Another small window of opportunity for a congressional debate and vote on the single payer bill (HR 676) will open next month. In response to Rep. Anthony Wiener's (D-NY) proposed amendment for HR 676 in the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Speaker Pelosi agreed to have a debate and a vote on the single payer bill on the House floor after Congress reconvenes in the Fall. Please urge your representatives to support the single payer proposal - more suggested talking points below. The "public option" has been diluted from its original intent - see piece below.

Fearmongering around "government-controlled" health care has been used to distract from our Wall-St. controlled health care. See The Tyranny of Wall St.-Run Health Care: No CEO Left Behind. 

Genesis of the Public Option & Its Dilution
The "public option" has been diluted – testament to the influence of the monied lobbies. It is a rule of negotiation not to start with compromise, and, instead to make the best case for reform upfront. The best case for comprehensive coverage and cost containment is a single public payer model with full free choice of private providers -- from that position, compromise would at least be a stronger "public option."

The Public Option feature of health care reform was conceived by political science professor Jacob Hacker, whose most recent iteration in 2007 is named the "Health Care for America Plan." Hacker envisioned it as a "Medicare-like" program that would sell health insurance to the non-elderly in competition with the 1,000 to 1,500 health insurance companies that sell insurance today.

Kip Sullivan, member of Minnesota Physicians for a National Health Program, recently evaluated the "public option" features of House and Senate Democratic proposals, and concluded that they are faint shadows of Hacker’s original proposal. Read the full piece about the genesis of the public option & its dilution.

The 5 original criteria that Hacker and the Lewin Group (which evaluated it) said are critical to the success of the "public option":

•• The Public Option had to be pre-populated with tens of millions of people, that is, it had to begin like Medicare did representing a large pool of people the day it commenced operations (Hacker proposed shifting all or most uninsured people as well as Medicaid and SCHIP enrollees into his public program);
•• Subsidies to individuals to buy insurance would be substantial, and only Public Option enrollees could get subsidies (people who chose to buy insurance from insurance companies could not get subsidies);
•• The Public Option and its subsidies had to be available to all nonelderly Americans (not just the uninsured and employees of small employers);
•• The Public Option had to be given authority to use Medicare’s provider reimbursement rates; and
•• The insurance industry had to be required to offer the same minimum level of benefits the Public Option had to offer.

Concluded Sullivan, of Hacker’s five criteria, only one is met by the Democrats’ proposed bills – i.e., both proposals require the insurance industry to cover the same benefits the "public option" must cover. None of the other four criteria are met.

As Robert Kuttner writes (Faint Praise): "...the likelihood is that whatever finally makes it through this session of Congress will reinforce and further bloat the current disaster of a health insurance system rather than fundamentally changing it. And if the decent elements of the plan are blocked, Obama should have the courage to pull the bill and take his case to the people....The satisfaction of a Rose Garden signing ceremony is not worth it, if the plan is more thorn than rose."

Talking Points to take to Legislators

Legislators need to hear from constituents in order to counter the $1.4 million/day spent by insurance, PHRMA & other special interests steering the health care reform debate to benefit their bottom lines.

Some things we might tell our senators/represenatives:

Eliminate For-Profit Insurances – The U.S. is the only country that continues to build its health insurance system around for-profit insurances. Most other industrialized nations prohibit for-profit insurance for primary health care; private insurance is reserved for supplemental coverage (e.g., private hospital room with TV, cosmetic surgeries, etc.). Underwriting should be eliminated, and true universal coverage provided.

Extend Medicare to All – As Dr. Marcia Angel says, the simplest way to expand health coverage to all (even in stages) is to expand Medicare coverage to all. It can be expanded by decade - lower the qualifying age to 50, then 40, etc. The infrastructure for Medicare billing, etc. is in place; it only needs to be improved, e.g., to permit negotiation of bulk drug and medical equipment costs; and the more costly privatized Medicare plans eliminated.

Support the amendment offered by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), which would effectively replace the entire existing health plan with the text of H.R. 676, Rep. John Conyers' single-payer legislation. Speaker Pelosi has agreed to permit debate and a vote on Weiner's Single Payer Amendment sometime after the House reconvenes in September.

A True Public Option – must include the 5 main criteria listed by Hacker above. The "Public Option" won’t save much money, but it may provide the competition to keep private insurances "more honest."

CBO Report of Single Payer Savings – The Congressional Budget Office should report the cost savings of the single-payer proposals (HR676 & SB703) side-by-side with the cost analysis of every other proposal. Over 20 federal and state studies since 1990 show considerable cost savings with the single-payer model. If the Blue Dog Democrats are serious about cost containment, they should demand the full CBO Report – see Blue Dogs Should Demand CBO Report of Single Payer Savings

Means-testing for subsidies adds a high "non-benefit" cost. It is less costly to simply cover everyone (like Medicare) instead of making folks jump through hoops to prove eligibility (for subsidies, etc). Read the comments of Merton C. Bernstein, leading health insurance expert and law professor emeritus at Washington University, who notes that private health insurance non-benefit costs range from about 12% to as much as 30% of outlays – compared to Medicare overhead of 3%.

Kucinich Amendment in Support of State Single Payer – Urge our senators and representatives to assure that the Kucinich Amendment is part of any health bill that passes, to help states pass single payer reform without federal ERISA challenges. At least 10 states have written single payer proposals thus far.

ProgressNow Colorado Requests Investigation of Property Crime Committed During Right-Wing Protest

Staff member's car vandalized over pro-health care reform flyer visible on seat

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 10, 2009
CONTACT: Michael Huttner at 303-931-4547

DENVER--A car owned by a ProgressNow Colorado staff member was vandalized over the weekend during a right-wing protest against health insurance reform.

ProgressNow Colorado staffer Michael Ditto was attending a public "Government at your Grocery Store" event Saturday in Brighton, Colorado, held by Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Golden, when his vehicle was seriously damaged in the parking lot. A report was filed with the Brighton Police Department. Police are reviewing surveillance tapes of the parking lot for evidence.

"We are calling for a thorough investigation of this act of vandalism at a right-wing protest," said ProgressNow Colorado Founder Michael Huttner. "There is absolutely no excuse for anyone who comes to a public gathering to be intimidated. In this case thankfully no one was hurt, but thousands of dollars in damage was done to Mike Ditto's car."

A pro-health care reform flyer was lying on the back seat of Ditto's car in plain sight, which is thought to have been the motivating factor for the crime. Both side mirrors of Ditto's Chevrolet Cavalier were broken off and left hanging by cables, and numerous dents and key-scratches can be seen in photos taken by Ditto and Brighton Police directly after the event.

ProgressNow Colorado is asking for the assistance of Adams County District Attorney Don Quick in the investigation of this crime. In addition, if any members of the public witnessed the incident, ProgressNow Colorado asks them to immediately contact the Brighton Police Department at 303-655-2333, and optionally to send an email describing what they saw to info@progressnowcolorado.org.

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National Right-Wing "Astroturf" Groups Organize "Local" Anti-Health Care Protest
ProgressNow Colorado calls attention to national usual suspects hiding behind "local" effort

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
CONTACT: Michael Huttner at 303-931-4547

DENVER--As yet another right-wing protest to President Obama's agenda prepared to kick off in Denver, this time against reforming and expanding access to health care for all Americans, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization released the following statement:

"Once again, national right-wing attack groups are disingenuously trying to attack the President's health care reform agenda," said ProgressNow Colorado founder Michael Huttner. "Using deceptive language and hiding behind local front groups to create the appearance of 'grass-roots' anger, these out-of-state interests are misrepresenting both themselves and the citizens of Colorado who desperately need health care reform."

The protest being held today has been advertised as a 'grass-roots rally' organized by the local right-wing Independence Institute, but in their announcement is the rally's 'co-sponsor,' a relatively unknown group called Patients First.[1] Patients First is operated by the well-known national right-wing organization known as the Americans for Prosperity, the same organization involved in the planning of other right-wing "grassroots" protests in Denver--including February's anti-stimulus rallies, and the infamous "Tea Parties" held in April and July.[2]

"As you can see, this isn't even about health care," Huttner continued. "These are the same out-of-state right-wing millionaires who paid for the 'Tea Parties' and the 'anti-stimulus' protest in Denver last February. Their sole interest is in fomenting trouble for the President and his agenda, whatever the issue of the day may be. They are attempting to gain electoral advantage by bashing everything the President does, and scaring up local residents to create the false impression that their 'anger' is shared by the public. In fact, these Americans for Prosperity protests are timed to coincide with a national bus tour! They're about as 'grass-roots' as Kim Jong Il's last birthday party.

"ProgressNow Colorado calls on the organizers of today's 'protest' to disclose how much money and assistance they received from national attack groups, and to stop misrepresenting themselves as in any way reflecting the views of the people of Colorado," Huttner concluded. "It's a joke."

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[1] Independence Institute. Rally Against Government Run Health Care - Denver. Retrieved 7/28/2009.

[2] Americans for Prosperity. July 4th Tea Party Rallies in Colorado. Retrieved 7/28/2009.

Patients First is a project of the organization Americans for Prosperity.[i] They purport to represent patients, but the evidence shows something entirely different.

Americans for Prosperity is a Corporate Astroturf Group.  AFP's Chairman is David H. Koch, who with his brother Charles runs the largest private corporation in the United States, Koch Industries.[ii][iii] Together, the brothers run the Koch Family Foundations, one of the largest single contributors to right-wing causes, including Americans for Prosperity. In 2008 alone, Koch Industries spent over $20 million on lobbyists in Washington, DC alone.[iv]

Americans for Prosperity's activities in addition to opposing health insurance reform include opposing anti-tobacco laws, denying the existence of global warming, opposing financial industry regulation, and sponsoring the so-called "tea parties." [v]

AFP's president, Tim Phillips, has a long resume of working for corrupt corporate lobbyists, including Enron and Jack Abramoff, with his former business partner Ralph Reed.  In 1998, Phillips engineered the direct mail campaign for the sweatshop owners of Saipan, arguing to conservative Christians that "Chinese workers 'are exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ' while on the islands, and many 'are converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand.'"[vi]

When corporate shills like Americans for Prosperity claim people don't want the government to fix healthcare, it flies in the face of reality. Poll after poll shows the vast majority of Americans is in favor of more government involvement in health care coverage:

As we also have found in our tracking polls since February, clear majorities support a variety of methods of expanding health insurance coverage, including Medicaid expansion (74 percent), an individual mandate (68 percent), an employer mandate (64 percent) and a public plan (59 percent). [emphasis added][vii]

[i] Patients First Website, http://joinpatientsfirst.com. Retrieved 7/28/2009.

[ii] SourceWatch.org. http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_For_Prosperity . Retrieved 7/28/2009.

[iii] SourceWatch.org. http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries . Retrieved 7/28/2009.

[iv] OpenSecrets.org. http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?lname=Koch+Industries&year=2008. Accessed 7/28.2009.

[v] SourceWatch.org. http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_For_Prosperity . Retrieved 7/28/2009.

[vi] Center for American Progress. Tim Phillips, The Man Behind The 'Americans For Prosperity' Corporate Front Group Factory. May 29, 2009. http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/05/29/afp-timphillips-astroturf/. Retrieved 7/28/2009.

Why Are Scott McInnis, Josh Penry Silent on Mercury Dump?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 24, 2009
CONTACT: Michael Huttner at 303-931-4547

DENVER--As elected officials around Colorado grew increasingly wary of Department of Energy proposals to store large quantities of toxic mercury near the city of Grand Junction, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization released the following statement:

"We demand that Scott 'McLobbyist' McInnis and Josh Penry stand up to protect the public health now," said ProgressNow Colorado founder Michael Huttner.  "It is unconscionable that days after the Department of Energy presented plans to store toxic mercury at a Mesa County landfill, in violation of previous agreements, they have remained silent.

"Yesterday, Rep. Steve King, Republican from Grand Junction, told reporters that he would oppose any attempt by the Department of Energy to transport mercury to Mesa County.[1] Governor Bill Ritter also announced his opposition to this proposal.[2] Both of them are to be commended for taking swift action to protect the public health," Huttner said.

The area's other representative in the General Assembly, Sen. Josh Penry, 'could not be reached for comment' according to the Grand Junction Sentinel.[3] Scott McInnis, who represented the area in Congress from 1993-2005, has also been completely silent.

"It's totally unacceptable," concluded Huttner, "and the people of Mesa County should demand accountability for their failure to act."

###

[1] Grand Junction Sentinel. Rep. King: Feds should look elsewhere to store mercury. 7/23/2009.
[2] Grand Junction Sentinel. Ritter says he'll oppose mercury on West Slope. 7/24/2009.
[3] Grand Junction Sentinel. Local officials lukewarm on idea of storing mercury within Mesa County. 7/22/2009.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Udall Announces Support for Confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court

Washington, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Senator Mark Udall announced that he plans to vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor when the Senate considers her nomination to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

"As a U.S. Senator I must give my advice and consent before any of the President's nominees to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court may be seated, and I take my responsibility seriously. I said I would take my time to study Judge Sotomayor's record and background and consider the Judiciary Committee hearings on her confirmation before making a decision. Now, as the Senate prepares to vote, I am announcing my support for her confirmation.

"Judge Sotomayor is an extremely accomplished jurist, and she has a very compelling personal story. This historic nomination is not only a source of pride for Hispanic Americans, but all Americans because we all take heart and feel pride when we see an individual overcome enormous obstacles and achieve great things through hard work and perseverance.

"But while her story is inspiring, what matters most are her qualifications for the job, her record, and her approach to the Constitution. And that is where I am most impressed.

"Judge Sotomayor navigated her Senate confirmation hearings with grace. Her years as a prosecutor and a sitting judge were evident. She took tough questions and gave clear and forthcoming answers. Her poise through hours of questioning is a testament to her strength of character. And my study of her record convinces me that she would be an unbiased judge.

"Sonia Sotomayor is a wise choice and a valuable addition to the Court. A generation after my father testified in the Senate in favor of Sandra Day O’Connor becoming the first female Supreme Court Justice, I am humbled and honored to support Judge Sonia Sotomayor."

Click here to thank him by Twitter

In each of our lives, we experience moments of shock that we will never forget. When Kennedy was shot in 1963. When the Challenger exploded over Florida in 1986.

For me, it was when 21 year-old Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to a fence, and left for dead on a cold October night in 1998. Matt was killed because he was gay. It sent chills of terror through the gay and lesbian community because the message was clear: you're next.

Matt's murder sparked a national movement to amend the federal hate crimes law to include crimes motivated by sexual orientation, gender, or disability.

After ten years, that change in law is finally in sight. Tonight, the U.S. Senate will vote on the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Both Senator Mark Udall and Senator Michael Bennet are cosponsors of this bill. The House version of the bill passed earlier this year with the support of six Colorado Representatives, and President Obama has committed to signing it.

Will you sign our virtual thank-you card to the members of the Colorado delegation who support this important law?

http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/HateCrimesThanks

Angie Zapata was an 18 year-old transgender woman from Greeley who had just moved into her first apartment on her own. She was murdered--in her killer's own words--because "all gay things need to die."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 06, 2009
CONTACT: Michael Huttner at 303-931-4547 

DENVER: ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, vowed Monday to help gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis learn the geography of the Centennial State he aspires to lead, after reports circulated over the holiday weekend that he needs some serious remedial help in this department. 

"Scott 'McLobbyist' McInnis has clearly spent too much time lobbying for his corporate friends in D.C. and not enough time focused on the state he lives in," said ProgressNow Colorado founder Michael Huttner. "McInnis, like Bob Schaffer, thinks all mountains look the same." 

Local political blogs discovered after the launch of McInnis' new website that a large photo on the front page, emblazoned with the headline "What do you want for the future of Colorado," was in fact a photo of Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada. The photo was subsequently replaced with an image of the Flatirons near Boulder, but not before the image of Canadian mountains was captured and widely distributed.[1]

McInnis' "moving mountains" mistake comes a year after he criticized former U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer for his use of an out-of-state mountain in an ad declaring, "Colorado is my life!" 

"What's unbelievable about this is McInnis actually had the nerve to criticize Bob Schaffer after his campaign switched Alaska's Mt. McKinley for Pikes Peak in a television ad," Huttner continued. "McInnis told Schaffer in the Grand Junction Sentinel last year that one can 'only absorb' one or two such mistakes. Does this mean McInnis has already used his free pass?" [2]

In an effort to help McInnis avoid making this kind of embarrassing mistake in the future, ProgressNow Colorado launched a grassroots fundraising campaign to purchase McInnis a copy of Geography of Colorado, an excellent textbook by Joy Clapp and Paul C. Stevens. 

"We don't want Scott 'McLobbyist' McInnis to be unable to distinguish Colorado from Canada," Huttner concluded. "Our members are happy to put politics aside and help McInnis learn the difference." 

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[1] Colorado Independent, 7/2/09. "Candidate McInnis moves mountains - from Canadian Rockies to Colorado"

[2] Colorado Pols, 5/18/08. "Schaffer: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"

Part of ProgressNow Colorado's mission is to counter the right-wing message machine, and invariably that really ticks off the far-right and the unfortunate souls who actually believe the likes of the leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh.

Earlier this week, I sent out a message to our members in the 4th Congressional District that seems to have struck a nerve. We asked folks to sign our thank-you card to Representative Betsy Markey for her leadership and favorable vote on the House climate change bill known as "ACES."

Here's a sampling of the hate mail I received from the far right. Particularly interesting is the misogynistic tone many of them took. I wonder if they speak to their wives and mothers like this? Names and addresses removed to protect the moronic...spelling and grammar errors left intact.

New unemployment data came out showing the job market continues to worsen.

My Facebook friends reflect this. Four times this week, friends of mine have announced their availability in the job market via their Facebook statuses.

Colorado has lost almost 100,000 jobs in the past year according to the Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment.

Only a fraction of the stimulus money has been spent, and most of that has come in the form of food stamps and extended unemployment benefits, and other direct assistance programs as opposed to public infrastructure projects. There is wisdom in taking the time to ensure that projects are sound and the money is not wasted, but it is frustrating to see that money delayed.

Sent to a few thousand friends in Rep. Salazar's district today:

The time is now to speak out for clean energy and environmental protection. A critical vote in Congress on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) is set for Friday, and we need our own Rep. John Salazar to support this bill.

That's why I'm writing. Can you take two minutes right now to call Rep. Salazar's D.C. office, and let them know that you want him to vote for the Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454)?

Time is short: please call his office now at 202-225-4761.

This is one of the most important votes Rep. Salazar will ever cast. The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) sets practical, science-based limits on pollution linked to climate change, and puts the country on the path to building a national New Energy Economy. ACES offers our country the most important opportunity in generations to jump start our economy, create millions of new, good-paying jobs, and set the stage for America to compete and prosper in the 21st century.

Please call right away, and thank you for doing your part at this critical moment.

Sincerely,

Leslie Robinson
Garfield County resident

Two-hundred and fifty people gathered on the steps of the Colorado Capitol Saturday, May 30 as part of a "National Day of Action" to advocate for a single-payer model of health care reform. People came from Colorado Springs, Buena Vista and Ft. Collins as well as metro Denver to share stories and data about the utter failure of U.S. health care, which has become a profit-center for multi-payer insurances and hospitals at the expense of health care access for the people of Colorado.

Roya, a rally organizer from Health Care for All Colorado, related the story of a friend, repeatedly denied health care due to a "pre-existing" condition of cancer, until she died. Mike, a leader of ArapaHope Community Team, another rally organizer, told of continuous denial of health care coverage since he had a mild heart attack 14 years ago.

Fort Collins physician, Dr. Cory Carroll expressed the frustration of primary care providers whose care for patients is often complicated or obstructed by for-profit private insurances that assume the right to deny or delay claims.

Sen. Morgan Carroll observed that insurance companies make their profit by over-charging premiums, which rose 98% from 2000-2007, and by denying necessary health care. In Colorado, unlicensed and unqualified insurance industry folks deny necessary medical treatment. Asking "Where are our priorities?" Sen. Carroll noted that we have spent billions more on wall street bailouts than it would cost to provide health care to every single American for decades. Read more of Sen. Carroll's remarks.

Single-Payer has been declared "off the table" by Sen. Baucus and others in Washington. When Gov. Howard Dean visited Denver last week to promote a parallel public health care option, he drew gasps from his progressive audience when he suggested that Medicare Part D was "good" reform --perhaps a mark of the insularity of Washington culture, and a disconnect  on the part of some of our leaders.

GOV. RITTER VETO MESSAGE ON HOUSE BILL 09-1170

May 19, 2009

Honorable Colorado House of Representatives
67th General Assembly
First Regular Session
State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am filing with the Secretary of State House Bill 09-1170, "Concerning unemployment insurance benefits for locked-out employees." I vetoed this bill as of 4:55 p.m. today, and this letter sets forth my reasons for doing so.

There are currently ongoing contract negotiations between the United Food and Commercial Workers No. 7 and several grocery stores, including King Soopers, Safeway, Albertsons, and City Market. The parties to these negotiations have been working hard for several months to try to reach an agreement. I believe it is ill-advised and counterproductive to enact legislation that materially impacts the relative bargaining position of parties in the midst of ongoing negotiations. In these troubled economic times, I am deeply concerned about the effect a strike or lockout of employees would have on grocery store workers and consumers across the state, and I am concerned that signing this bill into law will make a negotiated resolution of the grocery store contract more difficult, not less.

Therefore, under these circumstances, the state should not interject itself into these contract negotiations by enacting House Bill 09-1170 into law.

The merits of this bill, however, are worthy of future discussion and perhaps future legislation. In 1999, the statutory provision that House Bill 09-1170 would repeal and reenact was substantially amended for the first time in twenty-four years, upsetting the longstanding balance governing when locked-out and striking workers were eligible for unemployment benefits. The issue of how best to restore this balance is a debate that we should have. But the debate should be had and legislation crafted outside of the shadow of a major contract negotiation that has the imminent threat of a strike or lockout.

Accordingly, I have vetoed this bill.

Sincerely,

Bill Ritter, Jr.

Governor