Friday Alert
Friday, January 22, 2010(Alliance for Retired Americans)
Massachusetts' Election of Scott
Brown to U.S. Senate Threatens Health
Reform
The election in
Massachusetts of Republican Scott
Brown to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday
ended the Senate Democrats' supermajority in
the chamber, and the first casualty of his
victory could be the Democrats' health care
overhaul. Brown defeated Massachusetts
Attorney General Martha
Coakley (D), 52%-47%, in the special
election race to replace the late Sen.
Edward Kennedy (D-MA).
According to The Washington Post, one
factor in the election may have been the fact
that all but 3% of Massachusetts' residents
already have health insurance. While many
are describing the election as a referendum on
national health care reform, Brown rode to
victory on a message more nuanced than flat-out
resistance to universal health coverage:
Massachusetts residents, he said, already had
insurance and should not have to pay for it
elsewhere. "We have insurance here in
Massachusetts," Brown said during a campaign
debate. "I'm not going to be subsidizing
for the next three, five years, pick a number,
subsidizing what other states have failed to
do." Republicans will now have 41 votes,
the minimum number needed to mount a filibuster
and delay legislative action.
Sensing they were on the verge of defeat in the special election, White House officials reportedly began to push for the House to take up and approve the Senate-passed health care reform bill. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Thursday that the Senate would have to amend its version of a reform bill before Democrats in her chamber would be willing to vote for it. The only way to keep the Senate bill alive, Pelosi said, would be for senators to initiate a package of fixes that would address House concerns about the bill. One provision of the Senate version that is particularly problematic for House members is the new excise tax on higher-cost policies, which would hit union households particularly hard. "U.S. House members know that union members often gave up other benefits in negotiations to secure their health care benefits," said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. Hill aides said that the House would not act on the Senate bill until the fixes are made, shifting responsibility for completing the bill across the Capitol. However, the Senate has not agreed to move forward with such changes. Congressional leaders are considering starting from scratch on a new, scaled-back package.
Beware the Conrad-Gregg Debt
Commission!
Alliance members and
activists have sent more than 6,000 letters to
their Senators urging them to vote against the
creation of a "debt commission" proposed by
Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and
Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). The
commission would limit Congressional debate and
allow fast-track cuts to Social Security,
Medicare, and Medicaid. A vote is likely
on it next week, but an alternative deal is now
being struck between Conrad, House leadership
and the White House (see more at http://bit.ly/6sRFLI).
Under a pending agreement, President
Obama would issue an executive
order to create an 18-member panel and grant
panel members authority to propose changes in
the tax code and in federal entitlement
programs including Medicare, Medicaid and
Social Security. The commission would
deliver recommendations after this fall's
congressional elections. "I want to thank
Alliance members for coming through this past
week with their letters," said Edward
F. Coyle, Executive Director of the
Alliance. "Brace yourselves - it is
highly likely that we will be making similar
requests to preserve Social Security in the
months ahead." If you have not sent a
letter but would like to, go to http://bit.ly/8tMzmD.
Coming Soon: Corporate Dollars for
Elections
Yesterday, the United
States Supreme Court issued its decision in
Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court
invalidated laws banning corporations (and
labor unions) from using treasury funds for
campaign ads advocating the election or defeat
of specific candidates. Parts of the
decision overturn nearly 100 years of
law. "The outcome would be that corporate
funds could inundate the airwaves this year on
behalf of candidates whom corporations
support. The floodgates are now open for
larger corporate funding in presidential and
congressional races," said Mr. Coyle.
"Alliance activists will have to work harder
than ever to offset the influence of the big
drug and insurance companies," he
continued. The opinion did not change
rules barring corporations from contributing
directly to candidates and political parties,
or from making expenditures that are
"coordinated" with candidates and political
parties. The court also overturned part
of a different campaign finance law that
excluded companies and unions from spending on
political ads that refer to candidates in the
closing days of election campaigns.
Cervical Cancer Awareness
Month
Cervical cancer killed over
4,000 women last year, but can be prevented
with the right steps. January is Cervical
Cancer Awareness Month, and the Coalition of
Labor Union Women has partnered in the "Pearl
of Wisdom Campaign to Eliminate Cervical
Cancer" to help raise awareness of this deadly
disease. You can "Take the Pearl Pledge"
and help prevent cervical cancer by going to www.pearlofwisdom.us/Pledge.
"We are asking women to pledge to schedule
their annual gynecological examination, tell
five friends about their pledge, and wear a
Pearl of Wisdom in support of cervical cancer
prevention," said Barbara J.
Easterling, President of the
Alliance. The Pearl of Wisdom campaign
aims to secure 4,070 pledges - the same
number of U.S. women who were projected to die
of cervical cancer in 2009 - by Mother's
Day.
Education and Training Opportunities
at the 2010 National Alliance
Convention
The theme for the 2010
Alliance National Convention, April 5-8 in Las
Vegas, is "Building Retiree Power." With
the privatizers still hard at work, one
workshop being offered is, "Social Security and
Entitlement Reforms: Barbarians at the
Gate." Learn more about efforts to reform
Social Security and other key programs and what
you can do to protect them! Another
workshop will be, "Organizing Strategies Around
the 2010 Elections." In this breakout,
you will learn more about the Retiree Zone
Coordinator structure to educate and mobilize
fellow retirees. Also offered:
"Everything You Wanted to Know About Computers
But Were Afraid to Ask." Our team of
experts will answer any question you have about
using e-mail or the Internet, signing up for
Facebook, or sending and receiving
photos. To register, go to http://bit.ly/1jIzz2.