Week 2 Discussion 2

Describe how a federal policy affects your current or desired workplace.

Explain what role Congress has in establishing workplace conditions in your current or desired job.

Week 3 Discussion 1

In your initial post, summarize how the Electoral College works. Explain some of the main pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. In addition, evaluate one proposal to change how the system works without formally abolishing it. Would this proposal effectively address some of the cons that you identified earlier in your post? Please explain your response.

Week 3 Discussion 2

Explain how and why the actions of the executive and/or judicial branches have personally affected your life. Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. Fully respond to all parts of the prompt and write your response in your own words. Your initial post must be 200 to 250 words. Please be sure that you demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly.

Week 4 Discussion 1

Explain what obligations the U.S. government has towards its citizens and how can these obligations impact individual and group rights? Provide real-world examples to support your explanation. Fully respond to all parts of the prompt and write your response in your own words. Your initial response must be 200 to 250 words

Week 4 Discussion 2

Identify one issue area that you want investigate. Use the assigned resources required for this discussion to gather information about the goals and proposals, in that issue area, of three U.S. political parties – the Democratic and Republican parties and a third party. Summarize each of the three parties’ policy goals in your issue area. Evaluate each party’s goals from two perspectives:

For example, if you are a ‘Steadfast Conservative,’ what do the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and a third party have to say about your position on taxation? If you are a ‘Solid Liberal,’ what do Democrats, Republicans, and a third party say about your views on environmental issues? Who is the closest? Furthest away? Why?

Week 5 Discussion 1

Summarize recent developments in several states enacting voter ID laws. Analyze and describe the pros and cons on both sidesof the debate about these laws. Is voter fraud a major problem for our democracy or are some groups trying to make it harder for some segments of society to vote? Draw your own conclusion about the debate over voter ID laws. Justify your conclusions with facts and persuasive reasoning.

Week 5 Discussion 2

In your initial post of at least 200 to 250 words, explain how and why one feature of the U.S. government is the most important for America’s democracy. Choose one feature below to discuss in detail:

Solution

Describe how a federal policy affects your current or desired workplace.

Week 2 Discussion 1

• If you are a business major, how does the insurance mandate in the Affordable Care Act affect local, state, and national businesses and their employees?

I believe that the insurance mandate in the Affordable Care Act could potentially be a very good thing. I have a degree in medical billing and I have seen people drowning in medical debt because they had no insurance. No one thought that the government could uphold this mandate. However, “The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act on the grounds that the health insurance requirement was a tax. As Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to lay and collect taxes, it was within Congress’s power to mandate health insurance because the tax is a penalty for not purchasing the health insurance.” (Fine & Levin-Waldman, 2016) I believe that the problem is not with the mandate itself but the execution of the medical insurance with the insurance companies. Doctors, patients, and employers are all hurting from this. “Firms that employ 50 or more workers and don’t provide health insurance will be subject to a tax penalty of $2,000 for each uninsured employee beyond the first 30.” (Herrick, 2014) Because of this mandate, employers are changing their insurance to where employees are having to pay more out of pocket or they are just staying small and not hiring. “A survey of more than 600 small business owners by the Society for Human Resource Management found that more than four-in-10 small business owners have delayed hiring due to uncertainty about the effects of the ACA. One in five reported they have cut the number of workers they employ.” (Herrick, 2014) If we could keep the mandate but restrict insurance companies in what they could charge or what they could limit and how high the deductibles could be, then we could have affordable medical insurance for everyone. It is possible that my head is too high in the clouds but I honestly believe that we could fix the Affordable Care Act if we tried.

References

Fine, T., & Levin-Waldman, O. (2016). American Government.

Herrick, D. M. (2014, June 12). The Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Small Business. Retrieved from National Center for Policy Analysis: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st356

Week 2 Discussion 2

·  Describe how a federal policy affects your current or desired workplace.

·  Explain what role Congress has in establishing workplace conditions in your current or desired job

I work for a major tire manufacture in Tennessee. When it comes to federal policies in my workplace we focus on safety. I work for Bridgestone/Firestone we are members of United Steel Workers of America. We monitor and maintain the safety for or employees. I am a member of our safety committee and if we see a safety issue we bring it us to the company to correct. If the company chooses not to correct the issue we either negotiate it in our next contract, apply for an arbitration or we contact the Labor Department for review and law change. We are monitored and inspected by OSHA on a yearly basis. In 2014 4697 people were kill at work, with safety in mind we can reduce this number.

            Besides of Union Contracts our industry is also monitored by The Department of Labor. Some of the changes and processes made in the workplace is:

1. Be trained in a language you understand
2. Work on machines that are safe
3. Be provided required safety gear, such as gloves or a harness and lifeline for falls
4. Be protected from toxic chemicals
5. Request an OSHA inspection, and speak to the inspector
6. Report an injury or illness, and get copies of your medical records
7. Review records of work-related injuries and illnesses
8. Get copies of test results done to find hazards in the workplace
9. Maintain safety records for possible arbitration issues

As a member of our safety committee for the Union, we do these check and maintain a safety violation record on the company. We are always in contact with the DOL and when issues arise we work with in the law and have safety regulations changed. https://www.osha.gov/index.html http://www.dol.gov/

Week 3 Discussion 1

In your initial post, summarize how the Electoral College works. Explain some of the main pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. In addition, evaluate one proposal to change how the system works without formally abolishing it. Would this proposal effectively address some of the cons that you identified earlier in your post? Please explain your response.

The Electoral College works by giving states an allotted amount of electors (nominated or voted by State party to vote) to choose a presidential candidate during Election Day.  There are a total of 538 electoral votes that includes three for the District of Colombia, and a presidential candidate just needs 270 to win.  A majority of states has a winner-takes-all system, which means that if a candidate wins a majority of votes from a state then they’ll be able to take all the votes, however, this system does not apply for the states of Maine and Nebraska since the two states split their votes.  Slate of electors are chosen by each presidential candidate’s party and are pledged to vote for that party.  Whether candidates win by a small percentage in a state it can still cause a dramatic difference in the Electoral College.

As stated in the previous paragraph, a candidate can win by a small fraction in a state but since a majority of states employ the winner-take-all system then the candidate who would takes all the electoral votes that is allotted to the state which can cause a significant difference in the Electoral College.  I feel that the winner-take-all system and outside branches influencing votes (U.S. Supreme Court ordering the recounting of votes to stop and giving Florida to Bush during the 2000 election) are both cons of the Electoral College.  One of the pros that the Electoral College has would be that presidents are obligated to visit smaller states to gain support they need instead of visiting larger states that have a much larger population. 

I would propose splitting electoral votes just like Maine and Nebraska does and allotting more votes for states.  Decisions should also be made solely on electoral votes instead of having other branches interfere.  In this sense the Electoral College would not have to be abolished.  This particular proposal would address the cons since candidates won’t just take all the electoral votes based on the majority of votes, and it would help prevent another issue similar to 2000’s presidential election.

References

Levin-Waldman, O. M. (2012). American government [Electronic version]. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Schlesinger, A. (1973). The Imperial Presidency. Pages 483-484. http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/8163

Week 3 Discussion 2

Explain how and why the actions of the executive and/or judicial branches have personally affected your life. Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. Fully respond to all parts of the prompt and write your response in your own words. Your initial post must be 200 to 250 words. Please be sure that you demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly.

The executive branch and the judicial branch can affect citizens daily. The executive branch is in charge of making sure that the laws of the United States are followed. The judicial branch decides the meaning of laws, how to apply them to real situations, and whether a law breaks the rules of the Constitution. The Constitution is the highest law of our Nation. The U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States, is part of the judicial branch. These branches can affect out life’s everyday, for instance, if you were driving and get pulled over for speeding. The police are executing the laws and then when you go to court the judicial branch would determine your punishment. The branches of government are in place to protect and set guidelines for citizens of America, but I know many of you have been in a situation or have heard of a situation where the judicial system has failed us. I have a friend who does everything for her children while the father is off living life with no responsibilities. A few weeks ago my friend called to let me know that he children’s father was arrested (executive branch) for beating up a woman. My friend went to court to hear the outcome and it was determined that he will just need to do community service hours. In my eyes, I feel like the judicial branch has failed. Knowing the background of this guy, he should have spent some time in jail; he has previous charges and is thousands dollars behind in child support. It is all too often where you hear parents getting off on such light punishments for such serious crimes.   Levin-Waldman, O. M., (2012), American Government, San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc

Week 4 Discussion 1

Explain what obligations the U.S. government has towards its citizens and how can these obligations impact individual and group rights? Provide real-world examples to support your explanation. Fully respond to all parts of the prompt and write your response in your own words. Your initial response must be 200 to 250 words