The Affordable Care Act Bill ( Aca ) - 1442 Words

Christmas Eve 2009 marked an important date for the beginning of the Affordable Care Act Bill (ACA). It was on this day that the bill was passed through the Senate where the majority democratic party voted yes on this historically altering bill. While the main provision of the bill is to provide health care benefits for all American citizens the bill is a lot more than just that. With provisions that have nothing to do with health care reform, new taxes that will affect the businesses that have to follow the new regulations, and the questions raising the constitutionality of the bill the ACA is a very intriguing topic. Small businesses account for a large portion of job growth in America and there are fears that the ACA will squander this†¦show more content†¦While reductions can occur those that will see a reduction will only account for 35 percent of small businesses while the remaining 65 percent will see an increase (Harrison). The reason why the reduction percentage is so low compared to the increase is because in the ACA in order to be eligible for a decrease a firm has to have exceptionally sick or at-risk workers. We have already seen a change in these rates and according to the National Small Business Association premiums in 2009 was $590 per employee monthly and now in 2014 they have spiked to $1,121 per employee per month. Now while these are just numbers and the people that wrote these words do not personally own businesses you can assume that there is some bias in the words and that is why using a real time business owner would be the best way to see the impact it has had Tim Graboski has owned Tim Graboski Roofing for over 20 years and has made it through the various economic shifts in America to still be standing today as one of the best roofing companies in South Florida. Graboski spoke on a wide variety of topics on the ACA and tried to determine all aspects negatively and positively on the ACA on small business and the American people. Shortly put he found no positives. Graboski started by mentioning the burden that the ACA would put on the employer

To Attract More Customers the Company Should Introduce an Exterior Pai Research Paper

Essays on To Attract More Customers the Company Should Introduce an Exterior Paint That Will Absorb Less Heat from the Sun and Keep the House Cooler Research Paper The paper â€Å"To Attract More Customers the Company Should Introduce an Exterior Paint That Will Absorb Less Heat from the Sun and Keep the House Cooler † is an engrossing variant of research paper on marketing. The survey indicated that among the people interviewed 53% of the men did the painting themselves whereas the remaining 47% were women. The percentage in men is a bit high due to the fact that most men have acquired the art of painting in their high school education so that they are capable of doing most of the procedures involved in painting such as mixing of the paints, aligning the layers properly and most of them have adequate knowledge concerning the best paints there are in the market. It was also evident that these men whose age ranges between 45-54 preferred doing the painting themselves since they found it a bit intruding for a hired painter to enter private rooms such as the bedrooms. Though the majority of them do not read magazines such as grand design an d location location, they once in a while perusing through the home section of the Sun Herald. A large percentage had much interest in the T.V. shows like â€Å"Better Homes and Gardens† and in many cases, they wanted to put into practice what they read and watched rather than having a professional painter do it for them.The margin between the men and women who painted their houses themselves was rather small with the percentage difference of only 6%. This could be attributed to the fact that most of the women are fond of buying monthly issues of Better Homes and Gardens magazines hence have acquired adequate skills in the art of painting. In many cases, women will invite family and friends at least once in a month to share food and other entertainments and therefore they mind a lot about the appearance of their house. In this case, then, some women will fix peeled off paints inside and outside the house as well as making decorative paintings whenever they are expecting visit ors. Many said that it was extremely important to have a house that looks presentable and they would go to any length in ensuring that their houses were presentable at any given time. Walls that have peeled off paints or covered with mold are not only embarrassing but also look unhygienic, unpleasant and disgusting.About 0.45% of the people who did the painting themselves, were in the age limit of between 45 and 54. These interviewees owned their own houses in comparison with those in the age bracket of 35-44 who mainly live in rental houses. At the age of 45-54, most people are headed towards retirement and are not too tired up in their workplaces. They gave painting the least priority in terms of allocation of their finances since the majority have children in higher institutions of learning which takes away a large proportion of their salaries. The survey indicated that these people would rather do the final touches of the house during a renovation than have it done by a professi onal. This does not only creates a sense of achievement but also shortens the period of finishing renovation since professionals take longer due to the application of many procedures (Smith, 2003).

Origins of the Arab Spring Free Essays

Abstract This report presents an in-depth analysis of the Arab Spring that recently erupted in several Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa. It provides an overview of events that took place during the uprising, specifically in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. This report also highlights some of the demographic characteristics about Arab countries that make them prone to revolutions by their citizens. We will write a custom essay sample on Origins of the Arab Spring or any similar topic only for you Order Now The impacts of the Arab Spring on the local regional and global scale are also mentioned in the report. 1.Introduction The ‘Arab Spring’ is a term that refers to the recent politically charged uprisings that took place in Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Several country leaders were ousted from power as the Arab spring unfolded. This is because one of its key objectives was to get rid of regimes that were characterized by dictatorship, high unemployment rates, nepotism and general oppression of common citizens. As it was stated by Ajami (2012), the Middle East was run by tyrants who had taken up ownership of their countries. Many Arabs had a feeling that they had been cursed and that the running of affairs in their countries was a source of moral embarrassment. All the events in the Arab Spring originated from an act of protest by Bouazizi, a 26-year-old man from Tunisia on 17th December, 2010. He set himself on fire after a brush with police forces. As reported by The Telegraph (2011), â€Å"his cart was confiscated by a policewoman who slapped him and spat in his f ace†. This adds police brutality to the perils that Arabs were going through in regimes prior to the spring. This report aims to present an in-depth look into events before, during and after the recent Arab spring. 2.Events During the Arab Spring Bouazizi succumbed to injuries sustained after torching himself in protest. However, the events that followed transformed Tunisia’s political landscape. Mass protests were organized over oppression, unemployment and the wide gap in income between the rich and the poor. The ultimate goal of the protests was to ensure that Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the then president of the country, is removed from office. Slightly less than a month after the protests started, Ben Ali fled Tunisia on 14th January, 2011 after ruling for twenty four years (Willis, 2012). This victory of Tunisian reformists inspired protestors in neighbouring Egypt, who believed that they had to end Hosni Mubarak’s thirty-year reign of the country. Egypt protests were brutally resisted by security forces. In February 2011, the persistent protestors succeeded in making Mubarak to leave office (Abou-El-Fadl, 2012). The third casualty was Libya, whose protests were triggered by the arrests of human rights lawyer s in February, 2011. These protests took a violent turn, with the opposition being assisted by NATO in destabilizing the Libyan army. In October 2011, after eight months of fierce exchanges between the army and protestors, Gaddafi’s rule was brutally ended when he was captured executed (Prashad, 2012). In the Middle East, countries that experienced Arab spring protests were Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. Just like it was experienced in North Africa, protests in these countries were violent and received brutal resistance from police and other security forces. After surviving an execution attempt, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been Yemen’s president for over 30 years, resigned in 2012. However, Bashar Al-Assad, Syria’s president managed to cling to his presidency amidst criticism from the international community (Weyland, 2012). 3.Characteristics of Arab Countries that triggered the Arab Spring Springborg (2011) argues that the economic conditions in Arab countries are not conducive for democratic leadership. There is a high dominance of governments in the private sector, a fact that limits the sources from which autonomous organizations can draw capital. As a result, these countries score negatively in terms of employment and other aspects that contribute to economical stability. Dominance of businesses by the government gives it an economic advantage over its opposition. Unless reforms are made to reduce the economic power of governments, attainment of democracy is difficult (Campante Chor, 2012; Stepan Linz, 2013). With no financial power to match that of the government and minimal avenues through which grievances can be made, mass protests were the only viable options for the oppressed. Thus, the majority of the population collaborated against the few who were in power. However, there is no assurance that ousting one person from power and transferring it to another ca n bring instant economic transformations to a country. According to Springborg (2011), the attainment of democracy in the Middle East is challenged by the fact the economies are too young, poor and rural. For a democratic transition to effectively take place in a country, Cincotta and Doces (2011) established that the median age of the country’s population has to be approximately thirty. However, Arab countries have the second lowest median ages in the world. Tunisia is the oldest, with a median age of 29. Such youthful ages, according to Springborg (2011), are associated with volatility, a characteristic that was displayed in the Arab spring. For democracy to be effectively sustained, the per capita annual income for citizens was approximated in 1997 to be $6,000 (Przeworski Limongi, 1997). Given that this was 15 years ago, the current figure is $12, 000. Apart from Tunisia, the per capita GDPs of Arab countries are currently less than $6,000. The attainment of democracy is also closely related to how urbanized regions are (Davis Henderson, 2003). Even though there are varying degrees of urbanization in the Arab world, the overall level of urbanization is lower than expected. This is even worsened by the fact that Egypt has been in the process of de-urbanizing since 1986 (Springborg, 2011). Other factors that pose a challenge to democracy in the Arab world include shrunken middle classes, high illiteracy levels among populations, insecurity and overdependence on governments. Arabians from the poor, rich and middle class heavily rely on their governments for their wellbeing. This has increased the governments’ budgets on subsidies of energy and food (Springborg, 2011). For these reasons, governments are largely authoritarian. This leaves those in power at liberty to do whatever they please with the resources of their countries, regardless of what effects it shall have on other citizens. This also contributed to the rage among protestors who complained about the ineffective distribution of resources. 4.Impacts of the Arab Spring There are several impacts that resulted from the Arab Spring on both local and international levels. For countries that actively took part and ousted their leaders, the vacancies had to be filled. This led to the competition of leadership among several groups, each considering itself the right heir of leadership (Brom, 2012). These included groups fighting for democracy, Islamic organizations, military groups and groups allied to previous regimes. However, the current reality in these countries is that the potential of Islamic organizations getting power is higher than that of the other groups. In the entire Middle East, the Arab Spring brought about a shift in the interests of each country. Prior to the spring, countries in the Middle East had segmented themselves into groups, each contesting to attain regional leadership. The two main groups into which these countries were divided were the anti-western camp and pro western camp. The anti-western camp was against the ideologies of countries from the west and posed certain challenges for the international community. On the other hand, the pro-western camp was moderate and supported some ideals of the west. After the spring, countries quit contesting for supremacy and concentrated on their own domestic issues. Relationships between these countries have considerably reduced to a minimum (Yadlin, 2012). Vacuums that were left after the revolution are being filled and measures are being taken to prevent such uprisings from taking place in countries that did not experience them. On a global scale, countries are competing for a chance to participate in reshaping the Middle Eastern countries in the aftermath of the revolution. The Russians and Chinese are competing with western countries to support these countries, each pursuing its own interests in these countries. Several countries from the European region have also shown interest in assisting these nations to undergo a successful democratic transformation (Perthers, 2011). Businesses have also seen an opportunity in investing in these countries. Just like the Spring of Nations, the Eastern European Spring and the Prague Spring in 1848, 1980s and 1968, respectively (Susser, 2012), attaining an equilibrium state after the Arab spring is expected to take quite some time. Whether the regimes that shall take over leadership shall overcome all challenges and embrace democracy is a fact that is unknown at present. 5.Conclusion The Arab Spring was triggered by political and social problems that are synonymous with most of the Arab countries. As it has been indicated in this report, most of these problems have occurred because of the lack of democracy. The key cause of this revolution was the utter dissatisfaction of the people with their rulers, whose leadership had been characterized by huge gaps between the rich and the poor, violations of the rights of their citizens, dictatorial rules, high levels of unemployment and poverty. It is also argued by some researchers that the spring might have been inspired by the Kyrgyz revolution that took place in 2010. Impacts of the Arab Spring have been felt across the globe, with countries competing to participate in the transition of these countries while at the same time pursuing their personal interests. However, addressing the challenges that face Arab countries needs a lot of resources and time. 6.Bibliography Abou-El-Fadl, R., 2012. The Road to Jerusalem through Tahrir Square: Anti-Zionism and Palestine in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Journal of Palestine Studies, 41(2), pp.6-26. Ajami, F., 2012. The Arab Spring at One. Foreign Affairs, 91(2). Brom, S., 2012. Regional Implications of the Arab Spring. In Guzansky, Y., Heller, M.A. (ed) One Year of the Arab Spring: Global and Regional Implications. Tel Aviv: Institute for National Security Studies. pp.39-43. Campante, F.R. Chor, D., 2012. Why was the Arab World Poised for RevolutionSchooling, Economic Opportunities, and the Arab Spring. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(2), pp.167-87. Cincotta, R. Doces, J., 2011. The Age-structural Maturity Thesis: the Youth Bulge’s Influence on the Advent and Stability of Liberal Democracy. In Goldstone, J.A., Kaufmann, E. Toft, M.D. Political Demography: identity, conflict and institutions. New-York, Palgrave-MacMillan. Davis, J.C. Henderson, J.V., 2003. Evidence on the political economy of the urbanization process. Journal of Urban Economics, 53(1), pp.98-125. Perthers, V., 2011. Europe and the Arab Spring. Survival, 53(6), pp.73-84. Prashad, V., 2012. Arab spring, Libyan winter. New York: AK Press Pub. Przeworski, A. Limongi, F., 1997. Modernization: Theories and Facts. World Politics, 49(2), pp.155-83. Springborg, R., 2011. The Precarious Economics of Arab Springs. Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 53(6), pp.85-104. Stepan, A. Linz, J.J., 2013. Democratization Theory and the â€Å"Arab Spring†. Journal of Democracy , 24(2), pp.15-30. Susser, A., 2012. The â€Å"Arab Spring†: The Origins of a Misnomer. Tel Aviv Notes, 6(6). The Telegraph, 2011. Arab Spring: timeline for the African and Middle East rebellion. The Telegraph, 25 October. Weyland, K., 2012. The Arab Spring: Why the Surprising Similarities with the Revolutionary Wave of 1848Perspectives on Politics, 10(4), pp.917-34. Willis, M.J., 2012. Politics and Power in the Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from Independence to the Arab Spring. London: C. Hurst Co. Yadlin, A., 2012. The Arab Uprising One Year On. In Guzansky, Y., Heller, M.A. (ed) One Year of the Arab Spring: Global and Regional Implications. Tel Aviv: Institute for National Security Studies. pp.11-20. How to cite Origins of the Arab Spring, Essay examples

I Am a Lifeguard free essay sample

In the writing titled I Am a Lifeguard written by Jonah F., I felt worried for him. His writing about saving a little girls life left me feeling almost speechless because of the impact I know that mustve had on him. This article was written so well and makes you realize how important some jobs are. Yes, it seems true that lifeguarding could be considered a boreing or perhaps easy job because it is mostly a lot of sitting, waiting and watching. However, some people dont always think about the experiences that some lifeguards may have had. The comparison, She was flailing her arms as if she was fighting off a pack of bees, uses great imagery, making it easier to picture the scene. I also love how the article ended with a strong conclusion.Sometimes even lifeguards forget this, but that day I will never forget. To me, this quote shows how much of an impact that moment obviously made on his life and how you can not take anything for granted. We will write a custom essay sample on I Am a Lifeguard or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page