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Health Care Trump is Tweeting away again about providing health care for all that’s going to be cheaper for everyone. The only things that are cheap are #45’s words. His claim that revised legislation will guarantee coverage for those with pre-existing conditions is a lot of hot air. You’ll get coverage if you happen to have thousands of dollars burning a hole in your pocket. The AARP reckons that if people with pre-existing conditions are forced to get coverage through state high-risk pools, the price tag for one person could be as high as $25,700 annually. Insurance only makes sense when high-risk and low-risk individuals are in the same pool. And of course, insurance doesn’t make sense anyway, and we should go to an expansion of Medicare. Action: Keep the pressure on!!!!!!
Contact info for White House and Congresss on Speak Out page of our site.
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Today is Sunday! It's also International Jazz Day 2017! A good day to enjoy this performance from the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wX-YWOr8RQ 100 DAYS
It’s been a long 100 days, but unlike #45, we’ve accomplished a thing or two! If you’ve been a member of this group from the beginning and have completed all the actions, you will have made over 80 calls, written about 40 postcards, sent about 30 emails and 15 faxes, not to mention Tweeting and other social media activity. We’ve taken action on over 40 issues - the most acted-on being health care (16 times) and Russia (8 times). And if you’ve only had time to take action once - well, thank you for taking action! The last 100 days have shown us that we have the power and unity to stand together and defend what we know to be right. Let’s look at some of the wrongs we have averted:
The Ten-Minute Activist members have spoken out on all these issues. There remains much work to be done, and we live in perilous times, but history is on our side. As G.K. Chesterton said, “The unconscious democracy of America is a very fine thing. It is a true and deep and instinctive assumption of the equality of citizens.” And that is why we resist. Thank you all. No, No, No
Just NO Actions: 1. The time has come to call your Member of Congress and be very angry. Doesn’t matter if it’s an innocent staffer - scare them. Call both their Washington DC office and their constituency office. The new health”care” proposals put forward by “moderate” Republicans (Tom MacArthur, R NJ) to placate the ideologically fanatic Freedom Caucus would do this: MacArthur’s amendment would allow states to opt out of two of the law’s central provisions: requiring coverage for “essential health benefits” such as maternity and preventive care and barring insurers from charging people with certain preexisting medical conditions more than others in their general insurance pool. (From Thursday’s Washington Post) 2. If you feel it’s appropriate, please share on social media and ask your friends to also call their Member of Congress. People will lose their lives if the GOP has its way over this. 3. Send a free Fax to Rep. MacArthur, telling him his ideas are real bad. http://faxzero.com/fax_congress/M001193 House contact info here: www.house.gov Taxation Trump, as you know, has come up with some proposals to simplify and reduce taxes. These ideas are not all bad - for example, doubling the standard deduction. However, the plan would help the rich far more than lower- and moderate-income families. The Tax Policy center estimates that the top wealthiest 1% of households would enjoy a 14% increase in after-tax income, while the increase in income for low- and moderate-income households would be less than 2%. The plan, moreover, does not pay for itself; it is estimated that the ticket price of this tax overhaul would be trillions of dollars, with only a vague promise of future revenue from all the pie-in-the-sky economic growth which the cuts are supposed to stimulate. This plan for growth is classic supply side economics, which falls somewhere in between highly dubious and debunked. Nuriel Roubini of the NYU Stern School of Business has said: [T]he verdict from history and empirical evidence is quite clear. Supply side economics is "voodoo economics". Reductions in tax rates (starting from initial moderate tax rate levels) do not siginificantly increase labor supply and savings, do not increase economic growth, do not raise total tax revenue and do not reduce budget deficits. Their likely effect on the level and growth rate on output is close to zero while they lead to significantly larger budget deficits. Action: Call your Member of Congress to say that you reject Trump’s tax proposals as being founded in “voodoo economics.” If you like, you could also send a postcard to that effect. House contact information: www.house.gov Good News Here’s a spot of good news: a judge has stopped Trump from implementing a policy of refusing Federal grants to “sanctuary” communities - jurisdictions which have limited their cooperation with immigration officials and deportation forces. More information in this Houston Chronicle article. Threat to Overtime Compensation The Working Families Flexibility Act (HR 1180/ S 801) would give employers leeway to refuse to pay overtime to employees. The bill is touted as a way of giving workers more flexibility but in fact would increase unpredictability in scheduling and would give the employER, not the employEE, the right to determine when compensatory time would be awarded lieu of payment. You can read more about it in this Huffpost article. Instead of this bill we need paid family leave, guaranteed sick days, overtime pay for overtime work, and predictable and regular work schedules. Action:
House and Senate Contact info on Speak Out page of this website. Healthcare Trump & his minions are in the process of trying to resurrect the dead and decomposing AHCA - a zombie apocalypse if ever there was one. Our action today is to call our Members of Congress and Senators again. This time, if you wish, you may use the script below (borrowed from sorry-I-can't-remember-where). “Can I count on Congressperson/Senator Y to oppose any version of the AHCA?” (THIS IS YOUR ASK)
House and Senate contact info on Speak Out page of this site. Budget Congress must pass a budget by April 28th to keep the government functioning. Trump has all sorts of big (bad) plans, but he can’t carry out any of these plans without Congressional approval. Action: The New York Times recently published an article about the greater efficacy of calling, rather than emailing, your Member of Congress. Call your MoC to say:
Extra Action: Jon Ossof Jon Ossoff, the Democrat running in Georgia’s recent special election, narrowly failed to obtain the votes necessary to win outright, although he was the leading contender. He now faces a Republican opponent in the June 20 run-off election. This is a golden opportunity to turn the tide against Trump and the Republican-dominated legislature. If you feel so called, Ossoff’s campaign could sure use your help (no matter where you live) as a phone bank volunteer: http://go.electjon.com/page/s/web-volunteer House Contact Info: www.house.gov Sunday - a day to rest and appreciate the late, lamented, and imperishably fabulous Rik Mayall:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0Ho9T2TcPY Saturday First, the bad news: Gorsuch has shown his true colors by okaying the Arkansas executions. Ironic that the first important decision of the SCOTUS justice appointed by a President who was the darling of the pro-life vote was a flat-out anti-life decision. Sad day. Now the good news: Exxon Mobil will NOT be granted a waiver to do business in Russia. Hooray! Today’s Action: Many of you will be going to the March for Science events on Saturday, and that’s plenty for one day! The rest of us can do our part by going to Facebook where we can “comment” on and “like” the comments and photos posted by our friends who are participating in marches. The great and all-wise data collection monster that is the Internet will register these likes and perchance recognize the way the wind bloweth. |
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November 2019
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