by Christina Sun
A year after the Health Care Reform Act code named “Obamacare” was written into law, its incendiary effects continue to rage on. Much of the right-wing gripe over the law has focused on the unconstitutionality of government mandates to buy health insurance. But the more important issue, from my perspective, is the system’s failure to support and create incentives for the most crucial components in the delivery of health care: doctors.
Doctors face a slew of financial and administrative obstacles today that prevent them from providing the best possible …

By Christina Sun
Despite international sanctions, North Korea continues down the same threatening path regarding its nuclear program. Last November, American nuclear scientist and Stanford professor Siefried S. Hecker visited North Korea where officials showed him a large new facility they had secretly built to enrich uranium.i
The facility, which did not exist when inspectors visited the country in April 2009, is indicative of North Korea’s increasing military aggression. The country is in the midst of a leadership transition from Kim Jong-il to his son Kim Jong-un, who is the grandson …

By Christina Sun
Obama’s policy in the Middle East has been based more heavily upon the perseverance of his political image than on pragmatism.
On Aug. 2, 2010, Obama said that he is on the way to fulfilling his campaign promise of ending the war in Iraq. Under his plan, the United States will have removed all combat troops by Aug. 31, 2010 and 50,000 troops will remain to train Iraqi security forces, conduct counterterrorism operations and provide security for ongoing U.S. civilian efforts. Obama, however, seems more intent on being precisely …

By Christina Sun
You know there is a problem with the tax system when the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury fails to file his taxes correctly.
Whether or not Timothy Geithner knowingly evaded his taxes, the discrepancy shows how complex our current tax system really is.
If you’ve ever filed taxes, images of inscrutable tax policies and forms are probably ingrained in your recent memory – studies agree.  A Tax Foundation survey in April 2007 found that 83 percent of people surveyed said the federal income tax is “very complex” or somewhat “complex.” The …

By Christina Sun
Bribery, corruption, cronyism, you name it. Obama’s new appointees have participated in them all.
These policy “czars,” as they are often called by the media and the Obama administration, are high level White House officials appointed sans Senate confirmation. Historically, presidential administrations have used czars to rise above the usual Washington fray and help various bureaucracies work together. However, the Obama administration has run amok with the appointments.
According to the White House Report to Congress on White House Staff, the czars are among the highest paid staffers in the …

By Christina Sun
On Feb. 1, Obama presented his $3.8 trillion budget proposal for the next decade. The deficit will hit a post-WWII record high this fiscal year at $1.6 trillion. The budget is supposed to save $1.2 trillion over the next decade, but this savings becomes nearly meaningless when compared to the $6 trillion debt that is supposed to accrue in the next 10 years.
Obama’s big effort to to reduce spending is to freeze some domestic spending for three years. Sounds great on the surface until you read the fine …