Happy Thanksgiving

Yelnoc, Flickr, Creative Commons

Hope your day is a great one.

Peace.

Senate Healthcare Bill is Revealed

The Senate version of the healthcare bill(PDF) was released yesterday.  Given the title of the bill, The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, we know already we are in trouble.  Any time these days our government offers good words we can know the opposite is meant.  The employer responsibility, individual mandate, and Medicaid expansion, the exchange, and the public option provisions are pushed back to 2014.  In other words the industry gets to keep the status quo in large measures and we get crumb and empty promises.

The howl from us consumers and voters needs to be loud and clear.  This bill is bad enough to be unacceptable.  A poor bill may be worse than no bill at all once people find out what they did not get.  We need real healthcare with coverage for every American.  Anything less is not going to move the nation toward the 21st Century.  We can ill afford to remain mired in the current deathcare situation.

Peace. 

They Are Coming Back

Military presence in the role of ROTC was banned from many college campuses in the 60's. Now as part of the military's ongoing effort to produce more soldiers a return to campus may be in the air. Return of ROTC may not be so much aimed at producing new officers as to integrate military affairs into ordinary life and so recruit enlisted persons.

As one who spent time in the U.S. military I can attest to both the benefits and the downsides. Today I remain staunchly opposed to continued expansion of our military as the forces are being put to the wrong usages. Our military as a peacetime protective force could be much smaller and less expensive than the current armies of occupation.

Peace.

DKos Calls Out Tom Carper

Hunter does one fine job of describing Senator Tom "Corporate" Carper as the dog he really is these days in a post at DKos.

Tom Carper, who is the number one recipient of corporate cash vs. individual contributions of all Democrats in the Senate, with about 44 percent of every one of his campaign dollars coming from corporate PACs -- a feat that required him out-grubbing all four of the other top corporate go-to Democrats on that list, Blanche Lincoln, Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson and Max Baucus, all of whom have already gone to great and much-publicized lengths to make sure that any bill passed by the Senate is as much of a cash cow for private insurance companies as possible, and who have become regular fixtures in the attempt to gut, water down, or carve away anything that might be the slightest bit inconvenient for those companies.

That is the guy being allowed to push an alternative to a real public option in healthcare.

We, the people of Delaware and the nation deserve better than this. Senator Corporate must not be allowed to have his way and the next election he needs to hear from all of us as we express our disdain.

Peace.

International Study of Healthcare Paints Ugly Picture of Affairs in the U.S.

A study of physicians in 11 countries around the world paints a pretty sorry picture of the state of U.S. healthcare.

Fifty-eight percent of primary care doctors in the U.S. report their patients often have difficulty paying for medications and care, and half of U.S. doctors spend substantial time dealing with restrictions insurance companies place on their patients' care.

Democrats, Listen Up

Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos and I often find room for disagreement but last night he hit the nail right on the head. In considering the Virginia, New Jersey, and other elections yesterday Markos summarizes points for us Democrats to understand.

1. If you abandon Democratic principles in a bid for unnecessary "bipartisanship", you will lose votes.

2. If you water down reform in favor of Blue Dogs and their corporate benefactors, you will lose votes.

3. If you forget why you were elected -- health care, financial services, energy policy and immigration reform -- you will lose votes.

We as a party need to return to our base and begin to look out for the people. If party leadership continues to pander to the right and to corporate interests more and more elections may be lost in the future.

Peace.

Shauna's Hope

Shauna Kaufman died in an automobile accident in June of this year. In her honor a new program is being put in place in Delaware.

New Policy Supports Life-Saving Donations in Delaware

Shauna Kaufman recently wrote a poem where she compared her actions to ripples in the water, noting how they seem to continue endlessly and how they can affect others. She hoped that her actions, in turn, would produce positive ripples.

On June 18, 2009, Shauna’s life was tragically cut short, following a car accident that occurred in southern Delaware. But legacy of the 17-year-old will in fact create positive outcomes for countless others, thanks to a policy aimed to facilitate the life-saving opportunity of organ donation.

“Shauna’s Hope” is a new policy enacted by Delaware’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), in cooperation with the Kaufman family – her parents Ian and Amy, and sister Holly – along with Gift of Life Donor Program – the nonprofit organ procurement organization that covers Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.

At the time of her death, Shauna’s family looked to honor her wishes to be an organ donor, but unfortunately, the call to Gift of Life was made too late for the donation opportunity to occur.

As part of this new policy, the OCME mandates that Gift of Life be contacted in the instance of every scene death that meets certain criteria. This collaborative effort will ensure that a timely referral is made and will therefore preserve the donation opportunity for every person.

“Shauna was a remarkable young woman who always looked to help others and treated every person equally,” Amy Kaufman said. “The ‘Shauna’s Hope’ policy continues her passion by making the world a better place not only through organ and tissue donation but through the kindness and compassion that the policy allows for the newly bereaved.”

The OCME has shown a tremendous amount of support toward this measure, signifying its commitment both to those who have made the decision to be organ donors, and those who are waiting for the gift of life.

“Our primary responsibility is to be a voice for the deceased and to ensure that medical and legal issues are appropriately addressed. However, we have a societal responsibility to enhance the health of citizens and administer a key role in the transplantation process,” OCME Deputy Director Hal Brown said. “Enabling increased levels of transplantation through ‘Shauna's Hope’ is one of the few opportunities we have to directly save and improve lives.”

Gift of Life, as an organization, remains committed to facilitating every possible donation opportunity, as the means of helping those waiting for a life-saving transplant. Currently, in this region alone, nearly 6,000 people are waiting for the gift of life – joining the more than 100,000 people nationwide.

“We believe that every person deserves the opportunity to be a donor, no matter what the circumstances are,” said Richard D. Hasz, Gift of Life’s vice president of clinical services. “The state’s OCME and coroner’s offices have been dedicated partners in our efforts for many years, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration with the new policy. We hope that other medical examiners and coroners throughout our region see this as a stellar example and enact similar policies.”

About Gift of Life Donor Program: Since 1974, Gift of Life has served as the link between donors and patients awaiting life-saving transplants in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. In that tenure, the OPO has coordinated more than 28,000 life-saving organ transplants and hundreds of thousands of tissue transplants.

For more information on organ and tissue donation, please call the Gift of Life at 1-800-DONORS-1 or visit its website, www.donors1.org.

What better way could there be to honor the life on one so young but so very wise? The gift of life is one we all should revere.

Peace.

Healthcare Resolution--Progressive Democrats of Sussex County

The following resolution was drafted by the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County, DE and is supported by the State Executive Committee of the Party along with various other organizations and individuals. Please consider submitting the same or similar resolution to your own organizations and to your own Congressional members.

Many thanks.

WHEREAS, 20,000 die each year in the
United States because they cannot afford to see a doctor, 700,000 go bankrupt because of their medical bills, almost fifty million Americans lack any health insurance at all, and millions more who do have private coverage pay increasingly unaffordable premiums; and

WHEREAS, every developed country except the United States has concluded that providing health care for all their citizens is a right not a privilege; and

WHEREAS, health care in the United States is now in major crisis and affordable health care for all Americans is a matter of the utmost urgency in our time; and

WHEREAS, despite efforts by well funded extremists to disseminate false and misleading information about health care reform, public polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans want health care reform to include, as a matter of choice, a robust public option similar to Medicare in order to create, as President Obama has said, significant competition for the medical insurance industry; and

WHEREAS, co-ops or so-called "triggers" are inadequate in and of themselves to generate either the kind or the amount of competition needed to keep medical and insurance costs down;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County urge
Senator Thomas Carper, Senator Edward Kaufman and Representative Michael Castle to vote for only such healthcare reform proposals as contain a robust public option at all stages of the legislative process including conference and reconciliation, and encourages legislators to use any available parliamentary means to pass such reform;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County shall send a copy of this resolution to all members of Congress who represent its members.

Peace.

Health Care in Hawaii

The NYT today has a front page article in the dead tree edition concerning state mandated healthcare.

Hawaii law requires employers to offer standardized health plans with low co-pays, no deductibles and few out-of-pocket costs. Cliff Cisco, a senior vice president at the Hawaii Medical Service Association, said that having a standardized and popular benefit has helped keep administrative costs to just 7 percent of revenue, among the lowest in the nation.

If Hawaii can do this why not the nation?

Peace.

Real People for Real Health Reform

As the healthcare debate continues day by day the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County are leading the parade for real reform. In the News Journal today is a Delaware Voice piece signed by Joanne Cabry entitled "Real People for Real Health Reform".

However, just as our resolutions have grown stronger by gathering more supporters, we are resolved to work until all Americans have affordable, quality health care. In 2010, 45,000 of us will die because we didn't have insurance that would pay for a cholesterol screening or a mammogram. We are resolved to see this is the last year we watch as 45,000 of us die.

The writing makes me proud to both a Progressive Democrat and a member of the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County. Wonderful stuff, Joanne. Keep up the good work.

Peace.

Healthcare Snowe Job

The Senate Finance Committee passed its long awaited measure yesterday with the support of one Republican Senator, Olympia Snowe. Now the conference committee must reconcile the House version (which will likely contain a strong public option) with the Senate option which more likely contain a "trigger" instead of a public option. All this in order to keep the support of a single Republican and claim bipartisan support.

The noise in response to Senate Democratic Party fail on this one should be loud and clear. The majority of Americans today know enough to support a public option. All the ongoing conversation about "triggers" and other ways of killing real reform need to be buried in an avalanche of public outcry. If we fail to get real reform with a robust public option from day one we may not have another chance in our lifetimes. We have waited too long for this reform. People are dying on a daily basis as a direct result of delay.

Peace.

State Legislators Support Healthcare Reform

Across the nation nearly a thousand state legislators signed a letter to the President urging healthcare reform.

As leaders in state legislatures across the country, we urgently call on President Obama and the U.S. Congress to take up and pass comprehensive health care reform in 2009.

Key priorities for reform are reflected in recent state initiatives and public opinion polls which show that Americans want more choices and options for quality health care. Americans recognize that the private sector alone has proven incapable of creating a high-quality, fair, and accountable health care system that works for all families. Therefore, a key priority for reform is the choice of a public health insurance plan that is available to businesses, individuals, and families. Another key priority is strengthening and expanding the Medicaid program with the help of enhanced federal support so that it can serve all low-income Americans. Related priorities include: guaranteeing affordability for individuals and businesses; preserving consumer choice of doctors; eliminating racial, ethnic, gender, and rural health disparities; ensuring shared responsibility among employers, individuals and government in financing health care; and, cost containment strategies that eliminate waste and inefficiency and improve quality, especially for people with chronic illnesses.

From Delaware only Representative Brad Bennett is a signer. Where are the rest of our elected officials when we are in such dire need?

Peace.

Coal Ash Ponds Leaking in North Carolina

Analysis of ground water surrounding coal ash ponds in North Carolina

revealed that all of them are contaminating groundwater with toxic metals and other pollutants — in some cases at levels exceeding 380 times state groundwater standards.

Does anyone care about Indian River and its coal ash storage? Will DENREC ever get around to sampling the river and surrounding ground water to check?

Peace.

John Kowalko on Healthcare Reform

Health Care Reform

I think it’s important to make a few things crystal clear in defining the Health Care reform debate.

I’ve been actively engaged in the discussion at the state level and the federal level for more than 4years now. I testified on behalf of HB 62, (a State Single Payer bill), authored by Dr. Floyd McDowell and sponsored by State Rep. Dennis P. Williams. It was presented before a Banking/Insurance Committee chaired by former Rep. Donna Stone and had about 60 people in attendance although the numbers dwindled as the committee continued with an agenda of innocuous items until approximately 6PM. At that time most committee members had left. There was not a quorum present for further action and that seemed to be the point of the delay. However as the testifier on behalf of A Philip Randolph Institute and joined by those steadfast supporters of “true” Health Care Insurance Reform it was apparent that this was a significant moment since this type of legislation had never before, nor since, been given a public vetting before a Delaware legislative committee. As a civilian activist this moment gave me a distinct perspective of how public enthusiasm can be dampened and disregarded and may have been the deciding moment of commitment to politics for me. With Rep J.J. Johnson I have sponsored a resolution in support of the Federal legislation known as HR 676, a Medicare like single payer program to insure all Americans from cradle to grave. This resolution did not get out of committee either.

The point I’m trying to make now is that we must not succumb to the false and misleading positions that are the munitions of the pharmaceutical and insurance industry waging a life or death struggle for their overpaid executives, over-compensated shareholders and politically connected supporters.

The “public option” is not “single-payer” but it may be a way-station on the track to single-payer. This is a politically palatable risk that probably should be taken.

But make no mistake about it, “Non-Profit Health Insurance Cooperatives” are nowhere near the tracks and are devoid of wheels even if they are forced onto the tracks. They would impede all traffic.

Consider that the Blue Crosses and Blue Shields are “non-profit” entities that exist as cooperatives, (consumers being the members of the co-op, contributing the co-op fee in the form of skyrocketing premiums). These fee amounts are not reflective of the needs of expenditures benefitting the co-op members nor are they regulated or controlled in any way to protect the investments being demanded of these members.

You see we already have “non-profit co-ops” in our Health Care delivery system and they are bankrupting Americans and their families. They are bankrupting American businesses and putting those businesses at such a global disadvantage that revitalization and stabilization of the United States economy is rapidly approaching the undoable stage.

The worst possible scenario is that false messaging and irresponsible alternatives cause a stagnation of real discourse and debate and we are left with the status-quo of guaranteed failure.

Go, John. Keep up the good work. Some of us are at your back pushing hard.

Peace.

The Climate Debate

While healthcare takes much of the forefront in the media today a second problem, climate change, is on the table and must be met by Congress this year. We are already very late in this game if we are to preserve a future in which humankind is able to survive.

Bill Becker gets it right in a recent posting on his blog, Solve Climate.

1. Climate Change is Not a Matter of Belief

Climate change is a matter of science. All the current evidence points to real changes in our world climate. Congress and the public in general must not be allowed to ignore the facts in order to live their personal beliefs.

2. There Is No Such Thing as Business as Usual

Business as usual to protect coal and other industries got us into much of this mess. We must not continue the current course. Compromises must be made to insure real change in the way we do business these days or there will be no business left to do.

3. We Are Not An Island

The U.S. is part of a world economy and global climate. We must accept responsibility for all our actions and move to insure the entire world changes. We may lead this process only if we begin to act with purpose and move to benefit the entire world.

Each of us would do well to read the report, Regional Climate Change Impacts, issued by a consortium of Federal agencies. The facts are scary enough. If our Congress critters were to pay real attention to the truth instead of listening to the words of far too many lobbyists maybe they could find the strength to take evasive action. Otherwise we will continue down the failing path of climate change that appears on our horizon today.

Peace.

WINNERS!!!!!

somethingstartedcrazy, Flickr, Creative Commons

For the third straight year the Phillies won the National League East title. Now on to the playoffs. Congratulations, Phillies. Keep up the good work.

League of Women Voters Considers Public Option Essential

From the League of Women Voters today:

Public Option Essential to Health Reform
Senate Finance Committee Fails to Protect Consumer Choice and Control Costs

WASHINGTON - September 30 - Today League of Women Voters national President Mary G. Wilson expressed disappointment with the Senate Finance Committee votes defeating amendments to include a public option in health care reform legislation in the following statement:

"The public option is the key to consumer choice and to lowering health care costs. Both are essential elements of health care reform. The Finance Committee’s failure will hurt consumers and result in higher costs. How could they be so short-sighted?

“The current health care system is endangering our economy, our health, and our national security. Congress needs to pass comprehensive health care reform and the public option is vital. It is universal coverage that will determine the humanity of our system and a public option will make that possible for Americans who cannot obtain coverage through the traditional employer-sponsored plans. We believe that health care reform legislation must guarantee access to comprehensive and essential benefits to all U.S. residents.

“But the possibility of universal coverage is not the only advantage of the public option. We must control costs and the public option is the best chance to bring costs into line with reality. As a nation, we are spending $1 out of every $6 we earn on health care. Offering everyone the choice of a government administered health insurance plan like Medicare that would compete with private health insurance plans is key to lowering costs and providing real choice to consumers.

"The public option is critical to health care reform. Congress and the President need to demonstrate real leadership and move forward, not backward, with true health care reform."
###
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels.

Well said.

Peace.

Carper Fail on Healthcare Reform

Yesterday Senator Carper cast his vote on two amendments to the pending healthcare bill in the Senate Finance Committee. The first amendment offered by Senator Rockefeller and offering a robust public option failed when Carper and other Democrats voted against the amendment. Seeing his chance to play the minds of the voting public, Senator Carper voted to support the second amendment offered by Senator Schumer knowing full well the amendment would fail. But he still gets to tell the unknowing public he voted for the public option.

The behavior of some politicians is disgraceful. Senator Carper's actions in supporting the corporate healthcare system at the expense of real reform to benefit the people is unforgiveable.



Peace.

Cluster Bombs, The Gift That Keeps on Killing

Children continue to die in Lebanon and other parts of the world as a result of remaining cluster bombs. These weapons are delivered by a single device carrying many small bomblets. Some of these bomblets fail to detonate on arrival and remain on the ground or in trees and bushes to kill or maim the unwary.

In August alone, six children were hurt in cluster bomb explosions in Lebanon.

How many more must die before we as a civilized world put an end to these weapons?

The U.S. continues to be the largest manufacturer of military hardware around the world. Cluster bombs and their delivery systems are part and parcel of this manufacture. We must stop. These weapons have no place in a world claiming any measure of humanity.

Peace.

AFSCME Carper Event

Not that it will change Senator Carper's mind, but many will be in place to show him how we feel about real healthcare reform. Join in if you can. The more the better. Carper needs to feel the heat for his failure to support real healthcare reform.

Sen. Carper:
Real Health Care NOW



Join us

Thursday, October 1 at 4:00 PM
The Circle, Georgetown, DE



To tell Senator Carper

Health Care reform must include:



· A Strong public option!

· Big Corporations pay their fair share!

· No taxes on our health care benefits!



We will deliver thousands of letters from Delaware residents to Senator Carper’s office on the Circle.



Press conference begins at 4:00 pm.



Questions or RSVP:

Call Courtney @ 916-494-3325

Or Morgan @ 773-515-4093