Happy Birthday, Affordable Care Act!

Even though some of its key provisions - for example, no denial of coverage or ability to charge you more because of a pre-existing condition, including a disability - don't go into effect until 2014, the Affordable Care Act has already begun working.  Here are some statistics relevant to those of us in Michigan:

• Health care works for women, children, seniors – everyone. More than 2.9 million Michiganders received preventative care such as mammograms and colonoscopies for free in 2011.

• Health care works for young adults: 57,527 Young Adults in Michigan are now insured because of the new health care law.

• Health care works for seniors: 84,168 Medicare beneficiaries saved more than $48 million on prescription drugs because of the new health care law.

• Health care works for small businesses: A growing number of businesses offering health care coverage are taking advantage of tax credits available under the law.

The facts show that the ACA is working, but Republicans are still doing everything they can to try and repeal the law.  By calling it "Obamacare," they have been tapping into the resentment that many Republicans feel toward Democrats in general and President Obama in particular for winning in 2008.  This and the fear-mongering and demagoguing that are so common on the campaign trail are diverting attention from the benefits of the law.  Ask people if they support many of the specifics of the ACA and the majority say yes, definitely.

Involved Voters can find information about what portions of the ACA have already been implemented and what's still to come on the healthcare.gov timeline page.


On Monday, March 26th, the Supreme Court will begin oral arguments about the constitutionality of the law.  The proceedings will be worth following.  


If you or someone in your family has already benefited from the ACA or will in the future, I encourage you to write a letter to the editor or comment online during this important time.

"The Road We've Traveled" - What a Contrast with the Rhetoric from Republican Candidates

Here's a link to the trailer for the new film about President Obama's first term.

http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/first-look-the-road-weve-traveled

The film, which is 17 minutes long, will be released March 15 at Obama re-election campaign venues.  Get re-inspired, and get to work - Obama 2012!

Whose religious freedom is actually under attack?

Catholic bishops and the radical right are screaming foul because of federal requirements to include contraception among the preventive health services for women covered by health care plans - despite the exceptions for employees of churches.

The way I see it, when a religious entity runs a hospital, university, or charity that takes money from and employees people for whom contraception is the choice of an informed conscience, they need to avoid doing things like denying coverage for it in the health plans they offer. I consider it a violation of these women's religious freedom for the hierarchy of a church to impose the church's view of morality on them.

Blogger Kevin Drum points out in a recent post just how far removed the Catholic hierarchy is from the practices of most Catholics.  Here's the link: http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/02/catholics-do-not-have-moral-objection-contraception.  And, I would remind the bishops, not all Americans are Catholics.  Where is the respect for people's freedom of conscience that one could reasonably expect from those who should be exemplary followers of Christ?

What America is About

From President Obama's speech at the University of Michigan, January 27, 2012:

We do not begrudge wealth in this country. I want everybody here to do well. We aspire to financial success. But we also understand that we’re not successful just by ourselves. ... We’re successful because somebody made an investment in all the federal research labs that created the Internet. We’re successful because we have an outstanding military -- that costs money. We’re successful because somebody built roads and bridges and laid broadband lines. And these things didn’t just happen on their own.

And if we all understand that we’ve got to pay for this stuff, it makes sense for those of us who've done best to do our fair share. And to try to pass off that bill onto somebody else, that’s not right. That’s not who we are. That’s not what my grandparents' generation worked hard to pass down. That’s not what your grandparents and your great-grandparents worked hard to pass down. We’ve got a different idea of America, a more generous America.

Everybody here is only here because somebody somewhere down the road decided we’re going to think not just about ourselves, but about the future. We’ve got responsibilities, yes, to ourselves but also to each other. And now it’s our turn to be responsible. Now it’s our turn to leave an America that’s built to last. And I know we can do it. We’ve done it before and I know we can do it again because of you.

When I meet young people all across this country, with energy and drive and vision, despite the fact that you’ve come of age during a difficult, tumultuous time in this world, it gives me hope. You inspire me. ...You know that doing big things isn’t always easy, but you’re not giving up.
...
We do not shrink from challenges. We stand up to them. And we don’t leave people behind; we make sure everybody comes along with us on this journey that we’re on.

That’s the spirit right now that we need, Michigan. Here in America, we don’t give up. We look out for each other. We make sure everybody has a chance to get ahead. And if we work in common purpose, with common resolve, we can build an economy that gives everybody a fair shot. And we will remind the world just why it is that the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.

Ideology's Collateral Damage

The Tea Party Caucus in the US House of Representatives is once again choosing to support their narrow ideology over the interests of the majority of Americans.  This time by refusing to vote on the Senate's bipartisan compromise that would have extended the payroll tax holiday for two months until a compromise can be reached on a longer extension.  For most of us, even a two month continuation of the break in deductions from our paychecks makes a difference.

Steve Benen of The Washington Monthy describes the scene in the House at this link: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_12/literally_walking_away_from_a034239.php

So it appears that even during this season of peace on earth and good will to all, House Republicans are operating from their minds & egos with their hearts nowhere in sight.

Moving on to a Single-Payer Health Care System?

I just read a couple of articles by Rick Unger of Forbes that gave me hope that private insurance companies , whom I believe add no value to our health care system , will soon get out of the health care business.

Here are the links:  The Bomb Buried in Obamacare Explodes  Today - Hallelujah!
and The Obamacare Bomb is Real Even if the Washington Post Doesn't Get It

Here's a sample from the first article:

I have long argued that the impact of the Affordable Care Act is not nearly as big of a deal as opponents would have you believe. At the end of the day, the law is – in the main – little more than a successful effort to put an end to some of the more egregious health insurer abuses while creating an environment that should bring more Americans into programs that will give them at least some of the health care coverage they need.

There is, however, one notable exception – and it’s one that should have a long lasting and powerful impact on the future of health care in our country. That would be the provision of the law, called the medical loss ratio, that requires health insurance companies to spend 80% of the consumers’ premium dollars they collect—85% for large group insurers—on actual medical care rather than overhead, marketing expenses and profit.

Both are worth a full read.

Only We the (real) People Can Change This

There's an article by Bill Moyers that's definitely worth reading if you want to understand what has happened to our political system in the past 40 years.

Here are some choice quotes followed by my comments:

During the prairie revolt that swept the Great Plains in 1890, populist orator Mary Elizabeth Lease exclaimed, “Wall Street owns the country…. Money rules…. Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags. The [political] parties lie to us and the political speakers mislead us.”

Sounds familiar, 'eh?

Why New York’s Zuccotti Park is filled with people is no mystery. Reporters keep scratching their heads and asking, “Why are you here?” But it’s clear they are occupying Wall Street because Wall Street has occupied the country. And that’s why in public places across the nation workaday Americans are standing up in solidarity. Did you see the sign a woman was carrying at a fraternal march in Iowa the other day? It read, I Can’t Afford to Buy a Politician So I Bought This Sign. Americans have learned the hard way that when rich organizations and wealthy individuals shower Washington with millions in campaign contributions, they get what they want.

Yes, it will take us, Involved Voters, standing up and demanding a government that serves all the People, not just the few.  This will be hard work - especially when the average citizen is kept busy trying to make ends meet and just wants to crash in front of the TV at the end of the day. Then there are those whose situations are even worse because of job losses and foreclosures, who are depressed and immobilized.

William Simon (in his) book A Time for Truth argued that “funds generated by business” must “rush by multimillions” into conservative causes to uproot the institutions and the “heretical strategy” of the New Deal. He called on “men of action in the capitalist world” to mount “a veritable crusade” against progressive America. BusinessWeek (October 12, 1974) somberly explained that “it will be a bitter pill for many Americans to swallow the idea of doing with less so that big business can have more.”

Those “men of action in the capitalist world” were not content with their wealth just to buy more homes, more cars, more planes, more vacations and more gizmos than anyone else. They were determined to buy more democracy than anyone else. And they succeeded beyond their expectations. After their forty-year “veritable crusade” against our institutions, laws and regulations—against the ideas, norms and beliefs that helped to create America’s iconic middle class—the Gilded Age is back with a vengeance.

 The world is more complicated now than it was in 1890, but change brought about by the majority of us working together is still possible - not to mention absolutely necessary for the basic well-being of all.  When you hear and see campaign ads - follow the money and take them with a grain of salt.  Work for and vote for those who will restore government of., by and for Real People.