QUOTE FOR THE YEARS:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Constitution of the United States
September 17, 1787
SENSE AND NONSENSE—MY “ENEMIES” LIST
From the editor: In this new age of domestic propaganda initiatives, I am dumb-struck by the strident assertion by conservatives, both secular and fundamentalist, that government is the enemy.
In 1787, the 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention including George Washington, who reluctantly served as President of the convention, viewed the proper role of government to be a protector of its citizenry. The five critical words in the preamble are “Justice,” “Tranquility,” “Defense,” “Welfare,” and “Liberty.” The authors of our Constitution had every reason to distrust government. Instead they chose to define and create a government that protects rather than exploits its citizens.
Our government, as defined by the Constitution, is not the enemy. But in the almost five years since The Compass began publication after the disastrous re-election of George Bush in 2004, I have developed my own enemies list. The most blatant offenders are:
- Congressional hypocrites who claim that a public health insurance option leads us down the path of socialism while they personally receive the “Cadillac” of public health insurance as elected representatives of this country.
- Religious fundamentalists who claim that an anthropomorphic God figure has spoken directly to them. Such a claim is simply a demagogic fantasy of those who pursue power and influence without being accountable for what they say and do.
- Broadcast news outlets largely devoted to “controversy” and the Nielsen ratings instead of factual, investigative journalism. Simply featuring at least two “talking heads” who hold opposing views is not balanced journalism. It is an editorial philosophy promoted by every major broadcast network including PBS and more often than not obfuscates facts rather than revealing them. The 24-hour cable news outlets, conservative radio talk shows, and moguls such as Rupert Murdoch (Fox News) are the worst offenders.
- Those propagandists who claim that a social safety net for the poor and the middle class is “welfare,” while they label government subsidies to large corporations and the super rich as “investments.” Tax cuts for the super rich constitute class warfare, pure and simple. As documented in the book by Amy Chua, “World on Fire,” the consistent feature of a world bent on its own destruction is the widening gap between rich and poor. Author Kevin Phillips has documented that gap in this country.
- Credit Default Swaps (CDSs)—the type of speculative derivative that brought the world to the brink of economic Armageddon in September, 2008, and the entire London office of AIG which led the speculation.
- A once Republican-led majority in both houses of Congress that voted for deregulation of the banking industry. Enactment of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) on November 12, 1999, signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton, resulted in the repeal of both the Banking Act of 1933 (known as “Glass-Steagall”), and the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, which had separated commercial banking from the insurance business. Passage of that one piece of legislation resulted in all of the “toxic assets” that banks are still carrying on their books. (Editor’s Note: See the April, 2009, issue of The Compass for a more detailed explanation.)
- Big banks and even larger bank holding companies that can still legally invest in securities and buy the insurance to protect themselves against loss. For example, Goldman Sachs recovered 100 percent of their losses after the government bailed out AIG, and AIG passed billions directly to Goldman Sachs as payment for its insurance claims.
- Torture—those who wrote the policy, the lawyers who justified it, and those who conducted it.
- “Swift Boaters” and organizations like Freedom Works led by Dick Armey who believe their ends justify any means. The factual truth is their first victim; gullible citizens—subject to the manipulation of fear and hatred—are, as a group, their second victim.
- Perpetuators of the myth that the private sector is the great creator of wealth and “big government” tries to prevent such wealth. The records clearly indicate that we are the richest country in the world precisely because government has heavily subsidized the private sector and because government has, in its finer hours, regulated greed, the excesses of oligarchs, war profiteers, and Wall Street hooligans disguised as “hedge funds.”
Maynard Chapman, Editor
The Compass
LABOR UNIONS, DOCTORS, JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, IV, & THE PRES.
From the editor: In the face of President Obama’s tepid support for a public option in health insurance reform, there are some strong allies in the fight—all Americans who can think past their noses to insist upon such an option. Large labor unions such as the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), health care professionals, and some senators such as John D. Rockefeller IV are putting pressure on the president for health care reform that supports middle and low-income families with access to a public option. Following are comments made by President Obama at the AFL-CIO annual convention held in Pittsburgh on Sept. 15, 2009.
A Public Option
“I’ve also said that one of the options in this exchange should be a public option. Now, let me be clear. Let me be clear, because there’s been a lot of misinformation out here about this. This would just be an option. Nobody would be forced to choose it. No one with insurance would be affected. But what it would do is offer Americans more choices, and promote real competition, and put pressure on private insurers to make their policies affordable and treat their customers better.”
A Strong Middle Class
“For over half a century, the success of America has been built on the success of our middle class. It was the creation of the middle class that lifted this nation up in the wake of a Great Depression. It was the expansion of the middle class that opened the doors of opportunity to millions more. It was a strong middle class that powered American industries and propelled America’s economy and made the 20th century the American century.
“And the fundamental test of this century, of our time, is whether we will heed this lesson; whether we will let America become a nation of the very rich and the very poor, of the haves and the have-nots; or whether we will remain true to the promise of this country and build a future where the success of all of us is built on the success of each of us.”
It remains to be seen just how large the gap between what Obama says and what he does is going to be. But, at least, labor unions, doctors, and some senators are putting pressure on him to close the gap.
For example, The New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a survey of 5,157 doctors with 2,130 returning the survey. The survey titled, “Doctors on Coverage -- Physicians’ Views on a New Public Insurance Option and Medicare Expansion,” was published Sept. 14, 2009. The results showed that 72.5 percent of the respondents were in favor of a public option only or public and private options offered in the same package, while 27.3 percent of respondents were in favor of private options only.
In addition, more than 58 percent of physicians were in favor of expanding Medicare to cover anyone between 55 and 64 years old. Also there was majority-support for a public option among the American Medical Association (62.2%).
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, Sen. John D. Rockefeller, IV, a former teacher in the Vista program, said he could not support the Baucus bill coming out of the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Rockefeller said, “I represent a state that really needs health care reform, and I want it to be good. It doesn’t make me liberal. I care. That’s the Vista volunteer in me. My passion has not diminished one bit since 1964.”
Rockefeller is head of the health subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee. Rockefeller added, “Somebody needs to look at the overall package at some point and ask, ‘What’s happening to people in the lower-middle class, the working stiffs, the working poor?’”
In the face of such support for a public option, Obama administration strategists such as chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel and chief advisor David Axelrod are still courting the support of Olympia Snowe, Republican from Maine, in pursuit of a 60-vote majority in the Senate. Such a pursuit is simply a ‘Clinton-ite’ triangulation strategy designed to be more Republican than the Republican minority in the Senate.
Baucus and the appropriately named “Gang of Six,” including Senators Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Michael Enzi of Wyoming, Charles Grassley of Iowa, and Snowe of Maine, coupled with the lack of leadership by milk-toast Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has created a Senate environment that can block passage of meaningful and effective health insurance reform. If the health insurance industry wins this battle, all 7 senators (including Reid) plus the White House and President Obama should be held accountable.
Reid and the White House have the option of Reconciliation available to them. This option requires a simple 51-vote majority to pass health insurance reform. The 60-vote strategy of the Obama administration is simply de-facto capitulation to private health insurance.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR RAISES INTEREST IN MONTANA
From A. Blevins of Billings: Compass Society member Auzie Blevins of Billings, Montana, has successfully published the following letter in support of a single payer version of health insurance reform. The letter has been published in multiple newspapers across the state.
“Congress’ and the President’s health care reform efforts are on the wrong track. Any bill not curtailing or eliminating private for-profit health insurance is a failure from the start. Health care is a basic American right that cannot be realized as long as it is financed through parasitic private health insurance.
“H.R. 676, “The United States National Health Insurance Act,” is a single payer plan, the only legislation that would eliminate private insurance premiums. Obviously, it represents a grave threat to the lucrative insurance industry. When Senator Baucus arrogantly refuses to even schedule a hearing for single payer, and we observe every member of his Senate Finance Committee’s (“Gang of Six”), Republicans and Democrats, accepting big campaign contributions from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries, we know the fix is in.
“Campaign finance corruption is as serious a problem as health care. Ironically, at least 62 percent of Americans and 59 percent of physicians support a single payer national health insurance approach, according to Physicians for National Health Program. H.R. 676 would meet or exceed all of President Obama’s health care goals, including cost reduction, the major sticking point in all other legislation. According to H.R. 676’s website (www.guaranteedhealthcare.org), we spend about $2,776 trillion each year on health care. By eliminating $950 billion in private health insurance premiums, plus other unnecessary costs, and raising $1,259 trillion in replacement revenue (payroll taxes, etc) it would still save Americans about $387 billion. Not exactly Baucus’ ‘Uniquely American Approach,’ but real money with our ballooning deficits.”
Sincerely,
Auzie Blevins
Copyright © 2009, The Compass Society
