"Protecting" Medicare Out of Existence

Did you get one of those "Thank Representative Walberg" mailers from 60 PLUS? It sure would be nice to know whose interests 60 PLUS is championing. Involved Voters understand that introducing insurance company middlemen into Medicare through a voucher system does not control the cost of health care, and benefits only the middlemen. So what, if those of us who are 55 and older won't have to switch to the voucher system. We still care about our kids and grandkids and their access to affordable health care in the future.

If only we could "follow the money" and learn more about the loyalties of 60 PLUS. Is the organization beholden to lots of individual small contributors who are 60 and older, or big donors who stand to benefit from keeping in office Republicans with a no regulation, gut government, shift the tax burden away from the rich agenda?

From the blog Open Secrets:

WHO FUNDS 60 PLUS? The 60 Plus Association, a group that recognizes itself as the "conservative alternative to the liberal AARP," announced a new campaign thanking conservative members of Congress for "protecting" Medicare during recent debates over the government program's future. The 60 Plus Association says it'll spend more than $800,000 on radio advertisements, direct mail and phone calls throughout 39 congressional districts.
...
The 60 Plus organization is a nonprofit 501c(4) group that does not have to disclose its donors and spent more than $7 million during the 2010 elections opposing Democrats.

Invest in Our Kids

On Tuesday, May 3, we have a chance to reverse the downward slide in support for education in Washtenaw County. Our tax money provides 12% of the funding to serve young people (from kindergarten through age 26) in our County who have special educational needs. Renewing the special education millage will help all of the children in our local schools.

If the millage isn't renewed, our kids education will be in even greater jeopardy than what looms from the proposed $170 cut in per student funds from the State this fiscal year and a cut of as much as $300 per student next year. We need to find a way to reduce the State funding cuts, too. But, for now, we can start by supporting the renewal of the special education millage.

For more information, here's a link to a recent online article at Heritage.com

A Guide to Michigan's Tax and Budget Issues

We Involved Voters want to do our homework and learn about the issues facing our State.

Here's a link to a reference that should make it easier: http://www.thecenterformichigan.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Issue-Guide_March2011_FINAL.pdf. It's the work of the Center for Michigan, MiVote.org and Detroit Public TV.

For example, did you know that State revenues are down 12% since 2001 and State spending is down 16% since 2001? To find out where the money comes from and where it goes and how Governor Synder's proposal would change that, follow the link above.

How the Republicans' budget plan will trash the US economy

If you want to get a quick sense of where the ideology of the Republicans in charge of the US House is leading, I recommend this post about Cuts & Consequences by Steve Benen at Washington Monthly:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_02/028192.php

After you read it, you'll want to tell your US Senators to make sure to block these ill-conceived cuts. Or, you can do nothing and watch millions more middle class jobs disappear.

Repealing the Affordable Care Act is a Bad Idea

Update: Find out how repeal or denial of funding will impact people in your Congressional District: Go to http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?q=news/impact-of-repealing-health-care-reform

Tomorrow, the US House of Representatives Republicans led by Republican Majority Leader John Boehner will vote on the repeal of health reform -- moving to end the law that keeps insurance companies in check.

If the health care law is repealed or gutted by denial of funding, insurers could return to denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, pursuing profits with no accountability, raising rates arbitrarily on families and businesses and canceling coverage when people get sick. Insurers could once again focus on promoting their own financial health at the expense of those seeking care.

And with repeal estimated to add $230 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years, the Republicans' first agenda item delays our economic recovery and does nothing to create jobs.

Repealing the Affordable Care Act is bad for our health, our economy, and our country.

What you can do:
Call your Representative in Congress to let him or her know that, as an Involved Voter, you are against repeal, and that you're counting on them to protect the Affordable Care Act, regardless of party affiliation.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, repealing the Affordable Care Act will add hundreds of billions to the deficit, increase costs for those who are covered, and result in 32 million fewer people receiving coverage. Health reform continues to provide greater freedom and control in our health care choices -- it's no surprise most Americans oppose repeal.

Chances are the Affordable Care Act is already benefiting you or someone you know.
It is at work for you:
-- If you're a senior who fell into the "donut hole" of prescription drug coverage and needed help covering that cost;
-- If you're a young adult who can benefit from staying on your parents' insurance until age 26;
-- If you've ever worried about your insurer dropping your coverage unexpectedly if you or someone on your policy gets sick or injured;
-- If you're a small-business owner trying to compete with large employers while providing insurance to your employees; or
-- If you're a taxpayer worried about the national deficit.

It took two years of debate and compromise for the 111th Congress to pass the Affordable Care Act. Please let your Representative know you think undoing that work and restoring free rein to the insurance companies is a bad idea.

A Time for Healing

I'm passing along this post from Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly. It highlights some of the parts of President Obama's remarks at last night's remembrance in Tuscon that most inspired me as an Involved Voter.

"Those who died here, those who saved life here -- they help me believe," he said. "We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another, that's entirely up to us."

"We recognize our own mortality, and we are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame -- but rather, how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better.

"And that process -- that process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions -- that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires.

"For those who were harmed, those who were killed -- they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. We may not have known them personally, but surely we see ourselves in them."

Benen went on to say:

At a fundamental level, I just like the idea of an American family. As we've seen over the last five days, we bicker and shout, and we often struggle to get along, but the threads that tie us together are stronger than we sometimes realize.

Or as the president put it, "As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let's use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together....I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us."

Being Faithful to the U.S. Constitution

The 112th Congress opened with a reading of almost the entire U.S. Constitution. (Parts of the original seven articles in 1789 Constitution referring to slavery were omitted from the reading. Slavery was abolished in 1865 when Amendment XIX was ratified.)

Involved Voters who want to understand the U.S. Constitution better should consider reading Keeping Faith with the Constitution (Liu, Karlan, Schroeder; Oxford University Press, 2010). The book describes a "constitutional fidelity" approach to the document and lays out the limitations of "originalist" and "strict construction" approaches.

In the words of the great Chief Justice John Marshall, our Constitution is "intended to endure for ages to come, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs." To preserve the meaning and authority of the Constitution and keep it a living document, it's necessary to add precedent, historical experience, practical consequences and societal change to attempts to determine the original understanding of the text.

As the book's authors point out, the U.S. Constitution contains "the basic structure of government and some of its important procedures while expressing our commitment to certain core values: liberty, equality, and democracy."

A "constitutional fidelity" approach brings advances such as Amendment XIX (ratified in 1920) which states:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Such an amendment is faithful to the core Constitutional values of liberty, equality, and democracy, but is not something those relying solely on the original intent of the Framers of the 1789 Constitution would make a case for.

The U.S. Constitution has been successful in preserving our nation because it is flexible enough to allow government to adjust as its citizens progress toward including all human beings in their vision of liberty, equality, and democracy.