Enough goofy business. Hope you liked the Wisconsin Dancing Cowgirls. Now on to bigger and very dangerous things.
I have my headset on and am redialing the White House until I get a breathing person so I can leave a personal comment for the President regarding the debt ceiling crisis and the Republican demands for deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I've written three or four e-letters but I just have to talk to a live human being. If you feel compelled to do the same here's the number to the White House switchboard:
1-202-456-1111
Andy just emailed me that all of Wisconsin legislators - with the exception of Paul Ryan - no surprise there! - and one other, have drafted a petition calling for the protection of Medicare and Medicaid in this state. Perhaps there is some small humanity left in Wisconsin after all. Perhaps the shadow of a moral compass has been cast across the state.
This is big, really big. Even the potential threat to cut deeply in to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (still a solvent program!) while the wealthy in our country continue to receive bailouts, handouts, obscene bonuses, and tax cuts is class warfare in the extreme. Will the vanishing middle class and the poor bear all the burdens for the corporations and their bloated CEOs, for Wall Street, for those who consider a 6-figure income to be bare bones? It appears that is what is being handed to us Common People. Will we stand for this? Will you stand for this?
What will take us in to the streets? Will this do it? Will something even more drastic make that happen? What riles us to the point that we refuse to accept that we have become just so many wage slaves and begin the revitalization of our own selves as citizens of our country? I'm serious. What will get under our skin enough, happen to enough of our elderly relatives, kill enough jobs, take away enough health care, squash us enough that we stop consuming, stop watching movies, stop eating out, stop wanting more and more and turn our attention and energy to doing something real and constructive? Will it be this threatened loss of support structures?
One of the 14 Senators who fled to Illinois this past late winter to preserve what they could of our rights as workers was Chris Larson. Chris is Wisconsin Senator of District 7. He sends out a newsletter online to those who supported the 14 while they were gone. I am including the link to Chris' newsletter because I think it is important to hear the voices of others than media or Walker-backed-Ryan supporters. In this newsletter Chris takes up the topic of Accountability and Transparency in our state government. He calls Walker's moves "dangerous". I agree.
https://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/1310ae1191dc3ac4
Although it might seem that talking about Chris and his newsletter is off the topic of Republican-led cuts in social programs, the very support structures of our society, isn't accountability and transparency at the root of much of our discontent? It begs a list of questions I think.
1. Are we holding our representatives and senators and presidents truly accountable on each and every decision? After all isn't that what participative democracy is all about?
2. Do we believe that our government and its decisions is as transparent as it can reasonably be?
3. Is the manner in which debate regarding the most precious of our supports handled with both accountability and transparency? Not to mention all other aspects that touch upon our daily lives, our well being, our natural resources and our wild lands.
4. What would each of us do if we could not answer these questions in a positive, completely honest way?
What do we do if the President and the Dems cave to the Republicans on this and say yes to cuts that will make a mockery out of my previous post on what will they do with Andy's elderly Aunt? What will I do? What will you do? Some thoughts on that...
When I went on a study trip to Mexico the point of that trip was to sensitize a North American to the systemic poverty that faces millions of people in the community of Cuernavaca. Along with 20 other North Americans, I spent two weeks in daily conversation with the abject poor, those living in railroad settlements in cardboard shacks with the printed names of American corporations stamped on the sides. And with men and women who had given their lives over to helping these compensinos. It was a dialogical constant, a daily interface with people who were rising up from extreme and crushing poverty to take control of their lives and build resilient communities. They were taking charge of their own food, their own health care and their own education. It was a liberating environment in which to spend those two weeks and it was very uncomfortable. After all, we 20 were privileged. We wore new clothes and fancy tennis shoes. Still, after the time was nearly up we all felt changed, deeply altered in our thinking and in the way in which we saw the world.
We are perched on the edge, as I have written before, of massive changes not only in our environment as global climate change unhinges our systems but also in our lives as citizens of every country. In the U.S. the changes will be difficult just like they were for those 20 of us in Mexico. We will need to be courageous, determined, vocal and smart. Our treasured Middle Class, the great We the Common People, is going to have to educate ourselves on what a much more local government looks like, how it works and how it responds. It's time for us to roll up our sleeves and get busy making our communities strong and healthy.
Call the President would you? While we begin the process of re-building our own communities in a more Common Way, we need to fight with all our might to preserve what we can for those who are in need.
Power To All The Common People!
Wisconsin Needs A Moral Compass
Showing posts with label medicare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medicare. Show all posts
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The News
Today citizens in Wisconsin are submitting petition signatures to have the sixth repub senator - Robert Cowles - put on the ballot for a recall election. This is what People for the American Way had to say:
"That's six -- Dan Kapanke, Randy Hopper, Luther Olsen, Sheila Harsdorf, Alberta Darling and now Robert Cowles -- of the eight GOP senators eligible for recall, and it covers all of the senators who are considered most vulnerable. A net gain of only three seats is needed for the Democrats to take control of the Wisconsin Senate.
Things are heating up! If things go as planned, we expect the first recall elections to be held in early July. That gives us just over two months to stage a targeted and strategic mobilization effort and send as many of Gov. Scott Walker's cronies in the state senate packing as we can.
Republicans have filed recall petitions against three of the 14 Democratic senators who stood in solidarity against Gov. Walker's attacks on Wisconsin's working families -- Sens. Dave Hansen, Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch. So we have to play defense as well as offense."
The group has organized rallies and other events across the state. People For reminds us that Wisconsin is vitally important for all of the country not just because of the ring-wing attacks on workers rights but because of the attack on the middle class as well.
And why is this so important? Have you been reading about Michigan? This is from a care2 article this morning:
"Michigan Republicans are very serious about their plans to systematically undermine the democratic process and replace elected officials with private managers of their own choosing. How do we know? The state is giving a crash course in advising troubled municipalities to literally hundreds of financial professionals so they can later be placed as emergency managers, much like what is happening in Benton Harbor. The problem, of course, is that turning a municipality around and turning a failing corporation around are two very different beasts. And Gov. Snyder's fiscal emergency legislation not only ignores the differences between the public and the private sectors, it thumbs its nose at the taxpayer investment in their locality by refusing the people a voice in the process."
Back in Wisconsin Rep.Paul Ryan is running in to a little flak as he trundles his Chop Shop plan for Medicare around to town hall meetings. Care2 blogger Robin Marty calls it a "draconian budget plan" and I am not in disagreement with that phrase. Draconian - meaning to act like Dracula and suck the blood out of a living being. (my own definition but I like it.) Boos and hisses have greeted Ryan as well as challenging questions about where the money goes when it leaves Medicare and who will benefit. Questions about support for the elders of our country. Questions about the privilege of the wealthy. A group called Americans United for Change has taken out ads suggesting people contact Rep. Ryan and others who are promoting his plan. Good idea. Think of the phone and the Internet as The Streets!
http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/
So many people are writing and talking about the money, the tax cuts for the wealthy, how we will manage with so many supports taken out from under the middle class. This tiny little blurb came from a friend today, something read in a quick look at the day's news. "Exxon has declared earnings of nearly 11 billion dollars in the first quarter!!! Now why do they need tax breaks?" This report on what just one oil company is raking in as profits in the first quarter takes place underneath the discordant rhythms of Dancing With The Stars, the royal wedding and whether Donald Trump will declare for the 2012 race. Also underneath the distractions, which abound in our culture, is the continuing release of toxic elements from Japan.
My mother-in-law needs some treatment for a particularly painful bout of sciatica. When I checked in with her this morning she was struggling with the discomfort and waiting on her doctor to phone her. I suggested she consider acupuncture to deal with the pain and with the underlying issue. Her question to me - would the center where she would go for acupuncture take Medicare? That is all she has for health coverage. So, not that it will go away while she is living - hopefully not - but look at what could happen to others down the time line. The alternative to seeking treatment that deals with the cause of pain is meds and more meds, perhaps some expensive tests, lots of time, additional monies not anticipated and, ultimately, often continuing problems. A voucher for health care is not going to support people. It sounds like a roulette game. Pick the best option for the least money and.......good luck!
Please consider a call to Speaker of the House John Boehner at 1-202-225-0600 and Majority Leader Eric Cantor at 1-202-225-2815 to express your outrage that Medicare is on the block, that you don't think seniors should be on vouchers. Ask them why they voted to end Medicare. Call today.
By the way, I guess President Obama referred to the 'birthers' as carnival barkers. I'm cool with that. What a non-starter that is! Can we get on with real issues, please?
Power To All The People!
"That's six -- Dan Kapanke, Randy Hopper, Luther Olsen, Sheila Harsdorf, Alberta Darling and now Robert Cowles -- of the eight GOP senators eligible for recall, and it covers all of the senators who are considered most vulnerable. A net gain of only three seats is needed for the Democrats to take control of the Wisconsin Senate.
Things are heating up! If things go as planned, we expect the first recall elections to be held in early July. That gives us just over two months to stage a targeted and strategic mobilization effort and send as many of Gov. Scott Walker's cronies in the state senate packing as we can.
Republicans have filed recall petitions against three of the 14 Democratic senators who stood in solidarity against Gov. Walker's attacks on Wisconsin's working families -- Sens. Dave Hansen, Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch. So we have to play defense as well as offense."
The group has organized rallies and other events across the state. People For reminds us that Wisconsin is vitally important for all of the country not just because of the ring-wing attacks on workers rights but because of the attack on the middle class as well.
And why is this so important? Have you been reading about Michigan? This is from a care2 article this morning:
"Michigan Republicans are very serious about their plans to systematically undermine the democratic process and replace elected officials with private managers of their own choosing. How do we know? The state is giving a crash course in advising troubled municipalities to literally hundreds of financial professionals so they can later be placed as emergency managers, much like what is happening in Benton Harbor. The problem, of course, is that turning a municipality around and turning a failing corporation around are two very different beasts. And Gov. Snyder's fiscal emergency legislation not only ignores the differences between the public and the private sectors, it thumbs its nose at the taxpayer investment in their locality by refusing the people a voice in the process."
Back in Wisconsin Rep.Paul Ryan is running in to a little flak as he trundles his Chop Shop plan for Medicare around to town hall meetings. Care2 blogger Robin Marty calls it a "draconian budget plan" and I am not in disagreement with that phrase. Draconian - meaning to act like Dracula and suck the blood out of a living being. (my own definition but I like it.) Boos and hisses have greeted Ryan as well as challenging questions about where the money goes when it leaves Medicare and who will benefit. Questions about support for the elders of our country. Questions about the privilege of the wealthy. A group called Americans United for Change has taken out ads suggesting people contact Rep. Ryan and others who are promoting his plan. Good idea. Think of the phone and the Internet as The Streets!
http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/
So many people are writing and talking about the money, the tax cuts for the wealthy, how we will manage with so many supports taken out from under the middle class. This tiny little blurb came from a friend today, something read in a quick look at the day's news. "Exxon has declared earnings of nearly 11 billion dollars in the first quarter!!! Now why do they need tax breaks?" This report on what just one oil company is raking in as profits in the first quarter takes place underneath the discordant rhythms of Dancing With The Stars, the royal wedding and whether Donald Trump will declare for the 2012 race. Also underneath the distractions, which abound in our culture, is the continuing release of toxic elements from Japan.
My mother-in-law needs some treatment for a particularly painful bout of sciatica. When I checked in with her this morning she was struggling with the discomfort and waiting on her doctor to phone her. I suggested she consider acupuncture to deal with the pain and with the underlying issue. Her question to me - would the center where she would go for acupuncture take Medicare? That is all she has for health coverage. So, not that it will go away while she is living - hopefully not - but look at what could happen to others down the time line. The alternative to seeking treatment that deals with the cause of pain is meds and more meds, perhaps some expensive tests, lots of time, additional monies not anticipated and, ultimately, often continuing problems. A voucher for health care is not going to support people. It sounds like a roulette game. Pick the best option for the least money and.......good luck!
Please consider a call to Speaker of the House John Boehner at 1-202-225-0600 and Majority Leader Eric Cantor at 1-202-225-2815 to express your outrage that Medicare is on the block, that you don't think seniors should be on vouchers. Ask them why they voted to end Medicare. Call today.
By the way, I guess President Obama referred to the 'birthers' as carnival barkers. I'm cool with that. What a non-starter that is! Can we get on with real issues, please?
Power To All The People!
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