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Health Care Fight Moves to the Senate, and Other Health Care News |
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The U.S. House passed historic health care reform legislation on Saturday, and now the next step in the process is for the U.S. Senate to consider its own health reform bill. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate’s majority leader, says he hopes to introduce a bill for consideration on Monday.
The challenge in the Senate is that while bills only need a simple majority to pass, a minority of senators can engage in procedural tactics to block a vote, essentially killing legislation even if it’s favored by the majority. So members of the Senate need to hear from you. Union volunteers across the nation are making calls, writing letters and rallying across the country to let their senators know what real health care reform means for them—and that we can’t wait any longer. These union members have made more than 240,000 phone calls and sent more than 380,000 letters to Congress this year, and we can’t stop now. Click here to take action.
Here’s more news from the fight for health care reform:
- Members of the Electrical Workers (IBEW) came to Washington, D.C., last week for their legislative conference and asked their representatives and senators to support real health care reform—with a public health insurance option and no new taxes on workers’ benefits. You can see a video of their visits to Congress here.
- Talking Points Memo takes a close look at key House votes on the health care bill—and potential swing votes in the Senate who need to hear from you about why they need to support real reform.
- At the Huffington Post, Mike Lux reminds us the House vote is just one step in a long process—but it’s a step further than we’ve ever taken in decades of fighting for heath care reform.
- Check out this post at Firedoglake that explores why trade associations are trying to evade the responsibility to help cover their workers.
- Get the facts on how the House bill would expand coverage and lower costs in a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CPBB).
- Women in the U.S. House are criticizing health care reform opponents for trying to shout them down during Saturday’s debate.
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The AFL-CIO needs to support SEn. Sanders’ SB703. period!
Is there a better blog for the workers…. this one seems more for the brass of the AFL-CIO
Imagine going onto bargaining with two wage demands. One is for a $1 increase. It would do no more than keep pace with inflation. The other is for $0.25. It would cause you to fall further behind cost of living expenses. As you might imagine, the employer will glom onto the twenty-five cent increase demand and negotiate from there. You’ll be lucky if you wind up with $0.15. After shooting yourself in the foot you’ll realize that by including the $0,25 increase in your wage demands you’d already signaled that you would accept much less than the $1.
Is that any way to bargain? Of course not! Anyone with half a brain understands that such a bargaining “strategy” is nothing short of an egregious, stupid blunder [or worse].
39 State Federations, and over 500 local and national union organizations endorsed single payer health care. In other words, a significant majority of union members in the U.S. support a national single payer health program.
So what did the honchos at the AFL-CIO do? They slipped in their own “second” demand. It was called a public option. And guess what Congress did? They glommed onto it! They glommed onto it and tore it apart. No surprise there. The honchos had already signaled a willingness to accept much less than what was needed. And the Change to Win crowd did the same thing.
Some suits and ties in the labor movement did more than simply commit an egregious, stupid blunder. Their reasons for capitulation range from conservative go-along-to-get-along business unionism, all the way to the unsavory desire to keep control of lucrative trust funds.
And the result? HR 3962, a lousy health “reform” bill passed by the House which is now being heralded as a win for America’s working class.
It isn’t a win. It is a sell out if the first order. It further entrenches and enriches the very same free market profiteers who are largely responsible for our nation’s health care crisis.
It dos not guarantee access to affordable, quality health care to everyone in our nation. It doesn’t even come close! Mind you, the honchos have primo health care thanks to your dues dollars, but millions of those they purport to represent – the working class – have, and will continue to have, squat.
Organized labor is potentially the most forceful and democratic movement to secure social and economic justice for all. Sadly, it has and will continue to fall short of that noble objective as long as conservative suits and ties are allowed to run the show; are permitted to commit egregious, stupid blunders [or worse].
We workers have the power to turn things around. We have the power to see to it that the scales held by Lady Justice are evenly balanced throughout our land. We won’t, however, succeed unless we are willing to turn off our televisions, get off our couches and fannies and then go to membership meetings and demand democracy in our unions and in our nation. And it is likely we’ll have to take to the streets in protest too.
Two sayings come to mind:
Bill Heywood said, “Labor produces all wealth. All wealth must go to labor. We need to stop overpaid CEOs and investors from stealing what is ours.”
Song writer “Yip” Harburg wrote: “Brother can you spare a dime”.
Take your pick. It’s gonna’ be one or the other for your children and grandchildren. What kind of a legacy will you leave them?
In the meantime, flood the AFL-CIO office in D.C. with phone calls. Tell them you refuse to accept HR 3962. the sell-out health care bill. Tell them working men and women said they want single payer and by god we’ll settle for nothing less! Go to you membership meeting and get a motion passed that instructs your local union representative to send the honchos a letter that says the same thing!
One last saying (by Ben Franklin) “The Lord helps those who help themselves”.
Anyone remember when Raygun told everyone he was gonna use the power of the government to screw the powerless for the benefit of the powerful?
Opps! I got what he said all backwards!
It takes almost ALL of us to create the wealth of the community - keep in mind that the parasites at the top are mostly busy with pocketing the wealth that others created, so, I don’t know how much they’ve ‘created’.
In order to MAXIMIZE the freedom and opportunity of ALL of us, WHY should we be dependent on our boss for our retirement or our health? The annual wealth created now should fund today’s health care and some of tomorrow’s retirement… and reinvestment and and and
Funny how the righties lie about freedom when in fact a community guareenteed education, retirement, retraining and health care would create the MOST freedom for us working stiffs!
Would we still need unions? hell ya - who is gonna watch the people running the community programs? who is gonna watch the watchers?
wtf do we the peeee-ons have now on OUR side? some cliques hanging onto their privelages ? political incompetents, sell outs and mix of each? This HCRap bill, Medi-garbage part CXXXVII_D which kicks in if you’re not dead on the 13 thursday of the 33 rd year of … gawd.
rmm.