Increasing Taxes on Alcohol and Cigarettes Essay Example for Free

Increasing Taxes on Alcohol and Cigarettes Essay †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Sin taxes† on cigarettes and alcohol are designed to boost revenue, not improve public health †¢Minimum alcohol pricing will exacerbate poverty and entrench inequality without discouraging binge drinking †¢Most of the costs of drinking and smoking fall on individual consumers, not the public. There is no economic justification for increasing taxes on smokers and drinkers. In a report released today, The Wages of Sin Taxes (Download PDF) by Christopher Snowdon, the Adam Smith Institute condemns the government’s decision to increase taxes on cigarettes and alcohol this year and to introduce minimum alcohol pricing. The report argues that ‘sin taxes’ (taxes on commodities seen as harmful to health) are ineffective in reducing consumption and are not necessary for recouping lost revenue. The taxes are highly regressive and force the poor to pay for the government’s mishandling of public finances. The taxes don’t work Cigarette taxes are now so high that increases drive smokers to the black market instead of discouraging consumption or raising more revenue. Sin taxes are more likely to deter moderate users than heavy users, whose demand for cigarettes and alcohol is relatively inelastic. A heavy smoker or an alcoholic is unlikely to reduce consumption because of a price rise, making sin taxes an unreliable way of reducing consumption or improving public health. The victims of cigarette and alcohol duty Sin taxes hit moderate and heavy users alike. Research has shown that previous rises in cigarette tax have made only 2.3% of smokers quit, with the other 97.7% just paying more in tax. Taxes on cigarettes and alcohol are regressive and hit the poor hardest. The average smoker spends  £1660 a year on cigarettes – 20% of the bottom 10%’s income. Sin taxes are the most regressive indirect taxes, as they tend to target products that are disproportionately consumed by the poor. Minimum alcohol pricing is also deeply regressive, only affecting the cheaper drinks consumed by the poor. Punishing poor people for enjoying a drink or a cigarette exacerbates poverty and treats the poor like children who need to be controlled by the state. The public cost of smoking and drinking Taxes on cigarettes and alcohol have often been justified by studies that claim to estimate the â€Å"social cost† of these vices. These studies include intangible costs borne by individual consumers, such as â€Å"emotional distress†, lost years of life, and individual expenditures on cigarettes and alcohol. These are personal costs, not social costs. They also fail to include the economic benefits the alcohol and cigarette industry gives to the UK in terms of employment and government revenue. Most of these studies should be relegated to the bin of junk statistics. In fact, smokers and heavy drinkers do not cost the state more. Though smokers may cost more during their working lives, but non-smokers require greater expenditure in pensions, nursing care and welfare payments. Chronic diseases associated with old age are far more expensive than the lethal diseases associated with smoking and alcoholism. Smokers and drinkers are not a burden on the state, and the myth of saints subsidising sinners should not be used to justify tax rises. The appeal of ‘sin taxes’ Despite the fact they hurt the poor and do not change consumer consumption, sin taxes have always been popular with governments as a source of revenue. Sin taxes and minimum alcohol pricing should be recognised for what they really are stealth taxes and paternalism designed to control the poor. Chris Snowdon, author of the report and Adam Smith Institute fellow, says: â€Å"Campaigners for sin taxes and minimum pricing often claim that â€Å"healthy citizens† are forced to bear the cost of other people’s lifestyles. In fact, the evidence shows that smokers take less from the communal pot than the average Briton and the money raised from alcohol duty comfortably pays for any burden drinking places on public services. If the aim of policy is to make individuals pay their way, the government should slash the beer tax and subsidise cigarettes. We are not seriously suggesting the government does this, but if politicians insist on increasing taxes on these products, they sh ould admit that the purpose is to raise revenue. Essentially the government is forcing the people who are least likely to live to extreme old age to pay for the escalating costs of an ageing population.

Alcatraz Essay -- essays research papers

Alcatraz: United States Penitentiary 1934-1963 As a result of the Great Depression, a new breed of violent criminals swept the streets of America. In response to the cries of alarmed citizens, Congress enacted a number of statutes, which gave the federal government jurisdiction over certain criminal offenses previously held by the states. With the suggestion of former US Attorney General, Homes Cummings, Congress agreed that a special penal institution of maximum security and minimum privilege be established. In 1934, the legendary US Penitentiary of Alcatraz was born and became the home of Americas most wanted for the next thirty years. Once authorized by Congress, the US Department of Justice acquired control of Alcatraz Island, previously a US Army compound. As the island was redeveloped into a maximum-security prison, seven of its twelve acres were enclosed in a prison compound. The remaining five were set aside for employee residences, apartments, and recreational space. Soon after the redesigning of the old Army fortress, the Alcatraz prison was ready for the grand opening (or better said lockout!). Equipped with four different cellblocks, A, B, C and D, the Rock began its operations on January 2, 1934. Although cellblock A was seldom used, B, C and D provided 378 â€Å"cages† to accommodate the most notorious felons that America could produce. The first of four wardens to take charge of the penitentiary was a retired, professional administrator named James A. Johnston. ...

Americans with Disabilities Act 1

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act Overview of the ADA of 1990 including its intended purpose, and what governmental agency oversees ADA claims The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) of 1990 was enacted by the United States Congress, signed into law by George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990, and amended in 2009 where some changes were introduced to the act. ADA is a civil rights’ law that was intended to check against discrimination that can be encountered by disabled persons in the course of accessing certain services or taking part in day-to-day activities. It safeguards disabled persons against any form of bias or prejudice with respect to their condition. Whatever falls under category of disability is normally made on case-to-case basis. However, current substance abuse and visual impairment that can be remedied by lenses are not considered as disabilities by the ADA of 1990. The law was initially intended to guarantee civil right protection for people who were permanently disabled and their disabilities could not be reversed or weakened. The law was enacted enable disable persons access services enjoyed by persons who are not disabled thereby opening their horizons to all types of careers. The drafters wanted the law to be flexible to guard against eminent weakening by future case laws. To enable disabled persons enjoy equal rights with everyone else, President G. W. Bush signed ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) into law on September 2008 (Matt, 1). Title I of the ADA 1990 deals with employment. It empowers people with disability with requisite qualifications to seek for employment in covered entities. People with disabilities can be hired, discharged, compensated, and trained just like any other worker without being discriminated. Agencies that are covered by the law include an employment agencies, labor organizations, and labor management committees. As per Title I, discrimination entails restricting job application in a manner contrary to convention, preventing qualified persons people from applying or taking up job opportunities, or making irrational and illegal job requirements to limit persons with disabilities. If entrance medical examinations have to be done, everybody else should be subjected to the process and the medical records must be treated with a lot of confidentiality. This title does not offer protection to individuals currently engaged in illegal use of drugs (Matt, 1). Title II of the Act deals with Public entities. This title prohibits any form of discrimination that can be met on the people with disability by public entities at local and state levels. Access here implies both physical and pragmatic access. It is supposed to check against discriminatory policies instituted by such public entities. It applies to public transportation that public entities offer (Matt, 1). Title III captures public accommodation and commercial facilities. The title criminalizes discrimination based on disability with special focus on full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations of any public accommodation by the proprietors, leasers, or operators. Public accommodation here means recreational facilities, lodgings, transportation, educational, and places of public displays. Under this title, all new constructions have to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines anchored in the Code of Federal Regulations. This title also applies to existing facilities. Exemptions to the regulation provided in the title include private clubs and religious organizations. However, historical properties and other public and private buildings must comply with the provisions of this title and failure may lead to legal proceedings. However, if following usual standards threaten to destroy historical significance of the feature of the building, they are under obligation to use other standards (Matt, 2). Title IV of the ADA deals with telecommunications. This title amended the Communications Act of 1934. All telecommunication companies are required to cater for the needs of the disabled especially the deaf and those with speech impairment (Matt, 3). Title V of ADA deals with miscellaneous provisions that are basically technical provisions. It also includes anti-retaliation or coercion provisions. Many government agencies act in concert to ensure that the ADA of 1990 is implemented. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission presides over employment related ADA provisions. The Department of Transportation regulates statutes related transportation. Other agencies include United States Department of Agriculture, Department of labor, Department of Education, United States Department of Interior, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, United States Department of Health and Human Services, and Federal Communications Commission (Matt, 4). Statutory definition of â€Å"disability† and â€Å"reasonable accommodation† under the ADA of 1990 The ADA Act of 1990 defines disability as an impairment that substantially limits major life activity. ADA defines impairment as a physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, anatomical, neurological, musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive losses. The Act further defines impairment as a mental or psychological disorder. Nevertheless, the explanations of impairment under the ADA regulation do not include physical traits, common personality traits, cultural and economic aspects as these elements come naturally and cannot be altered by man (Matt, 1). The Act excludes certain statutory requirements while trying to define disability like those currently using illegal drugs. Emotional acts such as thought, focus, and making contact with others also make up major life activities in reference to the EEOC. The phrase substantially limits features in the ADA definition of disability. An impairment on qualifies to be a disability if it limits life activities. For an impairment to be referred to as a disability, a person must be meaningfully limited in his or her competency to undertake certain activities relative to the average person drawn from the general public. Some of the very essential aspects to consider in this area are nature and extent of the disability, the time interval that the persons has been disabled, and how the impairment affects the individual’s ability to partake in everyday tasks (Acemoglu and Angrist 920). Reasonable accommodation in the ADA of 1990 protects persons with disabilities by ensuring that other than provision of physical access to buildings and provision of equal access to programs and services, this category of citizens access auxiliary services, aids, and removal of barriers in public utilities provided that this does not create undue administrative or financial burdens. The ADA 1990 defines reasonable ccommodation to entail â€Å"making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible and usable by disabled persons, job restructuring, part time or modified work schedules, re-advertisement to vacant person, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices and appropriate adjustment or modification of examination† (Matt, 5). Discuss the Supreme Court's decisions in Sutton and Toyota Manufacturing In Williams’s case, The Supreme Court visited the question of severity of a condition that qualifies it to be a protected disability. The Supreme Court held that the employee’s medical condition known as carpal tunnel syndrome was not a disability because it was not substantially limiting. It was further stated that for an impairment to be referred to as a disability, it has to prevent or severely restrict a person from undertaking in tasks that are of essential value to a person in everyday life. The court underscored the need for strict interpretation of the phrase ‘’substantially limits. ’ The ruling in Williams’s case brought into fore the inability of ADA to accommodate cases characterized by dismissal of many disability cases (Raddatz, 2). In Sutton v. United Airlines, the plaintiff sued for discriminative acts by a potential employer. In the case, the plaintiffs were two twin myopic sisters who had applied for employment as commercial pilots but their request was rejected because they did not attain the minimum value for uncorrected eyesight. The Supreme Court held that the question of whether somebody is disabled and thus be protected by ADA must be looked at with reference to all mitigating measures. For instance, if a person is severely limited in undertaking day-to-day activities without medical intervention but is only slightly limited to undertaking these tasks after medical interventions, the medical intervention serves to negate the impairment from being referred to as a disability as outlined in the ADA (Raddatz, 1). The ADAAA of 2008 including its intended purpose and significant changes from the ADA of 1990 The ADAAA 2008 is an Act of the Congress that went into operation on January 1, 2009. It amended the ADA of 1990 and other nondiscrimination laws that were drafted for the good of people with disability at state and federal levels. The amendment was introduced with respect to myriad Supreme Court rulings on ADA 1990. THE Supreme Court decisions were viewed by the members of the United States Congress as limiting the rights of people with disabilities (Schall, pp. 192). The ADAAA indeed reversed those decisions. With respect to ADA Title I, ADAAA changed the definition of disability. It clarified and broadened its definition. One notable contribution of this amendment is to take into consideration of both the employer and employee. With ADAAA 2008, courts are expected to interpret ADA and other Federal disability non-discrimination laws and determine whether the covered entity has discriminated. This law preserves the original meaning definition of law as written in the ADA but alters the way that statutory term should be construed (Matt, 5). Legal analysis of Billy and Mandy's requests applying both the ADA and ADAAA Based on the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, Mandy’s request should not be honored because she is not substantially limited in her daily activities without using medical interventions like consulting an optician to initiate corrective measures to remedy far sightedness. However, with the ADAAA, her request should be granted because the Act prohibits consideration of medication and low vision devices in determining whether a condition is a disability. Billy Beer’s request has to be granted because according to the Reasonable Accommodation and from the definition of disability in Title I, Billy’s condition is covered and indeed considered a disability. Moreover, ADAAA prioritizes discrimination initiated by covered entity as opposed to whether the person seeking protection under law has impairment that fits the statutory definition of disability. Works Cited Acemoglu, Daron and Angrist, Joshua D. Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Political Economy 109(6), 2001, 915–957. Matt, Susan. Reasonable Accommodation: What does the Law Really Require. Journal of the Association of Medical Professionals with hearing Loses, 1(1), 2003, 1-13 Raddatz, Alissa. ADA Amendments overrule Supreme Court Decisions on What Constitutes Disability. 2009. Web. 3 Dec. 2011. Schall, Carol M. The Americans with Disabilities Act—Are We Keeping Our Promise? An Analysis of the Effect of the ADA on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 10(9), 1998, 191-203.

Resume [Utp Template] - 1448 Words

Muhammad ‘Ammar bin Kassim B. Eng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering [Majoring in Material] Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) 7th August 2010 Dear Sir/Madam, APPLICATION FOR CAREER OPPORTUNITY Your company’s milestone and achievement in the industry really impresses me, and your philosophy of encouraging career professional development is something I value. Thus, I am writing to apply for a career opportunity in your reputable company. I am currently in my final semester and will be graduating on December 2010. 2. On my previous work experiences, I have been attached at Syarikat Air Melaka Berhad (SAMB) for 8 months (June 2009-January 2010) at Mechanic and Mechanical Section as Mechanic and Mechanical Personnel. My main job scopes there were†¦show more content†¦My FYP entitled Residual Stress Measurement using X-ray Diffraction (XRD). This is the pioneer project of Residual Stress Measurement using XRD. This project involve of laboratory work and research on specimen which is mild steel. A necessary knowledge in Material Science is a must especially in structure of metals. The laboratories used are mechanical, material, t hermal, and x-ray. The research involves of reading books, journals and texts. I am driving a boat at Durian Tunggal Dam GENERAL SKILLS COMPUTER SKILLS ï‚ § ï‚ § ï‚ § ï‚ § ï‚ § ï‚ § Proficient in written and spoken English and Bahasa Melayu Good interpersonal, communication and technical writing skills. Good understanding on mechanical related studies and mathematics. Able to lead, work in team and work independently with commitment. Basic Astronomy and telescope installation. Computer/Software Skills: - Borland C++ 5.02 - Mathworks MATLAB 7.0 - Windows Movie Maker With Robotic Telescope at KFAK PROJECT EXPERIENCE SUBJECTS Engineering Team Project (ETP) DESCRIPTION This project entitled Intergrated Energy Saving System and consist of six member per team from different engineering discipline. This project successfully visualize the concept of environmentally office that use low consumption of electricity. This project has won silver medal at Engineering Design Exhibition (EDX). SOFTWARE USED ï‚ · ï‚ · Autodesk AutoCAD 2004 Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Publisher Powerpoint) Heat Transfer Teamwork