Public Health Insurance Option Key to Obama Healthcare Plan

If Congress passes Obama's plan and Americans are given the choice of a public health insurance option similar to Medicare, we could all save up to 30% on our health care premiums. That's a huge savings, and we'd still get high-quality coverage and be able to choose our doctors.

And even if you choose to keep your current insurance, you'd save anyway. HMOs and big insurance companies are the only game in town right now—so they overcharge us to boost profits and pay out CEO bonuses. If Obama's plan passes, they'd have to compete with it, and their prices would have to be more honest.

Lower premiums for us means lower profits for them, so insurance companies are putting extreme pressure on Congress to drop the public health insurance option. But Americans deserve to have this choice—and it's necessary to help rein in out-of-control health care costs.

Imagine how different things would be if we all had quality health care that costs up to 30% less than what we're paying now. Would you use the money toward college for a child? A safe retirement? Or maybe you'll finally be able to afford the treatment or medicines you need.

The simple truth is that having the choice of a public health insurance option would make all of our lives better. Here's why:

Health care costs are spiraling out of control. From 2000 to 2008, health insurance premiums increased five times faster than wages.

A public health insurance option would provide an affordable, quality alternative. Two new studies show that Americans could save 25% or more off of a traditional private plan. The New York Times says this would "keep the private plans honest."They'll have to lower rates and offer better value to compete.

Plus, a public health insurance option would be reliable coverage for all.

Private insurers are notorious for dumping people with little notice. A public option would allow consumers who've been dropped—or just don't like their current coverage—to switch to a steady public choice.

Thankfully, the public health insurance option is gaining steam in Congress. The 77-member Progressive Caucus recently endorsed the policy. And the chairmen of five critical congressional committees came out in support. Now we need to get the rest of Washington on board. Click below to

Tell Congress how the choice would help you.

Sources:

1."The Path to a High Performance U.S. Health System," The Commonwealth Fund, February 19, 2009

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51221&id=15917-8972352-4hapTax&t=5

2. "Health Insurance Costs Outpace Wages," WebMD, October 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51311&id=15917-8972352-4hapTax&t=6

3."The Path to a High Performance U.S. Health System," The Commonwealth Fund, February 19, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51221&id=15917-8972352-4hapTax&t=7

"The Cost and Coverage Impacts of a Public Plan: Alternative Design Options," The Lewin Group, April 6, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51315&id=15917-8972352-4hapTax&t=8

4."A Public Plan for Health Insurance?" The New York Times, April 6, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/opinion/07tue1.html

5. "Obama Should Offer Public Health Insurance to All," The Progressive, March 13, 2009
http://www.progressive.org/mag/mpcastellblanch031309.html

6. "Progressive Caucus Draws a Line on Health Care," Open Left, April 2, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51313&id=15917-8972352-4hapTax&t=9

7. "Democrats Agree on a Health Plan: Now Comes the Hard Part," New York Times, March 31, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51314&id=15917-8972352-4hapTax&t=10

Copyright @ 1998-2009
All Rights Reserved

GOP Budget Proves They Still Don't Get It.

Why Does Our Budget Need Numbers?

Last week, the Emperor of Evil, John "Bonehead" Boehner, stood before the media and proudly presented the Republican Party's idea of an alternative budget. One problem: no numbers. Yesterday, another empty suit stood before the media and proudly stated that "this one has numbers". AMAZING. I reviewed it and came up with the three most important numbers in their budget:

$4 trillion in tax breaks for the wealthy (shall we call this Bush Plan Revisited)?

#31 billion in tax breaks for the Oil industry, breaks which the Obama budget eliminates.

A $1+ trillion deficit.

This proves one thing. The GOP is rudderless and still doesn't understand the needs of the American people. PATHETIC!



















Copyright @ 1998-2009
All Rights Reserved

Obama's Weekly Address: 2/7/09

Transcript:

"Yesterday began with some devastating news with regard to our economic crisis. But I'm pleased to say it ended on a more positive note.

In the morning, we received yet another round of alarming employment figures – the worst in more than 30 years. Another 600,000 jobs were lost in January. We've now lost more than 3.6 million jobs since this recession began.

But by the evening, Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands.

In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face. That was, after all, what last November's election was all about.

Legislation of such magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it's received over the last month, and it will receive more in the days to come. But we can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary. The scale and scope of this plan is right. And the time for action is now.

Because if we don't move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe. Millions of Americans will lose their jobs, their homes, and their health care. Millions more will have to put their dreams on hold.

Let's be clear: We can't expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years, doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place. We can't rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges – the crushing cost of health care or the inadequate state of so many schools; our addiction to foreign oil or our crumbling roads, bridges, and levees.

The American people know that our challenges are great. They don't expect Democratic solutions or Republican solutions – they expect American solutions.

From the beginning, this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea: Let's put Americans to work doing the work America needs done. It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, nearly 80,000 in Indiana – almost all of them in the private sector, and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow.

Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide – at least 485 in Florida alone – and train an army of teachers in math and science.

Jobs that modernize our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

Jobs that construct a smart electric grid, connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway, double our capacity to generate renewable energy, and grow the economy of tomorrow.

Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and levees and dams, so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again.

It includes immediate tax relief for our struggling middle class in places like Ohio, where 4.5 million workers will receive a tax cut of up to $1,000. It protects health insurance and provides unemployment insurance for those who've lost their jobs. And it helps our states and communities avoid painful tax hikes or layoffs for our teachers, nurses, and first responders.

That's what is at stake with this plan: putting Americans back to work, creating transformative economic change, and making a down payment on the American Dream that serves our children and our children's children for generations to come.

Americans across this country are struggling, and they are watching to see if we're equal to the task before us. Let's show them that we are. And let's do whatever it takes to keep the promise of America alive in our time.

Thank you."

Copyright @ 1998-2009
All Rights Reserved

Emperor of Evil

John Boehner - Working Against the President

As Barack Obama takes over the office of the Presidency, our economy lies in shambles, the result of eight (8) years of mismanagement, policies favoring only corporations and the very rich, and an outright disdain for the comfort and security of the American people led by the antiquated Republican Party.

These same Republicans, led by the Darth Vader of this era, John Boehner, have decided to block Obama's attempts at bi-partisanship so he can "fail" in the immortal words of Mr. Oxycontin himself, Rush Limburger. Should Obama fail due to the lack of cooperation of the Republican Party who criticize his plan (as if they are experts with a plan of their own), they hope to discredit the man whom the American people have entrusted to get us out of this economic mess.

Who is Republican leader John Boehner? On the Budget and Economy, He

• Voted NO on defining "energy emergency" on federal gas prices. (Jun 2008)
• Voted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry. (Nov 2007)
• Voted YES on restricting bankruptcy rules. (Jan 2004)
• Supports balanced budget amendment & line item veto. (Sep 1994)

Civil Rights:

• Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
• Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman. (Jul 2006)
• Voted YES on making the PATRIOT Act permanent. (Dec 2005)
• Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)
• Voted YES on protecting the Pledge of Allegiance. (Sep 2004)
• Voted YES on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. (Jun 2003)
• Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
• Voted YES on ending preferential treatment by race in college admissions. (May 1998)
• Supports anti-flag desecration amendment. (Mar 2001)
• Rated 7% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
• Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
• Rated 28% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)

Corporations:

• Voted NO on allowing stockholder voting on executive compensation. (Apr 2007)
• Voted YES on replacing illegal export tax breaks with $140B in new breaks. (Jun 2004)
• Voted YES on Bankruptcy Overhaul requiring partial debt repayment. (Mar 2001)
• Rated 100% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)

Crime:

• Voted NO on expanding services for offendors' re-entry into society. (Nov 2007)
• Voted NO on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons. (Jun 2000)
• Voted YES on more prosecution and sentencing for juvenile crime. (Jun 1999)
• Voted NO on maintaining right of habeas corpus in Death Penalty Appeals. (Mar 1996)
• Voted YES on making federal death penalty appeals harder. (Feb 1995)
• Voted NO on replacing death penalty with life imprisonment. (Apr 1994)
• Rated 30% by CURE, indicating anti-rehabilitation crime votes. (Dec 2000)
• Require DNA testing for all federal executions. (Mar 2001)
• More prison cells; more truth in sentencing. (Nov 1993)
• More prisons, more enforcement, effective death penalty. (Sep 1994)

Drugs:

• Voted NO on military border patrols to battle drugs & terrorism. (Sep 2001)
• Voted YES on prohibiting needle exchange & medical marijuana in DC. (Oct 1999)
• Voted NO on subjecting federal employees to random drug tests. (Sep 1998)
• Rated -30 by NORML, indicating a "hard-on-drugs" stance. (Dec 2006)

Education:

• Voted NO on additional $10.2B for federal education & HHS projects. (Nov 2007)
• Voted NO on allowing Courts to decide on "God" in Pledge of Allegiance. (Jul 2006)
• Voted NO on $84 million in grants for Black and Hispanic colleges. (Mar 2006)
• Voted YES on allowing school prayer during the War on Terror. (Nov 2001)
• Voted YES on requiring states to test students. (May 2001)
• Voted YES on allowing vouchers in DC schools. (Aug 1998)
• Voted YES on vouchers for private & parochial schools. (Nov 1997)
• Voted YES on giving federal aid only to schools allowing voluntary prayer. (Mar 1994)
• Supports requiring schools to allow prayer. (Jan 2001)
• Rated 17% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)
• Supports a Constitutional Amendment for school prayer. (May 1997

Employment:

• Voted NO on overriding presidential veto of Farm Bill. (Jun 2008)
• Voted NO on restricting employer interference in union organizing. (Mar 2007)
• Voted NO on increasing minimum wage to $7.25. (Jan 2007)
• Voted YES on end offshore tax havens and promote small business. (Oct 2004)
• Voted YES on $167B over 10 years for farm price supports. (Oct 2001)
• Voted YES on zero-funding OSHA's Ergonomics Rules instead of $4.5B. (Mar 2001)
• Rated 7% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record. (Dec 2003)
• Incentives to businesses create jobs & raise wages. (Sep 1994)

Energy and Oil:

• Voted NO on tax incentives for energy production and conservation. (May 2008)
• Voted NO on tax incentives for renewable energy. (Feb 2008)
• Voted NO on investing in homegrown biofuel. (Aug 2007)
• Voted NO on criminalizing oil cartels like OPEC. (May 2007)
• Voted NO on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jan 2007)
• Voted NO on keeping moratorium on drilling for oil offshore. (Jun 2006)
• Voted YES on scheduling permitting for new oil refinieries. (Jun 2006)
• Voted YES on authorizing construction of new oil refineries. (Oct 2005)
• Voted YES on passage of the Bush Administration national energy policy. (Jun 2004)
• Voted YES on implementing Bush-Cheney national energy policy. (Nov 2003)
• Voted NO on raising CAFE standards; incentives for alternative fuels. (Aug 2001)
• Voted NO on prohibiting oil drilling & development in ANWR. (Aug 2001)
• Voted NO on starting implementation of Kyoto Protocol. (Jun 2000)
• Rated 0% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence. (Dec 2006)

Healthcare:

• Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)
• Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids. (Jan 2008)
• Voted NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Oct 2007)
• Voted NO on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Jan 2007)
• Voted YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay. (Feb 2006)
• Voted YES on limiting medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 damages. (May 2004)
• Voted YES on limited prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients. (Nov 2003)
• Voted NO on allowing reimportation of prescription drugs. (Jul 2003)
• Voted YES on small business associations for buying health insurance. (Jun 2003)
• Voted YES on capping damages & setting time limits in medical lawsuits. (Mar 2003)
• Voted YES on allowing suing HMOs, but under federal rules & limited award. (Aug 2001)
• Voted YES on subsidizing private insurance for Medicare Rx drug coverage. (Jun 2000)
• Voted YES on banning physician-assisted suicide. (Oct 1999)
• Voted YES on establishing tax-exempt Medical Savings Accounts. (Oct 1999)
• Rated 0% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)

Tax Reform:

• Voted NO on extending AMT exemptions to avoid hitting middle-income. (Jun 2008)
• Voted NO on paying for AMT relief by closing offshore business loopholes. (Dec 2007)
• Voted YES on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains & dividends. (Dec 2005)
• Voted YES on providing tax relief and simplification. (Sep 2004)
• Voted YES on making permanent an increase in the child tax credit. (May 2004)
• Voted YES on permanently eliminating the marriage penalty. (Apr 2004)
• Voted YES on making the Bush tax cuts permanent. (Apr 2002)
• Voted YES on $99 B economic stimulus: capital gains & income tax cuts. (Oct 2001)
• Voted YES on Tax cut package of $958 B over 10 years. (May 2001)
• Voted YES on eliminating the Estate Tax ("death tax"). (Apr 2001)
• Voted YES on eliminating the "marriage penalty". (Jul 2000)
• Voted YES on $46 billion in tax cuts for small business. (Mar 2000)
• Phaseout the death tax. (Mar 2001)
• Rated 63% by NTU, indicating "Satisfactory" on tax votes. (Dec 2003)
• Rated 0% by the CTJ, indicating opposition to progressive taxation. (Dec 2006)
• Member of the Congressional Flat Tax Caucus. (Nov 2007)
• Repeal marriage tax; cut middle class taxes. (Sep 1994)

SOURCE: ON THE ISSUES.ORG


John Boehner is an extreme right-wing Senator with strong corporate and religious beliefs who clearly is out of touch with the needs of the American people in today's world. He is a typical Republican dinosaur who acts only in the best interests of corporations and the very wealthy with complete arrogance and disregard for America. He is a clear example of how far removed from reality the Republican Party has become. It is now the party of Boehner, Limbaugh and Palin. Honest Abe Lincoln must be turning over in his grave.
















GARY MIALOCQ & ASSOCIATES
Copyright @ 1998-2009
All Rights Reserved

Cigarettes: a Tale of Government Corruption

Death with U.S. Government Approval

While we are on the subject of drugs, I came across an article from the Lowell Sun dated 1/11/1964 in which the US Surgeon General for the first time declared the health hazards of cigarettes and confirmed it is a major cause of lung cancer. We have since learned that cigarettes kill at least 400,000 users per year. At that rate, we have lost 18 million Americans due to cigarette smoking over that 45 year period. IT IS STILL LEGAL.

In fact, book after book has been written about the evils of tobacco. However, our government has been subsidizing Big Tobacco, whose products kill people -- in one way or another -- for over a century, with subsidies, then "Allotments". WHY?

Here is the 1964 newspaper article:

1964: Cigarettes declared health hazard

U.S. Surgeon General Luther Leonidas Terry today reported the findings of a federal panel which revealed that smoking may lead to major health problems. The ten member federal panel, chaired by Terry, spent 14 months evaluating more than 8,000 studies involving the effects of smoking on health.

"Smoking cigarettes is a health hazard that calls for corrective action – and is a major cause of lung cancer and other death-dealing disease, especially in men, a blue-ribbon federal panel reported today. In short, the panel indicated, the more you smoke, the greater your risk of an early death," reported The Lowell Sun on January 11, 1964. "The panel also linked cigarette smoking to peptic ulcers, to accidental deaths due to home fires, and to a reduction in size of babies born to women who smoke during pregnancy."

NOTE: Although this was not the first time someone in the medical or scientific community suspected tobacco as a possible cause of lung cancer, today's announcement was the first time the U.S. government officially warned against the dangers of smoking.

To contrast, Industrial hemp contains less than 1% of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana. Trying to get high on industrial hemp is akin to trying to get drunk on non alcohol beer -- it's not going to happen. Marijuana has never caused a single recorded death. You cannot OD. You simply fall asleep.

Hemp can be used to make virtually anything that is currently made of cotton, timber, or petroleum. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper. Until 1883, more than 75% of the world's paper was made with hemp fiber.

In 1937 Popular Science magazine called hemp "The New Billion Dollar Crop." Then the big money people struck out to protect their interests. Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst led the crusade to ban hemp. Hearst owned millions of acres of prime timber land and a machine that simplified the process of making paper from hemp had just been invented. Hearst used his power as a publisher to create public panic about the evils of hemp and marijuana. Another big money player Pierre DuPont held patent rights to the sulfuric acid wood pulp paper process. In 1937 DuPont patented nylon rope made from synthetic petrochemicals. The big money people prevailed and near the end of 1937 Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. By placing a prohibitively high tax on hemp production it destroyed the industry. This was done to protect these big money interests of the timber, petrochemical, and cotton industries.

Hemp was briefly re-legalized during W.W.II. The U.S. government produced the movie "Hemp for Victory" to encourage farmers to grow hemp. Even 4H clubs were asked to grow hemp to help their country in wartime. The parachute that saved George Bush's life in World War II was made of hemp fiber.

Hemp is a product that can provide a tremendous jump start to our economy, which is in the dumpster. It can provide new manufacturing opportunities in a variety of industries and the resulting jobs would be a step in the right direction for our new President. A short 5-minute video made by Willie Nelson in 1991 presents the case. It's time to stop subsidizing corporate tobacco growers that produce a product that continues to kill Americans, and start by legalizing industrial hemp and decriminalizing marijuana -- a plant that kills nobody and that has been used for centuries by various cultures across the world as a medicine. Let's put an end to this foolishness once and for all.



PLEASE PASS THIS ARTICLE ON TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES.

GARY MIALOCQ & ASSOCIATES
Copyright @ 1998-2008
All Rights Reserved

Nature's Gift to Mankind Has Been Rejected

The Time for Acceptance is NOW

Christmas trees didn't come to the English speaking world until the 19th century. The tradition started in Germany and eastern Europe in the 16th century. There's another "green tree" we might think about today. One that could feed and clothe billions of the world's poor and increase the standard of living for everyone. One problem: It's been made ILLEGAL. Why is the massively valuable and versatile plant called HEMP illegal in the United States? Here are just four reasons.

Making hemp illegal:

1. Provides make-work for a vast army of "law enforcers" who then are available to be used for other social control work.

2. Protects the market share of numerous well organized lobbies: alcohol makers, plastics and chemical manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and cotton growers (still a powerful economic force in America 200 + years after the Civil War.)

3. Gives fascist minded politicians yet another way to control the population.

4. Increases the prison population making millions for private contractors who deal in prison-related products and services.

What are the differences between hemp and marijuana?

There are many. The most important is that Hemp contains no psychoactive compound, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that Marijuana does. This is why hemp is semi-legal and marijuana is not. The plants are considered ‘distant’ cousins but are distinct separate and different plants.


The Illegal Green Tree




Hemp for Victory -- a U.S. Government Production




Willie Nelson on the Family Farm




Hemp Powered Car Debuts in Washington




Woman in France Builds 300 Homes per Year Using Hemp Instead of Cement




Hemp Paper in Tasmania




Henry Ford's Plastic Car Made of Hemp in 1942




The History of Hemp





A Timeline of Hemp in the United States

1619 Virginia colony makes hemp cultivation mandatory, followed by most other colonies. Europe pays hemp bounties.

1631 Hemp used as money throughout American colonies.

1776 American 'Declaration of Independence' drafted on hemp paper.

1791 President Washington sets duties on hemp to encourage domestic industry; Jefferson calls hemp "a necessity", and urges farmers to grow hemp instead of tobacco.

1801 Certain premiums offered to encourage the cultivation of hemp in Upper and Lower Canada.

1800's Australia survives two prolonged famines by eating virtually nothing but hemp seed for protein and hemp leaves for roughage.

1850's Petrochemical age begins. Toxic sulfite and chlorine processes make paper from trees, steamships replace sails, tropical fibres introduced.

1930's New machines invented to break hemp, process the fibre, and convert pulp or hurds into paper, plastics, etc. - Racist fears of Mexicans, Asians, and African Americans leads to outcry for cannabis to be outlawed.

1935 Compressed agricultural fibreboard invented in Sweden.

1937 Marijuana Tax Act forbids hemp farming in the US. Dupont files patent for nylon.

1938 Canada prohibits production of hemp under Opium And Narcotics Control Act.

1941 Henry Ford makes car fabricated and fueled by hemp.

1943 Hemp For Victory program urges farmers to grow hemp.

1955 Hemp farming again banned.

1961 The Canadian Narcotics Control Act(CNCA) allowed Cannabis to be grown, at the discretion ofthe Health Minister, for research purposes only.

1992 Australia licences hemp farming.

1993 England eases restriction on hemp farming. News media declare hemp clothes and cannabis leaf logo hottest new fashion.

1994 Under the CNCA, one license was granted to a Canadian company, Hempline Inc., to grow hemp experimentally in Canada under the strict supervision of the authorities.

1996 The Canadian federal government passed Bill C8 stating that mature hemp stalks are exemptfrom the list of controlled substances.

1998 The Canadian government legalizes the commercial growth of industrial hemp. see News - February 27, 1998

2009 ........ President Obama???

An economic recovery would receive a huge boost from the legalization of hemp which would open up an entire industry, and the decriminalization of marijuana.  Where does Barack Obama stand on these issues?  This is a video from 2004 in which Barack Obama expresses his support for marijuana decriminalization.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Ready for Market Now

The BBC reported on the French version of this technology which we featured in an earlier item. This report from Australia goes into more depth and also covers an Australian version.

How many billions of dollars in research and development funds would the big auto makers claim they need to get this far? Yet, the technology is here now, ready to exploit - and it is not being used. What's the hangup?

Why are we still:

* allowing ourselves to be dependent on foreign countries for our energy?
* spending billions to transport and refine a highly toxic material?
* polluting our air thereby sickening and killing people, especially children, with toxic fumes?
* putting a massive, daily "transportation tax" on everyone who drives a car?

If you agree, pass it on and let your Congressman know how you feel.