Call to Action: Emergency Relief for State Medicaid
Write Your U.S. Senators
People living with HIV/AIDS face many challenges.
Paying for their medical care shouldn't be one of them.
Because
of recent cuts to state Medicaid funds, many people may lack the
assistance they need to stay healthy. Take action today - copy
the message below to send to your U.S. Senators.
Senators
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) have sponsored S.2671,
which would provide $4.8 billion over 15 months in fiscal relief for
Medicaid, as well as reimbursing states for $1.2 billion in costs they
will incur in administering parts of the new Medicare prescription drug
law. The bipartisan bill temporarily increases each state's federal
Medicaid assistance percentage rate by 1.26 percent for 15 months from
July 1, 2004, through Sept. 30, 2005.
This
increase in funding is essential. Medicaid continues to be a lifeline
for thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS. The program is the
largest payer of AIDS care and has provided access to lifesaving
medical treatments that have revolutionized the disease, with 60 to 80
percent reductions in deaths and HIV-associated complications.
Please email your U.S. Senators today and ask them to sign on as co-sponsors of this vital measure.
Click here to email Senator Tom Harkin.
Click here to email Senator Chuck "I bow to the special interests" Grassley.
Here's a letter you can copy and send to Harkin and Grassley.
Subject: Support State Medicaid Funding!
Dear Senator,
As a
resident of Iowa, a constituent of yours, and a voter, I am asking you
to help people living with HIV/AIDS by signing on as a co-sponsor of S.
2671.
Co-authored
by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), S.2671
would provide $4.8 billion over 15 months in fiscal relief for
Medicaid, as well as reimbursing states for $1.2 billion in costs they
will incur in administering parts of the new Medicare prescription drug
law. The bill temporarily increases each state's federal Medicaid
assistance percentage rate by 1.26 percent for 15 months from July 1,
2004, through Sept. 30, 2005.
This
increase in funding is essential. Medicaid continues to be a lifeline
for thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS. The program is the
largest payer of AIDS care and has provided access to lifesaving
medical treatments that have revolutionized the disease, with 60 to 80
percent reductions in deaths and HIV-associated complications.
Because
of state budget cuts, Medicaid programs across the country are
struggling to continue providing comprehensive health services to
eligible beneficiaries. Faced with dwindling resources, states are
making difficult choices, from limiting eligibility to capping
prescription drug benefits.
An
infusion of federal dollars into these programs would greatly assist
states' efforts to continue offering medically necessary services to
low-income seniors, pregnant women, children and persons with
disabilities who depend upon Medicaid for their health care.
I urge you to co-sponsor S. 2671 and provide state Medicaid programs with the funding needed to keep people healthy!
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Sunday, August 29
Call to Action: Emergency Relief for State Medicaid
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 29 Aug 2004 10:31 AM CDT
Wednesday, August 18
Queerer Alert
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 18 Aug 2004 10:02 AM CDT
 Queerer Alert by Cam Lindquist, 365gay.com A dash of humor with some good sharp points thrown in ...I am one to err on the side of caution nine out of ten times, but these constant terror alerts have to make you wonder if they are just blowing smoke in our faces to keep us wondering. So between this terror issue and the attack on the gay community through legislation I think it is time for us, the GLBTI & Friends community, to fight back! And of course, I have a plan. Just for a refresher, here are the government's five levels of terror alerts: * Low (Green) - low risks of terrorist attacks * Guarded (Blue) - general risk of terrorist attacks * Elevated (Yellow) - significant risks of terrorist attacks * High (Orange) - high risks of terrorist attacks * Severe (Red) - severe risk of terrorist attacks I think that the gay community, in response to attacks on us, should issue the Queerer Alerts. Alerts which will let the conservative community know what they should expect to see in their streets and on their TV's should they continue to viciously attack GLBTI American Citizens. * Low (Metallic Emerald) - low risks of queer uproar * Guarded (Slate) - general risk of queer uproar * Elevated (Sunflower) - significant risks of queer uproar * High (Rust) - high risks of queer uproar * Severe (Magenta) - severe risk of queer uproar * Extreme (Fuchsia) - extreme risk of queer uproar You may have noticed two things about our list in comparison to theirs. First, I made our list as vague as theirs. After all why should they have an advantage over the rest of us when dealing with alerts? If GW can arbitrarily increase the level because no real definition exists, so can we! ...For our clarification here within the community, here are some examples of what I see as situations that might call for levels of Queerer Alert. I am going to leave you with this list as my final thought. Because if you think my list is ridiculous, just consider where I got the idea from - Good ole GW. * Low (Metallic Emerald) - Massachusetts, home of the Democratic National Convention and currently the exclusive state (actually they are a commonwealth) that provides marital rights to gay couples, would be under low risk of queer uproar. They should expect an influx of gay people to pour revenue into their state through the tourist industry and local GLBTI people spending money at home instead of abroad. Read the whole essay here. Tuesday, August 17
Log Cabin, Moderate Republicans Gird For GOP Convention Battle
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 17 Aug 2004 04:06 PM CDT
Log Cabin, Moderate Republicans Gird For GOP Convention Battle
365Gay.com (Washington ) A coalition of moderate GOP groups including Log Cabin Republicans are preparing for a battle on the floor of the convention to halt a complete takeover of the party by the far right. Other members of the coalition include Republicans for Choice, and the Republican Youth Majority. The three groups Monday called on the Republican Party to adopt a "Party Unity" plank in the GOP platform. ...The coalition said it will take the fight to the platform committee and, if necessary, is not ruling out taking it to the convention floor. (more) Anarchy at the RNC AlterNet.org Protestors at the Republican National Convention may be trading black masks for tech-savvy tools ...This leaderlessness – "uncoordinated actions toward a coordinated goal," as Siva Vaidhyanathan puts it in his book The Anarchist in the Library – is what links these new-school approaches: Flash radiojacking: Jeremijenko and the Bureau of Inverse Technology (BIT), will use a special transmitter to break into radio frequencies reserved for corporate stations, giving bursts of information so brief that the FCC can't lock onto their transmission location. During the World Economic Forum demonstrations, BIT called attention to the Bush administration's bogus claims about the safety of the air after 9/11. Each time New York's airborne pollution surpassed the "safe" level, a warning bleep interrupted broadcasts of the local NPR affiliate. (more) Friday, August 13
Kerry/Edwards 'No Objection' To Missouri Gay Marriage Ban
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 13 Aug 2004 04:38 PM CDT
Kerry/Edwards 'No Objection' To Missouri Gay Marriage Ban
365gay.com (Cape Girardeau, Missouri) Senator John Edwards, campaigning [last week] in Cape Girardeau, said he and running mate John Kerry have "no objection" to [last] week's vote in Missouri to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage. ...Edwards comments are likely to anger gay rights advocates. (more) And yesterday's big news . . . New Jersey Gov. Being Blackmailed By Gay Lover Sources Say 365gay.com (Trenton, New Jersey) New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey's stunning announcement Thursday that he is gay and had an affair was prompted by the threat of blackmail, two high-ranking officials in the governor's administration say. ...One source, a senior McGreevey political adviser, said Cipel threatened McGreevey several weeks ago that unless he was paid "millions of dollars," Cipel would file a lawsuit against the governor charging him with sexual harassment. (more) California Supreme Court Rules 4,000 Gay Marriages Illegal 365gay.com (San Francisco, California) The California Supreme Court Thursday ruled that San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom exceeded his authority when he allowed same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses earlier this year. The court, a 5 - 2 decision, declared that the marriages of gays and lesbians that resulted, more than 4,000, are void. In their ruling the justices made it clear that the issue in the case was confined to Newsom's actions and the direct results from them but did not involve the constitutional issue of gay marriage. That will decided by the high court at a later date, once the various suits wind their way through the lower courts. (more) Wednesday, August 11
Iowa Voters Like Gay Marriage Ban But Reject Amending Constitution
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 11 Aug 2004 05:32 AM CDT
Iowa Voters Like Gay Marriage Ban But Reject Amending Constitution
365gay.com (Des Moines, Iowa) A new poll suggests that most Iowans want to keep the state's ban on gay marriage in place. That is if they can be bothered to care about the issue at all. The poll by the Des Moines Register finds that nearly two-thirds of Iowans want to keep the Defense of Marriage Act as it is. But less than half want the ban enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The paper's Iowa Poll finds that only 25 percent support lifting the state's ban on gay marriage - in comparison to 65 percent who want it to stay in place. Iowa is one of 39 states that outlaws gay marriage. (more) Well, good. Glad to hear that the people of Iowa are liberal-minded enough to prefer their discrimination at the state level only. So, tell me again why incumbent Ken Veenstra lost his own Republican primary? Friday, August 6
Gay Wedding Announcement Reaches Small-town Iowa
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 06 Aug 2004 12:41 PM CDT
Gay Wedding Announcement Reaches Small-town Iowa
This item was posted in the comments section of Blog for Iowa earlier today by SousyHawk, a Democratic activist and Paul Johnson for Congress supporter over at the U of I: The Register ran [this] bit in Borsellino's column: Panora native Tobin Wirt got married this summer, and his hometown paper - the Guthrie County Vedette - carried the announcement, with a photo. Wirt lives in Massachusetts, and he married Robert King. Scott Gonzales is the owner and editor of the paper, and he said this was a first. He didn't have a problem with it because Wirt got the info in within 90 days of the wedding "and that's our policy." According to the announcement: "Wirt is the son of Keith and the late Betty Wirt of Panora and is a 1973 graduate of Panora-Linden High and a 1979 graduate of UNI. King is the son of Lawrence and the late Jean King of Duxbury, Mass., and a 1980 graduate of the University of Massachusetts. The pair has operated restaurants on Cape Cod for two decades and recently sold their latest venture and are enjoying some time off." ------------- SousyHawk went on to say: Mr. Wirt posts on our "Hawkeye Report" site as "Grant Wood". Stop by and wish him congratulations! Click here. Thanks, Sousy! We sure will! Thursday, August 5
Is Same Sex Marriage a Possibility for Iowa?
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 05 Aug 2004 09:49 PM CDT
Is Same Sex Marriage a Possibility for Iowa?
KIMT.com Mason City KIMT did an interview with DFIA Founding Member Darrell Lewis The state of marriage: it's a hot topic in just about any state. Darrell Lewis, advocacy coordinator for Parents, Friends & Family of Lesbians and Gays, tells KIMT NewsChannel Three, "It should be an individual state's decision and I think we're gonna see states all over the United States take different positions." Missouri is the most recent state to take a position. About seventy percent of voters there are in favor of banning same sex marriage in the state. Other states are set to vote on the issue in the next couple of months. Iowa isn't one of them. Darrell says, "Iowa already has a law that prevents same sex marriage and there's no movement afoot to change that law in Iowa. So it, for the most part it's not an issue in Iowa. Nobody's proposing that same sex marriage be permitted and most Iowa leaders think it's an error to mess with the constitution." (more) Vote in The KIMT Poll Do you think Iowa and Minnesota should have a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriages? Go here to vote. (scroll down) Wednesday, August 4
News & Notes from DFIA & Deanland
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 04 Aug 2004 07:07 PM CDT
News & Notes from DFIA & Deanland
Media Trounces Dean for Speaking Truth...Again! I don't know how you could have possibly missed Howard Dean being the top story everywhere for speaking the truth about the junta's media manipulation, but just in case, here's an article about it. Now, this article is from the International Herald Tribune. Seems like the international papers see the story as the junta manipulating the terror alerts, but the American media see the story as "What Howard Dean Said This Time!" Go figure. "There have been cracks in the Democratic restraint. The former presidential candidate Howard Dean said plainly that the administration might be manipulating terror warnings for political gain, and to steal the Democrats' thunder." What? Just because they waited 4 years to release the information? International Herald Tribune Dean To Appear With Jon Stewart OK, I'm taking this directly off the BFA site, which has improved in quality lately thanks to some fresh blood. Governor Dean Guest Hosts Topic A See Howard Dean as the guest host of "Topic [A] with Tina Brown" this weekend: Sunday, August 8th Airing at 7:00 p.m. CDT and 10:00 p.m. CDT on CNBC The upcoming election, the electronic voting system and the potential for lost votes and computer hacking are of great concern to many Americans. Joining Governor Dean to discuss the E-voting issue are Author/Digital Activist Bev Harris and California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. Harris will also demonstrate how easy it is to access and hack into a computer and the ominous implications of the E-voting system. Dean will also be joined by Jon Stewart from "The Daily Show" for a one-on-one discussion about the success of his Comedy Central program with the 25 and under set; the approach his show takes to the news, their spin on the media at large, and of course, Stewart's jabs at Dean on the campaign trail. In a roundtable discussion about the issue of race in this country will be Tavis Smiley, NPR radio host and syndicated radio host Tom Leykis discussing recent comments about the black family made by actor Bill Cosby at a Rainbow Coalition event. In addition, outspoken Actor/Comedian Margaret Cho will talk to Dean about her widely anticipated stand up tour, "State of Emergency," which launches next month. "I am delighted to be stepping in for Tina this week. This is an opportunity to speak about issues that can change this country," said Dean. "I am glad to have this opportunity to discuss topics that are of relevance to all Americans." DFIA Delegate Makes New England Paper Check out this story in Bay Windows: New England's Largest Gay & Lesbian Newspaper. It's called "GLBT Presence High at DNC," and there is absolutely the cutest photo of Christina Butts right at the top of the article! She's even got a Dean button on her...um, would you call that a hat? Antlers? Bunny ears? Bay Windows |
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