Why Bother Bidding?
by gvickrey on Jul.28, 2010, under Business/Finance, Civil Justice, Politics
The following piece was written by Matt Gonzalez, and discusses in detail how Fred Bekele won a parking garage contract in San Francisco, only to have it taken away.
In the summer of 2007, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) hired consultant Barbara Chance to address multiple issues concerning the city’s management and award of public contracts for city-owned parking facilities. The MTA was concerned that, among other things, the city was not maximizing the revenues it could derive from parking facilities, and that locally owned businesses were being denied entry into the competitive world of public parking contracts.
Also, concerns that parking garage contracts were being awarded amid charges of influence peddling were prevalent.
On June 19, 2007, Ms. Chance, a nationally recognized expert in parking, transportation and access management, presented her recommendations, which included a plan for revising the process for contract bidding to enable a more open and competitive process.
Read more here: Why Bother Bidding?
For the Want of Three Votes
by gvickrey on Jul.10, 2010, under Politics, Uncategorized
For the Want of Three Votes
The vote in the House of Representatives last Thursday (July 1, 2010) approved $33 billion more for Barack Obama’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Most accounts of the vote in the progressive media viewed the vote positively, focusing on the various anti-war amendments that failed, but got sizable votes. The one with broadest support (162 “Yes” votes) would have required Obama to produce an exit plan. Its sponsors included Democrats David Obey (WI) and Jim McGovern (MA). Another would have funded the exit of the troops. It was sponsored by Democrat Barbara Lee (CA) and got 100 “Yes” votes. An even stronger anti-war amendment, however, got only 25 “Yes” votes.
But these progressive media accounts looking primarily at the breadth of support for the exit plan amendment have overlooked a couple of key numbers that reveal an entirely new view of the votes on the bill and its amendments.
The first key number is the vote on the main bill itself. Because all of the GOP voted against it in order to reject the domestic spending sweetners added by Nancy Pelosi, this vote was much closer. It passed by 215 to 210. If only 3 more “Yes” voters would have voted “No”, the funding bill would have failed (by 212 “Yes” vs. 213 “No”). Failure of the bill to pass would have been an earthquake in US politics.
The other key number overlooked by most progressive media accounts of the vote was this: enough leading anti-war Democrats voted for the actual funding bill that they could have defeated it had they voted “No”. Among leading anti-war Democrats, which ones voted for the war funding?
First, Barbara Lee voted for the war funds. She represents Berkeley, California, and part of Oakland. Being from this heavily anti-war district, many anti-war activists assume she votes against all war funding bills. She has been a heroine-of-sorts of the anti-war movement for years.
Next, we have the Out of Afghanistan Caucus, started in May 2010 by John Conyers. In the morning on the day of the vote, the caucus held a press conference to urge a NO vote on the war funding. Five of the eight Democrats conducting this press conference actually voted for the war funding that evening, after participating in the press conference about voting “No”! Conyers, Bob Filner (CA), and Alan Grayson (FL) voted “No”; voting “Yes” were Sheila Jackson Lee (TX), Maxine Waters (CA), Mike Honda (CA), Judy Chu (CA), and Barbara Lee.
Next, we can look at the Democratic sponsors of the various anti-war amendments to the bill.
We would expect these Democrats to not only sponsor their anti-war amendments, but to also vote against the final war funding bill itself. But all three of the Democrat anti-war amendment co-sponsors mentioned above voted for the final war funding bill: David Obey (WI), Jim McGovern (MA), and Barbara Lee (CA).
Finally, we should mention Pete Stark, another San Francisco Bay Area Democrat. While he tends to keep a low profile, he often actually casts more progressive votes than Barbara Lee.
(For example, he was one of the few “No” votes in the House vote on heavier sanctions against Iran, which passed by 408-8 on June 24. Barbara Lee voted for those sanctions.) Even Pete Stark voted FOR the Afghan war funding last week.
If just three of these leading anti-war Democrats had switched their vote to “No” on the Afghan war funding bill, it would have failed. This would have given the anti-war movement a huge boost, even if war-funder-in-chief Nancy Pelosi had organized another vote and courted Republican support to guarantee its passage. Such a scenario would have exposed the Democratic leadership as co-equal pillars of the war (which they are), along with the GOP and the Democrat in the White House. Instead, when they had a golden opportunity to defeat the war funding bill, our leading “anti-war” Democrats betrayed us.
Notes:
1. The roll call vote on the war funding bill which passed by 215-210 is here; check to see how your representative voted: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll428.xml .
On Protesting, and Fighting the Power
by gvickrey on Jul.07, 2010, under Civil Justice, Politics
Young Protestor, Peace of the Action (POTA), Obomba Residence, July 4, 2010 from gregory vickrey on Vimeo.
“There is something abnormal here, and it sure as hell isn’t me.”
When I grabbed the bull horn to speak in the heat of Washington, DC, on the 4th of July, 2010, those were the first words out of my mouth.
Frustration made the oppressive heat and more oppressive city all the more so. When I first arrived near the White House, in Lafayette Park, a Secret Service blue-shirt shouted, then screamed, then shouted again, for me to “move back, move away!”, as I was apparently encroaching on sacred ground during the arrival of some esteemed BBQ guest. I meandered a bit amongst the tourists gawking at the gates to the hallowed halls of the presidential palace, smiling for the cameras, and standing oblivious to oblivion.
The circus continued and eventually I connected with colleagues and friends of POTA. There were so few of us, and I lamented in my head about the movements for peace, for civil justice, for health care. I muttered the Declaration of Independence preamble to myself, and thought of the Bill of Rights. I spoke aloud to a passing stranger, “Epic fail.”
Those of us who could ‘legally’ assemble on the White House walk grasped signs, recording equipment and the bull horn. We rose up for ourselves, for the movement, for the soldiers, for Afghanis, for Iraqis, for ecological systems, for you, for generations. We spoke to the obvious nature of corporate control and the obnoxious behavior of the powers that be. And we observed the people along the walk shunning us, posing instead for their most congenial photos with their best statist smiles.
The bomb threat came next; you did not hear about it through mainstream media because it was a fraud, perpetuated by your United States government.
First we were told we could not assemble – our bodies had to stay in motion. Mere minutes later a young man with a backpack and a guitar strolled through and as he spoke with rank authorities the message from the bull horn became righteous and powerful. The young man then moved to the edge of the walk, mumbled something, and immediately we were told to shut it down and get out of the park.
Amazing how that works, is it not? Read that last paragraph again.
The aggression from the agents in charge was directed towards us, not in dealing with a supposed bomb threat. As I moved slowly through the park I asked a relatively relaxed agent if, indeed, there was a bomb threat. He casually replied, “mmhmm.”
This was not an evacuation of any sort; it was a trampling of rights to assemble and to speak freely. You see, we were disturbing the BBQ and birthday celebration with the truth.
Just outside of the park, opposite the festivities at the Big House, we continued speaking and flyering and expressing other rights as provided in the Constitution; yet, again, we ruffled too many feathers and were forced to cross the street, and our “free speech zone” was officially a quarter mile away from the one man who needed to listen to us.
Oppression. Frustration. Epic fail.
Dripping with sweat, yet cold-hearted under the glares of people disgusted, ambivalent, or ignorant of our collective purpose, I took the mic and I roared. For several minutes I stormed and shouted and raved, and with each breath I listened for an echo from the masses walking by.
Only silence.
My stump-speech ended with a quote from the greatest truth-teller I know: “Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you.” And I said it twice, because I swear by that statement.
Silence.
If it were not for POTA, no one would have heard. If it were not for POTA, my shoulders would have sunk. If it were not for POTA, I would have been alone in those words, and in that moment.
Where were you at 5pm on Sunday, 4th of July, 2010?
—–
Later that evening I returned to the White House. Of course, once POTA had dispersed for the day, the placated masses were allowed back in the park at Caesar’s door step. They had nothing to say, and only flash bulbs to burn.
A young girl, not yet three, walked with me. She was determined to protest.
“Protest! Protest! Fight the Power! Fight the Power!” she chanted along the walk.
“Yes, but what are you protesting?” I asked.
“Bad gas. BP. Bad people.” she stated matter-of-factly.
Fist-pump.
I had my echo.
Declare Your Independence
by gvickrey on Jul.04, 2010, under Civil Justice, Health Care, Politics
The following piece appeared in OpEd News and was written by friend and colleague Kevin Zeese of Prosperity Agenda.
Independent Media, Independent Political Movements and Independent Electoral Activity is the Path to the Paradigm Shifting Change America Needs
If I had to pick one word for Americans who want real change, it would be independence.
Not only because the United States was founded on the idea of independence but because those of us who work to try and change the country for the better and have studied American history have learned this has always been the critical ingredient for real change.
First, we need independent media. Web based outlets like this one are a critical ingredient to the success of advocacy efforts. Like so many businesses in the United States, the media is controlled by concentrated group of corporations. A handful of companies own all the hundreds of television stations on your cable TV. The same is true of radio stations. More and more newspapers are part of syndicates. These conglomerates has resulted in homogenized that only reports a concentrated corporate perspective.
The media does not report on the incredible activism taking place all around the country. They don’t want America to have another Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ralph Nader and so many others who in the past helped to move the United States in part because the media reported on their activities. Now we only hear about corporate CEO’s and elected officials elected due to corporate donations otherwise it is sports stars and entertainment. The truth is there is more activism and organizing going on than even those of us working for change realize. If you attended the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit this month you could see it at least 12,000 people attended, almost all were parts of organizations representing many more people, each working on a range of issues from housing and banking, to peace and criminal justice people working to transform the American economy and political system. Did the media report on this conference? Does the media report on the movements these people are part of?
This leads me to the second area of independence we need independent political movements. Throughout history it has been independent movements that made paradigm shifting change happen. Woodrow Wilson worked to prevent women from getting the right to vote. Leading suffragists were jailed and tortured during his presidency for protesting outside the White House. But in the end, woman got the right to vote while he was president. LBJ was a member of a political party dominated by southern segregationists. They opposed African American voting, ending Jim Crow, blacks and whites living together, going to school together, eating in the same restaurants but LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act because an organized, independent civil rights movement demanded it. Richard Nixon, a war hawk did not want to end the Vietnam War admitting defeat of the U.S. military. He was forced to by a persistent and independent anti-war movement that criticized both political parties for their support of the war. The peace movement and the people in Vietnam resisting U.S. aggression forced Nixon to end the war.
The Obama era has shown many Americans that advocacy groups that work hand in glove with the Democratic Party sell out their base and claim false victories. A prime example is the health care bill. This “reform” protected the status quo health care dominated by private insurance was the problem before reform and remains the problem. The bill will result in hundreds of billions of dollars going to the insurance industry every year in tax payer subsidies and Americans being forced to buy their flawed corporate products. The cost of health insurance was not controlled, tens of millions will be left without insurance ten years from now and every regulation of the insurance industry in the law contains a poison pill that protects the insurance industry. The coalition, Health Care for America Now, spent tens of millions of dollars, donated by donors allied with the Democratic Party, to support the Democratic leadership bill. It was a sell out of their constituents who needed real reform. Americans will not receive better health care, health care will devour more and more of the GDP, and deficit spending by government will continue because of a fraudulent “reform” that preserved market dominated health care. This is happening on issue after issue corporations win, the people lose, and organizations supposedly working for the peoples necessities claim victory while selling Americans out.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Americans need to declare their independence from two parties dominated by concentrated corporate power. Both parties take tens of millions from big business interests every year, elected officials, their staff members and sometimes their spouses profit going to work for corporations they “regulate” in the revolving door between government and concentrated corporate interests, receiving big checks for serving on their boards and feeding off the trough of crony capitalism.
This is not a new problem for America. Big business interests have always dominated government and the two parties have consistently represented status quo business interests, but throughout our history we have seen the people transform the government by creating independent political movements that challenged the two parties.
When the most valuable industry in the United States was slavery, the two parties the Democrats and the Whigs conspired to ensure that abolition of slavery would not be considered in Congress. The Democrats, dominated by slave holding plantation owners, and the Whigs, dominated by Northern industrialists who profited from cheap cotton, did not want to see slavery end. More than a hundred years of abolition advocacy was unsuccessful in breaking the grip of two parties whose political power came from slavery. Some of those who opposed slavery decided to challenge the two status quo parties. They formed abolition parties and ran to end slavery. They were called spoilers just as Ralph Nader is called a spoiler for challenging the corporate parties today but they ran and ran. They never won. But gradually the Whig Party weakened. Finally, the abolitionists evolved into the Republican Party and the most successful third party president in history, Abraham Lincoln, was elected president and slavery finally ended.
Looking back at this history would you have voted for either one of the slave parties? Or, would you have voted to end slavery even though your candidate had no chance of winning?
Look at many of the major paradigm shifts in history farmers fighting banks that were foreclosing on them, workers not allowed to unionize and forced to work long, unsafe hours, the creation of Social Security, health care for the poor, ending child labor the list goes on and on. All of these major changes in American history were first brought into the electoral arena by independent electoral efforts.
The government is dysfunctional today. It is unable to deal with pressing problems facing the country. People are losing their homes, declaring bankruptcy, dying from lack of health care, suffering from endless wars but elected officials are stuck in inaction or fake action that protects the status quo. Independent politics means recognizing we have two corporate dominated parties and that we need to have at least one party not dominated by concentrated corporate interests in order to make progress on the urgent necessities of the American people. Independent politics does not necessarily mean winning elections, at least not right away. It may mean that the greater evil gets elected an evil that will fund war and dole out taxpayer dollars to corporate interests much like the lesser evil will do. But the path to paradigm shifting change has always included people willing to fight in the electoral arena even if they lost the election. These parties lost the election, but won the argument and in the end won real reform.
It is becoming more and more evident to Americans that the issue of the day is concentrated corporate power. We are in the midst of a major paradigm shift that will end corporatism the combination of government and concentrated corporations working for their interest and not ours. Will you continue to vote for one of the corporatist parties? Or, will you do as our ancestors did and create the paradigm shift we need by challenging the powers that be.
So, on Independence Day remember the roots of the United States declaring independence from the most power imperial power of the day, remember Americans throughout history challenging two parties that protected the status quo and look at the lessons of the last year when the lack of independence has only led to change that corporations can believe in.
This weekend Declare Your Independence and work for the real change we need.
Kevin Zeese is director of ProsperityAgenda.US and VotersForPeace.US.
Pensacola Beach
by gvickrey on Jun.30, 2010, under Environment
This is Pensacola Beach, and this is precisely why we are working on the Gulf, and why we support the pending lawsuit filed by Center for Biological Diversity.

Pensacola Beach
A Summer of Protest in DC
by gvickrey on Jun.30, 2010, under Civil Justice, Politics
This comes to us from Peace of the Action:
SIZZLIN’ SUMMER – JULY PROTEST SCHEDULE
(Washington, DC – July 4th through July 17th, 2010)
INDEPENDENCE FROM OIL DAY!!!
No more wars for oil and natural resources! No more polluting our sea, air and landfills! BOYCOTT BP!!!
July 4th (Sunday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 1pm
– group to flyer, bullhorn in Lafayette Park and in front of the White House until dark
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
NO ILLEGAL/IMMORAL DRONES!!!
For this week, Peace of the Action will primarily be targeting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle display (educating the public about the horrific toll UAVs take) and drone manufacturers and lobbyists. (The Free Gaza/Free Palestine action has been inserted into this week because of the recent announcement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House.)
July 5th (Monday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 9am
– group to protest at White House against coming pre-emptive American/Israeli attack on Iran
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
July 6th (Tuesday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 9am
– group to move together to (TBA) location for FREE PALESTINE! protest until 3pm
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
July 7th (Wednesday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 9am
– group to move together to Congress and protest until 3pm
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
July 8th (Thursday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 9am
– group to move together to General Atomics and protest until 3pm
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
July 9th (Friday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 9am
– group to move together to Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and protest until 3pm
– possible special action TBA
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
WEEKEND:
July 10th (Saturday):
– ONE DC Block Party “ONE RIGHT TO LAND” (optional)
July 11th (Sunday):
– Day off! Rest and relaxation.
COUNTER-RECRUITMENT:
For this week, we will be targeting recruiting centers and defense contractors and lobbyists—and we will do some special “lobbying” of our own on Capitol Hill. (The POTA DC Trial has been inserted into this week because of the recent scheduling by the court.)
July 12th (Monday):
– Peace of the Action DC Trial
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
July 13th (Tuesday):
– Peace of the Action DC Trial
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
or (trial may be one day or two. so we have two options this day.)
– meet in Lafayette Park at 9am
– group to move together to Military Recruiting Station (TBA) and protest until 3pm
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
July 14th (Wednesday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 9am
– group to move together to Military Recruiting Station (TBA) and protest until 3pm
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
July 15th (Thursday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 9am
– group to move together to War Profiteer (TBA) and protest until 3pm
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
July 16th (Friday):
– meet in Lafayette Park (North Side of White House) at 9am
– group to flyer, bullhorn in LaFayette Park and in front of the White House
– evening to post protest pics, videos and articles to Internet
WEEKEND:
July 17th (Saturday):
– POTA Retreat (location TBA 2pm to 5pm)
This will be an intense think tank session on the future of Peace of the Action and the future of anti-war protests in the U.S. With small numbers, where should our limited resources be focused? We have to dream up an entire movement based on very low numbers and very limited funds—bring your creative solutions and a positive attitude that a better world is possible!
– POTA Dinner/Rally (possible picnic Lafayette Park)
July 18th (Sunday):
– depart DC
(DAILY SCHEDULES OPEN TO CHANGE. STAY TUNED THROUGHOUT EVENT WEEKS FOR UPDATES.)
——————————————————————————————————————-
IMPORTANT INFO FOR SUMMER POTA
HOUSING (FLOOR SPACE & SHOWERS) WILL ONCE AGAIN BE PROVIDED AT ST. STEPHEN’S CHURCH (WIRELESS INTERNET IS AVAILABLE AT THE CHURCH)
1525 NEWTON ST, NW
(CORNER OF 16TH AND NEWTON)
BREAKFAST AND LUNCH ARE UP TO THE PARTICIPANT AND POTA WILL PROVIDE DINNER EACH NIGHT AT THE CHURCH (from FOOD NOT BOMBS!).
TRANSPORTATION TO THE PARK AND TO EVENTS IS UP TO EACH PARTICIPANT. BUSES AND/OR METRO (RAIL) STOPS ARE LOCATED CLOSE BY. WE WILL BE TRAVELING TO EVENTS AS A GROUP AND THE EVENTS SHOULD NOT BE TOO FAR FROM LAFAYETTE PARK.
POTA BELIEVES THAT CIVIL RESISTANCE IS THE CORE OF TRUE CHANGE, BUT ONLY IF THE NUMBERS ARE SUFFICIENT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. SO, SINCE OUR NUMBERS ARE SMALL, CIVIL RESISTANCE WILL MORE THAN LIKELY NOT BE A PART OF SUMMER POTA—EDUCATION AND MOVEMENT BUILDING WILL BE OUR MAIN FOCUS.
LAFAYETTE PARK WILL BE OUR MAIN CONVERGENCE SPACE FOR THE TWO WEEKS
EVENINGS WILL BE RESERVED FOR THE POTA CORE TEAM TO BLOG AND POST VIDEO AND DO OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS—IF YOU ARE A VIDEOGRAPHER OR BLOGGER, WE COULD USE YOUR HELP—USING ONLINE TOOLS WILL BE THE KEY TO MOVEMENT BUILDING
DRINK LOTS OF WATER—JULY IN DC IS HOT, HOT, HOT!
Environmentalism Is Dead
by gvickrey on Jun.30, 2010, under Environment, Fund Raising
This article was originally posted at CounterPunch.
“This. Is. Serious.”
Environmentalism is Dead
By GREGORY VICKREY
Another tragedy befalls the environment and we can count on those that were once environmentalists to capitalize, figuratively and literally. As you read, perhaps a 1000 or so organizations are happily signing (or being bribed to sign) yet another refined letter to President Obama, praising his efforts to date and encouraging ‘change’. With stellar coordination, you witness the appeals via email from these faux-enviros that clearly state how you can save the sea turtles, or protect the shrimp, or rid us of our reliance on oil by donating today.
This particular letter in circulation is about climate change, and is directly tied to the Gulf of Mexico in its appeal. As it stands, responsibility for pushing the letter lies with the minions at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Repower America aka the Climate Protection Action Fund aka The Alliance For Climate Protection (RA), and a few others.
The letter begins with ‘applause’, as one would expect. Continue reading, and, apparently, President Obama has done an amazing job prioritizing clean energy, solving the climate crisis, enacting fuel efficiency standards that are defining a new paradigm for vehicular motion, and hitting all the right buttons at the Environmental Protection Agency. Who knew?
One can naturally assume The Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, and Repower America know. And with a thousand or so other signatures on yet another letter driven by the same old set of corporate enviros, the rest of us know something as well.
Environmentalism is dead.
In its place we have the notions of ‘pragmatic solutions’ and ‘noncontroversial approaches’ to appreciate.
Such words of discourse come from The Nature Conservancy itself. It is a disgrace to ecosystems everywhere and the next seven generations that they pimp nature dot org as their official website. A quick look-see into the world of TNC and comprehension dawns. Their corporate partners in environmental crime and shame:
3M Company
Alliant Energy
Altria Group
American Electric Power
Bank of America
Barrick Gold Corporation
The Boeing Company
BP
Cargill
Caterpillar Inc.
Chevron
The Coca-Cola Company
Delta Air Lines
The Dow Chemical Company
Duke Energy Corporation
Eastman Kodak Company
Ecolab Inc.
ExxonMobil Corporation
MeadWestvaco Corporation
Monsanto Company
Nestlé Waters North America
PG&E Corporation
Plum Creek Timber Company
SC Johnson & Son, Inc.
Temple-Inland
Weyerhaeuser Company
Xerox Corporation
Scratching your temple?
It is difficult to tell which organization was the most influential in writing the letter to President Obama, but it reads with the gimmickry of a Karl Rove production. Examining information about the National Wildlife Federation makes one consider that they, NWF, may have been the lead, considering they take donations from the likes of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Defense, The Boeing Company, Walt Disney Company, and on, and on, and on. Care to visit with a Wolfowitz at a fundraiser? Throw a few thousand at NWF.
The mathematics of connection get simpler, even as the names get more complicated, with Repower America aka blah blah and blah. The CEO of National Wildlife Federation is on the board at RA. Repower America prostitutes itself with absurdity while dancing with John Kerry, Joe Leiberman, and Lindsey Graham – the “authors” of some pile of papers related to some charade about some climate (shout out to NRDC!) that will serve no useful purpose other than to keep the timber industry viable. Seeking relevance, Al Gore may be seen here at RA when he is not serving in his role at Apple Computer, Inc. of child-labor/sweatshop city fame. Repower America is also blessed with the presence of Joseph Stiglitz, a former Vice President at that most prestigious of entities, the World Bank.
To quote a Wonder Pet, “This. Is. Serious.”
Environmentalism is dead. It has been co-opted and corrupted to the point of absolute strangulation, and what remains of the corpse is being devoured rapaciously by the necrophiliacs at your favorite corporate-controlled big enviro – yes, the list of cannibals is much longer than The Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, and Repower America, and the responsibility lies with those not herein named to prove themselves worthy candidates for resurrection as organizations willing to serve the next seven generations instead of the next seven figures.
Without environmentalism, there are no environmentalists.
We must save ourselves and our planet as humans.
Labor Campaign for Single Payer Health Care
by gvickrey on Feb.03, 2010, under Health Care
Please read this great article.
Dr. Margaret Flowers: There is Still Time for Reform
by gvickrey on Feb.03, 2010, under Health Care
There is Still Time For Real Reform, Listen to the American People
Open Letter to President Obama on Health Care Reform
By Margaret Flowers, M.D.
Op-Ed News
January 28, 2010
President Barack Obama|
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Obama,
I was overjoyed to hear you say in your State of the Union address last night:
“But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.”
My colleagues, fellow health advocates and I have been trying to meet with you for over a year now because we have an approach which will meet all of your goals and more.
I am a pediatrician who, like many of my primary care colleagues, left practice because it is nearly impossible to deliver high quality health care in this environment. I have been volunteering for Physicians for a National Health Program ever since. For over a year now, I have been working with the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care/ National Single Payer Alliance. This alliance represents over 20 million people nationwide from doctors to nurses to labor, faith and community groups who advocate on behalf of the majority of Americans, including doctors, who favor a national Medicare-for-All health system.
I felt very optimistic when Congress took up health care reform last January because I remember when you spoke to the Illinois AFL-CIO in June, 2003 and said:
“I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program.” (applause) “I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that’s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single-payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.”
And that is why I was so surprised when the voices of those who support a national single-payer plan/Medicare for All were excluded in place of the voices of the very health insurance and pharmaceutical industries which profit off the current health care situation.
There was an opportunity this past year to create universal and financially sustainable health care reform rather than expensive health insurance reform. As you well know, the United States spends the most per capita on health care in the world yet leaves millions of people out and receives poor return on those health care dollars in terms of health outcomes and efficiency. This poor value for our health care dollar is due to the waste of having so many insurance companies. At least a third of our health care dollars go towards activities that have nothing to do with health care such as marketing, administration and high executive salaries and bonuses. This represents over $400 billion per year which could be used to pay for health care for all of those Americans who are suffering and dying from preventable causes.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. You said that you wanted to “keep what works” and that would be Medicare. Medicare is an American legacy of which we can feel proud. It has guaranteed health security to all who have it. Medicare has lifted senior citizens out of poverty. Health disparities, which are rising in this nation, begin to disappear as soon as patients reach 65 years of age. And patients and doctors prefer Medicare to private insurance. Why, our Medicare has even been used as a model by other nations which have developed and implemented universal health systems.
Mr. President, we wanted to meet with you because we have the solution to health care reform. The United States has enough money already and we have the resources, including esteemed experts in public health, health policy and health financing. Our very own Dr. William Hsiao at Harvard has designed health systems in five other countries.
I am asking you to meet with me because the solution is simple. Remove all of the industries who profit off of the American health care catastrophe from the table. Replace them with those who are knowledgeable in designing health systems and who are without ties to the for-profit medical industries. And then allow them to design an improved Medicare-for-All national health system. We can implement it within a year of designing such a system.
What are the benefits of doing this?
* It will save tens of thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands) of American lives each year, not to mention the prevention of unnecessary suffering.
* It will relieve families of medical debt, which is the number one cause of bankruptcy and foreclosure despite the fact that most of those who experienced bankruptcy had health insurance.
* It will relieve businesses of the growing burden of skyrocketing health insurance premiums so that they can invest in innovation, hiring, increased wages and other benefits and so they can compete in the global market.
* It will control health care costs in a rational way through global budgeting and negotiation for fair prices for pharmaceuticals and services.
* It will allow patients the freedom to choose wherever they want to go for health care and will allow patients and their caregivers to determine which care is best without denials by insurance administrators.
* It will restore the physician-patient relationship and bring satisfaction back to the practice of medicine so that more doctors will stay in or return to practice.
* It will allow our people in our nation to be healthy and productive and able to support themselves and their families.
* It will create a legacy for your administration that may someday elevate you to the same hero status as Tommy Douglas has in Canada.
Mr. President, there are more benefits, but I believe you get the point. I look forward to meeting with you and am so pleased that you are open to our ideas. The Medicare-for-All campaign is growing rapidly and is ready to support you as we move forward on health care reform that will provide America with one of the best health systems in the world. And that is something of which all Americans can be proud.
With great anticipation and deep respect,
Margaret Flowers, M.D.
Maryland chapter, Physicians for a National Health Program
http://www.opednews.com/articles/There-is-Still-Time-For-Re-by-Margaret-Flowers–100127-703.html
More Legitimate Ways to Make a Difference
by gvickrey on Feb.03, 2010, under Civil Justice, Energy, Environment, Fund Raising, Health Care, Politics, Uncategorized
We know that there are likely more, but these are ones Karyn Strickler and I have personally vetted. Please help them by any means necessary. This list is in no particular order.
PLEASE SHARE FAR AND WIDE. Help one, help all:
http://www.Peaceoftheaction.org
http://www.southernenvironment.org/about/top_10_2010
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gregory-Vickrey/40416433278?ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=219721254423&ref=ts
http://climategroundzero.org/about-us/
http://www.ohvec.org/join/index.html#donate
http://www.climatestrategies.us/support.cfm
http://www.forestcouncil.org/join/
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/476/t/1173/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=761&track=w9home
https://secureusa.greenpeace.org/securedonate3/index.php?from=donatenav
http://www.commondreams.org/donate
http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/Donations.html
http://www.actforclimatejustice.org/n30-day-of-action/donate-support-funds/
https://secure.avaaz.org/act/?r=donate〈=en
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1312/t/6849/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=3630
http://gregoryvickrey.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=159256783275&ref=ts
http://www.singlepayeraction.org
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
http://www.seashepherd.org
http:/www.tongassconservation.org
If there are any groups you should be added, please let us know. If there are groups you believe need to be more scrutinized, let us know that as well. Your wishes to add to this organic list to improve it is paramount as a source for change.
(and I will add more direct links later)
Thanks,
Karyn and Gregory