The article I read this week titled “Should Americans Work More? To Hit 4 Percent Growth, We Would Have To”, was posted in the New York Times on July 14th, and was written by Josh Barro. This article discussed the employment issues in America and addressed one of Jeb Bush’s comments on how he hopes the real annual economic growth can reach 4 percent (which we know from economics class is very low). This is such an important topic right now because many Americans are working fewer hours than they’re expected. Barro explored the different viewpoints in this article by using the rhetorical technique of logos. The use of logos throughout this article is essential for Barro to convey his message. The facts and statistics give actual reasoning to support the claims made. An example of the author’s use of logos is: “People who would work an extra hour if they got to keep 100 percent of their pay may be working less because they get to keep only 90 or 80 or 60 percent of that hour’s pay after taxes.” This is an important idea that was discussed multiple times throughout the article, this statistical support is essential for proving the main point that many Americans would rather work less, than pay the taxes for working more hours. This proves that they simply would make better use of their time doing something other than work. Another use of logos was used to prove the opposing side that Americans are working a substantial amount is “The fact that workweeks are already longer in the United States than in places like Germany and Britain suggests we’re doing a pretty good job of not discouraging work too much.” Comparing the united States to these other countries is important because it helped to prove that Americans are working enough as is, especially when compared to other countries.
To Fill Budget Hole, Kansas G.O.P. Considers the Unthinkable: Raising Taxes
The article I read this weekend was posted on May 29th, 2015 in the New York Times. It was titled “To Fill Budget Hole, Kansas G.O.P. Considers the Unthinkable: Raising Taxes” written by John Eligon. This article is centered around the ways to overcome the $400 million dollar budget hole that is currently growing larger in Kansas. Many of the leaders of Kansas are incredibly conservative, so increasing taxes is something that they really disagree with, however because of the huge lack of funds, it becomes a necessity. This article uses a variety of logos and ethos to show the readers that this issue i something to be conceded about. The credibility of the speaker is very important in order for the article to gain credibility as a whole. Because this is such an important thing, the speaker is introduced very thoroughly, “Senator Les Donovan, a Republican who is chairman of the Senate’s tax committee. ‘I’m not in favor of raising taxes. I’d much rather be able to see growth take care of what we do.'” The article relies on the speakers to be credible, so that the reader is able to take the information they say seriously. In addition to the ethos in this article, the logos used was also key in making it a convincing article. An example of some logical data that was discussed in this article is “the small business tax exemption would affect about 191,000 entities and cost about $160 million, for the 2013 tax year, 333,000 filers took advantage of the exemption at a cost of $206.8 million” This information adds a lot of depth to this article because it proves that the topic being discussed has substance behind it. Logos and Ethos are two very important rhetorical appeals to be used in articles because the credibility of the speaker is important, and so is the statistical information that it provides.
Why a Meaningful Boost for Those at the Bottom Requires Help From the Top
The article that I read this week was posted on July 6th in the New York Times, titled “Why a Meaningful Boost for Those at the Bottom Requires Help From the Top”. This article, written by
, discuses the problems that are associated with income inequality, and how to overcome this problem in America. In order to get this point across, the article used many logical appeals, or logos, throughout. One of the main propositions was to increase the minimum wage to $15 dollars and hour. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 44 million hourly-paid workers made less than $15 an hour in 2014” This fact was used to show the reader just how common it is for minimum waged workers to make under the proposed amount. Simply stating that there are “many” people who make under $15 an hour is not nearly as effective as stating the exact number. As the article progresses, historical data is discussed. “Since 1970, the best five-year run of income growth for the bottom 90 percent…between 1994 and 1999, when…income rose by 14.1 percent” this information was another good appeal to logos because it was then transferred into modern day times, and it proved that if that happened today, it would be the best income growth in almost two generations. This articles use of logos was beneficial because it allowed the reader to trust the information, and to take away the actual purpose of the article. Without the logical appeals in it, the article wouldn’t have fair data to back up the points made throughout.
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