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Wisconsin Clean Elections Coalition

Promoting fair elections for all parties and candidates

eNewsletter #38

March 31, 2007

 www.ThrowTheRascalsOut.org

Newsletter Archives

 

Politicians are like diapers.  They should both be changed frequently and for the same reason.

This is a periodic newsletter on election and health care reform. If you wish not to receive it please unsubscribe at the bottom and accept my apologies for the intrusion.
.

In this issue:

1) Health Care 

2) Campaign Reform

3) On Taxes

4) National Health Care

5) Tidbits 

6) Give me a Break!

7) Book recommendations

8)  Contact Information

9)  Removal instructions
.

 

1

Health Care
2007   ASSEMBLY BILL 94   http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2007/data/AB-94.pdf
Link to Bill History = http://tinyurl.com/26swze
 

February 22, 2007 - Introduced by Representatives Benedict, Boyle, Black, Hebl,
   Parisi, Pocan, Pope-Roberts, A. Williams, Zepnick, Hilgenberg, Berceau,
   Sinicki, Fields, Grigsby and Kessler, cosponsored by Senators Miller, Risser
   and Carpenter. Referred to Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform.
 

Pg1Ln1   An Act to amend 15.01 (3), 15.01 (4) and 59.17 (2) (c); and to create 15.07 (1)
Pg1Ln2   (a) 7., 15.07 (2) (n), 15.07 (5) (m), 15.07 (5m) (c), 15.20, 15.207, 20.430, 59.53 (25),
Pg1Ln3   62.09 (8) (cm) and chapter 152 of the statutes; relating to: establishing a
Pg1Ln4   publicly financed health care system for residents of this state, creating the
Pg1Ln5   Department of Health Planning and Finance, Health Policy Board, and
Pg1Ln6   regional consumer health councils, granting rule-making authority, and
Pg1Ln7   making appropriations.
 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=584662

No 'health savings' scams; time for single-payer is now

By JACK E. LOHMAN

So what's the skinny on health savings accounts?

Anything having to do with "savings accounts" would seem like a hit, until you remember the garbage President Bush tried to feed us with his privatized Social Security plan. HSAs are just more of the same - privatized health care with a big up-front cost - and some legislators are behind a bill to make them more attractive through state tax breaks.

It's not that HSAs don't have at least some appeal. If you are wealthy, they make great tax shelters. If you are not, they will most certainly benefit the banks, credit card companies and bankruptcy attorneys when your health starts failing and they start collecting.

HSAs focus on money and are bad for health care. When patients must cover the first $2,000 to $5,000 of medical bills, they tend to deny themselves and their families care when it is most needed; early in the disease process. HSAs are designed to keep you away from the doctor, which they do very well, even when they shouldn't. Patients too often wait until treatments become more costly or diseases become untreatable. Or they die - which, after the attorneys finish, may be a welcome reprieve.

A RAND Corp. study demonstrated that when hypertensive patients had to pay part of the bill, they had a 10% higher death rate. Certainly if people die earlier we will reduce our health care costs, but that sounds too much like a Philip Morris study I once read. We can do better.

Even partial payment by the patient can be counterproductive, like co-pays, which usually cost more than they save. It was shown in a Kaiser Family Foundation study that mothers in low-income families will too often forego their blood pressure medicine to put food on the table, and then they have a stroke or heart attack or, worse, die. This sounds neither compassionate nor conservative.

So let's call HSAs what they are: an opportunity for employers to offload their health care costs to their employees. It is certainly cheaper to coax or force them into an HSA than it is to provide full medical coverage.

Why would politicians support HSAs over a system that would really work? Because the world is full of opportunities and theirs is to tap the insurance industry, which state legislators have done to the tune of $817,239, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign database. Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle didn't do too badly at $352,000, nor did my own Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) at the top of the legislators' list with $29,028. And when you add the cash from the banking, credit card industry and bankruptcy attorneys, well, you get the point. It's not a pretty sight. Plus there's the $1.4 million the health care industry makes in annual campaign contributions just to keep the system broken. Good things just never end, do they?

Better is a single-payer system that provides health care to 100% of the population for the same dollars we are spending today, as in the proposal by state Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) and state Rep. Chuck Benedict (D-Beloit). The Health Security Act does just that, and all state politicians should support it. This is a real solution they owe to the public, today.

They also owe the public something else: the Clean Money Elections bill as proposed by Madison Democrats Sen. Fred Risser and Rep. Mark Pocan. If politicians are to be beholden to their funders, those funders should be the taxpayers, and at $5 per taxpayer per year, it's a terrific bargain. Had this system been in place over the past decade, we'd have fixed the health care system long ago. Since the Republicans now claim that reform is high on their list, there is no reason for them not to aggressively support this bill.

Jack E. Lohman of Colgate is a retired business owner and author. He operates the Web site www.ThrowTheRascalsOut.org
 

Universal health plan could yield savings

Study: Spending could be cut by $60.7b per year

By Bloomberg News  |  March 20, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Expanding government health insurance coverage to all Americans could reduce healthcare spending by as much as $60.7 billion a year, according to a study by a nonpartisan research center.

The estimated savings would include a $33.9 billion cut in the cost of prescription drugs, the New York-based Commonwealth Fund said in a report yesterday . The organization evaluated proposals introduced in Congress in recent years, including some that would allow everyone to enroll in Medicare, the government health insurance program that now serves older Americans and the disabled.

Congress and President Bush are debating what to do to help America's uninsured, about 47 million people. Polls show Americans are concerned about rising healthcare costs, which make up about 16 percent of total US spending.

"We wanted to highlight that there were feasible bills introduced to Congress over the past two years that would incrementally or more fundamentally expand coverage," Sara Collins, the fund's assistant vice president, said in a telephone interview.

The study examined 10 proposed plans and assumed each was fully in place in 2007. The research was carried out the Lewin Group, a health consulting firm based in Falls Church, Va.

The $60.7 billion in savings was based on legislation proposed last year by Representative Pete Stark, a Democrat from California, that would allow everyone to get insurance through Medicare or government-approved private plans under Medicare. Employers with 100 or more workers could keep paying for private coverage or contribute to a fund to have employees covered through the government.

Bush's healthcare proposal, calling for a tax deduction for health insurance, would cover 9 million people that are now uninsured and save about $11.7 billion a year, the study said.

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.

 


Don't miss this excellent piece in The American Prospect Online

The Wisconsin Way

 by Roger Bybee

For strategic lessons in pushing for progressive universal health care, look north.

Volcanic pressure is building up nationwide over soaring health care premiums and fast-shrinking coverage, but George W. Bush will surely plug up any eruption of reform at the national level during the remainder of his term.

What he can't prevent is the pressure already breaking through at the state level, which will likely intensify as the Democratic presidential candidates continually reinforce the reform message. As we've seen, even Republican governors in Massachusetts and California are implementing reform plans, though both of them carry profound flaws. Thus far, the efforts of Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger have garnered the most attention -- but progressives have reason to look closely at some very exciting developments in Wisconsin, where a major push for statewide universal health coverage is underway.

See the complete article at http://tinyurl.com/2byyf6

 

2

Campaign Reform

DURBIN, SPECTER, TIERNEY INTRODUCE BILLS TO REFORM FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS (Tuesday, March 20, 2007) [WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) today unveiled two bipartisan bills - one dealing with Senate races; the other focused on House contests - to restore public confidence in the Congressional elections process. Both bills would allow qualified candidates to receive campaign financing from a public fund instead of from lobbyists and other special interests. See S.936 at  http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=270951

Like every other important bill, this one needs your help. ACTION ITEM: Please contact your US Representative and ask them to co-sponsor and support this bill. Sensenbrenner is opposing it and will tell you that:

  • It violates the First Amendment right to free speech, and he is 100% wrong and he knows it. These bills are voluntary. Congressmen may opt not to take private money if they want to, even if it is from somebody insisting on giving it to them. There is much precedent for this.
     

  • He'll say that he does not want to support a bill that uses taxpayer money to fund elections. You know this story already. We already are funding the elections through the back door when special interests buy the elections and the politicians pay them back with subsidies and tax breaks. Government giveaways cost us about $3000 per taxpayer per year, when public funding of campaigns would cost only $10. 
     

  • And he'll say it's not fair to tax someone to pay for political campaigns they don't agree with. You know this answer too: through the same back door we already are paying for the campaigns of opponents.
     

  • We prefer an honest electoral system, and if politicians are to be beholden to their funders, those funders should be the taxpayers.

 

 

3

On Taxes

From Senator Darling: Governor Proposes $2 Billion in New Taxes -- In February, Governor Jim Doyle introduced his budget to the state Legislature.  If you happen to own a home, drive a car, get sick or even download songs to an iPod, then the Governor has proposed higher taxes for you.  In fact, the Governor even wants to slap a new tax on you when you are paying your taxes!  The grand total of the Governor’s new tax increases on Wisconsin’s middle class families is a whopping $2 billion.

Well, perhaps if the Republican legislature under Tommy Thompson hadn't ran up our deficit so much we wouldn't need tax increases today. Huh maybe?

But even then, we don't need Doyle's additional taxes. What we NEED is full public funding of campaigns. Then the legislature will stop giving taxpayer dollars to the special interests that fund their elections, and start reducing taxes altogether. Senator Darling surely must know this sequence. 

Tax breaks and backdoor spending in state

By John Simonson

Q: When is a tax break really a tax increase?

A: Almost always. In fact every tax credit, deduction, exemption, deferral or other loophole for one group of taxpayers is really a tax increase for somebody else. Give me a new tax deduction and it increases the burden on you.

Offsetting a tax break for one particular group with a decrease in spending only means that people are getting less government service for the same amount of money. It's like cutting the amount of coffee in a can while keeping the size of the can and the price the same: Call it what you want; it's a price increase. It's remarkable how politicians forget -- or blithely ignore -- that best known and simplest of all economic principles, "There Is No Free Lunch."

See complete article HERE http://www.themonroetimes.com/v0308sim.htm

I certainly understand Simonson's logic, but I disagree with the tax philosophy of the Left. Get this: All corporate taxes are paid for by the public. Corporations add the taxes they do pay -- plus the heavy expenses paid to avoid the taxes they should pay -- to the price of their product and the public reimburses them at the cash register. The cost of expensive tax lawyers and CPA firms included, this becomes a very regressive form of taxation.

The same is true with health care costs. When employers pay either taxes or health care costs, they add them to the price of their product and the public pays the bill. And in the process we make those employers less competitive and drive jobs to other countries.

I'd rather see zero taxes and zero health care costs for corporations and a more progressive tax on income (including all wages, investments and other income). See http://www.throwtherascalsout.org/taxes.htm for a more complete discussion. If anything, a value-added tax on all nonessentials, like cigarettes, liquor, etc, even tariffs on imports, would help level the playing field.

-- John Simonson is a resident of Mineral Point. He was the Democratic Party's candidate for state senator in the 17th Senate District in November 2006.

Don't miss the 2007 Pig Book from Citizens Against Government Waste...... at http://tinyurl.com/yvaalr

And the Taxpayers for Common Sense Statement on Senate Passage of Emergency Spending Bill at http://tinyurl.com/2y9bb2
 

 

4

National Health Care HR676

At this moment only US Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Gwen Moore are co-sponsors.  Please call your rep and ask that they co-sponsor HR676, especially Sensenbrenner who has gone on record as opposing this.

Dear Healthcare Organizers:

Many good things are happening across the nation as the single payer movement continues to develop.  People ask the question, “How could this have happened? How is it that there is only one healthcare plan in the nation that has a huge constituency of support?  And we know the answer.  It is because of your work.

Here are some of the exciting developments in the single payer movement: 

1. We now have 62 co-sponsors of H.R. 676 in just two months following its reintroduction in this new Congress -- as a result of your efforts.

2. The AFL-CIO has joined us as an endorser of single payer.  How did this happen?  It happened because of the movement of local unions from the bottom up who studied the bill, endorsed it, and urged the AFL-CIO to join us over the past eighteen months.  One volunteer, Kay Tillow, has worked tirelessly to make this happen.

3. Act-Up has joined us – one of the most militant organizations in the U.S. –the group that challenged Congress and the healthcare agencies to do the research and help to stem the tide of the AIDS epidemic in the 80’s and 90’s.  Now they have made single payer, national healthcare their #1 issue. 

4. The National Organization for Women has formally endorsed. 

5. Newspapers all over the country are studying the issue, and many are endorsing.  City councils are signing on.  Two state democratic parties, New Hampshire and Washington State have endorsed single payer and will be pushing the national Democrats to move forward toward single payer in the coming election.

6. We met with the New York Times this week in a very good exchange on the issue. 

7. And Congressman Conyers is planning a briefing for Congress members and the public on April 24th   in Washington, D.C.  YOU ARE INVITED.  Be in touch with joel.segal@mail.house.gov for more details.

One of the friends of single payer in the U.S. Congress is Maurice Hinchey.  In addition to being a strong endorser of H.R. 676, he has introduced legislation that has forced the FDA to create new rules to protect us from the drug profiteers.  When we achieve a national single payer system in the United States, we will have a system where the single payer (probably Medicare) will negotiate the cost of all drugs for all of us and have a strong mechanism for protecting our people. 

We will have several elements of good business practices as a part of our national healthcare program including “negotiating prices,” “eliminating the unnecessary middle man (the insurance companies)” and “purchasing in bulk” both durable medical equipment and prescription drugs since there will be 300 million of us in one large purchasing pool.   This will be another of the great savings that will provide us with a quality healthcare system for all without spending any additional money. 

Businesses, employees and employers will all save money.  No more co-pays or deductibles and no more denials and out-of-pocket expenses for necessary medical care.

Hinchey’s legislation and the FDA’s response are described in today’s story.  F.D.A. Rule Limits Role of Advisers Tied to Industry. The new rules would bar government advisers who receive money from a drug or device maker from voting on that company's products.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/washington/22fda.html?th&emc=th

As the story notes, this is not the ultimate solution to the problem of FDA complicity with the drug profiteers, but it is a start.

H.R. 676, Conyers’ United States National Health Insurance Act, is the only bill in Congress that pushes for a non-profit national healthcare system that will serve us all.  It is the only bill among the many that have been introduced recently and among the state bills that are being considered that eliminates the role of the insurance companies, both in government-funded programs such as Medicare and SCHIP (the child healthcare program) and in the healthcare fund that will provide excellent healthcare to all of us.

As a result of the elimination of the insurance companies’ role in healthcare, we will be able to cover one-third more healthcare.  In other words, we could cover one-third more children if we didn’t have insurance companies in the middle of the SCHIP program.  We can cover one-third more people in the United States and provide 100% better benefits for all of us with H.R. 676.

Under single payer, H.R. 676, we will eliminate the waiting lines that keep about 50 million of our people suffering and dying, and we will be able to provide much better benefits, doctors who don’t have to spend their time satisfying hundreds of insurance companies, hospitals that don’t have to spend billions of dollars on exacting payment for hundreds of insurance, government and individual payers,  mental health care, drug and alcohol treatment for all who need it; payment for prescription drugs;  long-term care (how many of us have no long-term care insurance now?) and more.   Everybody in; nobody out!”

Here are some of the things that you can do immediately to push forward real single payer legislation, H.R. 676. See more ideas at our website www.healthcare-now.org

1.     Visit the editorial board of your newspaper;

2.     Send letters to the editors and to columnists and writers of newspapers nationwide including the New York Times editorial board;

3.     Get on the list for newspaper articles on a daily basis (write joykal1@aol.com)

4.     HOLD AN EVENT or HEARING this coming month (APRIL) or soon in your neighborhood or state (See guidelines for organizing on our website. http://www.healthcare-now.org/action/how_to.htm.  INVITE YOUR CONGRESS MEMBER. But don’t wait on Congress.  It is the people’s movement rising up from the bottom that will get us a national single payer healthcare system. No Congress or Presidential candidate is going to provide us with the healthcare system we need without our massive efforts;

5.      Call us for organizing suggestions.  1-800-453-1305 ; info@healthcare-now.org;  

6.     Make a contribution to Healthcare-NOW… now! Get a free book. We really need your support NOW.   https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=2264; 

7.     Order beautiful Martin Luther King, Jr National Healthcare Month posters and our “Improved Medicare for All” booklet in Spanish or English. Bulk copies from our printers.  prioritypress@optonline.org;

8.     ACTION ITEM: Plan to VISIT YOUR MEMBER of CONGRESS in his/her local office during the first two weeks of April.  Thank your members if they have signed onto H.R. 676. Insist that they do so if they have not;

9.      Call or Fax Congressman Pete Stark’s office to be sure that H.R. 676 is a part of the agenda for his healthcare hearings in May. Phone: (202) 225-5065; Fax: (202) 226-3805;

10.   Get your City Council, State Legislature, Democratic or Republican State Committee, Union, Faith Community, Club, Community Organization or Local Business to endorse H.R. 676. See the growing list of endorsers at http://www.healthcare-now.org/endorse676.php:

11.  Get a copy of John Conyers’ inspirational 6 minute dvd “Giant Steps” from Healthcare-NOW. See it on You Tube.

12.  See our home page to read about or use the power point about the problems with all of the other proposals being offered www.Healthcare-now.org.

13.  Don’t Complain; Organize!

 

Remember “We are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For.”

Marilyn Clement, National Coordinator

Healthcare-NOW

www.healthcare-now.org

1-800-453-1305

info@healthcare-now.org   

 

Improved Medicare-for-all This is an excellent booklet describing the Conyers HR646 bill. It is a protected Word file and will ask for permission to open. It is safe. See at http://tinyurl.com/ythj4u

Also see Lohman's summary of Single-payer Benefits compared to current problems of the for-profit system at http://tinyurl.com/29k8fe

 

 

5

Tidbits

New format: I've gone to using www.tinyurl.com to generate short addresses, at least temporarily. Some folks have their email html turned off and cannot read the links. They should consider turning that on, but only with a good virus program on their computer. Otherwise, when you get the text email click on the first link above to see the html version. You are missing a lot if you don't.

From Senator Darling: "Democrats Blocking Government Reform Efforts -- The Republicans in the Legislature have made government reform a top priority this session.  Unfortunately, Democrats are thwarting two of the most important efforts: eliminating legislators’ sick leave perk and banning the 'Frankenstein Veto.'”

I agree with her on both counts. But remember, the "Frankenstein" veto was invented and perfected by Tommy Thompson. Where were the Republicans when Tommy was cutting words out of legislation to rewrite the bills to benefit his contributors?

And if the Republicans are truly going to make reform a priority, why aren't they lined up to support the Risser-Pocan clean money bill? Sounds like all talk and no action.

NO!!!

Menomonee Falls (Saturday, March 24): The short answer is No, Sensenbrenner doesn't support universal health care (he says it's socialized medicine, even when it isn't), and he doesn't support the new Clean Money bill (he says it prevents free speech, when it doesn't, because it is voluntary).

In a word, Sensenbrenner likes the status quo. He likes the money coming in and recognizes that the R's and the D's just take turns at the helm. If the D's are smart they'll fool him, pass reform, and lock themselves in for years to come. If they aren't smart there'll be another turnover, but this time it may just be the Year of the Independent.

F. Jim terribly misled one lady who asked about the Medicare D program. Instead of just saying "What do you expect; I own several million dollars in drug company stock," he rattled on with industry hype about how vital drugs would go undeveloped if we negotiated prices. Huh?

Don't miss his upcoming town hall misleadings (er, sorry, meetings):

Saturday, March 31st  9:00am - Pewaukee City Hall  1:00pm - Thiensville Village Hall
Sunday, April 1st   1:00pm - West Bend City Hall
Monday, April 2nd  7:00pm - Port Washington Police Department
Saturday, April 14th  9:00am - Mequon Safety Building   1:00pm - Wauwatosa Public Library
Sunday, April 15th  1:00pm - Richfield Town Hall
Saturday, April 28th  9:00am - Grafton Village Hall     1:00pm - Waukesha Public Library
 


ACTION ITEM: Push Jim Sensenbrenner and all other US reps to support the
Durbin-Specter Clean Money bill, and the Conyers HR646 universal health care bill.
 

 

Worth Noting: "Not since the robber-baron era have income and wealth been as concentrated as they are today. This doesn't threaten shareholders; after all, most shares are held by the wealthy. It threatens democracy, as the wealthy uses their fortunes to bankroll politicians who tilt public policies in the direction of the wealthy -- by, say, reducing their taxes and cutting public services for everyone else. It also threatens our economy, as more and more investment decisions are made by fewer and fewer people, and as the middle class loses its capacity to pay for the goods and services the economy produces." -- Robert B. Reich, The American Prospect, April 2007

This is absolutely correct. I would also add that there are few companies that could not simply fire their CEOs and move up their next-best in-house executive (like VP of Marketing) and not profit just as well and perhaps even better. That certainly would have been the case when I was a CEO. Hiring an outsider CEO is stupid if you have a qualified insider. Even still, US laws must be changed to put shareholders back in charge of selecting the Board, and the Boards must be made responsible to the shareholders instead of the CEO.  

 

Wisconsin Conservation Voters Scorecard on your state politician is at:
http://www.conservationvoters.org/Public/scorecards/sc05-06.pdf
(Newly elected members will not be listed yet.)

Vote Tracker -- SB1 Ethics Bill
http://www.conservationvoters.org/Public/voteTracker.php?billID=47
(Includes 2007 session)

Past Scorecards:
2003-2004 http://www.conservationvoters.org/Public/scorecards/sc03-04.pdf
2001-2002 http://www.conservationvoters.org/Public/scorecards/sc01-02.pdf

 

The Marriage of Hypocrisy and Corruption
 By David Sirota

We all know that special interests talk out of both sides of their mouths whenever they are trying to buy public policy. But in recent weeks, we have seen glaring examples of sheer hypocrisy that are eye-popping, even by Washington standards. On issues from pharmaceutical prices to democracy to trade, lobbyists are stepping all over their own rhetoric in attempts to keep Congress from embracing a populist, middle-class agenda. 

Read this welll-done article here: http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_5542197

 

6

Give me a Break!

The Children had all been photographed, and the Teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.

"Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say,  

'There's Jennifer, she's a Lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a Doctor.'

A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the Teacher, she's dead."  

(Rated PG)

Miracle of Toilet Paper  

Fresh from her shower, a woman stands in front of the mirror, complaining to her husband that her breasts are too small. Instead of characteristically telling her it's not so, the husband uncharacteristically comes up with a suggestion. "If you want your breasts to grow, then every day take a piece of toilet paper and rub it between your breasts for a few seconds.

Willing to try anything, the wife fetches a piece of toilet paper, and stands in front of the mirror, rubbing it between her breasts.  "How long will this take?" she asks. "They'll grow larger over a period of years.", he replies.

The wife stops. "Why do you think rubbing a piece of toilet paper between my breasts every day will make my breasts grow over the years?" Without missing a beat the husband says "worked for your butt, didn't it?"

He lived, and with a great deal of therapy, may even walk again.

Stupid Stupid Man

(Rated PG) A little boy was doing his math homework.  He said to himself, "Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven.  Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine...."  His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, "What are you doing?"  The little boy answered, "I'm doing my math homework, Mom."   "And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?" the mother asked.  "Yes," he answered.  Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, "What are you teaching my son in math?"  The teacher replied, "Right now, we are learning addition."  The mother asked, "And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?"  After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, "What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four."

Is this you?

Going home on Friday (http://tinyurl.com/yrckbt)

Going to work on Monday (http://tinyurl.com/yufoeg)

Arrow Girl (http://tinyurl.com/23byh2)

THE BIRTH OF A HUMMINGBIRD
This is truly amazing. Be sure to click on NEXT PAGE at the bottom of each page; there are 5 pages in all. A lady found a hummingbird nest and got pictures all the way X-Hotmail-From: from the egg to leaving the nest. Took 24 days from birth to flight. Because you'll probably never in your lifetime see this again, enjoy; and please share.

Go to this site http://community.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM

 

 

7

Book Recommendations

See other reviews on Amazon.com

Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy; (Paperback)
by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson (ISBN-10: 0300119755)

Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy; With a new Afterword

Amazon Reviewer: Pragmatist - Outstanding!

Hacker and Pierson explain how Republicans rule with the slimmest of majorities, yet stray dramatically from the moderate center of public opinion to again and again side with the affluent and ideologically extreme. Major reasons include the unmatched Republican coordination and cohesion, sophisticated partisan gerrymandering making most House districts completely safe, and the base having the troops to influence the typically low-turnout primaries that determine who goes to D.C.

Each year, with retirements etc., the Republicans become more conservative via the increased power of the base vs. new candidates. In the Senate, Democrats won the last three elections with 2.5 million more votes, yet hold only 44 seats because Republicans dominate the less populous states.

"Off Center" also points out that polls citing support for Bush's tax cuts are meaningless because they were not put into context - eg. what will be given up? Paired with Social Security, tax cuts lose 74 - 21, Medicare 65 - 25, and deficit reduction leads by over 2:1. Unrealistic projections of federal surpluses and the costs of the tax changes (helped by staggered phase in dates -> underestimated 40%) were used to obscure their effects on competing priorities. Republicans also deliberately ignored its increasing the pressure for changing the Alternative Minimum Tax - seeing this as another opportunity to reduce taxes later. Another ploy was to confuse "average family" tax cut with "average tax cut" in the public's mind. Finally, the tax cuts scheduled expiration in 2010 is anticipated to great a large incentive for donations from the rich in that year.

Tom DeLay, a key figure in controlling House Republicans and lobbyist donations and a self-described ideologue, also utilizes agenda control to achieve his objectives. For example, in the Clinton impeachment debate he refused to allow consideration of the more popular and moderate censure alternative. Similarly, on Social Security reform, Bush refused the Reagan option of creating a bipartisan review - it had to be his way. Very conservative energy, EPA, OSHA, and bankruptcy bills were passed in a similar "no-alternatives" manner. Finally, the Medicare drug bill was passed courtesy of misrepresented costs, while providing great benefit to the drug and insurance industries and increasing costs for many recipients.

Another factor helping Republicans is that in 2000 more than 40% of those in the economic bottom 1/3 did not vote, vs. only 13% in the top third.

Money spent lobbying has nearly doubled since '97 to almost $2 billion/year; indirect lobbying (eg. telemarketing, issue ads) raises the total to nearly $6 billion. Republicans instruct lobbying groups to provide backing for the leadership's positions at the outset, well before key features have been finalized. The message is that "if you support us, we will see to it that you are taken care of - if you hold out or seek to negotiate separate deals with individual members you can kiss your cause good-bye." In addition, DeLay et al "whip" interest groups to put pressure on legislators, even on issues far removed from the clients' own concerns. Finally, lobbyists understand that contributions to Republican leadership PACs are necessary to get a seat at the table, and that contributions to individual members should be made only with leadership approval.

Republican House leaders have also strengthened their position by removing ('94) the autonomy of committee chairmen - formerly their chief rivals for power. Traditionally chairs came via seniority, and provided power over staff and agendas. Now their terms are limited to 6 years, and the positions are filled by the leaders. Republican leadership also controls participation in conference committees - frequently bills emerging have little resemblance to what was passed in the Senate.

Finally, "Off Center" explains how "backlash insurance" (for those in moderate Republican districts) operates. Issues that would subject moderates to pressure (eg. minimum wage) are simply kept off the agenda. Secondly, through conference committee control, a moderate can vote for a mild version of a bill in the House or Senate, and then be faced with a much more conservative conference committee product that is either "up or down" - no amendments.

An excellent primer on how Republicans, especially in the House, frustrate the voice of the people.
 
 

 

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Contact information

Lohman is a retired business owner that volunteers’ time on the issues of Election reform and Universal health care -

Contact: Jack E. Lohman
jelohman@gmail.com or jelohman@charter.net
Phone 414-477-8686 (cell)
 www.ThrowTheRascalsOut.org
www.WiCleanElections.org

www.MoneyedPoliticians.com (my book: Politicians - Owned and Operated by Corporate America)

www.SmokeFreeDining.net (A searchable restaurant database)

Wisconsin State Assembly pages: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/leginfo/contact/legislatorslist.aspx?house=assembly

Wisconsin State Senator pages: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/leginfo/contact/legislatorslist.aspx?house=senate

 

9
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Disclosure: I am a center-right Republican that voted for Bush twice (though at this point I wish I could have a do-over). But the Republicans look worse here because they (are/were) in power and the party blocking reform. Next year it may be the Democrats taking center stage. Were I to have a political choice it would be for a strong third-party reform candidate in all seats. I do not like our very costly and ineffective duopoly. Jack Lohman

See Lohman's complete disclosure HERE.