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Like a lot of people, I wasn't able to get into Sen. Cardin's town hall meeting on health care reform (see the Post's report for details), so I had to settle for observing some of the activity around the Kepler Theater at HCC:
Some more observations:
As is obvious to anyone who has seen these town hall meetings, the debate over health care has become completely unmoored from anything that President Obama or Congress is actually considering -- and I suspect that the Republican Party is pleased to see that happening. The sooner we get away from these ginned up controversies over fantasy provisions in the health care reform bills, the better it will be for all of us.
As the crowd was gathered behind a TV reporter, the conservatives broke out into a chorus of "God Bless America." The liberals, for their part, hit back with a chorus of "This Land Is Your Land." So I guess it's true that in addition to "The Star-Spangled Banner," we have a national anthem for Democrats and a national anthem for Republicans.
I had my little moment of victory when I said to the same crowd that if you're a senior citizen, you have single-payer health care, and -- gesturing to an elderly man in a Navy cap (and clearly conservative) -- if you're a veteran, you have socialized medicine (and some of the best health care in the country). The man agreed, but began dissembling about the VA medical system being just a small part of the health care system in the US. But I think I got my point across.
It seems Sen. Cardin mostly got shouted down, though not as badly as in Towson earlier this week (see Melissa's post about that event). Thankfully, Cardin has been a strong voice for health care reform for years, so I doubt he lost his nerve. Indeed, it's important to remember, as the August recess rolls on, that public opinion is still firmly behind the essential aspects of health care reform; if Congress is to make that reform happen, it must avoid getting dragged down in the mud of right-wing scare tactics.
We at Sum of Change, attended a health care town hall last night, hosted by Congresswoman Donna Edwards. The Congresswoman gave a brief speech, and then opened the floor for questions. The town hall was heated, which should come as no surprise. Not only were conservative groups organizing to get people out to these town halls (with detailed instructions about how to act and talk), OFA 2.0, several Unions, and liberal bloggers pushed progressives to turn out as well. The debate was vigorous, but not disrespectful. If anyone came there with the intent of disrupting the town hall, they failed miserably.
We'll go through a round of the Q&A's. I strongly recommend watching these all the way through, the Congresswoman knows how to finish an answer.
As many of you are probably aware, a number of conservative groups, including Conservatives for Patients' Rights and FreedomWorks, intend to derail health care reform by disrupting town hall meetings held by members of Congress while on August recess. The tactic is reminiscent of the so-called Brooks Brothers riot in 2000, in which conservative activists, pretending to be ordinary citizens, successfully shut down the recounting of the vote in Florida. By creating the appearance of mass outrage over President Obama and Congress' attempts to enact comprehensive reform, conservatives hope to scare members away from finally making health care available and affordable to all Americans.
The latest example of this faux grassroots uprising happened in New York, and involved our own Steny Hoyer.
As Eric Kleefeld notes, the guy yelling at Rep. Hoyer organized one of those Tea Party protests back in April. So he's hardly just a concerned individual.
We're likely to see more of these antics in the next few weeks. Below the fold, I've posted some of the scheduled town hall meetings that our representatives will be holding in Maryland. If you have the chance to attend one of these meetings, see if these conservative groups try to disrupt the proceeedings there.
On Thursday, July 30th, the Progressive Caucus held a press conference to draw a line in the sand when it comes to the inclusion of a strong public option in the health care bill.
(video quality will improve once it has finished processing)
Great ad. It turns one of Harris' supposed strenghts against him, hitting him rightfully for bad votes on health care. And it also brings up the big contributions he's gotten from big pharma and their buddies.
Haven't seen new polling in the race. But anecdotally, between the DCCC putting money towards the race and the fundraising letter from Wayne Gilchrest I got last night endorsing Frank as a sensible eastern shore moderate, I feel like there's some momentum building against Harris.
Don't forget to donate. Only $300 to go until we make our contribution goal.
(Excellent post on the coming battle for universal health care. - promoted by Isaac Smith)
82% of Americans think our health care system needs a "major overhaul." On top of that, over 90% of Americans [pdf] think the next President and Congress should improve the quality and affordability of health care.
With the worsening economy continuing to be the top issue for most Americans, this hope for change isn't hard to understand. American health care spending is projected to reach a full 1/5th of our GDP by 2015, which means by then, we'll be spending twenty cents of every dollar we make on health care. Health care premiums have risen 86% between 2000 and 2006 while wages only rose 20%, putting the strain on working families. Health care costs continue to be the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America.
"Rapidly rising health care costs are not simply a federal budget problem," the GAO report says. "Growth in health-related spending is the primary driver of the fiscal challenges facing state and local governments as well. Unsustainable growth in health care spending also threatens to erode the ability of employers to provide coverage to their workers and undercuts their ability to compete in a global marketplace."
Quite simply, with rising health care costs (including $50 billion per year to pay for insurance industry advertising) being born out by working families and American businesses, health care is a top economic concern. To keep American workers at their best, and to keep American business competitive in the world, something has to change.
Nancy Pelosi has recently declared health care expansion to be #2 on her list of legislative priorities, right after ending the Iraq war. In the past month, tens of thousands of Americans have told us they want quality, affordable health care for all. Now it's time to ask Congress.
So, Congress, which side are you on? Are you with us for quality, affordable health care for all? Or are you with the insurance companies, working to preserve our broken system?
We've set up a quick and easy way for you to contact your Members of Congress and ask them if they support our vision for health care reform. Just click here and enter in your phone number and address. Choose the elected official you want to talk to and in a few moments, we'll call your phone and connect you automatically.
Over the next few weeks, we want to make 100,000 calls to Congress, asking every Member which side they are on. We need your help to do it, so please click here to call!
Once your done with your call, tell us what happened so we can keep track of where Congress stands. As of today, we're proud to announce Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), are with us. The rest, so far, are unknown. You can see the full list here.
Health care is a priority for the American people. It's a priority for Nancy Pelosi. It's up to us to make sure it's a priority for Congress as well. Please take a moment, call your Members of Congress, and ask them which side they are on.
Oh, and if you have a blog or website, you can help spread the word about this campaign by embedding the widget you see above on your site. Just copy and paste the code here.
On March 8, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee passed about $300 million in cuts to make up for the $332.9 million shortfall in FY2008 and FY2009 revenues.
A little more than half of the cuts ($159.174m) came via the Subcommittee on Health, Educatiion, and Human Resources. They included: --A 78% cut to stem cell research funds, from $23 million to $5 million; --Higher education funds were cut by $23.587 million (a $6.8 million reduction to the University of Maryland system);and -- $20 million from the Medical Care Programs Administration (MCPA).
On the last, I'll note that the MCPA administers the state's Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance, and the new program for childless adults (formerly Primary Adult Coverage (PAC)). Cutting funds from the MCPA means that all the work many progressive did to pass SB 6, which expanded access to Medicaid for adults from those earning a pitiful 46% of the federal poverty line ($4784 in 2008 for a single adult) to 116% of the federal poverty line (still no great shakes at a measly $12064 for a single adult), may've been for naught.
One of our front-page bloggers, Melissa, got a piece she wrote about the effects of the Bush Administration's cutting of federal spending on family planning for low-income women onto the Wall Street Journal's website. Check it out:
Let's put aside the cost benefit analysis and focus on the heart of the matter: This administration isn't about fiscal responsibility. It would rather cut reimbursement rates to a vital program – a program that 37% of women living in poverty depend on – to prove a point about what it considers appropriate sexual behavior.
We desperately need new leadership. And we must hold them accountable, both for visionary policy proposals and tiny paragraphs tucked into budget documents. No one, least of all me, expects moms – universally strapped-for-time moms – to examine the intricacies of the federal budget. That's why people like me are around. We're hardcore nerds only too happy to collect a paycheck for examining the fine print.
I know the federal budget isn't scintillating reading. But imagine what might happen if more Americans, more moms, read any oneofthemanypublications devoted to breaking down the impenetrable wonk-speak. What would happen if they became enraged that $177 million was being spent every single day to fund an ill-advised war? What would happen if they had a Network-inspired moment and started shouting, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!"
Ezra Klein's brilliant discussion about why health care reform failed in 1993-94 and what we can learn from that failure.
The Sun slams Gov. O'Malley's acquiescence on REAL ID.
If you saw last night's Democratic debate and need to get the bad taste out of your mouth, Barack Obama's speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church yesterday should do the trick.
A couple of days ago, Bush vetoed the FY2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies spending bill (HR 3043). This is the largest spending bill if you count mandatory spending, the second largest (behind Defense) if you don't.
The funding in this bill goes toward critical programs like Title X family planning programs, medical research at NIH and CDC, educational enrichment programs such as Head Start, Pell grants, the Ryan White CARE Act, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, community health centers, etc. Now, money for those programs won't dry up immediately -- we've a continuing resolution in place to fund the federal government until Dec. 14 -- but it does make planning very hard on affected agencies.
Why did he veto this bill? Well, he said he'd veto anything that was over his budget request made back in February. The bill would allocate $150.698 billion in discretionary (as opposed to mandatory, like Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid) spending. That is $9.782 billion over Bush's request.
The $9.782 billion is roughly equivalent to the cost of 51 days (at $177 million per day, the extreme low-end of cost estimates) in Iraq. That's right, less than two months.
Besides that, the bill is only about 4.3% over FY2007 in terms of spending. Considering that biomedical inflation was 4.5% in FY2006 (when there was little or no increase to NIH and CDC) and was projected to be at least 3.7% in FY2007 (when Congress just passed the buck by enacting a long-term continuing resolution at the previous year's funding levels), this bill just barely keeps up with rising costs.
Today the House will try to override the veto and will fail.
Given that most of NIH's research institutes and the FDA call Maryland home, cuts to the Labor-H bill have a direct impact not only on the health of the nation, but also on Maryland's economic health. When resarch institutes have hiring freezes or lay-offs, that means fewer folks applying for staff and clinical positions. It means fewer home sales or rentals, fewer jobs for support staff from research assistants to cleaning staff to food service. It means that NIH doesn't sponsor as many clinical trials. It means the FDA becomes an agency in even deeper crisis.
