Sometimes stories happen because of planning; other times serendipity intervenes, which is how we got to the conversation we'll be having today.
In an exchange of comments on the Blue Hampshire site, I proposed an idea that could be of real value to unions, workers...and surprisingly, employers.
If things worked out correctly, not only would lots of people feel a real desire to have unions represent them, but employers would potentially be coming to unions looking to forge relationships, and, just to make it better, this plan bypasses virtually all of the tools and techniques employers use to shut out union organizers.
Since I just thought this up myself, I'm really not sure exactly how practical the whole thing is, and the last part of the discussion today will be provided by you, as I ask you to sound off on whether this plan could work, and if so, how it could be made better.
It's a new week...so let's all put our heads together and rebuild the labor movement, shall we?
House Resolution 1474 asserts that the mandatory insurance clause of the most recent health care reform bill passed by congress infringes on the rights of individual citizens and that the federal government has no authority under the constitution to pass such an act. Both of these assertions are false. First and foremost, the federal government has established precedent in national mandates specifically dealing with social security and medicare, which are taxed paid by all employed citizens but not used by all citizens. Second, under the Commerce Clause of the constitution, the federal government does have the right to regulate insurance as an interstate good. This assertion was validated by the US supreme court in 1944 with its ruling in the United States V. Southeastern underwriters association.
To be clear, the mandatory clause requires that all citizens who can afford health care insurance purchase it. The law also defines those " who can afford health insurance" as those who the minimum coverage will not cost more than 8 percent of their monthly income and are above the federal poverty line. The majority of the population of Louisiana is already insured with some sort of health insurance. Roughly 895,000 people in this state are currently uninsured. None of them would be forced to purchase health insurance if they were financially unable. Subsidies are also available for those who do not qualify for medicare but cannot afford health insurance. This is not socialized medicine as it has been depicted.
The opposition presented in this bill is purely ideological, ignoring demographic facts and economic realities, and can best be described as a argument for states rights. The base value put forward in HR 1474 is that the states can pick and choose which federal laws they will follow. This is a symbolic gesture as state law is superseded by federal law. It can only be concluded that the supporters and sponsors of this bill are placing personal short term gain over the political credibility of Louisiana.- Young Democrats of Louisiana East Baton Rouge Parish Chapter
LANGUAGE WARNING: Today's story is uncharacteristically blunt, and from this moment forward we will be using lots of inappropriate language in making our points.
It is by now fairly well known that Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's White House Chief of Staff, had a bit of a blow-up with liberals who were ready to start running ads against "blue dog" Democrats who were working very hard to shut down the health care reform effort.
Now we're not gonna get in the middle of that argument today; instead, since we're finally getting a chance to talk, I figured me and Rahm could get a few other things out of the way that have been on everyone's mind for the past year or so.
I was supposed to begin the long-delayed series of PTSD stories I've been planning, but before we begin, I need to tell y'all about something that just happened in my house.
For us it wasn't a matter of life or death, but it is the kind of story that explains, perfectly, why we need to reform the health care system we have today-and for that matter, it's also a great explanation of why a single-payer system would be a giant step forward for everyone in this country, whether you're insured today or not.
It's also hilarious and sad and frustrating, all at the same time-which makes today's story a pretty good allegory for the current American way of doing health care.
So follow along, have a good laugh...and at the same time, take a minute to consider what could be, and how much less irritating things should be.
There has been a great wailing and gnashing of teeth over the past day or so as those who follow the healthcare debate react to the Stupak/Some Creepy Republican Guy Amendment.
The Amendment, which is apparently intended to respond to conservative Democrats' concerns that too many women were voting for the Party in recent elections, was attached to the House's version of healthcare reform legislation that was voted out of the House this weekend.
The goal is to limit women's access to reproductive medicine services, particularly abortions; this based on the concept that citizens of good conscience shouldn't have their tax dollars used to fund activities they find morally repugnant.
At first blush, I was on the mild end of the wailing and gnashing spectrum myself...but having taken a day to mull the thing over, I'm starting to think that maybe we should take a look at the thinking behind this...and I'm also starting to think that, properly applied, Stupak's logic deserves a more important place in our own vision of how a progressive government might work.
It's Political Judo Day today, Gentle Reader, and by the time we're done here it's entirely possible that you'll see Stupak's logic in a whole new light.
It was a long hot August for those who would like to see health care reform, as rabid "Town Hall" protesters proffered visions of public options that would lead to death panels and socialism and government tax collectors with special alien mind control powers that would use sex education and child indoctrination and black helicopters as the means for gay people to impose their dangerous agenda on the innocent, God-fearing citizens of someplace in Mississippi that I'm not likely to ever visit.
Part of the reason that opposition was so rabid was because health care interests were spending millions upon millions of dollars doing...well, doing whatever the opposite of giving a distemper shot to the angry mob might be, anyway.
So wouldn't it be great if all the CEOs of all those health care interests were to gather at one time and place so you could, shall we say, gently express your own thoughts regarding the issues of reform and public options?
By an amazing coincidence, that's exactly what's going to happen Thursday in Washington, DC, as the Patient Centered Primary Care Cooperative (PCPCC) holds its Annual Summit.
Follow along, and I'll tell you everything you need to know.
We have never been closer to passing Health Care Reform that helps all Americans. Now is the time to push our Congress to support the Public Option. On October 20th, we need to flood the phone lines of Senator Mary Landrieu's office with calls telling her to support the Public Option. Please commit to call yourself and in addition call 10 of your friends, family members, casual acquaintances, or complete strangers and get them to commit to calling as well. It can be done in 5 easy steps:
1. 1-866-288-1495
2. enter your zip code
3. Tell Senator Landrieu to support the public option
4. Call 10 people to do the same
5. Change America
So we are now finding out the answers to some of our questions about which members of Congress actually represent We, the People...and which ones represent, Them, the Corporate Masters.
We have seen a Democratic Senator propose a policy that would put people in jail for not buying health insurance and a Democratic President who has taken numerous public beatings from those on the left side of the fence for his inability to ram something through a group of people...and yes, folks, the entendre was intentional.
But most of all, we've been asking ourselves: "why would Democratic Members of Congress who will eventually want us to vote for them vote against something that nearly all voting Democrats are inclined to vote for?"
Today's conversation attempts to answer that question by looking at exactly how money and influence flow through a key politician, Montana's Senator Max Baucus-and in doing so, we examine some ugly political realities that have to be resolved before we can hope to convince certain Members of Congress to vote for what their constituents actually want when it really counts.
Those among us who are familiar with the Bible will recall that Jesus Christ himself was an active member of the health care community as he travelled about the Holy Land.
It is reported that he practiced within multiple medical specialties, and his works as both an ophthalmologist and a neurologist are recounted within the verses of the Gospels.
But what if Jesus had been practicing medicine in the therapeutic environment we're familiar with today?
In today's conversation we'll be tagging along with Jesus as he takes a few calls at his HMO's Customer Care Center-and by the time we get done you should be able to bring a whole new take to those discussions you've been having about why reform matters.
So it's the day of the big speech, Mr. President, and we got trouble with a capital "T" right here in Health Care City.
What are you gonna do? Do we follow the traditional Democratic Party legislative process of passing...something...at any cost, assuming the entire time that the Left and the Netroots will "go along with the program", or is there a risk that the calculus doesn't work as well today as it did in 1994 and 1996?
Well, lucky for you, I'm a fake consultant, and I know a few things about your "target market", so before you answer that question...we need to talk.
We are coming down to the home stretch on healthcare, and we have seen the results of the first couple of rounds of crazy that have been sent forth in an effort to stop the process.
In addition to the Town Halls, opponents are flooding the email inboxes of America's "low information" voters with no end of lies. Those emails are getting passed around and around and around, and by now some of them have probably appeared in your inbox.
But it's summer...and who has time to respond to this stuff?
Well, guess what, Gentle Reader: I've already done the hard work for you.
Today's story is an email response that you can send right back to your "inbox friends". It's a reminder of some of the frustrations that we all share in this country and some explanations of what's being proposed...and a few words about socialism, to boot.
So get out there and copy and paste and forward and reply, and let's see if we can't fight the madness, one email at a time.
We've all been hearing the "Town Hall Meeting" stories the past few days, and the images presented have been of gatherings where you might see some current or former official "death panel" for the benefit of the crowd, where the few people who shout the loudest bully the rest into silence, and where threats of physical intimidation are part of the debate.
I attended one of these meetings, and based on what I saw I'm here to tell you that it is possible to hold an event that features none of the images previously described.
Instead, what I say was an event where people asked their questions, the Congressman answered-and from time to time the angry members of the audience got their shout on, too...but not in a way that was able to ever take control of the venue.
There were helpful lessons that can be applied by others who want to have these meetings, and today's conversation examines what can be done to make them work for you, too.
WASHINGTON (FNS) - In a startling development related to the recent disruptions of town hall meetings, FNS is now able to confirm that the Obama Administration, with the assistance of Unilever Group and Queen Beatrix, both of the Netherlands, PepsiCo, Skull And Bones, and the Bilderberg Group, is unleashing a secret plot to dispatch fleets of unmarked aircraft and helicopters to prevent teabag protesters from having access to teabags.
The goal of the plot: to disrupt protesters' plans to save America from the destruction of our health care system.
FNS reporters have been following a trail of information that includes airport noise abatement records, classified documents, and the testimony of insiders, some of whom are now willing to be publicly identified.
We'll begin our story by reporting on three events that occurred the evening of Friday, August 8th.
Change that Works Louisiana is working in Acadiana. Our country desperately needs President Barack Obama's Health Care reforms to pass. To reach this goal, it's crucial that those members of congress who are refusing to support true Health Care reform - one that includes a public health insurance plan option -- hear from the voters of Louisiana.
Our current Health Care and insurance systems have left millions of Louisianans without adequate coverage, and without adequate Health Care; it has shattered families, destroyed futures and crushed lives. Politicians must hear the stories of the real victims of the system to understand the need for sweeping change. Please tell us your story so we can persuade Senator Mary Landrieu to support Health Care reform with a public option.
Contact us at 337-216-7734 or changethatworkslafayette@gmail.com
Change That Works has finally branched out into the Acadiana area. We are now fully staffed with 4 organizers and 1 lead organizer to help bring Health Care reform to America. It is long overdue.
We need your help and your stories about Health Care so we can convince Senator Mary Landrieu to support President Barack Obama's Health Care Reforms, including a public option!
If you would like to get involved in our cause please contact us at 337-216-7734 or changethatworkslafayette@gmail.com.
The Fix, a Washington Post blog, ran a piece about Governor PBJ's stock rising in national political circles again because he has sold himself as a "health care policy expert."
The Governor is an expert in health care policy? Really? Perhaps someone should page Rep. Bill Cassidy, who's actually a doctor, and had some interesting things to say about Governor PBJ's handling of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals during the Foster Administration during the 2003 gubernatorial campaign: (emphasis added)
The Jindal Record is Poor One The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - September 18, 2003
Working with uninsured patients, medical education and public health programs, I took interest in Gov. Mike Foster's advertisement printed in The Sunday Advocate on Sept. 7 in which he praises Bobby Jindal's record as secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals and in particular Jindal's accomplishment in cutting the DHH budget. For those whose concern about health care goes beyond cutting budgets, the Jindal record is poor.
When Jindal was appointed secretary of DHH, he published his list of goals. Among these were: "ensuring high quality health care services will be available for the indigent, disabled, working poor ..."; "focusing on primary and preventive care ..." and "developing Louisiana as a Southern regional center of excellence for medical education" (http://www.geocities.com/bcassi/JindalGoals.html). None of these goals was met.
As he cut Medicaid, reimbursement for health-care providers was cut below their cost of treating patients ("La. Medicaid cuts implemented," The Advocate, July 2, 1996). Paying physicians and hospitals below cost decreased the number of physicians who saw Medicaid patients and forced providers who did to shift the cost for caring for Medicaid patients to the privately insured ("Medicaid patients dwindling, Lower payments to doctors may be cause," The Advocate, March 27, 2000). Jim Brown, then commissioner of insurance, predicted that cost-shifting could raise private medical insurance premiums 20 percent ("Plan cuts state Medicaid," The Advocate, Feb. 19, 1997). In 2003, it was estimated that the actual figure was 17 percent. The effect of this has been to make health insurance so expensive that many employees dropped their insurance ("Rising insurance costs affect companies, employees," The Advocate, April 20, 2003). They are priced out of insurance as a result of Jindal's policies, whose goal was increasing access to health care.
Another goal was improving preventive care. Childhood immunization is a cornerstone of preventive care. In 1995 and 1996, Louisiana was ranked 10th in the United States in the percent of infants 19 to 35 months old who were completely immunized. In 1997, as Foster and Jindal assumed control, Louisiana fell to 21st, in 1998 to 30th and in 1999 to 38th (http://www.cdc.gov/nip/coverage/#NIS).
Indeed, after eight years of the Foster/ Jindal administration, Louisiana has now been ranked as the least-healthy state in the nation for three straight years, despite spending more per capita on health care than the national average. The problem, according to David Hood, the current secretary of DHH, is inadequate access to primary care and preventive services ("State spending ranks high but overall health ranks low," The Advocate, April 13, 2003). Yet improving these was the Foster/Jindal goal.
The last goal was "developing Louisiana as a Southern regional center of excellence for medical education." Jindal left the state before he could effect this, but the current Foster budget endangers medical education. ("Sharing the misery," Baton Rouge Business Report, September 2, 2003).
Bobby Jindal is unquestionably a nice man who is young, well-spoken, and intelligent. Yet he failed in his three goals as Secretary of DHH. Contrary to what Gov. Foster says, Jindal's record does not indicate that he is capable of the much harder job of Governor.
For the Governor to blast President Obama's legislative policies on health care when his record as the head of the Department of Health and Hospitals fits in really well with the Republican agenda on health insurance reform - help the health insurance industry reap record profits at the expense of the health of the American people - is the height of hypocrisy.
There has been a lot of talk this week about the surprising move by Walmart to publically support President Obama’s health care reform plan, supposedly positioning themselves as a
leader in the fight to bring health care to all Americans. As we mentioned in a post on our blog
yesterday, this might be easier to swallow if Walmart had any history of leading by example. Instead, they usually do just the opposite.
Given
Walmart’s long record of trying to build a positive
reputation on ineffective work-arounds to health care coverage
for employee, the recent revelations about sacrificing quality for cheap perescription drugs, and their deceptive PR campaign that severely overstated their workers’ health
care coverage, it’s not hard to understand our skepticism. [get the details in the extended entry]
Walmart, in one of their worst ways of prioritizing prices above qualities to date, turns to a foreign drug supplier, Ranbaxy Laboratories, LTD, who has repeatedly been investigated by the FDA and the DoJ for "inadequate" safeguards against contamination, falsification of records and submitting false information to the FDA.
On top of that, just eight months before the FDA inspected Ranbaxy's Paonta Sahib plant and found significant violations, Walmart awarded the company a "Supplier Award" for improving shipping times and performance.
In a new report on our website, we detail their multi-year spanning violations, DoJ investigation, Congressional Investigation, and list out all of the drugs made at the facility in questions. Additionally, we detail their recent violations below.
I don't know if you've been thinking about it, but the costs of long-term care have been on the mind of some friends of mine lately.
For reasons that we won't go into here, they are in the process of pricing long-term care at care facilities...and yesterday afternoon, we had a chance to have a look at the "menu" of services (the facility's term) that can be purchased at this particular location.
If you are facing this issue in your own family, if you are a taxpayer thinking about how we plan to fund long-term care in the future...or if, one day, you expect to be old yourself...this conversation will surely matter.
There are quite a few major fights looming over the horizon in Congress over the next few months - EFCA, Health Care, Cap and Trade, Sotomayor, and others. President Obama's weeekly address this week focused on the health care battles:
Walmart, in one of their worst ways of prioritizing prices above qualities to date, turns to a foreign drug supplier, Ranbaxy Laboratories, LTD, who has repeatedly been investigated by the FDA and the DoJ for "inadequate" safeguards against contamination, falsification of records and submitting false information to the FDA.
