Tax Reform Essays (Examples)

tax system of one country with that of another is an exercise fraught with dificulties and ultimately doomed to failure . tax system will never be much more than a reflection of strongly national cultures and forces. discuss this statement in the light of your knowledge of comparative tax system in developing and/or developed countries i

Tax Systems

The following pages focus on analyzing the factors of influence on different countries' taxation systems. The paper begins with an introductory section that allows readers understand the point-of-view used in this paper. The following section refers to describing the taxes pand taxation systems used by most countries and their objectives, in order to understand the similarities and differences between these taxation systems. The paper continues with the analysis of several factors that influence countries' tax system design, like cultural factors, technological developments, and natural resources. In order to exemplify this, the taxation…

Reference list:

1. Pasekova, M. et al. (2011). Comparative Analysis of Tax Systems: Some Evidence from CEE Countries. World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology. Retrieved February 27, 2012.

2. Greenhouse, S. (2011). Tiny Tax on Financial Trades Gains Advocates. The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2012 from  http://www.nytimes.com /2011/12/07/business/global/micro-tax-on-financial-trades-gains-advocates.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all.

3. Ross, M. (2004). Does Taxation lead to Representation? Cambridge University Press. Retrieved February 28, 2012.

4. Seto, T. (2008). Four Core Principles of Tax Design System: Introduced and Applied to the Taxation of Multinationals. Loyola Law School. Retrieved February 28, 2012.

Tax Planning -- Employer (II of II)

Tax Planning - Employer

The marketplace that businesses operate in has become more and more globalized and international in nature, not to mention extremely competitive. This particular report will focus on the employer and their tax implications when it comes to operating and/or headquartering in one or more countries around the world. The prior report focused on the employee. While the implications for the employee are complicated and diverse enough, they become even more complicated when speaking of the employer, and for a number of reasons.

Considerations

Just as there were a number of considerations relevant to the employee and their tax treatment, there are a number of tax considerations that USCo will need to consider for themselves and they are as follows:

The actual headquarters location (nation, state/province and county/city)

The actual locations outside of that home country (or state and city)…

References

Bachmann, H. (2009, August 20). Can Swiss Banks Thrive After the UBS-U.S. Deal?

Retrieved December 3, 2014, from  http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1917648,00.html 

Canada. (2014, December 3). Income Tax Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.)).

Retrieved December 3, 2014, from  http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-3.3/

Tax Avoidance & Firm Growth

What follows in the next few pages is a review of whether there is a correlation between tax avoidance with corporations and firm growth. Indeed, looking at the literature reveals that the evidence is mixed but that the overall answer is a condition "yes," that there can indeed be a link between tax avoidance and firm growth. To explain the conditional nature of the answer garnered, one can look to the work of Desai, Foley and Hines (2006) when they assert that "firms with sizable foreign operations benefit the most from using tax havens, an effect that can be evaluated by using foreign economic growth rates as instruments for firm-level growth of foreign investment outside of tax havens" (Desai, Foley & Hines, 2006). They further state that "one percent greater sales and investment growth in nearby non-haven countries is associated with a 1.5 to 2%…

References

Chang, S. (2012). The Great Debt Controversy in the U.S. And Beyond. SERI

Quarterly, 5(2), 50-62.

Desai, M.A., & Dharmapala, D. (2006). Corporate tax avoidance and high-powered incentives. Journal Of Financial Economics, 79(1), 145-179.

doi:10.1016/j.jfineco.2005.02.002

Sugary sodas contain corn syrup, but the American Agricultural Department subsidizes American farmers for growing corn, and this is one of the reasons that high-fructose corn syrup is so ubiquitous in the food supply. e are taxing corn syrup and subsidizing it at the same time, in other words. "The bigger issue, which the industry neither can nor particularly cares to rebut, is that the product [corn syrup] exists at all. e pump absurd quantities of cash into subsidizing corn (we also have a huge tariff on Brazilian sugar cane, incidentally). Over the past 10 years alone, Congress has appropriated more than $50 billion to encourage farmers to grow the stuff. But people don't want to eat $50 billion in subsidized corn. And if the cobs just sat around developing mold, Congress would cut off the spigot. Enter high fructose corn syrup, which sucks up the subsidies and created a…

Works Cited

Adamy, Jane. "Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care." The Wall Street Journal. May 12,

2009.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124208505896608647.html 

Klein, Ezra. "The Problem with Corn Syrup. The American Prospect. 2008.

 http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=09&year=2008&base_name=the_problem_with_corn_syrup&35

Taxes on Alcohol and Tobacco:

The alcohol industry is increasingly being considered for an increase in taxes in attempts to help in providing health care insurance to all people. As heath care insurance continues to be a major issue in the United States, policy makers are looking for effective measures to provide health insurance coverage for all. Currently, senators and other policy makers are focusing on the ways to provide health care coverage in order to extend insurance for approximately 50 million uninsured Americans that could total to $1.5 trillion over a decade. Furthermore, these policymakers are examining various ways to lessen expenses and increase taxes including increasing alcohol and tobacco tax to help cater for the expansion. The main reason for the proposed increase in taxes of alcohol and tobacco is that they are among the main contributors to the increasing medical costs. With these proposals and measures, the…

References:

Gravelle, J.G. & Zimmerman, D. (1994, March 8). Cigarette Taxes to Fund Health Care

Reform: An Economic Analysis. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from U.  http://www.forces.org/evidence/files/crs-tax.htm 

"Higher Taxes on Alcohol Being Considered." (n.d.). Promises Treatment Centers. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from  http://www.promises.com/articles/public-policies/higher-taxes-on-alcohol-being-considered/

Reform of the International Monetary System

The proposal for international reform that is most important is the International Lender of Last Resort. An international lender of last resort might have the ability to preclude contagion, in which an efficacious speculative attack on one emerging market currency gives rise to attacks on other emerging market currencies, propagating financial and economic disorder as it goes. Taking into consideration that a lender of last resort for emerging market nations is necessitated at times, and bearing in mind it cannot be provided locally, there is a significant justification for an international institution to occupy this role. This can be linked to Mexico's financial crisis of 1994, where the IMF took the role of lender of last resort and offered emergency lending to nations facing financial instability. On the other hand, an international lender of last resort generates risks of its own, particularly the risk…

Works Cited

Claessens, Stijn, and Mr. M. Ayhankose. Financial crises explanations, types, and implications. No. 13-28. International Monetary Fund, 2013.

d'Arista, Jane. "Dollars, debt, and dependence: the case for international monetary reform." Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 26.4 (2004): 557-572.

Kregel, Jan. "Some Simple Observations on the Reform of the International Monetary System." The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Policy Note, 2009.

Mehta, Nitin. "Pros and cons of 'Tobin tax' divides EU." Financial Times, 2013. Retrieved from:  https://www.ft.com/content/ce94512e-81a3-11e2-ae78-00144feabdc0

Federal Government Tax

The main source of government income is taxes. The government taxes various organizations in the economy differently to ensure that adequate revenue is collected. Corporate use loopholes in the tax system to reduce the tax paid to the federal government. The government should eliminate these loopholes to improve tax collection. Some taxes such as gift and estate tax as they are counter productive. Changes made to the federal tax collection systems will increase the tax collected by increasing compliance.

esearch the most common tax loopholes used by corporations and partnership to avoid paying federal income tax. Discuss two (2) loopholes identified and what strategies you would recommend to the federal government for closing these loopholes.

The federal government gets most of its revenue from collection of tax used to fund most of the expenditure. The government should ensure that the tax collection avenues are free from loopholes…

References

Gans, J. (2011). Principles of economics. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning.

Ganghof, S. (2006). The politics of income taxation: A comparative analysis. Colchester: ECPR Press.

Conklin, D.W., St.-Hilaire, F., & Institute for Research on Public Policy. (1990). Provincial tax reforms: Options and opportunities. Halifax, N.S: Institute for Research on Public Policy = Institut de recherches politiques.

Pechman, J.A. (1987). Federal tax policy. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution.

Naturally, to the extent the AMT applies to the specific segment of taxpayers to whom it was initially addressed, it is serves a beneficial purpose; on the other hand, that benefit must be considered against the unintended consequences and unfairness of its application to taxpayers completely outside the ranks of the very wealthy, particularly at the lower end of that income category. Undesirable Consequences:

The first major potential problem with the AMT is that it does not incorporate inflation at all; as a result, it applies to more and more taxpayers every year despite the fact that their wealth actually remains unchanged during that time. This is particularly important in times of economic recession, especially where income increases fail to keep pace with rising inflation. Whereas the AMT applied to a fewer than 200 households when first implemented in 1970, it currently affects as many as 15% of households earning…

References

Congressional Budget Office. (2004). Revenue and Tax Policy Brief: Alternative Minimum Tax.

Leiserson, G. (2008). The Individual Alternative Minimum Tax: Historical Data and Projections. "http: Brookings Institution.

The New York Times. (2007). Times Topics: Alternative Minimum Tax. (Dec. 6/07).

Dividend Tax

Capital gains and dividend taxes were both initiated in the early 1970's, by the Democratic Party. efore dividend taxes were enforced, the government made its money through higher aftertax yields, The dividend tax was originally supposed to be a progressive measure, so that the wealthiest paid correspondingly more than the poorest because they had benefited more. At this time, only the wealthy invested in stocks. This is no longer true. Most middle-class people today are investors in the market and they do not have the expensive accountants hired by the rich to shield their investments from tax.

Investing in the stock market has become far more widespread over the last two decades, as 84 million people - representing nearly half of all American households - owning stock. Tax-deferred investment tools such as 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) have placed millions of Americans who make $60,000 or…

Bibliography

Beach, William. (January 23, 2003). Just what our economy needs. San Diego Union-Tribune. (Berlau, John. *February 6, 2003). Accounting firm fights dividend-tax cut. WorldNetDaily. Retrieved from the Internet at http://civilliberty.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp%3FARTICLE%5FID=30894.

Centre for International Co-operation and Development. (2003). Corporate Income Tax. Retrieved from the Internet at  http://www.gzs.si/ENG/busenv/financ61.htm .

Edwards, Chris. (January 7, 2003). Nearly All Major Countries Provide Dividend Tax Relief. The Cato Institute. Retrieved from the Internet at  http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-07-03-2.html .

Hall, Joshua. (January 31, 2003). Dumping fed dividend tax practical on several levels. Columbus Business First. Retrieved from the Internet at  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2003/02/03/editorial3.html .

AUSTALIA It's CABON TAX IN AUSTALIA

Australian Carbon Tax

The term that took the scientific world by storm in 1987 was "sustainable development," a terminology that redefined the perception on economic growth, human development and environmental conservation. Scientists, engineers, policy makers, and a practically all communities need to get involved in meeting human development needs. However, this brings on a series of problems related to sustainability, especially considering that the contemporary society is experiencing a process of regression when taking into account pollution. People presently need to come up with ingenious methods of improving society without damaging the environment. This pursuit for having economic growth without damaging the ecosystem has lead to the design of new means of creating energy, better lifestyle, change in the human behavior, overall a fresh and innovative attitude towards nature and life. But there are challenges to be faced, and most of them come from…

References:

Adams, P.D., Dixon, P.B., Paramenter, B.R., and Peter, M.W., (1991). Prospects for the Australian Economy 1989 to 2029-30: ORANI-F projections for the Ecologically Sustainable Development Working Groups. Final report to the ESD Working Groups, Monash University Centre for Policy Studies

Brennan, G., (2009). Climate change: a rational choice politics view. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Volume 53, Issue 3, pages 309 -- 326

Cornwell, A. And Creedy, J., (1996). Carbon Taxation, Prices and Inequality in Australia. Fiscal Studies, vol. 17, no. 3, pp.21- 38

Freebairn, J., (2007). Policy Forum: Climate Change: Some Economic Policy Issues Economic Issues with Climate Change. The Australian Economic Review, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 402 -- 9

Consolidated Tax Returns and GoSystems Tax Software

Consolidated Tax Returns

The consolidated tax return, in simple terms, is "a method by which to determine the tax liability of a group of affiliated corporations" (Pratt and Kulsrud 8-2). It is based on the assumption that the business operations of affiliated companies represent a single entity and that, hence, the group's aggregate income ought to be taxed, as opposed to the separate incomes of the member corporations. It would be prudent to mention, however, that the return does not simply report the sum of the taxable incomes of all member corporations as one large, conglomerate entity; rather, it follows a set of special Treasury regulations in determining how to make adjustments for intercompany bargains, and establishing which items to state on a consolidated basis (Pratt and Kulsrud 8-2).

The History of Consolidated Tax Returns

The consolidated tax return traces its origin to…

Works Cited

CPA Practice Advisor. " 2012 Review of Thomas Reuters -- GoSystem Tax RS." CPA Principal Advisor, 2012. Web. 29 August 2014  http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/article/10682894/2012-review-of-thomson-reuters-gosystem-tax-rs 

Find Accounting Software. "GoSystem Tax." Find Accounting Software, 2014. Web. 29 August 2014  http://findaccountingsoftware.com/directory/thomson-reuters-professional-software-services/gosystem-tax/ 

Pratt, James, and Kulsrud William. Corporate, Partnership, Estate, and Gift Taxation 2013. 7th ed. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.

Thomson Reuters. "The Most Sophisticated Income Tax Software in the Profession: GoSystem Tax RS." Thomson Reuters Inc., 2014. Web. 29 August 2014  https://cs.thomsonreuters.com/gosystem/

Globalization and Taxes

Globalization

Competition for Taxes

One of the most difficult issues regarding the state regulation of their tax relations in regard to international business is the presence of various "tax havens" that are present across the globe in today's modern economy. According to some estimates, as much as half of the world's stock of money either resides in tax havens or passes through them (Palan, 2002). The term tax haven has been widely used since the 1950s; yet there is no consensus as to what it means (Palan, Murphy, & Chavagneux, 2010). The influential U.S. Treasury's Gordon eport concluded: there is no single, clear, objective test which permits the identification of a country as a tax haven . Corporations and private businesses now have a plethora of ways to reduce their tax liabilities. Globalization has exacerbated this problem even further. The mere presence of these various tax shelters…

References

Bhagwati, J. (2004). In Defense of Globalization. New York: Oxford University Press.

Dyreng, S., Lindsey, B., & Thornock, J. (2011, April 30). Exploring the Role Delaware Plays as a Domestic Tax Haven. Retrieved from Social Science Research Network:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1737937 

Friedman, T. (2005). The World is Flat. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Kanter, J. (2015, October 21). E.U. Orders 2 Nations to Recover Taxes From Starbucks and Fiat. Retrieved from The New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com /2015/10/22/business/international/starbucks-fiat-eu-tax-netherlands-luxembourg.html?_r=0

same-sex marriage refers to a legal married union between two persons of the same sex. In other word, same sex partner is a man legally married to another man or a woman legally married to another woman. Since same sex marriage is a new development in the United States, the federal government has faced challenges in treating the tax issues of same-sex individuals entering into marriage. The IS's (Internal evenue Service) ruling of 58-66 in 1958-1 C.B.60 determines the tax purpose for individuals who have entered into a common law marriage. Under the state law administered by the Federal income tax laws, the IS acknowledges that it recognizes individual's marital status.

Under IS uling 58-66, the Service states that a couple will be treated as married based on the Federal income tax filing purpose, and the IS has applied this uling 58-66 for over 50 years. (Internal Service evenue, 2014).…

Reference

Ahroni, S. & Silliman, B.R.(2014). Federal Tax Implications of Windsor . 84(7):CPA Journal.58-63.

Calhoun, C.V. (2015). State Taxes and Married Same-Sex Couples. Calhoun Law Group, P.C.

Cornell University (2015). United State v Windsor. Legal Information Institute.

Goodnough, A. Zezima, K. (2009). Suit Seeks to Force Government to Extend Benefits to Same-Sex Couples. The New York Times.

This is designed to help support individuals who are dealing with financial challenges. The problem is that select amounts of recipients will use as a way to live off of the government. (Wolf, 2005)

How might a socialist and a capitalist government differ in its treatment of the problem of unemployment?

Socialists want to see massive amounts of government spending to create new jobs, training programs and provide unemployment benefits. A capitalist is opposed to these kinds of programs and believes that charities / private enterprises can address these issues.

In your opinion, should the government have the responsibility of providing health care for every citizen? Why or why not?

Yes, the government should provide health care. The reason why is because prices are increasing exponentially and the number of uninsured is rising. These factors are a sign that there is very little competition inside the sector. To address these…

References

2012 Puerto Rico Statehood Amendment. (2012). Boards. Retrieved from:  http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77582334 

Commerce Clause. (2012). Britannica. Retrieved from:  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/127865/commerce-clause 

Principles of Constitutional Construction. (2010). Constitution.org. Retrieved from:  http://constitution.org/cons/prin_cons.htm 

Sin Taxes. (2005). Six Taxes. Connecticut Voices for Children. Retrieved from:  http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/bud05sintax02.pdf

Define the Problem

The defined and existing problem is going to vary in scope and definition depending on who is doing the defining. However, there are some clear and obvious problems with the “three strikes” law. The policy itself was meant to address a problem. However, that policy has created a new set of problems. Indeed, there are situations where three-time violent felons are justifiably put away for twenty-five years to life. However, the major problem with the policy are the human and budgetary costs that are created by people being thrown in jail for life for minor offenses (“Ewing v. California”, 2017). There is also the concern that some people are being thrown in jail even though they will soon “age out” of criminal behavior. Indeed, men in their 60’s are not able to crawl through windows, run and jump fences like someone in their 20’s or 30’s (Besemer,…

United Nations, the Unwanted Nobodies and this tells you much about its status in the world.

The UN has been implicated in a good deal of corruption and scandal. It has been said to be political, to be bigoted, to evidence cowardice and fail its responsibilities, to misappropriate its resources, and to misuse judgment. These have been only a few -- and the weakest -- of the accusations leveled against this not particularly effective institution.

The UN has failed, time and again, to intervene in major world crisis when it was most needed. ather than stand their ground with Egypt for instance during the six-day war, it deserted the region, and it demonstrated this same behavior time and again during the African genocides. Similarly, too, the UN showed its ineffectiveness during the crisis with Iraq, becoming a puppet in the hands of France and ussia who tried to use it…

References

americans-world.org . Americans and the World: a source of comprehensive information on U.S. public opinion http://www.americans-world.org/digest/global_issues/un/un1.cfm

Charter of the UN

 http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml 

Kim R. Holmes, Assistant Secretary of State, "The Challenges Facing the United Nations Today: An American View," address to the Council on Foreign Relations, October 21, 2003, at www.cfr.org/publication.php?id=6451#.

This changed in 1833 when crowds of people, called 'abolitionists', joined the American Anti-Slavery Society en masse, with William Garrison drafting the society's "Declaration of Sentiments" that, drawing on the American Constitution, demanded immediate emancipation for slaves, condemned slavery as a sin, and recommended that its repeal be brought about through moral persuasion rather than through violent acts. The American Anti-Slavery Society set about disseminating themselves in every city, town, and hamlet, circulating pamphlets and broadsheets in order to publicize their opinions. Their activities were largely helped by evangelical ministers and churches, and it was in this way that activists such as Frederick Douglas became aware of the movement and active on its account. Southerners attempted to hinder the movement, but it continued unabated.

Two categories of anti-slavery activities may be made. There were moderate antislavery individuals (such as Garrison) who attempted a gradual approach to cessation of slavery by…

These facts do not even address the personal bias that may exist among employers who are more likely to hire welfare recipients than ex-offenders (Western, 2003).

The problems ex-offenders face do not stop with employment. Male ex-offenders unable to hold steady or appealing jobs are often less appealing to potential partners as they are perceived as unable to "Contribute economically" and many carry a stigma associated with a past conviction (Western, 54).

All of these facts support the need for better rehabilitation programs to prevent increased recidivism among ex-offenders (Western, 2003). May have likened parole to law enforcement processes than social work, suggesting that parole officers are more surveillance oriented than supportive in their roles toward ex-offenders (Western, 2003).

Many groups that do support the needs of ex-offenders including nonprofit agencies often lack the resources necessary to help ex-offenders (Western, 2003).

Significance of the Study

Every year more than 600,000…

References

Etters, K. (2002 - Dec). "Job-readiness training program at the Wayne County Jail prepares offenders for success." Corrections Today, 64(7): 112.

Fischer, M., Geiger, B. & Toch, H. (1991). "Reform through community: Resocializing offenders in the Kibbutz." New York: Greenwood Press.

Lattimore, P. & Witte, A.D. (1985). "Programs to aid ex-offenders: We don't know nothing works." Monthly Labor Review, 108(4): 46.

Lemieux, C.M. (2002). "Social support among offenders with substance abuse problems:

Tax Letter

The IS estructuring and eform Act of 1998: Summary of the Key Provisions

Just the other day, on July 22, his Excellency the President signed into law the above mentioned Act. In basic terms, the Act brings fourth significant changes in not only the management but also the oversight of the IS. This letter will focus on the Acts' key provisions.

Capital Gains Holding Period

Previously, non-corporate tax payers' capital gains have been exposed to a three-tier structure -- with one of these distinct levels recommending a 28% mid-term rate for capital assets held for 12 consecutive months (but for less than 18 months). This new Act does away with this particular mid-term rate and replaces it with a maximum rate of 20% for gains raked in by non-corporate taxpayers from the sale of some capital assets held for 12 consecutive months (and beyond). It is important to…

References

Berson, S.A. (2001). Federal Tax Litigation. New York, NY: Law Journal Press.

United States General Accounting Office. (2002). IRS Management: IRS Faces Challenges as it Restructures the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate. Washington, DC: General Accounting Office.

U.S. Health Care Reforms

Objectives of reform of the health care system should align to improve quality, access and cost in health care. The intricacy of the health care system necessitates balancing the three variables while considering the individual's viewpoint. To achieve this equilibrium, health care programs ought to satisfy safety, actuarial and economic principles that should be under proper application and management for successful reforms. Evidently, there exist various problems within the system. These include poor price controls, over-insurance, lack of transparencies in health care cost and delivery, inappropriate actuarial risk classifications and improper safety net structures. This explication highlights health care reform principles and discusses incremental solutions for quandaries in the American health care system.

Economic Principles

Health care reforms ought to strive to encourage the fundamental economic principle of demand and supply. Over-insurance, increase of mandated benefits, control of prices, increased malpractice costs and dependence on third…

Healthcare Reform

The subject of healthcare reform set the country ablaze last year, proving to be one of the most contentious issues that has swept through American political discourse in recent decades. One reason that healthcare reform might have proven to be such a contentious issue -- bringing out the worst and shrillest elements of the American public -- was that healthcare is one of the most important issues in the lives of many and even most Americans (Christensen and Jason, 2009).

All of us will face serious illness at some point in our lives, whether our own or that of a loved one. The fact that so many Americans do not have any healthcare at all or have very limited access to healthcare makes the issue a personal one, and this alone should have made it central to the public discourse. However, while the above was no doubt the…

Works Cited

Christensen, Clayton and Jason, Grossman. The Innovator's Prescription, New York: McGraw Hill, 2009.

http://www.healthreform.gov/index1.html

Mahar, Maggie. Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much. New York:Harper/Collins, 2006.

Reid, T.R. The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care. New York: Penquin Books, 2009.

Itemized Deductions

The Federal Tax system that is managed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contains many complicated rules and regulations that presents many problems and issue for taxpayers wishing to abide by these laws. Itemized deductions is one method of self-reporting that taxpayers choose to use to file their returns. The purpose of this essay is to examine the use of itemized deductions on federal income tax returns. This investigation seeks to understand the history of this application while also evaluating the complex nature of the qualities that determine the appropriateness of this selection. This essay will also examine the effectiveness of itemized deductions as part of the larger component of income tax returns. The essay will conclude by highlighting certain examples where IRS audits were started because of misuse of the itemized deduction.

History of the Itemized Deduction

According to the Internal Revenue Service's web site its history…

Works Cited

The Internal Revenue Service Tax Code. Viewed 19 Feb, 2013, Retrieved from  http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch20.html#d0e67864 

Viard, A. (2013). The myth of the limits on itemized deductions. The American, January 9, 2013. Retrieved from http://www.aei.org/article/economics/fiscal-policy/taxes/the-myth- of-the-limits-on-itemized-deductions/

Wood, R. (2013). Shh, Home Office and other IRS Audit Trigger Secrets. Forbes, 25 Jan 2013. Retrieved from  http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/01/25/shhh-home-office - and-other-irs-audit-trigger-secrets/

he Progressive Movement in the early twentieth century had a somewhat similar though less socialist-leaning agenda; regulation of business and the environment were major policies of Progressives. heodore Roosevelt was the leading figure of the movement, along with Democrat William Jennings Bryant.

In 1896, Bryant ran for President against McKinley in one of the most intense elections in United States history. Multiple parties and factions backed each candidate, and McKinley's coalitions of businessmen, large-scale farmers, and skilled workers beat Bryant and his more populist movement. his had a dramatic effect on the country, taking the government in one direction and leaving a sizeable majority of the public feeling unrepresented by their government. his public pull and the tension it created with the federal government continued to shape policy through World War I and into the Great Depression, when many of the Populist and Progressive reforms were finally introduced by Franklin…

The years between the Civil War and the New Deal were marked with major changes in policy, government structure, and the world at large. Though race policy was largely regressive following the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, other reform movements pushing for institutional change gained steam during this period. The struggle for women's suffrage and other rights was truly galvanized in 1848, but was put on hold during the Civil War and completely ignored by the Constitutional amendments following the war. By 1920, women's suffrage was finally established nationally.

The other major reform movements of this period were the Populist and Progressive movements. The Populists grew out of various labor and farm movements. Labor unions began to be discussed and formed during this period, though they would not gain a strong foothold until around the 1920s, following the same timeline as women's suffrage. Some elements of the Populist ideal were government or collective ownership of railroads and communication systems and an income tax somewhat similar to what we have today. The Progressive Movement in the early twentieth century had a somewhat similar though less socialist-leaning agenda; regulation of business and the environment were major policies of Progressives. Theodore Roosevelt was the leading figure of the movement, along with Democrat William Jennings Bryant.

In 1896, Bryant ran for President against McKinley in one of the most intense elections in United States history. Multiple parties and factions backed each candidate, and McKinley's coalitions of businessmen, large-scale farmers, and skilled workers beat Bryant and his more populist movement. This had a dramatic effect on the country, taking the government in one direction and leaving a sizeable majority of the public feeling unrepresented by their government. This public pull and the tension it created with the federal government continued to shape policy through World War I and into the Great Depression, when many of the Populist and Progressive reforms were finally introduced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal programs.

American Tax System vs. Other Countries

The federal government first imposed an individual income tax in 1862 as an emergency means of financing the Civil ar. It also established the Bureau of Internal Revenue, predecessor of the Internal Revenue Service. Tax rates were 3% on income from $600 to $10,000 and 5% on income above $10,000. Later in the war the maximum rate increased to 10% of income." (Encarta)

My how times have changed. This paper will compare the tax systems of four different countries to the American tax system. The four countries that have been chosen are South Africa, Mexico, Hong Kong, and New Zealand..

First lets attempt to briefly (if that were possible) explain the American tax system.

The American Tax System

America has a progressive tax system meaning the greatest tax burden is on people who have the most income. The American tax system can be described…

Works Cited

Corporate Service Center. "Federal Tax Rates." http://www.corporateservicecenter.com/Corp/federal_tax_rates.htm. April16, 2002

Film New Zealand. "New Zealand's tax Environment." Jan. 2002  http://www.filmnz.com/filmnz/Content/Production/Development/Taxation/Taxation.html 

Flags of the World.  http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/mx.html . April17, 2001

Henry, Aaron. "The South African Tax System: A Nation is Microcosm." Dec. 6,1999:

Nineteenth Century Reform

The nineteenth century, particularly between 1825 and the outbreak of the civil war in 1861, the United States was in a state of reform. There were five key reform movements that made themselves present in America in the nineteenth century. There was the Utopianism/

Communitarian Movement, which established an ideal society separate from present politics. Educational reforms were important in the creation of taxes to support the public school system, higher education for adults, as well as mandatory education and attendance. The Temperance Movement urged abstinence from alcohol and the oman's Rights Movement was vital in the improvement of the life of women politically, socially, and economically. It also included the battle forged for women's suffrage rights. Humanitarianism was improving the lives of those less fortunate.

Reform in the nineteenth century was generated by secular communities, which arose in the mid 1800s. The primary goal of these…

Works Cited

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Transendentalist. 1842.  http://www.emersoncentral.com/transcendentalist.htm 

Fitzhugh, George. Sociology for the South or The Failure of Free Society. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1998.

Sumner, William Graham. What Social Classes Owe to Each Other. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Press, 2003.

U.S. Constitution. http: www.usconstitution.com/const.html.

Maybe for some things are well enough, but for most Americans they are far from it. Most Americans spend their days worrying about being just one layoff away from joining the 50 million other men, women and children in the ranks of the uninsured. The average household income in this country is just about $50,000. This means that most people are not in a position to pay a fourth of their family's annual income, before taxes, just to cover health insurance premiums. More and more people face paying thousands more of our hard earned dollars in out-of-pocket expenses before the coverage we pay so dearly for actually kicks in (ichard, 2009).

In the past many Americans who have been enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance plans have been able to rely on their employers to pay the biggest share of the premiums, but the truth is that fewer and fewer Americans…

References

Benefits of Health Reform. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2010,from Organizing for America

Web site:  http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/ 

Doctors Debate Universal Health Care: Pros and Cons From the Experts. (2010). Retrieved

February 19, 2010, from Organized Wisdom Web site:

The ultimate House vote was two hundred and twenty to two hundred and seven. The senate vote was fifty three to forty three. The republicans were collectively opposed in both chambers (3 June 2010, 3).

The Future of the Health Care ill

Subsequent to disagreements as political enemies for more than a year, the Obama administration and the health insurance industry realized that they require one another.

oth have huge stakes in the success of the new health care law (14 May 2010, 1)

The political destiny of President Obama and Congressional Democrats rely on their capability to interpret it's assurance into realism for voters. This can be attained by restraining health expenses and making insurance accessible to everybody at reasonable price. Similarly, the fiscal future, in fact the continued existence, of the health insurance industry relies on the government. That is on set of laws being written by federal…

Bibliography

1. "Critics Question Study Cited in Health Debate, " New York Times, 2 June 2010, sec. a, p. 1.

2. "Health Reforms," New York Times, 26 March 2010, sec. a, p. 1.

3. "Two Health Care Adversaries Find a Need to Collaborate, " New York Times, 3 June 2010, sec. B, p.3.

4. "Companies Try to Shape Rules, " New York Times, 15 May 2010, sec. a, p.22

The people who opt for early retirement stop staring contribution to pension system where as they start getting the benefits of pension system. (Prieto, 1997)

The traditional unfunded social security system is facing lot of problems in the United States and other developing countries with the increasing life expectancy of the people. The cost of providing any level of service is directly linked to the percentage of people who are employed against people who have already retired and enjoying pension in a pay-as-you-go system. The problem is continuing and increasing with people's move towards early retirement which is encouraged in many countries social security system. Even in the event of retirement being stabilized, the steep increase in the ratio of the aged against that of working age is contributing to the substantial raise in the cost of pay-as-you-go system. The United States estimators, who work for social security system, forecast…

References

Aronson, Jay Richard; Hilley, John L; Maxwell, James Ackley. (1986) "Financing State and Local Governments" Brookings Institution Press.

Brainard, William C; Perry, George L. (1990) "Brookings Papers on Economic Activity:

Macroeconomics" Brookings Institution Press.

Campbell, John Y; Feldstein, Martin S. (2001) "Risk Aspects of Investment-Based Social

Obama's health care reform will make health care more accessible and more affordable and make insurers more accountable, as well as expand health care coverage to every American and make the health care system sustainable by stabilizing family budgets, the economy and the Federal budget.

The cost of Obama's overall health care bill will cost approximately $940 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional udget Office. The bill will include that by the year 2014 there will be significant health access reforms. Insurers will be prohibited from denying coverage to people with medical problems of charging them more money (CS 2010).

While these numbers do sound manageable, Congress has not responded kindly to Obama's health care reform ideas. When Obama has even mentioned the idea of health care for illegal immigrants, the president was rudely interrupted by a heckler yelling, "you lie" ( ). Under Obama's proposal of health…

Bibliography

CBS News. "What's in a health care bill? Take a dose." Retrieved on June 1, 2010, from the Web site:

 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/19/politics/main6314410.shtml 

CNN.com. (2010) "Obama calls for congress to face health care challenge." Retrieved on June 5, 2010, from the Web site:

 http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/09/obama.speech/index.html

This system is stated to be flawed as "The school board members have a vested interest in the success of the existing local school system and are reluctant to introduce a competitor into the marketplace, said charter school supporters." (O'Donoghue, 2010)

Summary and Conclusion

It is very likely that laws will be changed and policy reformed relating to charter schools in the state of Virginia as to do otherwise means to miss the $350 million in funding opportunity for Virginia's school system and it appears highly unlikely that in the present state of the economy that Virginia will be willing to shun this much in educational funding.

ibliography

Charter Schools, When Explained, Get Support (2009) Augusta Press. 16 Dec 2009. Online available at: http://augustafreepress.com/2009/12/16/charter-schools-when-explained-get-support/

Schaeffer, Adam . (2006) No, Virginia, There is No such thing as School Choice. 29 Oct 2006. CATO Institute. Online available at: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6756

raunlich, Christian (2009)…

Bibliography

Charter Schools, When Explained, Get Support (2009) Augusta Press. 16 Dec 2009. Online available at: http://augustafreepress.com/2009/12/16/charter-schools-when-explained-get-support/

Schaeffer, Adam B. (2006) No, Virginia, There is No such thing as School Choice. 29 Oct 2006. CATO Institute. Online available at:  http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6756 

Braunlich, Christian (2009) Virginia Needs More Public Schools. Bacon's Rebellion. 18 Jan 2009. Online available at:  http://baconsrebellion.com/2009/01/18/virginia-needs-more-charter-schools/ 

Grimes, Cathy (2010) Virginia Seeks $350 Million in Federal Race to the Top Education Funds. Daily Press.21 Jan 2010. Online available at  http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_racetothetop_0122jan22,0,5686858.story

sound reforms in the operations and structure of United States Congress. The paper also discusses the reasons why reforms are needed in this powerful institution of our country.

EFOMING THE CONGESS

Congress may be the most powerful institution in the United States government but it is certainly not the most efficient. The powers that Constitution has granted this body have resulted in the creation of an oversized inefficient institution, full of self-serving politicians who are quite out of touch with country most pressing problems. It is extremely important to bear in mind that reform of Congress has been proposed a million times which indicates that the clash between public and the Congress is not something new. Yet the lack of any sound measures has only added to public anger and frustration. There are several important ways in which Congress can be reformed but we must first be familiar with the…

References

TOM KEAN, CONGRESS MUST REFORM CAMPAIGN FUNDING NOW., The Record (Bergen County, NJ), 03-25-2001, pp 01

Thomas E. Mann, Cynicism Curbs Reform of Congress., Newsday, 03-29-1994, pp A39

To Reform Congress, Reform the Dollar, Freemarket Gold & Money Report: 1998

 http://www.fgmr.com/buffett.htm

(Menzel, 1990, p. 3) Fisher, Berwick, & Davis alude to the idea of integration in health care, with providers linking as well as creating networks of electronic medical records and other cost improvement tactics.

The United States and other nations over the last twenty or so years, have begun a sweeping change in health care delivery, regarding the manner in which health information is input, stored and accessed. Computer use in the medical industry has greatly increased over the last thirty years the culmination of this is fully networked electronic medical record keeping. (Berner, Detmer, & Simborg, 2005, p. 3) the electronic medical record trend began in the largest institutions first, as hospitals and large care organizations attempted to reduce waste and improve patient care, while the adoption has been much slower among physician's practices and smaller medical institutions. (Hillestad, et al., 2005, pp. 1103-1104) Prior to this time medical…

Resources, and Utilization

Charitable Contributions and Tax Benefits

Unfortunately, much of the elite of the upper class are afforded leeway and loopholes on tax obligations that allow them to pay much less percentage wise than other taxpayers in different income brackets. Much of this is due to the ability to use tax deductions, like charitable contributions in large amounts, to lower their annual personal incomes before taxes. However, many of the top contributors to charity donate above the maximum allowances for charitable deductions, showing a clear resolution to give based on ethics, rather than for the sole purpose of tax deductions alone,

Bill Gates is currently one of the top money makers in the world, yet he is also one of the largest contributors to charitable institutions as well. The amounts of donations Bill Gates contributes to various charities, including his own charitable foundation, is well over the top end limit of what…

References

Kim, Susana. (2011). Warren Buffett reveals 'billionaire friendly' tax return. ABC News. Web.  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2011/10/warren-buffett-reveals-billionaire-friendly-tax-return/ 

Jacob, Deborah. (2011). Charitable giving by Steve Jobs may forever remain a mystery. Forbes. Web.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2011/10/06/charitable-giving-by-steve-jobs-may-forever-remain-a-mystery/ 

Mail Foreign Service. (2010). Bill Gates makes the world's biggest ever single charitable donation worth 6.2 billion pounds for vaccines for children. Mail Online. Web.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247067/Bill-Gates-makes-worlds-largest-charitable-6bn-vaccines-poor-children.html 

Squatriglia Chuck & Espinosa-Solis, Suzanne. (2000). Intel co-founder sets up $5 billion foundation: Gordon Moore Foundation. San Francisco Chronicle. Web. http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/Intel-Gordon-Moore-Foundation.htm

This means that they should have alternative sales taxes imposed. These small increases will result in school districts receiving more income. As the legislature can avoid making dramatic cuts backs from the general fund and will have another source of revenues. This will improve their ability to provide educators with the resources they need. (Balu, 2011)

A good example of this can be seen with a study that was conducted by Balu (2011). She found that this formula has been successful in helping to ensure that school districts are receiving additional financing. Commenting about these shifts, she concluded that this will prevent sudden decreases by introducing another form of revenues for education with her saying, "Districts in states that shifted their tax base for education toward sales and income taxes, received more than 60% of their revenues from the state. They experienced an increase in revenue stability after finance equalization…

References

Balu, R. (2011). Did School Finance Equalization Increase Revenue Instability. SREE. Retrieved from: https://www.sree.org/conferences/2011/program/downloads/abstracts/159.pdf

Crawford, C. (2010). Property Taxes in New Jersey. Northeast Business and Economic Association.

Goodspeed, T. (n.d.). The Relationship Between State Income Taxes and Local Property Taxes. National Tax Journal, 2 (2), 219 -- 236.

Toutkoushian, R. (2008). The Impacts of School Funding. Journal of Education Finance, 33 (4), 353 -- 379.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care

Act (PPACA). This is more commonly referred among United States Citizens as Health Care eform.

This revolutionary law offers three main guarantees: First, health insurance for all American's, not just those who can afford it; Second, cost reduction in the insurance premiums for individuals and businesses; Lastly, higher quality care. On the surface, the PPACA seems all around beneficial for all

American's, but there are some aspects that need to be further analyzed. There is no doubt, this law will give those who are uninsured or under-insured, better coverage and ensure better quality health care, but there is one factor that may have been overlooked; the PPACA comes at great financial cost for citizens, will take a decade to fully implement and will be not be sustainable for generations to…

References

Blumberg, L. (2010, July 6). How Will the PPACA Impact Individual and Small Group

Premiums in the Short- and Long-Term? Retrieved May 5, 2012, from Urban Institute: Health Policy Center:  http://www.urban.org/health_policy/url.cfm?ID=412128 

FLAHEC. (2007). Health Services Administrative and Clerical Staff . Retrieved May 6, 2012, from Florida Area Health Education Centers:  http://www.flahec.org/hlthcareers/HCADMIN.htm 

Owcharenko, N. (2005, June 21). A Road Map for Medicaid Reform. Retrieved May 6, 2012, from The Heritage Foundation:  http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2005/06/A-Road-Map-for-Medicaid-Reform

Health Care eform Effecting Public Health United States

Healthcare reform is an integral part of the United States healthcare system. Below is an evaluation of the effects healthcare reform has had on healthcare in the U.S. Internet sources as well as peer-reviewed journals will be looked at so as to see the effects.

The cost of healthcare has been on the rise. Issues of healthcare quality ought to be paid attention to and healthcare access equity improved upon (Health Care Transformation). Given these causes, while some differences exist on what reforms to carry out, a majority of Americans hold the belief that the U.S. Healthcare delivery systems need some improving. For a long time ANA has been advocating for reforms in healthcare and several of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions are in line with the Health System eform Agenda of the ANA. The ANA gave a chart that gives…

References"

1)

Kemp, C. (2012, October 11). Public Health in the Age of Health Care Reform. Retrieved January 21, 2015, from  http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2012/12_0151.htm 

2)

How National Health Care Reform Will Affect a Variety of States. (2011, April 5). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from  http://www.rand.org/news/press/2011/04/05.html

The fact that the tax liability does not distinguish between qualified and non-qualified assets, means that they many people will have higher taxes when they begin taking these distributions. (Gambone, 2010) (Fisher, 2010)

This is particularly troubling because this kind of asset is often exempt from various estate and inheritance taxes. As many of the different pension and retirement plans will often claim how these investments are considered to be tax free. Yet, on the federal level there is no such distinction. This is troubling, because the conflicting regulations as far as taxes are concerned, will have an impact upon the underlying return that are investors are receiving. Where, they assume that they will be able to receive a substantial amount of tax benefits, while being able to invest in conservative areas that can provide them with continuous growth. As a result, most people are surprised by the sudden tax…

Bibliography

Annuity. (2011). Invest Words. Retrieved from:  http://www.investorwords.com/225/annuity.html 

Frequently Asked Questions about Pension Plans. (2011). Department of Labor. Retrieved from:  http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_compliance_pension.html 

Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax. (2010). Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax. (2009). Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

3.2.3 Portfolio Diversification of Investment in Global Property Markets

ecause the global property markets are affected by globalization and specific country / regional factors, means that the overall amounts of risks will vary, the most notable include: transparency and efficiency. Where, each country / region has different on laws and regulations pertaining to the real estate markets. This means that the risks in a number of different markets will depend upon specific market conditions themselves, reflecting these two factors. To protect themselves against these kinds of risks, many investors will often seek to diversify their portfolio. Diversification is: when you are investing a number of different asset classes in real estate, across a variety of countries / regions. The idea is that if a risk occurs in a specific country or region, the other areas that you are diversified in will protect you against the severity of the declines. For…

Bibliography

2009 A Year of Revival for Property Sector, 2010, Visit Kuwait. Available from: . [30 March 2010].

Barwa Real Estate, 2010, Arabian Business. Available from: . [30 March 2010].

Business Risk, 2010, Invest Words. Available from: [29 March 2010].

Dubai Property Companies Called Merger Off, 2009, Property Wire. Available from: [30 March 2010].

AMEICA'S HEALTHCAE EFOM

Your Chosen Title

The overhauling of America's Health Care Systems has been a highly debated topic because it affects the quality of life, of virtually all residents living in America. A large portion of America's budget is spent on the healthcare system, however many Americans live day-to-day without healthcare coverage or medical insurance. It is surprising to know that although Americas has one of the strongest economies in the world, it lacks in this area. This resonates in the minds of many troubled Americans, who find themselves in serious economic problems due to their inability to provide healthcare coverage for themselves and their family.

Members of government and of the political arena understand that a demand exists, this demands is one that calls for healthcare coverage for all in America. In March 2010 congress responded to this demanded passed what is known as The Patient Protection and…

References

Health Care Reform Bill Summary: A Look At What's in the Bill - Political Hotsheet - CBS News. (n.d.). Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Retrieved July 25, 2011, from  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000846-503544.html 

Sultz, H.A. (2010). Health care USA: understanding its organization and delivery By Harry A. Sultz, Kristina M. Young. Sudbury Mass.: Jones and Barlett Learning.

Staff of The Washington Post. (2010). Landmark: the inside story of America's new health care law and what it means for us all. New York: Public Affairs.

At the same time, 25% of Americans do not have any kind of health insurance coverage or not enough to pay for all of their expenses. (Amadeo) This can have an impact upon their financial well being, as a person must spend money that they do not have, to treat different conditions that could be life threatening. Once this begins to occur, is when the total number of bankruptcies will begin to rise sharply. As nearly half of all the filings that are made are: medical related, due to the overwhelming costs and the inability to pay them. (Amadeo) These different challenges are creating sudden shift in the economy that are: having short- and long-term impacts upon economic growth.

What is happening is rising health care costs are beginning to become a hidden tax on: businesses and consumers. As they are slowly eating away at any kind of added investments…

Bibliography

"The Boomer Stats." BBHQ, 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2011

"The Economic Effects of Health Care Reform." The White House, 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2011

Amadeo, Kimberly. "Health Care Reform." About.com, 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2011.

Francis, Diane. "Health Care Reform is Smart." Huffington Post, 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2011.

Australian Tax on Wine

usiness Submission - Australian Tax on Wine

With the Australian government seeking to impose additional taxation upon the use and sale of wine, there have been many outcries of indignation arguing how this would affect the Australian wine industry, and eventually the Australian economy. However, what needs to be considered are the consequences and the public cost of continuing with the discounted taxation to which wine makers in Australia are currently subjected to. The effect on the Australian GDP needs to be taken in to account with the harms that alcoholism in the increasingly youth population is set to unleash, if made available readily and at subsidized prices.

The risks and problems that have arose from the increased alcohol consumption by the Australian public in recent years, especially the young generation, point towards a possible increase in the health deterioration of most Australians while also impacting…

Bibliography

ABS. (2013, February 22). Australian Wine and Grape Industry, 2011-12. Retrieved from Australian Bureau of Statistics:  http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/1329.0 

Anderson, K. (2010, May). Reforming taxes on wine and other alcoholic beverage consumption. Wine Economics Research Centre Working Paper No. 0810 . Australia: University of Adelaide.

Andrews, T. (2013). Stop the wine Supertax! Retrieved from Australian Taxpayers' Alliance: https://www.taxpayers.org.au/nowinesupertax/

Government, A. (2011). Australian National Preventive Health Agency. Retrieved from australia.gov.au:  http://australia.gov.au/directories/australia/anpha

Income Tax

What are the pro's and con's of the Bush Administration's proposal to convert the ection 8 voucher program into an aggregated block grant to the state?"

This is a paper that outlines the arguments of why Bush Administration's proposal to convert ection 8 voucher program to block grant is not feasible.

The ection 8 voucher program, which was started in 1976, helps approximately 2 million low-income families and people with special needs, such as the elderly and disabled, pay for rented housing. The program can also be used by these people to save up for down payments when purchasing housing. The program is administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which currently distributes the funds to low-income families through public housing agencies.

Typically, citizens contribute a maximum of 30% of their monthly income in rent, and the Government pays the rest. Families who make less than…

Sources

1) "About the federal Section 8 housing voucher program," The Associated Press State & Local Wire, May 20, 2003.

2) Koff, Stephen, "Section 8 program gets money but won't expand," Plain Dealer, July 26, 2003.

3) "Two demanding jobs to fill," Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), May 15, 2003

4) "Fiscal Year 2004 HUD Budget Executive Summary," U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Oct 15, 2003,  http://www.hud.gov/about/budget/fy04/execsummary.cfm

overwhelming connections between healthcare costs and the macroeconomic performance of the U.S. economy. The impact of healthcare industry on the macroeconomic performance is evident from the fact that in 2009 healthcare expenditure of the U.S. was 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. It was also estimated that should the healthcare costs continue to grow at historical rates, 34% of the U.S. GDP will compose of healthcare spending by 2040 (Whitehouse, 2009). The major sources of funding the healthcare costs are the Federal, State, and local governments of the U.S. Medicare is a healthcare program that subsidizes healthcare for citizens above 65 years of age. Medicaid subsidizes healthcare delivery for people below a certain income level. Approximately 50% of the healthcare expenditure is bore by governments at the federal, state and local level. It is also estimated that Medicare and Medicaid spending of Federal and State governments…

Bibliography

CMS. (2013, Nov). National Health Expenditure Projections 2012-2022. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Retrieved from:  http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsProjected.html 

Kolstad, J.T., & Kowalski, A.E. (2012). Mandate-based health reform and the labor market: Evidence from the Massachusetts reform (No. w17933). National Bureau of Economic Research.

The Whitehouse. (2009). Deficit-Reducing Health Care Reform. The Whitehouse. Retrieved from:  http://www.whitehouse.gov /economy/reform/deficit-reducing-health-care-reform

CBO. (2011, March). The Economic Case for the Health Care Reform. Congressional Budget Office: Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisers. Retrieved from:  http://www.cbo.gov/publication/22077

On the contrary, a comprehensive medical care solution that tackles the main issues driving up health care costs in America is possible. The main problem experienced by the average American is that health insurance premiums are cost prohibitive for the middle-class, but being uninsured can bankrupt a family forced to deal with even a minor catastrophic illness. Therefore, a national health insurance program has to be part of the solution. However, one cannot overlook the role that unpaid medical bills and exorbitant malpractice premiums also play in the modern healthcare crises. As a result, the solution must include a way to reduce malpractice premiums through tort reform, and a way to reduce the percentage of medical bills that go unpaid. The proposed three-prong approach would tackle all of those issues, without forcing any unwilling person to participate in a nationalized healthcare program.

orks Cited

American Tort Reform Association. "Medical Liability…

Works Cited

American Tort Reform Association. "Medical Liability Reform." ATRA Issues. 2007.

American Tort Reform Association. 6 Nov. 2008 http://www.atra.org/show/7338.

Kershaw-Staley, Tracy. "Miami Valley Hospital Files Lawsuit Over Unpaid Medical Bills."

Dayton Business Journal. 2008. Dayton Business Journal. 6 Nov. 2008  http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2008/01/07/story5.html .

4 million young people); e) Americans that are uninsured and that have "preexisting conditions" can as of now get insurance through the "Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Program" (PCIP); f) 46 states are using Affordable Care Act resources to "crack down on unreasonable premium increases" (hite House).

There are additional benefits that result from the Affordable Care Act will come into play in 2014, according to the hite House. Those include a new competitive insurance marketplace that will be established. In that new marketplace will be state-run health insurance exchanges where "million of Americans and small businesses will be able to purchase affordable coverage" and have the same healthcare choices as "Members of Congress," the hite House explains.

As to the federal fiscal benefits from the Affordable Care Act, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that healthcare reform can reduce the national debt / deficit by $145 billion by 2019 and by…

Works Cited

Lampert, Jacqueline Garry. (2009). The Need for Health Care Reform by the Numbers. The Democratic Policy Committee. Retrieved March 29, 2011, from  http://www.dpc.senate.gov/dpcdocpr.cfm?doc_name=fs-111-1-90 .

Obama, Barack. (2009). Why We Need Health Care Reform. The New York Times. Retrieved March 29, 2011, from  http://www.nytimes.com .

Singletary, Michelle. (2011). Denied insurance under new health-care law? File an appeal, the GAO says. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 30, 2011, from  http://www.washingtonpost.com .

The White House. (2011). Health Reform in Action / the Affordable Care Act. Retrieved March

Uninsured Population

Insurance Premiums

Budget Deficits

Healthcare Trends

Public Opinion

"Obamacare"

The topic of this research is "PPACA- Patient Protection an Affordable Care Act." PPACA has created a great impact in the healthcare industry of United States of America. The study is based on the critical analysis of the act by reviewing the performance since its inception.

Arguably the most prominent recent healthcare reform has been PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). PPACA is also known as the Affordable care act and Obamacare. It was signed by the President Obama in the year 2010 in collaboration with the Healthcare econciliation Act. This act is considered to be one of the most major reforms passed in the healthcare system of United States; the last such major reform was passed in the year 1965 in the form of Medicaid.

When this provision Act was passed in 2010, there were 50 million…

References:

Barr, Donald A. Introduction to U.S. Health Policy: The Organization, Financing, and Delivery of Health Care in America. JHU Press. 2011

Blendon RJ, Benson."Public opinion at the time of the vote on health care reform." N. Engl. J. Med. 362 (16): e55. 2010

Elmendorf, Douglas. "CBO's Analysis of the Major Health Care Legislation Enacted in March 2010." Congressional Budget Office. 2011

Feldman, Arthur M. Understanding Health Care Reform: Bridging the Gap between Myth and Reality. CRC Press. 2011

As a result, millions of Americans remain unable to bear the heavy financial toll of medical expenses. Indeed, the problem of a lack of insurance for many is related to the problem of the cost of healthcare. So confirms the article by Consumer Reports (CR) (2008), which finds that "health-insurance premiums have grown faster than inflation or workers' earnings over the past decade, in parallel with the equally rapid rise in overall health costs. Industry spending on administrative and marketing costs, plus profits, consumes 12% of private-insurance premiums." (CR, 1) This reiterates the case that the undue imposition of costs by the healthcare industry -- a reflection of a free-market industry with little to no regulatory oversight -- has negatively impacted the accessibility and quality of healthcare for many of the poorest users.

Moreover, these users are most vulnerable to the long-term economic damages provoked by unexpected healthcare costs. So…

Works Cited:

Bureau of Labor Education (BLE). (2001). The U.S. Health Care System: Best in the World, or Just the Most Expensive? The University of Maine.

Childress, M. (2010). Poverty is on the Upswing, but Metric is Out of Date. The Washington Independent.

Cockerham, W.C. (2004). Medical Sociology and Sociological Theory. The Backwell Companion to Medical Sociology.

Consumer Reports (CR). (2008). High Health Care Costs. Consumer Reports Health.org.

Economic Changes in the North and Social Reform Movements

The years between 1820 and 1860, also known as the pre-Civil War years or the antebellum years, were the most chaotic in American History (Dudley 2003). During this time, significant changes took place in the United States. The nation saw a transformation from a largely undeveloped nation of farmers and frontiersmen into an urbanized and economic powerhouse. This essay will explore how these economic changes in the North are linked to the social reform movements of the time.

The North was completely transformed by the Market Revolution, that is, a shift from an agricultural-based economy to one based on wages and the exchange of goods and services (Dudley 2003). A contributing factor was a manufacturing boom in the North which was created by the invention of the cotton gin. Infrastructure began to improve along with modes of transportation, such as the…

Bibliography

Dudley, William. American History by Era: Antebellum America 1784-1850. New York: Cengage Gale, 2003.

Ethical Challenges in the Era of Health Care eforms-By Vicki D. Lachman.

The article is brief look at the reforms that are involved in the Affordable care Act (ACA) as far as patient protection is concerned in the fields of insurance cost, insurance choices, the people aged 65 years and over and rights and protection of the beneficiaries of the healthcare reforms. Writer highlights the provision of the comprehensive health cover as one that provides affordable insurance exchanges through which the individuals as well as small businesses can purchase insurance through these exchanges, and organizations or business that have more than 50 employees need to avail insurance. It also highlights the consumer operated and oriented cover plan which works well for the covered individuals. The reforms are also highlighted as giving hope to people with pre-existing conditions. Further discussed is the fact that young adults can be covered in the…

References

Vicki D. Lachman, (2012). Ethical Challenges in the Era of Health Care Reforms. Retrieved September 1, 2015 from  http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/Resources/Ethical-Challenges-in-the-Era-of-Health-Care-Reform.pdf

Accordingly, your task will be to identify a topic of interest, and write a paper on your ideas for reforming it for the better. Examples of topics include (but are not limited to): Foster Care, Child abuse prevention, school safety, community safety for juveniles, Programs for Violent juveniles, juvenile detention, State or Federal statutes, etc.Job and skills training are two of the most important elements that require emphasis within the criminal justice reform system. American society is predicated on a system of capitalism whereby individual citizens are rewarded based on the skills they can provide to others. Those with skills that are rare and in high demand can command higher salaries as companies compete to utilize their skills. Math, science, and technology positions typically leverage this concept as their skills are highly specialized and are therefore highly demanded within growing industries. This is in stark contrast to the fast-food industry,…

Medicare Health Care eform

The Medicare is an American health program that is administered by the federal government and serves as a health insurance for people aged 65 years and above. The Medicare is also designed for people with disabilities and people diagnosed with the renal disease. (Davis, Cathy, & Stuart, 2013). The Medicare is currently being funded by the premiums, payroll tax, surtax from general revenue. In 2015, over 55 million American enrolled for the Medicare services where 46 million people are people aged 65 years and above and 9 million are young people. On the average, Medicare covers half of the health costs and the enrollees are to cover the remaining costs through a separate insurance, supplemental insurance, or out-of-pocket. Since the inception of the Medicare, the cost of funding the program continues to increase, and the rising costs of funding are becoming unbearable both for the current…

Reference

Blum, J. (2011). Improving Quality, Lowering Costs: The Role of Health Care Delivery System. Center for Medicare Management.

Davis, K. Cathy, S. & Stuart, G. (2013). Medicare Essential: An Option to Promote Better

Care and Curb Spending Growth, Health Affairs 32, no. 5: 901 -- 9.

Golberstein, E. Kayo, W. Yulei, H. et al. (2013). Supplemental Coverage Associated with More Rapid Spending Growth for Medicare Beneficiaries, Health Affairs, 32, no. 5. 873 -- 81.

American Anti-Corruption Act: The Tipping Point for American Citizens

The American Anti-Corruption Act:

A tipping point for American citizens

In the wake of increasing concerns about the undue influence of money and special interest groups in American politics, the anti-corruption advocacy group epresent.Us created a grassroots campaign in support of a law called the American Anti-Corruption Act. The Act is "a nine-point plan to crack down on lobbyists, strengthen the flimsy law intended to prevent super-PACs from coordinating with campaigns, and put a stop to undisclosed donations funneled through dark-money nonprofits" (Aronsen 2013). It should be noted that ironically, "epresent.Us is a project of United epublic, a campaign finance reform group that, like many of the outside spending organizations it takes aim at, is a 501(c)(4)" although it is bipartisan in its composition (Aronsen 2013). Its bipartisan membership includes "former Federal Elections Commission chair (and Stephen Colbert's 'personal lawyer') Trevor…

References

American Anti-Corruption Act. (2014). Official website.

Retrieved from:  http://anticorruptionact.org/ 

Aronsen, G. (2012). New group unveils its plan to get money out of politics. Mother Jones.

Retrieved from:  http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/11/represent-us-campaign-finance-reform

payer healthcare systems: Pros and cons

One of the most controversial concepts in American health care is the idea of single-payer health insurance, or the notion that healthcare will be supported by taxpayer dollars, versus funded by private insurance companies. In many Western industrialized nations such as the United Kingdom and Canada, the concept of single payer-health insurance is the norm and embraced by the majority of the population. In the United States, the rhetoric of socialism and state support has caused people to fear the concept. Even the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was painted by some aspects of the media as a move towards a single-payer system because it exerted somewhat greater control over individual's health-related choices, such as mandating that all American citizens have health insurance. However, the ACA was far from socialized medicine given that it continued to ensure that the majority of Americans not on Medicaid…

References

Cooper, E. & Taylor, L. (1994). Comparing health care systems. Good Medicine. 39: 35.

Retrieved from:  http://www.context.org/iclib/ic39/cooptalr/ 

Massachusetts Healthcare Reform: Six years later. (2013). Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/8311.pdf

McDonough, J. (2015). The demise of Vermont's single payer system. New England Journal of Medicine. 372: 1584-1585.

The first phase, implemented in 2010, provides immediate access to a high-risk insurance pools for individuals excluded from healthcare coverage because of pre-existing conditions; it also allows children to remain covered under their parents' insurance plans until the age of 26 and provides tax credits to small employers that give their employees health insurance (Tumulty, Pickert, & Park, 2010). The second phase begins in 2011 and will require private health insurance companies to spend at least 80% of premiums on healthcare services; in 2013, Medicare payroll taxes will increase on the wealthiest individuals and families to enable that program to overcome the aby oomer problem (Tumulty, Pickert, & Park, 2010). In 2014, most Americans will be required to obtain health insurance to reduce the collective cost of treating the uninsured (Tumulty, Pickert, & Park, 2010).

Unfortunately the primary reason that healthcare reform was not able to incorporate more wide-sweeping reforms…

Bibliography

Kennedy E. (2006). America: Back on Track. Viking: New York.

Reid T. (2009). The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. New York: Penguin Group.

Tumulty K, Pickert K. And Park a. "America, the Doctor Will See You Now" Time, Vol.

175, No. 13; (2010).

China's Urban Housing Development -- a Shift from Welfare Housing to Home Ownership

The challenge of housing in China has been on the national agenda for more that four decades now. A lot of efforts have been directed by the government to help solve the challenge and it has substantially achieved a significant mileage. This paper will delve into the policies informing the urban housing reforms, the evolution that the housing reforms has undergone over the years, the challenges it faced, the current situation of China in terms of housing and also discuss the trend that are prevalent in China and what the government is currently doing to ensure the dream of housing for every China citizen is achieved.

Overview of housing reform agenda

The landscape of China as a whole has been undergoing several changes and shifts in the political, social and the economic aspect of it. This prompted…

References

Hui X., (2009). The Chinese Hoiusing reform and the Following New Urban Question. Retrieved April 2,2015 from http://newurbanquestion.ifou.org/proceedings/3%20The%20Urbanized%20Society/full%20papers/B008_Xiaoxi_The%20Chinese%20Housing%20Reform%20and%20the%20following%20New%20Urban%20Questions-fullpaper_revised.pdf

Liu Z. & Mei C., (2013). Experiment-based Policy Making or Conscious Policy Design? The Case of Urban Housing Reform in China. Retrieved April 2,2015 from  http://www.icpublicpolicy.org/IMG/pdf/panel_11_s1_mei_liu.pdf 

Yang Z. & Chen J., (2014). Housing Affordability and Housing Policy in Urban China. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Retrieved April 2,2015 from  http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDYQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.springer.com%2Fcda%2Fcontent%2Fdocument%2Fcda_downloaddocument%2F9783642540431-c2.pdf%3FSGWID%3D0-0-45-1440212-p176464947&ei=R80fVZDVG4XVaoCXgdgE&usg=AFQjCNEhb1RhJuJyvxM0gC1oOaTU9ocbJA&sig2=vA52GOb75JR6iaesZq0cRQ&bvm=bv.89947451,d.bGg 

Youqin H., (2013). Lack of Affordable Housing Threatens China's Urban Dream. Retrieved April 2,2015 from  https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/6365-Lack-of-affordable-housing-threatens-China-s-urban-dream

Thereby we can conclude if their support or lack thereof for healthcare reform is based on understanding of facts, or is being shaped by other factors, ostensibly the information being made public by politically affiliated media and elected officials in support of one party or the other.

The Survey: Healthcare eform

I voted for President Obama

YES

NO

Didn't Vote

I support healthcare reform

YES

NO

No Opinion

I have health insurance or Government Program

YES

NO

Don't Know

I have Medicare

YES

NO

Don't Know

I have Medicaid

YES

NO

Don't Know

I have CHAMP/VA

YES

NO

Don't Know

I have TICAE

YES

NO

Don't Know

I have group benefit insurance

YES

NO

Don't Know

I have private health insurance

YES

NO

Don't Know

The Health Insurance Privacy

And Portability Act applies to me

YES

NO

Don't Know

The Employee etirement Income

Security Act applies to me

YES

NO…

References

CNN (2009). Brown Wins Massachusetts Senate Race, CNN Politics, found online at http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/19/Massachusetts.senate/index.html, retrieved February 1, 2010.

Monette, D., Sullivan, T., and DeJong, C. (2008). Applied Social Research: A Tool for Human Services, Thomson Books, Belmont, CA.

In other, more charter-friendly states, there are multiple authorizers -- universities, state boards, even specially created bodies with expertise in charter school creation. The new bill before the state House and Senate will give the Board of Education an advising role on charter school applications prior to going before the local school board.

Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts opened Aug. 11, 2010 making it the 10th charter school to open in the state of Virginia since charter schools were allowed to open in 1998. However, if history repeats itself, Patrick Henry will have a bumpy road ahead. Including Patrick Henry only three charter schools are operating currently in the state of Virginia and Patrick Henry is the only one operating in the city of ichmond. At one time there were nine charter schools in Virginia, but most of them closed due to financial reasons. (citation)

According to the…

REFERENCES

Lawrence F. Garrison, & Mitchell Holifield. (2005). ARE CHARTER SCHOOLS EFFECTIVE? Planning and Changing, 36(1/2), 90-103. Retrieved December 17, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 877541691).

CHARTER SCHOOLS: LESSONS in SCHOOL REFORM [review of the Charter Schools: Lessons in School Reform. (2005). Harvard Educational Review, 75(3), 341-343. Retrieved December 17, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 920579091).

Victoria Benning. (1998, October 15). Fairfax Studies Charter School Plan; Measure's Guidelines Allow Only Special-Need Applications: [FINAL Edition]. The Washington Post, p. B05. Retrieved December 17, 2010, from ProQuest National Newspapers Premier. (Document ID: 35117762).

Kraft, M. & Furlong, S. (2007). Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives.

Cuts in defensive spending, minor reductions to social security and the aforementioned tax measures will significantly improve the economy, whereas some of the options the U.S. has pursued in recent times are doing the opposite, as the following quotation implies.

Washington is likely to make across-the-board cuts in discretionary spending, where there is much less money and considerably less waste…but reducing funds for things like education, scientific research, air-traffic control, NASA, infrastructure and alternative energy will not produce much in savings, and it will hurt the economy's long-term growth (Zakaria, 2011).

With the implementation of many of the measures that were suggested by Simpson and Bowles, the U.S. should be able to reduce its budget and increase its financial stability within approximately 15 to 20 years. However, the improved economy will not have the ameliorating effect on other important industries and areas of interest such as healthcare and unemployment if…

References

Carpenter, M. (2010). "Fiscal Commission CO-Chairs Simpson and Bowles Release Eye-Popping Recommendations." TPM. Retrieved from  http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/deficit-commission-co-chairs-simpson-and-bowles-release-eye-popping-recommendations.php 

Crumley, B. (2009). "New lessons from the old world." Time. Retrieved from  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1901483,00.html 

Elliott M., Schuman, M. (2011). "World economic forum at Davos: Still standing." Time Retrieved from  http://business.time.com/2011/01/31/world-economic-forum-at-davos-2011-still-standing/ 

Zakaria, F. (2011). "Are America's best days behind us?." Time. Retrieved from  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2056723-1,00.html