Medicare Part D Policy Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Medicare Part D Policy Analysis - Term Paper Example The program has received praises because it more affordable than the other Medicare programs; the program cuts into half the drug expenditures of beneficiaries. Like Medicare part B, Medicare part D is not mandatory. It is optional and has a cost that is to be paid by the beneficiaries on a monthly basis. Each beneficiary pays 25 percent of the coverage cost and federal government pays the remaining 75 per cent of the premium (Dallas, 2006). However, if a person initially rejects the program, he or she pays a late enrollment penalty to begin the program later. Medicare part D program provide a large list of approved drug plans for the beneficiaries to choose from. However, the plans do not cover all prescription drugs, thus it is important that the users choose a program that meets their needs. Goal One of the major goals of Medicare part D policy was to rely on the competition among private plans to control drug prices and drug spending. This was aimed at lowering the cost of prescr iption drugs in favor of the beneficiaries. However, although the program was developed with an aim of making medication more affordable, it is yet to achieve this goal because about half the total number of beneficiaries still complains of high costs of medications. Moreover, with the program having no authority to negotiate the prices with the drug agencies, this does not seem to be achievable (Neuman, Cubanski and Kimberly, 2008). Target Population of the Policy The Medicare part D policy or program targets all citizens of the United States of America who are above 65 years of age. However, those below 65 years can also be considered for the program but under certain critical medical conditions. For example, persons who need kidney transplant due to kidney failure (Medicare.org 2011). Enrollment To be eligible in part D plan, beneficiaries must affirmatively enroll for the program. Enrollment is done annually and it last from 15th October to 7th December. Eligible Medicare benefi ciaries who fail to enroll during this enrollment period pay a late enrollment penalty in order to receive the part D coverage. The penalty is often calculated from the national average premium and number of full calendar months they were not enrolled (Salzman, 2004). Eligibility People who eligible for Medicare part D are those already enrolled in both part A and B due to three different factors. One of the factors is the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) which requires anyone suffering from such a disease to apply for Medicare part D coverage. Second is the age factor which argues hat part D applicants should be 65 years and above (Fincham, 2007). Lastly is disability factor which allows individuals with total disability to apply for the coverage. Generally, any person who is 65 years of age or above and has been a legal resident of the United States of America for at least five years is eligible for the Medicare part D coverage. People who have disabilities and are below 65 years ma y also be eligible if they receive Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits. However, if they stop receiving Social Security Disability Insurance, they lose eligibility to the part D Medicare (Barry, 2008). There are also particular medical conditions that may also enable people become eligible to enroll for the part D Medicare coverage. Persons eligible to prescription drug coverage under this plan must also be entitled to benefits under Medicare part A and B. Part D

World Trade Organization. Origins And Characteristics Essay

World Trade Organization. Origins And Characteristics - Essay Example Simultaneously, 23 countries (11 of which were developing nations) decided to negotiate on tariff reductions and also to adapt some of the ITO rules, these agreements are called the GATT. The ITO remained subject to ratification to be accepted by national legislatures, but the USA denied due to Congress opposition, and thus GATT remained in effect just as the ‘provisional’ agreement. Seven trade rounds were completed under GATT, and trade agreements were initiated which benefited the developing countries without reciprocal offers. The GATT agreements were extended in the Uruguay Round in 1986, under which new areas were added to the services trade and intellectual property rights were included. Furthermore, a new dispute settlement system had to be redesigned and a new trade organization had to be established to replace the provisional GATT. In the year 1995, the ‘Marrakesh Agreement’ established the WTO, and the Uruguay Round agreements were implemented and by 1997 the additional agreements were also implemented which covered the financial services and the telecommunication services. Furthermore, the defining characteristics of the WTO are as follows (Ministry of Commerce and MPDF, 2005, 11-16): Transparency is the primary principle, since business people are most concerned with the environment they operate in. Thus, it is a requirement for the WTO member to publish all laws and regulations transparently which may affect domestic or international trade in any matter. Non-discrimination principle ensures that the goods of any country must not be differentiated against, and therefore no ‘most favored nation’ treatment shall not be provided, and neither the local goods should be discriminated. Progressive trade liberalization principle applies because WTO is not a free-trade organization, therefore a government can increasingly open its market to foreign competition to the extent it finds appropriate, independently of what i s prescribed by the WTO agreements. Special and Differential treatment principle ensures that developing nations receive easier terms and agreements, and thus they are allowed more time for implementation, and the stricter rules applied on the developed nations may be removed from the agreement of the poorer nations, in order to help them take benefit of being WTO members receiving special treatment. b) An imperfect World Trade Organization is better than no world trade organization.  Discuss with reference to ongoing protectionist policies and the impact of these in the relation of developed economies and lesser-developed economies (40 points). WTO is an organization that was formulated to help and benefit its members, its system of rules, principles and obligations are in place to protect its member nations, which also comprises of the economically less powerful nations, since WTO helps governments of such nations to devise programs which trigger economic reform. The multilatera l trade framework of the rules enacted also help nations in domestic policy making, they do not enforce trade policies but help governments in establishing developmental policies which are based on open and competitive markets. Regardless of the initial aim, WTO has been criticized for being unfair and hurting to

Literature Review on Theories of Performance Appraisal

Literature Review on Theories of Performance Appraisal Introduction: Performance appraisal means to evaluate the performance of employees that they are performing their jobs up to the standard of the organizations or not. To evaluate the performance of employees it is very important to establish a proper performance appraisal system in the organization and to give the training to the managers of the organization to appraise the performance of employees correctly. This is a broad topic for research and many researchers have done their researches on performance appraisal to improve the performance appraisal system of organization. In some organizations management has implemented poor system of appraisal in these articles authors have discussed that the have found the negative attitude of employees towards performance appraisal. The main purpose of this project was to explore the appraisal system in work place and identifying the importance of appraise and appraiser role to form a positive and effective system. In these articles they have worked on to gi ve the knowledge to healthcare professionals about difficulties of implanting an appraisal system, including the lack of guidelines on skills and knowledge required. Researchers have used DEA data envelope analysis as a fair evaluating and sorting tool to support appraisal system. This study supports the ideas that rating formats need reexamination with a focus on computer based models as an alternative to traditional rating methods. Another method has already been used (AHP) analytic hierarchy process to evaluate the performance of employees based on the criteria: . Quantity/quality of the work, planning/organization, initiative/commitment, teamwork/cooperation, communication and external factors. All these criteria have been divided into three sub criteria to evaluate the employees. On performance appraisal researchers have done work on different areas but there is no work has been done on that which performance appraisal tools are more useful for evaluating the performance of employees. I want to do my research on methods of performance appraisal that which methods are more useful and give best result to evaluate the performance of the employees. Literature review: T. R. Manoharan (2002) has written In this article authors have discussed that they have noticed that in many organizations appraisal systems are: (a) not relevant to organizational objectives, (b) subject to personal bias, and (c) are often influenced more heavily by personality than by performance. To eliminate these negative things there is a attempt with a computer based tool called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) which is used in the working place to evaluate the performance of employees. Sample size is 23 employees. A DEA study provides the following four properties (Paradi, Smith Schaffnit-Chatterjee 2002). A piecewise linear empirical envelopment surface to represent the best practice frontier, consisting of units which exhibit the highest attainable outputs in relation to all other DMUà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s in the population, for their given level of inputs An efficiency metric to represent the maximal performance measure for each DMU(Decision Making Units) measured by its distance to the frontier Specific targets or efficient projections onto the frontier for each inefficient DMU An efficient reference set or peer group for each DMU defined by the efficient units closest to the DMU Here regression analysis is used and correlation has been checked in between these factors of DEA data set: Job knowledge, customer relation, work habit, interpersonal relations, quality and quantity. Through this analysis they have measured the efficiency and productivity of each employee. Rafikul Islam(July 8-10, 2005) has discussed In this article scholars have discussed that to evaluate the performance of organization that it is meeting its goals or not, it is important to evaluate the performance of employees of the organization and for this evaluation effective performance appraisal system should be maintained. They have mentioned two main objectives of this study first is to give rewards to those employees who have performed good in achieving organizational goals and second is to identify those objectives which are not met and make an action plan to ensure that they will achieved in future. In this paper AHP (analytic hierarchy process) to evaluate employee performance. The criteria is used for appraisal is: quantity/quality of the work, planning/organization, initiative/commitment, teamwork/cooperation, communication and external factors. Their sample size is 294 employees. There are many advantages of using AHP i.e AHP can compare two decision elements at a time, it is easy and simple to use, it can easily accommodate multiple decision makers to solve any specific problem. AHP can easily accommodate multiple decision makers to solve a particular problem AHP compares two decision elements (criteria/alternatives) at a time. AHP is simple and easy to apply. Graeme Redshaw (2008) has written in this article is about to improve the performance appraisal system of nurses in organization. Author distributed questionnaire to 8 nurses to know about the performance appraisal system of the organization. 7 nurses were nervous before the appraisal and 1 was confident after the appraisal all nurses were agreed with the outcomes of appraisal. If the successful appraisal system is established so there will be clear aims and objectives, and will be able to implement fairly. Proper training will be provided to the managers to appraise the staff correctly. Diane Shaffer(May 11, 2009) has written in his article writer has discussed that motivation and performance appraisal are interrelated. Motivation is dependent on performance management. Employees who are motivated and happy with their jobs want to stay connected with the company for a long time. Many organizations have not implemented correct performance appraisal system to evaluate the performance of employees. Author has discussed here that they should implement a successful appraisal method/system and also give reward to employees who perform good in the organization. Through this practice employee become motivated towards their jobs and improve their performance and performance of organization as a whole will also improve. Almuth McDowall (2009)has discussed in his article that due to the high level of competition training and development has become very important. Ità ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s a era of globalization so it is playing a key role for the organization to get competitive advantage. While selection of activities including coaching, 360 degree appraisal and development centers (DCs) are become linked to development. In this article 360 degree appraisal has been discussed that it is very important to give the feedback to the employees about their performances. Positive feedback motivates the employees and they become more willing to work for further development programs. The authors examine different development activities with the aim being to provide a framework with which to assess each oneà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s effectiveness. They compare the processes incorporating a range of significant factors and highlight several important implications that arise for any aim to m eet organizations. Donald L. Caruth (2009)has discussed that the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the need for and propose a more aligned and integrated standard for performance evaluation to enhance effective strategic control. The paper reviews the various issues creating discontent with the performance appraisal systems within many organizations and demonstrates how these problems inhibit successful strategic control. It attempts to cogently incorporate the performance appraisal characteristics needed for the exercise to function as a critical organizational control metric and a useful feedback mechanism for strategic management of the firm. The paper finds that, whereas performance evaluation has received reasonably robust examination in the human resources literature, explicit guidance toward the integration with strategic control is inadequate. Without consistent alignment between these functions, however, performance appraisal becomes an exercise in futility instead of a vital control mea surement, often resulting in not only personnel dissatisfaction, but also, more importantly, an impediment to systematic strategy implementation. H.C. Shiva Prasad(2010) in this research paper authers have done work to dheck the performance of indian software professionals (SPs) Data were collected from 441 software and senior software engineers from eight Indian software firms. The team leaders assessed the performance of software and senior software engineers on 16 items. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of scores on 16 items of the instrument suggest six dimensions of performance. They are work-efficiency, personal resourcefulness, inter- and intra-personal sensitivity, productivity orientation, timeliness, and business intelligence. The dimensions have reliability and high convergent validity. SPs having more years of experience, higher need for achievement, and higher need for social power are high performers. Human resource managers can evaluate the performance of SPs holistically on six dimensions for training, reward administration, job rotation, and promotion decisions.

Rejection in Shakespeares King Lear :: King Lear essays

Rejection in King Lear      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An important idea present in William Shakespeare's "King Lear" is rejection and the role this rejection plays in the experiences of the involved characters.   The important ideas to be considered here are the causes and effects associated with the act of rejection. The most important situations to be considered in the story of "King Lear" are those that   develop between the two fathers, Lear and Gloucester, and their children, Goneril and Regan, Cordelia, Edmund, and Edgar.   Each case falls on a different plane, but it is important to consider the similarities between the positions of Lear and Gloucester.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The rejection of Lear by his two daughters, Goneril and Regan, can be seen as a type of revenge.   Throughout their lives they had always been far behind Cordelia in the king's eyes.   As a result of this second-hand treatment, Goneril and Regan carried with them an immense amount of hatred and when Lear divided his kingdom between them, they both openly rejected his presence in their lives. " Some other time for that. - Beloved Regan, she hath tied sharp- tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture here, - I can speak scarce to thee ; thou'lt not believe with how depraved quality - O Regan ( King Lear II.iii )! Goneril's response further clarifies this rejection.   " Good sir, no more ; these are unsightly tricks : return you to my sister ( King Lear II.iii ). Lear's reaction is pure rage. He understands that he had not given them too much of his time, but he had given them their percentage of the kingdom only because they had made a pledge to him that they would care for him in his elder years.   The bond broken in this situation is a very weak one. The only thing that held it together was this flimsy pledge that the daughters had no intention of honoring.   But no matter the conditions, he was their father and his well-being was a sort of payment for their very existence.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cordelia's rejection of Lear breaks a much stronger bond.   Lear loses his entire life purpose when Cordelia turns Lear away.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good my lord, you have begot me, bred me, lov'd me : I

Saving the Children

Throughout history children have been deliberately killed, abused, and neglected by rulers, society or parents. Child abuse is an injury or pattern of injuries to a child that is not accidental. According to the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, in 1995 about 2. 9 million children in the United States were reported as abused or neglected to government agencies that investigate child abuse. Child abuse can be hard to recognize sometimes because it is often under the name of spanking or discipline ( According to the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse, par. 1). Even when the state takes children away from parents because of the severity of the abuse, parents sometimes deny that they did anything wrong (par. 2). But when does discipline become abuse? According to Utah State law, if you spank a child too hard and he/she gets a bruise, that technically counts as an incidence of child abuse (par. 2). Refraining from physical punishment, as practiced by parents and recommended by children psychologist today, would have shocked parents of earlier times (Murdock 7). Before the 1960 s parental discipline often took the form of physical punishment. When spankings became beatings physical abuse prevailed (7). Child abuse does not only consist of physical abuse. There are several types of child abuse, and unfortunately, some children experience more than one. Physical abuse includes deliberate acts of violence that injure or even kill a child. Unexplained bruises, broken bones, or burn marks on a child may be signs of physical abuse. The average age of victims of physical child abuse is eight years old (Wallace 33). Twenty-seven percent of all child maltreatment cases involve physical abuse. Three percent of these cases involve life-threatening injuries such as poisoning, fractures, or brain damage. Fourteen percent involve minor injuries, including bruises, cuts or shaking. The remaining eleven percent are unspecified injuries (33). The data is probably a low estimate of the true incidence of abuse since there is no exact method of determining unreported cases. Sexual abuse occurs when adults use children for sexual gratification ( According to the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse, par. ). Sexual abuse may begin with kissing or fondling and progress to more intrusive sexual acts, such as oral sex and vaginal or anal penetration. Experts estimate that one out of every three or four girls and one out of every seven to ten boys below the age of eighteen are violated (Murdock 11). Other acts that use children as sexual objects, such as, child pornography and subjecting children to view sexual acts committed by adults, are also include in the definition of child sexual abuse (Gitterman 346). The US Department of Health and Human Services categorizes sexual abuse into three groups: intrusion (evidence of actual penile penetration), molestation with genital contact (acts where some form of actual genital contact had occurred), and other or unknown sexual abuse (unspecified acts not known to have involved actual genital contact: e. g. , fondling of breasts or buttocks, exposure) (11). Mary Pipher, the author of Reviving Ophelia, states in her book that she had seen a bumper sticker on a young man s car that read: If I don t get laid soon somebody s gonna get hurt (Pipher 219). This is the sick society we live in, on any given day in America, 480 women and children will be forcibly raped, 5,760 women will be assaulted by a male intimate partner and four women and three children will be murdered by a family member (219). Emotional abuse, another type of child abuse, destroys a child s self-esteem and undermines his confidence (Landau 36). Such abuse commonly includes repeated verbal abuse of a child in the form of shouting, threats, and degrading or humiliating criticism (36). Other types of emotional abuse are confinement, such as isolation or denying a child friends (39). The most common form of child abuse is neglect. Neglect makes up almost half of the confirmed cases of child abuse in the 1990 s ( According to the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse, par. 1). Physical neglect involves a parent s failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care to a child (par. 1). About fifty-five percent of children who are mistreated suffer from severe neglect (Morales, par. 6). These are very young children who are abandoned or left alone for more than forty-eight hours, aren t fed, do not receive needed medical treatment, or are not sent to school for days at a time (par. ). Emotional neglect occurs when a parent or caretaker fails to meet a child s basic need for attention and comfort. According to a study done by the US Department of Health and Human Services, 223,000 children or 3. 5 per 1,000 suffer from emotional neglect ( Murdock 103). Emotional neglect can also be in the form of overprotective restrictions that further immaturity and emotional overdependence. Young adults who have been abused often confuse the concept of the family. To them, violence, anger, and fear are common. They may also confuse love with violence r love with sex. Because of these family distortions some victims have a hard time receiving help (Jacklitsch & Powers 24). The consequences of child abuse are unfortunate. A child assaulted by a parent loses self-respect, hope, and trust and with no choice available, resorts to doing what they were taught, the only thing they know, abuse (Fong 27). The psychological effects of abuse include depression, low self-esteem, loss of trust, anxiety, denial, problems with establishing intimacy, feelings of futurelessness, and family distortion (Jaklitsch & Powers 20-28). Confirmed by several studies, researchers have demonstrated that depression is one of the most commonly reported symptoms by adults who were sexually abused as children (21). Low self-esteem, as well, is a symptom among young people. They approach situations feeling inferior and are afraid to hope (22). A loss of trust is also common. Experiences with their own parental figures has taught them not to count on adults for support, guidance, or protection (22). Maltreated teenagers are filled with anger caused by years of pain and rejection. They become afraid when under stress of minor frustrations. Underneath the anger is pain, which makes these young people particularly vulnerable to additional disappointment and mistreatment (23). Denial is a natural response to painful experiences. Some of the behaviors in which these young people hide their denial are through drugs, alcohol, constant listening to music, sexual activity and aggression (23). Establishing intimacy is difficult for maltreated adolescents because their feelings were often discounted. They must realize that they are not responsible for their maltreatment 23-24). Many abused children feel hopeless. They have little faith in the future because they have learned to expect little or nothing of what they hoped for as children (24). A great deal of abuse happens secretly in the privacy of people s homes. Too often we only hear about the most sensationalized cases of abuse: those that reach television, radio, and newspapers (Landau 12). However, more subtle forms of abuse take place in households around the world on a daily basis (13). Why are so many children severely neglected and abused by those responsible for their care? Research has clearly revealed that child abuse is not associated with race or ethnicity in this country. The strongest correlating factor is poverty. However, abuse is found at all socioeconomic levels (Morales, par. 8). Parents who live on less than $15,000 a year are more likely to abuse their children than those who earn more than $30,000 per year (par. 8). Drug and alcohol abuse is also highly associated with child abuse. As a group, the largest number of children who are abused or neglected grew up having one or more alcoholic parents (Murdock 90). Substance abuse undermines adults ability to function in many areas, including parenting, work, and personal life (Morales, par. 9). There is also a strong relationship between stress and violent physical outburst directed at youngsters who are at the wrong place at the wrong time. Abusive mothers report high levels of parental-stress which they claim is brought about by their child s poor compliance with behavior-directed instructions and their own tolerance levels towards their child s behavior (Busby 47). Stress that is brought on by a variety of conditions raises the risk of child abuse within a family. These conditions include unemployment, illness, poor housing conditions, a larger-than-average-family size, the presence of a new baby, a disabled person in the home, or the death of a family member, but as always, families living in poverty make up the majority of reported child abuse cases. An important resource to help manage personal stress is the support of others e. g. , a spouse, relative, or friend (Morales, par. 10). Sexual abuse is driven by several destructive factors. Often, the perpetrator was sexually victimized as a child or youth and, unlike others, did not heal from the experience. The result frequently is distorted sexual drives and emotional needs. Divorce and single parenting expose children to other men who do not have a biological or long term commitment to youngsters well-being. Not to mention the erotic society that we live in which includes some men who have not learned or found a way to manage their sexual needs (par. 11). We must make an effort to prevent child abuse before it occurs. The process through which children are taken out of their homes and placed in the care of their economically poor relatives (usually grandparents), which occurs in almost fifty percent of cases, is a weak solution. It is costly, oftentimes leaves children in a state of emotional instability, and adds economic strain to the financially poor grandparents who are trying to raise their kin; and generally it is too late to prevent permanent damage to the child from years of abuse (Morales par. 15). The only hope in preventing much of this is for society to set an expectation for prospective and new parents to prepare themselves for the role. Parenting must be taken on with the utmost responsibility (par. 16). Next, private and public organizations, such as, churches, YMCA s community colleges, and city-funded community centers, could create family resource centers where parents could find practical information on parenting, classes for parents and kids, as well as childbirth classes (par. 17). Fortunately, some parenting programs have already been established. According to the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse (NCPCA), child maltreatment is a complex problem with a multitude of causes, an approach to prevention must respond to a range of needs (Donnelly, par. 1). The NCPCA has devised a strategy that consists of a variety of community-based programs to prevent child abuse. Hopefully, these programs will provide parents and children with the education and support necessary for healthy family functioning (par. 1). Some of the prevention programs include the prenatal support program. Its purpose is to prepare individuals for the job of parenting. Currently, home visitation is the most innovative prevention program used in approaching the difficulties of educating and supporting the at-risk-family (par. 3). Treatment for abused children include therapeutic day school programs as well as day hospital programs, residential programs, and home and clinical setting treatment. These programs concentrate on improving the emotional and developmental skills of younger children and psychodynamic treatment for children in older age groups (par. ). Child abusers must be stopped, closely monitored or removed from society before any more young people are damaged for life. While hospitals, schools, and community agencies have a critical role in preventing child abuse, they cannot do it alone. Educational campaigns are necessary to make the public aware of how severe child abuse is and how individuals can make a difference. The effectiveness of diminishing child abuse will only be realized when there is a fully aware public committed to preventing child abuse.

Post 9/11 Intelligence Reform Impact and the Way Ahead

Final Post 9/11 Intelligence Reform Impact and the Way Ahead Daniel Ratner INTL 444 Professor Mead October 8, 2012 Introduction After 9/11, an event so shocking, and humiliating to both the American people, and the U. S. Government, vast reforms were identified to ensure that an attack of this magnitude never happened again. From the ashes of this despicable act came two major pieces of Intelligence reform. These documents were the 9/11 Commission Report and The Intelligence Reform Act and Terrorist Prevent Act of 2004 (IRTPA).Both documents worked to reform the Intelligence Community (IC), and streamline current processes to improve the sharing of intelligence information, and products. With the sweeping changes mainly through the ITPRA the Intelligence Community is well on its way to being the major muscle group we need it to be acting as a single unit as opposed to separate and individual muscles all trying to lift the same heavy weight.With the findings of the 9/11 commission, th e implementations of the IRTPA have taken long strides, but what can be done better? We will look at the two pieces of legislation, and then compare and contrast the sweeping changes, and if the are going in the correct direction. The 9/11 Commission Report In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, a group of politicians both Republican and Democrats came together to identify shortfalls and introduce a call for reform. According the report, â€Å"Our aim has not been to assign individual blame.Our aim has been to provide the fullest account of the events surrounding 9/11 and to identify lessons learned. † When we as Americans have a major event in the United States, we always look for a scapegoat, the ideas behind the 9/11 commission was built as a bi-partisan group for just this reason. The report takes the events of 9/11 and attempts to paint a picture of a major lack of understanding of the threat we face from radical Islam, as well as other disenchanted with is around the world.Th e 9/11 report goes deep into the history of the events surrounding 9/11, but really only spends about 25 pages of the 450 pages report identifying the shortcomings, and way ahead. Now while this is a macro view of the reforms needed, it does leave much to the imagination. Post 9/11 Reform As we look at the reforms recommended we see that the commission broke the recommendations into major groups, they divided them into ways to give Overall Government Reform.This is subdivided into five categories, a new Unity of Effort between Foreign and Domestic operations in an attempt to mandate primacy in different types of operations to ensure the proper agency is doing the correct job, A Unity of Effort for the Intelligence Community, Unity of Effort in Sharing Information, Unity of Effort of in the Congress, and finally how to better organizing Homeland defenses. While these are all important, the major issue was the lack of ownership and sharing of intelligence between governmental agencies .As the 9/11 commission pushed for counterterrorism reform, it also pointed to a need for intelligence reform. the IC reform was aimed at the way we collect process and disseminate intelligence. The 9/11 commission struck to identify, â€Å"whether the government is organized adequately to direct resources and build the intelligence capabilities it will need not just for countering terrorism, but for the broader range of national security challenges in the decades ahead. This viewpoint looks at the National Intelligence Agencies and strive to focus their power to be both effective, and balanced. Coupled with these factors the 9/11 commission identified six major problems, the structural barriers to performing joint intelligence work, lack of common standards and practices across the foreign-domestic divide. Divided management of national intelligence capabilities, weak capacity to set priorities and move resources, too many jobs, and too complex and secret. Structural Barriers To P erforming Joint Intelligence WorkAlong with the issues of trying to keep ahead of our enemies, we must also be able to share our information with other intelligence agencies, and our allies. As the 9/11 report shows: â€Å"National intelligence is still organized around the collection disciplines of the home agencies, not the joint mission. The importance of integrated, all-source analysis cannot be overstated. Without it, it is not possible to â€Å"connect the dots. † No one component holds all the relevant information. † While all agencies collect information, only through joint integration can we truly paint an accurate assessment of the facts.As a reference, the report cites the Goldwater Nichols legislation of 1986, in which Operations as a whole were better envisioned though joint co-operative training. It shows the strengths of these types of events and why we must incorporate more joint intelligence to be successful. Lack Of Common Standards and Practices Acro ss the Foreign-Domestic Divide This portion of the report goes on to show the issues we have in the cases of both database management and dissemination of information. In cases of information gathered both home and abroad, there are issues with integration and synchronization of this workflow.Many have cited and shown how across the IC there are multiple databases, of which there is no conduit to share information, multiple programs collecting the same data, but are not cross-matched, and in many cases redundant entries are made, and then not managed creating an abundance of information unable to be processed due to a lack of manpower. Divided Management of National Intelligence Capabilities As the IC swelled in the post World War 2 and Cold War eras, we saw the abilities of many agencies in collections dwindle and collapse.The report shoes the degradation of the CIA’s ability to collect IMINT, and SIGINT. As the NSA, NRO NGIA, and other have been created, the HUMINT, OSINT a nd other intelligence collected by the CIA has had issues being validated due to the inability to task other agencies assets. Some of these issues were solved through their acquisition of their own satellites and some reform, but again we see information that is collected by a sole agency, which is not easily shared or validated by an outside source. Weak Capacity to Set Priorities and Move ResourcesThe task organization of the IC and the way in which it is managed fell on the Director of Central Intelligence, giving the CIA free reign in many cases, and also in many cases too much ability to mismanage or squander resources. As they struggle to manage these resources, and ensure all members of the IC are covered for what they need, there was little oversight in the ability to prioritize collection efforts. Moreover, there was little though given to how to best manage , â€Å"what they collect or the way they collect it. † Too Many Jobs As of the time of the 9/11 report the DC I had three jobs.Running of the CIA, manage the other members of the IC, and head analyst for the President of the United States. Any one of these positions is a capstone to a successful career; in the days of 9/11 it fell on one person. As the report goes on to show, is the fact that, â€Å"No recent DCI has been able to do all three effectively. Usually what loses out is management of the intelligence community†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This overtasking of an individual is not only reckless, but in many cases gave too much power to the CIA. The report finds that the DCI has three major shortcomings.They find that the DCI lacks the ability to control the funds allocated to the IC, the ability to remove or replace agency heads, and the ability to set the quality control and standardization of collection efforts. Too Complex and Secret As if all the previous five findings were not enough, we also see the issue of a cumbersome and hidden group of organizations. At the time of the 9/11 report, th e IC was comprised of 15 agencies, mainly managed by a single entity. This coupled with no clear roadmap to how the groups interact, whom they report to, and how they fund operations.Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) Out of the ashes of the events of 9/11 and the reforms brought forth by the 9/11 Commission report, came the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA). This legislation known as S. 2845  was introduced by Senator  Susan Collins  of  Maine. The bill was enacted after being signed by the President on December 17, 2004. This legislation strove to take the 9/11 Commissions findings and implement them into law. As mentioned at the beginning of this paper, we mentioned six major problems the IC faced.Being that the IC was managed mainly based on the National Security Act of 1947, the IRTPA brought changes to the IC by taking the bad and refining the good of each item. The major change seen in the IRTPA was the crea tion of the Director of National Intelligence. As we had seen in the 9/11 report, the DCI was way too overtasked, and the need for an Intelligence Community to have a director. The Structural Barriers to Performing Joint Intelligence Work In the wake of 9/11 the Joint Intelligence Community Council.This council Chaired by the Director of National Intelligence, is comprised of all major Presidential advisors. It is chartered to â€Å"†¦assist the Director of National Intelligence in developing and implementing a joint, unified national intelligence effort to protect national security†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This council also in the matter of advising the Legislative branch, may make recommendations to improve the IC. Lack of Common Standards and Practices Across the Foreign-Domestic Divide With the creation of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) came the call for a â€Å"performance of common services. This charge stands to ensure that services previously not shared, managed, or understood are standardized. It also stands to provide a set of â€Å"standards† for the agencies to follow, and hence stay regulated. Divided Management Of National Intelligence Capabilities Under the National Security Act of 1947, the DCI was the head of the IC, but under the IRTPA, a new position was enabled. The new position Director of National Intelligence, appointed by the President of the United States. This change gave the DCI more oversight of the CIA, and gave the President a subject matter expert, one who had a single focus job.This also gives the DNI the ability to manage the tasking of national collection assets, a job not really performed before. Weak Capacity to Set Priorities and Move Resources In the case of the ability to set priorities, once again the charge goes to the DNI. He is charged to â€Å"establish objectives, priorities, and guidance for the intelligence community to ensure timely and effective collection, processing, analysis, and disseminatio n†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This charge gives the DNI the ability manage resources, requirements, conflict resolution between agencies to include the use of assets, and collection platforms.The only person the DNI must concede to the President. Too Many Jobs While we had an issue of the DCI having too many jobs before, some might say that the DNO now has too many jobs. This is a misconception, since the DNI has no intelligence agency to manage, rather he has department heads to manage that job. He instead focuses on the seamless and integrated manager of the whole gambit of intelligence. Too Complex and Secret The final goal of the IRTPA served to take the mystery and lack of oversight out of the IC. The establishment of an Inspector General to the DNI was enacted under the IRTPA.This office serves to manage ethical matters, settle complaints of favoritism, and ensure civil liberties are upheld through the actions of the IC and concurrence with National and International Laws. Other Changes Dri ven by the IRTPA The four findings recommended by the legislation are the following: (1) Long-term success in the war on terrorism demands the use of all elements of national power, including diplomacy, military action, intelligence, covert action, law enforcement, economic policy, foreign aid, public diplomacy, and homeland defense. 2) To win the war on terrorism, the United States must assign to economic and diplomatic capabilities the same strategic priority that is assigned to military capabilities. (3) The legislative and executive branches of the Government of the United States must commit to robust, long-term investments in all of the tools necessary for the foreign policy of the United States to successfully accomplish the goals of the United States. (4) The investments referred to in paragraph (3) will require increased funding to United States foreign affairs programs in general, and to priority areas as described in this title in particular.By breaking these findings out, we can better see how the IC can transform and flex the major muscle it has the ability to do. While there were pages and pages of changes, and background these four findings standout as the major players in policy reforms. Long-term Success in the War on Terrorism To be successful in the war on terror, we must utilize all possible assets and allies assets to our advantage. To do this we need to focus our efforts by sharing information, and ensuring that agencies are receiving timely and relevant updates to collected intelligence to ensure overall success.This sharing is critical to both foreign and domestic interests. Balance of Diplomatic, Economic and Military Influences The even balance of lethal, non-lethal and Humanitarian actions must be monitored and controlled. Too much use of any of these can degrade the ability of the United States and it’s ally’s effects in foreign actions. It is also important to remember that even in an attempt to show ourselves as a â⠂¬Å"hard target† we must show compassion and understanding to those less fortunate than us.This is a necessity if only because we must show the rest of the world that we are not so devoid of emotion that we can relate with their plights and ways of life. Overall Governmental Commitment to Success The war of terror is a marathon not a race. Only though the applied funding, legislative drive to ensure resources, and the executive branch push to allow success of the IC can we succeed in the war on terror. We cannot allow political infighting, election cycles, opinion polls, or other media-like reports to stop our drive for the end-state.While not always pretty, cost-effective, and popular, the needs of the IC to gather raw data must be protected. Added distractors such as political infighting in cases such as the passing, or re-authorization of the Patriot Act are great examples of the dangers the IC faces in achieving its goals. Commitment to Success and its Costs As stated abov e, this marathon is not always going to be cost-effective. Emerging technologies, payouts to sources, replacing of equipment, and other costs, not always made privy to the general public must be supported.Failure to the fund the IC can be detrimental to their success. While oversight is needed to ensure embezzlement is not a factor, the budget increases the IC requests should not be delayed or jeopardized by political adversaries, nor used as a talking point. This is currently seen in the $500 Billion defense cuts enacted by supercommittee legislations as face now. Conclusion As we see the changes made in the past 8 years since it’s inception, the IRTPA has helped the IC, but has not fixed it yet.While the DNI creation was a good thing, we do still see cases of the DNI have too much responsibility, and too much work. In some cases the added changes have brought more costs in bureaucratic startup, oversight, and staffing. While the need to separate the DCI from the rest of the agencies was important, the IRTPA has limited the CIA’s abilities an a variety of ways. Other advantages have been the information sharing of intelligence. The sharing has instituted policies and procedures as well as shared technology serves to better share information in a common platform.All things being combined, the IRTPA has been a game changer for the IC, only through reform, and through lessons learned will we strengthen and improve our practices, keeping our country safer. Bibliography 9/11 Commission. The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Report, Washington, D. C. : U. S. Government Printing Office, 2004. Andrew, Christopher. For President’s Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush. New York: Harper Press. Beckner, Christian.Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations: An Analysis. http://www. hlswatch. com/sitedocs/Implementing%20the%209 11%20Commission%20Recs. pdf (accessed October 03, 2012). Congress, 108th. INTELLIGENCE REFORM AND TERRORISM PREVENTION ACT OF 2004. 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