The Voice

TERRY GODDARD SPEAKS TO TVVDC

On Saturday, January 30, 2010 The TVVDC held a very successful general meeting to start the new year. Chairman Joe Theobald introduced the guest of honor Terry Goddard, who has just recently announced his candidacy for Governor of AZ. Approximately 71 people were present at Steve Larson’s home for a light lunch and to meet and greet some of the other Democratic campaigners as well. Terry spoke of the situation at the state capitol and joked that although the Legislature decided to sell State buildings to help with the budget, his two offices as Attorney General were not even considered, which shows what poor condition they are in. He went on to talk about some of the changes he will make in the system when he is elected. He was informative and casual and gave those present, the definite impression that he has the know-how and experience to do the job.

I have been trying to make sense out of the on-going health care ruckus (it would be great if there were a debate).  It seems to me that there needs to be some core principles out of which the reform proposals develop.  At the top of the list for me is that profit needs to be removed as a motivator in the health industry and that coverage needs to be made available to all.  It just seems wrong for insurance companies to have their profits go from $2.4M in 2000 to $12.7M in 2007 in the face of the 14,000 people who are losing their coverage every day.  It just seems wrong for that 70% of the bankruptcies in this country are precipitated by the cost of health care.  It just seems wrong that the biggest proponents for keeping the status quo are those who will profit the most from the continued suffering of others.

There is a great post on Talking Points Memo that helps put some of this in perspective.  Jane B. is describing her experience with the health industry in France: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/jane_blevins/2009/08/getting-cancer-in-a-hell-hole.php?ref=fpd

It just seems more civilized.

I received this yesterday from her office:

July 21, 2009

Dear Friend,

On July 17, 2009, I joined 47 of my Democratic House colleagues in voting against the Restore Our American Mustangs Act (H.R. 1018).  This decision was very difficult for me.  I am a long-time horse owner and rider, having owned over ten horses in my lifetime.  I know that horses make great companions for people of all ages, and I wish my busy schedule in Congress allowed more time for me to get away and ride.  Many people in Southern Arizona, like me, have developed special bonds with these strong and graceful animals and have learned many life lessons while working around and caring for horses. 

H.R. 1018 was very different from legislation that I have supported in the past.  In 2007, I voted for H.R. 249, a bill that would have prohibited the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros.  I would have been very proud to support this bill again.

Unfortunately the Restore Our American Mustangs Act went far beyond the bill I voted for in 2007.  The new bill would have resulted in a very high expenditure which was not in the previous bill.  As our nation faces rising deficits and we are looking for ways to pay for much needed health care reform, we just cannot afford to add another $200 to $700 million in new spending without a plan to pay for it.  This is what will result from H.R. 1018 becoming law.

I voted for a substitute bill which was very similar to the one I supported in the last session of Congress but it did not pass.  You will be pleased to know that H.R. 1018 did pass the House with a vote of 239-185.  Please be assured that I will continue to look for ways to advocate for our wild horses and burros in Congress.

To receive regular e-mail updates on my work as your U.S. Representative, click here or visit www.giffords.house.gov to opt-in to my e-newsletter.  It allows me to keep Southern Arizonans, like you, informed about the most recent activities in the House of Representatives and upcoming public forums I am sponsoring in the district.

Sincerely Yours,

Gabrielle Giffords
Member of Congress

Has anyone compared the 2008 H.R. 2018 with the 2007 H.R. 249 to see what the additional costs were?  I have attached pdf files for both bills for self study 

HR 249 from the 110th Congress in 2007

HR 1018 from the 111th Congress in 2009

One simple view could be that if the money were to be spent  inside the US it would count as stimulus.

From FireDogLake: http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/6461

A serious bill to protect wild horses, sponsored by Raul Grivalja, passed in the house as noted by the Humane Society of the United States, http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2009/07/wild-horses.html.

What is disappointing is that when you look at who supported the measure, our own representative, Gabby Giffords, voted against the legislation.  Many of our members worked hard to gain her support for this bill and are feeling seriously let down about now.  Can anyone help us understand why she voted against this?

In the October 22^nd issue of The New Yorker, Lawrence Wright, (author of The Looming Tower, Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11) leads the Talk of the Town section with a commentary on the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, noting that voters will have a chance to choose among many candidates with different plans for US presence in Iraq – immediate withdrawal (Richardson), rapid drawdowns (Edwards and Obama), open-ended commitment to the war (Giuliani, Romney, McCain) or a resigned middle ground (Hillary Clinton).  However, in Wright’s words,  “The Iraqi people have no such choice. . “  

A review of Iraqis polls from as early as 2003, show 2/3 of Iraqis wanted the
US and British forces to leave the country within a year.  Two years later, on the eve of their first democratic election, 2/3 wanted the troops out either  immediately, or as soon as the new government was established.   In 2006, 72% wanted their new government to ask the
United States to leave within a year.  

In a poll published last month, half a year after the surge,  nearly half of Iraqis favored an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces, while 34%, most of them Kurds said that the U.S. should remain “until security is established.”   Among Shiites, 44% favored immediate withdrawal; among Sunnis the figure reached 72%.    There is more ambivalence among the Iraqis lawmakers.

If the Iraqis could vote, would they favor withdrawal with the risk of sectarian slaughter and/or invasions by neighboring countries, or a continued loathed occupation with all its problems? 

Wright ends by saying:

As the Republican and Democratic Presidential contenders debate whether we should leave now, or soon, or years from now, they should remember that it’s not just an American decision.  We didn’t ask the Iraqis if we could invade their country; we didn’t ask them if we could occupy it; and now we are not asking them if we should leave.  Whatever we end up doing, we need to remember that eventually the only people who are going to occupy Iraq are the Iraqis, and that they decision of when we leave, as inevitably we will, should be as much theirs as ours.

Reference Links:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2007/10/22/071022taco_talk_wright

http://books.google.com/books?id=9uMrAwAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:Lawrence+inauthor:Wright

Tony Snow announced today that Bush is going to the Caterpillar headquarters in Illinois to tell us how good the economy is.  Apparently we have forgotten that little fact and need to be reminded (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070129-2.html).  I didn’t realize we had it so good. 

Don’t you feel better now?

I have heard recently from a reasonable source, well, reasonable to me, at least, that we can not solve global warming no matter what we do.  He argues that we have dumped so much extra energy into the system that it either has gone or is going unstable.  What we need to be doing is learning how to manage the inevitable change rather than trying to reverse it.  We as a nation and as a state need to figure out how to live with a continual stream of climate induced disasters.  I don’t know, what do you think?

A recent FactCheck article has some disturbing news about the bill passed in the House to require the Government to negotiate drug prices.  Check it out: http://www.factcheck.org/article474.html

To elicit discussion, I have added more categories for potential discussions as seen on the right side.  If you want to contribute, let me know, webmaster@tanqueverdedems.org.  jlt

While Brooks makes cogent arguments for self sufficiency and how we all can get on board the train, he does not address the sense many of us have developed that it is an increasingly tough ticket to get.  Somehow there is a growing sense that those at the top are rigging the game so that they can get more in ways we would find glaringly unfair.  I’ll include the link once the NY Times website server comes back up. Actually, you’ll need to find a hard copy of Tuesday’s Star for it as I’m too cheap to subscribe to the NY Times right now.  jlt