tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-343710832024-02-08T05:49:33.829-08:00Progressive ActionEconomic fairness, civil liberties, freedom, sustainable development, and fairness. Posts highlighting these issues, and a forum for actions that can be taken.
If you know of something more that can be done, post it as an article comment.RDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16692875906648932779noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34371083.post-13519175337199982009-05-30T17:05:00.000-07:002009-05-30T17:30:48.327-07:00Mark Kirk on health care reformI signed an online petition for health care reform, which also sent a letter to my congresspersons, including Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois. Here is the letter I received from his office:<br /><br /><blockquote>Dear Friend:<br /><br />Thank you for contacting me regarding universal health care in the United States. I appreciate your thoughts on this important issue.<br /><br />Medicare and Medicaid are the foundations of our health care system, removing the fear that many elderly and poor Americans had in the 1960s about their health care. Since these programs were founded, America's health care system has changed radically. With the introduction of new drugs and therapies, costs have grown. As the system changed from traditional fee-for-service plans to preferred providers and managed care, a critical link was severed between doctors and their patients. Meanwhile, nearly 46 million Americans face life each day without health care coverage.<br /><br />In the next 12 months, the cost of health care in the United States is expected to rise 11 percent. Individuals fighting diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes often face drug bills of tens of thousands of dollars per year. Comprehensive health care reform is critical at this juncture, particularly as our population ages. While I hope that one day, every American will benefit from comprehensive health care coverage, we must take responsible steps towards this goal.<br /><br />In an effort to create a nationalized, government-run health care system, Representative John Conyers (D-MI) recently introduced H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act. This legislation would establish a program to provide every American with health care services. While I empathize with the intent of this bill, we must work to enact responsible, effective legislation that brings real relief to seniors and the poor without straining our medical community or government resources. Experts acknowledge that such a blanket program would cost hundreds of billions of dollars each year, and holds no real promise of health care. Are the poor patients better off waiting for medical treatment or waiting for another government run program as patients do in Canada or Great Britain? Seniors, the poor, and the disabled depend on the promises we make. The worst thing we can do is to make promises that are too expensive to keep and later pull the rug out from under those who can least afford to cope. I believe we must design a program that makes promises the government can afford to keep.<br /><br />I am encouraged by Congress' recent success in passing legislation to enact a realistic, meaningful prescription drug benefit under Medicare. Nearly one million Illinois residents received prescription drugs through the new Medicare Part D plan during its first month. Many seniors benefited from lower drug costs. According to a new AARP study, most seniors who enroll in a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan will pay less than if they got those same drugs from Canada.<br /><br />Medicare modernization and a prescription drug benefit must serve as the foundation of a more effective health care system in our country. As part of these reforms, I believe Congress is committed to enacting legislation that will ensure more Americans receive health insurance.<br /><br />One way to address the problem of the uninsured is by creating Association Health Plans (AHPs). Individuals who currently lack health coverage are typically young and employed by small businesses that do not offer health insurance. AHPs would allow national franchise chains - such as AlphaGraphics or Subway - to offer health insurance to their employees. AHPs also allow businesses of common locations or industries to combine to offer health insurance at a lower cost to their employees.<br /><br />In the 110th Congress, Representative Howard McKeon (R-CA) introduced H.R. 324, the Working Families Wage and Access to Health Care Act o n January 9, 2007, to take action on this issue. The bill would amend Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide ore establishment and governance of AHPs. I was a cosponsor of this important legislation that would employ innovative new methods of providing health care, particularly to small business employees and the self-employed, and I await its reintroduction.<br /><br />Thank you for your thoughts on the need for expansive health care reform and the current shortcomings of our nation's health care system. Please feel free to visit my website, www.house.gov/kirk, or contact me again should other issues of concern to you come before the Congress. To stay better connected to current legislation please sign up for my e-newsletter at kirk.houseenews.net/mail.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />Here is the response I sent back:<br /><br /><blockquote>Congressman Kirk,<br /><br />Thank you for your response.<br />You speak disparagingly of the health care systems in Canada and the U.K. I would gladly trade our health care system for the one they enjoy, or the one in most developed nations for that matter. The PBS Frontline documentary "sick around the world" highlights some of these health care systems, and although they are not perfect, I find them vastly superior to our own.<br /><br />I am an independent professional and business owner. Consequently I have to purchase my own health insurance. The prices are extremely high, and coverage isn't guaranteed. My health insurer can decide not to renew my coverage or charge much higher premiums if they find my medical costs too high.<br /><br />Japan, the U.K., Canada, Taiwan, Germany, all don't suffer from this problem.<br /><br />Please, finally, do something about this problem.<br /><br />Also, you refer to the "meaningful prescription drug benefit under Medicare". If this is the prescription drug plan passed during the bush administration, this plan has a huge problem that makes it almost worthless. It forbids Medicare from negotiating with the drug companies, something any company or organization purchasing goods or services typically does. Basically, this plan is a give-away to the drug companies. That's not what we need.<br /><br />Please stop catering to the drug companies and health insurance companies. Please solve this problem for consumers and small businesses which are uninsured, underinsured, and being crushed by health care costs.<br /></blockquote>I don't know if this will go anywhere in the Congressman's office. I'll post it here and hopefully it'll spur some thought, discussion, and ideally action.RDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16692875906648932779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34371083.post-79556401642339277642007-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:002007-08-05T14:42:08.865-07:00British Petroleum/Amoco seeks to dump more pollutants into Lake
Michigan near beachesAs first reported in <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-pollute_15jul15,1,647384.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true">this</a> Chicago Tribune story, British Petroleum is planning to dump 54% more ammonia and 35% more sludge into Lake Michigan from their oil refinery in Whiting, Ind. Hold on, <strong>MORE</strong> ammonia and sludge? How is it legal to dump any sludge and ammonia into a public lake, in particular somewhere so close to a major metro area. See <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&om=1&msa=0&msid=100837788233930513291.000436f9f7a1068f91bb1&ll=41.687271,-87.409286&spn=0.265619,0.611801&t=h&z=11">this</a> Google map to see the location of the refinery and nearby beaches.<br /><br />Indiana regulators justify giving BP permission to dump more toxins into the lake because it'll supposedly create 80 more jobs. Even if the moral cause of protecting the environment is left out as an argument, from a purely economic standpoint this makes no sense. How does 80 additional jobs compare with the additional health costs from people eating contaminated fish, swimming and drinking from the contaminated water? How about the lost tourist revenue due to people understandably being concerned about swimming in nearby beaches? Of course these are costs that will be born by the hundreds of thousands living along the lake and not easily traceable back to British Petroleum.<br /><br />Remember this next time one of those British Petroleum "Beyond Petroleum" ads runs.<br /><br />What can be done:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5489366">This</a> story reports on a petition drive being launched in Chicago. You can join up, and let me know via a comment if you find out more about this drive.</li><li>You can follow <a href="http://www.in.gov/idem/contact/complaints/complaintform.html">this</a> link to lodge a complaint with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.</li><li>Sign <a href="http://www.savedunes.org/petition/">this</a> online petition to Indiana Governor Daniels.</li><li>Tell BP what you think about BP and the environment via <a href="http://www.bp.com/genericformsdisplay.do?formId=7050066">this</a> form</li><li>Support the <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3276">"Bad Polluters Act" - H.R. 3276</a> (are there good polluters?) sponsored by <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400222">Mark Kirk(R)</a>, <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400631">Melissa Bean(D)</a>, <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400198">Jesse Jackson(D)</a> and others. <a href="http://kirk.houseenews.net/mail/util.cfm?gpiv=1999939108.140632.4&gen=1">Contact Mark Kirk</a> or your representative to encourage them to support this.</li></ul>Have other actions on this topic? Let us know with a comment on this blog.<br />RDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16692875906648932779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34371083.post-52386893557594063652007-02-04T20:20:00.000-08:002007-02-04T21:25:47.094-08:00Democracy for america - training progressive candidates<a href="http://www.democracyforamerica.com/"></a><span class="down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);">I recently came across the <a href="http://www.democracyforamerica.com/">Democracy for America</a> website by way of the <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/">Daily Kos.</a> </span>Democracy for America was founded by Howard Dean, and is now headed by his brother, Jim Dean, who worked on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. <span class="down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);">Democracy for America (DFA) is a political action committee that is "</span><span style="font-style: italic;">dedicated to supporting fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of government—from school board to the presidency. DFA fights against the influence of the far right-wing and their radical, divisive policies and the selfish special interests that for too long have dominated our politics.</span>".<br /><br />DFA backs this up with training for activists and candidates, helping organize local DFA groups, and promoting progressive candidates. We progressives need to get behind organizations like this to counteract the right wing's political machine and to ensure progressive and liberal values are well represented.<br /><br />If the DFA sounds like an organization you could support, there's plenty of ways you can get involved:<br /><ul><li>Sign the DFA "No escalation" <a href="http://www.democracyforamerica.com/takeastand">petition</a>.</li><li>Find and link up with local DFA groups in your area via <a href="http://www.dfalink.com/">this</a> page.</li><li>Support a <a href="http://www.democracyforamerica.com/candidates">DFA candidate</a> local to you.</li><li>Sign up for <a href="http://www.democracyforamerica.com/training">DFA training</a> on effective campaigning, organizing, and more. Training is offered throughout the U.S. and there's also online material and DVDs available.</li><li>And of course you can always <a href="https://contribute.democracyforamerica.com/">make a contribution</a></li></ul>RDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16692875906648932779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34371083.post-1164001223584302512006-11-19T20:06:00.000-08:002006-11-23T21:47:12.523-08:00Bush tech czar wrongheaded approach to tech skills shortageIn a recent <a href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2060613,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594">eWeek article</a>, Robert Cresant, Bush's Tech Czar, states "There are not enough engineers with the appropriate skill sets.". Being in the industry myself, and frequently being on the hiring and being-hired side, I'm suspicious of proclemations that there are not "enough" engineers in the U.S. It has been my experience that there are always individuals available with even the most sought-after skills, but employers may have to pay more for them.<br /><br />What is usually behind this type of proclemation is that businesses feel there are not enough engineers with sought-after skills willing to work for <span style="font-style: italic;">less</span> than the market price. Which explains Cresant's solution to the problem: increase the H-1B visa limits. The H-1B visa program allows foreigners to come to the united states temporarily and work for a company that sponsors them. The H-1B visa program is supposedly intended for situations where qualified U.S. candidates could not be found. The company has to attest that they were not able to find a qualified U.S. worker to fill the position, but have to supply no proof. The H-1B visa worker is able to stay in the U.S. up to 6 years as long as the company continues to sponsor them, or they move to another company that sponsors them.<br /><br />There are several serious problems with the H-1B program. First, I've worked with at least 70 H-1B visa holders, and it has never been the case that the employer could not find a U.S. citizen to fill the position. What is very likely true is that they could not find a U.S. citizen with the skills that would work for a salary <span style="font-style: italic;">as low</span> as the H-1B visa holder. The H-1B visa program by and large is not about filling positions where U.S. candidates could not be found. It's about pushing down U.S. wages for highly skilled workers.<br /><br />Second, the H-1B visa holder is very restricted in their power to negotiate with their employer or to seek employment with another company at a better wage. The sponsoring company holds the visa over the H-1B worker's head. A U.S. worker is free to negotiate for a higher salary and benefits. If they don't feel they are getting paid what they deserve, they can also seek employment elsewhere. The market is large and very fluid. The H-1B visa worker has to worry about losing their sponsorship, and can only go to another employer if they can get the other company to sponsor them as well. For the H-1B visa holder, the U.S. market is small and not fluid. Rather than risk losing sponsorship, an H-1B visa holder will stay put even if they believe they can get significantly higher wages elsewhere.<br /><br />Third, because the H-1B visa worker is only temporarily in this country, if they have a family and house, it's usually in their home country. Their costs in the U.S. usually consist of an apartment (many times shared with other co-workers) and other basic living costs such as food, utilities, etc. No mortgage, usually no car, etc. What this means is that they can earn money in the U.S. but largely avoid U.S. cost of living. This is another factor that helps keep wages from going up. Most highly skilled U.S. workers wouldn't be able to pay their bills on an H-1B visa salary.<br /><br />What this all adds up to is the H-1B visa program depresses U.S. wages for highly skilled workers. You tell me, what could you add to the H-1B program to make it more effective at keeping wages down? Seems like they covered all the bases with the H-1B visa program.<br /><br />One thing that is troubling is that enrollment in Science and Engineering programs by U.S. citizens is down. Science and technology is the modern engine of growth, and we're losing fuel. But Mr. Cresant's solution is precisely part of the problem. Part of the reason enrollment in Science and Engineering is down is because bright high school grads look around and don't see good prospects in Science and Engineering. They read about jobs being outsourced to other countries, U.S. workers having difficulty finding Science and Engineering jobs, the number of H-1B visas being increased, and Science and Engineering salaries are lower than comparable fields. Science and Engineering programs are tough. If you had a son or daughter that could go into Science, Engineering, Law, or Medicine, what would you recommend? Considering all of the above, I can see why many more students are opting to go into other fields.<br /><br />If Cresant truly wants to address the problem of maintaining U.S. leadership in Science and Technology, he could instead propose to:<br /><ul><li>Scale back the H-1B visa program, and put in restrictions that ensure it is truly used for those rare cases where U.S. candidates cannot be found to fill positions.</li><li>Revamp Pre-K to 12 education where the U.S. is far behind in basic studies such as Science and Math. Freshmen in Engineering typically start with Calculus or higher, then continue taking advanced Math courses throughout their undergraduate studies. But this is impossible if the foundation hasn't been set in K-12.</li><li>Change how Pre-K to 12 education is funded. Pre-K to 12 education is largely funded from local real estate taxes. This causes large disparities in school budgets, in particular in large metro areas such as Chicago. Schools in lower income inner city districts are overcrowded and can't pay for books while schools in wealthy suburban districts are able to offer every resource to their students. When it comes to education, everyone in the U.S. should have an equal opportunity. Funding isn't the only factor in making an effective school, but it's a big one.<br /></li><li>Greatly increase Pell grants and other programs to make it possible for more bright students with limited means to study in the best U.S. schools.<br /></li><li>Increase the number of student visas and immigrant visas that are given out each year. In particular, target immigrants studying or working in Science and Technology fields. If people with these skillsets wish to make the U.S. their home, we should do everything we can to make it possible. Unlike H-1B visa holders, immigrants with permanent residency (green cards) can negotiate, change jobs, and need not fear their employer taking away their visa.</li><li>Fix healthcare in the U.S. Healthcare in the U.S. is largely employer-funded, and the U.S. has the highest health care costs in the world. That is why healthcare is one of the factors that make U.S. workers more expensive to employers than workers in other countries. Imagine how much more attractive it would be to IBM to locate jobs in the U.S. if the healthcare system were much more cost effective and if healthcare was paid for by the government.</li></ul>Care about these issues?<br /><ul><li>Send a message to your lawmakers via <a href="https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=495&page=UserAction">this form</a>.</li><li>Write your local newspaper and local TV news. Raise these points and encourage them to cover it.</li><li>Have something else people can do? Write it in a comment to this blog.</li></ul>RDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16692875906648932779noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34371083.post-1163910586672334412006-11-18T19:43:00.000-08:002006-11-18T20:31:17.446-08:00Barak Obama podcastBarak Obama, senator from Illinois, has put out another <a href="http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/061115_Sen.Barack_Obama_Podcast_Senate_Democratic_Majority_42.mp3">Podcast.</a> In it he talks about the Democrats becoming the majority in the house and senate, and talks about initiatives Democrats will be focusing on, including:<br /><br /><ul><li>Phased redeployment from Iraq</li><li>Increasing minimum wage (has fallen far behind due to inflation)<br /></li><li>Implementing all of the 9/11 comission report recommendations</li><li>Addressing the rising cost of college tuition</li><li>Fixing the Medicare prescription drug plan, allowing the government to negotiate drug prices (and you wonder why the U.S. has by far the highest per-capita health care costs - and without universal coverage!)</li></ul>Some of the bills that he will be working on personally:<br /><ul><li>Expanding the College Pell grant program</li><li>Creating summer learning programs</li><li>Promoting alternative energies (biofuels, etc)</li><li>Improving chemical plants security</li></ul>All in all, a good progressive agenda that will hopefully repair some of the damage done in the last 6 years. As usual, Barak comes across as sincere, apolitical, and genuinely seeking to achieve results.<br /><br />The one item I haven't seen mentioned that I'd like to really see addressed would be the sorry state of pre-K to 12 education in the U.S. By most measures we are far behind other industrialized countries. Not only is our educational system lagging other countries, it is grossly unequal. Funding schools based on local real estate taxes is ridiculous and Bush's teach-to-the-test program "No child left behind" has been a disaster.<br /><br />Do you care about these issues?<br /><ul><li>Subscribe to Barak's podcast <a href="http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/">here</a></li></ul>RDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16692875906648932779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34371083.post-1158202599335148342006-09-13T19:56:00.000-07:002006-09-23T20:02:58.876-07:00Bill to authorize unchecked spying on U.S. citizensA bill (<span class="articlebody_main"><a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:s2453is.txt.pdf">National Security Surveillance Act of 2006 (S. 2453)</a>) </span>is making its way through congress that would give the executive branch the power to eavesdrop and wiretap US citizens completely at their discretion without oversight by any court. The ability for a government to spy on its own citizens is a serious power that should not be granted lightly, and only then with the proper justification and oversight. This bill would allow the executive branch to spy on its citizens completely at its discretion, without any oversight whatsoever.<br /><br />As <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/17/bush.nsa/">previously reported</a>, the New York Times broke the story that President Bush authorized the NSA to wiretap U.S. citizens calling overseas without getting authorization from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act">FISA</a>. There are two legal ways for the government to wiretap U.S. citizens: they can obtain a warrant if they can demonstrate probable cause, or they can receive a FISA order from a FISA court. The FISA order is intended for cases where foreign powers are involved. On August 17th of 2006, the courts found that the President's secret spying program violated FISA, as well as the first and fourth ammendments of the constitution. So now Arlen Spectre and the Bush administration are trying to rewrite the laws to make this unchecked spying legal.<br /><br />There have been countless examples throughout history of governments using the power to spy on their own citizens to stay in power and suppress political dissent. It is the foundation for fascist and police states throughout history. In the U.S., Hoover's FBI spied on US citizens for political gain and to collect material for blackmail, and Nixon's campaign spied on the Democratic National Committee for political gain. It cannot be said that any portion of the U.S. government is above abusing these powers. The only way to guard against these abuses is to have clear standards under which the goverment is allowed to spy on its citizens, and to have oversight by the other branches of government. This is precisely what the Fourth Amendment and FISA give us, and precisely what the Bush administration seeks to dismantle.<br /><br />More information:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/3477/1/1?TopicID=1">OMB Watch article on the bill</a><br /></li><li><span class="articlebody_main"><a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:s2453is.txt.pdf">National Security Surveillance Act of 2006 (S. 2453) in PDF format<br /></a></span></li><li><span class="articlebody_main">Wikipedia entry on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act">Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978</a></span></li><li><span class="articlebody_main"><a href="http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/26722prs20060913.html">ACLU article</a> on the Senate Judiciary Committee approving the bill</span></li><li><span class="articlebody_main"><a href="http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/index.html">ACLU page</a> on illegal NSA spying</span></li><li><span class="articlebody_main">Wikipedia entry on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy">NSA warrantless surveillance controversy</a><br /></span></li></ul>If you think limiting when the government can spy on its citizens is important, this is the time to act:<br /><ul><li>Let congress know this is important to you. Use this <a href="https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=495&page=UserAction">form</a> to send a message to your lawmakers.<br /></li><li>If you aren't already a member, <a href="http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FJ_donationhome">join the ACLU</a>. The ACLU is chartered with protecting your rights as established in the constitution and bill of rights. If there's a more American organization than the ACLU, I don't know of it.</li><li>Spread the word: Tell a couple people you know about what is happening</li></ul>RDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16692875906648932779noreply@blogger.com0