Eric Cantor, the Republic Whip in the U.S. House of Representative's is promoting a video of Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar.
Cuellar went on the GOP's propaganda cable channel Fox News, and rattled off his support for tort reform, the Stupak amendment, and a need for efficiencies in heath care. Needless to say, he went through the GOP talking points very nicely.
Tort reform happened in Texas nearly a decade ago and premiums and health care costs have still risen over 100% since the Republican's forced through the constitutional amendment that reduced tort litigation or damages for those harmed. This shows why we need massive health care reform. The only way we can get the efficiencies Cuellar wants is, wait for it, to actually pass reforms. The current system has few efficiencies and that's why we need reform.
There is still time to tell Henry Cuellar to vote for health care reform. Call his Washington D.C. office at 202-225-1640 or toll-free at 877-780-0028.
And feel free to tell him you are calling because of his ridiculous appearance on Fox News.
Key Point: You know why last night's election in Masssachusetts doesn't bother me? Because it happend in Massachusetts! Texas isn't Massachusetts, Texas Democrats aren't Massachusetts Democrats, and the incumbent all Texans are rejecting this year is not Barack Obama, it is Rick Perry.
If Texas doesn't equal Washington, and Massachusetts is a communist/socialst state, then how can anyone believe Rick Perry's crowing about last night's win?
So why repeat the spin? Why do you find yourself feeling bad about the chances of Texas Democrats this morning, based on an election held in a state whose politics are completely the opposite of those in Texas? Why would any political analyst in Texas, or close follower of Texas politics, believe that what happened in Massachusetts last night has any bearing on what will happen in Texas 2010?
One year ago today, an incredibly popular Barack Obama took the oath of office. And in the coming days, if you watch CNN, MSNBC or Fox News for any amount of time, you’ll hear plenty of chatter about how he’s lost his appeal, about how he’s damaging his party and how Democrats might lose the U.S. House this year. The point is that things can change quickly, and we shouldn’t rush to judgment about what will happen in Texas in more than nine months based on what happened Tuesday in Massachusetts. The national mood will matter, but Texas elections will be contested on Texas issues.
I mean, think about it -- all those Texas Republicans I listed before are supporting a pro-choise, anti-Bush-tax-cut, Sotomayor-supporting Republican from Massachusetts. What, exactly, is that supposed to signal for Texas? Do all these Texas Republicans believe there is a huge pocket of lberal Democrats (since we're the only Texans who are pro-choice, ant-Bush-tax-cut, and Sotomayor-supporters here) that will vote for Republicans in 2010? Does Rick Perry think that a progressive Democrat in Houston is going to choose Rick Perry over Bill White in November?
In Texas, anti-incumbent is anti-Republican. We weren't Massachusetts yesterday, and we're not Massachusetts today.
Unfortunately, here's who we are -- or, who we are until we decide to change it:
Texas has led the nation in the number of uninsured children for ten years -- every year Rick Perry was in office. Today, 1.4 million children do not have health insurance. Texas also has the highest uninsured rate in the country -- 25 percent, or 6.1 million Texans lack care. (Source: Center for Public Policy Priorities)
Texas has so many who are uninsured, it costs insured Texans 150% the actual cost of coverage to cover the uninsured. (Source: Dallas Morning News)
That's who we are. That's who we were yesterday, and that's who we are today. And until Rick Perry is no longer in office, that's who we will be.
Is last night's loss tough for all Democrats? Of course it is. We don't like to see our team lose. But at least we're fighting for the right cause. Will we still get a health insurance bill passed through Congress? Probably -- if everyone takes a look around them and remembers that the status quo is an unfathomable failure.
Here in Texas, the status quo is Rick Perry. He is our unfathomable failure. We can't change what happened yesterday in Massachusetts, but we can change what happens tomorrow in Texas.
If death panels weren't enough for the Republicans, now Lamar Smith is sending robo-calls across his district claiming that President Obama will incarcerate people who don't buy in to the public option. Evidently Lamar has been spending too much time reading Free Republic and getting policy advice from Sarah Palin.
"Under the health care plan Democrats passed, if you do not buy the government-prescribed health insurance, you can be fined or put in jail for up to five years. Do you want the government to have the power to make you buy health insurance?" -- Lamar Smith
So, I did a little research. First off, the Senate's two committee bills specifically prohibit penalities such as jail time. One can be assessed a tax for refusing to enroll in any insurance program. But both the Senate Finance and HELP bills specifically prohibit any punishment other than a tax for not getting insurance.
This distortion comes from the House bill's reference to the general penalties for folks who willfully refuse to pay their taxes. However, in practice, if someone refuses to pay the health-insurance related portion of taxes for political reasons or as an act of protest, a tax which will only be assessed if they refuse to enroll in any insurance at all, they're not going to jail.
Now, it is true that in America (as with most developed nations), if you choose to use illegal methods to deliberately avoid paying the taxes you owe you can go to jail. This level of tax evasion goes beyond accidentally misstating your income--we're talking about deliberate efforts to knowingly disguise income to avoid paying taxes on it. (Like, for instance, my former crazed Neo-Conservative boss who hid millions of income in the Caymans. True story.)
So honestly, unless there are some "good patriots" out there planning a Wesley Snipes-level of tax evasion (whom prosecutors allege owes over $2.7 million in unpaid taxes) you're not going to jail for not paying your taxes. And really? If you have so much money you even owe $2.7 million in taxes? You can afford health insurance, and you're not the problem here. (Other famous jailed tax evaders? Joe "Girls Gone Wild" Francis and Richard "Survivor Winner" Hatch. Not a good club. Pay your taxes.)
An interesting side note: folks who refuse to pay all or part of their taxes in a form of protest against the government (war tax resisters, for example) have virtually no history of receiving criminal prosecution. So, tax-haters, you can even protest this penalty for refusing insurance by protesting the tax, and have no fear of going to jail.
This scaremongering from Lamar Smith sounds like the rest of our Texas Republicans in Congress, who spent most of the House floor debate yelling about how having insurance imperils our freedom. Ah, yes. Our freedom. Our freedom to be denied insurance for a pre-existing condition like acne. Our freedom to go bankrupt from medical bills. Our freedom to choose between paying for prescriptions or paying the rent.
Texas Republicans want to preserve the status quo--24% of Texas residents uninsured, 20% of Texas children uninsured--the worst statistics of any state in the nation. These lies and distortions have been spreading around the Republican base, aided and abetted in part by one Sarah Palin, who in addition to fanning the flames of the "death panels" lie, has been promulgating the idea that Nancy Pelosi wants to throw good, honest tax evaders in jail.
Fact is, the average American family pays $1,077 per year to cover the costs of uninsured Americans, who--like those of us with insurance--still get sick, and are often forced into the emergency room as a result. So while the Republicans keep fear-mongering and riling up their base, Americans are dying from lack of basic care. Seems to me that I'd want my elected officials to focus more on that... Rather than suggesting that President Obama and/or Nancy Pelosi want me to go to jail.
He's at it again! John Cornyn, who really hates that the government funds social safety-net programs to help working Americans, has been positioning himself as a "staunch defender" of Medicare in the Senate health reform debate. From his 30-second TV spot that aired around Texas a few weeks back to his comments today, it's clear that Senator Cornyn would rather mislead the people of Texas than help them have access to affordable, quality health care.
CORNYN SAYS: "The question that I have and I--why in the world would you take money out of the Medicare program that is scheduled to go insolvent in 2017 that has tens of trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities, why would you take almost half a trillion dollars out of Medicare to create yet another entitlement program that no doubt will be -- will have many of the problems that we see now under our current entitlement programs? It just does not make sense if you are guided by the facts. ... Now, some of my colleagues have claimed that these cuts won't hurt patients, but many people, including me, disagree." -- Senate Floor, 12/2/09
But wait! John Cornyn is wrong:
FACT: The Health Reform Bill will extend Medicare solvency by five years. From the AARP, experts on policies impacting folks over 50: "In fact, budget experts say, without cutting guaranteed benefits, both bills shore up the solvency of the Medicare trust fund for five additional years."
FACT: Health Reform Will Enhance Drug Coverage. From the New York Times: "the various reform bills now pending should actually make Medicare better for most beneficiaries - by enhancing their drug coverage, [and] reducing the premiums they pay for drugs and medical care."
FACT: Health Reform will not hurt patients. Again, the AARP is on it: "This bill includes critical priorities for seniors - critical - ensures quality, affordable health coverage options for all Americans, provides and strengthens Medicare for today's seniors and future generations and puts us on a path to improving our long-term health system."
Let's all savor the irony of John Cornyn telling folks to be "guided by the facts" as he stands on the Senate floor and deliberately distorts them. All in a day's work for our junior Senator, I suppose. That leaves us with just one more bullet point:
FACT: John Cornyn would rather see the people of Texas retain our 24% uninsured rate than let a Democratic President pass a successful health reform bill.
The following is a link to HTML/JAVA Clock, which counts deaths from lack of Health Insurance. The count is based on 44,789 deaths per year from the American Journal of Public Health; the study Representative Alan Grayson cited on the House floor.
Ed. Note: The following is an op-ed Becky Moeller, President of the Texas AFL-CIO, wrote about this week's health care debate.
By Becky Moeller President, Texas AFL-CIO
A report commissioned by the health insurance industry and released this week claims that one version of the proposed health care reform bill will raise insurance premiums for families over the next 10 years by $4,000.
The America’s Health Insurance Plans document reminds me of the Transformers movies, where some pipsqueak machine (the saboteur who started spreading tall tales of “death panels”) morphs into a monstrous end-of-movie threat (the big-money opponents of reform). Even the accounting firm that worked on the cartoonish study is disavowing its own estimate, acknowledging that various proposals actually in play would dramatically reduce the cost.
Although the AHIP report clearly has a “Yeah, that’s the ticket” feel to it, one important area in which it doesn’t dare to dwell is the estimate of what will happen if health care reform fails. Those of us who get to see the full cost of annual health insurance premiums know, for example, that health insurance premiums have risen by a lot more than $4,000 over the last 10 years under the current system.
And what will happen over the next 10 years if we repeat the error of past decades and do nothing about rising health insurance costs and declining coverage? A new Urban Institute report breaks down what it will cost those fortunate families who manage to keep their coverage over the next 10 years.
In Texas, the report states, employer premiums will rise by 86 percent. Family premiums will rise by 57.9 percent. And the proportion of uninsured Texans will continue to approach one-third and amount to 7,268,000 people by 2019. That would be fully one in eight of all uninsured Americans.
Those numbers represent a bleak future and cry out for reform, but I would argue that the Urban Institute report is itself flawed. The actual picture would probably be much worse than the numbers suggest because employers in Texas are not likely to sit still as health insurance premiums rise by another 86 percent. They would reduce coverage instead, or hire fewer people, or try to pass along so much of the cost that workers themselves would start to give up on having insurance as more and more of them fall short of what it takes to buy a policy.
The core reform proposals moving through Congress offer a better future for Texas workers and employers alike. Our state, already 50th in the percentage of our residents who are covered by health insurance, cannot condemn 7.2 million people to perpetual health care limbo and hope to enjoy broad economic growth. Texans cannot afford to suffer even more denials of coverage and spiraling costs.
Under a meaningful health care reform bill that delivers coverage for all Americans, employers who do the right thing and provide workers with decent coverage would not have to worry that competitors who take the low road are reaping a huge cost advantage. While the very large majority of workers who now have coverage would simply keep it, an injection of real competition into the system in the form of a public option would control costs and ensure access to quality care.
Meaningful health care reform would make certain that Americans with pre-existing medical conditions would be able to obtain coverage. Reform would eliminate the fiascos in which some insurance companies respond to a major illness by hunting for the failure to report any medical condition, like acne in one notorious example, as an excuse to avoid paying benefits.
Americans have figured out that the status quo in our health care system is the enemy and that future growth depends heavily on fixing the system. Poll after poll shows strong support for a robust public option -- even in states whose lawmakers continue to resist change of any kind. If there was one message in the 2008 election, it was that voters expect meaningful health care reform that delivers decent coverage to all Americans.
There is plenty of room for legitimate debate as the health care bill passes through the 11th legislative hour. But on one point there should be little discussion: as we hear bigger and scarier tall tales about health care reform, the scariest thing of all would be to do nothing. Becky Moeller is president of the Texas AFL-CIO, a state labor federation consisting of more than 200,000 affiliates who advocate for working families in Texas.
You're at it again. You're talking about the possibility of resigning and coming to Texas. But you're not sure. This month...December...Never?
Quite frankly, as your constituent, I do not care when you resign to fight Rick Perry. All I know is that, after joking about job losses and covering up evidence that an innocent man was executed, the country is once again being presented with evidence that Texas has one of the worst governors in the country. I will never support you for governor, but someone who aspires to replace one of the worst governors in history should fight him tooth and nail.
Instead, you are talking about fighting him tooth and nail. If your worry is staying in the Senate to fight Health Care Reform, I guarantee you that as bad as Mr. Perry is, his temporary replacement will do that for you. Besides, you aren't actually fighting it - you are talking about how your presence is important to fight it. It isn't, especially with you sitting there idly.
Just set a date and stick to it. It doesn't matter when, but you have told us you were going to resign for this battle. Then, afterwards, shut up and fight the good fight. Texans, Republicans and Democrats both, are folks of big action. Right now, you're the opposite. Right now, you are sitting and twiddling your thumbs.
And you want to be Governor? And you think you are doing a good job as our senior Senator? Oh wait, that's right! The best Senators and Governors twiddle their thumbs all day long! I mean, Come ON!
Fight the Good Fight, please! Yah, so what if I disagree with your fight? Fight the fight or don't fight at all!
In fact, between 2010 and 2019 the cumulative increases in the cost of a typical family policy under this reform proposal will be approximately $20,700 more than it would be under the current system.
(Just as a point of comparison, insurance rates under the status quo have risen 119 percent in the last decade, and are projected to double again in the next decade, if the status quo remains. Under the status quo, by 2020 the Commonwealth Fund projects an average family policy to increase to $23,842. So when they pretend they're looking out for you, don't buy it.)
You're going to see a lot about this report on TV, and in the coming days. I expect Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Governor Perry, and the entire Republican lobby front to go crazy with these numbers in the previous days. So do remember:
Key Point: The same group that supported the tobacco industry in the 1990's is the group putting together these numbers.
This brightened up what had certianly been a very dreary day for me. From the Washington Post:
The Congressional Budget Office rendered its verdict (pdf) on the Senate Finance Committee's bill this afternoon. In effect, the agency said the Senate Finance Committee can pass go, and can collect $200. The legislation is projected to cost $829 billion over 10 years, reduce the deficit by $81 billion and cover 94 percent of Americans. It also expects the deficit-reduction to accelerate in the second decade, cutting the total deficit by one-quarter to one-half percent of GDP.
That's about as good as the Finance Committee could've hoped for, and it means the legislation is likely to sail through committee next week. More as I read through the full score.
Hell. Yeah.
Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn want to vote against a health care bill that will reduce the deficit and cover 94% of Americans?
Please, Senators. I'd love to see you two spin that one.
Fact: "About 31 percent of Hispanics and 19 percent of blacks were without health insurance in 2008, while 11 percent of non-Hispanic whites were uninsured." (Source)
Four counties along the Texas-Mexico border region are among the top seven counties in the nation for the percentage of uninsured residents, a new study shows.
Hidalgo County is third highest with 38.0 percent, Webb County is fourth highest with 36.2 percent, Cameron County is fifth highest, with 35.7 percent, and El Paso County is seventh highest with 31.8 percent.
The study, limited to counties with a population over 65,000 and focused solely on the year 2008, was conducted by the American Community Survey (ACS). Texas State Demographer Karl Eschbach.
The national health care debate, and general conversations about health care here in Texas, are not discussed in terms of race -- and I don't think they should be, either. But I do think that when the disastrous policies put forth by Governor Rick Perry and the one-party rule of Republicans here in Texas lead to an outsize effect on a broad category of Texans, then we should take note of the issue and talk about why.
I'm welcome to a productive discussion -- as well as some additional research and notes -- on this subject in the comments.
