The U.S. Dollar and Facebook

In the article, "Foreign Policy: Why The U.S. Dollar Is Like Facebook," Daniel W. Drezner, the writer, uses Facebook and general social networking sites as a way to more effectively convey why he believes that the end of the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency is far from near. In the simplest of terms, he states “the U.S. dollar is the Facebook of hard currencies.”
He explains that both Facebook and the U.S. dollar are only as useful and powerful as the amount of people using it. He argues, “It doesn't matter if there's another site that's superior, unless everyone is willing to simultaneously switch over.” He also points out that without another place that everyone can and wants to move to that peoples are more reluctant to end their usage of a social networking site—the concept applies to the U.S. dollar. And at the moment, the Euro—the dollar’s biggest rival—is in trouble.
So, by comparing the U.S. dollar to Facebook, Drezner cleverly and clearly gets his positive opinion on the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency across. It's definitely worth reading if only to better understand the status of our currency in the world and the actions of people. Drezner's comparison is informative, interesting, and easy to understand.

Arizona: an example of how not to deal with illegal immigration.

I have to agree with Politically Curious' recent blog post — I bet Mexicans clean their house... — that Arizona's new law is completely ridiculous, and it also hits home for me as well. My mother and oldest brother came here 34 years ago and have lived here legally ever since. My mom has a very strong accent and would most likely have her citizenship taken into question. The law is insulting to all living here legally and to all vacationing here from foreign countries.
There is a lot of discussion on the possible economic pitfalls that could come with the spread of this law to more states. It's theorized that should the law spread to other states that many foreign countries will become wary of bringing their business here because of the fear of being unnecessarily questioned or hassled. Many areas that rely on the economic support of tourists and foreign business could end up feeling the effects of the immigration law financially, and not in a positive way.
The issue of illegal immigration needs to be dealt with, but not like this. Racial profiling is completely unavoidable through Arizona's law, and they have no right to go against the rights of U.S. citizens to privacy. There are better ways to deal with illegal immigration. Racial discrimination and the violation of the right to privacy are far from a solution.

A small piece of the new health reform law

On June 1st another piece of the new health reform law will be phased in—the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. The program will subsidize some $5 billion to employers in order for them to help pay for some of their retired workers within the 55-64 age group who are not yet eligible for Medicare. Personally, I don't see too much good coming from the program.
The program is authorized to continue up to 2014, but many say the money will most likely run out within 18-24 months--half the allotted time. That's all well and good, but only about 31% of businesses offer retiree coverage, and the program doesn't allow any new programs to receive any money until a new plan year begins, which is usually January 1st. Which means about 1/3 of the time estimated for the money to last will have been lost to many retirees. For a plan to be eligible it must have one participant that generates between $15,000 and $90,000 of health claims per year, and save the retiree money when managing any chronic diseases.
With the drawbacks for many companies to offer retiree coverage, mainly the high possibility that they will lose funding rather quickly, I don't see many eager to jump on the bandwagon. In my opinion, the program will greatly benefit businesses with retiree coverage plans already in place for a short amount of time, and it won't greatly impact the percentage of businesses who offer retiree coverage. It’s a good-hearted effort, but it's really just a nice reward for those large companies who are still able to offer such retiree benefits to their older employees.