Category Archives: Politics

Elections 2018: What it means for healthcare

Healthcare, policy, Politics, United States

This is the second in a series of posts I’ll be doing on the elections and their aftermath here in the US. I wrote a post focused on what the elections mean for K-12 education in the US a couple of weeks ago. This one focuses on what the election means for the healthcare in the US.

When the Republican party took over all three branches of government in 2016, repeal  replace (or simply, repeal) became one of the the explicitly stated main goals of the administration and congress. By this they meant repealing the Affordable Care Act 2010 (aka Obamacare) and replacing it with something that met most of the policy objectives of the ACA, without being the ACA.

The GOP was particularly opposed to specific aspects of the ACA system; the mandate (and associated fine for not enrolling) and the protection for pre-existing conditions being the main ones. However, the most significant attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act was voted down in the Senate with three Republican senators: Collins (ME), McCain (AZ), Murkowski (AK) voting against repeal.  Sen. John McCain (AZ) dramatically voting no, as the last vote.

Continue reading Elections 2018: What it means for healthcare →

Elections 2018: What does it mean for education?

Education, Politics, United States

This is the first in a series of posts I’ll be doing on the elections and their aftermath here in the US. This post focuses on what the elections mean for K-12 education in the US.

The 2018 midterms are over. There are a handful election results where the vote tallies were so close that recounts have been triggered, but we know the broad results. There was, in fact, a blue wave. As of today the Democratic party has flipped the House, with a net gain of at least 32 seats; while the Republican party held the senate having gained a net of one seat. Democrats flipped seven governors’ houses as well as some state legislatures.

Continue reading Elections 2018: What does it mean for education? →

Budget analysis 2013

Economy, Pakistan, Politics

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June 12, 2013: I appeared on Capital TV with Javed Iqbal along with the PPPP’s Tanveer Ashraf Kaira to discuss the first budget released by the newly elected PML-N administration of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Minister of Finance Ishaq Dar had presented the finance bill in the national assembly on June 12th, just five days after Mr. Sharif had been sworn in as Prime Minister. The crux of my analysis was that this budget did not tell us much about what the third Sharif administration would look like over it’s full term.

 

Op-ed: Economy, a top priority

Economy, Pakistan, Politics

April 22, 2010: This column was originally published in Dawn.

A FEW days ago, President Asif Ali Zardari affixed his signature to the 18th Amendment bill. Now that the political class of 2008 has successfully exorcised the ghosts of generals past from the constitution, perhaps the administration can focus on the two existential threats facing Pakistan jihadist militancy and economic malaise. Continue reading Op-ed: Economy, a top priority →