Open letter to Congress

Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend and Robert Reich, economist and former U.S. Secretary of Labor, is writing about the worst employment and wage numbers since the Great Depression. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-real-news-about-jobs_b_278098.html


Which is why I question opposition to a public option for health care.

I understand the fear of average citizens and their reactionary response. When media sources conflate fear and feed the public lies, they’re going to strike out at the biggest bogeyman they can find – government.

But your cowardice astounds and frustrates me. Where is your leadership? America is about to careen off a cliff, and you’re still playing politics!

The true measure of Washington cravenness is your inability to read the signs our entire economy is about to collapse. Instead, you let corporate executives push to keep their overblown salaries and fight regulation, actions doomed to send them crashing into the abyss, too. Their consumer market is shrinking. Who will buy their crap now? (And the last year has proven it’s crap!)

Members of Congress, particularly Republicans and conservative Blue Dog Dems, saw on the same old ideological platitudes while Rome burns. Meanwhile, corporate media looks the other way because they live in gated communities where everyone is still “doing OK.” Or they’re too dumb to understand the subjects they report on. (Witness Maria Bartiromo interviewing Rep. Ron Weiner about Medicare.)

Congress needs to study American history. When our economy has been at its worst, more government intervention (not less) has been required to stimulate growth and turn things around. This means deficit spending. And it has been government programs like Social Security, the Works Progress Administration, the GI Bill and Medicare that have stabilized the economy and allowed citizens to pursue new business ventures.

Right now, the American business sector is shrinking. This is largely due to rising health care costs. And only a government or public option will be large enough to ensure the competition to drive costs down.

But most disturbing to me is the loyalty of duly elected Congress men and women to the insurance and health care sectors instead of to the American people. Voters on all sides ought to be angry, and instead of shouting at each other, we ought to be taking names. Instead of letting Congress people like Charles Grassley scare the pants off us with comments about “pulling the plug on Grandma,” we should be asking him why he took more than $2 million from health insurers and providers.

You’re supposed to be working for us, and we need help – desperately.

Reagan was wrong

Probably the most damaging legacy Ronald Reagan left America is his oft-quoted statement: “Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.” That one sweeping statement rendered our democracy helpless and allowed government leaders to abandon leadership for profit and power.

And we the people fell for it.

Democracy, particularly American democracy, has always been about shared responsibility. In democracies, citizens are responsible for determining who represents them in government as well as for actively monitoring representatives’ work. Yet over the last 30 years, we’ve given up these responsibilities.

“If government is the problem, why vote? Why follow legislation and contact our senators and representatives with our opinions? It doesn’t make a difference.” This is the prevailing attitude.

And so more and more over the last 30 years, U.S. government has been influenced not by the people it was created to serve, but by corporations and wealthy Americans whose agenda is to further enrich and empower themselves. And not coincidentally, our media outlets, responsible for bringing us information about government, have covered less and less policy. Instead, their corporate ownership directs the focus to personalities, social issues like abortion, and deceptively titled legislation like No Child Left Behind or the Clean Air Act.

Make no mistake. This is propaganda, more commonly referred to as public relations in politically correct terms. And we’ve swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

But now that we’re in a real crisis, citizens are beginning to question things. I’ve waited a long time for this, because I believe government, and more specifically democracy, is the solution to our problems – when we all participate.

And that means more than flying your flag and putting red-white-and-blue magnets on your car. It even goes beyond voting. It means reading about local, state and federal legislation, and registering your opinion via phone calls, letters and e-mails. It means stepping up to serve in government if you feel capable. It means advocating for the causes important to you. And most of all it means questioning everything in search of the public good.

Reagan was wrong. Government isn’t the problem, but many of the people we’ve elected are. And with his attitude, he was one of them.

August 18 Letter to Grassley

Dear Senator Grassley,

I attended your town hall in Afton, Ia., on Wed., Aug. 12, and I was disappointed to see you reinforce erroneous political talking points on health care instead of focusing on Iowans’ needs. I would also like to respond to your Aug. 4 letter, which references “independent analysis” which you subsequently don’t cite. I would guess this is the Lewin Report financed by the Heritage Foundation and conducted by a firm owned by UnitedHealth. Obviously, this report is not an unbiased independent source, which is probably why you didn’t cite it.

In your letter you also indicate we must “bolster the individual and employer-based insurance markets by crafting a public policy that encourages affordable, accessible coverage. We must lower costs for consumers by promoting efficiency, encouraging prevention and rewarding quality.”

I would remind you employer-based insurance has broken the U.S. auto industry and other manufacturing companies, forcing them to leave the country. Additionally, our nation cannot attract replacement industries due to this requirement. Instead companies settle across the border in Mexico and Canada where they have national health care. And as I have told your staff via phone calls, individuals with ideas for new businesses find health care costs prohibitive. Thus, the share of our economy held by new business ventures is shrinking. These are facts, not simply what I choose to believe. Meanwhile, the percentage of GDP eaten up by health costs is growing.

Still you deny these realities. And in fact, as I observed in Afton (and your Aug. 4 letter), you deliberately mislead ill-informed Iowans to stoke their fears and support the status quo against their own best interests. Shame on you! As a leader, you have a responsibility to educate and help these people, not frighten them. Also your allusions to “death panels,” though more subtle in Afton than in Winterset, strike a sour note with me. You see, 10 years ago, I went through such a situation with both my parents.

End of life consultations are an important part of the process of helping families decide how to help their loved ones die with dignity. For both Mom and Dad, who had terminal cancer, we needed to know what was available in rural Iowa, what Medicare and their insurance would cover, and what our role in care might be. This was especially important as we chose to allow our parents to die in their home. My sister and I provided daily care with the help of the Montgomery County Hospice program. You and other Republicans’ portrayal of these consultations as death panels determining who lives and dies is a lie and an outrage.

Instead of working to help Iowans, you have chosen to take up arms as a Republican warrior fighting Democrats as the enemy. You’ve bought into Newt Gingrich’s old lies.

But I see us all as Americans. And for the last 40 years, conservative ideas have shaped our government. It’s been self-fulfilling prophecy because you believe, “Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem!” You’ve made government the problem; you’ve made sure you strangle it. Tax cuts, deregulation and corporate-friendly policies have gutted our economy. To improve our conditions, we must change course. That means the pendulum needs to swing back the other way. As a pragmatist, I expect we’ll surely have to change course again in the future. However, in 2009, we need to try some progressive ideas.

Which leads me back to health care and our economy.

You and the rest of the Republicans in Congress have chosen to ignore poll after poll indicating Americans want a public health care option. And for me, even that is a compromise. I favor a universal single payer plan or nationalized health care. Yet you refuse to even allow the public option compromise.

What I heard from you in Afton was a very carefully orchestrated message to conflate voters’ fears about a change, to appear to be negotiating with the Obama Administration for political cover, and then to write a plan that protects the health insurers and the status quo. Essentially, the insurers will give up nothing.

So you remember this prediction if you’re successful. If our health care and insurance system in this country does not change, I believe the entire American economy will crash. Your plans will not control costs or improve access. It will not help businesses, small or large, free up dollars for new ventures and jobs. Instead, the status quo will only increase the misery.

You have a choice to perform public service or to play politics. I think you’ve made your choice.

But I won’t support you. And because I care about my family, friends and neighbors, I’m going to fight for their best interests. That’s a promise.

Health care conflict

After attending a town hall in Afton, Ia., held by Senator Charles Grassley, I can hone the health care battle down to a single essential conflict:

• Everyone wants health care – they want to be taken care of – but no one wants to pay for it.

I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see Iowa’s long term Republican Senator Grassley stick to the political talking points rather than acknowledge the needs of Iowans.

The event I attended had been scheduled at Afton City Hall, but too many people arrived, and the local Methodist church opened its doors to accommodate the crowd. Even then, people were crowded into the choir seats and overflow at the front and back of the church and standing in the aisles.

To open, Grassley rattled off a litany of votes against Obama administration policies. Then he declared he is against national health care and threw out the lies about British and Canadian systems denying old and sick people care. “I value life!” he declared. Finally, he tried to explain the process of negotiating in which he’s been engaged on health care to mollify those on the right who’ve criticized him for working with the current administration.

Grassley then introduced a member of the audience to come up and ask the first question and help facilitate the Q&A portion of the event. This gentleman threw out the suggestion that Congress put everyone on their health plan or else give it up and go on ours. Predictably everyone applauded.

Next came a question about the Cap and Trade legislation with Grassley noting he is for an RPS. The third comment came from an older woman who stated, “I fear my government.” Genuinely fearful, she posed a question using the old liberal vs. conservative language -- as if we are not all Americans. Again, Grassley did little to remind anyone attending we are all on the same team.

This was followed by comments and questions that moved into the realm of right-wing religious thought, one woman even comparing current events to 1930s Germany and implying President Obama is like Hitler. At this point, a gentleman in the crowd yelled out, “That’s racist!” and he was removed even though he showed no signs of being further disruptive.

Comments eventually came round to health care again, and voices from the side of care for all were raised. A retired doctor shared some of his experiences and noted Blue Cross/Blue Shield once operated as a non-profit, using 93% of their funds directly for care. He wondered why they needed profits now. Another woman inquired about out-of-pocket expenses. She has two children with major medical needs, she works full and part-time jobs to meet them, and she was wondering if she could afford to continue working.

My friend Lisa asked how Senator Grassley would address pre-existing conditions; if he would support regulating insurance companies. Grassley stated he wanted continued regulation by state departments of insurance, using “pre-emption” to legislate premium variations be within a certain range to help those with pre-existing conditions. So Lisa followed up by asking how companies would maintain profitability. That’s when Grassley cited the mandate for individual insurance.

Voices in the room raised further questions on both sides, but the essential conflict was never resolved. And it is the heart of the matter.

As a gray, rural state, Iowa has many seniors already on Medicare. These folks often get their “news” from talk radio and cable or network news, with little understanding of who is paying to broadcast this information. They do not understand the corporate profit motive is setting the editorial content and shaping what they see and hear. They want to trust what they hear the way they trusted Walter Conkrite.

So that’s who appeared in Afton, predominantly. These folks have been genuinely frightened by what major media broadcasts. And Senator Grassley did nothing to disabuse them of that. Instead, he chose to conflate those fears with Republican talking points. Of course, he has a long and impressive list of campaign contributors from the health insurance and health care industries.

But Iowa needs the help of a public health care option at the very least. As a rural state with a dwindling number of farm businesses, we need economic development. But access to affordable health insurance prohibits entrepreneurs from taking the plunge, which means even fewer businesses grow here. In fact, this scenario affects the entire country with the United States losing the battle for factories to Canada and Mexico because we require employers to provide health insurance.

The current economic state of our country is precarious. Too much of our GDP goes to health care costs. Health insurance companies are losing their market; they hope a health insurance mandate will help them maintain profitability and counter any controls current legislation may put on pre-existing conditions. That’s what Senator Grassley is negotiating so hard to protect. But even with that, I believe rising costs will diminish their market until they will crash just like the mortgage banks and financial companies. Health costs have already tanked the auto industry.

We’re still on the brink of the abyss.

Can you see me?

I’m a news junkie, particularly political news. But more and more over the past 30 years, I’ve found it difficult to get information about what happens in the halls of government, which actually affects me. Thank God for the Internet. With the birth of the bloggers, I’ve found some individuals actually reading legislation and monitoring the actions of our government officials. Try to find that on network or cable news!

So after the last presidential press conference on health care, what was the lead story on NBC’s Today Show? The president’s final aside to a question about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.

And when they finally got to health care, they asked the same old questions about how government is going to pay for it. “He didn’t provide specifics.” As if they’d report them anyway -- their 15-second attention spans couldn’t handle the details. The president answered that question as well as can be managed without a solid bill to address, and they either didn’t understand it or chose to ignore it. They also trotted out the old canard about the deficit after ignoring it during the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, two wars and the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill.

Then they played the “What’s the rush?” line with the help of GOP lightweight Eric Cantor.

What’s the rush? People are suffering and dying out here.

The president, who spent months on the ground across the country talking to actual people during the presidential campaign, knows this. He reminds himself every day via his purple file.

Do our congressional representatives? How long has it been since your rep has visited your area? Do they acknowledge all the voters who are living with a medical crisis – with and without insurance? I can say my Republican Senator Grassley was in Iowa recently, but his answer to a constituent who asked why he can’t have access to the same health insurance as the senator was: “You can. Get a job with the federal government.”

And the corporate media allows them to get away with this by looking the other way. Instead, what do I get from them? At 7:30 a.m. (Central Time) each day on the Today Show, I can count on the latest update to the Michael Jackson circus. Enough already. That doesn’t affect me.

But health care does. So we all need to be calling, e-mailing and writing our representatives and the media talking heads and asking, “Can you see me?” ‘Cause I can see you, and I’m taking names.

Throw out the old conservative lies – ask more questions!

Lie #1 – “Tax and spend Democrats”

Does anyone remember their high school government class? A public official’s job, regardless of political affiliation, is to tax and spend.

In our democracy, the government provides for the common welfare. (See our founding documents.) And how does government provide? Through the collection of taxes and spending based on public needs. Government -- of any variety – doesn’t happen without taxation.

So the whole idea that Democrats own taxing and spending is an outright lie. It’s a Republican or Independent’s job as much as a Democrat’s. It’s every public official’s job.

Americans need to get over their miserliness about taxes. We want a military, social security, financial aid, roads and bridges, quality public schools, hospitals, fire and police departments, safe food, vaccines and a host of other public services we take for granted. All of which are paid for by . . . taxes! And now we want public health care.

Which leads to myth #2 – “Government is the problem.”

To me, this statement was the worst legacy of the Reagan administration. If the old fraud believed this, then why the hell did he run for public office? Was it simply to destroy our American democracy? If you believe government doesn’t work, you have no incentive to work at a government job. Consequently Americans have gotten very little help from government during the Republican-dominated years which followed Reagan.

Today, Frank Luntz is trotting out the health care version of this meme in an attempt to tank a public health care option. “You won’t have any choice of doctors or hospitals. Government-run programs never work.” Except, see #1 for a list of public programs that have been working.

Lies, lies, lies . . . repeated so often most of us have accepted they are true.

#3 – The Great Socialist Threat!

Does anyone throwing out the term “socialism” really know what it means? Do you?

Conservatives routinely play the fear card; facts be damned. And they love to paint European Democratic Socialist countries as godless bastions of hedonism.

Yet for all our “patriotic” blathering about what a great democracy and country we are, our quality of life is declining. Americans are sicker. Our infant mortality rate is higher. We work more hours for less pay. We take fewer vacations. And we don’t vote in as high numbers as citizens in these social democracies.

That’s right. Perhaps the greatest privilege of our democracy – the vote – and Americans don’t exercise it.

Here’s my thought. Maybe we don’t pay enough taxes! You see, in Europe, citizens pay much higher taxes, so they have a greater incentive to vote. Of course, in many countries they also get health care, child care, much greater paid maternity (and paternity) leave, longer minimum paid vacations, education that includes pre-k through college -- a strong social safety net. They may have fewer cars and less plastic and electronic crap, but they don’t need it either.

Get past the fear and start asking questions

The founding fathers believed a healthy democracy demanded an informed populace. So instead of simply accepting 15-second TV news reports and commentary by radio and TV pundits as information, go read something. And read outside your comfort zone.

If you’re liberal, read a conservative publication like The Weekly Standard or The National Review. If you’re more conservative, read The Nation or Salon. Form your opinions after perusing many sources. Because the truth is somewhere in between, and the press is no longer free. Most media outlets are corporate minions, developed to make profits – not to serve the public’s need for information.

As a nation, we have forgotten that at our peril.

Put up or shut up!

Americans love to complain. We complain about government as much as anything. But how many of us actually participate in the process? We are, after all, a democracy of the people, by the people, for the people. Are you doing your part?

As a progressively more active citizen, I’m losing patience with my fellow citizens. I hear lots of Americans complaining about the state of affairs at all levels: local, state and federal. But I don’t see too many doing much to change things.

And I believe you have to earn your right to complain.

If you complain about how you see local officials spending tax dollars, have you called and asked about how those spending decisions were made? Or have you written a letter to the editor outlining your concerns? Have you advocated for funds to go to your priorities?

If you’re worried about the number of young people leaving your state never to return, have you lobbied your local and state officials to build economic opportunities to bring them back? This means you have to get off your backside, go to the phone, computer or a desk, and call, e-mail or write a letter.

Do you read newspapers and magazines that provide actual policy information to learn what government (all levels) is doing? Because 15-second TV stories and radio commentary by entertainers/shock-jocks is not real information about the legislation that affects your life.

Did you vote in the last election?

And on the local level, what do you do to make a difference? Have you attended a school board meeting? Do you pick up trash? Do you volunteer at a school? Do you serve on a board?

If you spend most of your free time parked in front of your TV or computer and expect someone else to read your mind and give you the change you want, you’re a fool. The “Easy Button” only exists in Staples commercials. Real change happens when we get up and work for it.

And even then, you can’t expect it to appear exactly as you want it. Because the guy across the street may have a completely different need. The public good is a balancing act.

So here’s a warning. Before you open your mouth to complain about the status quo when I’m around, ask yourself what you’ve done to make change happen. ‘Cause I will. And I’m going to tell you that you have to earn your right to complain.

The House is on Fire

The house is on fire. Our U.S. economy is an inferno, loosing 20,000 jobs a day, and the Republicans want to turn off the hoses. No more government spending!

No, the house is on fire, so let it burn until it burns itself out. In fact, let’s turn off the water while a select few hoard it. Let’s give more tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy.

That’s what Republican economic ideas amount to.

Despite the historical evidence that spending programs like the New Deal put Americans back to work and helped stimulate the economy, the Republicans refused to support President Obama’s stimulus package. Instead they try to tell us the New Deal didn’t work.

And despite further historical evidence aligning tax cuts with economic growth and proving tax cuts DO NOT stimulate the economy, the Republicans continue to sing the same song they’ve sung the last eight years or longer. The average American is finally accepting reality as their jobs disappear and they face losing their homes.

While the Republican Party continues to parrot their selfish, greedy ideology, more Americans lose their jobs, their homes, their healthcare and their security. So I have a question for the remaining die-hard Republicans out there. Do you really believe these same old lines?

November 2007 Sunset

(For Maya Soetoro-Ng in honor of her Nov. 2007 visit to Red Oak, Iowa)

Your arrived on a warm November evening
as the sun slid behind our bronze
and burnished fields.
Visiting the city of red oaks
to speak with educators
in an old white brick home
on the hill --
sharing your shared history
with your brother.

For us, you painted the picture
of a compact, creative family
(Your mother watching
Kansas clouds and raising
children to make a difference.)

You noted the beauty of
an Iowa sunset,
yourself from a land
renowned for arresting
vistas,
and won my grateful
respect and appreciation.

Canopy

Terraced hills
drape the creek bed,
flowing down
to a burbling brook.
Billowy bales of cloud
roll overhead
as spring blows
across the plains.