So Livingston County law enforcement is disappointed that no agency in the county received any federal stimulus money aimed at keeping police offiers from being laid off.
Under the stimulus rules, the money went first to those areas with the highest crime rates and biggest budget problems. Thankfully, that's not Livingston County.
But the complaints about not getting any stimulus funds are interesting, given that the Republican Party that runs this county opposed the stimulus. Now they want some of the money to bail them out of their budget problems.
Maybe they could complain to Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton. I'm sure the Obama administration would listen seriously to him, given all the support he has given Obama priorities such as the stimulus.
Had he been a supporter, he might have argued to have the rules written in a way that would address needs in counties like Livingston. But he fought it and now Livingston County is paying the price.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Freeman: Dillon's Health Care Numbers Don't Add Up
John Freeman, state director of Health Care for American Now and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, takes issue with some of the math behind House Speaker Andy Dillon's plan to put all public employees in the state under one health insurance plan.
The Lansing State Journal has Freeman's op-ed here.
The Lansing State Journal has Freeman's op-ed here.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Good Luck, Kris
Livingston Press and Argus reporter Kris Karol has moved on.
Sources say Kris is going to graduate school.
His last day was last week and he left before I had a chance to say goodbye. But if this reaches him in cyber-space, I want to let him know we appreciated his balanced coverage, hard work, and sound story ideas.
Kris, you'll be missed!
Sources say Kris is going to graduate school.
His last day was last week and he left before I had a chance to say goodbye. But if this reaches him in cyber-space, I want to let him know we appreciated his balanced coverage, hard work, and sound story ideas.
Kris, you'll be missed!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Student Loan Reform on the Horizon
Students facing the high cost of higher education will soon get a break, as Congress continues to move forward with reforming the college loan process.
Right now, the federal government is paying huge subsidies to banks who make college loans to students, loans that are guaranteed by the federal government. The
Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.(HR3221) will wipe out those subsidies to private lenders and expand the direct loan program, under which the federal government itself loans the money through colleges and universities. The move will save taxpayers $90 billion over the next decade.
Rather than going into the pockets of bankers, $10 billion of that savings will go to reducing the federal deficit.
The rest will be used to expand college aid and education programs, including $40 billion for Pell Grants, reducing interest rates on need-based student loans, simplifying the loan application form for families, investing $1.2 billion in historically black colleges, funds for updating community college buildings, grants to encourage cooperation between community colleges and businesses, grants for developing on-line courses, grants to reform standards for early learning programs, and grants to loal school districts for modernizastion and repair.
Republicans oppose the measure, as The New York Times editorial notes.
We'll see if Rep. Mike Rogers, whose Eighth District includes Michigan State University, will vote with his GOP leadership or with the students who live in his district.
Right now, the federal government is paying huge subsidies to banks who make college loans to students, loans that are guaranteed by the federal government. The
Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.(HR3221) will wipe out those subsidies to private lenders and expand the direct loan program, under which the federal government itself loans the money through colleges and universities. The move will save taxpayers $90 billion over the next decade.
Rather than going into the pockets of bankers, $10 billion of that savings will go to reducing the federal deficit.
The rest will be used to expand college aid and education programs, including $40 billion for Pell Grants, reducing interest rates on need-based student loans, simplifying the loan application form for families, investing $1.2 billion in historically black colleges, funds for updating community college buildings, grants to encourage cooperation between community colleges and businesses, grants for developing on-line courses, grants to reform standards for early learning programs, and grants to loal school districts for modernizastion and repair.
Republicans oppose the measure, as The New York Times editorial notes.
We'll see if Rep. Mike Rogers, whose Eighth District includes Michigan State University, will vote with his GOP leadership or with the students who live in his district.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Convincing the Dems to support National Health Care
This is another approach for Obama to take to get the Dems to support National Health Care!
Check out Why Cant Obama Convince the Dems? at http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/20090723205552487
Check out Why Cant Obama Convince the Dems? at http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/20090723205552487
How to get National Health Care by Harry Cook
I think Harry T Cook has a good idea-can we get it to the Obama people?
How To Get National Health Care? With the Help of the Senate Judiciary Committee
By Harry T. Cook7/24/09
Somebody needs to tell Rahm Emmanuel and other Obama insiders that the key to adoption of any government-run national health care program is to arrange for people who are regularly victimized by the current system to tell their stories to the same body of senators whose boorish pomposity was on display during Sonia Sotomayor's recent nomination hearing. Bring before the august solons a woman whom I recently met -- not a Latina but an African-American -- whose husband's petition for Social Security disability had been denied, though a back injury has rendered him unable even to do desk work. Her minimum-wage job has no health insurance benefit, but because of her job she has been declared ineligible for Medicaid. She cannot even dream of affording the hundreds-of-dollars-a-month tab for her husband's pain medications. The emergency room staff of the nearest hospital has told her not to bring him there anymore. Let the senators, whose own health care insurance benefits are sleek, secure and government-funded (!), give her their set speeches about bootstraps, deficits, smaller government and the religion of the free-market system as she tries to keep tab on her restive children whom she had to bring with her to the hearing because she can't afford child care. Let the Foghorn Leghorns go on with their patronizing lectures until the woman has the "meltdown" Sotomayor managed to avoid, no doubt to Lindsey Graham's disappointment. Let her have the meltdown on national television while the cameras pan the senators in their immaculately tailored suits and rep ties, seeing but not comprehending those things they have left undone and those they ought not to have done -- leaving it to the venerable Book of Common Prayer to observe that "there is no health in us."* Count on the sensation mongering of television news editors to run and rerun the meltdown until the woman and her children become as famous as Kate and her eight. Fair-and-balanced Fox News would probably not show the senators shuffling their papers while clearly hoping security will goddamn show up ASAP and give the woman and her brood the boot, but other cameras would surely capture the lawmakers' uncaring haplessness. That might be the Harry-and-Louise moment in the 2009 version of the Great Health Care debate. You will remember perhaps the health care lobby's ad hominem commercial that undid the 1993-94 efforts of the Clinton administration to reform health care. But not even all the facts and figures in the world told and retold by endless PowerPoint presentations in support of the kind of reform of the health care system President Obama advocates will do the job. The original Harry and Louise were all gut-level. So would the hearing room scene be -- and it would stand a good chance of shifting the balance as the letters and e-mails and faxes poured into congressional offices asking, in effect, "Isn't anybody going to help this poor woman?" Of course, there are abroad in the land millions of such poor women and their families who have no health care insurance and therefore little to no health care, except what is grudgingly administered by overtaxed emergency rooms. Some American hospitals now station personnel at their emergency room entrances to discourage people who can produce no evidence of insurance or valid Medicaid plastic from demanding treatment. What is true is that health care delivery, as it is so bureaucratically called, is a huge for-profit enterprise based on the overprescription of costly medicines and drugs, sophisticated surgeries and no end of ever more costly tests all rationed out among those able to pay or whose insurance policies bear the cost. The back of that system must be broken in the same way and for the same reasons that the Wall Street banking cabal must be forcefully introduced to the economic realities of a democracy, e.g. the concentration of great wealth and other resources among a relatively few at the expense of the many is unacceptable and will not long be tolerated. What about those who cannot get into health insurance programs or who, when they can, are checkmated at every juncture by the fine print of their contracts and the army of experts in every insurer's headquarters trained in the dark art of jot and tittle to deny claims and permission for treatment? The answer is: A government-of-the-people-by-the-people-and-for-the-people insurance program of the kind that will gather up the aforementioned woman, her husband and their children in an embrace of basic justice. It will be a system designed to bring under control the sky's-the-limit costs for everything from a dose of Tylenol to open-heart surgery. Who will pay if she can't pay? The government? Well, yes, that which is of, by and for the people. And that gets done by requiring those who have so much to part with a little of what they have to help those whose "too little" is all they have. This process is known as "taxation" -- taxes, like club dues, being the price for the privilege of membership. The Republicans ride in alarm, Paul Revere-like, "through every Middlesex village and farm for the country-folk to be up and to arm,"** calling this idea socialism. Communism, even. It is neither; it's just basic decency. As we might say to the white guys in suits, after the manner of Joseph Welch addressing another senator many years ago: "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"***_____________________________________________________* From the General Confession of the Book of Common Prayer 1928, p. 6: "We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us." ** "Tales of a Wayside Inn, The Landlord's Tale: Paul Revere's Ride," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Poems of Longfellow, The Modern Library of Random House, New York, 1949, pp. 275-276. *** "The Army-McCarthy Hearings, 1954," in Robert D. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, eds., On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, Vol. II, (St. James, New York: Brandywine Press, 1998), 136-51.
© Copyright 2009, Harry T. Cook. All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced without proper credit.
READERS WRITE [re essay of 7/17/09 Supremely Unfeeling] Ralph R. Carskadden, Seattle, WA: Your mention of the Latina Supreme Court nominee prompts me to . . . comment on what we saw and heard this past week from Washington, D.C., during her confirmation hearings. She was grilled by privileged white males over the possibility that her race, gender and life experience might have something to do with her judgment. As if their race, gender and life of privilege haven't impacted their judgment? In effect they were asking her to be as unconscious and self-deluded as they are in order to serve. Harvey H. Guthrie, Jr., Fillmore, CA: An exceptionally powerful essay! Lecture ScheduleThe Thursday ForumBirmingham Unitarian Church38651 Woodward Ave. (at Lone Pine)Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304Admission: $10/students free Summer University: 10 a.m. ThursdaysJuly 30: News Round-up: What's Happening?Speaker: Harry Cook
WHAT DO YOU THINK? I'd like to hear from you. E-mail your comments to me: revharrytcook@aol.com.ARCHIVES NOW AVAILABLETo read previously published essays and sermons, click on the link below.
View our archive
Add your name to our mailing list
How To Get National Health Care? With the Help of the Senate Judiciary Committee
By Harry T. Cook7/24/09
Somebody needs to tell Rahm Emmanuel and other Obama insiders that the key to adoption of any government-run national health care program is to arrange for people who are regularly victimized by the current system to tell their stories to the same body of senators whose boorish pomposity was on display during Sonia Sotomayor's recent nomination hearing. Bring before the august solons a woman whom I recently met -- not a Latina but an African-American -- whose husband's petition for Social Security disability had been denied, though a back injury has rendered him unable even to do desk work. Her minimum-wage job has no health insurance benefit, but because of her job she has been declared ineligible for Medicaid. She cannot even dream of affording the hundreds-of-dollars-a-month tab for her husband's pain medications. The emergency room staff of the nearest hospital has told her not to bring him there anymore. Let the senators, whose own health care insurance benefits are sleek, secure and government-funded (!), give her their set speeches about bootstraps, deficits, smaller government and the religion of the free-market system as she tries to keep tab on her restive children whom she had to bring with her to the hearing because she can't afford child care. Let the Foghorn Leghorns go on with their patronizing lectures until the woman has the "meltdown" Sotomayor managed to avoid, no doubt to Lindsey Graham's disappointment. Let her have the meltdown on national television while the cameras pan the senators in their immaculately tailored suits and rep ties, seeing but not comprehending those things they have left undone and those they ought not to have done -- leaving it to the venerable Book of Common Prayer to observe that "there is no health in us."* Count on the sensation mongering of television news editors to run and rerun the meltdown until the woman and her children become as famous as Kate and her eight. Fair-and-balanced Fox News would probably not show the senators shuffling their papers while clearly hoping security will goddamn show up ASAP and give the woman and her brood the boot, but other cameras would surely capture the lawmakers' uncaring haplessness. That might be the Harry-and-Louise moment in the 2009 version of the Great Health Care debate. You will remember perhaps the health care lobby's ad hominem commercial that undid the 1993-94 efforts of the Clinton administration to reform health care. But not even all the facts and figures in the world told and retold by endless PowerPoint presentations in support of the kind of reform of the health care system President Obama advocates will do the job. The original Harry and Louise were all gut-level. So would the hearing room scene be -- and it would stand a good chance of shifting the balance as the letters and e-mails and faxes poured into congressional offices asking, in effect, "Isn't anybody going to help this poor woman?" Of course, there are abroad in the land millions of such poor women and their families who have no health care insurance and therefore little to no health care, except what is grudgingly administered by overtaxed emergency rooms. Some American hospitals now station personnel at their emergency room entrances to discourage people who can produce no evidence of insurance or valid Medicaid plastic from demanding treatment. What is true is that health care delivery, as it is so bureaucratically called, is a huge for-profit enterprise based on the overprescription of costly medicines and drugs, sophisticated surgeries and no end of ever more costly tests all rationed out among those able to pay or whose insurance policies bear the cost. The back of that system must be broken in the same way and for the same reasons that the Wall Street banking cabal must be forcefully introduced to the economic realities of a democracy, e.g. the concentration of great wealth and other resources among a relatively few at the expense of the many is unacceptable and will not long be tolerated. What about those who cannot get into health insurance programs or who, when they can, are checkmated at every juncture by the fine print of their contracts and the army of experts in every insurer's headquarters trained in the dark art of jot and tittle to deny claims and permission for treatment? The answer is: A government-of-the-people-by-the-people-and-for-the-people insurance program of the kind that will gather up the aforementioned woman, her husband and their children in an embrace of basic justice. It will be a system designed to bring under control the sky's-the-limit costs for everything from a dose of Tylenol to open-heart surgery. Who will pay if she can't pay? The government? Well, yes, that which is of, by and for the people. And that gets done by requiring those who have so much to part with a little of what they have to help those whose "too little" is all they have. This process is known as "taxation" -- taxes, like club dues, being the price for the privilege of membership. The Republicans ride in alarm, Paul Revere-like, "through every Middlesex village and farm for the country-folk to be up and to arm,"** calling this idea socialism. Communism, even. It is neither; it's just basic decency. As we might say to the white guys in suits, after the manner of Joseph Welch addressing another senator many years ago: "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"***_____________________________________________________* From the General Confession of the Book of Common Prayer 1928, p. 6: "We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us." ** "Tales of a Wayside Inn, The Landlord's Tale: Paul Revere's Ride," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Poems of Longfellow, The Modern Library of Random House, New York, 1949, pp. 275-276. *** "The Army-McCarthy Hearings, 1954," in Robert D. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, eds., On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, Vol. II, (St. James, New York: Brandywine Press, 1998), 136-51.
© Copyright 2009, Harry T. Cook. All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced without proper credit.
READERS WRITE [re essay of 7/17/09 Supremely Unfeeling] Ralph R. Carskadden, Seattle, WA: Your mention of the Latina Supreme Court nominee prompts me to . . . comment on what we saw and heard this past week from Washington, D.C., during her confirmation hearings. She was grilled by privileged white males over the possibility that her race, gender and life experience might have something to do with her judgment. As if their race, gender and life of privilege haven't impacted their judgment? In effect they were asking her to be as unconscious and self-deluded as they are in order to serve. Harvey H. Guthrie, Jr., Fillmore, CA: An exceptionally powerful essay! Lecture ScheduleThe Thursday ForumBirmingham Unitarian Church38651 Woodward Ave. (at Lone Pine)Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304Admission: $10/students free Summer University: 10 a.m. ThursdaysJuly 30: News Round-up: What's Happening?Speaker: Harry Cook
WHAT DO YOU THINK? I'd like to hear from you. E-mail your comments to me: revharrytcook@aol.com.ARCHIVES NOW AVAILABLETo read previously published essays and sermons, click on the link below.
View our archive
Add your name to our mailing list
GOP Disease -- Infighting -- Spreads to County Commission
Looking at the way Livingston County elected officials are getting along, you'd never know they were all members of one party. Every week there's a new board that, instead of doing the public's business, is engaged in out-and-out fighting with each other.
Everybody knows about Hamburg Township. How can I even summarize that dysfunctional morass of incompetence, jealousy, pettiness, and bizarre behavior?
But then the Howell School Board got into the act, with the firing of the superintendent, the beginning of a recall, allegations of "spying" against people monitoring the recall, and who knows what next.
In between was the fight on the Brighton Fire Authority, culminating in the departure of the fire chief.
And now, we have the Livingston County Commission and Sheriff Bob Bezotte clashing to the point that the sheriff stomped out of a meeting over county demands for massive cuts to public safety, followed by Commissioner Jack LaBelle claiming he was "threatened."
Remember, those are only the disagreements we know about so far this year.
It's pretty clear that Republicans in this county are having major difficulties getting along with each other, and the public's business is hurting as a result.
Everybody knows about Hamburg Township. How can I even summarize that dysfunctional morass of incompetence, jealousy, pettiness, and bizarre behavior?
But then the Howell School Board got into the act, with the firing of the superintendent, the beginning of a recall, allegations of "spying" against people monitoring the recall, and who knows what next.
In between was the fight on the Brighton Fire Authority, culminating in the departure of the fire chief.
And now, we have the Livingston County Commission and Sheriff Bob Bezotte clashing to the point that the sheriff stomped out of a meeting over county demands for massive cuts to public safety, followed by Commissioner Jack LaBelle claiming he was "threatened."
Remember, those are only the disagreements we know about so far this year.
It's pretty clear that Republicans in this county are having major difficulties getting along with each other, and the public's business is hurting as a result.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Benson Campaign Gaining More Steam
Jocelyn Benson's campaign for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State in 2010 seems to gain momentum every week.
Last week, friends had a fund-raiser for her in Washington, D.C. This week, she's picked up the endorsement of Woman Under Forty Political Action Committee, a non-partisan group that supports younger women who are barely represented in elected office.
Jessica Grounds, WUFPAC president, called Benson's candidacy "thrilling."
"She is a great role model for women in Michigan and across the country. Her extensive experience pertaining to election law and fair election practices makes her the best candidate for Michigan Secretary of State. We are proud to support Benson in her race for Secretary of State and believe that her talents and experience will ensure her victory in 2010."
Benson is a well-versed in election law, which she teaches at Wayne State University. She's a terrific speaker and a hard worker, too, as she travels from one end of this state to the other talking about election issues.
Last week, friends had a fund-raiser for her in Washington, D.C. This week, she's picked up the endorsement of Woman Under Forty Political Action Committee, a non-partisan group that supports younger women who are barely represented in elected office.
Jessica Grounds, WUFPAC president, called Benson's candidacy "thrilling."
"She is a great role model for women in Michigan and across the country. Her extensive experience pertaining to election law and fair election practices makes her the best candidate for Michigan Secretary of State. We are proud to support Benson in her race for Secretary of State and believe that her talents and experience will ensure her victory in 2010."
Benson is a well-versed in election law, which she teaches at Wayne State University. She's a terrific speaker and a hard worker, too, as she travels from one end of this state to the other talking about election issues.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
annarbor.com Preview Not Encouraging
The Ann Arbor News was a great newspaper. Will annarbor.com be a great on-line news source?
We don't know yet because it's late getting up and running (not a good sign but understandable). I have to say, though, that the preview being offered is not encouraging. The lay-out pictured reminds me of a free, pre-packaged blog spot, which is fine for individuals but annarbor.com is supposed to be a professional outfit.
And then there is the "coverage" of the Ann Arbor city council meeting by someone who has been in town less than a week. Great.
Too bad all the laid-off reporters can't put together their own competing operation on-line.
We don't know yet because it's late getting up and running (not a good sign but understandable). I have to say, though, that the preview being offered is not encouraging. The lay-out pictured reminds me of a free, pre-packaged blog spot, which is fine for individuals but annarbor.com is supposed to be a professional outfit.
And then there is the "coverage" of the Ann Arbor city council meeting by someone who has been in town less than a week. Great.
Too bad all the laid-off reporters can't put together their own competing operation on-line.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
So Long to Livingston Community News
I'm going to miss the Livingston Community News, the free weekly newspaper published for Livingston County for six years by the Ann Arbor News.
I found the articles well-reported and written in a lively style. Not being tied to the old power structure of the county gave it independence.
The newspaper's last edition received this weekend includes a sign-off from the staff, many of whom are Livingston County residents now apparently out of work. It includes, "It's been a great ride. Thank you, Livingston County."
But the readers owe them a big thanks, too.
I found the articles well-reported and written in a lively style. Not being tied to the old power structure of the county gave it independence.
The newspaper's last edition received this weekend includes a sign-off from the staff, many of whom are Livingston County residents now apparently out of work. It includes, "It's been a great ride. Thank you, Livingston County."
But the readers owe them a big thanks, too.
Denby Emerges from Obscurity
So Cindy Denby really does exist.
I was beginning to wonder if Livingston County still had two representatives in the Michigan House or if Denby had been kidnapped by aliens. But she surfaced Sunday (July 19, 2009) with an op-ed in the Livingston Press and Argus.
I thought Denby was a nice person during the 2008 campaign, but I can't say she has been at all impressive as a legislator.
Especially when her op-ed touting a meeting on agriculture fails to mention what day it will occur.
I was beginning to wonder if Livingston County still had two representatives in the Michigan House or if Denby had been kidnapped by aliens. But she surfaced Sunday (July 19, 2009) with an op-ed in the Livingston Press and Argus.
I thought Denby was a nice person during the 2008 campaign, but I can't say she has been at all impressive as a legislator.
Especially when her op-ed touting a meeting on agriculture fails to mention what day it will occur.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
2010 Gubernatorial Hopeful Coming to Livingston County
Want to get a look at one of the candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010?
Come to the Livingston County Democrats' potluck on Sunday, July 26, featuring Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith of Washtenaw County.
Smith gets some press on the recent announcement of her candidacy. But the potluck is a chance to meet and talk to her directly.
The event will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at party headquarters, 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600 of the Fonda Office Park, Brighton. Bring a dish to share.
Come to the Livingston County Democrats' potluck on Sunday, July 26, featuring Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith of Washtenaw County.
Smith gets some press on the recent announcement of her candidacy. But the potluck is a chance to meet and talk to her directly.
The event will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at party headquarters, 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600 of the Fonda Office Park, Brighton. Bring a dish to share.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
HEALTH CARE FOR ALL? NOTES FROM OUR TOWN HALL LAST SATURDAY AND RECENT EVENTS IN CONGRESS
The speakers at our town hall were Kali Fox from Senator Stabenow’s Lansing office, James Mitchiner, M.D. Emergency Medicine, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, and Robert Sisler, President of UAW Local 6000 Retired Workers.
A brief recap of some of the speakers’ comments:
Kali Fox stated that Senator Stabenow believes that a single-payer system would be the best health care plan but that it does not have the votes to pass. The Senator is working for the strongest possible public option and is using her position on the Finance Committee to achieve the public option.
Dr. Mitchiner spoke about the myths surrounding the single-payer plan. The first and most often heard myth is that a single-payer plan is socialized medicine. The doctor pointed out that a single-payer plan is simply the method of payment. The delivery of health care will come from the same doctors and hospitals that deliver our health care today. The government takes care of payment and private providers deliver care under the single-payer plan.
Dr. Mitchiner also addressed the comparisons with the Canadian system, stating that the Canadian system spends 54% per patient of the U.S. costs. While there are wait times in Canada, there are also wait times in the U.S. and, in fact, many Americans do not receive health care at all.
Bob Sisler provided us with copies of the actual HR 767 bill and pointed out that the UAW and a number of other unions support the single-payer plan. He also pointed out that the idea of profit in health insurance was really introduced in the 1970s with HMOs. We are the only western democracy that has private for-profit health insurance for our basic health care. Other countries have a single-payer type plan for basic health care.
Additional note: The House produced a plan yesterday that would: ‘expand coverage, slow the growth of Medicare, raise taxes on high-income people and penalize employers who do not provide health benefits to their workers.’
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/health/policy/15health.html?th&emc=th
Donna’s comments and questions on the House plan and other legislation: This plan still leaves 15 million people without insurance. If we believe that health care is a human right, how do we excuse leaving out 15 million people? Why are we penalizing employers? Shouldn’t employers be left out of this game? Don’t we want employers to create jobs, hire workers, and keep down the cost of their products for international trade. Why should employers be responsible for the costs of health insurance?
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) also voted a bill out of their committee. This bill brings up many of the same questions as House bill. Like the House bill, it provides subsidies to uninsured individuals to purchase health insurance either on the public option or the private market. (Can you see the private insurance CEOs salivating now at the prospect of these new consumers?)
These bills are complex and offer their insurance products through an exchange. Does anyone remember the fiasco created by Medicare Part D when hundreds of insurance companies offered prescription plans? Seniors were confused and puzzled about what to do. To make matters worse, the legislation stated that if seniors didn’t make their choices by the deadline, seniors would be charged a penalty for every month delayed. The Part D bill so heavily favored the insurance and drug companies that, while seniors could only change their insurance each January, the companies could change their coverage whenever they wanted.
Another bill will soon be voted out of the Finance Committee. It’s predicted that it will offer co-ops instead of the public plan. Most of us can see the problem with co-ops trying to negotiate coverage with sophisticated, greedy insurance companies. Imagine the fun you’ll have when you present your co-op insurance card to your doctor or hospital. This brainchild is proposed by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, (population of less than a million citizens) and makes Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, (population less than 3 million) happy, along with Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska (population less than 2 million). They are willing to compromise on the health of our citizens.
Sen. Grassley was asked by one of his constituents why he couldn’t get a health plan as good as the Senator’s plan. Grassley’s response was that the fellow should get a job with the federal government. Perhaps it’s time that Sen. Grassley’s constituents decide that Grassley should no longer be working for the federal government.
Senator Debbie Stabenow is on the Finance Committee. If you agree that co-ops are a bad idea call and e-mail her today, contact information is below.
One last thought: We hear continually about how health care for all needs to control costs. We all agree on that. There should, however, be more talk about broad coverage for all Americans. The debate that’s going on right now is complex and obfuscates the real problem which is that many Americans are deprived of health care while we claim that health care is a human right.
Information Sources:
Many people asked for places where they could get information on health care reform. Here are some Web sites that have good information on health care reform and pending bills in the House and Senate. Be an activist! E-mail and call your Senators! Call the White House! March at rallies here and in Washington DC. Talk to your friends and relatives and give them the facts.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ President Barack Obama
(202) 456-1111 Comments
(202) 456-1414 Switchboard
http://stabenow.senate.gov/ Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-MI
(517) 203-1760 Lansing Office
(202) 224-4822 Washington D.C.
http://levin.senate.gov/ Sen. Carl Levin D-MI
(517) 377-1508 Lansing Office
(202) 224-6221 Washington D.C.
http://www.healthcare-now.org/ Health Care Now organization is a single-payer advocate.
http://healthcareforamericanow.org/ Pushes a strong public option and the White House plan.
http://www.pnhp.org/ Physicians for a National Health Program Dr. Mitchiner came to us through the PNHP.
http://www.hr676.org/ Website for the House bill HR 676, single-payer bill.
http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov Find out how hospitals compare on treating various diseases and surgical procedures.
http://www.thomas.gov Look up any federal House or Senate bill in its entirety or in
summary form.
http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1178899944/program/1113570149 THE JOURNAL: Profits Over People. Online video of Bill Moyers Journal which features Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive. Well-worth the time to watch it.
http://sanders.senate.gov/ Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, strong advocate in Senate for single-payer.
http://conyers.house.gov/ Rep. John Conyers, D-MI, introduced HR 676
http://mikerogers.house.gov/ Rep. Mike Rogers, D-Brighton
(202) 225-4872 Washington D.C.
(517) 702-8000 Lansing Office
A brief recap of some of the speakers’ comments:
Kali Fox stated that Senator Stabenow believes that a single-payer system would be the best health care plan but that it does not have the votes to pass. The Senator is working for the strongest possible public option and is using her position on the Finance Committee to achieve the public option.
Dr. Mitchiner spoke about the myths surrounding the single-payer plan. The first and most often heard myth is that a single-payer plan is socialized medicine. The doctor pointed out that a single-payer plan is simply the method of payment. The delivery of health care will come from the same doctors and hospitals that deliver our health care today. The government takes care of payment and private providers deliver care under the single-payer plan.
Dr. Mitchiner also addressed the comparisons with the Canadian system, stating that the Canadian system spends 54% per patient of the U.S. costs. While there are wait times in Canada, there are also wait times in the U.S. and, in fact, many Americans do not receive health care at all.
Bob Sisler provided us with copies of the actual HR 767 bill and pointed out that the UAW and a number of other unions support the single-payer plan. He also pointed out that the idea of profit in health insurance was really introduced in the 1970s with HMOs. We are the only western democracy that has private for-profit health insurance for our basic health care. Other countries have a single-payer type plan for basic health care.
Additional note: The House produced a plan yesterday that would: ‘expand coverage, slow the growth of Medicare, raise taxes on high-income people and penalize employers who do not provide health benefits to their workers.’
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/health/policy/15health.html?th&emc=th
Donna’s comments and questions on the House plan and other legislation: This plan still leaves 15 million people without insurance. If we believe that health care is a human right, how do we excuse leaving out 15 million people? Why are we penalizing employers? Shouldn’t employers be left out of this game? Don’t we want employers to create jobs, hire workers, and keep down the cost of their products for international trade. Why should employers be responsible for the costs of health insurance?
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) also voted a bill out of their committee. This bill brings up many of the same questions as House bill. Like the House bill, it provides subsidies to uninsured individuals to purchase health insurance either on the public option or the private market. (Can you see the private insurance CEOs salivating now at the prospect of these new consumers?)
These bills are complex and offer their insurance products through an exchange. Does anyone remember the fiasco created by Medicare Part D when hundreds of insurance companies offered prescription plans? Seniors were confused and puzzled about what to do. To make matters worse, the legislation stated that if seniors didn’t make their choices by the deadline, seniors would be charged a penalty for every month delayed. The Part D bill so heavily favored the insurance and drug companies that, while seniors could only change their insurance each January, the companies could change their coverage whenever they wanted.
Another bill will soon be voted out of the Finance Committee. It’s predicted that it will offer co-ops instead of the public plan. Most of us can see the problem with co-ops trying to negotiate coverage with sophisticated, greedy insurance companies. Imagine the fun you’ll have when you present your co-op insurance card to your doctor or hospital. This brainchild is proposed by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, (population of less than a million citizens) and makes Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, (population less than 3 million) happy, along with Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska (population less than 2 million). They are willing to compromise on the health of our citizens.
Sen. Grassley was asked by one of his constituents why he couldn’t get a health plan as good as the Senator’s plan. Grassley’s response was that the fellow should get a job with the federal government. Perhaps it’s time that Sen. Grassley’s constituents decide that Grassley should no longer be working for the federal government.
Senator Debbie Stabenow is on the Finance Committee. If you agree that co-ops are a bad idea call and e-mail her today, contact information is below.
One last thought: We hear continually about how health care for all needs to control costs. We all agree on that. There should, however, be more talk about broad coverage for all Americans. The debate that’s going on right now is complex and obfuscates the real problem which is that many Americans are deprived of health care while we claim that health care is a human right.
Information Sources:
Many people asked for places where they could get information on health care reform. Here are some Web sites that have good information on health care reform and pending bills in the House and Senate. Be an activist! E-mail and call your Senators! Call the White House! March at rallies here and in Washington DC. Talk to your friends and relatives and give them the facts.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ President Barack Obama
(202) 456-1111 Comments
(202) 456-1414 Switchboard
http://stabenow.senate.gov/ Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-MI
(517) 203-1760 Lansing Office
(202) 224-4822 Washington D.C.
http://levin.senate.gov/ Sen. Carl Levin D-MI
(517) 377-1508 Lansing Office
(202) 224-6221 Washington D.C.
http://www.healthcare-now.org/ Health Care Now organization is a single-payer advocate.
http://healthcareforamericanow.org/ Pushes a strong public option and the White House plan.
http://www.pnhp.org/ Physicians for a National Health Program Dr. Mitchiner came to us through the PNHP.
http://www.hr676.org/ Website for the House bill HR 676, single-payer bill.
http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov Find out how hospitals compare on treating various diseases and surgical procedures.
http://www.thomas.gov Look up any federal House or Senate bill in its entirety or in
summary form.
http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1178899944/program/1113570149 THE JOURNAL: Profits Over People. Online video of Bill Moyers Journal which features Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive. Well-worth the time to watch it.
http://sanders.senate.gov/ Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, strong advocate in Senate for single-payer.
http://conyers.house.gov/ Rep. John Conyers, D-MI, introduced HR 676
http://mikerogers.house.gov/ Rep. Mike Rogers, D-Brighton
(202) 225-4872 Washington D.C.
(517) 702-8000 Lansing Office
County Commission Penny-wise, Pound-foolish
Apparently, you can sell any wacky idea to Livingston County Commissioners if you tell them it will save money.
That's how a former county employee apparently put herself in position to steal thousands of dollars from the taxpayers, right under the noses of our county commissioners.
Julie Wyland Crouse was in charge of the county's medical benefits program, which meant she took in employees' benefits forms and claims and sent them to payroll for payment.
The county previously had paid an outside company to oversee the reimbursements, but, according to the Livingston Press and Argus story in editions for Thursday (July 16, 2009,) "Crouse convinced county officials that using Marwil was 'wasting money,' Gadsby said. As a result, county officials discontinued Farmington Hills-based Marwil's service effective July 1, 2005, leaving Crouse the sole person responsible for determining whether employees' were receiving the correct reimbursement, the detective said."
So, according to charges filed against her, Crouse proceeded to embezzle taxpayers' money. The Livingston County Prosecutor's Office has charged her with two counts of embezzling at least $1,000 but less than $20,000 from the county.
In other words, no one was watching what Crouse was doing. That's a violation of fundamental rules of accounting requiring checks and balances. County officials should have known better. But Crouse apparently spoke the magic words, "It'll save money," and commissioners stupidly fell for it.
That's how a former county employee apparently put herself in position to steal thousands of dollars from the taxpayers, right under the noses of our county commissioners.
Julie Wyland Crouse was in charge of the county's medical benefits program, which meant she took in employees' benefits forms and claims and sent them to payroll for payment.
The county previously had paid an outside company to oversee the reimbursements, but, according to the Livingston Press and Argus story in editions for Thursday (July 16, 2009,) "Crouse convinced county officials that using Marwil was 'wasting money,' Gadsby said. As a result, county officials discontinued Farmington Hills-based Marwil's service effective July 1, 2005, leaving Crouse the sole person responsible for determining whether employees' were receiving the correct reimbursement, the detective said."
So, according to charges filed against her, Crouse proceeded to embezzle taxpayers' money. The Livingston County Prosecutor's Office has charged her with two counts of embezzling at least $1,000 but less than $20,000 from the county.
In other words, no one was watching what Crouse was doing. That's a violation of fundamental rules of accounting requiring checks and balances. County officials should have known better. But Crouse apparently spoke the magic words, "It'll save money," and commissioners stupidly fell for it.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Health Care Forum Shows Support for Reform
Check out the Conservative Media's blog for great coverage of the Livingston Dems' town hall meeting on health care reform, held on Saturday.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Roadside Cleanup This Sunday
This Sunday (July 19, 2009) is your chance to do something to help the environment.
Join Livingston County Democrats at 8 a.m. Sunday for the quarterly roadside cleanup along a two-mile stretch of M-59. Meet in the parking lot of the Ironwood Golf Club, 6902 E. Highland Road.
We'll have the safety vests, bags, and sticks.
The more the merrier.
Join Livingston County Democrats at 8 a.m. Sunday for the quarterly roadside cleanup along a two-mile stretch of M-59. Meet in the parking lot of the Ironwood Golf Club, 6902 E. Highland Road.
We'll have the safety vests, bags, and sticks.
The more the merrier.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Young: Mother's Role Worth Little
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer is keeping up his attacks on Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert Young for his extreme views -- this time for a dissenting opinion Young wrote minimizing the value of a mother’s care for her children.
In Thorn v. Mercy Memorial Hospital, Young wanted the Michigan Supreme Court to severely limit the compensation for the future care of the children of a mother killed due to a botched Caesarean section. The majority of the court disagreed.
"Young's statements minimizing the value of a mother's care for her children are an insult not only to all mothers, but to all parents as well," said Brewer. "Once again we see Young putting the interests of insurance companies, like the one he used to work for, ahead of people injured or killed in this state, as well as their children.
"Young's antiquated views would take us back to the days when 'women's work' was used as a crude, offensive stereotype to deny the value of women’s role in child-rearing," said Brewer. "The people of Michigan are growing tired of so-called 'family values' politicians like Bob Young, Mike Cox, and Mark Sanford who proclaim their fidelity to family values and then betray those values by their actions."
In Thorn v. Mercy Memorial Hospital, Young wanted the Michigan Supreme Court to severely limit the compensation for the future care of the children of a mother killed due to a botched Caesarean section. The majority of the court disagreed.
"Young's statements minimizing the value of a mother's care for her children are an insult not only to all mothers, but to all parents as well," said Brewer. "Once again we see Young putting the interests of insurance companies, like the one he used to work for, ahead of people injured or killed in this state, as well as their children.
"Young's antiquated views would take us back to the days when 'women's work' was used as a crude, offensive stereotype to deny the value of women’s role in child-rearing," said Brewer. "The people of Michigan are growing tired of so-called 'family values' politicians like Bob Young, Mike Cox, and Mark Sanford who proclaim their fidelity to family values and then betray those values by their actions."
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Spirit of Humanity Seized by Israeli Navy 6-30-2009
The Livingston Cty Daily Press & Argus in Howell, MI printed my letter today, July 9th, 2009. I appreciate that they did so. Almost every person that I've talked with in my circle had not heard about this incident that happened on June 30th, 2009. Mairead Maguire, 1976 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, said that the Irish did not achieve peace thru the government but that it was the grassroots people who started talking to one another. She said it started in the prisons, people to people.
http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20090709/OPINION03/907090309/Demand+release+of+Spirit+of+Humanity
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009, I participated in a teleconference with two members of Combatants for Peace, one an Israeli and one a Palestinian. Their website: www.combatantsforpeace.org where they say:
We are a group of Israeli and Palestinian individuals who were actively involved in the cycle of violence in our area. The Israelis served as combat soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinians were involved in acts of violence in the name of Palestinian liberation. We all used weapons against one another, and looked at each other only through weapon sights; however today we cooperate and commit ourselves to the following:
We no longer believe that the conflict can be resolved through violence
We believe that the blood bath will not end unless we act together to terminate the occupation and stop all forms of violence.
We call for the establishment of a Palestinian State, alongside the State of Israel. The two states can exist in peace and security one by the other.
We will use only non violent means to achieve our goals and call for both societies to end violence.
In peace,
Mares
Three ThingsCannot be long hidden The Sun The Moon and The Truth --Buddha
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 11:39:57 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada EasternSubject: Nightly News with Vincent Browne - TV3
Interview on Irish TV!
1976 Irish Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mairead Maguire interviewed after being deported from Israeli Jail-arrived home in Ireland!http://www.tv3.ie/shows.php?request=nightlynewswithvincentbrowne&tv3_preview=&video=11055
http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20090709/OPINION03/907090309/Demand+release+of+Spirit+of+Humanity
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009, I participated in a teleconference with two members of Combatants for Peace, one an Israeli and one a Palestinian. Their website: www.combatantsforpeace.org where they say:
We are a group of Israeli and Palestinian individuals who were actively involved in the cycle of violence in our area. The Israelis served as combat soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinians were involved in acts of violence in the name of Palestinian liberation. We all used weapons against one another, and looked at each other only through weapon sights; however today we cooperate and commit ourselves to the following:
We no longer believe that the conflict can be resolved through violence
We believe that the blood bath will not end unless we act together to terminate the occupation and stop all forms of violence.
We call for the establishment of a Palestinian State, alongside the State of Israel. The two states can exist in peace and security one by the other.
We will use only non violent means to achieve our goals and call for both societies to end violence.
In peace,
Mares
Three ThingsCannot be long hidden The Sun The Moon and The Truth --Buddha
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 11:39:57 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada EasternSubject: Nightly News with Vincent Browne - TV3
Interview on Irish TV!
1976 Irish Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mairead Maguire interviewed after being deported from Israeli Jail-arrived home in Ireland!http://www.tv3.ie/shows.php?request=nightlynewswithvincentbrowne&tv3_preview=&video=11055
Freegaza - News section
+June+9,2008.jpg)
Freegaza - News section
There is an interview with Adam Shapiro and Kathy Sheetz on a Houston Radio show, July 8th, about their capture aboard the Spirit of Humanity by the Israeli Navy and their detention in an Israeli jail for almost a week.
There is an interview with Adam Shapiro and Kathy Sheetz on a Houston Radio show, July 8th, about their capture aboard the Spirit of Humanity by the Israeli Navy and their detention in an Israeli jail for almost a week.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Hear the Latest on Health Care Reform this Saturday!
Get the latest on what Congress is planning for health care reform at a special town hall meeting on Saturday, July 11, at 10:00 a.m. sponsored by the Livingston Democrats. Health care is a universal concern so we invite all members of the community to participate regardless of their political affiliation or lack thereof.
A representative of Sen. Debbie Stabenow will be present to discuss what type of public health care option she is prepared to support. Dr. James Mitchiner of Physicians for a National Health Program will talk about the reforms doctors would like to see. Robert Sisler, clinical social worker and President of UAW Retirees Local 6000 will address how health care reform will affect retirees as well as the need for coverage for mental illness. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions and make comments.
“Health care reform is almost certain to happen this year,” said Donna Anderson, one of the town hall’s organizers. “The big question is what will the reform be? We have an opportunity now to tell our legislators what kind of plan we want so we need to be informed about what’s available and possible.”
Coffee, bagels, and juice will be available at 9:30 a.m. before the meeting at 10 a.m. The Livingston County Democrats' headquarters is at 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600, Brighton, located on the north side of Grand River, one-third mile east of U.S. 23.
A representative of Sen. Debbie Stabenow will be present to discuss what type of public health care option she is prepared to support. Dr. James Mitchiner of Physicians for a National Health Program will talk about the reforms doctors would like to see. Robert Sisler, clinical social worker and President of UAW Retirees Local 6000 will address how health care reform will affect retirees as well as the need for coverage for mental illness. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions and make comments.
“Health care reform is almost certain to happen this year,” said Donna Anderson, one of the town hall’s organizers. “The big question is what will the reform be? We have an opportunity now to tell our legislators what kind of plan we want so we need to be informed about what’s available and possible.”
Coffee, bagels, and juice will be available at 9:30 a.m. before the meeting at 10 a.m. The Livingston County Democrats' headquarters is at 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600, Brighton, located on the north side of Grand River, one-third mile east of U.S. 23.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Palin Kicks Grass-roots Volunteers in the Teeth
As national political pundits try to figure out the "strategy" behind Sarah Palin's decision to quit her job as governor of Alaska, I can't help but think of the people who put her in the job in the first place.
Not just the people who voted for her, but the grass-roots volunteers, the people who gave up their weekends and evenings to knock on doors and make phone calls, for nothing, because they believed in Sarah Palin.
What a kick in the teeth it must be for them to know that the candidate they believed in and worked so hard for got tired of the job and quit.
I'd bet her name is mud with them. And their opinion counts a lot more than the pundits.
Not just the people who voted for her, but the grass-roots volunteers, the people who gave up their weekends and evenings to knock on doors and make phone calls, for nothing, because they believed in Sarah Palin.
What a kick in the teeth it must be for them to know that the candidate they believed in and worked so hard for got tired of the job and quit.
I'd bet her name is mud with them. And their opinion counts a lot more than the pundits.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Hatty Packs the House
Livingston County's newest circuit judge, Michael P. Hatty, knows how to draw a crowd. The 44th circuit court judge was sworn in Wednesday (June 24, 2009) before a standing-room-only crowd that also spilled out into the hallway of the second-floor courtroom of the Livingston County Historic Courthouse.
It was equally packed at the reception afterward at Crystal Gardens.
The crowds are a sign of the respect that Hatty has among the legal community and the general public, as many who came were not lawyers. The comments made on his behalf by judges, including some Republicans, also indicate the widespread support he has.
Retired Judge Daniel Burress commented that he has never known anyone who loved the practice of law more than Judge Hatty.
Our newest judge is a class act who will act with fairness toward all.
It was equally packed at the reception afterward at Crystal Gardens.
The crowds are a sign of the respect that Hatty has among the legal community and the general public, as many who came were not lawyers. The comments made on his behalf by judges, including some Republicans, also indicate the widespread support he has.
Retired Judge Daniel Burress commented that he has never known anyone who loved the practice of law more than Judge Hatty.
Our newest judge is a class act who will act with fairness toward all.
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