We shall see how long this approval rating holds out once Americans figure out thay have been snookered.
Benny
Poll: Two-thirds approve of Obama's job
Jan 24, 7:56 PM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama is enjoying about a two-thirds approval rating for his first days as president, a poll released Saturday found.
The Gallup Organization survey found 68 percent of Americans approve of Obama's performance as the nation's chief executive. That's a number near the high end for new presidents, but short of President John F. Kennedy's 72 percent in 1961.
The poll also found that 12 percent in the survey disapprove of Obama's job performance, a typical number all presidents face after an election.
Among presidents elected to their first term, Kennedy had the highest initial job approval rating, 72 percent, in Gallup polling three weeks after his inauguration. Next were Dwight Eisenhower with 68 percent approval and Jimmy Carter with 66 percent. Every other president elected to a first term since Eisenhower started office with at least majority job approval: Richard Nixon's 59 percent; Ronald Reagan's and George H.W. Bush's 51 percent; Bill Clinton's 58 percent and George W. Bush's 57 percent.
Compared with his immediate predecessors, Obama faces fewer Americans who disapprove of his performance. Clinton faced 20 percent disapproval after taking office in 1993, and George W. Bush faced 25 percent disapproval after the Supreme Court delivered him the presidency in 2000.
Gallup finds approval ratings improved after about 100 days in office for all recent elected presidents - except Carter and Clinton - as Americans became more familiar with their work.
An Associated Press-GfK poll released last week showed Obama with a 74 percent approval during his transition.
Obama was sworn in Tuesday. Gallup conducted telephone interviews of 1,591 adults Wednesday to Friday, which cover his first three days in office. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Are some liberal, progressive and peace organizations intentionally sabotaging efforts to create awareness about Gaza
I think this posting by United for Peace and Justice is less than honest.
I was at Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C.
I did not go to Washington specifically for the Inauguration because I am no fan of Barack Obama. To me he is just another politician looking to get ahead at our expense. I was there on union business.
Lots of people are going to find out the hard way just how bad this guy really is and who he really works for.
Live and learn.
The thing concerning me is organizations that should be educating the people are doing just the opposite. They are letting important opportunities slide.
Take this outfit United for Peace and Justice.
I walked through the crowds at the Inauguration festivities from the music to the day of Obama's swearing in handing out a few leaflets about Israel's criminal escapade in Gaza. I asked people to sign the petition initiated by the Duluth-Superior Club of the Communist Party USA. I belong to this little club we call our circle of friends.
I did not see a single person from United for Peace and Justice handing out leaflets or circulating petitions.
Here we had hundreds of thousands of people and United for Peace and Justice apparently had no presence here at all. I did not see anyone from "Progressives for Obama." I met a few people from the Progressive Democrats of America standing around with some leaflets. I wasn't even offered a leaflet from them I had to ask to see what they had. One woman was just standing there with an arm full of leaflets. She still had the same stack of leaflets when the crowds dispersed. She told me she was asked by a cop not to pass her leaflets out.
As I walked through the crowd talking to people showing them some pictures of their tax dollars at work in the Gaza Strip cops were constantly following me. Three cops came up to me and insisted on seeing what I was passing out. Some guy in a suit with a flag pin on his lapel tried to make me stop handing out my leaflets. He said I was bothering people. I wasn't hurting anyone. This was a political event. The problems of the Gaza Strip are a legitimate political issue even if Obama does not want to talk about it. I wasn't arrested. I must have been within my rights. Why would cops try to intimidate me in the first place. One of them said, "We have to be careful. We aren't saying you are a problem. We just have to be careful." Is this the kind of government we can expect from now on?
I passed out about 400 leaflets each of the three days I was at the Inauguration festivities. I collected just under 600 signatures on our little petition.
I never saw anyone passing out the People's Weekly World. One leader of the Party told me, "This isn't the time or place for you to be doing this." All he did is stand there and clap and cheer for Obama. He even clapped along with others when Obama proclaimed victory over "fascism and communism." I asked him why he clapped for that and he said, "Where are you from?" I told him I was from Superior, Wisconsin and was a member of the Duluth-Superior Club. He said, "That explains everything. Get away from me."
While in Washington I took in a couple sessions of the Progressive Democrats of America gathering. I sat in on one session where it was brought out that Barack Obama had been endorsed at his request by the socialist New Party in Chicago and he said he had a picture of Obama there. Right away another member of the panel jumped in to "save" Barack Obama by saying Obama was not a member of this socialist party only endorsed by them. I don't understand why so many people who say they are progressive feel they have to defend Obama all the time.
I had a very eye opening experience during my weekend in Washington D.C.
For some reason the left has decided its role to play in this country is one of protecting and defending Barack Obama.
I was under the impression our role is to protect and defend the interests of the laboring class.
I can't help but ask why United for Peace and Justice wasn't out among the crowds during the Inauguration festivities distributing this message? Now that the crowds are gone they send this email out.
I was at Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C.
I did not go to Washington specifically for the Inauguration because I am no fan of Barack Obama. To me he is just another politician looking to get ahead at our expense. I was there on union business.
Lots of people are going to find out the hard way just how bad this guy really is and who he really works for.
Live and learn.
The thing concerning me is organizations that should be educating the people are doing just the opposite. They are letting important opportunities slide.
Take this outfit United for Peace and Justice.
I walked through the crowds at the Inauguration festivities from the music to the day of Obama's swearing in handing out a few leaflets about Israel's criminal escapade in Gaza. I asked people to sign the petition initiated by the Duluth-Superior Club of the Communist Party USA. I belong to this little club we call our circle of friends.
I did not see a single person from United for Peace and Justice handing out leaflets or circulating petitions.
Here we had hundreds of thousands of people and United for Peace and Justice apparently had no presence here at all. I did not see anyone from "Progressives for Obama." I met a few people from the Progressive Democrats of America standing around with some leaflets. I wasn't even offered a leaflet from them I had to ask to see what they had. One woman was just standing there with an arm full of leaflets. She still had the same stack of leaflets when the crowds dispersed. She told me she was asked by a cop not to pass her leaflets out.
As I walked through the crowd talking to people showing them some pictures of their tax dollars at work in the Gaza Strip cops were constantly following me. Three cops came up to me and insisted on seeing what I was passing out. Some guy in a suit with a flag pin on his lapel tried to make me stop handing out my leaflets. He said I was bothering people. I wasn't hurting anyone. This was a political event. The problems of the Gaza Strip are a legitimate political issue even if Obama does not want to talk about it. I wasn't arrested. I must have been within my rights. Why would cops try to intimidate me in the first place. One of them said, "We have to be careful. We aren't saying you are a problem. We just have to be careful." Is this the kind of government we can expect from now on?
I passed out about 400 leaflets each of the three days I was at the Inauguration festivities. I collected just under 600 signatures on our little petition.
I never saw anyone passing out the People's Weekly World. One leader of the Party told me, "This isn't the time or place for you to be doing this." All he did is stand there and clap and cheer for Obama. He even clapped along with others when Obama proclaimed victory over "fascism and communism." I asked him why he clapped for that and he said, "Where are you from?" I told him I was from Superior, Wisconsin and was a member of the Duluth-Superior Club. He said, "That explains everything. Get away from me."
While in Washington I took in a couple sessions of the Progressive Democrats of America gathering. I sat in on one session where it was brought out that Barack Obama had been endorsed at his request by the socialist New Party in Chicago and he said he had a picture of Obama there. Right away another member of the panel jumped in to "save" Barack Obama by saying Obama was not a member of this socialist party only endorsed by them. I don't understand why so many people who say they are progressive feel they have to defend Obama all the time.
I had a very eye opening experience during my weekend in Washington D.C.
For some reason the left has decided its role to play in this country is one of protecting and defending Barack Obama.
I was under the impression our role is to protect and defend the interests of the laboring class.
I can't help but ask why United for Peace and Justice wasn't out among the crowds during the Inauguration festivities distributing this message? Now that the crowds are gone they send this email out.
UFPJ ACTION ALERT: Gaza Crisis and Dr. King's Birthday
Jan. 12 - 19 Week of Media Action: Gaza in Crisis
Today, as we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther
King. Jr. and look towards the historic inauguration of
President Barack Obama, we urge that you take a moment
to write a letter to the editor, draft an op-ed piece,
or call a radio talk show about the need for the
incoming administration and Congress to take immediate
action on the raging humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The Bush administration is using their last days to
fortify their legacy of endless war by signing a
bilateral memorandum of understanding with Israel.
Please let us know about your experiences during the
January 12-19 week of media action on Gaza, send links
to your letters or media interviews to
organizing@unitedforpeace.org. See NYC-UFPJ and Peace
Action in the media at our resource page here.
Gaza Talking Point # 5
The courage and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.
remains a guide for today. He said, "A true revolution
of values will soon cause us to question the fairness
and justice of many of our past and present
policies...A nation that continues year after year to
spend more money on military defense than on programs
of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
Today, we honor King's legacy by continuing to work for
a new foreign policy which recognizes that there are no
military solutions in Gaza or Iraq and Afghanistan.
A ceasefire is in place in Gaza. It is a beginning, but
no provisions have been made by the Israeli government
to withdraw all troops, open the border crossings for
humanitarian aid deliveries and provide guarantees for
the safety of civilians, access to emergency services,
medical care, shelter, food and water. Civilians and
civilian institutions in Gaza have suffered the brunt
of the Israeli bombings and invasion of Gaza.
Israel is not fulfilling its obligations under United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1860 (passed last
week), which states that Israeli soldiers must leave
Gaza and unimpeded humanitarian access must be allowed.
President-elect Obama's promises of change in foreign
policy can begin with immediate attention to the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza after 23 days of bombings.
We urge that President Obama and Congress set aside the
memoranda of understanding signed by President Bush and
the Israeli government because it is a continuation of
eight years of military solutions and sidelining
negotiations.
Now is the time to lift the 19 month-long siege of Gaza
which led to the crisis!
Facts & Background
UN Secretary-General Statement on Recent Israeli
Bombings
Statement by General Assembly President Miguel
d'Escoto, to the 10th Emergency Special Session on the
Illegal Israeli Actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and
the Rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, New
York, 15 January 2009
UN Security Council Resolution 1860 on the Situation in
the Middle East and Palestinian Question
Israel-US Memorandum of Understanding between Israel
and the United States, 16 January 2009
"Update on Gaza." Charlie Rose Show on PBS featuring
Professor Rashid Khalidi, Roger Cohen, and David
Makovsky
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Now that Bush is out all we are going to hear about is how bad he was; Obama and the Democrats are no better
Listening to these worthless liberals like Bob Borosage one would think that Bush didn't have the help of Democrats in doing any of this.
Benny
Benny
Statement of Campaign for America's Future Robert Borosage on the Bush Legacy
Statement of Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for American’s Future
George W. Bush is likely to be remembered only for his failures – for demonstrating, in no uncertain terms, the failure of modern conservatism. Handed all the reins of power – the White House, Congress, and to a large extent, the Supreme Court – conservative rule proved catastrophic.
George W. Bush embraced the bellicose unilateralism of the neo-conservatives, and undermined U.S. security in the worst foreign policy debacle since Vietnam – the war of choice in Iraq. Bush and Cheney scorned the Constitution to tout the “unitary executive,” and shredded the moral reputation of the US across the world in the torture committed at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and the CIA’s secret prisons.
Bush touted the supply doctrine of tax cuts uber alles, and created only greater debt, Gilded Age inequality and slow growth with stagnant wages. He championed the corporate “free trade” doctrines, and left the U.S. the world’s largest debtor, while American manufacturers suffered a decade-long recession. He celebrated deregulation and privatization, and watched as an unregulated banking system blew up the global economy with its speculative follies.
And now, at the end of this era of misrule, the costs are clear.
An economy in tatters, in the midst of the worst recession and the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
$3 trillion squandered on the war in Iraq, which is now the second longest in American history (behind Vietnam), leaving more than 4,200 Americans dead, 30,000 wounded, and a military stretched to its limit.
Abuses of power that make Watergate look like a high school prank, including warrantless wiretapping, the politicization of the Justice Department, retribution against critics, and secret assertions of executive authority.
Unprecedented scorn for international law and human rights – every day we learn more about the torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and the extraordinary rendition of individuals to countries that torture.
Rejection of science in the name of politics, misleading the public about global warming, endangered species, toxic chemicals, and consumer safety.
Refusal to protect Americans’ health, welfare, safety and legal rights by defunding or underfunding agencies charged with enforcing rules vital to keeping corporations accountable.
A criminally slow response to Hurricane Katrina, our nation’s worst natural catastrophe in generations.
Gilded Age inequality, a declining middle class, and rising poverty – even when the economy was growing.
President Bush argues it is premature to judge his presidency. But history provides context, not whitewash. Inescapably, the presidency of George W. Bush – and the conservative policies that he pursued – will be ranked among the most calamitous in American history.
# # #
The Campaign for America's Future (CAF) is a center of progressive strategy, organizing and issue campaigns. CAF anchors a progressive leadership network, enlisting leaders at the national, state and local levels to build a more just and democratic society. The Campaign is leading the fight about America's priorities - against privatization of Social Security, for investment in energy independence, good jobs and a sustainable economy, for affordable health care and more.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act
Please distribute and post widely.
Minnesota’s politicians have reneged on their repeated pre-election promises for health care reform for the last 60 years.
Quite frankly, we are fed up with this foot-dragging amid all kinds of phony schemes they have concocted in the name of reform which seek to put the burden of health care costs on the backs of the working class instead of where the primary burden belongs--- on those who profit from the labor of working people.
We thought we would help guide Minnesota politicians along in their efforts to achieve health care reform.
Health care is a human right.
Introducing a real solution to the present health care mess created by a profit driven system which places profits before the health care needs of people.
People before profits.
A proposal for real health care reform legislation from the working people of Minnesota.
Introducing the:
Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act
From here on in this Act of the Minnesota Legislature shall be known as the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
The intent of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be to provide Minnesotans with a world-class public health care system.
The sole purpose of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be to keep people healthy and get them well when sick.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall provide no-fee/no-premium universal health care for every single person present in Minnesota.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall provide prenatal to burial health care which shall include, but not be limited to: eyes, dental, mental and general health care including any prescribed medications and shall include any physician directed physical therapy; home health care and nursing home care shall be included along with any hospitalization and the care associated with any hospital stay.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall include public financing of the complete Health Care System.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be publicly administered with the only goals and objectives explicitly limited to providing Minnesotans with health care in accordance with the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
All those employed in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be public employees protected under the terms of one collectively bargained labor-management agreement between the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System and the Union freely chosen by majority vote of the members in accordance with the all labor laws and protections.
All and any discrimination in employment and in receiving health care under the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be prohibited--- including, but not limited to, discrimination based on: race, sex, age, class, religious and political beliefs.
All health care professionals, from administrators and staff to doctors and nurses employed in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall receive free education and training with any required subsidies through university and for any required periodic training associated with their employment and delivery of health care.
No restrictions shall be placed on any private health care providers who shall be free to compete with the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
Anyone is free to avail themselves of private health care for which they shall be liable for all payments except when required health care may not be available through the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be paid for thusly:
A payroll tax on all workers which shall not exceed more than four-percent of income. Any worker making less than what the United States Department of Labor and its Bureau of Labor Statistics determines to be a real living income based upon cost of living factors shall be assessed one-percent of income and during periods of unemployment and/or income below the requirement no tax shall be collected.
Employers will be assessed a flat fee based upon the number of employees. One to ten employees: $600.00 per month. Eleven to thirty employees $650.00 per month. Thirty-one to eighty employees $750.00 per month. Eighty-one to two-hundred employees $800.00 per month. Over 201 employees, employers shall be required to pay $900.00 per month. These figures shall be base tax-rates subject to yearly adjustments to be determined by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
If additional revenue is required to finance the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System; this revenue shall be raised by specially designated increases in the taconite tax and stumpage fees from the mining and forestry industries respectively.
No funds collected for the purpose of funding the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be used for any other purpose.
All funds presently designated for any other health care programs, whether local, state or federal shall herein after be designated for the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
All present local, state and federal health care programs operating in Minnesota shall be phased-into and merged into the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
Any and all health care education provided by public institutions shall be administered with the objective and goal of providing the required support for the success of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System with any duplication between colleges and universities to cease when it is possible to combine these educational services with the goal being to cut costs while providing the best possible training to maintain world class standards of health care for all Minnesotans.
Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be appointed by a specially created Committee of Minnesota Legislators with the inclusion of one representative of the public, one representative from organized labor, one representative from the union representing employees of the Health Care System and one representative from business.
In order to initially secure the required staff for the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System all public university and college administrators together with all Administrators of any and all government programs in Minnesota shall have their pay and/or salaries cut by thirty percent to subsidize the training and education of the professional staff from doctors to nurses as required. This pay-cut shall remain in effect until the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is fully staffed and therein after the responsibility of free education in the health care field shall be the responsibility of the State of Minnesota.
ALL children and their families in Minnesota shall be informed that a free education through university/college will be provide to any student meeting minimum required grade standards established by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System provided they agree to work in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System for salaries not to exceed base pay of $65,000.00 a year for no less than 12 years; this salary shall include, but not be limited to, doctors and all Administrators. A special effort shall be made to recruit students from Indian Reservations and working class communities in rural and urban areas based upon the assumption that these students will be the most caring for those in the communities they come from. The pay schedule shall be modified on a yearly basis in consideration of cost-of-living factors as scientifically calculated by the United States Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The responsibility for placing the required number of employees and personnel in local communities shall be determined by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System based solely upon the health care requirements of the Community with providing Minnesotans with a world class health care System always in mind.
Public education centering on keeping people healthy shall be a primary responsibility of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System for two reasons:
Healthy people are a far less burden on the health care system;
To be healthy is a human right.
The Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be empowered to order employers (public and private) to remedy any and all problems related to human health. The cost and expense of correcting any and all problems shall be the responsibility of the Employer. All workers, without fear of recrimination, shall be educated and encouraged to report all health related concerns in their place of employment and in the communities where they reside.
Whenever possible, people will be allowed to have their choice of doctors; however, the primary goal of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide everyone with quality health care through fully trained and caring health care professionals.
The intent of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide all Minnesotans a universal health care system where health care is once and for all placed over and above the profit system. The sole objective of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide people with health care; not the health care industry with profits.
Roger Jourdain was the long-time serving Chairman of the Red Lake Nation who pioneered bringing health care to a community of Native American people who previous to his advocacy of health care as a human right had no access to heath care.
Rudy Perpich was the Governor of Minnesota who proposed increasing the taconite tax to provide better government for people, which included adequate health care.
Floyd B. Olson and Elmer A. Benson were the socialist governors of Minnesota who were among the first to advocate for a comprehensive, all-inclusive public health care system.
The Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act provides the only practical and pragmatic health care alternative to private, for-profit health care.
The time has come for Minnesotans to boldly move forward in the area of health care reform based upon progressive Minnesota traditions.
Minnesotans have soundly rejected the for profit health care system, and at every opportunity Minnesotans have articulated their desire for what is embodied in the Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act.
The time has come for the democratic will of the majority of Minnesotans to prevail when it comes to health care reform.
Consideration for similar national health care reform should be brought forward as part of the country-wide discussions now underway.
We propose that a national health care act be brought forward based upon the Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act.
We further propose that this national health care act become known as the Franklin D. Roosevelt – Frances Perkins National Health Care Act; so named in the memory of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, who courageously stood up to the American Medical Association and the wealthy few in defense of a public health care program serving the health care needs of the American people to be included as part of the “New Deal.”
Any country spending trillions of dollars on wars and death and destruction can meet the health care needs of its citizens--- it really is as simple as this.
Initiated and Proposed by:
Minnesotans for Peace and Social Justice
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
Red Lake Casino, Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ Union Organizing Committee
Grand Casino Workers for Justice
Mystic Lake Casino Workers Organizing Committee
100 Concerned Members of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party
Thief River Falls Political Action Committee
Iron Range Club of the Communist Party USA
Minnesota’s politicians have reneged on their repeated pre-election promises for health care reform for the last 60 years.
Quite frankly, we are fed up with this foot-dragging amid all kinds of phony schemes they have concocted in the name of reform which seek to put the burden of health care costs on the backs of the working class instead of where the primary burden belongs--- on those who profit from the labor of working people.
We thought we would help guide Minnesota politicians along in their efforts to achieve health care reform.
Health care is a human right.
Introducing a real solution to the present health care mess created by a profit driven system which places profits before the health care needs of people.
People before profits.
A proposal for real health care reform legislation from the working people of Minnesota.
Introducing the:
Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act
From here on in this Act of the Minnesota Legislature shall be known as the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
The intent of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be to provide Minnesotans with a world-class public health care system.
The sole purpose of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be to keep people healthy and get them well when sick.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall provide no-fee/no-premium universal health care for every single person present in Minnesota.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall provide prenatal to burial health care which shall include, but not be limited to: eyes, dental, mental and general health care including any prescribed medications and shall include any physician directed physical therapy; home health care and nursing home care shall be included along with any hospitalization and the care associated with any hospital stay.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall include public financing of the complete Health Care System.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be publicly administered with the only goals and objectives explicitly limited to providing Minnesotans with health care in accordance with the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
All those employed in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be public employees protected under the terms of one collectively bargained labor-management agreement between the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System and the Union freely chosen by majority vote of the members in accordance with the all labor laws and protections.
All and any discrimination in employment and in receiving health care under the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be prohibited--- including, but not limited to, discrimination based on: race, sex, age, class, religious and political beliefs.
All health care professionals, from administrators and staff to doctors and nurses employed in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall receive free education and training with any required subsidies through university and for any required periodic training associated with their employment and delivery of health care.
No restrictions shall be placed on any private health care providers who shall be free to compete with the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
Anyone is free to avail themselves of private health care for which they shall be liable for all payments except when required health care may not be available through the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be paid for thusly:
A payroll tax on all workers which shall not exceed more than four-percent of income. Any worker making less than what the United States Department of Labor and its Bureau of Labor Statistics determines to be a real living income based upon cost of living factors shall be assessed one-percent of income and during periods of unemployment and/or income below the requirement no tax shall be collected.
Employers will be assessed a flat fee based upon the number of employees. One to ten employees: $600.00 per month. Eleven to thirty employees $650.00 per month. Thirty-one to eighty employees $750.00 per month. Eighty-one to two-hundred employees $800.00 per month. Over 201 employees, employers shall be required to pay $900.00 per month. These figures shall be base tax-rates subject to yearly adjustments to be determined by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
If additional revenue is required to finance the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System; this revenue shall be raised by specially designated increases in the taconite tax and stumpage fees from the mining and forestry industries respectively.
No funds collected for the purpose of funding the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be used for any other purpose.
All funds presently designated for any other health care programs, whether local, state or federal shall herein after be designated for the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
All present local, state and federal health care programs operating in Minnesota shall be phased-into and merged into the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
Any and all health care education provided by public institutions shall be administered with the objective and goal of providing the required support for the success of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System with any duplication between colleges and universities to cease when it is possible to combine these educational services with the goal being to cut costs while providing the best possible training to maintain world class standards of health care for all Minnesotans.
Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be appointed by a specially created Committee of Minnesota Legislators with the inclusion of one representative of the public, one representative from organized labor, one representative from the union representing employees of the Health Care System and one representative from business.
In order to initially secure the required staff for the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System all public university and college administrators together with all Administrators of any and all government programs in Minnesota shall have their pay and/or salaries cut by thirty percent to subsidize the training and education of the professional staff from doctors to nurses as required. This pay-cut shall remain in effect until the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is fully staffed and therein after the responsibility of free education in the health care field shall be the responsibility of the State of Minnesota.
ALL children and their families in Minnesota shall be informed that a free education through university/college will be provide to any student meeting minimum required grade standards established by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System provided they agree to work in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System for salaries not to exceed base pay of $65,000.00 a year for no less than 12 years; this salary shall include, but not be limited to, doctors and all Administrators. A special effort shall be made to recruit students from Indian Reservations and working class communities in rural and urban areas based upon the assumption that these students will be the most caring for those in the communities they come from. The pay schedule shall be modified on a yearly basis in consideration of cost-of-living factors as scientifically calculated by the United States Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The responsibility for placing the required number of employees and personnel in local communities shall be determined by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System based solely upon the health care requirements of the Community with providing Minnesotans with a world class health care System always in mind.
Public education centering on keeping people healthy shall be a primary responsibility of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System for two reasons:
Healthy people are a far less burden on the health care system;
To be healthy is a human right.
The Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be empowered to order employers (public and private) to remedy any and all problems related to human health. The cost and expense of correcting any and all problems shall be the responsibility of the Employer. All workers, without fear of recrimination, shall be educated and encouraged to report all health related concerns in their place of employment and in the communities where they reside.
Whenever possible, people will be allowed to have their choice of doctors; however, the primary goal of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide everyone with quality health care through fully trained and caring health care professionals.
The intent of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide all Minnesotans a universal health care system where health care is once and for all placed over and above the profit system. The sole objective of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide people with health care; not the health care industry with profits.
Roger Jourdain was the long-time serving Chairman of the Red Lake Nation who pioneered bringing health care to a community of Native American people who previous to his advocacy of health care as a human right had no access to heath care.
Rudy Perpich was the Governor of Minnesota who proposed increasing the taconite tax to provide better government for people, which included adequate health care.
Floyd B. Olson and Elmer A. Benson were the socialist governors of Minnesota who were among the first to advocate for a comprehensive, all-inclusive public health care system.
The Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act provides the only practical and pragmatic health care alternative to private, for-profit health care.
The time has come for Minnesotans to boldly move forward in the area of health care reform based upon progressive Minnesota traditions.
Minnesotans have soundly rejected the for profit health care system, and at every opportunity Minnesotans have articulated their desire for what is embodied in the Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act.
The time has come for the democratic will of the majority of Minnesotans to prevail when it comes to health care reform.
Consideration for similar national health care reform should be brought forward as part of the country-wide discussions now underway.
We propose that a national health care act be brought forward based upon the Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act.
We further propose that this national health care act become known as the Franklin D. Roosevelt – Frances Perkins National Health Care Act; so named in the memory of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, who courageously stood up to the American Medical Association and the wealthy few in defense of a public health care program serving the health care needs of the American people to be included as part of the “New Deal.”
Any country spending trillions of dollars on wars and death and destruction can meet the health care needs of its citizens--- it really is as simple as this.
Initiated and Proposed by:
Minnesotans for Peace and Social Justice
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
Red Lake Casino, Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ Union Organizing Committee
Grand Casino Workers for Justice
Mystic Lake Casino Workers Organizing Committee
100 Concerned Members of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party
Thief River Falls Political Action Committee
Iron Range Club of the Communist Party USA
Saturday, January 3, 2009
With systemic built-in corruption and contractors feeding like bloated swine Obama's plan to jump-start the economy is doomed to fail
Congressman Jim Oberstar has been up to his politicking as usual. He is gloating over Obama's plan to jump-start the economy with massive spending on infrastructure. Roads and bridge work. Lots of it.
Those living in the 8th Congressional District know Oberstar all so well.
Oberstar loves government spending on roads and highways but he hates hearing his constituents complain that so much money gets spent and so little gets done.
Take Highway 53 north from Duluth-Superior to the Range communities to International Falls.
Enough has been spent on this highway to build an 8 lane cross-continental highway. This highway has been "under construction" since Oberstar has been in office. So long I hate to remember.
Every election year Oberstar promises to get Highway 53 completed from the Range cities to International Falls.
This is probably the shortest highway project with the longest time to completion in the United States and the most expensive. Sarah Palen's Alaskan "Bridge to Nowhere" pales in comparison as far as the corruption involved.
Obama is going to leave Oberstar in charge and at the helm of the House Committee on Transportation?
God help the American tax-payer.
Oberstar and his contractor friends are probably scouting out tax-free havens all over the world in anticipation of their "Obama bonuses."
Those living in the 8th Congressional District know Oberstar all so well.
Oberstar loves government spending on roads and highways but he hates hearing his constituents complain that so much money gets spent and so little gets done.
Take Highway 53 north from Duluth-Superior to the Range communities to International Falls.
Enough has been spent on this highway to build an 8 lane cross-continental highway. This highway has been "under construction" since Oberstar has been in office. So long I hate to remember.
Every election year Oberstar promises to get Highway 53 completed from the Range cities to International Falls.
This is probably the shortest highway project with the longest time to completion in the United States and the most expensive. Sarah Palen's Alaskan "Bridge to Nowhere" pales in comparison as far as the corruption involved.
Obama is going to leave Oberstar in charge and at the helm of the House Committee on Transportation?
God help the American tax-payer.
Oberstar and his contractor friends are probably scouting out tax-free havens all over the world in anticipation of their "Obama bonuses."
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