The Battlefield for Health-Care Reform Now Moving To A State Near You
Activism and organizing for healthcare reform on the state level has the potential to be more effective, because while state legislators are even more easily influenced by campaign donors, they're also more vulnerable to local pressure. So it's important to follow the fight in your state, make your position on strong regulation known to your representatives and lobby friends and family to do the same:
WASHINGTON — Like about a dozen other states, Florida is debating a proposed amendment to its state constitution that would try to block, at least symbolically, much of the proposed federal health care overhaul on the grounds that it tramples individual liberty.
But what unites the proposal’s legislative backers is more than ideology. Its 42 co-sponsors, all Republicans, were almost all recipients of outsized campaign contributions from major health care interests, a total of about $765,000 in 2008, according to a new study by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a nonpartisan group based in Helena, Mont.
It is just one example of how insurance companies, hospitals and other health care interests have been positioning themselves in statehouses around the country to influence the outcome of the proposed health care overhaul. Around the 2008 election, the groups that provide health care contributed about $102 million to state political campaigns across the country, surpassing the $89 million the same donors spent at the federal level, according to the institute.
Any federal legislation is likely to supersede state constitutional amendments. But backers of the state measures say they want to send a message to Congress and also lay groundwork for fights about elements of the health care package that are expected to be left up to the states.”
[...] Advocates of a sweeping overhaul by the federal government, on the other hand, say the magnitude of the health care industry’s contributions shows the dangers of leaving such a question up to individual states, where campaign finance and ethics rules vary from strict to negligible.
“The states are the next battle,” said Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager for the liberal advocacy group Health Care for America Now, “and the insurers and health care industry are primed up and ready to go. The industry has enormous power at the state level, and very few states have state-level consumer groups that are able to lobby effectively against them.”
I hope Oregon votes it down.
the mandate has me livid. absolutely livid. its Obama's Patriot Act .. yea, there, I said it. forcing citizens to purchase a retail, consumer product is, in a word, unconstitutional.
one of the many ways in which it is unconstitutional is because it violates the 10th Amendment .. laws not explicitly defined in the Constitution are to be implemented and managed by local/municipal/state governments.
so in order for the mandate to be effective, local/county/state governments will need to enact comparable purchase mandates.
I promise right now that I will vote out any Republican *OR* Democrat who forces me to purchase a retail product under penalty of law
Twas the day before Christmas
and all through the senate and the house
Liberals and Progressives were selling us out
You see the companies making contributions to conservatives really have the legislative clout
Unfortunately, most progressive and liberal outsiders haven’t figured this out
To leave these companies alone will just seal our fate
where we progressives and liberals do not carry much political weight
but if we join together and boycott conservative funders asses
We’ll get real progressive legislation that passes.
If you want to solve the problem of too much company influence over legislation go here http://www.democratz.org
To demand congress enact a strong single payer public option go here http://publicoption.democratz.org
To demand congress fix the medicare prescription drug benefit go here http://drugbenefit.democratz.org
We need to boycott some major companies that give money to conservatives. Send this to many people by email.
T'was the Day Before Christmas
And all through Albertsons
Valentines were blooming
Where once t'was Christmas season.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
constituents voices overcome dollars...Get on it --call them daily, firmly and loudly about their job security that is based on the job they do for the American people----who are no longer forgiving or loyal to the party/congress people that betray them!
1.800.828.04978
"Any federal legislation is likely to supersede state constitutional amendments. But backers of the state measures say they want to send a message to Congress"
So they are going to waste their time, money and political position to be posers?
The GOP is circling the drain. This isn't going to do them any good.
I hope they do more of this crud.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
We've already had tea-buggers here.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I seriously hope I didn't come across as a teabagger. I can't stand those idiots. who the hell questions the validity of a birth certificate? who the hell brings a machine gun to a presidential rally, especially when there's a bunch of little kids around?
the mandate has me furious, absolutely furious. it is absolutely unconstitutional to force Americans to purchase a retail product such as this. and the fact that we're forcing the uninsured ... single mothers, college age kids, retirees who lost their 401(k) packages but made "too much money" to qualify for Medicare ... Nascar dads who lost their jobs and still can't find a replacement even though they're out there looking every day ... the fact that we're *FORCING* so many hard-working but low-income people to purchase a retail product??
I'm absolutely livid.
long term welfare fraud lovers .. they get free health care. wealthy politicians .. they get free health care. upper middle class office types (like me) .. well we have to pay for ours but its no skin off our backs, we can afford it.
but the people going to college part time and pumping gas part time .. the people trying to forge a future for themselves but living humbly for now ..
my God, the Congress is forcing *THAT DEMOGRAPHIC* to *PAY RETAIL PRICES* for health care??! they already can't afford it! so we fine them thousands of dollars if they don't buy it off the shelf??!
furious.
absolutely furious.
I was so proud in November 2008. so proud that the progressives I'd voted for overwhelmingly won the White House, Senate, Representative and local/municipal elections.
and every one .. damn near every, single, one of them .. have screwed us.
***
so I'm sorry if I come across like a teabagger.
but dammit .... the way I see it, this crap bill *IS* Obama's Patriot Act.
incredibly invasive, incredibly unconstitutional, and incredibly unfair. the bill fixes nothing and exacerbates so many of the problems that brought the issue to the table in the first place.
govt's coercive power over the electorate is used to bolster the profits of private enterprise. and i would need a scanning electron microscope to figure out which wing of the duopoly is more corporatist than the other.
And the fascist bastards haven't left a stone unturned. With all this so-called education reform, now they are working on our kids too.
Rigorous curriculum, NCLB, and all these other Orwellean bullshit terms, are nothing but a way to terrorize and lay the blame on the kids and teachers for the country the idiot politicians fucked up! This is nothing but educational fascism; so they can creat a massive "one-thought-fits-all" society full of robot workers who will be willing to underbid the next guy for a job.
I think these corporate fascists' pricks may be about to jump the snark however. In the last few weeks, everyone I have talked to has said they are sick of this corporate shit and the corrupt politicians. Surprisingly, many of them have made comments about "how much more of this crap are the people gonna take before doing something?
Methinks the shit may be about to hit the fan in 2010. Especially when millions of hard working people begin to run out of unemployment benefits, while Government Sachs pays billions in bonuses to themselves with tax-payer dollars.
Health care reform, education reform, tax reform, energy reform; everyone of these issues that the people voted for, have been turned back against them with both barrels by the shameless, bribed bastards in government.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
The whole system needs to be reformed beginning with MEDICAL CARE COSTS first.
Then next the gross bureaucracy, inefficiency, and dysfunction of the system needs to be addressed.
to a well off politician or businessman. But to a person struggling to get by from check to check on 12,000 to 24,000 a year it's a LOT. A whole lot. And not having any clout and negotiating ability doesn't make it any easier when the bill collectors start demanding full payment.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/103963
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Ya know?
I'm really not into cartoons.
The attached video was very good.
Congress has so totally screwed up this legislation! In the end, one of the states may still hit on a workable and fair cure to the insurance crisis.
Massachusets, of course, blew it completely -- or at least created a model of what won't work. So let another state try. Meanwhile, the current national model can keep swirling the drain until it disappears forever.
Let each and every state decide by vote on this issue.
Just make sure HR676 is on the ballot.
Then sit back and watch the fireworks go off.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10hrOJkOxX0
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
an amazing retort.
yes.
teabaggers hate the piece of crap bill.
liberals and progressives hate the piece of crap bill.
put the bill to the states so the feds get some forced cooperation to sidestep the 10th Amendment violations in the mandate, in order for this bill to work ...... and wait for the fireworks when the public RESOUNDINGLY votes this piece of crap bill down.
many of hate this bill for a variety of reasons.
but at the end of the day, the VAST majority of ALL Americans ..... hate this piece of crap bill.
so maybe the smartest thing is to put the heat to our local politicians' feet and force them to get our opinion on the piece of crap.
That the public would vote this down.
I agree that this bill should be voted down in it's current form..
That's why I said make sure HR676 in on the ballot.
But I wouldn't count on the general public to vote this down.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
I say leave it to the states too.
And no government subsidies to those "little" states who's populations do not generate enough tax revenues to cover costs.
Fuck 'em.
Let 'em drink tea.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
I don't agree with Burnt because I don't believe that having to have health insurance is bad--the poorest will be addded to Medicaid for free, the less-poor and middle-class will have tax credits and subsidies (on up to about a family of 4 making 80+ thousand).
Right now in my local paper, friends of a cancer patient are paying for a little ad asking people to donate for her medical expenses. And today in the Portland Oregonian, Burnt, there's a story about a guy who broke his back in a diving accident and is a paraplegic--he has no health insurance so his friends are holding little fund-raisers for him. Under this new plan he and the cancer patient would have health insurance, with no upper-limits, perhaps at relatively little or no cost depending on their income. I think in the future we're going to look back at a time when the sickest had to beg others for help and their friends had to run ads in the paper as a barbaric time.
well if you want to make it personal, I guess I can keep it civil but ... you'll never believe this .. me, personally? hey, I'm from Portland, Oregon TOO!
so. let's talk Portland, Oregon figures. and the constitution. let's talk about that.
first of all, you know what the 5th Amendment is, right? the 5th Amendment is the right to avoid self incrimination. if you broke into a house and the cops just KNOW you did it but they have no evidence so they put you on the stand and they say "HURR DURR DID YOU BREAK INTO THAT HOUSE??!" .... the 5th Amendment guarantees you the right to say "I'm not going to answer that."
thats what the 5th Amendment is. its a good right, that's why it was listed in the original bill of rights, way before those silly 16th and 18th amendments. its a foundationary right, for all citizens.
***
ok so check it out, joannew. let's say you have a kid. now. let's pretend your kid is a real dumbass, a real deadbeat. I'm sure you'd raise someone more contributory to the society you participate in because hey we're Portlanders and well dammit we come correct. well, usually.
but for the sake of argument let's say you have a 24 year old kid and he's just a real dumbass.
he doesn't buy health care. he just flakes on it, doesn't do it. yeesh, what a dumbass. everybody should have health care anyway and .. once this crap bill passes why its TEH LAWS!! but this dumbass he doesn't buy himself a official corporate certified & 'Murikan gubmint approved doctor care card.
now lets say its snowing like it is right now this very minute, and the whole city grinds to a halt because Portlanders drive really stupid in the snow. so your dumbass kid, he goes to, oh, I dunno .. that Wells Fargo building on like 25th and Yeon or whatever, straps his snowboard on and bombs the hill down the sick powder on the sidewalk next to the road that leads to the 405 and 23rd ave.
because reckless daredevil 24 year old dumbass Portland boys do this kind of crap, we both know this, we live in a city of reckless bicyclists, I drink with them at the Ash Street on the regular ...
so this kid, he breaks his leg. (insert Chris Farley voice here) oh my god the femur is breaking through the kneecap, the ambulance shows up and the driver pulls off his glasses and says "oh .. my .. god" the new guy is puking in the corner.
now. your kid goes to um .. whats in the neighborhood. probably, Providence hospital, right?
kay, now we've made it "personal" - now that I've personalized it, I'd like to share with you some facts, and figures, explaining why this poor kid is fucked .. like, fucked .. and its really unfair just how fucked he is because he never had a fighting chance.
Portland has a 10.7% unemployment rate. (protip - that rate represents the crap post-Clinton fudged-numbers rate, not the Jimmy Carter rate so its actually much higher).
this sets us at near the upper 75% for median number of underemployed cities in the nation, and the upper 60% for highest average underemployed cities in the nation.
http://www.bls.gov/web/laummtrk.htm
Portland was also in the upper regions of underemployment in 2008
http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/OlmisZine
and we're basically like a tidier version of Detroit. let's face it. we're going to ride the new fixed economy's coat-tails, we're not going to lead the charge. well, unless one of us develops a new Microsoft here. as it stands, Nike's withdrawing and tightening their belts, Intel is, Yahoo is, Freightliner's just straight up gone.
so .. first of all, this poor kid is looking at *crap* for finding decent work.
oh, there's tons of coffee shops. so he'll probably have some kind of small business option.
but at part time minimum wage .. well .. in 2010 that'll be $8-something an hour, right?
*
*
ok, so now let's look at price spikes for 2010 through 2014 (when this bill with the mandatory purchase requirement gets fully implemented) for Portland.
http://wweek.com/editorial/3421/10750/
the housing market has screwed over a lot of us, well, all of us. but Portland already was leading the charge on another front, housing cost increases. man, in the early 2000's, Portland was a GOOD spot to hit for flipping new homes. especially in like, Belmont, and NW 23rd area, Corbett, etc.
now again just like Portland isn't the most underemployed city in the nation but we've been in the top 10 or 20 for about 5+ years now .. well, Portland didn't lead the charge for biggest skyrocketing house prices followed by foreclosures .. buuuuut, once again, we're not doing too shabby.
its at least $750/month for a 1 bedroom apartment in the nicer, "crime free" neighborhoods and those costs are projected to rise in 2010 to $8-900/month. maybe $1000+ by 2014
power's going up. news articles say cell phone and land line access is about to go up. internet's going up (and you NEED internet to look for work and/or succeed in college). groceries. its gonna be some tough times
*
*
so, this kid with the broken femur, he's looking at spending about um .. lets see, carry the two aaand ..
let's guess about $1550 per month, for fuel, power/heat, phone/communication, shelter and food.
$2300 if you're going to college and need to buy books.
now.
you're working part time at Stumptown or something. minimum wage. which is $8.40/hour now and will most definitely stay that way in 2010.
http://www.worldofworklawblog.com/2009/09/art...
ok let's see, 8.4 times 20 for the hours per week, times 4 weeks equals ...
$672 - fuck. that kid's fucked. he's gonna need to get on food stamps and get his ass to school just so's he can take out some student loans .. I mean .. that kid needs to eat! gee, I hope there's college funding available like Obama also promised just like universal health care!
but let's face it, Joanne. this dumbass kid with the busted femur. he's not going to be able to afford off-the-shelf health care. its going to be, what ..
https://www.shop.or.regence.com/action/plansP...
yea about $150 - $300 per month. on top of a kid who's already about $1000 in the red every month as it is, with not much of a decent future in sight (because let's face it the economy is fuuuuuuuuucked, but thats a discussion for another day ... )
so ok, this dumbass .. he um .. he can't afford it.
especially when he's dicking around hanging out at Ash Street with dumbasses like me spending all his spare money on pitchers of Pabst.
*
*
ok joannew, so check it out.
as SOON as this dumbass gets to the hospital. the receptionist is gonna be all, like, going, "hurr durr can I get your officially approved corporate government mandate doctor care card??" :3
and your dumb kid is going to be in humongous pain. and in immediate need of medical care. and so under GREAT duress will HAVE to say -
"I don't have health insurance"
he will HAVE to incriminate himself, in order to see a physician.
that.
is.
unconstitutional.
*
*
its that simple.
and its the fundamental reason why I oppose this crap bill.
forcing us to purchase ANY kind of retail/corporate product is bad enough but to force us to yield our 5th Amendment rights just to receive basic care .. no .. I can't support it .. I won't
having said all that?
I hope you and yours drive careful in this shit weather because there's a lot of crazies out there on the road. take care.
Maybe this is the way it has to be. People see auntie dying in South Dakota while Minnesota across the border votes in something like single payer, there is no way it won't spread. That's clearly why Congress passed a law that states can't do single payer because they know that. Time for either that law to get removed or for a state to rebel. It makes me wonder. So a state loses federal funding. How much of a loss (for probably only a few years) would that be compared to how much people would save in health costs? Scary because both gain and loss would be in the billions for many states but I would like to see the projected balance sheet because I suspect the health care crisis is approaching that level of burden.
That's clearly why Congress passed a law that states can't do single payer because they know that.
Will never stand up in court. Not even with the present SCOTUS.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
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