Attention Banksters:: FINAL NOTICE!

I got this today from Working America and it is too good not to pass along to you. Here's your opportunity to tell the "Banksters" they are past-due with you and that you're giving them their Final Notice!

"Wall Street banks threw our economy into crisis. Bailing them out cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Now, with unemployment at 10 percent, those same Wall Street banks are planning to give six- and even seven-figure bonuses to the executives who created this mess.

It's time to say enough, and send the banks a final notice. Payment is past due on the harm they've done to the economy. Payment is past due on all the ways they've mistreated their customers—from excessive credit card fees to risky mortgages.

We're letting the bankers know: Since they won't rein themselves in, the government is going to have to do it. And we're letting our senators know we want the banks to face consequences for their actions.

• President Obama's proposed financial crisis responsibility fee on the largest banks will help get back the taxpayer money that bailed out those same banks, without penalizing community banks and small firms.
• We need a consumer financial protection agency to provide strong oversight so banks can't play Russian roulette with our economy again, and to protect customers from being bled dry."
• CLICK HERE TO SEND THE BANKSTERS THEIR: FINAL NOTICE!
  

Your message also will go to your senators, to urge them to rein in the banks."

Celebrating the Dream - MLK Day 2010

We gathered at the downtown square and marched, singing and chanting, to the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception four or five blocks down Broadway and packed our selves in with people lining the aisles, balcony, apse and nave. A standing room only mixture of white, black, brown, young, old, male, female, rich, and poor to celebrate the dream of the single most important person of the 20th Century.

Martin Luther King's dream of white and black, son of slave and son of slave owner, sitting at the table of brotherhood was more than a theme today, it was reality!

Our featured guest speakers were The Honorable Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson of the Supreme Court of Texas and the Reverend Dr. Stuart Baskin, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Tyler, Texas. It was Dr. Baskin's great-great grandfather who had owned (my god, what a dreadful, painful, sickening notion--that one man might legally own another), and after the civil war, set free the great-great grandfather of Chief Justice Jefferson. Two men, inextricably linked by time and history, one white, one African-American, literally and physically as well as symbolically, embracing and sharing love, brotherhood and reconciliation on this day set aside to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior.

Afterward some of spoke together quietly of the progress which has come and the hard, troubled road to the strenuous work which still awaits our doing. For you see, Racism, bigotry, ignorance and hatred still lives. Oh no, the violent opposition has slithered back into primal darkness from whence it came. It has been replaced by something uglier and more difficult to deal with; it is there in the snickering, wink-wink complaints about "political correctness", it is there in the "knowing shared glance" between whites when a person of color enters their presence, it is there in the avoidance of being alone with an African-American man by certain "ladies of gentility". It is there!

It was certainly there when I moved to East Texas from Missouri and my co-workers, when asking about my house buying plans, urged me not to look on the "North" side, you'll be a lot happier of the "South" side and always accompanied these "warnings" with an unspoken but clearly obvious "wink-wink", "nudge-nudge".

So yeah, the fear, hatred, anger, angst, and ignorance of racism is alive and well while not being as open and violent as in the past---we have at least made it that far. But, secret, hidden and tacitly accepted or tolerated racism is as, if not more, deadly than it was when Dr. King led us to the top of the mountain and shared with us his dream.

Alliance for Retired Americans Opposes New Plot to Privatize Social Security

Just over a month ago, I wrote warning of a right-wing stealth attempt to slip into the health care reform package, without floor debate, legislation which would reintroduce Social Security privatization and Medicare curtailments.

Well folks, while we've been fighting for an equitable final health care bill, the dementers and death eaters from the right and so-called "center" have been busily advancing their cause under the aegis of the misleadingly titled group; the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Action Act of 2009 S.2853.

Yesterday, the four-million member Alliance for Retired Americans issued and delivered to the Senate their letter of opposition:

"...We oppose attempts to attach it to debt ceiling or any other legislation. We cannot support the bill's fast-track means of implementing vast changes to programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid outside the regular legislative process.

Under the legislation, jurisdiction for major and long-term changes to programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid would be turned over to an 18-member task force, made up of 16 members of Congress and 2 administration officials. Regardless the expertise of task force members, their recommendations would be crafted behind closed doors and subject to fast-track up or down vote by Congress. Forcing changes to these critical benefit programs by eliminating open debate or amendments is an undemocratic way to address the future of such programs.

Since their creation, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid have worked well to keep millions of America's seniors healthy and out of poverty. Social Security has been the bedrock of income security for nearly all Americans, providing guaranteed benefits to retirees, those with disabilities, and the survivors of retired and deceased workers. Likewise Medicare and Medicaid has helped our nation deliver the promise of well-being and improved quality of life for retirees.

Currently, congressional committees of jurisdiction consider changes and improvements to these vital programs with the opportunity for due consideration and debate. These committees, with their broad-based and detailed knowledge of the programs under their jurisdiction, are the proper forums for considering any changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. We strongly caution against a process that would bypass the regular legislative process in favor of an expedited, fast-track process that leaves room for little accountability and almost no room for input from the American people.

The Alliance for Retired Americans is committed to enacting legislation that improves the quality of life for retirees and all Americans..."

The letter was signed by Alliance President, Barbara Easterling, Secretary-Treasurer, Ruben Burks, and Executive Director, Edward F. Coyle, and dated January 13,2010

Senior's Groups Unite to Issue Health Care Demands

The Leadership Council of Aging Organizations has issued a strongly worded letter to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid iterating the key provisions of the two (House/Senate) health care reform bills which the senior's umbrella organization wants to see in the final version of the legislation:

* Closure of the Medicare Part D doughnut hole,
* Elimination of Medicare Advantage over-payments,
* CLASS program provisions,
* Nursing home transparency and improvement,
* Criminal background checks for employees of long-term care providers,
* Provisions to support and bolster the health care workforce,
* Improved care coordination services for chronic conditions, and
* A reinsurance fund for pre-Medicare eligible (55-64) retirees.

In the letter, LCAO Chairman, John Rother, strongly urges inclusion of provisions in the final bill which will address:

* Strong support for Home and Community-Based services (HCBS).
* The expansion of low-income subsidies in the Medicare program.
* Full inclusion of the Elder Justice Provisions from H.R. 3590 to prevent elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.
* Deletion and exclusion of any and all age rating of insurance premiums in order that premiums are made affordable for everyone, regardless of age.
* Improve Medicare Part D by allowing real authority for negotiation of drug prices, outreach and assistance for Part D low-income drug programs, disease prevention and promotion of wellness.
* Simplify the annual beneficiary election period for Part D plans by extending the the option period to October 15 - December 7 of each year.

On Monday, President Obama heard from labor leaders of their deep concern and opposition to plans to help pay for reforms by placing taxes on top-end health care benefit plans. In many cases workers, through past negotiation, accepted those plans in lieu of wage increases or expansion or addition of other benefits. The initial concern was that this would affect only union workers and retirees, however, there is emerging a growing opposition to the tax notion from other affected non-union workers and retirees leaving the administration scrambling to lighten the blow while at the same time keeping its promise that health care reform would not add to the federal deficit.

Why 2010 Elections Are So Important to Democrats

History Drives the Vehicle of the Present.

It is not over statement to say that the 2010 Texas elections have worldwide implications. Remember that 2010 is a census year and from that census will be determined the number of congressional seats Texas, and all other states, will have from 2011 through 2020.

A quick digression to explain "worldwide" implications: Think Bush and GOP majority (partly the result of Tom DeLay's redistricting strategy in Texas and elsewhere with the Texas delegation counting only 12-Democrats to the Republican's 20 as the result of that mid-decade gerrymandering) and catastrophic world affairs and foreign policy. ....OK, got it?

Now, back to the census and apportionment of congressional seats to the states. Based on population growth certain states stand to "pick up" seats while others could lose seats if their populations have sufficiently declined. Projections are that Texas will "pick up" three to four seats. But the fly in this batch of balm is that Texas currently suffers and languishes under a Republican majority, which if allowed to persist past the 2010 elections, would create a scenario, wherein it would be the Republican Texas legislature, through the redistricting process, that would determine whether those new seats become Republican or Democratic.

A brief look to the past will tell one how that works.

Remember that in 2002 when the Republicans captured the Texas House of Representatives for the first time in 100-years they used the opportunity a year later to initiate very controversial mid-decade redistricting to utterly butcher the Texas' Democratic delegation to the U.S. Congress. That much of that gerrymandered redistricting lost in subsequent court battles (for instance, Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett's "fajita district") is beside the point, as the end result is that the indicted, but not yet convicted scofflaw, Tom DeLay and his PAC (TRMPAC) has now wrecked havoc on the state's Democrats and their supporters for nearly a decade.

Right now, the Republicans hold a 76 - 74 margin over the Democrats in the Texas House and a 19-12 edge in the Senate going into the 2010 elections. Now that margin in the Senate provides both parties the ability to dodge any redistricting bill they regard as damaging to their interests. But, it doesn't stop with that. The Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, could decide to bypass Senate tradition and circumvent the two-thirds rule--it's been done before!

Still with me? Good. Here is where it gets quite thorny. If the legislature is unable to come up with a redistricting plan, the task transfers to the five member Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB). Who, you ask, is on that board? Good question, and here is the answer good to chill any democrat's blood: the House Speaker, Land Commissioner, Comptroller (correctly pronounced, by the way, "controller"), Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor. All blood red Republicans, every damned one of them!

So, do you understand why I'm saying that past is prologue and driving the bus we're on here in Texas? If you don't like the scenery you're seeing out of your window, understand that you will be seeing more of the same but worse unless Texas Democrats develop the will, and mine and use the resources needed to educate, organize, and mobilize voters to put them in a position to prevent a redistricting such as happened in 2003.

This election is as much about this issue as was the 2008 national election was about the make up of the United States Supreme Court!