Segmented representation on health care reform
September 1, 2009 by Gee Carol · 3 Comments
Legislators are generally beholden to a number of constituencies, including just plain citizens. But far too often loyalties lie with other segments of constituents, such as lobbyists, party and other special interests. Thus my interests go unrepresented unless I belong to a special interest group. In the case of health care reform legislation, my Republican senators and Republican U.S. Representative ignore my needs. The Democratic Party, my party is split into liberals and conservatives. I often feel left out of the Blue Dogs’ stance. I cannot afford a lobbyist. But I do belong to some special interest groups: Democracy for America, Organizing for America, Social Workers, and the AARP. And I am a part of the liberal blogosphere community.
So who will represent me in this? All my special interest groups are doing a good job so far, but their power is limited. For example, DFA’s Howard Dean has been unflagging in his optimism regarding the future of truly comprehensive health care reform that includes a public option. But he is not in the inner circle of legislative power. Thank goodness, however, he has been seen smiling and firmly pro-reform on several TV news shows recently including Rachel Maddow on the night of August 20. Rachel’s tweet cited a recent poll supporting the public option that Dean referenced during his interview.
The group at the fulcrum of change right now numbers 6. The only committee with work left to do is the Senate Finance Committee. What they are considering is some sort of nonprofit cooperative as the public option. The six “negotiators” plan to meet occasionally during the recess. And these senators represent only a very small number of the American people. Following are the 2008 estimated state population figures along with the percentage of the total U.S. population (source Wikipedia). The senators include:
- Finance CommitteeChairman Max Baucus (D-Montana, Est. pop: 967,440 – .31%)
- Charles Grassley (R-Iowa, Est. pop: 3,002,555 -.98%)
- Mike Enzi (R-Wyo, Est. pop: 532,668 – .17%)
- Olympia Snowe (R-Maine, Est. pop: 1,316,456 – .43%
- Kent Conrad (D-N.Dakota, Est. pop: 641,481 – .21%)
- Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mex., Est. pop: 1,984,356 – .64%).
These figures total only 8,444,956 people or 2.74% of the total estimated population of the entire United States and its territories. By sheer force of numbers, not to mention politics, there is no way these six could be considered to be representative of all of us or our wishes. First I do not live in any of these states and second, nor does 97.26% of the rest of you.
The House of Representatives’ position right now is the closest match to my own views on what reform should look like. Here, courtesy of Michael J.W. Stickings’ tweet, is a Bloomberg story on what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning when Congress comes back into session. To quote: “U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won’t be able to pass health-care legislation in her chamber if the measure doesn’t include a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers.”
So now we wait for Congress to come back in session. We wait for the next report of a disrupted town-hall meeting. We wait for President Obama’s next speech to clear up misrepresentations put out by other special interest groups. We wait for Labor Day. And we wait to see what the Senate leadership will decide about legislative tactics that will get us health care reform without the Republicans participating. How about a cool drink while we wait?
do the right thing
December 19, 2007 by Betmo · Leave a Comment
take a moment and sign the petition- and send it to 10 more people. if we can spread the word and put some pressure on pelosi and conyers- we may be able to finally get back some of our democracy. the gop obviously doesn’t want this- as they have obstructed anything that pelosi and reid have had any balls to introduce- and cheney isn’t pleased with having his bizness aired. let’s take cheney out- he’s the real brains behind the dynamic duo anyway. worry about the bushling later and let’s get darth!
wexler’s call for impeachment of cheney- sign today!!
there’s a reason the msm hasn’t picked this up– someone is afraid! i mean the white house is now publicly telling the nytimes how to print their stories. let’s do this!
Sphere: Related ContentHelp the Judiciary Comm. IMPEACH CHENEY
December 18, 2007 by ProudProgressive · 4 Comments
ny texan at Bluebloggin has a very detailed post up today, about what many of us want for Xmas. And how we can make it happen. Yes Virginia there is a Santa “clause” The post on BB has the same title as this one. It is a must read. – lots of case details, excepts etc. Now is absolutely the time for us to come to the aid of our Country.Henry Wexler, Tammy Baldwin and others at this time have over 89,000 signatures, on the on line petition. The House Judiciary Committee wanted to run op eds in major newspapers, across the country and were turned down ! ! ! – some free press eh ?
I remind everyone that Impeachment is not a constitutional crisis. NO , it is the only “medicine” built into the Constitution, for a constitutional crisis. Having a secret government, “a unitary executive” being lied into war, the loss of Habeas Corpus, The Patriot Act. – have subverted the foundations of our “great experiment” , our democracy.
Ron Paul ‘Money Bomb’ hits the motherload..
December 16, 2007 by Dusty · 10 Comments
Ron Paul, according to Politico, possibly surpassed the record for filling campaign coffers in a single day Sunday. The record: $5.7 million that John Kerry raised the day after he” locked up” the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination – he largest single-day fundraising haul in U.S. political history per the Politico writeup.
The article just freaking blew my mind in the dollar department:
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) raised an astounding $5.58 million and counting on Sunday, almost certainly guaranteeing he’ll out-raise his rivals for the Republican nomination in the fourth quarter and likely will be able to fund a presence in many of states that vote Feb. 5.
What if Ronnie gets the votes on Super Tuesday and thereby gets the
Rethug nomination?
Kucinich 2008
December 12, 2007 by Betmo · 5 Comments
weepin’ jesus on the cross! i have had it! i am beyond crabby because i am sick and tired of lying, cheating, stealing, corruption and most of all– greed. why does everything have to be corrupt and underhanded? why can’t we have real debates for real people who really want to represent the people of america? if there were any republicans or democrats in this room right now with me- i would rip them not only new assholes- but any other holes that needed widening or just make new ones. fucking ridiculous. these ‘people’ pay lip service to change and saving democracy and all of that happy horseshit- meanwhile they laugh behind the scenes as they work to maintain the status quo with the entire planet hanging in the balance. nice priorities. what pray tell has gotten my panties all in a bunch? reading in my google reader again. since i am on a self imposed news blackout (and now you see why) i catch up on fellow bloggers- who are apparently the reason that the world has gone to hell not bush and cheney- and i happened upon this gem at blue bloggin’
“Today in Iowa, Dennis Kucinich was informed by the Des Moines Register that he will not be invited to attend the final
why? you may ask- as i did- well, because of the stupidest reason i have encountered yet-
“because Dennis did not formally open an office with paid staff in Iowa.”
so- this is democracy in action. kick out a viable candidate because he relied on volunteers who believed in his vision- not because he did anything untoward or wrong. nice. so- i got pissed and decided i would post about dennis kucinich in spite of him not being on the air to be heard. i am asking that today and tomorrow each blogger out there do the same- whether you endorse him as a candidate or not. stand up for freedom of speech and democracy by getting out the platforms and issues. if we don’t, who will?
- Dennis Kucinich is the only democrat running for President who has voted against authorizing the war in Iraq and against funding its continuation.
- Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate for President with a plan for a Universal, Single-Payer, Not-for-Profit health care system.
- Dennis Kucinich will lead America into expanding opportunities, universal health care, restore our schools and strengthen Social Security and protections for private pensions.
- A corrupt campaign finance system, coupled with vulnerable electronic voting have eroded America’s confidence in our elections. The USA Patriot Act and secret strategy meetings to set policy tear into the very concept of We the People. As President, Dennis will protect individual liberty and privacy and restore balance and fairness in America’s electoral system.
- As the world population soars towards eight billion, critical issues of survival face all of us. Living on a planet of finite resources means that human life can not be sustained indefinitely without careful thought and compassion coupled with political courage.
- Huge, multi-national corporations ship American jobs overseas, turn a blind eye to human rights abuses and hide behind their lobbyists in Washington. Read more about Dennis’ plan to instill ethics, accountability and fairness in global trade and big business.
dennis kucinich for president 2008
addendum: thanks to proud progressive for reminding me that what i think doesn’t always translate exactly to the printed form. i have added a link above to clarify my sarcasm that bloggers are blamed for dividing the country. thanks pp 
Blackwater, the recall election and democracy in action.
December 12, 2007 by Dusty · 6 Comments
EDIT: They lost their..ahem..seats..all five were recalled. Read about the vote count here.
The old grey lady, otherwise known as the New York Times has a piece up about the attempt by Blackwater to move in and set up shop in the tiny town of Potrero, CA and what happens to the planning board members that supported Blackwaters effort . Five members of the planning board are being recalled because of their support for the Blackwater base. Three of the group’s nine members have already been removed because Blackwater opponents revealed they had been improperly appointed.
This is how democracy should work imho. If your leaders fuck you over, you recall their worthless asses. There are a total of 509 registered voters in Potrero. Over 50% of them voted in the recall election held Monday. The county Registar began counting the votes Monday evening around 8pm. Since it was a mail-in vote, they must validate all votes prior to releasing the results.
Blackwater thought it would be a cakewalk to stroll into the tiny town and set up “800 acres of rifle ranges, dormitories, classrooms and an armory”.
Guess they found out different. In an era where city planners rarely listen to the desires of their constituents, this is very refreshing I think.
I will report the results when they are released.
tags: Potrero, Blackwater, recall election
Sphere: Related ContentThe People of Italy Speak Out Against Tibet Occupation
December 12, 2007 by Black Lynx Fillmore · 1 Comment
Associazione Italy-Tibet have staged a protest on the 10th by hanging banners from large buildings in the Coliseum in Rome, the Milan Cathedral and the Asinelli Tower in Bologna which read: “Tibet Libero” (Free Tibet, for the uncultured); in celebration of 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Sphere: Related Contenthappy holidays american style
December 11, 2007 by Betmo · 4 Comments
holiday season 2007 is upon us with a vengeance. everywhere we look- sales and decorations and ads on tv urging us to buy! buy! buy! but we aren’t buying it this year. there is a feeling that is pervading the season and it’s sadness. we have found out that we have been betrayed by- ourselves. that’s right. we have lied to each other and mistreated each other and tried to outconsume each other- and now, we are empty. we have discovered that we are not very nice people and we don’t really believe that this is the season of peace and goodwill towards mankind. it isn’t holy and it isn’t silent- there are the screams and cries of all of the millions of people we have wronged around the world. there are the sounds of warfare and of torture- and there is fear. fear that we have lost ourselves and our ideal of america. there is a fear of what we have become- the growing fascist contingent has taken over and we now see that what we thought was us living a middle class lifestyle of being waited on and having our every whim fulfilled- has actually enslaved us.
‘And maybe someday we will meet
And maybe talk and not just speak
Don’t buy the promises ’cause
There are no promises I keep,
and my reflection troubles me
so here I go
I’m not calling for a second chance,
I’m screaming at the top of my voice,
Give me reason, but don’t give me choice,
‘Cause I’ll just make the same mistake again.’
Californias Feinstein still on the fence about Telco immunity? Help push her off!
December 11, 2007 by Dusty · 2 Comments
Watch this short commercial by Brad Whitford about the two bills that greatly differ with regards to the retroactive telecom immunity that BushCo is trying to shove down our throat. Chris Dodd, bless his heart, has promised to filibuster the craptastic one. DiFi hasn’t said how she feels about the bill.
Call DiFi and tell that slut to make up her little mind and support NO amnesty for the Telco’s.
Her phone numbers:
nobel prize
December 10, 2007 by Betmo · Leave a Comment
A Precious and Painful Vision of the Future by AL GORE
[posted online on December 10, 2007]
I have a purpose here today. It is a purpose I have tried to serve for many years. I have prayed that God would show me a way to accomplish it.
Sometimes, without warning, the future knocks on our door with a precious and painful vision of what might be. One hundred and nineteen years ago, a wealthy inventor read his own obituary, mistakenly published years before his death. Wrongly believing the inventor had just died, a newspaper printed a harsh judgment of his life’s work, unfairly labeling him “The Merchant of Death” because of his invention–dynamite. Shaken by this condemnation, t he inventor made a fateful choice to serve the cause of peace.
Seven years later, Alfred Nobel created this prize and the others that bear his name.
Sphere: Related ContentIntroducing This Election’s Swing Vote
December 6, 2007 by Guest Author · 1 Comment
This post is reprinted with permission from MovementVisionLab.org. It’s a vitally important topic for the coming election year. You can watch the Heartland Presidential Forum in it’s entirety here. They also have portions of this forum on their YouTube channel here. The Forum was held in Iowa on December 1st and five of the Democratic candidates(Edwards, Obama, Kucinich, Dodd,Clinton) attended. -Dusty
This past weekend more than 3,600 people braved an ice storm to attend the Heartland Presidential Forum at the HyVee Hall in Des Moines, Iowa. The event, launched by the national Campaign for Community Values, hosted five Democratic presidential candidates’ and featured an unprecedented format that gave everyday people the opportunity to speak directly to the candidates about issues that matter to all Americans.-Martin Matishak
Introducing This Election’s Swing Vote
Posted by: Sally Kohn , December 05, 2007
Real people and real issues will be front and center at the next presidential election.
It’s rare that everyday Americans take center stage in the presidential election. News pundits and political consultants are more concerned with the sex lives of
the candidates than the real stories and real issues of voters. But this election, everything will change. Real people and real issues will be front and center. And if the candidates listen closely, they’ll hear a new story of hope and possibility for the future of America.
The American people are tired of the politics of division and isolation. For too many years, politicians on both sides of the aisle have told us we’re on our own, that we have to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, that it’s an us-against-them world and selfishness and greed are our best defense. But the politics of isolation have only led to a broken economy and a broken social safety net, division between nations and division between communities. We, the people, have had enough. It’s time for a new politics in America.
This past Saturday December 1, in Des Moines, Iowa, more than 3,600 people packed a crowded hall in Des Moines, Iowa, to hear everyday Americans tell their stories to five of the top presidential candidates. At the Heartland Presidential Forum, Senators John Edwards, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Hillary Clinton and Representative Dennis Kucinich did more listening than talking as real people finally took center stage in this election.
Sphere: Related Contentwaiting for the world to change?
December 5, 2007 by Betmo · 3 Comments
i have been thinking a lot lately about the state of the world and the state that this country is in. folks talk all of the time about ‘the good ole’ days’ and we laugh them off but i am beginning to believe that our golden age is behind us. being a relatively young country, we have flashed and burned rather quickly in the grander scheme of things. i think that the thing that kept this country going 900 miles an hour was our belief in manifest destiny. we have always been a country ‘on the go’- we have cities that don’t sleep and night shifts and we have had this forward momentum. we wanted to be the best. then… we got lazy and complacent and comfortable. our cities have not been kept up because hey, we need our money in our pockets to build our pressboard and vinyl homes and keep our fiberglass suvs running to and from the convenient store for that bottle of soda. our kids aren’t learning because- hey, don’t we just need a glorified babysitter anyway? our kids are the best and so what if they can’t read? we lack any real leadership because- hey, in a democracy, even the morons voices are added to the mix- and the corporations are ‘entities’ with votes and isn’t that what we pay people to do? we can’t be bothered.
The Times, They are a’ Changin’
December 4, 2007 by Spadoman · 5 Comments
There are certainly enough issues out there right now. Overwhelming, actually, that we’re pulled in so many directions trying to do the right things on every front. Each of us may take up our own favorite cause, and some of us try to respond and put out all the fires at once. On some blogs, there is a new story each day, and sometimes multiple stories on the same day, and each should require your whole and immediate attention. I tend to read about most of them, but I don’t get to take action on everything. I just can’t. Overwhelming perhaps? Yes, perhaps, but I believe we need to find our niche and fight for the right things.
My main concern has been the war in Iraq. I want our country to pull out, Now! We stayed in Vietnam for the same political and financial gains, then when public outcry finally became unbearable to the leaders and they had to do something, they pulled out of Vietnam. Hanoi took over Saigon and literally renamed it over night to Ho Chi Minh City. We, as a country and powerful proud Nation, lived through it. It can even be said that we “lost” that war. Let me tell you a little secret. War is a lose lose situation every time.
Sphere: Related Contentresistance is not futile
November 27, 2007 by Betmo · 4 Comments
i have tooled around the internets over the weekend to see what i could see. i have been on a self imposed news blackout for quite some time- which means i scan the headlines only instead of seeking out more. i don’t need to see much more. don’t get me wrong- i think that it is imperative that the journalists do their jobs and hopefully bring back some investigative journalism- even if it has to be freelance. i doubt seriously that the fourth estate will ever recover. anyway, that isn’t my thought trail this time. i get the feeling that folks are in a quandary over what the hell to do about the current and future state of affairs we find ourselves in. i know i am. everyday, more and more corruption is exposed with little to no accountability- and it’s maddening. of course, we know in our deepest spots of the mind what we will have to do eventually- but what to do in the meantime? how does a country wrest back it’s democracy from the hands of the rich and the corporations? how does one take on city hall and win? yeah. i know. me too. no clue. i have no desire to end up on the subversives list and get carted off to a detention center. i mean first meter readers and now firefighters- on top of the cell phone tracking and warrantless wiretapping- what’s next- tasering motorists and protesters? oh wait. since we are now in a police state- with the police being trained like military- how are we going to fight back? conventional methods used in the past- protesting en masse, voting- have not worked. what can we, the people, in order to form a more perfect union, possibly do to end this march towards fascism?
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
tags:democracy, civil liberties, america
Sphere: Related ContentProtestors still going after Gonzo :)
November 21, 2007 by Dusty · 3 Comments
YAY!!! I can be thankful for these students who disrupted Alberto Gonzales’ speech at the University of FL. on Monday evening. From the CommonDreams writeup linked above:
In his first appearance at a university since resigning in August, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was met at UF on Monday with a mixture of cheers, boos and scattered interruptions by protesters, two of whom were arrested.1120 11Gonzales, who resigned from his position after a controversial tenure, spoke to more than 800 people at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
During his prepared speech, Gonzales largely avoided discussing the controversies he faced in office, including his dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys. Watch the videos after the fold and in the second one, listen to the BOOs at the end of his speech. The school paid Berto $40 grand to show up..which came from student tuitions according to the first video which is a news station’s footage.
Sphere: Related Content
