Health Insurance Reform...The Cause Endures

On March 31st, the Paso Robles Democratic Club held it's monthly meeting at Centennial Park. We were joined by Bill Skeen, Executive Director of Physicians for National Health Program.  PNHP

The program, founded in Chicago, is an advocate for "Medicare for All" or "Single Payer" as many know it to be.

Bill touched on many points of interest, including the fact that 50 million US Citizens Do Not meet criteria for private health insurance! Even in a tiered system, the premium for top notch "Gold Standard" of health insurance can be upwards of $3k per month! Then of course it steps down a couple of levels. Once insurance premiums reach a level where by most American workers can afford (barely), the level of care and co-pays are shameful.

To the corporate insurers, health care is a commodity to be traded IE "Gaming the System"

Did you know that 30%...let me say that again...30% of the premiums paid, go to shareholder profits, CEO incentives and admin, sales and marketing??

In other words, your hard earned money that you pay into private insurance pays for their vacations, cruises, bonuses and advertising!

Since Medicare was implemented in 1965, there was;

• Huge increases in senior care
• Less poverty
• Less suffering

Under private insurance, we have seen;

• 51 million Americans un-insured with still millions under-insured
• Lower life expectancy
• US being the only developed nation where one can go bankrupt over healthcare
• And finally, "Death by Insurance Company

Those who know me may have heard my personal story of why this subject is so important to me.

My brother-in-law, having been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, was denied what may have been life saving, or at the very least, life prolonging, health care by his insurance company, BCBS, whom he paid monthly premiums through his job for more than 20 years, . Eventually he won his appeal and was dead one week later...at the age of 46...rest in peace, Brian.

This is a perfect example of "Death by Insurance Company". BCBS directly profited by Brian's death.

So...the system must change, right? What about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -PPACA?? Basically all this is, is private insurance that was tinkered with. It's not what we fought for and we cannot sit idle and not fight for something better.

Single Payer is a system where we pay the government through a tax. The government then pays the public insurance company who pays your physician to treat you, thus recouping the 30% of your money wasted in admin costs.

If you are in California, you need to be aware of  SB810. There are similar bills in other states. Follow this link and scroll down- State Single Payer Bills

Check out some interesting videos at  PNHPNYMETRO's Channel

Don't settle for what the private insurance industry is selling! We need a single payer system and we needed it yesterday!

URGENT Help protect Arizona's Independent Redistricting!

 An urgent plea from Felecia Rotellini 

by Felecia for Arizona on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 2:33pm

Dear Friends,

Arizona's independent redistricting process is under attack. Senate President Russell Pearce and House Speaker Kirk Adams are trying to subvert the independence of the new Redistricting Commission for their own partisan agendas.  They are putting pressure on the citizen panel, the Arizona Commission for Appellate Court Appointments, who is charged with nominating candidates for the Redistricting Commission. This panel just finished a very transparent and lawful process to pick 25 candidates for the Redistricting Commission. This group of 25 candidates is the pool from which our legislative leaders will pick the final five members of the Redistricting Commission. Russell Pearce and Kirk Adams want to control the process – the process that the citizens of Arizona voted to keep out of their hands!


An AzCentral article with much of the background can be found here:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/12/14/20101214arizona-redistricting-panel-member-quits.html

The Redistricting Commission is responsible for creating our state and federal legislative districts that will be in place for the next ten years. This commission has the ability to create more competitive districts so that every vote counts. That is why voters passed Proposition 106 in 2000 -  so that our redistricting process would be in the hands of independent decision makers. Pearce and Adams are trying to politicize and manipulate the independent process voters approved 10 years ago and appoint their partisan favorites. We can't let that happen! 

Below is a letter from a dozen Arizona leaders of both parties calling on the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments to stand up to this raw political pressure.  Please let the Appellate Commission know they did a good job selecting the most qualified nominees and legislators shouldn't interfere with their work.

Please send an e-mail to the Chief Justice and the Appellate Commission supporting their work. Email addresses are:


jnc@courts.az.gov and vhaney@courts.az.gov

The deadline for public comment is TOMORROW, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, so please get your e-mail in ASAP.

The Appellate  Commission will meet Wednesday, December 29, to consider the legislators' complaints.  The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. at 1501 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ (State Court House) and there is an opportunity for public testimony.

Please don't let Russell Pearce and Kirk Adams control the redistricting process for the next 10 years! Send your e-mail now!

Let’s keep fighting for Arizona!
Felecia Rotellini

It's Time For Arizona to Send Trent Franks Packing!

Folks, we are getting down to the wire here and I’m feeling terribly anxious about this election. A day when Jan Brewer is considered a great statesman, and people from around the country calling for her to run for president, is a sad day for Arizona indeed. I shake my head so much it has become a natural occurrence even as I sleep. 

But this isn’t about Jan Brewer, although I have a few choice words for her as well. This is about my Congressman, Trent Franks who has “represented” Arizona’s CD2 since 2002.

I had the opportunity to see him in action  at a town hall meeting in Kingman. http://bit.ly/cL5bkx What I was witness to, disgusted me. At a time when we Arizonan’s  are losing our jobs and our homes, Mr. Franks chooses to open the event with a “Heritage Foundation” film called 33 minutes. Very dramatic. Lights down, bombs exploding, people turning to dust.

This is the kind of fear tactics people like Franks use to scare people into voting for them. And it’s despicable behavior! 

He is obsessed with missile defense when his only job right now should be helping the people of his district through this time of crisis. 

Missile defense is as irrelevant to the homeless and jobless as Trent Franks is to Arizona.

Trent Franks is also a bald faced liar. I do not make this accusation lightly.

At the same afore mentioned town hall meeting, in front of God and everyone in attendance, he swore that his first order of business upon returning to his office would be to file a lawsuit to make President Obama produce his birth certificate.

In a matter of a couple of days he stated that he had changed his mind and decided against filing the suit at that time. Even later, in a taped interview, he stated that he had never said it in the first place. 

He threw everyone who was at that meeting, the ones who erupted into applause and cheers at his statement, right under the bus. He  Called them liars. What kind of person does that? No one I want representing me that’s for certain. 

What I’m getting at, is that if you have not yet made up your mind, and you want someone who will work on bringing jobs to our area and who truly cares about our children’s health and education, please consider casting your vote for John Thrasher. He’s a good man and has only your best interests at heart, not some multi-billion dollar conglomerate. 

 JOHN THRASHER

 FOR CONGRESS

GOOD FOR OUR CHILDREN

GOOD FOR ARIZONA

Squelching Free Speech! Beth Weisser for Arizona State Senate

This is a new ad from my friend and Arizona State Senate hopeful, Beth Weisser. We live in a heavily laden GOP "Good ole Boy's" district, so when the Weisser for Senate tv ads were pulled with no warning, I wasn't surprised in the least. Talk about expecting "entitlements" ! Ron Gould expects to have an easy walk back to his senate seat.That's just what he'll get if Democrats stay home on election day! Make those calls, talk to your friends and family! Get the word out about how important each and every vote is in this election!

 GOTV and GO Beth Weisser!!

River Valley Dem District Chair-Letter To The Editor

The economy

Editor:

The conservatives claim that President Obama is overspending and that the national debt is getting further and further in the hole.

Anybody in business knows that “it takes time and money to make business work.” Obama said at his inauguration that it would take some time to get the economy and jobs back to some normalcy.

In a recent report by Mark Zandi, economic adviser to John McCain and chief economist at Moodys.com, and Mark Blinder, an economics professor at Princeton, they state, “The economy has made enormous progress since the dark days of early 2009. The effects on GDP, jobs (8.5 million were saved), and inflation are huge and we probably averted a second Great Depression.”

Past chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, recently stated that the Obama stimulus package is working. After the TARP program generated by President Bush and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, President Obama and Secretary Geithner decided to further spurt the economy with the needed stimulus plan.

The Zandi report also states, “Increased unemployment insurance benefits and tax cuts put cash into households’ pockets that they have largely spent, supporting output and employment. Without help from the federal government, state and local governments would have slashed payrolls and programs and raised taxes at just the wrong time. ... Infrastructure spending is now kicking into high gear and will be a significant source of jobs through at least this time next year, and business tax cuts have contributed to increased investment and hiring.”

Instead of saying “no” just to support the party and keep their personal jobs secure, the conservatives should think positive as to support the good of the nation. America would get out of this deficit sooner and together.

David Hamilton

Bullhead City

Renz Jennings 4 Az Corporation Commission

In an email received today from Renz Jennings 

Recently, I wrote to ask you to make a $5 “Clean Elections” contribution to my campaign. I was a founding board member of the Clean Elections Institute, and I am pleased to be running as a Clean Elections candidate. However, there was a recent Supreme Court decision that has caused some confusion about the Clean Elections system and its status for this election.

A number of you responded to our June 11 message asking whether you should still make the $5 Clean Elections donation. 

The Supreme Court action only affects the MATCHING FUND provision of the Clean Election law. Since ALL of the candidates for the Corporation Commission--Democrats and Republicans--are running Clean, this provision is moot in this race. The Republican ACC candidates have all already qualified. None of the Democratic candidates have yet qualified. If Democratic supporters don't give to the Democratic candidates now, our candidates could be terribly disadvantaged when the first funding distribution period comes up. This is the time for Democratic activists to rally behind its candidates and get those $5 contributions in as quickly as possible!

Again, we are closing in our target, but we need additional help to reach our goal—and as soon as possible. If you have not already made your $5 Clean Elections contribution to our campaign, please do so now by downloading the form and returning it, preferably within the next ten days.

My message about a cleaner energy future, stable utility rates and the benefits of local job creation has generated enthusiasm from those who have heard it. More will hear that message once I have received the Clean Elections funding. Please help me get that message out soon by encouraging your friends, associates and family members to make a $5 contribution today.



With sincere thanks,

Renz Jennings