Hope Among the Hate

by The Cowl Editor on February 2, 2017

Opinion

Photo courtesy of s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.comby Kevin Copp ’18

Opinion Staff

In the past week or so, it has been very easy for many Americans to become distraught at the state of our country. The new president of the United States, Donald Trump, has promised to change America in ways that will bring harm to many people, Americans and foreigners alike. He believes that building walls and discriminating against people by their religion and nationality will make America a better place.

Understandably so, it is easy to become upset at these sentiments. These are his beliefs, and the idea that lies at the core of the Constitution is that anyone can believe what they choose to believe. So even though the man who desires harm for many of the people he governs, is the ruler the nation, it is essential that any American citizen who might be despairing remembers to not lose hope about what good can be accomplished in the next four years. Americans should have hope now because of the renewed sense of activism that has recently swept over the country.

The Women’s March that took place in the days following Trump’s inauguration demonstrated how strongly people will act to protect their beliefs. There is a uniting factor in the willpower and the rallying together. Those who share the notion that women’s rights are now endangered can now see just how many people across the country and throughout the world stand with them. The call to equalize women’s pay and create better maternity leave options, amongst other reforms, carries a larger weight because of the election of a man who cares so little about those reforms and so carelessly belittles women. Americans should have hope now because the impetus to define what it means to be an American lays squarely in the road that every citizen must travel on.

Trump’s presidency is not a signal to the rest of the world that the United States is a land filled with bigotry and that every man and woman wishes to be left alone inside its borders. Every American citizen who does not buy into the sheer xenophobia of preventing followers of a certain faith from entering the country must take ownership of their nationality and live out their own beliefs. Whether this entails peaceful protesting or simply accepting others who are different from you, either way is better than standing by as injustice slanders America’s name.

Americans should have hope now because power remains in the hands of the people. Ironically, Trump focused on restoring power to the American people during his inauguration speech. It is these same people he mentioned that can create change that transcends presidential policies. Even this past Sunday’s second reading at mass spoke to the authority that people in seemingly unimportant positions have. Everyday Americans, those without political weight or even money, can have an impact just as “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

America remains a democracy, and the fools of the land still have enough sway to shame the president and move forward despite backwards-looking policies. Americans should have hope now because even after a Trump presidency, America can still be a better place.

Repeal and Wreak Havoc

by The Cowl Editor on January 19, 2017

Opinion

by Kevin Copp ’18

Opinion Staff

Donald Trump’s promise to repeal Obamacare has become one of the focal points of his tenure as the President-elect. His ability to repeal the Affordable Care Act and install his health care system, mysterious as it might be right now, will prove how willing he is to adhere to the claims and assurances of his campaign.

Although he promises a new plan will be created “simultaneously” (according to Forbes) with the elimination of Obamacare, the removal of President Obama’s plan will have serious negative ramifications for people who need affordable health care and for the economy.

Trump has been primarily focused on the tax aspects of Obamacare. While Obamacare has created some problems throughout different states in the health insurance industry, the removal of the tax system that covers the individual and employer mandate would lead only to savings of extremely widespread disparity.

According to the Tax Policy Center, Americans earning between $24,000 and $89,000 a year would save around $150 a year. Americans earning upwards of $700,000, however, will save $33,000 a year on average. Even though some of this difference can be attributed to the progressive tax system, it is clear that cutting the individual and employer mandates will only continue to further the problem of income inequality.

Additionally, the overall cost of receiving health insurance would skyrocket for the average American worker. The extra $150 a year would not come close to covering the private insurance costs with a loss of government subsidies.

Frank Clemente and Ron Pollack estimate that the cost of insurance would increase about $4,000 to $6,000 a year per family, depending on their income level. Thus the most important aspect of Obamacare, its affordability for many working-class families, would be taken away.

The main premise that Trump ran on, his identification as a political outsider who wants to “drain the swamp” of career politicians who benefit from corruption, is nullified by his desire to eliminate affordable health care for those who need it and bring tax relief of an average of $197,000 to the top 0.1 percent of American households.

While he may not help those directly aided by political corruption, his repeal of Obamacare will bring the most tax relief to those who certainly need it the least.

The economic impact of repealing Obamacare will bring harm not only to the health care industry, but also to many other industries. Authors Leighton Ku, Erika Steinmetz, Erin Brantley, and Brian Bruen believe that repealing Obamacare will lead to nearly one million lost jobs in the health care industry by 2019. They also predict that this could lead to another 1.5 million jobs lost in other industries in the same timeframe. The $150 many working-class families would be saving in taxes would not provide much help in the face of a pink slip.

With the repeal of Obamacare, many Americans will be unable to afford health care while the social elite will receive increased tax breaks. The economy will also suffer with the elimination of the ACA. Trump’s plan to repeal Obamacare makes good on his campaign promises, but the negative impacts the repeal will have for so many hard-working Americans is a step in the wrong direction for our society.