This Week

It was a busy week at work. Between budget proposals, gearing up for the Supreme Court case on the healthcare bill, and the Pope's visit to Cuba, we had a lot of stuff going on. One of the perks at work is being able to attend lectures from a wide variety of people on a wide variety of topics.
I thought I would share some information with you on what I learned this week.
On Wednesday, I went to a talk by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. As the son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio came to talk about the impact technology would have on the regime in Cuba. His assertion was that if wifi access were available to the people of Cuba, the regime would topple in days because the Cuban people would be able to communicate with each other.
If you want to watch Sen. Rubio's speech, here's the link to the entire program: http://bcove.me/h3g64n1j.
On Thursday, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin came to talk about his budget proposal. Not knowing a whole lot about the budget, I learned a lot. The Ryan Budget cuts spending and works to decrease the debt. A big part of decreasing the debt is reforming entitlements-Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as well as welfare reform. Ryan has also proposed reforming the tax code. His plan would simplified the tax code by creating two tax brackets and not raising taxes on small businesses. The most insightful comment, in my opinion, that Rep. Ryan made had to do with rethinking the safety net that the federal government provides to help people that fall into poverty. He said, "...is the goal here to treat the symptoms of poverty--to make it easier to live with or is the goal here to go to the root causes of poverty and eradicate it? I deeply believe in the preferential option for the poor, but what that means to me is that getting people out of poverty and coming up with ideas and solutions that put them on a path to self-sufficiency." Overall, it was a very thought-provoking discussion. If you want to watch the whole discussion, here's the link http://bcove.me/nbvzn0c9
If you are like my some-what skeptical brother, and want specifics on what these reforms look like I encourage you to check out the YouTube videos the House Budget Committee put together. The first one can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwv5EbxXSmE&feature=relmfu
My last event of the week was a speech by Sen. John Barrasso on Obamacare and the Supreme Court case that will begin tomorrow. As an orthopedic surgeon, Sen. Barrasso has a unique perspective on the impact Obamacare will have, and already has had on the healthcare system in this country. Obamacare will be especially bad for rural areas, like Wyoming, where Barrasso is from, because it many doctors will no longer be able to afford to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. In rural areas, this would place a huge hardship on those patients because they will have to drive long distances to see a doctor.
There were many other things that Sen. Barrasso discussed. If you want to watch the whole speech, here's the link http://bcove.me/s8wsdpvt
Hopefully you'll find these just as interesting and informational as I did!
Also, here's some more pictures of cherry blossoms. We have had rain of and on all week so everything is green and blooming!