Help Win The Health Care Battle - Call In Day

MAKE THE CALL:
TELL CONGRESS TO FIX HEALTH CARE!

GET CONGRESS ON THE LINE FOR AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE ON JULY 7TH AND 8TH

ON JULY 7TH and 8TH CALL:
1-800-603-7348

JUST ENTER IN YOUR ZIP CODE AND WE WILL CONNECT YOU DIRECTLY TO YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS ~ MAKE SURE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE & SENATORS KNOW THAT IT IS TIME TO FIX OUR BROKEN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM!

Health care reform this summer is a national priority. It must include a public plan option that provides affordable health care for all Americans. Seniors know we need to strengthen Medicare, overhaul Medicare Part D, and create affordable long-term services and supports. On July 7th and 8th, we ask you to join us in reminding Congress that seniors MUST be a part of the national health care reform debate.

TELL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS:
· Support an affordable public plan option with premiums NOT based on age.

· Oppose the taxation of health care benefits. This could lead to the loss of coverage, especially since one-third of retirees receive health benefits through their former employers.

· Support inclusion of the CLASS Act (S. 697 and H.R. 1721) for long term care in health care reform.

For more information, please call: 1-888-373-6497, option #1, or email ARAorganizing@retiredamericans.org. Or, for more information about health care reform and the Alliance for Retired Americans, please visit our website at: www.retiredamericans.org

THIS CALL IN NUMBER IS BEING SPONSORED BY SEIU

Alliance for Retired Americans 815 16th Street NW, 4th Floor, Washington DC 20006 www.retiredamericans.org

psst! All Jacko - All the Time

psst!

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All Jacko - All The Time

Don't get me wrong, I think Michael Jackson was one hell of a performer who wielded tremendous influence over the oxymoronic phenomena known as pop culture; but, I, as sure as God made little green apples, do not think of him as a cultural icon.

He was still a relatively young man who had squandered his talent, his wealth, his influence, his prestige and obviously his health; and, who on a number of occasions, bought or "lawyered up" his way out of jams which can at the very best and most tactfully be described as "inappropriate behavior" with young boys.

The current media frenzy brings to mind a ghastly editorial cartoon from the seventies, shortly after Elvis died. It showed an Elvis appearing cadaver suspended on the stage by puppet strings from the cat-walk above while one stage hand remarks to another, "See, nobody gets out of a contract with the colonel".

I have watched for about week, it seems longer somehow, as newspapers and legitimate newscasts have led hour-in and hour-out with some new detail or aspect of Jackson's death and life. Instead of focusing on the real news of the hour we are subjected to yet another view of Jackson moon-walking, crotch-clutching, "thrilling", dangling his baby in mid-air from a balcony several stories up, or as a small boy with the Jackson 5.

No Michael, there is no getting out of your contract with a mindless and brain dead public pandered to by what we laughingly call the media. For crying out loud, even the once venerable PBS news cornerstone 'News Hour with Jim Lehrer" has become part of it---and, I think even I, in this blog am now part of it.

Did you know that Jackson held the patent on a prop shoe design that allowed the wearer to appear to defy gravity by leaning toward the floor at ridiculous angles without losing balance?

No? Well neither did I until Katie Courick of the CBS Evening News so informed me one recent evening. You know what? I don't care and would much rather she had informed us of which Senators opposing the Public Option health plan or Medicare reform had gotten major contributions from insurance or drug companies.

Now, I understand that the sweet, gentle, tormented soul known as Michael Jackson will not be interred until next Tuesday while his family milks the attention and limelight trying to figure out yet another way to extract a dime from his corpse and estate.

No, nobody breaks their contract with the public. Not Elvis, not Jacko, not anyone, and it's a damned shame and it is our fault that we permit it.

Health Care Reform Resistance Crumbling

Yesterday, the 250,000 member American Medical association reversed its self when its new president said that the group is open to a government-funded health insurance option for people without coverage.

Dr. J. James Rohack, who is head of the AMA which represents the interests of the nation's doctors said that the AMA "...supports an American Model that includes both a private system and public option".

In May the AMA went on record before a senate committee as not supporting any government-sponsored health care plan. Now, Rohack is calling 2009 "the year we need to have affordable health insurance coverage for all Americans".

He suggested that expanding the Federal Employee Health Benefit program now available to members of congress and other federal employees would be a good "Public Option" starting point and would avoid having to start a new program from scratch.

And last evening the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee's thirteen Democrats outlined their support for a government-run insurance option and an annual fee on employers who do not offer coverage to their workers. Both are part of President Obama's suggested package which includes a Public Option partially fiananced by Pay or Play contributions from employers.

The HELP committe plan would carry a 10-year price tag of slightly over $600-billion, and would insure that an estimated 97% of Americans would have access to affordable health care. Earlier the Congressional Budget Office had projected a price tag of $1-trillion and would have left millions uninsured.

Reading the tea leaves: The fact that all thirteen Democrats on this very important committee are going to vote for the package coupled with the AMA's reversal of its objections to a Public Option Plan augers good news for the eventual passage of health care reform with a Public Option partially financed through a Play or Pay system for employers.

In short, if employers are unwilling or unable to provide "private" insurance for their employees they will be required to pay into a common pool which would provide a government-funded option for those uninsured workers and their families. It is these two meaures which bring down the overall price tag.

Late Breaking News...Senator Kay Hagan, NC-Dem, who earlier opposed a Public Option has now said she will help support the HELP-committee's plan.

Support the Employee Free Choice Act

The Employee Free Choice Act would put the choice of whether to form a union back in the hands of the workers through a majority sign-in as an alternative to the present company dominated system.

Today companies (take Wal-Mart as an example) routinely intimidate, harass, coerce and fire people who try to form unions and current labor law as written by Republicans is powerless to stop them. The penalties, if even found guilty, are so light that companies merely consider them as another cost of doing business.

Even at companies where the workers have persevered in forming a union the companies stymie, stall and delay bargaining or reaching a first contract with virtual impunity.

The Employee Free Choice Act guarantees that companies can't drag their feet on a first contract. The Act provides for mediation or binding arbitration in such instances.

Several large, national companies such as AT&T and Kaiser Permanente have used majority sign-up successfully for years. The Act also levels the playing field by putting real penalties on companies that violate the law during organizing and contract campaigns.

It is important to remember that union workers earn 28% (about $200 a week or $10,000 a year) more than non-organized workers; union members are 52% more likely to have employer provided insurance; 77% of union members have defined-benefit pension plans through their jobs, compared with only 20% of workers who do not have a union.

Working families and older workers nearing retirement age are stretched and challenged as never before. Wages are dropping, jobs are becoming more scarce, health care costs are rising and pensions are disappearing. For the first time in generations, people are very worried that their children will be worse off than they are.

Communities with strong unions have higher standards of living for everybody. Support the Employee Free Choice Act, and help rebuild America's middle class.