Most Oppose Health Reform Repeal. Two Guides Navigate the Law
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The Republican “pledge” to repeal health care reform if that party wins a congressional majority may play well with their tilt-to-the-right base. But according to a new poll from the Associated Press, Americans who think the law should actually have done more outnumber those who think the government should stay out of health care by 2-to-1.
Some 40 percent of those polled said the new law should have gone even further to change the health care system, while just 20 percent say the government should keep its hands off health care. Click here for more on the poll.
Just what does the new health care law do and not do? A new consumer guide from Consumers Union and a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) “YouToon” offer a family handbook in good old-fashion, straight-forward language that helps us all naviagate the health care reform law.
TNG/CWA Member in ‘The Colbert Report’ Investigative Spotlight
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Emilio Gonzalez got a first-hand lesson in improvisational comedy and satire recently from a master of the art: Stephen Colbert. For a segment of the “The Colbert Report’s” phony investigative series, “Who’s Watching the Watchdogs,” Colbert took on the Consumers Union where Gonzalez, a member of The Newspaper Guild/CWA (TNG/CWA) Local 31003, is an appliance testing project leader.
Gonzalez told The Guild Reporter’s Janelle Hartman he was a bit nervous about what would make it to the air after Colbert, who never broke character as the obnoxious, right-wing, faux Fox News anchor, spent time spreading grime on dishes and engaging in a bit of plate toss in the dishwasher lab.
It wasn’t rehearsed in any way, we just went with the flow. He made it easy. He’s like a good dancer who’s able to lead his partners where he wants them to go.
Dingell Explains Decades-Long Quest for Health Reform, and Other News
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Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) has been fighting for health care reform for more than 50 years, and he’s seen the situation become even more dire over the past decade. In a great new op-ed, he explains the hard truths of our broken system and why we can’t wait any longer for health care reform:
This is not a time to give into fear….Reform is neither easy nor cheap, but the cost of inaction is far greater—in terms of lives lost, quality of life, and dollars. Make no mistake, if we don’t reduce costs we face certain economic disaster.
I will tell my fellow members, when you explain a vote like this one to the generations that live with the consequences of these decisions there is no poll, not even an election result, that can justify your decision. You will be asked about this vote until the day you die. Years from now, none of these things we put so much stock in now will matter. All anyone will want to know is: did you do the right thing when history called on you? It is time for health care reform. We can’t afford to wait. We can’t afford to think small. We can’t afford to fail.
Bill Now in the Senate Addresses Credit Card Abuse
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If you have a credit card, and most of us have more than one, you’ve likely opened a monthly bill and seen your interest rate jump, even if you have an on-time payment record. Or worse: A company will increase the interest rate on a card raised because you’re not using it enough.
Then there’s the fine print, fees, penalties and changes in the rules that credit companies are piling on consumers, usually buried in a legalese-loaded notice too small to read without a magnifying glass.
A bill that could come to a U.S. Senate vote this week—debate starts Monday with a vote expected Wednesday—would put an end to deceptive and abusive credit card practices that are hurting honest and hard working families.
The AFL-CIO, Union Privilege, the Consumers Union and dozens of consumer, civil rights and community groups are urging the Senate to pass S. 414, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act.
