http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/category_rss/economicsecurity Several email exposes regarding Sarah Palin have landed in my in-box. The most useful is the message from MoveOn.org (go to the extended Post Text). I hope my mother, my wife and my teenage daughter will excuse this one - but, my initial reaction holds that McCain is having a post midlife crisis moment here. Now he gets to spend the rest of the campaign on stage with either a blonde or a brunette former beauty queen; sometimes both. Considering the depth and experience available to him in the rest of the GOP universe I am completely baffled that there can be any other reason for this decision. I am now even more appreciative for the intelligent and practical decision by Barack Obama to grab Joe Biden as his VP running mate. The supposed VP Debate won't be. With this line-up it is clear that candidate Palin will carefuly recite radical right wing talking points fed to her by the McCain handlers. Even if Biden were allowed in the format/rules to challenge her on any issues we'll hear nothing original. Thus there could not be a more distinct choice between the two tickets. Looking at the "rap-sheet" provided by MoveOn, American voters can have no doubts of the radical and destructive policies and positions John McCain is accepting by filling the GOP ticket with Palin. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/Cq7N http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/Cq7N/commentary#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:56:44 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/Cq7N Ralph T http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/22970b0cb82ab5861b_e6yymv1de.jpg Ralph T 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq7N/ Why not this "champagne wishes and caviar dreams" to be used against Mc$ame? Would it not behoove Obama's campaign to get Robin "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" Leach to be in a national ad? Also, I would not just use the word "wealthy" to Mrs. Mc$ame but this "super wealthy".  Who can afford to spend $250,000 per year for house servants.   Pound those points all the time:  super wealthy, house servants, and lots of photos of Mc$ame's houses and condos. Anybody in the progressnowaction community up for a video challenge?  Who can make a video of 30 seconds in length about Mc$ame's super wealthy wife, $250,000 year budget for house servants, and Robin Leach's famous tag line "champagne wishes and caviar dreams"?    http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/Cq4s http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/Cq4s/commentary#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:29:38 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/Cq4s Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq4s/ Let's see, if you divide $114 million dollars for natural gas leases on the Roan Plateau by 55,000 acres, it averages out to $2,100 an acre. The life of the wells could last for at least 20 years or more, so that brings the cost down for energy companies to $100 or less a year per acre. If it roughly takes about a year's worth of production to pay for all the costs, taxes, etc. during the lifetime of the well that still leaves another 19+ years of almost pure profit for private enterprises. So, as with so many gas leases before the Roan, Americans like you and me get shafted by giving away all this precious wildlife habitat, clean water resources, wilderness and such -- in addition to the oil and gas underneath our public lands. Then, we pay out of our back pockets exorbitant prices for the oil and gas to use in our homes, autos and businesses. Now who in the hell ever thought this scenario was fair? Wouldn't it make sense that instead of letting energy companies get all the cash from our publicly owned resources and paying pennies to gobble up and destroy our precious lands and coastal waters, we should nationalize energy production and put the profit back to the public coffers instead? Heck, we'll just hire the energy companies to drill it for us. Then, fire sales on environmental sensitive and irreplaceable places like the Roan Plateau will at least have some value to the American public, instead of to the profit margins of a select few. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/leslierobinson/Cq4v http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/leslierobinson/Cq4v/commentary#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:55:47 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/leslierobinson/Cq4v Rifle Shots by Leslie Robinson http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/4ff03b14c9ae1d793a_9770mvu15.jpg Rifle Shots by Leslie Robinson 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq4v/ US House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers is calling the membership of the Judiciary Committee back from their Fall recess to investigate Ron Suskind's revelations about the forged letter that falsely said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. It has been reported that the order to the CIA to have the letter forged came on White House Stationary. On Democracy Now today Conyers said "The 110th Congress isn't over. We're starting our work, and then we're doing it in a period where the Congress is in recess. I'm calling everybody back. We've got a huge amount of work to engage in." Here's the link to Democracy Now Please contact the Judiciary Committee to urge them to impeach now: 202-225-3951 FAX: 202-225-7680 Please help by contacting all media outlets and members of Congress . Impeachment. More important than ever. Plenty of time. Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com IMPEACHMENT IS COMING .. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/Cq4c http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/Cq4c/commentary#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:46:49 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/Cq4c John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq4c/ The blockbuster claims that White House officials conspired to forge evidence linking Iraq to 9/11 plotters and ignored clear intelligence indicating Saddam Hussein's lack of WMDs may not be getting as much attention as it should in the US press, but some key lawmakers are beginning to take notice. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers says his staff will investigate these allegations and others aired in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind's new book, The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism. "I am particularly troubled that the decision to disseminate this fabricated intelligence is alleged to have come from the highest reaches of the administration," Conyers said in a press release Tuesday evening. "The administration's attempt to challenge Mr. Suskind's reporting appears to have been effectively dismissed by the publication of the author's interview recordings and transcripts. I have instructed my staff to conduct a careful review of Mr. Suskind's allegations and the role played by senior administration officials in this matter." The announced probe garnered quick praise from Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who has waged a months-long campaign to convince his colleagues and Democratic leaders in the House to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Suskind has said the allegations outlined in his book could be impeachable offenses. The rest of the story is here John H Kennedy, 43 yr Democratic voter, Obama delegate to the Denver County Democratic Convention, and organizer of the IMPEACH COLORADO COALITION ImpeachCO.com .. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqP9 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqP9/commentary#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:29:16 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqP9 John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqP9/ Whispers of a Watergate for Bush By Clive Crook the FT's chief Washington commentator. The response in the US to startling new allegations that the White House directed the forgery of evidence to support its case for the war in Iraq has been surprisingly muted so far. The charges may be false, of course, but if they are seriously examined and turn out to be true, this is - or ought to be - a Watergate-sized scandal. Ron Suskind is a heavyweight: a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and the author of a well-regarded book on the administration's security policies, The One Per Cent Doctrine. His new book, The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism, which was published last week, contains the extraordinary new charge. It says that late in 2003 the White House ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to forge a memo dated July 2001 from Tahir Jalil Habbush, Saddam Hussein's intelligence chief, to Saddam himself, affirming that Mohammed Atta, the September 11 2001 bomber, had contacts with the regime and that Iraq had an ongoing weapons of mass destruction programme. YOU need to read this Now! The rest of the story is here You may have to Register (for free) to read it. John H Kennedy, 43 yr Democratic voter, Obama delegate to the Denver County Democratic Convention, and organizer of the IMPEACH COLORADO COALITION ImpeachCO.com .. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPY http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPY/commentary#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:21:12 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPY John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqPY/ When Democrat Mark Udall debated Republican Bob Schaffer in July, he made no effort to refute Schaffer’s distortions surrounding health care reform. In fact, he essentially short-circuited meaningful debate by adopting the nebulous right-wing description of single-payer health care as “government health care,” thus capitulating to Republican framing of the issue. Just what is government health care? Is it the more than 60 percent of all health care costs that are paid by taxpayers, including subsidies for inflated costs of private insurances? Private insurers skim the cream and game the system for profit, and count on government (taxpayers) to pick up the health care costs of all whose coverage they reject. Does government health care include the 70 percent of our legislators’ health coverage that is funded by taxpayers? Democrats who facilely echo GOP talking points grossly misrepresent single-payer health care. In fact, contrary to assertions by the right-wing “free market” chorus, only single-risk-pool insurance provides true free choice of private providers, the same as traditional Medicare before Republicans moved to privatize Medicare (at 12 percent higher cost). Private insurance plans limit choice to “in plan” doctors, often requiring change of providers when plans are changed. Only single payer is capable of providing comprehensive, continuous health care benefits and protection against medical bankruptcy. Our leaders should vigorously protest the abomination of Medicare prescription drug reform that was written by insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies with billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies and inflated profits to benefit their bottom lines, while prohibiting negotiation of bulk drug prices. Instead of privatizing Medicare-for-profit, why not improve and expand its coverage for everyone? Traditional Medicare has lower overhead costs – less than 4 percent – whereas private insurances divert 25 percent or more to profits, lobbying, marketing, exhorbitant CEO salaries and wasteful administrative costs. Profit is a perverse incentive for health insurance, which protects its bottom line by reducing benefits and shifting ever-greater costs to consumers. The insulated political class in Washington, dependent upon corporate money and privy to 70 percent taxpayer-subsidized health coverage, seem out of touch with the U.S. people. Polls by Pew and others have revealed that increasing numbers – 54 to 65 percent – support a national single-payer health care plan. A recent study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine (3-31-08) that 59 percent of U.S. physicians “support government legislation to establish national health insurance,” an increase of 10 percent since 2002. Notably, more than 20 federal and state studies since 1990, including the 2007 Lewin Group evaluation in Colorado, have demonstrated that single-payer health insurance is the only reform model that can both save money and provide comprehensive health care benefits for all. The Colorado single-payer proposal and Rep. John Conyers’ national health care bill, HR 676, both deserve serious further study. We have everything to gain from an honest dialogue about quality-, saftey-centered universal single payer health care, in place of profiteering health insurance gatekeepers. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CqPs http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CqPs/commentary#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:50:53 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CqPs Michele S Michele S 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqPs/ Progressive Democrats of America with The Nation magazine are setting up headquarters at Central Presbyterian Church (1660 Sherman St.), where they have scheduled issues forums over 5 days of the Democratic National Convention. Free daily panels moderated by The Nation 's John Nichols at 11 AM, are followed by additional panels covering Health Care on Monday, August 25, followed the rest of the week with forums on Media and Election Reform, Economic Justice, Global Warming and Constitutional Law. Participants include Reps. John Conyers, Barbara Lee, Robert Wexler, Keith Ellison and Lynn Woolsey; Tom Hayden, Jim Hightower and authors David Sirota and Vincent Bugliosi; various writers and publisher of The Nation ; journalist and radio host Laura Flanders; Jeff Cohen, author and founder of FAIR; and many others. For schedule and more info, check Web site http://pdamerica.org , click on "Progressive Central" in green bar at page top. Watch for posting of PDF event flyer. Also, check link to HCAC page for Democratic Convention Actions around Health Care . http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CqPk http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CqPk/commentary#comments Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:00:39 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CqPk Michele S Michele S 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqPk/ (Very, very x-posted) Turnout was huge here in Lamar for the "T. Boone Town Hall". The doors were to open at 11:30, but when I arrived at 11:40 I found disappointed townsfolk trudging away. The Elks Lodge was already full! Knowing there is no such thing as no room for the media, I went on up the drive anyway, and attached myself to some other press folks heading in. Success! Part of the reason it was so crowded is that word HAD gotten around, and people traveled in from Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico, as well as all over Colorado. Many of our elected officials showed up: Mark Udall, Wes McKinley, Buffie McFadyen, plus John Stulp (Colorado Ag Sec and a local boy), and a bunch of local politicians and candidates for office. T. Boone Pickens and Mark Udall Mr. Pickens' presentation was well-received by the crowd. Buffie McFadyen joked later that we should mark this day down in history because a crowd in Lamar applauded for Al Gore. It seemed to me that there was a sincere effort towards bipartisanship coming from both the podium and the audience, and for that alone I would give this new Pickens Plan tentative approval. I will post more later tonight. I took a ton of pictures and notes because I want to do a good job recapping the pros and cons of this project. But today is also the last day to register Mike for high school, and later we're having our last meeting to finalize plans for the Sand and Sage Fair parade, which is happening Saturday. So I have to do a fade to black for now.... http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/neonnurse/CqPQ http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/neonnurse/CqPQ/commentary#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:52:51 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/neonnurse/CqPQ Susan the Neon Nurse http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/4d9f8366c95149b114_4l1gmvoe1.jpg Susan the Neon Nurse 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqPQ/ According to a RawStory.com article just published the Judiciary Committee approves resolution holding Rove in contempt of Congress. "The House Judiciary Committee has voted 20-14 to approve a contempt of Congress resolution against former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove for his failure to appear after a Congressional subpoena. Voting along party lines Wednesday morning, the committee said Rove broke the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether Rove encouraged prosecutions against Democrats. The committee decision is a recommendation. It remains unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will allow a final vote." Are our House Democrats growing a spine? We can hope. A six hour preliminary Impeachment Hearing last Friday and Now This. IMPEACHMENT IS COMING! John H Kennedy, Denver CO, 43 yr Democratic voter, Obama delegate to the Denver County Convention and organizer of the Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqP5 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqP5/commentary#comments Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:24:51 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqP5 John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqP5/ "The Democrats are trying very hard to show ... that they're not going to re-open these issues and that the Bush crimes will remain buried for all time," Turley told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Tuesday. "It would start a new administration on the same level that George Bush left it. And that's a very sad thing." "Turley was particularly concerned about a recent statement by law professor Cass Sunstein, an Obama adviser, that only "egregious" crimes by Bush officials should be prosecuted by an Obama administration." "There are very few obligations that a president has to do under the Constitution, but one of them is not to violate the laws that he is supposed to enforce," explained Turley. Turley further pointed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's refusal to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president, saying, "I don't understand why some Democrats can't just simply accept a very straightforward proposition, that we'll prosecute any crimes committed by this administration, an Obama administration, a McCain administration. Because they're crimes. They're all egregious." From an article by RawStory.com John H Kennedy, 43 yr Democratic voter, Obama delegate to the Denver County Convention and organizer of the Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com Join our Impeachment Protests, see the Calendar on the website .. .. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPg http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPg/commentary#comments Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:47:00 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPg John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqPg/ Phil Graham former Senator and current Economic advisor to Presidential candidate John Mc Cain, believes we're a nation of whiners. If he were a liberal he'd be accused of hating America. I wouldn't go that far but it does appears Graham hates Americans enough to call them whiners and tell us any economic woes we are experiencing are merely figments of our whining imagination. Can you blame him? After all, a complaint against our economy is a direct attack on the failure of the economic philosophy Graham and his conservative buddies worked so hard to build. He was instrumental in de-regulating the home mortgage industry himself. If you lost your home because you were duped into signing a flexible rate mortgage by being told you could re-do it later, you can thank conservative economics and Phil Graham personally. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/bingvangorden/Cqy4 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/bingvangorden/Cqy4/commentary#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:19:27 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/bingvangorden/Cqy4 BingVanGorden http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/25bd1354620e434bc8_ixsmv2dwg.jpg BingVanGorden 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cqy4/ From David Swanson: The peace movement has stood for peace and justice, for ending wars, preventing new ones, and building peace. Our top priority in Washington, D.C., has been ending the funding of the occupation. That work is over for the next year, because Congress has provided that funding. We can still work against recruitment, we can still educate, we can still agitate, we can still oppose an attack on Iran. But one of our secondary priorities in Washington has been imposing a penalty for the illegal attack on Iraq in order to discourage future attacks on Iran or anywhere else. We have pushed half-heartedly for impeachment, with our main lobbying focus on cutting off the money. Now, at the same time that the money is a done deal for another year, the possibility of impeachment is beginning to spark. After over two years of declaring impeachment "off the table," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has relented and suggested that some sort of preliminary hearing be held in the Judiciary Committee - and specifically on the impeachable offense of misleading a nation into war. If the peace movement is not just a movement against one war or occupation, but a movement for peace, we should push with everything we've got for that (impeachment) hearing to happen, happen soon, and happen well. We should ask everyone who cares about peace to phone Pelosi and Committee Chairman John Conyers, as well as their own representatives, whom they should ask to introduce their own articles of impeachment. We've been on a losing streak, brothers and sisters, and the door is cracking open toward a major victory. Let's open that door fully and lead a peaceful march of millions through it. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34705 PLEASE CALL and demand that Impeachment Hearings be started BEFORE the Election House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr.: (202) 225-5126 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: (202) 225-4965 And your Congressman: Contact info Please join our weekly Impeachment Events, see our Calendar on the website ImpeachCO.com or in the Calendar here on ProgressNowAction.org John H Kennedy, organizer Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com .. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqyT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqyT/commentary#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:32:28 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqyT John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqyT/ Kucinich said he was doing it for our Soldiers whose "Commander in Chief sent them on a mission that was based on falsehoods about the threat of WMDs from Iraq." RawStory.com Join us in Calling The House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers to demand that he allow the Judiciary Committee to immediately begin Public Impeachment Hearings. Call Chairman Conyers at 202--225-3951 Or 800-828-0498 (ask for the House Speaker's Office) John H Kennedy 43 yr Democratic voter, Obama delegate to the Denver County Convention, organizer of Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com .. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/Cqy2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/Cqy2/commentary#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:38:09 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/Cqy2 John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cqy2/ Read Resolution overwhelmingly passed by U.S. Conference of Mayors at their Jun 22-24, 2008 annual meeting. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/Cqy5 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/Cqy5/commentary#comments Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:39:24 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/Cqy5 Michele S Michele S 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cqy5/ Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' Current mood: inspired Category: Life Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Martin Luther King, Jr. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. Martin Luther King, Jr. (WAR = EVIL) THIS IS MY FAVORITE ONE...... An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. Martin Luther King, Jr. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. Martin Luther King, Jr. NO I LIED....these next two are my favorite ones...... I so would go to jail if I had too!!!! An individual who breaks a law that his conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law. Martin Luther King, Jr. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. Martin Luther King, Jr. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. Martin Luther King, Jr. A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. Martin Luther King, Jr. A man can't ride your back unless it's bent. Martin Luther King, Jr. A man who won't die for something is not fit to live. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jaquelinechristopher/Cqyg http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jaquelinechristopher/Cqyg/commentary#comments Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:31:41 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jaquelinechristopher/Cqyg Seeker of truth and freedom! http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5cb1b68022f95ff4c0_ng4mv24hl.jpg Seeker of truth and freedom! 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cqyg/ The Denver Post highlights some recent votes by Colorado's congressional delegation, and the results are fairly typical, but still worth noting. Bottom line: Members of Colorado's Republican delegation are far out of the mainstream of their own party, and are not representing Colorado's interests in the least. For example: http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/agadorspartacus/CqyB http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/agadorspartacus/CqyB/commentary#comments Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:21:26 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/agadorspartacus/CqyB Agador Spartacus Agador Spartacus 5 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqyB/ Mike Nickerson, author of Life, Money & Illusion; Living on Earth as if we want to stay , will be speaking in Colorado Springs on July 8 (details below). You are invited to hear him and participate in the discussion. It’s impossible to escape climate change headlines these days. Awareness and concern about climate change has risen to the point that even George W. Bush can no longer deny it. It must be showing up in his pop-up books. :) In fact, Vanity Fair magazine has astutely declared green the new black . That’s a positive change for our modern world, but to keep moving forward we need to separate the meaningless or even dangerous trendy shades of green from the real thing. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/DaveGardner/Cq9P http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/DaveGardner/Cq9P/commentary#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:25:59 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/DaveGardner/Cq9P Dave Gardner http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/9849a2b90d463302f0_6hm6bn94n.jpg Dave Gardner 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq9P/ UNAFRAID is the title of my latest book. Its subtitle is A NOVEL OF THE POSSIBLE, and it's my effort to lift up our absurdly low level of expectations about politics. It's possible, and if we don't we are NOT going to take our country back, no matter how many campaigns and candidates say we will. What do I mean? Well, for starters, please spend a minute sampling the book . You'll get it in an instant. Then tell me what you think... http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jeffgolden/Cq9D http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jeffgolden/Cq9D/commentary#comments Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:41:00 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jeffgolden/Cq9D User from Ashland, OR User from Ashland, OR 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq9D/ A study published in Health Affairs (6-10-08) documents a sharp (60%) increase in numbers of underinsured between 2003-2007. Underinsurance rates nearly tripled among those with incomes above 200% of poverty. Consequently, 42 percent of U.S. adults were under- or uninsured in 2007, reporting high levels of access problems and financial stress. Even among those with incomes over 400% of poverty, 15% are underinsured. The study indicates that the move toward greater consumer cost-sharing for minimum benefit insurance policies in recent years is pushing millions of insured non-elderly adults toward spending large shares of their incomes on health care. The clear impact is to increase the share of families at risk for medical debt and loss of savings for retirement, college, or other long-term needs. Our current insurance system is working well only for the wealthy, who can afford high costs. Politicians' promises that "you can keep the insurance you have" also apply to the wealthy.  Read the Report Following is a 650-word piece I wrote about the failure of profit-centered health care that has been picked up by several newspapers around the state.                               Failure of U.S. profit-centered health insurance Spending almost twice as much, the U.S. has worse health outcomes than other industrialized nations. Uniquely, U.S. health care is dependent on over 1200 for-profit health insurances, functioning as gatekeepers. Underwriting – the art of risk evaluation and avoidance – insures profits by covering the healthy and rejecting everyone else as a "pre-existing condition." Profit is a perverse incentive for quality health care: imagine for-profit fire or police protection. "Market-driven" health care treats health as a commodity, to be negotiated like a car or a house. The free market has also spawned "designer hospitals," offering only the most profitable specialties, e.g., cardiac procedures, and eliminating less profitable services, e.g., emergency and mental health. No reform proposal by current presidential candidates addresses the failure of the private health insurance industry, characterized principally by decreasing benefits and greater costs and risks shifted to consumers. In turn, more are subjected to underinsurance and unpaid medical bills – now the leading cause of personal bankruptcies. Premium increases of 87 percent over 6 years have outpaced both cost-of-living and median family income increases. Incremental reform proposals demonstrate lack of political will – the same failure to confront corporate profit-taking by insurance and pharmaceutical industries that wrote Medicare prescription drug reform with billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies and inflated profits to benefit their bottom lines. Commercial health insurance is the 800-pound gorilla, responsible for over 25% of health care dollars siphoned to excessive administrative costs, lobbying, marketing, CEO salaries and profit-taking: $30 billion annual health insurance profits; $32 billion insurance underwriting and marketing costs (McKinsey Group, 2007). Gaming the system for profit has given rise to the annual $20 billion business of "denial managment" – health insurance middlemen who search claims for excuses to delay, deny or renege on reimbursements. Responding to double-digit premium increases, more employers are opting to move employees into underinsurance – high-deductible catastrophic plans. Simultaneously, the American Hospital Association reports that both family out-of-pocket health expenses and unpaid medical bills have risen approximately 60% over a decade – still more costs ultimately shifted to taxpayers and consumers. Notably, more than 20 federal and state studies since 1990, including the 2007 Lewin Group evaluation in Colorado, have demonstrated that single-payer health insurance is the only reform model that can both save money and provide comprehensive health care benefits for all. Indeed, the single payer model is the only truly efficient, equitable, and sustainable financing system, enabling universal coverage by spreading risk across the entire population. Contrary to assertions by the "free market" choir, only single payer insurance permits true choice of pubic and private providers; private insurance is limited to "in plan" doctors. Only single payer provides comprehensive benefits and protection against medical bankruptcy. Rather than comprehensive health care reform, most current proposals revert to a Massachusetts-style nostrum, preserving insurance profits and requiring an individual mandate to purchase minimum-benefit insurance, subsidized by taxpayers as needed. It is a formula for continued inflationary consumer health costs and decreasing benefits. National single payer bill, HR676, calls for a progressive 3 to 4 percent employer and employee payroll tax to replace all health deductibles and premiums. Full-coverage costs for a family of four earning $40,000 annually would drop to $110 a month, from recent levels of $273/month for employer-sponsored coverage, or $489/month for an individually-insured family (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2007). A political class dependent on corporate money (and privy to 70 percent-taxpayer-subsidized health coverage) sidesteps meaningful reform. Nevertheless, polls by Pew and others have revealed increasing numbers – 54 to 65 percent of people – support a national single-payer health care plan. A recent survey reports that 59 percent of U.S. physicians now support national health care, up 10 percent from 2002. A grassroots movement and political reforms, including publicly-financed campaigns, may be necessary to instill the political will for meaningful reform. We have everything to gain from quality-, saftey-centered universal single payer health care to replace U.S. dependence on profiteering health care gatekeepers. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/Cq45 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/Cq45/commentary#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:35:09 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/Cq45 Michele S Michele S 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq45/