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Friday, March 12
An Iowa Veteran Still Fighting to End Iraq War
by
Ed Flaherty
on Fri 12 Mar 2010 05:00 AM CST
An
Iowa Veteran Still Fighting to End Iraq War
 Iraq War, Seven Years
by Ed Flaherty
Seven years ago on March 19, 2003, the US launched its war in Iraq. Now, seven years later as we launch into the eighth year of the war, the US has 96,000 troops in Iraq and is spending about $8 billion per month on the war effort there. This ignominious anniversary provides an opportunity for us citizens to reflect on the past, present, and future of "our" war. (It has been fought in our name. We own it).
We must not forget that this war was based on lies – WMDs that did not exist, Saddam Hussein’s ties to al-Qaeda which did not exist, intelligence from Chalabi and Curveball. We must not forget the noble sacrifice of 4,384 members of the US Armed Services who have died. We cannot ignore our continuing obligation to tens of thousands of wounded US veterans, and of hundreds of thousands of them returning with PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
We cannot ignore the fact that over 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the beginning of the war. The incidence of PTSD in the youth of Iraq is immense, but swept under the rug. Two million Iraqis have become refugees in other countries, and another two million are displaced within Iraq. The US has spent (borrowing from China, et al), $750 billion on this war, and that does not include interest on the war debt nor the decades of health expenditures needed for our veterans.
So, as we observe the beginning of the eighth year, have no illusions as to whether this has been a "good" war. More immediately, it is necessary to press for an end to this war. President Obama promised on Feb 27, 2009 that all US "combat" troops would be home by August 31st, 2010. And, the agreement signed by Iraq and the US in the latter days of the Bush administration mandates that all US troops be out of Iraq by December 31st, 2011, with no US military bases to be kept in Iraq. That agreement also specifies that Iraq can hold a referendum on an earlier date for total US withdrawal, with the US agreeing to obey its result. General Odierno has suggested that we may have tens of thousands of troops in Iraq after December 31st, 2011.
We cannot undo the tragedy of the Iraq war. We can and must do the following:
1) keep all pressure possible on President Obama and the US Government to not backslide on the commitments to exit Iraq;
2) recognize that the history of the Iraq war is being rewritten, but only if we allow it;
3) let’s do something productive with the savings from ending of the Iraq war -like, at least let’s not invest it in another war.
**ACTION ALERT**
Make your voice heard on March 19th, and throughout the year. Join a vigil in Iowa City at the Pentacrest on the 19th from 7AM to 8 AM or from 7PM to 8 PM. In Cedar Rapids, meet at First Ave & First St NE from 4:30 to 5:30, also on the 19th.
Ed
Flaherty
is a member of Veterans for Peace and Johnson County Democrats
Central Committee and other suspect groups. Ed is a retired banker.
Thursday, March 11
Cedar Valley Voices: March is Women's History Month
by
Dave Bradley
on Thu 11 Mar 2010 05:00 AM CST
Cedar Valley Voices: March is Women's History Month
 by Clara
Oleson
The Cedar
Valley Voices project is a citizen response to state Representative
Jeff Kaufmann’s column in the West Branch Times during the
Iowa legislative session.
During lunch at Croissant du Jour, in Cedar Rapids, last week six Medicare-eligible women at the next table turned their conversation to Sarah Palin. One had recently read her book and was trying to sell Sarah to the others. “They made her say the things she did. She is really just like us. A real common woman.” Perhaps remembering the $100,000 wardrobe investment none seemed to be buying it. My quiche was compelling, but the next salvo, in a tone of heartfelt ignorance, was stunning.
“I think we should get rid of them all. Just start over. Get rid of them all. Then go back to the Constitution. The original Constitution. Just start over and stick with the original Constitution.”
I could feel Susan B. Anthony turning over in her grave. She had given 75-100 speeches a year for over 45 years about women suffrage and died in 1906, at 86, without a hint of the likelihood of women getting the vote, which did not come until 1920. She struggled constantly in a representative democracy, which scorned and mocked her.
March is Women’s History Month and March 8th, International Women’s Day. Pick up a book or visit a website about the history of our sex; a history not seriously pursued until 1978 and the second wave of feminism. Instill in your children the desire to write the story of Susan B. Anthony, long lacking a decent and definitive biography, or the thousand of other common women who struggled and died for our freedom.
The freedom to eat lunch with our friends and be ill informed.
Also, call your state Representative and Senator and ask them what ideas they have for improving the lives of Iowa women. Ask them if they believe in the wage gap, or why is it that the Iowa poor are predominately women and children. Ask them about the history of comparable worth legislation in Iowa, or paid sick leave as a legislative right, or, well you get the message.
As American women, we are incredibly privileged as compared to women in the rest of the world, but we have, at least, an obligation to learn how that came about. It was despite the original Constitution, not because of it.
Wednesday, March 10
Howard Dean: I'm Going To Fight For A Public Option Until We Get One
by
Trish Nelson
on Wed 10 Mar 2010 11:03 AM CST
The Bat Is Back - Howard Dean Pledges To Fight For A Public Option Until We Get One
 I'm going to fight for a public option until we get one. It really is that simple.
The American people want the choice of a public option. I'm going to stand up for what the majority of the American people want again and again and again and I'm going to keep doing it until we win.
Now is not the time to give up and accept less. With 40 Senators on the record in support of passing a public option by majority vote, we've proven that the majority of Senate Democrats are ready to get the job done. All it takes now is leadership. It only takes one senator to offer an amendment from the Senate floor to bring the inclusion of a public option to a vote this year.
So today, we're bringing back the bat.
Democrats in Washington think that if they pass healthcare reform by the end of March, they'll be done no matter what's in the bill. But they're wrong. If the bill doesn't include a public option, we're not going away and we will not forget. Send Washington a message that they understand.
We will prevail in this fight this year.
And if Democrats in Washington don't deliver, we will not stop because of their failure of leadership. We will not stop because Democrats in Washington say it's done. We will not wait 20 years -- 10 years -- we will not wait a single year -- because we will not stop until every American has the option to voluntarily buy into a program like Medicare.
Send Democrats in Washington a message: Get on board or get out of the way.
We will not stop until we win and it's up to us to make sure Democrats in Washington get the message.
Thank you for everything you do.
-Howard
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
Founder, Democracy for America
Taking on Corporate Power in our Food Supply: An Iowa Town Hall Meeting
by
Trish Nelson
on Wed 10 Mar 2010 05:00 AM CST
Come to An Iowa Town Hall Meeting on Food
 Town Hall MeetingThursday, March 11, 7:00pm
Ankeny,
Iowa
On Friday, March 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will hold an anti-trust hearing in Ankeny on corporate concentration and lack of competition in agriculture. While their panels seek "balance" they are not hearing from enough independent family farmers.
- Hear from farmers, leaders and experts in the national food democracy movement
- Special invited guests include top officials from the USDA and DOJ and Iowa's Congressional delegation, including Senators Harkin and Grassley
- Join us at this exciting meeting to demand that USDA and DOJ take immediate action to reduce corporate control of our food system and put people first
Seating is limited! RSVP
Food & Water Watch is a non-profit organization working with grassroots organizations around the world to create an economically and environmentally viable future. Through research, public and policymaker education, media, and lobbying, we advocate policies that guarantee safe, wholesome food produced in a humane and sustainable manner and public, rather than private, control of water resources including oceans, rivers, and groundwater. For more information, visit foodandwaterwatch.org.
Tuesday, March 9
Iowa Governor Chet Culver Imposes Halt on Health Insurance Rate Hikes Pending Independent Review
by
Trish Nelson
on Tue 09 Mar 2010 01:00 PM CST
Governor Culver Imposes Halt on Health Insurance Rate Hikes Pending Independent Review
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Governor Chet Culver « Lt. Governor Patty Judge
Governor Culver Imposes Halt on Health Insurance Rate Hikes Pending Independent Review
Des Moines, IA – Governor Chet Culver today called for Wellmark to justify the 18% health insurance rate increase to the 80,000 Iowans affected. In a letter sent today to Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss, the Governor directs her office to stay the recently-announced insurance premium increases awarded to Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield until a third-party, independent actuary can review the file and determine whether the Division’s processes used to award Wellmark the premium rate increases is justified.
“I share the concerns of many Iowans that the recent health insurance premium rate increases are a disturbing and unwelcomed surprise,” said Governor Chet Culver. “I am directing Insurance Commissioner Voss to take several actions that are intended to provide additional protections for the interests of Iowa health insurance consumers.
The letter outlines four directives for the Insurance Commissioner:
1) Hire a third-party certified actuary, independent of any financial relationship with Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield, to conduct a secondary review of Wellmark’s recently-approved request for health insurance premium rate increases that are now scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2010. Commissioner Voss is to take all necessary action to stay the recently-approved increases at least until such time as the third-party review has been completed and published for review by your Commission and by the public.
2) An independent, qualified third-party actuary to conduct a secondary review be utilized whenever any health insurance company that conducts business in the State of Iowa submits a health insurance premium rate increase request to your division.
3) Seek any other practical ways to inform and educate Iowans and our Office and members of the Iowa General Assembly about the rate review processes and the relationship between Iowa’s health care costs.
4) Provide to the Governor’s office an annual report, to be delivered no later than November 15 of each year. Please include in that report a review of current trends in health care costs, in general, and those in Iowa, in particular, with an emphasis on how the costs of delivering health care services relate to the amounts charged by health insurance companies to Iowa’s consumers.
“The Culver-Judge Administration we have been concerned about the interests of Iowa’s consumers and vigilant in protecting them. As a result, Iowans in the past three years have enjoyed the lowest automobile rates in the nation, and competitive homeowner and medical malpractice rates,” said Governor Chet Culver. “We can, and we will ensure that any rate increases on 80,000 are fair and completely justified.”
Copy of the letter follows:
March 8, 2010
Susan Voss
Commissioner
Iowa Insurance Division
330 Maple Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0065
Dear Commissioner Voss:
Given the recent issues about health insurance in Iowa and those reported across the country, it is critical that we increase our efforts to assist Iowans who are seeking access to affordable health insurance options.
You and I, and our respective staffs, have had the opportunity to communicate about these concerns and, consistent with those discussions, I am now directing you immediately to take several actions that are intended to provide additional protections for the interests of Iowa health insurance consumers.
First, I direct you to hire a third-party certified actuary, independent of any financial relationship with Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield (“Wellmark”), to conduct a secondary review of Wellmark’s recently-approved request for health insurance premium rate increases that are now scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2010 with respect to Wellmark. This review is to be taxed as an expense to Wellmark, and should not be borne by Iowa consumers. I further direct that you take all necessary action to stay the recently-approved increases at least until such time as the third-party review has been completed and published for review by your Commission and by the public. I direct that the independent reviewing actuary be provided full access to all data submitted by Wellmark in support of its premium rate increase request. Finally, as a part of this review process, I direct you to instruct the independent third-party actuary to verify the processes followed by your staff actuary in the recent rate increase approval decision to assure that the Division is conforming to best practices in its health insurance premium rate increase review processes.
Second, I direct that, going forward, the process I have outlined, above,—one involving the retention of an independent, qualified third-party actuary to conduct a secondary review—be utilized whenever any health insurance company that conducts business in the State of Iowa submits a health insurance premium rate increase request to your division. Such independent reviews shall be charged as an expense to the insurer-applicants, and shall not be assessed to Iowa consumers. I direct that no such health insurance premium increase requests be approved that are not supported by the findings of these additional independent actuarial reviews.
Third, it is apparent that many Iowa citizens are not fully satisfied with what they now understand about the Division’s health insurance premium rate approval processes and any underlying reasons that may—or, may not—justify health insurance premium rate increases. Therefore, in addition to the steps I have outlined, I direct you to seek any other practical ways to inform and educate Iowans and our Office and members of the Iowa General Assembly about the rate review processes and the relationship between Iowa’s health care costs and the insurance rates that Iowa’s consumers are required to pay. I should expect, at the very least, that existing practices with respect to the Division’s dissemination of information to the public be reviewed and that improvements be made with a goal of increasing public understanding of these health care cost and health insurance premium issues.
Fourth, I direct you to provide to the Governor’s office an annual report, to be delivered no later than November 15 of each year. Please include in that report a review of current trends in health care costs, in general, and those in Iowa, in particular, with an emphasis on how the costs of delivering health care services relate to the amounts charged by health insurance companies to Iowa’s consumers. The annual report should include information about current cost drivers of health care, such as chronic care costs and lifestyle-related costs and any other important elements. In order to provide a consumer awareness overview of costs that are related to health insurance premiums they are asked to pay, the report should include information from one or more medical cost inflation indices similar to the CPI. The document should also provide Iowans with easy access to a summary of financial information that is already submitted annually by health insurance companies to the Division by March 1 of each year—such as the overhead costs claimed by insurance companies and the compensation and bonuses paid to their executives.
Finding effective ways to assure that Iowans have access to quality, affordable health care remains one of our great challenges. I thank you in advance for your attention to these directives that are intended to assist Iowa’s consumers in meeting this challenge head-on.
Sincerely,
Chester J. Culver
Governor of Iowa
###
Erin Seidler, Communications Director
Governor's Office
1007 E. Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
Direct: 515/281-4294
Cell: 515/537-4465
E-mail: erin.seidler@iowa.gov
Website: www.governor.iowa.gov
One Iowa,
One Unlimited Future
Health Care Reform Update: Covering the Uninsured in Iowa (and Illinois) is a Moral Issue
by
Alta Price
on Tue 09 Mar 2010 05:00 AM CST
Health
Care Reform Update: Covering the Uninsured in Iowa (and Illinois) is a Moral Issue
 by Alta Price, M.D.
Spring brings Cover the Uninsured Week, March 14 – 20, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I wrote about it last year, and you can read my post with more details here.
Check out the state-specific information for Iowa here. About 92 percent of Iowans can get health care when they need it, although if you scroll down the page for details you’ll see this is based on data collected in 2005-2006. With the poor economy, I assume more than 8 percent of Iowans today can not get health care when they need it. (The number of Illinois residents that can get health care when they need it is about 88 percent.)
For those of us on the left, health care is a right, and making sure everyone in the richest country in the world has access to health care is a moral issue. Since Americans share values of fairness, equity, and compassion for the less fortunate, our leaders should be making a stronger argument from a moral framework. I’ll quote this David Ignatius column from the Washington Post How Obama can shift the health-care debate:
Here’s what I want Obama to say: A just society assures its citizens’ basic needs. It protects their “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” irrespective of the circumstances they were born into. Citizenship in a great country should not be a DNA lottery, or a case of survival of the richest. A nation has a moral obligation to care for its people, and if it fails to do so, it is a lesser country.
Both the Senate and House health care reform bills that have passed Congress extend coverage to millions who are currently uninsured – a major step towards a more just society.
If you look at polls, like this Pew Research Center poll from January, you will see that only 26% of self-identified Republicans, versus 75% of Democrats and 41% of Independents, think providing health insurance to the uninsured is a “top priority.” Of course there is much more to the bill that Republicans and Independents will like, but they really don’t care about the 30 million people who will finally get health insurance if this bill passes.
Tell your Republican friends that health care security is a major benefit of the health care reform bills for those currently insured. Just because you have insurance today does not mean you will have it tomorrow.
Without reform more employers will drop coverage.
Without reform if you lose your job because of a serious illness, you may not be able to afford to keep your insurance even for the limited period of time you are entitled to continue participating in your employer’s plan under COBRA.
Without reform people who get sick, or have a seriously ill family member, will continue to be dropped by their insurer.
Without reform people with pre-existing conditions will not be able to get health insurance if they want to start a small business or work for an employer who doesn’t provide insurance. Most of the people who go bankrupt because of health care expenses actually have health insurance.
Without reform, people with health insurance will continue to face financial ruin when they use up the annual or lifetime limits of their policy, or discover their insurance is junk insurance when they try to get the care they need. (See also this excellent editorial from the New York Times – If Reform Fails).
So even if your Republican friends don’t care about the 22,000 – 45,000 Americans who die every year due to lack of insurance, this bill may save their life some day should they have the misfortune of becoming ill or losing their job when they already have a pre-existing condition. (Note: The number of deaths varies depending upon the study/methodology.)
For those who do care, the Health Care Reform Issue Forum of Progressive Action for the Common Good, together with the Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care, will be having a “die-in” on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at noon. We are having the event in Rock Island, Illinois (we are a bi-state progressive community) at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 4501 7th Ave.
We will be using some of our Handprints for Health Care panels to depict the number of people who die every day from lack of insurance. Some participants will further dramatize the plight of the uninsured by “dying” – crumpling to the ground. The “die-in” will be videotaped and put up at YouTube. (If you want to come and be in the video, arrive at 11:30 am, dressed in black, for the rehearsal!)
Next week I’ll bring the link to the YouTube video along!
Alta
Price is a physician practicing Pathology in Davenport, Iowa. One of
the original Deaniacs, she stays involved with Democracy for America,
Iowa, and the Quad Cities. She advocates for quality, affordable health
care for all, primarily as a volunteer with Progressive Action for the
Common Good (Health Care Reform Issue Forum). Watch for Dr. Price's Health Care Reform Update every Tuesday here on Blog for Iowa. E-Mail Alta Price
Monday, March 8
Iowa Progressive Radio: This Week On The Fallon Forum
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 08 Mar 2010 06:49 PM CST
Iowa
Progressive Radio: This Week On The Fallon Forum
 Tuesday, we analyze why Iowa shares the honor with Mississippi as one of only two states that has never elected a woman to Congress, the U.S. Senate or the Governor’s office.
Wednesday, we’ll talk with Barb Kalbach about her intention to challenge Patty Judge for the job of Lt. Governor. Yes, you read that right. Barb wants to bypass Chet Culver and go after the job of the person who many feel is really in charge at the Iowa Statehouse.
Thursday, wrapping up a week of radio programming virtually devoid of controversy, State Senator Jack Hatch (D-Des Moines) joins us to discuss health-care reform. As we prepare for that conversation, let’s ask ourselves one question: If the Canadian health-care system is so horrible (as many right-wing pundits proclaim), how did a sickly population of only 33 million people manage to win more gold medals this year than any country has ever won at a Winter Olympics?
So, you could watch TV, but we think you’ll have a lot more fun tuning-in to The Fallon Forum, Monday–Thursday from 7:00–8:00 pm on 98.3 WOW-FM or stream us online. Call (515) 312-0983 or (866) 908-TALK to join the conversation. Podcast the show here.
And check out The Bradshaw Show, Monday–Friday from 1:00–4:00 pm, also on 98.3 WOW-FM.
Immigrant Rights and American Values: Postville, Iowa Revisited
by
Tracy Kurowski
on Mon 08 Mar 2010 05:00 AM CST
Immigrant Rights and American Values: Postville, Iowa Revisited
by Tracy Kurowski
[A
week of discussion on the Postville raids begins tonight. See schedule
below.]
Are we as a Nation willing to accept mass raids, arrests and
the detainment of human beings in a cattle warehouse, as an American
value?
It’s been almost two years since Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) committed what was then the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history at the Agriprocessors Plant in Postville, Iowa. Nine hundred officers from ICE swept into the Jewish kosher slaughterhouse arresting 390 men, women and children who worked at the plant, 306 of whom were ultimately held for prosecution.
The raid was so large that by the next day, one third of the town had disappeared, and in the days that followed, general panic ensued. American born children of the immigrants, as well as the undocumented, failed to show up to school for fear of arrest. Hundreds of men, women and children sought sanctuary in St. Bridget’s Catholic Church. Still others simply fled town.
Mothers who were released by ICE so they could care for their unattended children, were forced to wear ankle bracelets and remain under house arrest. Those women were prevented from working and could no longer provide for their families. They depended on the mercy of St. Bridget’s and others who provided charity so they and their children could eat. Stores were closed down across the small town, and school administrators and city officials began to wonder how they were going to pay their bills, now that the number of students and residents had declined overnight.
After the raid, ICE bused the arrested en masse to be detained and to appear before a federal magistrate at an ad hoc facility set up at the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo. County officials later claimed they were misled about the nature of the use of their fairgrounds, where later that year cattle would be brought for the perennial rural American county fair tradition. County officials were led to believe that Homeland Security was going to use the fairgrounds for training exercises.
What instead happened was as shocking then as it remains today. Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, who was one of the federal interpreters hired to work at the subsequent arraignments held at the Waterloo National Cattle Congress, will return to Eastern Iowa this week to discuss his experiences. Before his very eyes, Dr. Camayd-Freixas saw mostly indigenous Guatemalans brought in groups of ten to be tried for not only the civil offense of illegal immigration, but for the much more serious criminal charge of identity theft:
"Driven single-file in groups of ten, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles, chains dragging as they shuffled through, the slaughterhouse workers were brought in for arraignment, sat and listened through headsets to the interpreted initial appearance, before being marched out again to be bused to different county jails, only to make room for the next row of ten." Link
Thanks to the organizing efforts of the six congregations of Catholic Sisters and colleges and universities in our region, Dr. Camayd-Freixas will lead a discussion titled, Immigrant Rights and American Values.
The presentations are all free, open to the public and pre-registration is not required:
Monday, March 8th: The Canticle, 841 13th Ave. North, Clinton, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 9: University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls: 2:00 p.m. in the UNI Center for Multicultural Education (109 Maucker Union) and 7:00 p.m. at St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center (1019 W. 23rd St.).
Wednesday, March 10: Noon at Iowa City Foreign Affairs Council and at 7:00 pm. at Mount Mercy College at Basile Hall, Flaherty Community Room, 1330 Elmhurst Drive, Cedar Rapids.
Thursday, March 11: Clarke College, Jansen Music Hall in the Atrium, 1550 Clarke Drive, Dubuque, 7 p.m.
When he spoke out about the miscarriage of justice, Dr. Camayd-Freixas did something rare among professional interpreters. But what he witnessed so moved him that within months he had written a profound essay. He also wrote an OPED for the New York Times, directing national attention to the events in Eastern Iowa that the press had already since forgotten. He has since written more essays and appeared before Congress to answer questions raised about the raid.
Regardless of how one feels about immigration, what occurred in the days after the ICE raid in Postville and the damage done to the entire community since – to both the American born and the immigrants – is a shameful episode in how not to deal with American immigration.
It’s hard to imagine with the degraded nature of civic discourse today, that our country is in any mood to deal with immigration. Health care hangs in the balance, job losses continue to drive more and more families to the brink of poverty, and the two wars we fight on the other side of the planet continue to drain resources, cause untold deaths and return soldiers home with physical and emotional scars.
Yet this is a discussion that as a country of immigrants, in a world where gym shoes and television sets have more rights to cross borders than human beings, we have no choice but to bring into the light of day. Ignoring the issue won’t make it go away, but it may encourage other heartless bureaucrats to repeat the horrors of May 12, 2008.
Are we as a nation willing to accept mass raids and arrests, and detainment of human beings in a cattle warehouse, as an American value?
Tracy
Kurowski has been active in the labor movement
for ten years, first as a member of AFSCME 3506, when she taught adult
education classes at the City Colleges of Chicago. She moved to the
Quad Cities in 2007 where she worked as political coordinator with the
Quad City Federation of Labor, and as a caseworker for Congressman
Bruce Braley from 2007 - 2009.
Tracy Kurowski writes a labor update every
Monday on Blog for Iowa
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