Plastic Bag Ban

         Environmental pollution is one of the controversial issues around the world. Human has been affecting the environment negatively over the last few centuries. Plastic waste is a significant effect on the environment, specifically, plastic bags. Austin established the single-use carryout bag ordinance in March 2013 as a tool to protect our environment. However, this ordinance has just been overturned by the Texas Supreme Court by ruling on Laredo’s plastic bag ban. In my opinion, Austin should reinstate its ban on plastic bags for some reasons.
         Plastic bags are durable and convenient for consumers to carry their purchased goods. However, plastic bags are harmful to the environment. They are one of the major sources of waste that can damage our natural environment. First of all, plastic bags are hard to decompose. It takes 10 to 1000 years to completely decompose plastic bags. People have solved this problem by recycling used plastic bags. However, can we recycle all of the plastic bags that we produce? Where are those actually end up? Most of them end up in landfills as litter. Second, plastic bags can impact wildlife and marine animals. Many of them could die because of mistakenly eating plastic bags. Approximately 100,000 marine creatures have been killed annually by plastic bags. Moreover, plastic bags contribute a large amount of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which has the size as twice as the size of Texas.
          For all of those reasons, I think plastic bags should be banned to save our environment. Austin, as a fast-growing city in the state, should consider paying attention to its environmental pollution. A survey shows that Austin can decrease the amount of plastic bags use by the ban. The ban actually works in reducing the number of plastic bags. Specifically, in 2015, the number of plastic bags in the litter composition was reduced by 75%. Austin’s bag ban has decreased the amount of about 200 million plastic bags a year. Therefore, why don’t we continue to expand the right thing that can help to protect our environment?
          In short, Austin should reinstate its plastic bags ban. Now, the ban is struck down by Texas Supreme Court. However, Texans and Austin residents can still do good things for the environment. People should continue to use reusable bags for their shopping. Stores should not provide consumers with single-use plastic bags. Instead, they can encourage consumers to bring their reusable bags to protect our environment.

Drug Abuse

After reading some of my classmates’ blogs, I have found that Mai’s blog on April 5, 2019, is interesting. The post is about the drug abuse problem which needs the attention of the Texas government. Her blog actually informed me about the drug abuse problem in our state which I have not known much about before. Generally, I agree with Mai’s opinions on this issue because of her well-organized and persuasive complementary. 

First of all, Mai started her argument by opposing to the complicated law of Texas about the control of substances and narcotics. Following that, she gave readers the prove how hard for average citizens to understand and remember the state law to avoid drug abuse. Moreover, she pointed out that people who are affected by drug abuse in Texas is increasing. At this point, if Mai can give the readers the source of the data for the high rates of death because of the drug overdose and prescription drugs, her argument will be more persuasive. Through this point, we can figure out that the state laws do not work well to solve the drug abuse to improve the health of Texans. Later, Mai mentioned about “Good Samaritan” which is really helpful that should be more informed to Texans. Thanks to this post, I have been informed about this law. 

In the article's conclusion, Mai convinced me with her suggestions of how Texas government should do to help the drug abuse population decrease. I agree with Mai that Texas government will take a long time to reconsider the laws, but hopefully, they will do to make Texans healthier. In overall, Mai’s argument is persuasive with the organized and supporting details. I think Mai wrote an excellent commentary about the drug abuse issue which is essential to Texans. 

Medicaid expansion for Texans

          Having good health is one of the important things for a successful life. In the United States, the medical cost is not cheap. Therefore, some people still cannot afford their medical coverage. Especially, people with low incomes or disabilities confront difficulties in paying for medical expenses. In America, Medicaid is a joint of the state and federal program that provides health coverage and supporting people with limited income or disabilities, etc. Texas has strict Medicaid qualifications which limit the number of people that can access the benefits. In my opinion, Texas should expand Medicaid to support the health of Texans.
           First of all, there are some problems with the Texans’ health insurance. Many poor people do not qualify for Medicaid in Texas. Texas makes up about 31 percent of total more than 2 million uninsured and poor people that distribute in the “coverage gap” in the analysis of Kaiser Family Foundation. Moreover, Texas is one of 14 states that refuses to expand Medicaid in the United States that makes many people cannot access health insurance. Texas has a large number of people not having health insurance. For example, Texas has the highest uninsured population in the States which is 18.2% in the period of 2013-2017.
          For all of those happening with the health of Texans, I think the Texas government should work on expanding Medicaid. The expansion will help more Texans to get aids for their health coverage. Moreover, it may have a positive effect on the economic growth of Texas. If Texas agrees to expand the Medicaid, Texas will receive the fund from the federal. Moreover, when more low-income people can access to health care, their lives will be less suffered. Therefore, Medicaid is important to many Texans’ families. Besides, through a health care survey, most Texans think that the government should pay attention to the health care system and they want to expand the Medicaid which can improve health issues of Texans.
          In short, 37 states have accepted Medicaid expansion to support their residents' health care, why don't we? It is time that Texas government should consider to expand Medicaid to make sure that Texans can get health care that they need. Moreover, it also helps the local and state to save budgets spending on Texans' health care.

Responsibility of the Texas government on the property taxes

          Paying taxes is the responsibility of every citizen. The tax money helps to support the government and services that can maintain and improve the citizens’ lives. However, high tax rates may become a burden to the citizens because they have to pay for many other sources. Specifically, the increasing property tax has been a controversial issue in Texas that need the attention of the government to set tax relief for taxpayers.

          To argue about the responsibility of the Texas government on this issue, the article: “Texans deserve responsible government” has been published on Empower Texans on March 5, 2019. The article is written by Morgan Cherry. He is a Texan, a taxpayer in Eastland County, and the owner of the 3R Ranch. He expresses his opinions about the high rates of property taxes in Texas. He directs Texans who oppose their high property taxes to support his ideas. Cherry blames the escalation of the tax for the Texas government because the government does not control it.

To clarify his argument, Cherry gives readers the information about his 2019 property tax which increases 25% within the last 5 years which is observed with the layoffs of oil, drilling business and going down of the produce prices. Moreover, the wages of citizens slowly increase which forces some people to have to work more than one job at the same time to afford for their lives. Later, he emphasizes that he opposes with the government on how they increase the taxes on the improvement of the farm and ranch lands. He points out that the prices for selling the farm and ranch lands are much staying the same, but they have to pay for the improvement on their lands and even pay much higher on their property taxes. Cherry states that the government should put more attention and change the legislature that can reduce the taxes which continue to go up every year. The government needs to take real actions to put the appropriate tax rates on the properties.

          However, there are some points in his argument that may not be persuasive to the readers. For example, he should give more examples of the increasing of the property taxes besides his 2019 property tax statement. The argument lacks the statistics and data to support his opinions. Cherry should show the readers with the statistics of the “layoffs of the oil and drilling business,” the decrease of the “livestock prices.” Moreover, his statement “statistics appear to show that urban home prices have recovered…” is not totally convincing because which “statistics” he mentions about are. He does not give the readers the statistics with real numbers.

         Overall, Cherry has made a good argument to strongly express his opinions about the responsibility of the government on the control of the property taxes. However, this argument cannot completely persuade the readers because of the lack of supporting data for his statements. 

         

         

"The Real Emergency for Texas"

             Building the border wall between the United States and Mexico has been a controversial issue for a long time. President Donald Trump has even declared it as the national emergency. Most of the border wall is shared with Texas. Therefore, this issue would also be the emergency for Texas state; or we have another problem that much more “emergency” for the health and safety of Texans than building the wall.
            To clarify which is the most important thing in need of Texans, the article: “The real state of emergency in Texas? Our lack of health insurance” has been published on Houston Chronicle on February 27, 2019. This article is written by Taimur Safder. He is a cardiology fellow at the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute in Dallas. Safder expresses his point of views about one significant issue in Texas which is a large number of people not having health insurance. He makes an argument on why he thinks the border wall will not affect the Texans’ lives as the lack of health insurance. Safder directs readers who are Texans and especially interested in the health insurance to support his idea that Texas politicians need to take more attention to Texans’ health care rather than spending billions of dollars for the border wall.
           To do that, Safder starts his argument by telling the readers a story of Mr. Johnson and his wife, who do not qualify for Medicaid and cannot afford their medications. They have to take turns to have medications. Later, he persuades the readers by telling them another story of Mr. Gonzalez and his daughter Lucy who also suffer because of not having health insurance. Safder relies on real situations that he observes as a doctor in Texas. Moreover, Safder gives a lot of data to prove that Texas has a high percentage of uninsured residents. Those evidence helps to strengthen his discussion. His data is also persuasive because he links the readers to the sources of each information during his argument.
           Overall, Safder has made a good argument because it informs Texans and alerts Texas politicians about the lack of having health insurance actually affecting the lives of Texans. He emphasizes that providing health insurance for Texans is the real “emergency.” He also suggests the solution for that is to expand the Medicaid which needs more actions from political leaders to change Texans’ lives.

"The Kinder and Gentler State Speech"

         As a state, Texas faces many issues as those happening in the United States. When those issues affect the health and safety of citizens, the government will declare the state emergency. Texas Governor Greg Abbott delivered his state of the state address. Following this event, the Texas Monthly published an article: “Governor Greg Abbott calls for significant reforms on complex issues like property taxes, school safety” on Tuesday, February 5^th, 2019. Written by Carlos Sanchez, this article draws Texans’ attention with the significant event of the government.
       This article gives readers an overview of Greg Abbott’s state of the state address. It points out six emergency items that have been declared by the Texas Governor which are school finance, teacher pay raises, school safety, mental health, property tax reform, and disaster response. The article emphasizes that the Governor’s tone is gentle during the speech because Texas achieves overflowing coffers, the top ranking of job-creating state, and attracts thousands of people to migrate. Moreover, it shows the readers that declared emergency items receive applause from both parties especially Democrats. Abbott also indicates that Texas is a safe state. Those pieces of information from this article are helpful for all the Texans.

Hello everyone!