By Matt L. Barron

If you live out in the boondocks like me, you know the challenges involved in obtaining health care.  My doctor and dentist are located at a rural health center in Worthington, the next town over, which is one of two clinics serving the most rural part of Massachusetts.

A new website provides some interesting factoids about health care and the rural economy.  Rural America is the land of the MUA (Medically Underserved Area) and the HPSA (Health Professional Shortage Area).  If you live in the hinterlands, you are more likely to abuse alcohol, use addictive drugs like OxyContin and methamphetamine, and die from an accident.  Experts call this your medical “destiny” if you are part of that geographic minority known as rural.

So with Congress now crafting a health care reform bill, now is the time to let your voice be heard.

Posted on July 2nd, 2009 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Health Care, On my Radar, Rural Issues, Rural Life, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 30, 2009

President Obama Announces Rural Tour with Cabinet Secretaries and Administration Officials

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, President Obama announced the launch of his Administration’s Rural Tour. This summer, over the course of the next few weeks and months, top Administration officials, including Cabinet Secretaries, will fan out across the nation to hold a series of discussions on how communities, states, and the federal government can work together to help strengthen rural America.

 Vice President Joe Biden and Secretaries Gary Locke and Tom Vilsack will kick-off the Rural Tour on July 1^st by visiting Wattsburg, Pennsylvania, to discuss the issue of rural broadband.

“A healthy American economy depends on a prosperous rural America,” President Obama said. “Rural America is vast and diverse, and different communities face different challenges and opportunities.  That’s why we’re going out to hear directly from the people of rural America about their needs and concerns and what my Administration can do to support them.”

Administration officials participating in the Rural Tour will hear about the diverse set of challenges and opportunities facing the small towns and rural communities that are so integral to the fabric of American life.  They will share some of the Administration’s ideas about how to nurture strong, robust, and vibrant rural communities.  And, when they have heard from the people, they will report back to the President about the state of rural America, and what the Administration can do to strengthen it.

These events, involving multiple Cabinet secretaries, will serve as listening sessions to focus on such issues as broad-based rural health, economic development, infrastructure, education, energy, natural resources, and agriculture.  Events will be held in Alaska, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.  And, Secretary Vilsack will hold listening sessions in additional states with local and state elected officials.

The entire tour will provide an opportunity for the Obama Administration to listen to diverse voices throughout rural America, and to highlight its broader vision for growth and prosperity in these regions of the country.  

Rural Tour events planned so far include:

 JULY 1^ST

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretaries Gary Locke and Tom Vilsack will travel to Wattsburg, PA, to discuss rural broadband.

JULY 16^TH

Secretaries Ray LaHood and Tom Vilsack will travel to La Crosse, WI, to discuss rural economic development.

JULY 18^TH

Secretaries Steven Chu and Tom Vilsack will travel to Ringgold, VA, to discuss green jobs and a new energy economy, with a focus on weatherization and carbon sequestration.

JULY 20^TH

Secretaries Kathleen Sebelius, Eric Shinseki, Hilda Solis and Tom Vilsack will travel to St. John’s Parish, LA, to discuss rural healthcare.

AUGUST 12^TH

Secretaries Steven Chu, Shaun Donovan, Arne Duncan, Ken Salazar and Tom Vilsack will travel to Bethel, AK, to discuss rural infrastructure, green jobs and a new energy economy, as well as climate change.

AUGUST 16^TH

Secretaries Ken Salazar and Tom Vilsack will travel to Zanesville, OH, to discuss green jobs and a new energy economy, with a focus on renewable energies.

AUGUST 17^TH

Secretaries Arne Duncan and Tom Vilsack will travel to Hamlet, NC, to discuss rural education.

SEPTEMBER 28^TH

Secretaries Ken Salazar and Tom Vilsack will travel to Scottsbluff, NE, to discuss production agriculture.

SEPTEMBER 30^TH

Secretaries Shaun Donovan and Tom Vilsack will travel to Las Cruces, NM, to discuss rural infrastructure.

More details on the Rural Tour will be released as they become available.

Posted on July 1st, 2009 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Cabinet, Government Agencies, Obama, POTUS, Rural Issues, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

By Daphne Bishop

Much has been said about the collapse of General Motors and its attendant, cataclysmic effect on the cities, towns and people of our country.

There is little optimism, and a dearth of concrete proposals or solutions. But in Anderson, Indiana, once a thriving GM city, five young entrepreneurs see the growing of organic produce as a crucial way to invigorate both landscape and livelihoods.

Taylor Family Farms is a three month old organic farm started by students from Anderson University, a Christian college located about 40 minutes northeast of Indianapolis. In a city that the students call” post-industrial,” where “buildings are falling apart and people are out of work,” the farm has a larger purpose. 

The farm sits on what was a two and a half acre field, now planted with herbs, vegetables and fruits. It is presided over by AJ Taylor, who graduated from Anderson last May with a degree in finance, and a business plan developed in one of his courses. The land is rented from Taylor’s parents, who are not farmers, with the goal of eventually expanding onto an additional seven acres. 

I recently spoke with the four undergraduate students who are spending their summer vacations working for this for-profit CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). AJ had just gotten married and was on his honeymoon.

Nearing the end of another long day of hand-tilling and watering their gardens, they were energetic, optimistic and clear that what they were doing was both pragmatic and deeply spiritual. Joseph Monroe, a senior who graduates in December, had been quoted in an Anderson University web article as saying that the farm “is a microcosm of what everybody could be doing.” I asked him to elaborate.

“Farming is one of those ancient practices that everyone had to do at one time, what you did to survive. Things changed, people had other jobs. We are providing good, fresh food for people who are too busy, but also getting people to have the confidence, to see that farming does not have to be big scale.”

“We are trying to be a model for other post-industrial areas,” says Joseph, who is studying to be a pastor. He likens the area to Detroit, only with a population of 60,000. “It used to be in Anderson and other GM towns that you didn’t have to go to college. You could get a $20 an hour job. We are trying to bring something new in.” Part of that ethos is to encourage others so that “everyone could have a backyard garden,” no matter the size or simplicity. 

Monroe and his co-workers, Ben Orcutt, Levi Douglass and Kirsten Milliron, found each other through the university’s Orange, Black and Green environmental club. They have collaborated to get support and funding for other projects such as a “green roof” of wildflowers and bushes for the university student center.

Ben is a senior majoring in studio fine arts with a minor in peace and conflict resolution, and is the club’s president. One tenet of the philosophy that inspires the students, he said, stems from a belief that “we humans have separated ourselves from the rest of nature. Anything that we can do to put ourselves in a closer relationship with nature, I think, brings us closer to what we have lost.”

Joseph agreed, saying “I’ve resolved more problems in the gardens than anywhere else.”  

One surprise for the young farmers was the way initial publicity about Taylor Family Farms led to a flood of requests for shares.”We had to turn people away,” said Kirsten, a sophomore majoring in philosophy and creative writing.

Taylor Family Farms has thus far been able to sell 32 shares. The plan now is to offer another ten week share of produce for the fall. The farm sold about a thousand dollars worth of produce to Anderson University’s dining services, but is not yet in a position to compete with the big food services companies that typically win institutional contracts. “We are trying to do more competitive pricing for next year,” said Joseph.  

The students have found that the movement to buy local and support products made in America is deeply felt in their part of the country. There are five CISA’s in the area and a weekly farmers market in nearby Muncie, “an even bigger college town,” as well as market opportunities in Pendleton and Noblesville.   

The Taylor Family Farms store which will offer honey and eggs as well as artisan wares and jewelry. The students are enthusiastic about collaborating with other artists, and they are investigating other farmers markets and co-ops in places like Bloomington. The group puts out a monthly newsletter, according to Kirsten, with articles and recipes for their in-season bounty. Publicity is handled by AJ, who, in addition to being president of the farm, starts a full-time job when he returns from his honeymoon.

You might think that these young entrepreneurs are continuing a long tradition of family farming, yet only Joseph comes from a farming family, and a commercial corn and soybean farm at that. This has led others to puzzle over the students’ decision to spend the summer laboring without farm equipment, or even a watering system in place.

“I don’t find the work the biggest challenge, says Kirsten. “The hard part is explaining to family and friends why I stayed for the summer to farm.” While she is passionate about the health of the environment, she also says she has fun with the work.

Levi agrees the biggest personal challenge is not the field work, “but explaining to people back home,” why he is involved in the start-up enterprise.  A commitment to deliver to the people who bought shares and “to go the extra mile for the people who gave us their money,” moves Joseph to keep at it and to “get the food ready.”

For Ben, who grew up in the suburbs of Cincinnati, starting from scratch has been difficult.  ”It’s not my personality to be disorganized, and the psychological aspect of doing everything for the first time has been tough.”

While the tangible rewards may be few at this point, there are other dimensions to the work. The farmers have experienced pretty good weather; their professors have been especially supportive, and they have moved up from being an all volunteer labor force to being paid an hourly wage.

The process of working the land has further shaped and deepened the students’ individual faiths. Joseph finds a “childlike wonder” in the blossoming of their work “that keeps me going.”  There is a sense that “we are doing the best with the land, taking care of the land and helping it to do what it is supposed to do.”

Levi concurs, “I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we may have an environmental or political view. But it is all connected to our faith; it is not just about taking care of a farm, but about finding our connection to something greater than ourselves.”

They know it will be a challenge to continue farming in the fall when classes begin again, but they hope to get other students inspired and involved so that the farm thrives even after they graduate. “We want to keep it going so that over the years students will stay and work here in the summers,” Ben adds.

This kind of imaginative response to a fractured economy and a degraded industrial food system is also taking place in Worcester, Massachusetts.

An organic community garden has been started by students at the College of the Holy Cross with the enthusiastic support of their professors. They plan to offer fresh, nutritious produce for both the school’s dining services and a local battered women’s shelter. Inspired by an assistant professor of biology who taught a course exploring the relationship “between philosophy and food,” the garden joins a network of about forty community gardens in the Worcester area.

We may be seeing the end of modernism in the relentless decline of traditional American manufacturing and industry. But if we stop to consider other ways of living and working, as the students at Anderson University have suggested, and as our forbears experienced, we may find that American ingenuity, faith and a bit of luck will pull us through the darkest of times.

Posted on June 30th, 2009 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Agriculture, Buy Local, Community Gardens, Farms & Farmers, Food, Rural Life, Rural Urban Partnerships, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson

SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is my favorite labor union.  It doesn’t betray its members, unlike another I could mention, but won’t. It puts its money where its mouth is — in this case working for real health insurance reform — again, unlike said other international union.

Now SEIU has launched a mock organization called HAARM — Healthy Americans Against Reforming Medicine — and a series of satirical videos that would be hilarious if they weren’t so close to reality.

Here’s the first — a group of advertising folk devising HAARM’s message strategy. It runs 3:05.

And another, which might be called “Fire Care” (2:24)

See them all on the HAARM web site, where you can also sign up to join the campaign.

Posted on June 29th, 2009 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Health Care, Labor and Labor Unions | 1 Comment »

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson

I’ve found a new toy.  Actually, it may turn out to be a very useful toy, but I won’t know that until I’ve played with it for a while. You can play, too.

OpenStreetMap is a map of the entire world, completely editable. You can take part in the editing if you register your e-mail address, a display name (what AOL <barf> calls a “screen name”), and a password. It needs help in my area, and I’m sure a bunch of us will fix it.

OpenStreetMap is a wiki, a collection of linked web pages that can be edited using Wiki software, a program that lets people work collaboratively to create and edit a web site. The wiki you probably know best is one I send you to often (including in this post), Wikipedia, the collaborative encyclopedia.

One of my neighbors posted about the map wiki on The L, my tiny town’s e-mail list and newspaper substitute, since we’re too small for any newspaper to pay attention to us. It looks like it will be a useful tool for the group working on an Open Space plan for the town. I’m not involved, but I cheer them on.

As part of the broadband portion of the federal stimulus package, a consortium of companies is mapping existing broadband service in rural areas. There’s controversy around this: the mapping organization is funded by the largest broadband suppliers in the country — the very people who have been ignoring us because it’s not very profitable to serve homes that are as far apart as ours are. They won’t show — they say for competitive reasons — where the central points of various broadband systems are, and apparently they’re assuming that any home within a specific radius (three miles, I think) of those central points is served, which is not necessarily true.

Massachusetts, which has a $40 million bond issue plus whatever we get from the stim fund, to extend broadband to the rurals (mainly, but not entirely, in the western part of the state) is doing its own mapping.  People are being asked to find their own address on the map and indicate what kind of internet access they have, if any.  The Massachusetts Broadband Institute is addding to this information.  I have much more confidence in what we’re doing here than in what’s being done by the national mapping consortium.

If you’re involved in gaining broadband access for your area, maybe it would be a good idea to tak a look at OpenStreetMap. Wouldn’t it be fun to come up with a more accurate map than the one the industry-sponsored mapping group presents?

The image at the top of this post shows Mount Grace, where our town’s broadband head end is sited. I’m on the broadband system now — about 25 of us are.  Our volunteer installers are hooking up 4-6 people a week, which is all they have time for.  I’ll tell you more about the system and what’s happening here next week, after our selectboard meets and irons out a couple of wrinkles — or doesn’t.

Posted on June 26th, 2009 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Broadband, Internet, Rural Issues, Telecommunications | 1 Comment »

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson

Photo: Fox News

I may have my head handed to me for this one, but this quote from Bill Maher’s June 19 monologue, “New Rules,” on HBO is something I wish I’d written.

[... E]very time Obama tries to take on a progressive cause, there’s a major political party standing in his way: the Democrats. Now, people talk a lot about a third political party in America. We don’t need a third party. We need a first party. You go to the polls and your choices are the guy who voted for the first Wall Street bailout, or the guy who voted for the next ten.

This year, we’re hearing that a public option for health care is unlikely because it doesn’t have the support of enough Democrats. Even Ted Kennedy’s plan– Ted Kennedy, yeah — leaves 37 million uninsured. This is because we don’t have a left and a right part in this country anymore. We have a center-right party and a crazy party.

And, over the last 30-odd years, Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital.

So, what we have is one perfectly good party for hedge fund managers, credit card companies, banks, defense contractors, big agriculture and the pharmaceutical lobby; that’s the Democrats.

And they sit across the aisle from a small group of religious lunatics, flat-earth-ers and Civil War re-enactors who mostly communicate by AM radio and call themselves the Republicans. And who actually worry that Obama is a socialist.

Socialist? He’s not even a liberal. I know he’s not because he’s on TV. And while I see Democrats on television, I don’t see actual liberals. And if occasionally you do get to hear Ralph Nader or Noam Chomsky or Dennis Kucinich, they’re treated like buffoons. Okay, these are not three of the world’s most charismatic men, but then nobody is going to confuse Newt Gingrich for Zac Efron. And I have to look at his fat face on TV more often than that free credit report song.

Shouldn’t there be one party that unambiguously supports cutting the military budget, a party that is straight up in favor of gun control, gay marriage, higher taxes on the rich, universal health care–legalizing pot–and steep, direct taxing of polluters? These aren’t radical ideas. A majority of Americans are either already for them or would be if they were properly argued and defended.

And what we need is an actual progressive party to represent the millions of Americans who aren’t being served by the Democrats. Because, bottom line, Democrats are the new Republicans.

Barack Obama is a thousand times smarter, more honest and ethical, and more empathic than that creepy guy who ran against him (and may again, his adultery far enough in the past to have been all but forgotten). But I keep waiting for him to stand up on his hind legs, tell the wingnuts to go pound sand, and then threaten to keel haul some of the members of his own party (and mean it) if they don’t stand with him on the issues that got him elected  — and many of them, too, riding on his coattails.

Like Isaac Asimov’s robots, elected politicians have a prime directive. Theirs is to stay elected.  But why they are such wusses when it comes to issues such as a public health insurance option (which 72% of voters want in the package) is beyond me.

Hey, Democrats: Show me some backbone. Show me some loyalty to something beyond your own hind end. You, too, Obama.  It’s time to whup ass.

[Hat tip to Jill Richardson and La Vida Locavore]

Posted on June 25th, 2009 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Congress, Health Care, McCain, Obama, POTUS | 2 Comments »

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson

UPDATES are in italics.

Let’s hear it for Cynthia Davis, state representative from Missouri’s 19th District. She’s found a novel way to motivate low-income youngsters in her state: let them go hungry.

Davis, who chairs the legislature’s Special Committee on Children and Families, is seriously bent out of shape over a news release announcing the state Department of Health and Senior Service’s summer program that will provide free breakfast and lunch to needy children.

On the front page of her web site, just below a photo of her and, presumably, a close relative, gloating over three quart bags of home-grown strawberries, Davis takes a bite out of the program because it costs money, insults parents by implying that they don’t care about nourishing their children, and could be another tear in the fabric of family life. She writes

This program could have an unintended consequence of diminishing parental involvement.  Why have meals at home with your loved ones if you can go to the government soup kitchen and get one for free?  This could have the effect of breaking apart more families.

The news release says that the current economic downturn will make Missouri’s summer food service program, which fills in for the free and reduced-price meals available during the school year, even more important.  Davis replies

They are using a “crisis” to create an expansion of a government program.  Parents naturally love their children and enjoy caring for their children just as much as ever during an economic downturn.   Most parents put their children first, even ahead of themselves no matter what.  If parents are laid off, that doesn’t mean they stop feeding their children, at least not any of the parents I know.  Laid off parents could adapt by preparing more home cooked meals rather than going out to eat.

How can this poor excuse for a human being not know that laid-off parents would love to prepare home cooked meals, if only they had money to buy food?  She goes on

While nobody is disputing the benefits of nutritious food, why the presumption that parents are not providing nutritious food for their children?  Even if they are not, who created a new rule that says government must make up for any lack at home?   The problem of childhood obesity has been cited as one of the most rapidly growing health problems in America.  People who are struggling with lack of food usually do not have an obesity problem.

Actually, obesity is a growing (so to speak) problem among the poor because the cheapest, most filling foods are those that substitute non-nutritive calories for nourishment. People with little money are apt to live in places where it’s impossible to find, let alone afford, fresh fruits and vegetables.  And fresh protein foods — meat, fish, eggs?  Forget it.  Better yet, next time you’re in a city, go to a low-income neighborhood and see what kinds of foods you can buy there.

For more on the paradox of hunger and obesity, look here.

The program is open to eligible children under 18  — another outrage, as Davis sees it.

Anyone under 18 can be eligible?  Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16?  Hunger can be a positive motivator.   What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals?

Tip:  If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break.

Only someone who has never been seriously hungry could say, as Davis says, “Hunger can be a positive motivator.”  Only some totally ignorant of the principles of nutrition could suggest working at McDonald’s as a way to get nourished.  Stomach filled?  Sure.  Body nourished? Not by a long shot.

If you doubt this, find a copy of  “Supersize Me” and pay attention. You’ll see a healthy-looking, normally-sized man turn into a pasty-faced tubby right before your eyes. How did he do it? By eating nothing but McDonalds food for 30 days.

In the interests of nonpartisanship, I haven’t mentioned this legislator’s party affiliation, but the following should give you a clue.

It really is all about increasing government spending, which means an increase in taxes for us to buy more free lunches and breakfasts. Parents get the same food stamp allotment regardless of how many extra meals are being provided to their children over the summer. This equates to an increase in taxpayer funded food programs.

Hint: What political party is the voice of people opposed to using government funds to help people less fortunate than they are?

Essay question for extra credit: Is there a relationship between this attitude and the fact that said party is currently circling the drain?  Why or why not?

You can safely forget that rubbish about breaking families apart. It’s really about greed and indifference to others’ needs, you see.

There’s more, but if I don’t stop soon I may stroke out.

When I was a brand new first-grade teacher, I found myself wondering why so many kids came to school already fidgety and had such difficulty focusing on their learning. It didn’t take long to figure it out; they weren’t getting breakfast at home.

Not far from the school was a Nabisco factory where they packaged shredded wheat and a couple of other cereals.  I took myself over there one afternoon and asked to see the plant manager.  I told him I had a class of 42 children (yes, I said 42) and many of them came to school hungry.  I talked him into delivering cases of cereal to my classroom.  I got the cafeteria manager to deliver what was supposed to be the mid-morning snack of fruit and milk first thing in the morning and we had a breakfast of cereal, fruit, and milk to start the day off.

Every one of those kids, none of whom had gone to kindergarten (and this was four years before Sesame Street began teaching preschoolers about numbers and letters) went home at the end of the school year reading my comments on their report cards.  That never would have happened if it hadn’t been for the manager at the Nabisco plant.

That’s why I’m so angry with Cynthia Davis.  She doesn’t know Shinola about hunger, or poverty.  Worse, she doesn’t care, or she’d be boosting the program and finding more money to extend it.

And this is the person who’s supposed to be an advocate for children and families.  She ought to be kicked off that committee and out of the legislature.

Would you like to contribute to this legislator’s education?  Go see the rest of her screed and then tell her what you think. She says she really wants to know.

Your thoughts are important to me, so please let me know what you think. You can send me your opinion by clicking here.   Cynthia Davis

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Childhood Hunger, Nutrition, Poverty in America | 6 Comments »

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson

I don’t normally post entire texts from another blog, but this message is too important to be missed. While President Obama and the Democratic Congressional leadership seem obsessed with begging for the support of a few Republican legislators, a majority of the nation’s voters — both Democrats and Republicans — want a public health insurance option along the lines of Medicare included in the health care reform bill we’re being promised.

It would be nice to have Republican support when the bill comes to a vote, but it’s not necessary. And if the Republicans think their only hope for regaining a few Congressional seats is to prevent the Democrats from achieving anything of value, then the Democrats owe it to the nation to roll right over the obstructionists.

After all, we’re the people who count, not those recalcitrant Republicans. Let them stew in their own juices, and give us the health care we need and deserve.

Robert Reich was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration.  He is a professor at the Universit of California at Berkeley.

Mr. President:

Momentum for universal health care is slowing dramatically on Capitol Hill. Moderates are worried, Republicans are digging in, and the medical-industrial complex is firing up its lobbying and propaganda machine.

But, as you know, the worst news came days ago when the Congressional Budget Office weighed in with awful projections about how much the leading healthcare plans would cost and how many Americans would still be left out in the cold. Yet these projections didn’t include the savings that a public option would generate by negotiating lower drug prices, doctor fees, and hospital costs, and forcing private insurers to be more competitive. Projecting the future costs of universal health care without including the public option is like predicting the number of people who will get sunburns this summer if nobody is allowed to buy sun lotion. Of course the costs of universal health care will be huge if the most important way of controlling them is left out of the calculation.

If you want to save universal health care, you must do several things, and soon:

1. Go to the nation. You must build public support by forcefully making the case for universal health care everywhere around the country. The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows that three out of four Americans want universal health care. But the vast majority don’t know what’s happening on the Hill, don’t know how much money the medical-industrial lobbies are spending to defeat it, and have no idea how much demagoguery they’re about to be exposed to. You must tell them. And don’t be reluctant to take on those vested interests directly. Name names. They’ve decided to fight you. You must fight them.

2. Be LBJ. So far, Lyndon Johnson has been the only president to defeat American Medical Association and the rest of the medical-industrial complex. He got Medicare and Medicaid enacted despite their cries of “socialized medicine” because he knocked heads on the Hill. He told Congress exactly what he wanted, cajoled and threatened those who resisted, and counted noses every hour until he had the votes he needed. When you’re not on the road, you need to be twisting congressional arms and drawing a line in the sand. Be tough.

3. Forget the Republicans. Forget bipartisanship. Universal health care can pass with 51 votes. You can get 51 votes if you give up on trying to persuade a handful of Republicans to cross over. Eight year ago George W. Bush passed his huge tax cut, mostly for the wealthy, by wrapping it in an all-or-nothing reconciliation measure and daring Democrats to vote against it. You should do the same with health care.

4. Insist on a real public option. It’s the lynchpin of universal health care. Don’t accept Kent Conrad’s ersatz public option masquerading as a “healthcare cooperative.” Cooperatives won’t have the authority, scale, or leverage to negotiate low prices and keep private insurers honest.

5. Demand that taxes be raised on the wealthy to ensure that all Americans get affordable health care. At the rate healthcare costs are rising, not even a real public option will hold down costs enough to make health care affordable to most American families in years to come. So you’ll need to tax the wealthy. Don’t back down on your original proposal to limit their deductions. And support a cap on how much employee-provided health care can be provided tax free. (Yes, you opposed this during your campaign. But you have no choice but to reverse yourself on this.) These are the only two big pots of money.

6. Put everything else on hold. As important as they are, your other agenda items — financial reform, home mortgage mitigation, cap-and-trade legislation — pale in significance relative to universal health care. By pushing everything at once, you take the public’s mind off the biggest goal, diffuse your energies, blur your public message, and fuel the demagogues who say you’re trying to take over the private sector.

You have to win this.

Your obedient servant, RBR

Click here to see more of Robert Reich’s blog.

Posted on June 23rd, 2009 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Health Care, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson

OMG, as the texters say. The apple I had for lunch may have had 42 different pesticide residues on it, according to the USDA pesticide testing program. Yes, I washed it, but I have no idea how much residue washing removes. I guess this is why some people (not me, not yet) say you should wash and then peel any fruit or vegetable before eating it.

Of the residues on my apple, five would have been known or probably carcinogens — cancer-promoting substances. Also listed are 19 suspected hormone disruptors, ten neurotoxins — nerve poisons — and five “developmental or reproductive toxicants.” I’m not sure if I should be concerned about that last category. I’m not reproducing anymore, but my cells are.

It’s a good thing I’m not much of a worrier. I’ll try to remember to spend more time washing my apples from here on, but I’m not going to peel them, and I’m certainly not going to give them up. What’s life without apples?

I found this grim information on a fascinating (as in watching-a-rattlesnake fascinating) web site called “What’s On My Food?“  It’s a project of the Pesticide Action Network, so you know they’re not going to say — like some people I’m not going to name again — that failure to use pesticides can lead to simultaneous obesity and starvation, as well as cancer.

Here’s what PAN has to say about pesticides — and this is documented fact, not scary tricks lobbyists play.

Pesticides
…on our food, even after washing;
…in our bodies, for years;
…& in our environment, traveling many miles on wind, water and dust.

What’s On My Food? is a searchable database designed to make the public problem of pesticide exposure visible and more understandable.

How does this tool work? We link pesticide food residue data with the toxicology for each chemical, making this information easily searchable for the first time.

It’s discouraging to think that even the food we grow here with such care, sharing, albeit unwillingly, with bugs and slugs and other hungry critters, isn’t safe from pesticide dust and contamination.  But all we can do is the best we can do.  And that’s why god made vegetable brushes.

Check out the site.  Click on a food and see what you come up with.  You’ll know more than you know now — and knowledge, they say, is power.

Posted on June 22nd, 2009 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Agriculture, Environment, Food, Food Safety, USDA | No Comments »

by Debra Kozikowski

“I know I have been an imperfect father. I know I have made mistakes,” wrote President Barack Obama in an essay on fatherhood published in today’s Parade magazine. 

In it, the president talks about growing up without his father being present and notes the “weight” of what that meant for him, and what it means each and everyday for the children of absentee dads.  From comedian Bill Cosby to family therapists the issue of fatherlessnes, especially in the African-American community, has been addressed many times.  Obama has talked about it before and makes no bones about it, it’s personal — part of the fabric of his life and a circumstance he decries. 

Today President Obama went a step further, right to the heart of it for those who may be physically present but so caught up in everyday struggles that they are not engaged in their children’s lives. 

“Too often, especially during tough economic times like these, we are emotionally absent: distracted, consumed by what’s happening in our own lives, worried about keeping our jobs and paying our bills, unsure if we’ll be able to give our kids the same opportunities we had. Our children can tell. They know when we’re not fully there. And that disengagement sends a clear message — whether we mean it or not — about where among our priorities they fall.  So we need to step out of our own heads and tune in. We need to turn off the television and start talking with our kids, and listening to them, and understanding what’s going on in their lives.”

Perfection isn’t a requirement for being a good father.  But for all the dads who care enough to try, Happy Father’s Day. 

Posted on June 21st, 2009 by DebbySKoz
Filed under: Obama, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »