My comments to be shared with Governor Markell today during a meeting with advocates for equal relationship recognition for Delaware.
Two years ago a certain candidate for Governor quoted Martin Luther King Jr's 1963 Letter From A Birmingham Jail. It includes the passage: “Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”
Full relationship recognition in Delaware is held hostage for many reasons. One major stumbling block during these tight economic times for our state is the financial impact, including the cost of providing health and retiree benefits to domestic partners equally as we provide to spouses of state workers.
What is the cost to Delaware to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act? What is the cost to Delaware to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act? Why do we accept those costs but reject paying the cost for full relationship recognition? We pay the cost to comply with those Acts because it's the law, and it's the law because brave leaders convinced the country that it is the right thing to do. Full relationship recognition in Delaware is also the right thing to do, and Delaware needs leaders to make this the law, and to pay this cost.
In addition to simply being the morally right thing to do, adding Delaware to the list of states that provide equal relationship recognition strengthens Delaware economically.
Large employers in our state, such as the University of Delaware, have already made the case that in order for our state to compete economically, we need to publicly stand for true equality.
Jack, when you were recruiting members to your Cabinet, didn't you want to be able to choose the best people? What if the state only provided spousal benefits to right-handed employees, and your best candidate was left-handed? Stop this injustice, and free state employers from the shackles of operating in a state that is unwelcoming to same-sex couples.
New Jersey offers civil unions, and Washington DC provides marriage to same-sex couples. How long can Delaware afford to refuse to offer equal relationship recognition? The time is indeed “ripe to do right.”
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Letter to Newark City Council--03/08/2010
I'm sending this out on Monday (this is a current draft--I could edit it before it is sent).
March 8, 2010
Dear Newark City Council,
I have testified before city council a few times, as a resident (since 1990), as a business owner (Mallard Advisors was established on Main Street in 1996), and as a representative of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark (established over fifty years ago). Today I am writing to you about the proposed UD Bookstore.
Last week I attended the Newark Planning Commission public meeting, to learn more about the proposed UD Bookstore on Main Street. I have several significant concerns with the proposal, and was pleased that the commission agreed that the proposal was not worthy of adoption. I encourage you to learn more about the project, and to give serious thought before approving it.
I was very disappointed in the behavior of Roy Lapota at the meeting. During much of the meeting he adopted the role of project cheerleader. I found this very inappropriate and unhelpful. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that he was on retainer for the University. He was certainly advocating against the city’s best interest in acquiring the best negotiating position to obtain the most favorable position in working out a parking resolution with the University for this project. His actions that evening will make it more difficult to obtain valuable concessions from the University.
Parking is a very serious problem with the proposal. Given how much building they are proposing to place on this site, there is only a minimal amount of parking The parking possible in their proposal would be even smaller if they solve the ‘truck delivery problem.’ As currently proposed, deliveries would involve the complete blocking of Delaware Avenue. Somehow they place the responsibility of this on the city with their solution—let us eliminate even more parking spaces and we’ll add a truck turnaround in the plans. Why is insufficient planning on their part the responsibility of the city?
They are therefore asking for more than a $1 million waiver, for their plans calls for only a small fraction of the parking spaces that such a large building requires. Their argument for the miniscule need for parking (as cheer-leaded by Mr. Lapota, thankfully without the pom poms and skirt) is that most of the clientele will be pedestrian. This is despite the fact that the entire third floor of the building is for academic purposes, and UD staff rarely gets to/from work on foot.
Those of us who have been in Newark for decades recognize that UD students have significantly increased their use of automobiles over time. When the 21,000 current UD students come to the UD bookstore to purchase a semester’s books, for hundreds of dollars, many will come and go by car. The handful of proposed parking spaces will be overwhelmed, as will the nearby parking lots. The city of Newark should insist on receiving the full dollar amount called for in our building code for this plan with woefully insufficient parking.
At a minimum, the city of Newark should insist that the University place the full amount called for with the parking waiver into an escrow account. If the eventual project does not cause measurable parking problems (and Mr. Lapota is correct and I am incorrect on this point), then release the money—no harm, no foul. However if the parking provided is indeed woefully inadequate, then the city will have the financial reserves to provide some remedy. The city will have no later opportunity to ensure that the University pays for the likely damage to downtown’s parking from this project. DO NOT LET THIS OPPORTUNITY SLIP THROUGH YOUR FINGERS.
Another weakness in the proposal is the refusal of the University to commit to paying fair real estate taxes on the property and paying the same utility rates that other Main Street businesses pay. Well over 50% of the proposed space will be used for commercial enterprises, enterprises that compete with area merchants. It would be a grave mistake for the city to approve of this project without obtaining a legally-enforceable commitment that this primarily-commercial space compete on a level playing field with the neighboring commercial spaces.
The University flexed its muscles to ensure that it could purchase the old Christina School District building without competitive bids. Part of the justification was that the deed indicated that it would be used for academic purposes. The proposal calls for the building to be retained (which is wonderful for the city), but to be used as a commercial café. This certainly violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the deed restriction. The proposal should insist that the historic school building be used for the academic offices, and that the third floor (and the ‘tower’) be therefore eliminated.
The building is too tall. While the ‘pocket park’ sounds good, and looks good in the artistic renditions, it will be forever in the dark, for it is on the north side of a three-plus story behemoth. Local architect Will Hurd spoke up at the commission meeting, noting that a proper ‘shadow study’ would make this clear. The ‘tower’ is another mistake. It gives the impression that the designer was making a lego building, and had one block left, so they stuck it on top. There is no character or sufficient function for it, and it is sorely out of place.
The project is indeed completely out of character with that block, a block rich in historic buildings. It would be criminal to introduce such a grey, blocky, institutional monstrosity to this block. It was described as ‘adding architectural diversity’ to the town. That is merely a nice way to say that it fails miserably at fitting in. The Downtown Newark Partnership noted that it failed to meet its zoning guidelines. The Planning Commission refused to approve its plans. The artistic renditions make clear that it crowds out the wonderful firehouse on Academy street, that it uses colors and materials completely foreign to that block. The sheet metal on the Academy Street wall is atrocious. This is the most historic of Newark’s downtown blocks. This location requires respect to the surrounding historic sites. The proposed project thumbs its nose at its architectural neighbors, and destroys the wonderful historic feel of that section of downtown.
You can’t put a genie back in a bottle. City council has one opportunity to roll up its sleeves and consider both the immediate and long-term ramifications of the proposed UD bookstore. There are many very significant problems with it, and the University, in its haste to get it up by this fall, has failed to truly partner with the city, its businesses, and residents, in creating a superior property design. A good design can complement and enhance this critical block. The current design would permit development that we will regret for decades. Please ensure that Newark’s future is not rushed as the University is striving to do with the deeply flawed UD Bookstore project.
I apologize for sharing only negative factors about the proposal. I leave it to Mr. Lapota to speak breathlessly about its positive traits.
Sincerely,
PAUL S. BAUMBACH
March 8, 2010
Dear Newark City Council,
I have testified before city council a few times, as a resident (since 1990), as a business owner (Mallard Advisors was established on Main Street in 1996), and as a representative of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark (established over fifty years ago). Today I am writing to you about the proposed UD Bookstore.
Last week I attended the Newark Planning Commission public meeting, to learn more about the proposed UD Bookstore on Main Street. I have several significant concerns with the proposal, and was pleased that the commission agreed that the proposal was not worthy of adoption. I encourage you to learn more about the project, and to give serious thought before approving it.
I was very disappointed in the behavior of Roy Lapota at the meeting. During much of the meeting he adopted the role of project cheerleader. I found this very inappropriate and unhelpful. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that he was on retainer for the University. He was certainly advocating against the city’s best interest in acquiring the best negotiating position to obtain the most favorable position in working out a parking resolution with the University for this project. His actions that evening will make it more difficult to obtain valuable concessions from the University.
Parking is a very serious problem with the proposal. Given how much building they are proposing to place on this site, there is only a minimal amount of parking The parking possible in their proposal would be even smaller if they solve the ‘truck delivery problem.’ As currently proposed, deliveries would involve the complete blocking of Delaware Avenue. Somehow they place the responsibility of this on the city with their solution—let us eliminate even more parking spaces and we’ll add a truck turnaround in the plans. Why is insufficient planning on their part the responsibility of the city?
They are therefore asking for more than a $1 million waiver, for their plans calls for only a small fraction of the parking spaces that such a large building requires. Their argument for the miniscule need for parking (as cheer-leaded by Mr. Lapota, thankfully without the pom poms and skirt) is that most of the clientele will be pedestrian. This is despite the fact that the entire third floor of the building is for academic purposes, and UD staff rarely gets to/from work on foot.
Those of us who have been in Newark for decades recognize that UD students have significantly increased their use of automobiles over time. When the 21,000 current UD students come to the UD bookstore to purchase a semester’s books, for hundreds of dollars, many will come and go by car. The handful of proposed parking spaces will be overwhelmed, as will the nearby parking lots. The city of Newark should insist on receiving the full dollar amount called for in our building code for this plan with woefully insufficient parking.
At a minimum, the city of Newark should insist that the University place the full amount called for with the parking waiver into an escrow account. If the eventual project does not cause measurable parking problems (and Mr. Lapota is correct and I am incorrect on this point), then release the money—no harm, no foul. However if the parking provided is indeed woefully inadequate, then the city will have the financial reserves to provide some remedy. The city will have no later opportunity to ensure that the University pays for the likely damage to downtown’s parking from this project. DO NOT LET THIS OPPORTUNITY SLIP THROUGH YOUR FINGERS.
Another weakness in the proposal is the refusal of the University to commit to paying fair real estate taxes on the property and paying the same utility rates that other Main Street businesses pay. Well over 50% of the proposed space will be used for commercial enterprises, enterprises that compete with area merchants. It would be a grave mistake for the city to approve of this project without obtaining a legally-enforceable commitment that this primarily-commercial space compete on a level playing field with the neighboring commercial spaces.
The University flexed its muscles to ensure that it could purchase the old Christina School District building without competitive bids. Part of the justification was that the deed indicated that it would be used for academic purposes. The proposal calls for the building to be retained (which is wonderful for the city), but to be used as a commercial café. This certainly violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the deed restriction. The proposal should insist that the historic school building be used for the academic offices, and that the third floor (and the ‘tower’) be therefore eliminated.
The building is too tall. While the ‘pocket park’ sounds good, and looks good in the artistic renditions, it will be forever in the dark, for it is on the north side of a three-plus story behemoth. Local architect Will Hurd spoke up at the commission meeting, noting that a proper ‘shadow study’ would make this clear. The ‘tower’ is another mistake. It gives the impression that the designer was making a lego building, and had one block left, so they stuck it on top. There is no character or sufficient function for it, and it is sorely out of place.
The project is indeed completely out of character with that block, a block rich in historic buildings. It would be criminal to introduce such a grey, blocky, institutional monstrosity to this block. It was described as ‘adding architectural diversity’ to the town. That is merely a nice way to say that it fails miserably at fitting in. The Downtown Newark Partnership noted that it failed to meet its zoning guidelines. The Planning Commission refused to approve its plans. The artistic renditions make clear that it crowds out the wonderful firehouse on Academy street, that it uses colors and materials completely foreign to that block. The sheet metal on the Academy Street wall is atrocious. This is the most historic of Newark’s downtown blocks. This location requires respect to the surrounding historic sites. The proposed project thumbs its nose at its architectural neighbors, and destroys the wonderful historic feel of that section of downtown.
You can’t put a genie back in a bottle. City council has one opportunity to roll up its sleeves and consider both the immediate and long-term ramifications of the proposed UD bookstore. There are many very significant problems with it, and the University, in its haste to get it up by this fall, has failed to truly partner with the city, its businesses, and residents, in creating a superior property design. A good design can complement and enhance this critical block. The current design would permit development that we will regret for decades. Please ensure that Newark’s future is not rushed as the University is striving to do with the deeply flawed UD Bookstore project.
I apologize for sharing only negative factors about the proposal. I leave it to Mr. Lapota to speak breathlessly about its positive traits.
Sincerely,
PAUL S. BAUMBACH
Friday, February 12, 2010
Progressive Update--02/12/2010
My friend Carol Boncelet has dropped out of the race for county council, to be the volunteer coordinator for the Chris Coons for Senate campaign www.chriscoons.com
While she was excited to run for the 3rd district county council seat, she is even more excited about working to ensure that Chris Coons is elected our next US Senator and to prevent Republican Mike Castle and the Party of No from gaining the seat.
While she was excited to run for the 3rd district county council seat, she is even more excited about working to ensure that Chris Coons is elected our next US Senator and to prevent Republican Mike Castle and the Party of No from gaining the seat.
Friday, January 29, 2010
01/29/2010 - Joe Sestak for US Senate from PA
Meet Congressman Joe Sestak, Candidate for U.S. Senate
Philadelphia Jan 29 - West Chester Jan 31 - St. Davids Feb 1 - Glenside Feb 1
A Plan for PA Families Event with Joe Sestak
Friday, January 29 - 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Bricklayers Local 1 Union Hall
2706 Black Lake Place
Philadelphia, PA 19154
A Plan for PA Families Event with Joe Sestak
Sunday, January 31 - 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
West Chester University
Sykes Student Centre, Room 252
West Chester, PA 19383
Kitchen Call with Joe Sestak
Monday, February 1 - 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Eastern University
Harold Howard Center, 2nd Floor Atrium
1300 Eagle Road
St. Davids, PA 19087
Kitchen Call with Joe Sestak
Monday February 1 - 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Glenside VFW Post 676
2519 Jenkintown Road
Glenside, PA 19038
"I always enjoyed 'Captain's Call' with those I served with to discuss important issues."
- Joe Sestak, former Navy Admiral
More event information: http://joesestak.com/events
RSVP to email Info@JoeSestak.com or call the office at 610-891-8956.
Joe Sestak for Senate: http://joesestak.com/Home/Home.html
Philadelphia Jan 29 - West Chester Jan 31 - St. Davids Feb 1 - Glenside Feb 1
A Plan for PA Families Event with Joe Sestak
Friday, January 29 - 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Bricklayers Local 1 Union Hall
2706 Black Lake Place
Philadelphia, PA 19154
A Plan for PA Families Event with Joe Sestak
Sunday, January 31 - 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
West Chester University
Sykes Student Centre, Room 252
West Chester, PA 19383
Kitchen Call with Joe Sestak
Monday, February 1 - 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Eastern University
Harold Howard Center, 2nd Floor Atrium
1300 Eagle Road
St. Davids, PA 19087
Kitchen Call with Joe Sestak
Monday February 1 - 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Glenside VFW Post 676
2519 Jenkintown Road
Glenside, PA 19038
"I always enjoyed 'Captain's Call' with those I served with to discuss important issues."
- Joe Sestak, former Navy Admiral
More event information:
RSVP to email Info@JoeSestak.com or call the office at 610-891-8956.
Joe Sestak for Senate: http://joesestak.com/Home/Home.html
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Second Letter from Haiti -- 01/28/2010
January 22, 2010
To our dear friends and supporters who have been so present through this difficult time. I feel like I have a wall of love and protection around me knowing that you are all holding Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. I apologize for not having written for the past few days, it is partly that life here is so hectic and fast paced and partly because I find that writing about the situation brings all my emotions to the surface and brings me to a vulnerable space that can be rather overwhelming. That said, I so want to be able to share with all of you what we are experiencing and the important difference we have been able to make as a result of your generosity.
When I first arrived in Port au Prince I spent a day at the UN compound by the airport where NGO’s, doctors and soldiers swarm around talking on satellite phones and running from meeting to meeting. I learned about the massive amounts of food aid that arrived in the first week and was stockpiled at the airport. I learned of the aid trucks filled to the brim with supplies blocked at the border and sitting idle at the ports. Since that day I have not returned to the aid compound and chosen instead to go into the streets, into the camps where people hide from the sun, huddled together under tattered tarps waiting for the food that has yet to come, into the alleyways littered with the rubble of fallen dreams and the spirits of those we have lost.
I know that some of these stories of aid not reaching the victims are beginning to filter into the international media but I wanted to see if I can shed some light about why this is without casting blame. Everyone who has come here is devastated by this disaster, everyone wants to help but the slowness in distribution is not a question of intentions, it is a question of long standing fears and the security structures put in place in response to these fears.
A few days ago I got an email from Nicolas Kristof of the New York Times asking me to comment on the supposition made by many (not Nicolas himself) that Haitians have received large amounts of aid money over the years and have somehow squandered it. I responded to him by talking about fear, this same fear that is slowing the distribution of aid during this crisis. For centuries Haiti has been portrayed as a dangerous country filled with volatile and threatening people, unsafe for foreigners. This supposition, this fear and misunderstanding, has very deep implications for foreign aid and cross cultural understanding.
I have been amazed to visit friends working with large NGO’s in Port au Prince only to learn that they are forced to operate under security restrictions that prevent any kind of real connections to Haitian communities. One friend showed me the map, used by all of the larger NGOs where Port au Prince is divided into security zones, yellow, orange, red. Red zones are restricted, in the orange zones all of the car windows must be rolled up and they cannot be visited past certain times of day, even in the yellow zones aid workers are often not permitted to walk through the streets and spend much of their time in Haiti riding through the city from one office to another in organizational vehicles.
The creation of these security zones has been like the building of a wall, a wall reinforced by language barriers and fear rather than iron rods, a wall that, unlike many of the buildings in Port au Prince, did not crumble during the earthquake. Fear, much like violence, is self perpetuating. When aid workers enter communities radiating fear it is offensive, the perceived disinterest in communicating with the poor majority is offensive, driving through impoverished communities with windows rolled up and armed security guards is offensive and, ironically, all of these extra security measures actually increase the level of risk for aid workers.
As I said, this wall of fear is not a new phenomenon and it has had very serious implications for the distribution of the millions of dollars of aid that have been flowing into the country for the past 10 days. Despite the good intentions of the many aid workers swarming around the UN base, much of the aid coming through the larger organizations is still blocked in storage, waiting for the required UN and US military escorts that are seen as essential for distribution, meanwhile people in the camps are suffering and their tolerance is waning.
Over the past 5 days I have been grateful to work with a small organization unhindered by bureaucracy and security restrictions. I am so thankful to work with a courageous team of Haitian community leaders and a respectful and fearless group of Americans. Thanks to the generous donations of our supporters SOIL has raised approximately $30,000 for immediate relief efforts and we are committed to providing that relief as quickly as we can get the money into the country. The most striking thing I have noticed while visiting the many camps throughout the city is the level of organization and ingenuity among the displaced communities. Community members stand ready to distribute food and water to their neighbors, they are prepared to provide first aid and assist with clean up efforts, all that they are lacking is the financial means to do so. When the quake struck people’s savings were buried under the rubble of their former homes, banks are closed and no one has been able to access their accounts. Food and water are available for sale in the streets but no one is able to purchase them.
Our hope is that SOIL, AIDG and other small organizations will be able to help provide communities with the means to meet their needs in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, bridging the gap during the time it takes for the larger organizations to mobilize. I am honored to know a network of brave community leaders throughout Port au Prince whom I met during my human rights work from 2004-2006 and our team has spent the past several days visiting the camps with them and helping to distribute the resources that we have at our disposal. Each day we have been purchasing water trucks to deliver to camps that have yet to receive water, giving money to community organizers who are then able to purchase food from local businesses and distribute it to the areas most in need, bringing doctors and medical supplies into zones of the city that have none, providing our generator to community cyber cafes so that people are able to contact their families, driving patients from the camps to medical clinics that can receive them.
The magnitude of this tragedy is unimaginable and we are aware of our limitations and our inability to help touch more than a small percentage of those affected. While it breaks my heart to think about those we cannot help, it also fills me with hope to see the impact that we have been able to make. Each day I am awed and humbled by the dedication and compassion of my colleagues, both Haitian and international and touched by the outpouring of love and support that we have received from around the world. Please keep your love and donations flowing and we will do everything in our power to funnel that love and aid to the communities that need it the most.
With love from Port au Prince,
Sasha
To our dear friends and supporters who have been so present through this difficult time. I feel like I have a wall of love and protection around me knowing that you are all holding Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. I apologize for not having written for the past few days, it is partly that life here is so hectic and fast paced and partly because I find that writing about the situation brings all my emotions to the surface and brings me to a vulnerable space that can be rather overwhelming. That said, I so want to be able to share with all of you what we are experiencing and the important difference we have been able to make as a result of your generosity.
When I first arrived in Port au Prince I spent a day at the UN compound by the airport where NGO’s, doctors and soldiers swarm around talking on satellite phones and running from meeting to meeting. I learned about the massive amounts of food aid that arrived in the first week and was stockpiled at the airport. I learned of the aid trucks filled to the brim with supplies blocked at the border and sitting idle at the ports. Since that day I have not returned to the aid compound and chosen instead to go into the streets, into the camps where people hide from the sun, huddled together under tattered tarps waiting for the food that has yet to come, into the alleyways littered with the rubble of fallen dreams and the spirits of those we have lost.
I know that some of these stories of aid not reaching the victims are beginning to filter into the international media but I wanted to see if I can shed some light about why this is without casting blame. Everyone who has come here is devastated by this disaster, everyone wants to help but the slowness in distribution is not a question of intentions, it is a question of long standing fears and the security structures put in place in response to these fears.
A few days ago I got an email from Nicolas Kristof of the New York Times asking me to comment on the supposition made by many (not Nicolas himself) that Haitians have received large amounts of aid money over the years and have somehow squandered it. I responded to him by talking about fear, this same fear that is slowing the distribution of aid during this crisis. For centuries Haiti has been portrayed as a dangerous country filled with volatile and threatening people, unsafe for foreigners. This supposition, this fear and misunderstanding, has very deep implications for foreign aid and cross cultural understanding.
I have been amazed to visit friends working with large NGO’s in Port au Prince only to learn that they are forced to operate under security restrictions that prevent any kind of real connections to Haitian communities. One friend showed me the map, used by all of the larger NGOs where Port au Prince is divided into security zones, yellow, orange, red. Red zones are restricted, in the orange zones all of the car windows must be rolled up and they cannot be visited past certain times of day, even in the yellow zones aid workers are often not permitted to walk through the streets and spend much of their time in Haiti riding through the city from one office to another in organizational vehicles.
The creation of these security zones has been like the building of a wall, a wall reinforced by language barriers and fear rather than iron rods, a wall that, unlike many of the buildings in Port au Prince, did not crumble during the earthquake. Fear, much like violence, is self perpetuating. When aid workers enter communities radiating fear it is offensive, the perceived disinterest in communicating with the poor majority is offensive, driving through impoverished communities with windows rolled up and armed security guards is offensive and, ironically, all of these extra security measures actually increase the level of risk for aid workers.
As I said, this wall of fear is not a new phenomenon and it has had very serious implications for the distribution of the millions of dollars of aid that have been flowing into the country for the past 10 days. Despite the good intentions of the many aid workers swarming around the UN base, much of the aid coming through the larger organizations is still blocked in storage, waiting for the required UN and US military escorts that are seen as essential for distribution, meanwhile people in the camps are suffering and their tolerance is waning.
Over the past 5 days I have been grateful to work with a small organization unhindered by bureaucracy and security restrictions. I am so thankful to work with a courageous team of Haitian community leaders and a respectful and fearless group of Americans. Thanks to the generous donations of our supporters SOIL has raised approximately $30,000 for immediate relief efforts and we are committed to providing that relief as quickly as we can get the money into the country. The most striking thing I have noticed while visiting the many camps throughout the city is the level of organization and ingenuity among the displaced communities. Community members stand ready to distribute food and water to their neighbors, they are prepared to provide first aid and assist with clean up efforts, all that they are lacking is the financial means to do so. When the quake struck people’s savings were buried under the rubble of their former homes, banks are closed and no one has been able to access their accounts. Food and water are available for sale in the streets but no one is able to purchase them.
Our hope is that SOIL, AIDG and other small organizations will be able to help provide communities with the means to meet their needs in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, bridging the gap during the time it takes for the larger organizations to mobilize. I am honored to know a network of brave community leaders throughout Port au Prince whom I met during my human rights work from 2004-2006 and our team has spent the past several days visiting the camps with them and helping to distribute the resources that we have at our disposal. Each day we have been purchasing water trucks to deliver to camps that have yet to receive water, giving money to community organizers who are then able to purchase food from local businesses and distribute it to the areas most in need, bringing doctors and medical supplies into zones of the city that have none, providing our generator to community cyber cafes so that people are able to contact their families, driving patients from the camps to medical clinics that can receive them.
The magnitude of this tragedy is unimaginable and we are aware of our limitations and our inability to help touch more than a small percentage of those affected. While it breaks my heart to think about those we cannot help, it also fills me with hope to see the impact that we have been able to make. Each day I am awed and humbled by the dedication and compassion of my colleagues, both Haitian and international and touched by the outpouring of love and support that we have received from around the world. Please keep your love and donations flowing and we will do everything in our power to funnel that love and aid to the communities that need it the most.
With love from Port au Prince,
Sasha
Letter from Haiti -- 01/28/2010
This is from a friend of a friend of my sister. She is in Haiti, and in her emails she shines a light into what is really happening in Haiti, not what the media is reporting:
This afternoon, feeling helpless, we decided to take a van down to Champs Mars (the area around the palace) to look for people needing medical care to bring to Matthew 25, the guesthouse where we are staying which has been transformed into a field hospital. Since we arrived in Port au Prince everyone has told us that you cannot go into the area around the palace because of violence and insecurity. I was in awe as we walked into downtown, among the flattened buildings , in the shadow of the fallen palace, amongst the swarms of displaced people there was calm and solidarity. We wound our way through the camp asking for injured people who needed to get to the hospital. Despite everyone telling us that as soon as we did this we would be mobbed by people, I was amazed as we approached each tent people gently pointed us towards their neighbors, guiding us to those who were suffering the most. We picked up 5 badly injured people and drove towards an area where Ellie and Berto had passed a woman earlier. When they saw her she was lying on the side of the road with a broken leg screaming for help, as they were on foot they could not help her at the time so we went back to try to find her. Incredibly we found her relatively quickly at the top of a hill of shattered houses. The sun was setting and the community helped to carry her down the hill on a refrigerator door, tough looking guys smiled in our direction calling out “bonswa Cherie” and “kouraj”.
When we got back to Matthew 25 it was dark and we carried the patients back into the soccer field/tent village/hospital where the team of doctors had been working tirelessly all day. Although they had officially closed down for the evening, they agreed to see the patients we had brought. Once our patients were settled in we came back into the house to find the doctors amputating a foot on the dining room table. The patient lay calmly, awake but far away under the fog of ketamine.
Half way through the surgery we heard a clamor outside and ran out to see what it was. A large yellow truck was parked in front of the gate and rapidly unloading hundreds of bags of food over our fence, the hungry crowd had already begun to gather and in the dark it was hard to decide how to best distribute the food. Knowing that we could not sleep in the house with all of this food and so many starving people in the neighborhood, our friend Amber (who is experienced in food
distribution) snapped into action and began to get everyone in the crowd into a line that stretched down the road. We braced ourselves for the fighting that we had heard would come but in a miraculous display of restraint and compassion people lined up to get the food and one by one the bags were handed out without a single serious incident.
During the food distribution the doctors called to see if anyone could help to bury the amputated leg in the backyard. As I have no experience with food distribution I offered to help with the leg. I went into the back with Ellie and Berto and we dug a hole and placed the leg in it, covering it with soil and cement rubble. By the time we got back into the house the food had all been distributed and the patient Anderson was waking up. The doctors asked for a translator so I went and sat by his stretcher explaining to him that the surgery had gone well and he was going to live. His family had gone home so he was alone so Ellie and I took turns sitting with him as he came out from under the drugs.
I sat and talked to Anderson for hours as he drifted in and out of consciousness. At one point one of the Haitian men working at the hospital came in and leaned over Anderson and said to him in kreyol “listen man even if your family could not be here tonight we want you to know that everyone here loves you, we are all your brothers and sisters”. Cat and I have barely shed a tear through all of this, the sky could fall and we would not bat an eye, but when I told her this story this morning the tears just began rolling down her face, as they are mine as I am writing this. Sometimes it is the kindness and not the horror that can break the numbness that we are all lost in right now.
So, don’t believe Anderson Cooper when he says that Haiti is a hotbed for violence and riots, it is just not the case. In the darkest of times, Haiti has proven to be a country of brave, resilient and kind people and it is that behavior that is far more prevalent than the isolated incidents of violence. Please pass this on to as many people as you can so that they can see the light of Haiti, cutting through the darkness, the light that will heal this nation.
We are safe. We love you all and I will write again when I can. Thank you for your generosity and compassion.
With love from Port au Prince,
Sasha
This afternoon, feeling helpless, we decided to take a van down to Champs Mars (the area around the palace) to look for people needing medical care to bring to Matthew 25, the guesthouse where we are staying which has been transformed into a field hospital. Since we arrived in Port au Prince everyone has told us that you cannot go into the area around the palace because of violence and insecurity. I was in awe as we walked into downtown, among the flattened buildings , in the shadow of the fallen palace, amongst the swarms of displaced people there was calm and solidarity. We wound our way through the camp asking for injured people who needed to get to the hospital. Despite everyone telling us that as soon as we did this we would be mobbed by people, I was amazed as we approached each tent people gently pointed us towards their neighbors, guiding us to those who were suffering the most. We picked up 5 badly injured people and drove towards an area where Ellie and Berto had passed a woman earlier. When they saw her she was lying on the side of the road with a broken leg screaming for help, as they were on foot they could not help her at the time so we went back to try to find her. Incredibly we found her relatively quickly at the top of a hill of shattered houses. The sun was setting and the community helped to carry her down the hill on a refrigerator door, tough looking guys smiled in our direction calling out “bonswa Cherie” and “kouraj”.
When we got back to Matthew 25 it was dark and we carried the patients back into the soccer field/tent village/hospital where the team of doctors had been working tirelessly all day. Although they had officially closed down for the evening, they agreed to see the patients we had brought. Once our patients were settled in we came back into the house to find the doctors amputating a foot on the dining room table. The patient lay calmly, awake but far away under the fog of ketamine.
Half way through the surgery we heard a clamor outside and ran out to see what it was. A large yellow truck was parked in front of the gate and rapidly unloading hundreds of bags of food over our fence, the hungry crowd had already begun to gather and in the dark it was hard to decide how to best distribute the food. Knowing that we could not sleep in the house with all of this food and so many starving people in the neighborhood, our friend Amber (who is experienced in food
distribution) snapped into action and began to get everyone in the crowd into a line that stretched down the road. We braced ourselves for the fighting that we had heard would come but in a miraculous display of restraint and compassion people lined up to get the food and one by one the bags were handed out without a single serious incident.
During the food distribution the doctors called to see if anyone could help to bury the amputated leg in the backyard. As I have no experience with food distribution I offered to help with the leg. I went into the back with Ellie and Berto and we dug a hole and placed the leg in it, covering it with soil and cement rubble. By the time we got back into the house the food had all been distributed and the patient Anderson was waking up. The doctors asked for a translator so I went and sat by his stretcher explaining to him that the surgery had gone well and he was going to live. His family had gone home so he was alone so Ellie and I took turns sitting with him as he came out from under the drugs.
I sat and talked to Anderson for hours as he drifted in and out of consciousness. At one point one of the Haitian men working at the hospital came in and leaned over Anderson and said to him in kreyol “listen man even if your family could not be here tonight we want you to know that everyone here loves you, we are all your brothers and sisters”. Cat and I have barely shed a tear through all of this, the sky could fall and we would not bat an eye, but when I told her this story this morning the tears just began rolling down her face, as they are mine as I am writing this. Sometimes it is the kindness and not the horror that can break the numbness that we are all lost in right now.
So, don’t believe Anderson Cooper when he says that Haiti is a hotbed for violence and riots, it is just not the case. In the darkest of times, Haiti has proven to be a country of brave, resilient and kind people and it is that behavior that is far more prevalent than the isolated incidents of violence. Please pass this on to as many people as you can so that they can see the light of Haiti, cutting through the darkness, the light that will heal this nation.
We are safe. We love you all and I will write again when I can. Thank you for your generosity and compassion.
With love from Port au Prince,
Sasha
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Progressive Update--01/26/2010
It’s been awhile, so I will ramble a bit in this post.
President Obama Update—Let me begin with my premise that Democrats who are disappointed in what the President has done in the past year may have forgotten Obama’s campaign slogan, and most importantly the middle third. Yes, WE Can. Obama has not lied to us, or failed to get good health care reform passed, WE have, thus far, failed. WE have failed to have our US Senators act responsibly. WE have failed to define and execute a strategy to handle the Republican Party of NO.
So what do WE do? You can choose to be an ostrich. I refuse. I am committed to ensuring that my actions are worthy of the hopes and dreams that this country selected in November 2008. I begin tomorrow night at 7:45pm, when the President will give his State of the Union speech. I’ll be going to Timothy’s restaurant in Newark, which is an Organizing for America event (http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/stateoftheunionwatchparty/gp8k5s). Find (or better yet host) an event that’s convenient to you at http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=mybobar
We have long understood that the media is largely a waste of time. One of the fictions they have been spreading is that the Democrats had 60 votes in the Senate (until this month). That is false. There are two or three liberal Democrats (Franken, Feingold, any others?), about thirty moderate Dems, about twenty conservative Dems (BlueDogs, including Delaware’s Tom Carper who never met a lobbyist he didn’t like), and a few sellout Dems (such as Nelson) who are quite willing to threaten to withhold their vote on a core Democratic issue in order to extort money from the US treasury for their state alone. Don’t get me started on Lieberman. The US Senate is not led by a majority party of Democrats. Rather there is a loose coalition of factions, and lately it’s been quite ugly.
I don’t know the solution, but I know the problem. I believe that we need to 1) get better Democrats elected to the US Senate, and 2) to be clear about the impact that the Republican Party of NO is having on the country. Come to Timothy’s tomorrow night, and let’s discuss your ideas for solutions!
Delaware’s US Senate Race—We found out yesterday that Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden will run for re-election this November, and will not run against Republican Mike Castle for the US Senate seat. I expect that we will shortly hear of a leading Democratic candidate for US Senate, perhaps New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. I like Chris, and hope that he runs. Chris is smart and sharp, and won’t be afraid to call Castle on his Republican party-line voting record as our US Representative, despite his self-description as a moderate.
Castle would like nothing better than to follow in Massachusetts’ Republican Senator Scott Brown’s footsteps, and to campaign without mentioning that he is a Republican. We need a candidate who is smart and aggressive, and who will call ‘shenanigans’ on Castle’s lies.
Castle is well-known by Delaware voters (even if most don’t realize the fiction of his ‘moderateness’—Castle has been as moderate as W was a ‘compassionate conservative’). Castle is also well-financed. For Delaware to avoid being a Massachusetts, and giving the Republican Party another NO voter in the US Senate (a NO to a real energy policy, a real education policy, a real withdrawal from Iraq), WE need to select our Democratic nominee for US Senate from Delaware and WE need to contribute time AND money to them. If in 2008 you said ‘Yes we can,’ then THIS MEANS YOU.
Campaigns—I have agreed to chair the campaign of Carol Boncelet, who is a Democratic candidate for the 3rd district of New Castle County Council. Expect to hear more about this in the future, including how you can help. Email me if you are interested in contributing time or money to this campaign.
Progressive Democrats of Delaware—I am co-chair of the endorsement committee of the PDD (http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/). I am very excited about the current committee, and our plans to build upon the strengths of our efforts in 2008.
State Legislature—There is much going on in Dover in the coming months. We are hopeful that Governor Markell includes progressive ideals in his proposed budget, ideals that were largely absent in last year’s budget, which was largely inherited by Jack last January.
I am working on two initiatives, Senate Bill (SB) 20 (http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+20?Opendocument) would end the insane district gerrymandering, by establishing a non-partisan commission to update our state legislative districts. This would TREMENDOUSLY improve our government, by making our representatives much more responsive to their constituents, by ending the ‘safe seats’ that many now occupy.
House Bill (HB) 10 (http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+10?Opendocument) would provide benefits to domestic partners the same way that benefits are provided to spouses. In Delaware (at this point), same gender partners are forbidden from being ‘married,’ which makes such benefits unavailable to them. This is simply unfair. Until we permit marriage equality, we need to provide this equality of benefits to state workers.
Equality for All, Relationship Equality—We have made good progress in the past year in relationship equality, although we have also had some setbacks. Two groups that I really like, due to their work on this area is www.hrc.org, and www.aclu-de.org.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT)—It appears that this is close to moving forward (repeal of DADT). There is a petition at http://votevets.org/pages/?id=0026. A bill is in the works in Congress. This awful policy is WAY overdue to be eliminated. I hear that the word could go out in the coming months, at which time WE all need to speak up immediately and LOUDLY to help repeat DADT.
Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)—This bill will permit same-gender partners to sponsor their partner to become a US citizen, in the same way that an opposite gender partner can currently sponsor their partner (spouse) to become a US citizen. Visit http://www.immigrationequality.org/template.php?pageid=2 Contact your Congress members and urge them to support the Uniting American Families Act in immigration reform. Make a donation to Out4Immigration or Immigration Equality so others can be informed of the issue and encouraged to work for fairness. Check with Tom (tptierney914@yahoo.com) if you are able to help bring equality to our immigration policy.
Keeping Up with Paul—It is much easier to update Twitter than to send out these emails. You can find me at http://twitter.com/PBaumbachDE, and if you’d like, you can ‘follow’ me, and get my postings emailed or text’d to you. I posted yesterday morning about Beau Biden’s decision to run for AG rather than US Senate.
I also am a regular reader of www.delawareliberal.net, and a frequent contributor. This website is dynamite for keeping readers informed on primarily state, but also national, issues, from a liberal perspective. The primary contributors are GREAT (the conservative trolls are mostly annoying but sometimes amusing/pathetic). I have begun infrequent reading of www.dailykos.com, which is a national liberal site. My (thus far only) posting can be found at http://www.dailykos.com/user/GrapeSodaMan . I plan to post on DailyKos in the coming week or two on how WE have thus far failed to deliver on OUR campaign promises.
I continue to post all of these blast emails to my blog, http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/, and I also post there at times without sending emails, since sending blast emails is quite time consuming.
I therefore expect to stay in this current mode for now, posting regularly to DelawareLiberal (PBaumbach is my name there), Tweeting occasionally (twice a month?), adding to the blog (monthly?), and sending a blast email (every other month)? Given that, consider how you would like to be kept in the loop, if at all.
President Obama Update—Let me begin with my premise that Democrats who are disappointed in what the President has done in the past year may have forgotten Obama’s campaign slogan, and most importantly the middle third. Yes, WE Can. Obama has not lied to us, or failed to get good health care reform passed, WE have, thus far, failed. WE have failed to have our US Senators act responsibly. WE have failed to define and execute a strategy to handle the Republican Party of NO.
So what do WE do? You can choose to be an ostrich. I refuse. I am committed to ensuring that my actions are worthy of the hopes and dreams that this country selected in November 2008. I begin tomorrow night at 7:45pm, when the President will give his State of the Union speech. I’ll be going to Timothy’s restaurant in Newark, which is an Organizing for America event (http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/stateoftheunionwatchparty/gp8k5s). Find (or better yet host) an event that’s convenient to you at http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=mybobar
We have long understood that the media is largely a waste of time. One of the fictions they have been spreading is that the Democrats had 60 votes in the Senate (until this month). That is false. There are two or three liberal Democrats (Franken, Feingold, any others?), about thirty moderate Dems, about twenty conservative Dems (BlueDogs, including Delaware’s Tom Carper who never met a lobbyist he didn’t like), and a few sellout Dems (such as Nelson) who are quite willing to threaten to withhold their vote on a core Democratic issue in order to extort money from the US treasury for their state alone. Don’t get me started on Lieberman. The US Senate is not led by a majority party of Democrats. Rather there is a loose coalition of factions, and lately it’s been quite ugly.
I don’t know the solution, but I know the problem. I believe that we need to 1) get better Democrats elected to the US Senate, and 2) to be clear about the impact that the Republican Party of NO is having on the country. Come to Timothy’s tomorrow night, and let’s discuss your ideas for solutions!
Delaware’s US Senate Race—We found out yesterday that Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden will run for re-election this November, and will not run against Republican Mike Castle for the US Senate seat. I expect that we will shortly hear of a leading Democratic candidate for US Senate, perhaps New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. I like Chris, and hope that he runs. Chris is smart and sharp, and won’t be afraid to call Castle on his Republican party-line voting record as our US Representative, despite his self-description as a moderate.
Castle would like nothing better than to follow in Massachusetts’ Republican Senator Scott Brown’s footsteps, and to campaign without mentioning that he is a Republican. We need a candidate who is smart and aggressive, and who will call ‘shenanigans’ on Castle’s lies.
Castle is well-known by Delaware voters (even if most don’t realize the fiction of his ‘moderateness’—Castle has been as moderate as W was a ‘compassionate conservative’). Castle is also well-financed. For Delaware to avoid being a Massachusetts, and giving the Republican Party another NO voter in the US Senate (a NO to a real energy policy, a real education policy, a real withdrawal from Iraq), WE need to select our Democratic nominee for US Senate from Delaware and WE need to contribute time AND money to them. If in 2008 you said ‘Yes we can,’ then THIS MEANS YOU.
Campaigns—I have agreed to chair the campaign of Carol Boncelet, who is a Democratic candidate for the 3rd district of New Castle County Council. Expect to hear more about this in the future, including how you can help. Email me if you are interested in contributing time or money to this campaign.
Progressive Democrats of Delaware—I am co-chair of the endorsement committee of the PDD (http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/). I am very excited about the current committee, and our plans to build upon the strengths of our efforts in 2008.
State Legislature—There is much going on in Dover in the coming months. We are hopeful that Governor Markell includes progressive ideals in his proposed budget, ideals that were largely absent in last year’s budget, which was largely inherited by Jack last January.
I am working on two initiatives, Senate Bill (SB) 20 (http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+20?Opendocument) would end the insane district gerrymandering, by establishing a non-partisan commission to update our state legislative districts. This would TREMENDOUSLY improve our government, by making our representatives much more responsive to their constituents, by ending the ‘safe seats’ that many now occupy.
House Bill (HB) 10 (http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+10?Opendocument) would provide benefits to domestic partners the same way that benefits are provided to spouses. In Delaware (at this point), same gender partners are forbidden from being ‘married,’ which makes such benefits unavailable to them. This is simply unfair. Until we permit marriage equality, we need to provide this equality of benefits to state workers.
Equality for All, Relationship Equality—We have made good progress in the past year in relationship equality, although we have also had some setbacks. Two groups that I really like, due to their work on this area is www.hrc.org, and www.aclu-de.org.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT)—It appears that this is close to moving forward (repeal of DADT). There is a petition at http://votevets.org/pages/?id=0026. A bill is in the works in Congress. This awful policy is WAY overdue to be eliminated. I hear that the word could go out in the coming months, at which time WE all need to speak up immediately and LOUDLY to help repeat DADT.
Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)—This bill will permit same-gender partners to sponsor their partner to become a US citizen, in the same way that an opposite gender partner can currently sponsor their partner (spouse) to become a US citizen. Visit http://www.immigrationequality.org/template.php?pageid=2 Contact your Congress members and urge them to support the Uniting American Families Act in immigration reform. Make a donation to Out4Immigration or Immigration Equality so others can be informed of the issue and encouraged to work for fairness. Check with Tom (tptierney914@yahoo.com) if you are able to help bring equality to our immigration policy.
Keeping Up with Paul—It is much easier to update Twitter than to send out these emails. You can find me at http://twitter.com/PBaumbachDE, and if you’d like, you can ‘follow’ me, and get my postings emailed or text’d to you. I posted yesterday morning about Beau Biden’s decision to run for AG rather than US Senate.
I also am a regular reader of www.delawareliberal.net, and a frequent contributor. This website is dynamite for keeping readers informed on primarily state, but also national, issues, from a liberal perspective. The primary contributors are GREAT (the conservative trolls are mostly annoying but sometimes amusing/pathetic). I have begun infrequent reading of www.dailykos.com, which is a national liberal site. My (thus far only) posting can be found at http://www.dailykos.com/user/GrapeSodaMan . I plan to post on DailyKos in the coming week or two on how WE have thus far failed to deliver on OUR campaign promises.
I continue to post all of these blast emails to my blog, http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/, and I also post there at times without sending emails, since sending blast emails is quite time consuming.
I therefore expect to stay in this current mode for now, posting regularly to DelawareLiberal (PBaumbach is my name there), Tweeting occasionally (twice a month?), adding to the blog (monthly?), and sending a blast email (every other month)? Given that, consider how you would like to be kept in the loop, if at all.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Health Care Reform--What To Do--01/05/2010
I just posted this on Twitter: "for needed fixes for current health care reform (#HCR) legislation, read http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/5/104442/6836, & go to http://FinishReformRight.com & sign"
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Health Care Reform--12/29/2009
There is a lot of discussion on liberal blogs on how disappointing it has been to see the crap that has made it into the Senate health care reform (HCR) bill, essentially bribing Senators for their votes. I, too, am sickened by it all.
However, this is the Senate that we are stuck with for now. And we in Delaware have little to complain about--we are responsible for inflicting Tom (I never met a lobbyist I didn't like) Carper upon the Senate.
How bad is the Senate, and how has this led to the current state of HCR legislation? I want to share a good article on what's needed to prevent this crap going forward:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/12/24/DI2009122402454.html
The following article suggests one view on how and why President Obama operates the way he does. I think that it is darn likely, and quite insightful: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/opinion/26douthat.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
However, this is the Senate that we are stuck with for now. And we in Delaware have little to complain about--we are responsible for inflicting Tom (I never met a lobbyist I didn't like) Carper upon the Senate.
How bad is the Senate, and how has this led to the current state of HCR legislation? I want to share a good article on what's needed to prevent this crap going forward:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/12/24/DI2009122402454.html
The following article suggests one view on how and why President Obama operates the way he does. I think that it is darn likely, and quite insightful: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/opinion/26douthat.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Letter to Editor 12/16/2009
Economists Only Harry Truman Could Love
In their December 16th column, UD economists Stacie Beck and Eleanor Craig demonstrate a trait sought by President Harry Truman, when he said “Give me a one-handed economist! All my economists say, On the one hand on the other.” Of course it is easy for an economist to give a seemingly clear review such as Beck/Craig, when they stick to one-sided ideological views, and refuse to present the larger picture.
The failure of Beck/Craig to present an impartial view begins in their first two paragraphs. They state that the stimulus package has been a failure. Sure, that is a common Republican talking-point, but where is the support? They point out that the unemployment rate has risen this year to 10 percent, but they fail to note that weekly claims for the newly unemployed have fallen 44%, from 956,791 in early January to 531,743 last month. You don’t start bailing out your boat until you fix the leak. The leak has been fixed by the stimulus packages (promoted by both Bush and Obama), and most of us are working on getting the water out of the boat.
The reason that many ‘other industrialized countries’ have ‘rejected US-style stimulus spending’ is that they have stronger social systems (yes, read socialist), including much stronger unemployment benefits. In a sense, they passed US-style stimulus spending decades ago. I'm not promoting that approach, but I'm questioning why the associate professors failed to share that.
Was their purpose to illuminate or mislead? President Truman died in 1972. Who are Beck/Craig trying to impress?
Paul Baumbach, CFA, CFP(R), ChFC
In their December 16th column, UD economists Stacie Beck and Eleanor Craig demonstrate a trait sought by President Harry Truman, when he said “Give me a one-handed economist! All my economists say, On the one hand on the other.” Of course it is easy for an economist to give a seemingly clear review such as Beck/Craig, when they stick to one-sided ideological views, and refuse to present the larger picture.
The failure of Beck/Craig to present an impartial view begins in their first two paragraphs. They state that the stimulus package has been a failure. Sure, that is a common Republican talking-point, but where is the support? They point out that the unemployment rate has risen this year to 10 percent, but they fail to note that weekly claims for the newly unemployed have fallen 44%, from 956,791 in early January to 531,743 last month. You don’t start bailing out your boat until you fix the leak. The leak has been fixed by the stimulus packages (promoted by both Bush and Obama), and most of us are working on getting the water out of the boat.
The reason that many ‘other industrialized countries’ have ‘rejected US-style stimulus spending’ is that they have stronger social systems (yes, read socialist), including much stronger unemployment benefits. In a sense, they passed US-style stimulus spending decades ago. I'm not promoting that approach, but I'm questioning why the associate professors failed to share that.
Was their purpose to illuminate or mislead? President Truman died in 1972. Who are Beck/Craig trying to impress?
Paul Baumbach, CFA, CFP(R), ChFC
Monday, November 30, 2009
Progressive Update--11/30/2009--Out4Immigration
There is much inequality for the GLBT community. One area of inequality is immigration to the US. A non-gay couple, since they can marry and have their marriage recognized in the US, with one US citizen, can petition to have the other member of the couple immigrate to the US. However a gay couple (whether married outside the US (or inside) or not), has no such right.
Out4Immigration is an all grassroots organization and our letter writing campaign is now in its 40th week.
This week, we are focusing on Senator Thomas Carper (D) of Delaware.
Senator Carper recently stated in a Delaware News Journal article that he was unfamiliar with the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). The article was about bi-national couples in Delaware forced apart because of our nation's discriminatory immigration laws.
Please take action to help familiarize Senator Carper with the UAFA!
Click the link below to send an e-mail to Senator Carper, and please also forward this on to family and friends, and share on Facebook, Twitter, etc... We need as many people to sign this each week as possible, and the change.org link makes doing this quick and easy!
http://www.change.org/ideas/2008/view_action/urge_sen_carper_to_support_the_uniting_american_families_act
Interested in doing more? Click the link below for more ways you can support UAFA:
http://www.change.org/ideas/2008/view_blog/actions_to_take_to_get_more_support_for_uafa
Senator Thomas Carper
513 Hart Senate Office Building
District of Columbia 20510-0801
Phone: (202) 224-2441
Fax: (202) 228-2190
Out4Immigration is an all grassroots organization and our letter writing campaign is now in its 40th week.
This week, we are focusing on Senator Thomas Carper (D) of Delaware.
Senator Carper recently stated in a Delaware News Journal article that he was unfamiliar with the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). The article was about bi-national couples in Delaware forced apart because of our nation's discriminatory immigration laws.
Please take action to help familiarize Senator Carper with the UAFA!
Click the link below to send an e-mail to Senator Carper, and please also forward this on to family and friends, and share on Facebook, Twitter, etc... We need as many people to sign this each week as possible, and the change.org link makes doing this quick and easy!
http://www.change.org/ideas/2008/view_action/urge_sen_carper_to_support_the_uniting_american_families_act
Interested in doing more? Click the link below for more ways you can support UAFA:
http://www.change.org/ideas/2008/view_blog/actions_to_take_to_get_more_support_for_uafa
Senator Thomas Carper
513 Hart Senate Office Building
District of Columbia 20510-0801
Phone: (202) 224-2441
Fax: (202) 228-2190
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Progressive Update--11/04/2009
Matt Kerbel Speaks—Tomorrow at 7pm at DelDems HQ (directions at http://www.deldems.org/ht/d/sp/i/725590/pid/725590), Villanova political science professor and author/authority on politics and the media will speak at the monthly Progressive Dems of DE meeting (http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/). Matt’s most recent book, NetRoots (http://books.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=netroots+kerbel&box=netroots%20kerbel&pos=-1) is great. I have quoted Matt several times in the past, most often leading up to a national election, and his insight has been spot-on. You don’t want to miss this!
Come and Be Heard—Organizing for America (the successor to Obama for America), a national, grass-roots organization, is hosting a listening session this Saturday in Newark from 11am to noon. For more information, go to www.my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/listeningtour/gpch7g. You can also go to (http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=sidenav) to find an event near you.
Where Have I Been?—I have been a bit ‘off the grid’ for several weeks. Part of the reason is that I needed a breather after the fall election, and the Delaware legislative session that ended on June 30th. The Health Insurance Reform effort has been grueling, frustrating, and exciting (I especially liked the smack-down that the Delaware Democratic Party unleashed on Senator Tom Carper, reminding him that Delaware Democrats expected him to represent them, and not insurance companies, by supporting strong public health insurance option).
I have been a regular reader of www.delawareliberal.net, and a frequent contributor. This website is dynamite for keeping readers informed on primarily state, but also national, issues, from a liberal perspective. The primary contributors are GREAT (the conservative trolls are mostly annoying but sometimes amusing/pathetic). I have begun infrequent reading of www.dailykos.com, which is a national liberal site. My (thus far only) posting can be found at http://www.dailykos.com/user/GrapeSodaMan .
I have also begun using Twitter to post thoughts, primarily political in nature. You can find me at http://twitter.com/PBaumbachDE, and if you’d like, you can ‘follow’ me, and get my postings emailed or text’d to you.
I continue to post to my blog, http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/, and post there at times without sending emails. Why? Blast emails are very time consuming (or at least I am very time-inefficient in composing/sending them).
I therefore expect to stay in this current mode for now, posting regularly to DelawareLiberal (PBaumbach is my name there), Tweeting occasionally (twice a month?), adding to the blog (monthly?), and sending a blast email (every other month)? Given that, consider how you would like to be kept in the loop, if at all.
Equality for All, Relationship Equality—We have achieved some very good progress in this area in the past year. In June we were able to get sexual orientation added to the Delaware laws that forbid discrimination. Last month the Obama administration added sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions added to the federal hate crimes laws. Several states have begun to recognize domestic partnerships/civil unions for same-gender couples. There are two areas that I would invite you to work on. Two groups that I really like, due to their work on this area is www.hrc.org, and www.aclu-de.org.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT)—It appears that this is close to moving forward (repeal of DADT). There is a petition at http://votevets.org/pages/?id=0026. A bill is in the works in Congress. This awful policy is WAY overdue to be eliminated.
Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)—This bill will permit same-gender partners to sponsor their partner to become a US citizen, in the same way that an opposite gender partner can currently sponsor their partner (spouse) to become a US citizen. A local Newark couple is being deported this month due to this inequality. Visit http://www.immigrationequality.org/template.php?pageid=2 Contact your congress members and urge them to support the Uniting American Families Act in immigration reform. Make a donation to Out4Immigration or Immigration Equality so others can be informed of the issue and encouraged to work for fairness.
Come and Be Heard—Organizing for America (the successor to Obama for America), a national, grass-roots organization, is hosting a listening session this Saturday in Newark from 11am to noon. For more information, go to www.my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/listeningtour/gpch7g. You can also go to (http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=sidenav) to find an event near you.
Where Have I Been?—I have been a bit ‘off the grid’ for several weeks. Part of the reason is that I needed a breather after the fall election, and the Delaware legislative session that ended on June 30th. The Health Insurance Reform effort has been grueling, frustrating, and exciting (I especially liked the smack-down that the Delaware Democratic Party unleashed on Senator Tom Carper, reminding him that Delaware Democrats expected him to represent them, and not insurance companies, by supporting strong public health insurance option).
I have been a regular reader of www.delawareliberal.net, and a frequent contributor. This website is dynamite for keeping readers informed on primarily state, but also national, issues, from a liberal perspective. The primary contributors are GREAT (the conservative trolls are mostly annoying but sometimes amusing/pathetic). I have begun infrequent reading of www.dailykos.com, which is a national liberal site. My (thus far only) posting can be found at http://www.dailykos.com/user/GrapeSodaMan .
I have also begun using Twitter to post thoughts, primarily political in nature. You can find me at http://twitter.com/PBaumbachDE, and if you’d like, you can ‘follow’ me, and get my postings emailed or text’d to you.
I continue to post to my blog, http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/, and post there at times without sending emails. Why? Blast emails are very time consuming (or at least I am very time-inefficient in composing/sending them).
I therefore expect to stay in this current mode for now, posting regularly to DelawareLiberal (PBaumbach is my name there), Tweeting occasionally (twice a month?), adding to the blog (monthly?), and sending a blast email (every other month)? Given that, consider how you would like to be kept in the loop, if at all.
Equality for All, Relationship Equality—We have achieved some very good progress in this area in the past year. In June we were able to get sexual orientation added to the Delaware laws that forbid discrimination. Last month the Obama administration added sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions added to the federal hate crimes laws. Several states have begun to recognize domestic partnerships/civil unions for same-gender couples. There are two areas that I would invite you to work on. Two groups that I really like, due to their work on this area is www.hrc.org, and www.aclu-de.org.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT)—It appears that this is close to moving forward (repeal of DADT). There is a petition at http://votevets.org/pages/?id=0026. A bill is in the works in Congress. This awful policy is WAY overdue to be eliminated.
Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)—This bill will permit same-gender partners to sponsor their partner to become a US citizen, in the same way that an opposite gender partner can currently sponsor their partner (spouse) to become a US citizen. A local Newark couple is being deported this month due to this inequality. Visit http://www.immigrationequality.org/template.php?pageid=2 Contact your congress members and urge them to support the Uniting American Families Act in immigration reform. Make a donation to Out4Immigration or Immigration Equality so others can be informed of the issue and encouraged to work for fairness.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
09/02/2009 - Meeting with Carper - Cleaner Wrap Up
My take on the ‘listening session’ with Senator Tom Carper on 9/2/2009—Paul Baumbach
We met in a large meeting room at Arsht Hall on UD’s Wilmington campus. There were about 7 Carper staffers, including Racquel (spelling?), his health care ‘expert’. There were about 30 other folks, including representatives from many health-related organizations. Many doctors were there and represented (EMCO, emergency medical group—ER docs, medical society of Delaware, DE society of clinical Oncology, Nemours hospital for children, DE dietetic association, DE academy of family physicians, DE orthopedics, etc). There was an insurance broker (arguing for going much slower, ‘breaking down the walls between the states’, going the regional pool direction). There were some non-profits—American Cancer Society, ARC of DE (serving those with intellectual disabilities statewide), Easter Seals. There were two companies represented, Shoprite and WL Gore. And there were two PDDers, Kris Muto and myself.
Carper started with ten minutes or so of opening comments. He noted how he has been hearing from a very large number of people—10,000 in two conference calls, 22,000 or so emails and letters, thousands of phone calls, on the phone with Senate colleagues, etc.
His main pitch was reform must happen and will happen, however it will not meet any single person’s vision of what needs to be done. In his closing comments he noted that 80% of the bill is uncontroversial, and is terrific—making it illegal to refuse to cover pre-existing conditions, dropping someone after they get sick, etc. He did (in response to my statement) address ‘the public option’. He notes that there are a slew of models for a public option—the VA, Medicare, the Federal Employees Health System (operated by OMB, 3% annual overhead, but providing a menu of choices from private insurance companies—perhaps both for-profit and non-profit), also the Mayo/Cleveland Clinics, Peugot Sound health system, etc. ‘The Exchange’, a regional or national purchasing pool offering plans from private companies, would have lots of small businesses eligible, individuals also, the uninsured, and the poor would have help from tax credits using a sliding scale (disappearing at $60K in annual income).
The questions were typically local (one of the five versions of the bills doesn’t cover ER enough, or cancer enough, or nutrition enough, or prevention enough, etc, etc, etc). At least one doc whined about malpractice costs and the need for tort reform (using what has been working in California for years, is what he claimed).
A subset of my comments: “This year the President and Congressional Democrats have put forward key points of their vision for health insurance reform. One key point is a robust public option, the ability for Americans to choose a public health insurance option. Our soldiers, seniors, and Senators have a public health insurance option, one that doesn’t double premiums in under 10 years.
Now we find that this reform, this robust public option, is being held back by many senators who campaign as Democrats.
Our state elected you as a Democratic Party candidate. Our state elected President Barack Obama. When will you stand with your fellow Democratic Senators and champion a robust public option?”
It felt quite good to call Carper out as being a sorry excuse for a Democrat. I was pleased that in his closing comments shortly afterwards he did some backpedaling, noting that he is certainly open to a ‘public plan’, but noting that there are many ways of accomplishing this (such as watered down regional pools of private insurance offerings). He also noted, with no disparaging comments, the work of the Progressive Democrats.
Kris offered her very compelling story of the need for health reform now, and called attention to the moral and economic imperatives that require this. The woman from ARC also effectively tugged at the hearts of those in the room. I liked that these two emotional presentations came near the wrap-up, so that is what you remembered, more than the doctor whining about malpractice rates.
Carper stayed 2 hours despite only promising 90 minutes, and heard from everyone. His staff seemed attentive and helpful throughout. It is nice to be around friends, and thus I would have liked to see more advocates at this meeting, but it is also nice to be able to ‘howl at the moon’.
We met in a large meeting room at Arsht Hall on UD’s Wilmington campus. There were about 7 Carper staffers, including Racquel (spelling?), his health care ‘expert’. There were about 30 other folks, including representatives from many health-related organizations. Many doctors were there and represented (EMCO, emergency medical group—ER docs, medical society of Delaware, DE society of clinical Oncology, Nemours hospital for children, DE dietetic association, DE academy of family physicians, DE orthopedics, etc). There was an insurance broker (arguing for going much slower, ‘breaking down the walls between the states’, going the regional pool direction). There were some non-profits—American Cancer Society, ARC of DE (serving those with intellectual disabilities statewide), Easter Seals. There were two companies represented, Shoprite and WL Gore. And there were two PDDers, Kris Muto and myself.
Carper started with ten minutes or so of opening comments. He noted how he has been hearing from a very large number of people—10,000 in two conference calls, 22,000 or so emails and letters, thousands of phone calls, on the phone with Senate colleagues, etc.
His main pitch was reform must happen and will happen, however it will not meet any single person’s vision of what needs to be done. In his closing comments he noted that 80% of the bill is uncontroversial, and is terrific—making it illegal to refuse to cover pre-existing conditions, dropping someone after they get sick, etc. He did (in response to my statement) address ‘the public option’. He notes that there are a slew of models for a public option—the VA, Medicare, the Federal Employees Health System (operated by OMB, 3% annual overhead, but providing a menu of choices from private insurance companies—perhaps both for-profit and non-profit), also the Mayo/Cleveland Clinics, Peugot Sound health system, etc. ‘The Exchange’, a regional or national purchasing pool offering plans from private companies, would have lots of small businesses eligible, individuals also, the uninsured, and the poor would have help from tax credits using a sliding scale (disappearing at $60K in annual income).
The questions were typically local (one of the five versions of the bills doesn’t cover ER enough, or cancer enough, or nutrition enough, or prevention enough, etc, etc, etc). At least one doc whined about malpractice costs and the need for tort reform (using what has been working in California for years, is what he claimed).
A subset of my comments: “This year the President and Congressional Democrats have put forward key points of their vision for health insurance reform. One key point is a robust public option, the ability for Americans to choose a public health insurance option. Our soldiers, seniors, and Senators have a public health insurance option, one that doesn’t double premiums in under 10 years.
Now we find that this reform, this robust public option, is being held back by many senators who campaign as Democrats.
Our state elected you as a Democratic Party candidate. Our state elected President Barack Obama. When will you stand with your fellow Democratic Senators and champion a robust public option?”
It felt quite good to call Carper out as being a sorry excuse for a Democrat. I was pleased that in his closing comments shortly afterwards he did some backpedaling, noting that he is certainly open to a ‘public plan’, but noting that there are many ways of accomplishing this (such as watered down regional pools of private insurance offerings). He also noted, with no disparaging comments, the work of the Progressive Democrats.
Kris offered her very compelling story of the need for health reform now, and called attention to the moral and economic imperatives that require this. The woman from ARC also effectively tugged at the hearts of those in the room. I liked that these two emotional presentations came near the wrap-up, so that is what you remembered, more than the doctor whining about malpractice rates.
Carper stayed 2 hours despite only promising 90 minutes, and heard from everyone. His staff seemed attentive and helpful throughout. It is nice to be around friends, and thus I would have liked to see more advocates at this meeting, but it is also nice to be able to ‘howl at the moon’.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
09/02/2009 - Meeting with Senator Carper--Part Deux
Here are my raw notes. TC is Tom Carper, Q is someone else (a Questioner)
TC: focus on stuff we agree upon.
EMCO, small business council of America
doctors for emergency services (Ers)
med society of DE
american cancer society
cancer
de society of clinicial oncology
cigna benefits, but here as person
nemours hospital children
de dietetic association
de academy of family physicians
wl gore benefits
de orthopedics
broker
arc of de (intellectual disabilities)
easter seals
shoprite
many aides to carper
one of 3 listening sessions, met with newspapers throughout state, chambers of commerce, electronic town hall, he plans to listen and ask a few questions, but try to answer some questions, 22,000 or so emails and letters, and thousands of phone calls, spent time on phone with committee colleagues, september 15th is 'drop dead date' for bipartisan bill, else will proceed on own ways, may go through reconciliation (as does budget) to resolve disparities between various versions—reconciliation is designed for budget not issues such as healthcare—he hopes we don't have to go through this. Colleague in TN used conference call with 1400 people. Last tuesday's call had 4000 people, 400 stayed on the line afterwards to raise questions. Aarp hosted another one this past monday night. Over 6000 people.. phone calls had been mean a month ago—the tenor is changing, more positive, more constructive.
To not do something constructive would be a big mistake. We spend much more than peers (16% gdp), and many measures get worse results. 14000 people will lose benefits daily. 45Million have no coverage. Corporate bankruptcy in some cases is caused by healthcare costs. Doing nothing worsens an already bad fiscal trend. Why cant we have your health insurance? Federal employee health benefit plan (all 3 branches, and retirees and dependents, 8 million), one of largest pools, run by OPM, offer choices from private. $5000 average costs. Admin costs 3% of premiums. Why not expand this?? good idea, at least to replicate. National exchange, purchasing pool, or regional purchasing pools (de pa nj) several million folks strong, national would be tens of millions strong. Lots of small businesses would be eligible, individuals, uninsured, poor folks would have help from tax credits sliding scale (disappear at $60K), private plans are underlying feature, though.
Medicare prescription drug plans, compromise has hybrid, some states, with no competition, has public plan (fallback plan), most states have fine competition. 85-90% of users like it and most often makes a profit.
Would like to use federal employee health benefit plan as model for direction he would like to see
q: why are people so scared? Fed govt has failed to sufficiently fund medicare, medicaid, this leads to skepticism. Insufficient funding lead to reduced quality and availability.
tc—states are laboratories for fed govt. he asks colleagues to find models that work. De has panel that has cut malpractice suits by 50%, not by forbidding suits, but having a first step of presenting case before going to court. Obama has ideas on this.
Q: typical er patient 20 year old, complete dental decay. Insurance card is not going to fix that. Infrastructure in primary care is insufficient in massachusetts. Portability and pre-existing condition issue must be addressed. We need to remove fear. We must hold patients, doctors, and insurance firms accountable.
Q: we all agree that the system must be fine tuned if not overhauled. Federal plan has large base, better to expand it than start new pool—better to blend than create. Public option has been polarizing. Bill roth suggested expanding federal health plan. When does a proven experiment become usable? Tort reform in CA has worked for years and years, but malpractice insurance is 3x more in DE, and 6x more in PA, than in CA.
Tc mayo, cleveland clinic, and many others, are not fee for service, but primary wellness, etc, malpractice is paid by employers q to win war against cancer, we need good strong healthcare reform, we need coverage for all. Pre-existing and caps are death knell. Affordability hasn't been nailed down yet. Please keep this in mind.
Q: oncology—great progress has been made. Economically viable universal healthcare for cancer patients in DE now. Crisis is coming in medicare. (colleague begins) access to healthcare is problem, when funding is considered. To control costs, reimbursement coding is changed, to disproportionately affect populations differently. 20-40% cuts coming. Move from local locations to hospitals (which don't have capacity) for chemotherapy.
Q: supports fundamental change to how healthcare is delivere4d in the US.
Q: (Kinney family from shoprite). Playing field—if walmart supports the bill, this will likely give them a further competitive advantage. Shoprite pays 50% towards healthcare (payroll $80K per week in new store, $40K per week for health benefits). Asking shoprite to pay more (8%) for recent part time employees, is escalation and non-competitive move. This is in addition to recent de changes. Support solution for healthcare for un- and under-insured.
Tc senate committee (Kennedy) put forward bill. Safeway (200,000+ employees, union), kept hc costs flat, due largely to prevention
q: health of population will improve when we change financing system and culture of healthcare and health. Culture of prevention, personal responsibility, and having a medical home (partner). System for providing healthcare to uninsured must work in concert with private plans.
Tc Lean Act—prevention--every restaurant chain much have calories on menus or at least posted.
Q: nutrition services is foundation of culture of health.
Q: CBO judges prevention to be not cost-effective. Dieticians disagree (therapy for pre-diabetes rather than amputation later). Coverage desired for diet services.
Q; de medical society head—need for tort reform (experiments have proven effective). Prevention and exercise is key to future health. Take offense on our rating compared to other countries. More fair is 'after cancer is identified, what is the result in the US'. Must reign in the insurance industry. Physicians are forced to kowtow to insurance companies, force to drop long-term patients.
Q: more backbone is needed for more universal care in the US. We must have strong primary care base.
Q: his organization (AEFP) is very supportive of the bill. Policy has always supported universal healthcare, also supportive of primary care. DEFP urged to work locally. nutrition—quality food is too expensive (calories per dollar). Choices being made are often economic.
Q: (WL GORE) 8600 employees worldwide, 5000 in the US, 13500 covered by US health insurance plan, $44m/yr. Working on meaningful health improvement for employees. (colleague)
q: (shoprite) food industry perspective—cost for employees to go from public (medicaid?) to private, concern with employer mandate and 8% surcharge, could be incentive to go from private to public (only pay 8% to cancel current private plan).
Q: personal stories are available as resource to carper
q: people closest to problem are best able to solve the problem. Skeptical that the solution can come from washington. Concern for shift of power from senate to executive branch. Checks and balances should not be surrendered. Incentives are better than mandates. Standalone public option is not going to be workable. Incentive for small businesses to drop coverage.
Q: 25+ yrs insurance advisor. Clients all say we're all americans, not republicans, democrats, etc. we want to move forward. Going to be ongoing process—wheres the rush. Lets walk forward, avoid disasters. National exchange is not well understood. He prefers breakdown state by state walls for insurance companies, prefers regional pools/exchange.
Q psb, and kris—fear that reform will be scuttled and dilluted.
Q Mother of 3, husband, engineer, with preexisting condition, lost job at age 55, must borrow to pay cobra. Moral imperative, economic imperative for real health insurance reform.
TC: focus on stuff we agree upon.
EMCO, small business council of America
doctors for emergency services (Ers)
med society of DE
american cancer society
cancer
de society of clinicial oncology
cigna benefits, but here as person
nemours hospital children
de dietetic association
de academy of family physicians
wl gore benefits
de orthopedics
broker
arc of de (intellectual disabilities)
easter seals
shoprite
many aides to carper
one of 3 listening sessions, met with newspapers throughout state, chambers of commerce, electronic town hall, he plans to listen and ask a few questions, but try to answer some questions, 22,000 or so emails and letters, and thousands of phone calls, spent time on phone with committee colleagues, september 15th is 'drop dead date' for bipartisan bill, else will proceed on own ways, may go through reconciliation (as does budget) to resolve disparities between various versions—reconciliation is designed for budget not issues such as healthcare—he hopes we don't have to go through this. Colleague in TN used conference call with 1400 people. Last tuesday's call had 4000 people, 400 stayed on the line afterwards to raise questions. Aarp hosted another one this past monday night. Over 6000 people.. phone calls had been mean a month ago—the tenor is changing, more positive, more constructive.
To not do something constructive would be a big mistake. We spend much more than peers (16% gdp), and many measures get worse results. 14000 people will lose benefits daily. 45Million have no coverage. Corporate bankruptcy in some cases is caused by healthcare costs. Doing nothing worsens an already bad fiscal trend. Why cant we have your health insurance? Federal employee health benefit plan (all 3 branches, and retirees and dependents, 8 million), one of largest pools, run by OPM, offer choices from private. $5000 average costs. Admin costs 3% of premiums. Why not expand this?? good idea, at least to replicate. National exchange, purchasing pool, or regional purchasing pools (de pa nj) several million folks strong, national would be tens of millions strong. Lots of small businesses would be eligible, individuals, uninsured, poor folks would have help from tax credits sliding scale (disappear at $60K), private plans are underlying feature, though.
Medicare prescription drug plans, compromise has hybrid, some states, with no competition, has public plan (fallback plan), most states have fine competition. 85-90% of users like it and most often makes a profit.
Would like to use federal employee health benefit plan as model for direction he would like to see
q: why are people so scared? Fed govt has failed to sufficiently fund medicare, medicaid, this leads to skepticism. Insufficient funding lead to reduced quality and availability.
tc—states are laboratories for fed govt. he asks colleagues to find models that work. De has panel that has cut malpractice suits by 50%, not by forbidding suits, but having a first step of presenting case before going to court. Obama has ideas on this.
Q: typical er patient 20 year old, complete dental decay. Insurance card is not going to fix that. Infrastructure in primary care is insufficient in massachusetts. Portability and pre-existing condition issue must be addressed. We need to remove fear. We must hold patients, doctors, and insurance firms accountable.
Q: we all agree that the system must be fine tuned if not overhauled. Federal plan has large base, better to expand it than start new pool—better to blend than create. Public option has been polarizing. Bill roth suggested expanding federal health plan. When does a proven experiment become usable? Tort reform in CA has worked for years and years, but malpractice insurance is 3x more in DE, and 6x more in PA, than in CA.
Tc mayo, cleveland clinic, and many others, are not fee for service, but primary wellness, etc, malpractice is paid by employers q to win war against cancer, we need good strong healthcare reform, we need coverage for all. Pre-existing and caps are death knell. Affordability hasn't been nailed down yet. Please keep this in mind.
Q: oncology—great progress has been made. Economically viable universal healthcare for cancer patients in DE now. Crisis is coming in medicare. (colleague begins) access to healthcare is problem, when funding is considered. To control costs, reimbursement coding is changed, to disproportionately affect populations differently. 20-40% cuts coming. Move from local locations to hospitals (which don't have capacity) for chemotherapy.
Q: supports fundamental change to how healthcare is delivere4d in the US.
Q: (Kinney family from shoprite). Playing field—if walmart supports the bill, this will likely give them a further competitive advantage. Shoprite pays 50% towards healthcare (payroll $80K per week in new store, $40K per week for health benefits). Asking shoprite to pay more (8%) for recent part time employees, is escalation and non-competitive move. This is in addition to recent de changes. Support solution for healthcare for un- and under-insured.
Tc senate committee (Kennedy) put forward bill. Safeway (200,000+ employees, union), kept hc costs flat, due largely to prevention
q: health of population will improve when we change financing system and culture of healthcare and health. Culture of prevention, personal responsibility, and having a medical home (partner). System for providing healthcare to uninsured must work in concert with private plans.
Tc Lean Act—prevention--every restaurant chain much have calories on menus or at least posted.
Q: nutrition services is foundation of culture of health.
Q: CBO judges prevention to be not cost-effective. Dieticians disagree (therapy for pre-diabetes rather than amputation later). Coverage desired for diet services.
Q; de medical society head—need for tort reform (experiments have proven effective). Prevention and exercise is key to future health. Take offense on our rating compared to other countries. More fair is 'after cancer is identified, what is the result in the US'. Must reign in the insurance industry. Physicians are forced to kowtow to insurance companies, force to drop long-term patients.
Q: more backbone is needed for more universal care in the US. We must have strong primary care base.
Q: his organization (AEFP) is very supportive of the bill. Policy has always supported universal healthcare, also supportive of primary care. DEFP urged to work locally. nutrition—quality food is too expensive (calories per dollar). Choices being made are often economic.
Q: (WL GORE) 8600 employees worldwide, 5000 in the US, 13500 covered by US health insurance plan, $44m/yr. Working on meaningful health improvement for employees. (colleague)
q: (shoprite) food industry perspective—cost for employees to go from public (medicaid?) to private, concern with employer mandate and 8% surcharge, could be incentive to go from private to public (only pay 8% to cancel current private plan).
Q: personal stories are available as resource to carper
q: people closest to problem are best able to solve the problem. Skeptical that the solution can come from washington. Concern for shift of power from senate to executive branch. Checks and balances should not be surrendered. Incentives are better than mandates. Standalone public option is not going to be workable. Incentive for small businesses to drop coverage.
Q: 25+ yrs insurance advisor. Clients all say we're all americans, not republicans, democrats, etc. we want to move forward. Going to be ongoing process—wheres the rush. Lets walk forward, avoid disasters. National exchange is not well understood. He prefers breakdown state by state walls for insurance companies, prefers regional pools/exchange.
Q psb, and kris—fear that reform will be scuttled and dilluted.
Q Mother of 3, husband, engineer, with preexisting condition, lost job at age 55, must borrow to pay cobra. Moral imperative, economic imperative for real health insurance reform.
09/02/2009 - Meeting with Senator Carper--Part I
Kris Muto and I attended a 'closed door' listening session with Senator Carper this morning. There were a slew of doctors and healthcare folks (nutritianists, oncology folks, those who advocate for the disabled, medical society of DE, etc), a few corporates (Shoprite, WL Gore), and two PDDers. We were limited to a minute or two (except the first three ER docs who took about 5 minutes each).
My statement:
Due to the direction of the country following the 2004 elections, the Progressive Democrats of Delaware formed. One issue that upset us greatly was the ongoing occupation of Iraq. So we worked to get a majority of Democrats in the Senate in the 2006 elections. We learned that this was not sufficient as a majority of Democrats in the Senate with a Republican President could continue that occupation.
So we worked harder, and cut the number of Republicans to 40 in the Senate, and worked very hard to get Barack Obama elected as President. We assumed that this meant that core parts of his, and the party’s platform, would become enacted. A core plank is universal healthcare, or at least quality healthcare available and affordable to all Americans.
This year the President and Congressional Democrats have put forward key points of their vision for health insurance reform. One key point is a robust public option, the ability for Americans to choose a public health insurance option. Our soldiers, seniors, and Senators have a public health insurance option, one that doesn’t double premiums in under 10 years.
Now we find that this reform, this robust public option, is being held back by many senators who campaign as Democrats.
Our state elected you as a Democratic Party candidate. Our state elected President Barack Obama. When will you stand with your fellow Democratic Senators and champion a robust public option?
I will next post my (ugly) notes.
My statement:
Due to the direction of the country following the 2004 elections, the Progressive Democrats of Delaware formed. One issue that upset us greatly was the ongoing occupation of Iraq. So we worked to get a majority of Democrats in the Senate in the 2006 elections. We learned that this was not sufficient as a majority of Democrats in the Senate with a Republican President could continue that occupation.
So we worked harder, and cut the number of Republicans to 40 in the Senate, and worked very hard to get Barack Obama elected as President. We assumed that this meant that core parts of his, and the party’s platform, would become enacted. A core plank is universal healthcare, or at least quality healthcare available and affordable to all Americans.
This year the President and Congressional Democrats have put forward key points of their vision for health insurance reform. One key point is a robust public option, the ability for Americans to choose a public health insurance option. Our soldiers, seniors, and Senators have a public health insurance option, one that doesn’t double premiums in under 10 years.
Now we find that this reform, this robust public option, is being held back by many senators who campaign as Democrats.
Our state elected you as a Democratic Party candidate. Our state elected President Barack Obama. When will you stand with your fellow Democratic Senators and champion a robust public option?
I will next post my (ugly) notes.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
08/26/2009--Letter to Editor--Supporting Robust Public Healthcare Option
I submitted this letter this afternoon to the Wilmington News Journal.
Robust Health Requires Robust Public Option
Public health insurance serves our soldiers, our seniors, and our Senators. Why not the rest of us: self-employed persons, small businesses, people between jobs, and young persons with multiple part-time jobs?
Private health insurance works quite well for those employed by large companies. But it fails the rest of the country, the almost 50 million Americans without health insurance, who are often one illness away from bankruptcy. It fails those who lose their job, and with it their health insurance. It fails those who stay at their job purely for the health insurance, unable to leave or retire, due to healthcare concerns. It fails those whose economic life is overwhelmed by the cost of their chronic disease.
Our current system works for many, but also fails a great many. Our country is too great to permit this injustice to continue, and to grow. If you feel that private health insurance companies alone provide the best health care our country offers, then insist that your senator vote to terminate the public health coverage they themselves enjoy, and that enjoyed by our soldiers, and your parents and grandparents.
If, instead, you recognize that millions will benefit from the choice of a robust public option, then let your senator know.
Robust Health Requires Robust Public Option
Public health insurance serves our soldiers, our seniors, and our Senators. Why not the rest of us: self-employed persons, small businesses, people between jobs, and young persons with multiple part-time jobs?
Private health insurance works quite well for those employed by large companies. But it fails the rest of the country, the almost 50 million Americans without health insurance, who are often one illness away from bankruptcy. It fails those who lose their job, and with it their health insurance. It fails those who stay at their job purely for the health insurance, unable to leave or retire, due to healthcare concerns. It fails those whose economic life is overwhelmed by the cost of their chronic disease.
Our current system works for many, but also fails a great many. Our country is too great to permit this injustice to continue, and to grow. If you feel that private health insurance companies alone provide the best health care our country offers, then insist that your senator vote to terminate the public health coverage they themselves enjoy, and that enjoyed by our soldiers, and your parents and grandparents.
If, instead, you recognize that millions will benefit from the choice of a robust public option, then let your senator know.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Progressive Update--08/05/2009
Health Care Reform—With the Delaware state legislature on its 6 month hiatus, job #1 for many liberals is helping to get good reform to health care. In Newark, Richard Field (rtfield@verizon.net) and Jennifer Hill (jennannhill@gmail.com) and several others are helping to push this along. With legislators such as Tom Carper, a lot of pushing is necessary, to counter-balance the insurance lobbying they are receiving. Let Richard know by email if you would like to be added to his email list of those interested in learning more about planned health care reform.
Richard and Jen and others have organized a forum this Monday, the 10th, at 6:30pm. Are you confused and uncertain about what will happen when health care reform passes? There is so much information and misinformation it is hard for us all to discern the truth. So we are bringing to you a real expert (nationally recognized Families USA Deputy Director Kathleen Stoll) who can explain the bill and how it will help us here in Delaware. There is a flyer at http://udel.edu/~rtfield/Training.pdf. Please print and distribute it. Please attend, and bring a friend!
Legislative Wrap-Up—With Democrats in charge of the state House, and with one fewer Blue Dog Democrat in the state Senate, finally some good legislation made it through Dover this year. Hopefully we can continue this momentum in January when the legislature re-convenes.
Equal Rights for All—Newark—I understand that the city council meeting next Monday will address some of the equal rights proposals, however 1) I have not confirmed this, and 2) I am certain that you will first attend the health care reform meeting that begins at 6:30pm, as described earlier.
Richard and Jen and others have organized a forum this Monday, the 10th, at 6:30pm. Are you confused and uncertain about what will happen when health care reform passes? There is so much information and misinformation it is hard for us all to discern the truth. So we are bringing to you a real expert (nationally recognized Families USA Deputy Director Kathleen Stoll) who can explain the bill and how it will help us here in Delaware. There is a flyer at http://udel.edu/~rtfield/Training.pdf. Please print and distribute it. Please attend, and bring a friend!
Legislative Wrap-Up—With Democrats in charge of the state House, and with one fewer Blue Dog Democrat in the state Senate, finally some good legislation made it through Dover this year. Hopefully we can continue this momentum in January when the legislature re-convenes.
Equal Rights for All—Newark—I understand that the city council meeting next Monday will address some of the equal rights proposals, however 1) I have not confirmed this, and 2) I am certain that you will first attend the health care reform meeting that begins at 6:30pm, as described earlier.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
06/23/2009--Letter to Senator Carper
I have friends going to Washington DC on Thursday, who will take my hand-written letter to hand-deliver to our pal Tom Carper. There are buses leaving from New Castle County.
TO ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN GOING ON THURS. JUNE 25TH PLEASE CONTACT DARLENE BATTLE 302-588-1782 OR JENNIFER HILL 302-293-8682. THERE WILL BE A BUS LEAVING FROM WILMINGTON AND ONE LEAVING FROM NEWARK. THIS IS TOO IMPORTANT SO PASS THE WORD TO ALL YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!
You can go to www.StandwithDrDean.com/LastChance and sign an online petition urging the inclusion of a nationwide, government-administered health insurance program (Medicare for all).
My letter reads:
Dear Senator Carper,
I am writing to urge you to support the healthcare proposal backed by President Obama. I am most concerned with your lack of support, recently, for the public option, a Medicare-like government-run healthcare option available to Americans under 65 years of age, such as myself.
I am a self-employed business owner, with seven other employees. I cannot currently afford to provide healthcare coverage for my employees, due to the high cost of our current system that lacks a public option.
I have heard that you only support a state-wide or regional-based quasi-public option. I consider this ill-advised. One of the reasons that Medicare can keep their costs so much lower than private insurance companies is scale. Scale would be lost if the ‘collectives’ were each only 5% or so the size of a single collective, as embodied by the public option that I urge you to support.
I encourage you to closely review the very recent New York Times/CBS News poll, which showed that 72% of respondents (including 87% of Democrats, 73% of Independents, and even 50% of Republicans) support a ‘government administered health insurance plan like Medicare.’
Delaware has elected you to represent our state in Washington DC. Please do so, and start working to solve our health care crisis. Please begin by strongly supporting a nationwide, public health insurance option.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Respectfully,
TO ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN GOING ON THURS. JUNE 25TH PLEASE CONTACT DARLENE BATTLE 302-588-1782 OR JENNIFER HILL 302-293-8682. THERE WILL BE A BUS LEAVING FROM WILMINGTON AND ONE LEAVING FROM NEWARK. THIS IS TOO IMPORTANT SO PASS THE WORD TO ALL YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!
You can go to www.StandwithDrDean.com/LastChance and sign an online petition urging the inclusion of a nationwide, government-administered health insurance program (Medicare for all).
My letter reads:
Dear Senator Carper,
I am writing to urge you to support the healthcare proposal backed by President Obama. I am most concerned with your lack of support, recently, for the public option, a Medicare-like government-run healthcare option available to Americans under 65 years of age, such as myself.
I am a self-employed business owner, with seven other employees. I cannot currently afford to provide healthcare coverage for my employees, due to the high cost of our current system that lacks a public option.
I have heard that you only support a state-wide or regional-based quasi-public option. I consider this ill-advised. One of the reasons that Medicare can keep their costs so much lower than private insurance companies is scale. Scale would be lost if the ‘collectives’ were each only 5% or so the size of a single collective, as embodied by the public option that I urge you to support.
I encourage you to closely review the very recent New York Times/CBS News poll, which showed that 72% of respondents (including 87% of Democrats, 73% of Independents, and even 50% of Republicans) support a ‘government administered health insurance plan like Medicare.’
Delaware has elected you to represent our state in Washington DC. Please do so, and start working to solve our health care crisis. Please begin by strongly supporting a nationwide, public health insurance option.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Respectfully,
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Progressive Update--06/16/2009--Act TODAY
Equal Rights for All—State wide—House Bill 5 (HB5), which would make it illegal in Delaware to discriminate based on sexual orientation, for housing, employment, insurance, etc, has been effectively replaced with Senate Bill 121 (SB121, http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+121?Opendocument). This should pass the Senate quickly, and the House even faster. This is the reason that opponents are scrambling. Go to http://www.delawarefamilies.org/index.cfm to see what they are doing. They have outright lies there. There is no provision of SB121 affecting what is taught in schools. SB121 is simple—it makes it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, and insurance.
We have our own website, at http://dehb5.heroku.com/ , which helps you find your senator and reach out to them to ask them to support SB121, AND OPPOSE ANY AMENDMENTS. PLEASE, reach out to your senator TODAY and help get SB121 passed!
Senators considered ‘on the fence’ (by the opposition) include Catherin Cloutier, Bruce Ennis, Bethany Hall-Long, Bobby Marshall, and David McBride. They need to hear that they have constituents that oppose such discrimination and that support SB121.
Senators considered supportive of SB121 include Patty Blevins, George Bunting, Brian Bushweller, Dori Connor, Margaret Rose Henry, Michael Katz, Harris McDowell, Karen Peterson, David Sokola, and Liane Sorenson. They need to hear that they have constituent that appreciate their brave support of this bill.
If you are a member of a faith community in Delaware, go to www.towardequality.org, and see if your leader (pastor, rabbi, etc) has already signed the clergy statement of support. If not, ask them to do so.
There is a hearing of the Senate Insurance Committee tomorrow at 2pm in the Senate. Let Kim Siegel (aclu@aclu-de.org) know if you can make it and would like to speak.
Open Government—House Bill 1 (HB1) passed both houses, and Governor Markell signed it on Friday the 12th. Go to http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BL&Dato=20090612&Kategori=PHOTOS01&Lopenr=906120802&Ref=PH for some pictures. Ensuring Open Government in Dover was rightly a VERY high priority, for without public scrutiny, we cannot see what Dover is doing for/to us.
Prison Reform—House Bill 168 (HB168, http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+168?Opendocument) was introduced in the house on May 14th, and is sitting in the House Judiciary Committee. HB168 will repeal mandatory sentences for certain drug offenses, and restore flexibility to the courts. It will permit the judge to determine the best sentence, given the full circumstances. Please ask your state Senator and Representative to support HB168, repealing mandatory minimum sentences.
De Facto Parenting—Senate Bill 84 (SB84, http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+84?Opendocument) passed the Senate in May, and awaits a vote in the House. This bill reinforces ‘de facto parenting’, for those who care for children as would a biological parent. This could be a step-parent, grand-parent, adoptive parent, etc. Most importantly, it permits the Family Court to make the decision of who best can assume parental responsibilities for a child. Please ask your state Representative to support SB84, reinforcing de facto parents.
Equal Rights for All—Newark—This is taking a rather long path. My favorite statement by a city council person at a meeting last week (in early June) was that they wanted a meeting in August ‘to keep the momentum going.’ “We shall overcome because the arc of a moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” The arc of a moral universe in Newark is also quite long. Stay tuned.
We have our own website, at http://dehb5.heroku.com/ , which helps you find your senator and reach out to them to ask them to support SB121, AND OPPOSE ANY AMENDMENTS. PLEASE, reach out to your senator TODAY and help get SB121 passed!
Senators considered ‘on the fence’ (by the opposition) include Catherin Cloutier, Bruce Ennis, Bethany Hall-Long, Bobby Marshall, and David McBride. They need to hear that they have constituents that oppose such discrimination and that support SB121.
Senators considered supportive of SB121 include Patty Blevins, George Bunting, Brian Bushweller, Dori Connor, Margaret Rose Henry, Michael Katz, Harris McDowell, Karen Peterson, David Sokola, and Liane Sorenson. They need to hear that they have constituent that appreciate their brave support of this bill.
If you are a member of a faith community in Delaware, go to www.towardequality.org, and see if your leader (pastor, rabbi, etc) has already signed the clergy statement of support. If not, ask them to do so.
There is a hearing of the Senate Insurance Committee tomorrow at 2pm in the Senate. Let Kim Siegel (aclu@aclu-de.org) know if you can make it and would like to speak.
Open Government—House Bill 1 (HB1) passed both houses, and Governor Markell signed it on Friday the 12th. Go to http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BL&Dato=20090612&Kategori=PHOTOS01&Lopenr=906120802&Ref=PH for some pictures. Ensuring Open Government in Dover was rightly a VERY high priority, for without public scrutiny, we cannot see what Dover is doing for/to us.
Prison Reform—House Bill 168 (HB168, http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+168?Opendocument) was introduced in the house on May 14th, and is sitting in the House Judiciary Committee. HB168 will repeal mandatory sentences for certain drug offenses, and restore flexibility to the courts. It will permit the judge to determine the best sentence, given the full circumstances. Please ask your state Senator and Representative to support HB168, repealing mandatory minimum sentences.
De Facto Parenting—Senate Bill 84 (SB84, http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+84?Opendocument) passed the Senate in May, and awaits a vote in the House. This bill reinforces ‘de facto parenting’, for those who care for children as would a biological parent. This could be a step-parent, grand-parent, adoptive parent, etc. Most importantly, it permits the Family Court to make the decision of who best can assume parental responsibilities for a child. Please ask your state Representative to support SB84, reinforcing de facto parents.
Equal Rights for All—Newark—This is taking a rather long path. My favorite statement by a city council person at a meeting last week (in early June) was that they wanted a meeting in August ‘to keep the momentum going.’ “We shall overcome because the arc of a moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” The arc of a moral universe in Newark is also quite long. Stay tuned.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
OOPS--5/28/2009
Sorry about this. The Listening session on June 1st is being held by Republican US Rep. Mike Castle, not Democratic US Senator Tom Carper.
I was mis-informed, and yesterday I passed this misinformation onto you.
Sorry!
I was mis-informed, and yesterday I passed this misinformation onto you.
Sorry!
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