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The ad asks people to call Rep. Paul Ryan, but his friend Shelley Moore Capito voted for the same radical plan.
Call her 202.225.2711. If the aide said she was concerned about the deficit, point out that the CBO says the deficit would be increased by the plan and also she didn't care about the deficit when it was time to vote for two endless wars, the prescription drug plan and the Bush tax cuts for "job creators" who increased their bonuses by laying off their workers.
You know what's not popular? Reforming Medicare such that beneficiaries "receive a check or voucher from the government each year for a fixed amount they can use to shop for their own private health insurance policy." According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 65 percent of Americans oppose the idea -- about the same number who dismissed it in 1995. And if they're told that the cost of private insurance for seniors is projected to outpace the cost of Medicare insurance for seniors -- which is exactly what CBO projects -- more than 80 percent of Americans oppose the plan.
But it's not just sweepingly ideological reforms that are unpopular. Cutting Medicare polls poorly even if you leave out the details. Almost 80 percent of Americans oppose Medicare cuts in the abstract, while 70 percent oppose Medicaid cuts. Slightly over half of the country wants the Defense Department left alone. The only deficit-reduction option that is popular? Raising taxes on the rich.
I cross posted my diary at the Big Orange Satan yesterday about West Virginia for "Life" going after Sen. Joe Manchin for standing up for women to have access to health care services even though he opposes abortion.
That led to a good discussion, but I wanted to highlight one comment in particular:
The thing he has done here (39+ / 0-)
is important. He's showing you can be honest to your beliefs about abortion without going after women in every other way. Most of them want women in the kitchen and pregnant and don't care about women's health at all, unless it is their women.
I think we should respect this action. If all the anti-choice people were like this we might be able to have a much more civil dialogue going on about it.
Last week Sen. Joe Manchin (D) did something I thought was so clever and deserving of credit that I doubted whether I had interpreted it correctly.
Senator Manchin voted against a resolution calling for the prohibition of federal funds for Planned Parenthood. The bill failed, 42-58, in the Senate.
Then Manchin introduced the Title X Transparency and Verification Act that would put the audits of agencies that receive Title X funding, including Planned Parenthood, online so that people could see for themselves that the community health services provided by these funds are vital services and that the federal funds aren't used for abortions, a restriction on the funding.
"I am pro-life, and always have been. I have also always been committed to helping women get vital health services, like cancer screenings and preventive care. I believe these two principles are not mutually exclusive," Senator Manchin said. "I strongly believe that no federal dollars should ever go to abortion, except in the case of rape, incest and life of the mother. That is why I was proud to introduce the 'Title X Transparency and Verification Act,' which would put audits online for all recipients of Title X funding, so any American can verify for themselves that no federal funds are being used illegally for abortion."
That would take the wind out of the sails of Senator Kyl and others who lie about Planned Parenthood, I thought.
But I wanted to check with someone to make sure I was right and between that and my weekend activities I didn't get around to writing that post. Truth be told, after some of the things Manchcin has said of late, giving him credit even on an issue as important to me as Planned Parenthood, wasn't my top priority even when he did deserve it.
But now Manchin, who unfortunately is a strong opponent of choice, is being attacked by his anti-choice allies for his decency in protecting necessary, community healthcare services to women.
Via Double H, heath harrison, comes this link to the radical rightwing propaganda site LifeNews.com:
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is earning strong criticism from a pro-life group who says the self-declared pro-life senator who is working overtime to cover up his support for the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
Manchin joined every one of his fellow Democrats in the Senate last week in voting down a House-approved resolution that would have yanked taxpayer funding for the abortion business in the long-term budget Congress approved for the remainder of the year. Then, late last week, he announced to the media that he has filed a bill that would supposedly put safeguards in place to prevent Title X money that goes to Planned Parenthood from paying for abortions.
But making sure their tax dollars aren't being used in a way they don't want isn't enough. Transparency won't assure them that federal funds aren't being used to pay for abortions. It takes away their ability to lie that federal funds cover abortions when really they cover pre-natal services to assure healthy pregnancies, life-saving cancer screenings for women, and birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancies so an abortion isn't necessary.
But West Virginians for Life, upset that Manchin voted to fund the abortion business, called the legislation "irrelevant" and "a cover" for his vote.
"Pro-life West Virginians are profoundly disappointed in Senator Manchin's April 14 vote to allow taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider," said West Virginians for Life Communications Director Mary Anne Buchanan in a statement to LifeNews.
Would these be the same "pro-life" West Virginians who continue to support and endorse the pro-choice Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, who is endorsed by the Republican pro-choice group WISH List?
"Senator Manchin's bill is meaningless," Buchanan pointed out. "No one is saying that the Title X funds go directly to pay for abortions. These funds to Planned Parenthood can be used to underwrite their infrastructure and promote their organization. Manchin's vote not to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood means our tax dollars will subsidize an organization in which nearly one of every eight women who walks through its doors has an abortion."
Keep in mind, 97 percent of what Planned Parenthood provided health services to women and 3 percent is related to abortions.
If "West Virginians for Life" were really pro-life, they would have supported him for his decision to keep federal funding in place that provides pre-natal services to assure women have healthy pregnancies, receive birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancies so an abortion does not happen, and provide life-saving screenings for cancer.
Say what you will about Manchin's pro-life stance, at least it's consistent where he's doing what he can to protect the lives of women who rely on the community health services provided by Planned Parenthood.
West Virginians for "Life" don't want transparency because they rely on lies to promote their radical agenda.
Here's Sen. Jay Rockefeller's statement, emphasis mine:
ROCKEFELLER SAYS NEW REPUBLICAN BUDGET PLAN HURTS HEALTH CARE FOR STRUGGLING FAMILIES & SENIORS
Out-of-touch House Republican Proposal Favors the Wealthy at the Expense of Middle Class Families
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Jay Rockefeller today issued the following statement in response to a House Republican budget plan that calls for vastly scaling back Medicaid and Medicare, which together provide vital health care to children, low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities.
"The House Republican's budget plan shows how out-of-touch they are. They want to give trillions in tax benefits to wealthy corporations that keep profits offshore, while slashing basic health care for children, seniors, and people with disabilities. This is not just foolish - it's cruel. The Republican budget would end Medicare as we know it and prevent millions of Americans from getting affordable health care. It would shift the financial burden on to states and already struggling families all across the country. In West Virginia, nearly 380,000 people were enrolled in Medicare in 2010 and over 320,000 were enrolled in Medicaid. Anybody who has ever struggled to pay for a nursing home, or to care for a sick or aging relative at home, should be watching the Republican's every move - they are gutting your Medicare and Medicaid support and giving the money to big business and the wealthy."
Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, a good friend of WV-02's Shelley Moore Capito's on Capitol Hill, wants to destroy Medicare in order to "save it." Republicans ran in 2010 in getting the government out of people's Medicare, and now they want to make elderly, sick people go out and shop for their own plans.
ROCKEFELLER APPLAUDS NEW PLAN TO HELP IMPROVE QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE IN U.S.
Rockefeller Introduced Legislation Calling for National Health Care Strategy-
Provision Was Included in Last Year's Health Care Reform Law
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Senator Jay Rockefeller today provided the following statement on the release of the first national strategy to coordinate local, state, and national efforts to improve the quality of health care in the United States. The Affordable Care Act called for the strategy, which was released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The United States has never before had a common framework for measuring and prioritizing initiatives to improve the quality of care.
The National Quality Strategy will promote quality health care that is focused on the needs of patients, families, and communities. At the same time, the strategy is designed to move the system to work better for doctors and other health care providers - reducing their administrative burdens and helping them collaborate to improve care.
"As we approach the anniversary of the enactment of the health care law, I'm very pleased to see the release of a coordinated plan to improve health care for patients and their families in this country," said Rockefeller. "We have an excellent health care system, but not everybody gets the right care in the right place at the right time. This strategy will help hospitals, doctors and nurses coordinate care, and patients will have an easier time getting the care they need, when they need it. I look forward to following the rollout of this strategy."
"The Affordable Care Act sets America on a path toward a higher quality health care system so we stop doing things that don't work for patients and start doing more of the things that do work," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "American hospitals, doctors, nurses and other health care providers are among the best in the world. With this ground-breaking strategy, we are working with local communities and health care providers to help patients and improve the health of all Americans."
The National Quality Strategy is designed to be an evolving guide for the nation as we continue to move forward with efforts to measure and improve health and health care quality. HHS will continue to work with stakeholders to create specific quantitative goals and measures for each of the priorities outlined in its initial report. In addition, as different communities have various needs and assets, the strategy and HHS will empower them to take different paths to achieving these goals.
The National Quality Strategy will pursue three broad goals. These goals will be used to guide and assess local, state, and national efforts to improve the quality of health care for all Americans.
* Better Care: Improve the overall quality, by making health care more patient-centered, reliable, accessible, and safe.
* Healthy People/Healthy Communities: Improve the health of the U.S. population by supporting proven interventions to address behavioral, social and, environmental determinants of health in addition to delivering higher-quality care.
* Affordable Care: Reduce the cost of quality health care for individuals, families, employers, and government.
Both West Virginia senators voted the right way on the repeal issue.
Update
From an email:
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) issued the following statement today after he voted in favor of measures repealing the onerous1099 provision that would hurt small businesses.
"I don't think that throwing out the good parts of this bill, like helping seniors afford prescription drugs or ending discrimination against people with preexisting conditions, makes good common sense," Manchin said. "That's why I have repeatedly said that we should make every effort to work together on repairing this bill before we start talking about repealing it."
"In that spirit, I am encouraged tonight that my colleagues put politics aside and started this repair effort by first supporting efforts to repeal the onerous 1099 provision. We should next work on commonsense legislative options to repair the individual mandate."
I got commonsense for you. Make Medicare available to all.
And am I the only one getting tired of Manchin talking about commonsense. I'd prefer he exhibited more of it and talked about it less than instead of the other way around. What did he do? Poll the phrase and test market it?
Personal vehicles and coal trucks just don't seem to get along.
Reported Jul. 23, 2010 10:38 PM EDT
A 19-year-old is dead after his car hit a coal truck. It happened on Wednesday just before noon in Fayette County on Route 61 in the Robson area near Beards Fork.
It doesn't seem to matter if you are a new and possibly inexperienced driver.
Sunday Aug. 29, 2010
CUMBERLAND - A 20-year-old Evarts man died from injuries sustained in a two-vehicle collision Saturday morning on U.S. 119 near Cumberland in Harlan County, Kentucky State Police said.
Even more mature drivers have problems.
Updated Saturday October 2, 2010; 12:59 PM
Kanawha Sheriff's Deputies are reconstructing the crash that claimed two lives in Kanawha county Friday afternoon. Sheriff's say the head on collision between a Coal truck and a pickup truck occurred just before 2 p.m. on Route 60 near Glasgow.
Wonder how this became a "head on collision". And how two survived.
"They got everything else in the entire bureaucracy that they need to control our healthcare system ... with the signing of this bill. ... That's why repealing this bill has to be our No. 1 priority."
- Republican Minority Leader John Boehner on a live radio show announcing his intention.
Repubs are pulling this out on the week that the first b$250.00 Medicare supplement checks are going out to seniors. Tim Kaine, head of the Democratic National Committee is daring the Repubs to make this destructive repeal move the focus of their fall campaign to win back Congress and has challenged Boehner and Company to reveal the things they'd take away from Americans and give back to Insurance Companies.
News has just broken via the Associated Press that Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) will not seek re-election in the fall. This announcement has come in the wake of controversy regarding the healthcare legislation and its abortion language.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan tells The Associated Press that he'll retire from Congress rather than seek a 10th term this year.
Stupak has drawn criticism from opponents of the recently enacted health care overhaul after leading a bloc of anti-abortion Democrats whose last-minute support was crucial to its approval by the House
Tea party yahoo's are seeing this as a victory for them, claiming that they forced him to retire. Stupak claims otherwise.
But Stupak tells the AP the attacks didn't influence his decision and he could win re-election if he tried.
He plans to announce his decision at an afternoon news conference at Northern Michigan University.
He says he wants to spend more time with his family and start a new career after 18 years in Congress.
I would have to imagine that the threats against his family and himself over his vote for healthcare may have played a part despite his denial of it
I saw this link on Justin Williams' Facebook (WVYD President) and thought it was pertinent for these rough times of opposition towards healthcare.
I'll post the link at the end of this but here is a few examples of how healthcare will help us here in the mountain state. This list was compiled by the Democratic Policy Committee.
Provide tax credits for up to 20,000 West Virginia small businesses to help make coverage
more affordable.
Prohibit insurance companies from excluding coverage of pre-existing conditions for the
386,449 children in West Virginia, starting this year.
Close the donut hole and improve other Medicare benefits for 372,000 West Virginia
seniors.
Reduce Medicare premiums for the 300,400 West Virginia seniors who are not enrolled in
Medicare Advantage and will no longer subsidize these private insurance plans.
Ensure affordable coverage options for 256,000 West Virginians who are uninsured and
41,000 West Virginians who purchase health insurance through the individual market.
Ensure immediate access to affordable insurance options for as many as 35,466
uninsured West Virginians who have a pre-existing condition.
Provide tax credits for up to 204,000 West Virginians to help make health insurance
more affordable, bringing $3.3 billion in premium and cost-sharing tax credits into
West Virginia during the first five years of the health insurance Exchange.
Reduce family health insurance premiums by $1,750 - $2,510 for the same benefits, as
compared to what they would be without health reform by 2016.
Provide access to Medicaid for 161,355 newly-eligible West Virginians, and provide
$3.7 billion in federal funding for the cost of their coverage.
Create 1,700 - 2,700 jobs by reducing health care costs for employers.
That Republicans are now attempting to block all Congressional hearings could be their unified push back at the looming possibility of the public option being introduced.
The polls are certainly showing that since the bill's signing, more and more Americans either like the bill as passed, or else wish the reform did more.
In all of the joy and confusion leading up to the passage of the Senate version, most Dem Obamacare watchers probably thought that Congress stripped the public option out because it somehow lowered the bill's overall chances of passing. Actually, it now appears that all they really need to do is simply put it to an up-or-down vote in the senate to get it passed.
Since 45 senators have already publicly declared support of its passage, which of the remaining Dems would hold out? And even if the option did fail, it certainly wouldn't kill the chances of bill's passage altogether, would it?
BECAUSE THE BILL HAS ALREADY PASSED, HASN'T IT?
The more times HCR bounces back to the House from the Senate during reconciliation, the more people will learn what's actually in the bill. So naturally the more they'll begin to realize they like what's in it.
Except for that nasty lack of cost containment. Thanks to the right-leaning Senate Finance committee, it has the same insurance giveaway loophole as Massachussetts' universal HCR system.
Its just too bad that the media and many progressive websites have been so silent about its virtues. Particularly regarding the CBO score that a strong public option would reduce the deficit at least 500 million bucks, and that other prestigious institutions have valued the measure worth as much as a cool trillion in deficit reduction.
It is notable that the senator who sponsored the strong public option in finance committee markup flatly refused to sign any statement that he'd vote for the measure in the reconciliation process, claiming that to do so would be "too partisan", and has cautioned to "never let the perfect be the enemy of the good". Rockefeller also inexplicably failed to mention that a strong public option would reduce the deficit to the finance markup committee.
U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (WV) announced [yesterday] that the Community Health Systems, Inc. (CHS) DBA AccesHealth has been awarded $1.8 million in federal funds for operational expenses which will help citizens of Raleigh, Fayette, and Wyoming counties continue to receive quality accessible healthcare at affordable costs.
"Rural health centers like Community Health Systems extend medical services into isolated areas where the need for medical care is great and resources are often scarce," said Rahall. "This funding will help enhance the range of much-needed healthcare services available to the residents of Raleigh, Fayette and Wyoming Counties where accessibility to good healthcare remains a challenge to many residents."
Community Health Systems, Inc. is a Federally Qualified Health Center and a non-profit organization providing comprehensive primary health care to the citizens of Raleigh, Fayette, and Wyoming Counties and surrounding areas.
Give Rep. Rahall a call and thank him for the good news. While you're at it, be sure and let him know you're counting on his vote in favor of healthcare reform, too:
Beckley Office
301 Prince St.,
Beckley, WV 25801
(304) 252-5000
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