Blog #2

Obamacare

Since the topic of the Affordable Care Act is something that is all over the current news there seems to be a lot of contradictory statements. At first, President Donald Trump was completely doing away  with Obamacare with plans to make a better more affordable option. In an attempt to repeal the act, President Trumps plan was rejected. Then everyone thought it was not going to get changed and then Donald Trump made another attempt. This is the attempt we are in the process of now. At first it's here, then repealed, then not, then repealed again. It is easy to see how this can get confusing, you need to be on top of the media to keep up with what going on with the Affordable Care Act.

In a left leaning news source, The Washington Post, there was an article entitle, “Republicans can’t find a way to repeal Obamacare because too many of them secretly love it”. In this article it discusses how Trump yet again promised another deal but republicans can not agree. It says that Republicans hate Obamacare only because they want more of it and that they want to make insurance more affordable for the young and healthy by making it unaffordable for the old and sick, and worse for everyone. The Washington Post is trying to show that the Republicans actually are not against Obamacare and can not agree on anything.

On a right leaning source, Fox news,  I read about how Republicans do not like Obamacare. Although the repeal is faces criticism from both parties, if they did like it then they would not attempt to repeal it. It states the Obamacare is imploding and that the problem is not that they like it.  “There is so much more that unites republicans than divides republicans on this issue.” Fox is trying to show that the Republicans are completely for this repeal.

When looking at the left leaning source you probably think that republicans really do like Obamacare and that's why they are not actually getting rid of it. When you see the right leaning source you are told that Republicans support the repeal. These two statements clearly contradict themselves because they are saying completely different things. The Washington Post brings up past attempts and calls then failures. Fox News does not talk about past attempts at all and just keeps saying that they are very close and have made some great progress towards a consensus. Both of these articles have the same basic facts, they both state that Trump has made consistent comments towards repealing and replacing Obamacare.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/14/republicans-cant-find-a-way-to-repeal-obamacare-because-too-many-of-them-secretly-love-it/?utm_term=.cd7ed40d3e6e

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/13/budget-analysis-obamacare-repeal-would-result-in-millions-more-uninsured.html

Blog #1

The Affordable Care Act

With recent controversy about the Affordable Care Act I thought it would be interesting to take a look at both sides of the discrepancy.

The Affordable Care Act was designed to increase health insurance quality and affordability, lower the uninsured rate by expanding insurance coverage and reduce the overall costs of healthcare. This act was put in place by Barrack Obama in 2010 which is why it is also known as Obamacare. Under this act physicians and hospitals had to lower their cost and become better accessible. The act also states that even if you have a preexisting condition you are still eligible for some type of insurance. It does not based you off your gender, race, ethnicity , the Affordable Care Act covers you based on your income giving you a fair price for a handful of different plans.

To someone just quickly googling the topic, this seems great! So why has there been word about repealing the Affordable care act? The problems are that the coverage you get from the insurance is not the best; you have to pick and choose what kind of coverage you want. The cover charges that come with the insurance can be expensive and add up fast. People would love a more affordable well rounded system.

Donald Trump has had a lot to say about this. He claims that he will repeal the act and then after he repeals it he will replace it. Replace it with better, more affordable coverage for the 30 million people in America without any type of insurance. The problem is that if the repeal goes through it will leave many people uninsured. As of now Republicans  say that, “Obamacare will be repealed and replaced rapidly, the same day the same week” Trump stated,  but others are saying that is not possible and the act repeal could  leave many in an uninsured spot for months or years. Republicans have said many times that they will replace it with something better but have not actually explained what this “something better”  is. To most under Obamacare this clearly is concerning.

One of the most significant demographics to all of this is the people with life threatening illnesses. To some people on Obamacare, it is the only thing saving their lives. They are able to afford their medication at a much lower monthly cost than they would without insurance. Since the Affordable Care Act accepts you even with a preexisting condition, these people were not left to die.

All of the articles I’ve read have either been for one side or the other. There has been non in-between; you are either for the Affordable Care Act or against it. One technique used in almost all the articles for the Affordable Care Act, was a whole lot of pathos. The pathos would always say how without the Affordable Care Act people would die and that really brings out the sympathy with people, and questioning as to why this act would ever be removed.

https://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-congress-repeal-the-affordable-care-act

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republican-obamacareproblem_us_58af114be4b057efdce9e743

Blog #3

Blog #3

Paige Kaltenbach

November 3rd, 2015

Travelin' Soldier

              Travelin' Soldier is a tragic love song about a boy who goes off to war and right before he's shipped off he leaves an impact on a local girl. They fall in love and write letters back in fourth before the boy dies in combat.

This song was written originally in 1996, and throughout the years had a couple covers done. In 2002 The Dixie Chicks did their own version of the song and the world was taken over by storm! The song was number one on the charts for many weeks!  My research question is, why after years of being out, did The Dixie Chicks version of Travelin' Soldier top the charts unlike the other versions?

The method I will be using to analyze this question is the Fantasy Theme method. The fantasy theme method provides insight into groups, using either setting theme, character theme, or action theme. Fantasy theme helps get a collective understanding of symbols, which this song is. Instead of listening to the song as individuals, the nation came together and listened to it as one. Instead of "I" "Me" "My", this song brought out the "Us" "Our" "We". This song captured a group which is fantasy chain.

This song came out during the perfect setting. Travelin' Soldier came out just a few months after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. It was seem as a kind of anti-war song, which related to many people due to the situation of the nation. I believe that this is why the song did so well, it was very relevant. This song unified people and made them no feel as alone making it a fantasy chain. The song was a symbol

While on tour in England the lead singer of The Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, made a comment that not many people liked. She said that she and the other girls in the band were ashamed that the president, George W Bush, was from Texas like they were. A lot of people were mad about this causing interpretive validity. The way people reacted to this, really gave you insight into who they are. This is also another example of fantasy chain, because it sparked a negative reaction to many groups of people. Some people were scared of not agreeing because they didn't want to be an outcast, so they just go with what everyone else thinks, even if it’s not 100% their views too.

I am very happy about the artifact I've chosen because I think there is a lot of stuff going on with this song. It went from number 1 on the charts to practically ban and ignored over one comment. This song has a whole lot that you can analyze so I think my essay will be good!

Blog #2

Paige Kaltenbach

Blog #2

9/28/2015

Travelin' Soldier

With the amount of controversy with “Travelin’ Soldier” by The Dixie Chicks at the time it came out you would think there would be plenty of analysis for it. Sadly though, I only found two. One was not so creditable so I decided to use  http://critiquegeeks.weebly.com/writing-on-poetry--lyrics.html as my analytic source for this artifact. In this analysis called "Travelin' Soldier Critique" you read many facts about the piece. The blogger says "The historical approach that I took was biographical as well as political". This is shown throughout the writing.

The historical approach was addressed by looking into the songs background. The song was originally written and performed in 1996 by Bruce Robinson. He wrote it about young love destroyed by the Vietnam War. The song was very relatable at this time do to the war but it did not blow up as much as The Dixie Chicks version. Another rendition of this song is by Ty England in 1999. Yet again, the song was not that big of a hit. When The Dixie Chicks released their version in 2002 they already had five singles and were very well known. Also at the time of the song release could not have been better. It was released in 2002 just a few months after the Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Many people could relate to this song because they either knew a soldier or just felt for the people of the country who did. This is most likely why when they released their version of the song it topped the charts for weeks and weeks on end!

As the blog goes on it also addressed the political aspect of the comment made by The Dixie Chicks. The comment made was by the lead singer, Natalie Maines, saying that she and the rest of the band were ashamed that the president, George Bush, was from Texas like they were. The weebly blog goes on saying this comment "provoked mixed feelings throughout the world" which I completely agree with. Some people completely boycotted The Dixie Chicks while some others were mad when the group released a public apology because they believe that the girls were just expressing freedom of speech.

I believe that this is a very well written criticism and I agree with most of what it says. Although this song was written about the Vietnam War it truly can relate to the Iraqi War as well. The blog looks at the song without opinion and just states facts about what the song is and what happened with it. What I learned from this critical analysis is that you can write a very good piece without having opinions or biases which I believe to be really hard nowadays due to the fact that we grow up in society where everyone is entitled to, and suppose to have their own opinions.

Blog #1

Paige Kaltenbach

Blog #1

September 12, 2015

Travelin' Soldier by The Dixie Soldier

Travelin' Soldier is a heart wrenching song about a young boy going off to the Army. Before he got on the bus to leave he stop at a diner for a meal. He's shy but asks the waitress with a big pink bow to sit with him because he's lonely. She takes him to a pier and they sit and talk. The boy tell the girl, " I bet you have a boyfriend, I got no one to send letters to, would you mind if I sent one back here to you?"

He sends letter to her from all over the world, California, Vietnam. He tells her in the letters he thinks he might be in love with her. He writes that it's getting tough but he always thinks about that day on the pier. Next in the letters he says that he doesn't know when he'll be able to write her again. "Don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while" Little did she know she wouldn't be hearing from him again. A few weeks later at a High School football game the announcer read off a list of recent Vietnam dead. Everyone cried and cried until one name was read off that no one recognized except that girl in the stand with the big pink bow. The song says "I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy." and "Our love will never end."

Listening to this song anyone would get a rush of emotions but when The Dixie Chicks released it the song spoke to so many people. The Dixie Chicks released this song on February, 20, 2002, just five months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and after the United State declared war. Just a few months after the song came out it hit number one. It seemed that everyone could relate with this song because of the tragedy of the World Trade Center’s is attacked. Being so closely released after 9/11 many people thought of it as an anti-war song. I believe everyone can feel from this song but the audience most effected would be people that were getting deployed and leaving their loved ones behind with only letters to write back and fourth. Travelin' soldier had a steady spot at number one for a very long time due to all the country was going through. The Dixie Chick preformed it everywhere from football games, to music award, and all over the world on tour. This song was all over until over a year later when the group performed it in while on tour in Europe. As the song started playing the lead singer, Natalie Maines, said that her and the band were ashamed that the President of the United State, George Bush was from Texas like they were. The US marines made a comment back so many stations refused to continue playing the song. In one week Travelin' Soldier went from number one to number 3, and the following week it was completely off the Billboard Top 100 Chart. With the Nation in such a bad place at the time, many people were very upset that Natalie Maines would say that, especially on foreign soil. With such controversy behind it, many stations wouldn't play them anymore and people stopped going to their concerts. Many people believe that is what ruined their career because after that comment in 2003 they never had a number one song since. The song and The Dixie Chicks went from number one to being completely ignored. I think that this happened because people felt the comment was anti-American ad after 9/11 people wanted to all stick together and be strong as a Nation.