‘‘Our health care financing system does not work, and it’s understandable that state legislators see a need to step in,’’ said Gordon, a senior research consultant for the Iowa Policy Project and co-author of the report — Prescriptions and Placebos: Fixing Health Care in Iowa — for the non-partisan Iowa Fiscal Partnership. ‘‘They must be careful, however, to take a long-term view and not miss the underlying problem of spiraling health care costs.’’

    Previous efforts have encouraged employer-based coverage through tax credits, small-employer purchasing pools, mandates for large employers and other ideas, said Gordon, a historian who wrote ‘‘Dead on Arrival: The Politics of Health Care in Twentieth-Century America.’’

    On their own, these proposals represent a fragmented approach to the problem that would do little to expand coverage or increase affordability, and could actually make things worse, he said.

    ‘‘I really think that trying to patch up employer-based insurance is like moving furniture into a burning house. It guarantees double-digit inflation and rising uninsurance into the future,’’ Gordon said.

Rapid Response Needs Your Help Fighting Off GOP Attacks

By Ellen Ballas, Alan Bernard, and Trish Nelson

Ellen,
 
In Wed. Oct. 4th CR Gazette there was a LTE, the text which is set out below, regarding an article reporting on comments I made at a forum that working people should vote for Democrats.  This article is also set out below.  Any chance the Rapid Response Network can jump on this one, too?  The writer is a Democrat in name only, as he is a paid lobbyist for David Stanley's Iowans for Tax Relief. 
 
All:
Above and Below:  Talking points for this letter should take the high road:  Please concentrate your response on the author, Cloyd Robinson, who is a former state senator and a Democrat in Name Only.  Iowans for Tax Relief is based in Muscatine with no interest in supporting Democratic principles.  They recently endorsed Jim Nussle for governor.  

Thanks,
Ellen & Trish
 
email the Gazette:  editorial@gazettecommunications.com
 
 
The LTE from the Gazette:
 
Cast an informed vote for a qualified candidate
  A Sept. 15 Gazette article (‘‘Labor leader, Democratic candidates pro worker’’) that quoted the Hawkeye Labor Council’s executive director as saying union members should make sure they ‘‘vote the right way’’ has prompted this letter.
  I am a registered Democrat, former union officer, a retired union member, factory worker and a former Democratic state senator. I don’t need any union leader to tell me to ‘‘vote the right way.’’ I stay informed and am a knowledgeable voter. In our democracy the vote I cast is my vote. It does not belong to some union leader.
  I will vote for Rep. Jim Leach. How can I vote for his opponent, Dave Loebsack, when he was unable to get his name on the ballot on the first try? How did he fail? He did not complete the signature requirement instructions to become an official candidate. These instructions are clearly defined in the candidate information packet provided by the Iowa secretary of state.
  These instructions are similar to those he would give his college students, yet college professor Loebsack was the only on in Iowa who failed. If he failed to follow these instructions how will he be able to effectively represent us in the U.S. House of Representatives?
  For the record, no one asked me to write this letter.
  I’m doing it all on my own.
  Cloyd ‘‘Robby’’ Robinson Cedar Rapids
 
Text of original article: 
ELECTION 2006
 Labor leader: Democratic candidates pro-worker 
 By Jason Kristufek
 The Gazette
  CEDAR RAPIDS — Local labor union representatives were told last night that Iowa has a real chance of electing a ‘‘worker-friendly’’ Democratic governor and hold a majority in the state Senate and House of Representatives for the first time in 42 years.
  ‘‘I don’t think anybody in this room thinks Jim Nussle should be the next governor of the state of Iowa,’’ said Alan Bernard, the executive director of the Hawkeye Labor Council AFL-CIO based in Cedar Rapids. ‘‘We have an obligation to elect workerfriendly candidates.’’ The labor council and the University of Iowa Labor Center put on an informational forum to show how wages, health insurance and the economy would be better if pro-worker candidates hold office.
  The forum was held at the Cedar Rapids Public Library and attended by about 25 people.
  Bernard is encouraging labor unions to get their members to register to vote, turn out on Election Day and make sure they ‘‘vote the right way.’’ The Hawkeye Labor Council has endorsed only Democrat candidates in local, state and congressional races, Bernard said.
  Daniel Holub, the program coordinator and labor educator for the University of Iowa Labor Center, presented historical data on wages, production and the general business climate for working families. He is not endorsing any candidates.
  ‘‘The last five years has been devastating for many workers,’’ Holub said. ‘‘Good manufacturing jobs are being lost or going somewhere else and there is plenty of blame to go around.’’
 • Contact the writer: (319) 398-8273 or jason.kristufek@gazettecommunications.com