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Monday, February 28
Call to Action: U.S. Senate to Pass New Bankruptcy Law that Preys on the Poor and Gives to the Rich
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 28 Feb 2005 04:30 PM CST
 Call to Action: U.S. Senate to Pass New Bankruptcy Law that Preys on the Poor and Gives to the Rich
American Progress
This week the credit card
industry – which raked in $30 billion in
profits last year – storms the Congress in an attempt to squeeze a few more
dimes from Americans who are sick or out of work. Starting today the Senate will
consider a bill (S.
256) that would amend bankruptcy law to "make it harder for families struck
by financial misfortune to get back on track." (Nine out of 10 bankruptcies "are
triggered by the loss of a job,
high medical bills or divorce.) The bill is supported in Congress by a bipartisan
coalition on the credit industry dole. They think they can pass the bill
without the American people noticing. Prove them wrong. Write
your senators and tell them to reject the legislation in its current
form.
MORE UNNECESSARY
BUREAUCRACY: The bankruptcy bill is an attempt to prevent people from filing
Chapter 7 bankruptcy – which gives people a clean slate – and make them file
under Chapter 13, which requires continued payments to the credit card
companies. In order to qualify for Chapter 7, Americans would be forced to
complete a costly and
bureaucratic means test. This additional red tape is almost completely
unnecessary. According to a study commissioned by the nonpartisan American
Bankruptcy Institute, 96.4 percent of people who
file Chapter 7 can't afford to pay anything more. The real intent of the
legislation is not to prevent people from abusing the system but to make it so
burdensome to become eligible for Chapter 7 that people who would qualify can't
afford it.
LIKE TAKING MONEY FROM A
BABY: There is seemingly no limit to the depths to which the credit industry
will go to seek an extra buck. The bill they are trying to push through Congress
threatens the
welfare of children by endangering child support. If a custodial parent is
owed child support from someone declaring bankruptcy, the parent will be forced
to fight with other creditors (like auto lenders) for the debtor's limited
income – even after the bankruptcy is completed.
GIVING MILLIONAIRES A
PASS: The bill
on the Senate floor right now doesn't
stop some of the worst abuses of our bankruptcy system. In several states –
including the president's home in Texas – a multimillionaire can declare
bankruptcy, avoid his debts, and still keep his palatial estate. We've seen
it happen time and again: for example, "Marvin Warner, a former ambassador to
Switzerland and the owner of a failed Ohio Savings & Loan, who paid off only
a fraction of $300 million in bankruptcy claims while keeping his
multi-million-dollar horse ranch near Ocala, Florida." Another example: "Dallas
developer, Talmadge Wayne Tinsley, who filed under chapter 7 after incurring $60
million in debts. Tinsley objected to the Texas law that permitted him to keep
only one acre of his $3.5 million, 3.1-acre magnolia-lined estate. But that acre
included a five-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bath mansion with two studies, a pool
and a guest house." The 2001 bankruptcy bill at least stopped these abuses by
capping the so-called "homestead exemption" at $125,000. This bill has a
complicated exemption that will allow "wealthy debtors who are sophisticated
enough to plan ahead – and those are, after all, the people we are talking about
– can purchase a homestead to shelter their non-exempt assets and simply wait
[49 months] before filing their petition." (Share your thoughts about the
bankruptcy bill on ThinkProgress.org)
THE WRONG BILL AT THE
WRONG TIME: The bill, which would make it harder for people to recover from
financial problems, comes at exactly the wrong time. More Americans families are
struggling because median income is stagnant, health care
costs are skyrocketing, college
tuition has exploded and child
care costs are up. Once families are hit with big medical bills or family
members lose their jobs, bankruptcy is often their only option. (For more on
this issue, see this American
Progress report.)
Write your Senators here. The text of the letter is prepared for you.
Peace Rally in Burlington, Iowa, March 19th
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 28 Feb 2005 10:54 AM CST
 Peace Rally in Burlington, Iowa, March 19th
United for Peace and Justice
Saturday, March 19th 2005 2 P.M.
Burlington, IA USA
There
will be an opening prayer by a member of the clergy. He will then
announce that, all during this peace rally, the names, faces, age, and
home town of every American soldier who has already died for us in Iraq
will be projected on a large screen. One name and face every three
seconds. By then the total American military dead in Iraq will be over
1,500, so it will take one hour and fifteen minutes to show every one
of them. This will take place while our planned program on how and why
to end the Iraq war is presented. After the planned program ends, there
will be an open microphone for any to make brief comments comment. We
will also announce the date of our next monthly meeting and invite all
to attend.
Prior to the March 19th peace rally, a
petition to [George W.] Bush will be circulated. All signed petitions are
to be brought to the March 19th peace rally. A copy of this petition is
being emailed to every peace group listed on the United for Peace and
Justice website asking them to also circulate it and send the signed
petitions to [Geroge W.] Bush at the White House right after March 19,
2005. Here is what the petition says:
PETITION TO [George W.] BUSH.
We, the
undersigned, respectfully ask [George W.] Bush to publicly make the
following pledge. We believe there has already been far too much death
and destruction. It is time to bring this war to an end.
I,
George W. Bush, pledge to halt U.S. Military actions immediately and
move all U.S. troops to the borders of Iraq and bring them home as soon
as possible. We have no long-term interest in a military presence in
Iraq. All Iraqi businesses, including oil, will return to Iraqi
ownership. We promise to pay for war damages and will help in peaceful
ways to create an Iraq where freedom and justice prevail.
~~~~~~~~
In
addition to the petition which will help advertise this event from now
until March 19th, we will run a series of newspaper ads, one each day
for 30 days, the last two to be half page ads the day before and the
day of the March 19 peace rally. We will also run at least 50 thirty
second commercials, plus there will be numerous press release and news
stories and letters to the editor.
Location:
Burlington,
Iowa riverfront at the Port of Burlington Building right on the
Mississippi River 400 Front Street Burlington IA 52601
United for Peace and Justice
RSVP
Contact:
Dick Distelhorst
319-753-1148
 Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Sunday, February 27
LEAF BURNING CAN CHOKE YOU UP
by
Molly Regan
on Sun 27 Feb 2005 01:51 PM CST
 LEAF BURNING CAN CHOKE YOU UP
"Are the Stars out Tonight ?…I don't know if it's Cloudy or Bright….'Cause I only have Eyes for You"….And so the song goes.
But, it could be that the reason you cannot see is because of SMOKE CAUSED BY SOMEONE BURNING LEAVES. How often have you been
driving or riding somewhere and all of a sudden your vehicle floats
through a SMOKY HAZE that has drifted across the road? Your nostrils
are accosted by an all too familiar smell, and for some, this odiferous
happening TRIGGERS COUGHING, WHEEZING, AND POSSIBILY A SEVERE SINUS HEADACHE. For those with pre-existing respiratory problems, they may
become unable to breathe.
What may have been a nostalgic remembrance of childhood or a hayride
evening, has now become know as one of the major sources of
HARMFUL DIOXINS. These substances are highly toxic,
long-lasting organic compounds. DIOXINS can find their way
into the human food chain. Particulate matter can become part of
plants that animals eat and that humans in turn consume. We store
the dioxins in our fat cells after we eat dairy or meat or chicken
produce that has been tainted. Developmental problems or
reproductive disorders can result for some.
Smoke from burning leaves, grass, brush, and most plants contain high
concentrations of pollutants, such as CARBON MONOXIDE particulate
matter (soot), toxic chemicals, and reactive gasses that can contribute
to smog formation. The smoke can be an immediate health concern
for some people. POLLUTION LEVELS IN ADJACENT BURN AREAS CAN
EXCEED HUMAN HEALTH STANDARDS.
What's in Leaf Smoke?
CARBON MONOXIDE BINDS WITH THE HEMOGLOBIN IN THE BLOODSTREAM TO REDUCE
OXYGEN FLOW. Carbon monoxide can be dangerous for young children,
smokers, the elderly, and people with chronic heart or lung disease.
PARTICULATE MATTER refers to microscopic soot particles. Too small to
be seen individually with the unaided eye, dense concentrations are
visible as smoke. These particles are less than 2.5 microns in size --
roughly the thickness of a human red blood cell. THEY CAN BECOME
EMBEDDED IN LUNG TISSUE AND ARE KNOWN TO CONTRIBUTE TO PREMATURE DEATH
as well as affect persons with heart conditions and trigger asthmatic
reactions for some people.
The hazardous chemical BENZAPYRENE is known to cause cancer in
animals and is believed to be a factor in lung cancer caused by
smoking. IT IS PRESENT IN LEAF SMOKE.
PLEASE LEARN NOT TO BURN. COMPOSTING, MULCHING, AND BAGGING ARE CLEANER OPTIONS.
Much of this information comes directly from the IOWA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES web site: http://www.iowadnr.com
There is a 13-page booklet of information from the AMERICAN LUNG
ASSOCIATION found under "Leaf Burning Effects, Alternatives, and Bans"
at the IOWA DNR web site that you should print and distribute to those
in your family and school or neighborhood. There is much valuable
information here, so please share it. It has good advice for all
year round and for everyone with a lung. You can help. You
can do it. Make your community a better place to live and
breathe.
As always, CPR: CONSERVE/PARTICIPATE/RECYCLE
QC Library Patrons Favor Warning Signs About Patriot Act
by
Trish Nelson
on Sun 27 Feb 2005 07:49 AM CST
 QC Library Patrons Favor Warning Signs About Patriot Act
QC Times
By Tory Brecht
Bettendorf public library director Faye Clow faced what she called a
"terrible choice" recently when asked by the Quad-Cities chapter of the
Iowa Civil Liberties Union to put up warning signs near library
materials.
Specifically, the signs would warn about provisions of the USAPatriot
Act that would allow records of books and other materials borrowed by
patrons to be obtained by federal agents and forbidding librarians from
informing the borrowers if their records were being monitored.
"We have people lobbying on the national level against parts of the
Patriot Act," [Clow] said, referring to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.
"I think people should be aware," said Aaron Brinson, a 17-year-old
Pleasant Valley High School student. "They should know what they check
out can be looked at."
...Bettendorf's Dawn McKinney, 40, thinks it's important to raise
awareness. "People in general need to be made aware of how
much access the government has to their lives," she said. "It's a
little disturbing because I don't know who decides what is justifiable
cause to look at materials."
(click here to read the entire story)
Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Saturday, February 26
The Bush Budget: All Guns, No Butter
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 26 Feb 2005 12:00 PM CST
 The Bush Budget: All Guns, No Butter
MinutemanMedia
by Greg Tarpinian
[George W. ] Bush’s $2.57 trillion budget for 2006 increases military
spending by 4.8 percent – not including the war in Iraq – and cuts all
other federal government programs by 0.5 percent. The deepest cuts are
aimed at services for working Americans and the poor.
The primary purpose of this budget is to fund the war machine needed to
push foreign policy objectives in the Middle East and to guarantee
military dominance in the world. It represents a 41 percent increase in
military spending since 2001. For fiscal 2006, that spending will rise
to $419.3 billion, not including the $100 billion for Iraq and
Afghanistan, and billions more for the military, hidden in other agency
budgets.
U.S. military spending is now larger than the rest of the world’s
combined. The second largest is by China, at $51 billion, followed by
Russia at $50.8 billion, Japan at $41.4 billion and the United Kingdom
at $41.3. Iran and North Korea – the two countries that Bush most often
cites as military threats – spend about $5 billion each. The Bush
budgets no longer represent simple adjustments or new priorities in
spending, but a set of fundamental changes.
These include redirecting nearly all federal resources to the military,
channeling huge amounts of spending to the private sector, shifting the
tax burden away from the corporations and the wealthy and onto the
working class, and relying on deficit spending to finance the military
buildup without raising taxes.
Greg Tarpinian is the president and executive director, Labor Research
Association, a New York City-based non-profit research and advocacy
organization that provides research and educational services for trade
unions.
(Click here to read the entire story)
Friday, February 25
Getting The State Budget In Order
by
Chad Thompson
on Fri 25 Feb 2005 12:32 PM CST
 Getting The State Budget In Order
The Des Moines Register ran an article today detailing the Iowa House GOP budget outlay.
Iowa's cigarette tax won't be raised if House Republicans get their way.
House GOP leaders released a $4.8
billion state spending plan for the 2006 budget year that they said
covers the rising cost of Medicaid, the state-federal health care
program for the poor.
The plan, in addition to containing
an $82 million school aid increase, sets aside an extra $40 million for
targeted education programs.
The $40 million increase is about
$100 million less than Gov. Tom Vilsack wants for an array of education
initiatives: teacher pay, preschool and child care, school sharing
incentives, and state support for the community colleges and state
universities.
Conspicuously absent from the GOP
plan is the 80-cents-per-pack cigarette tax increase recommended by
Vilsack, a Democrat. The current tax is 36 cents a pack.
Setting a state budget that doesn't
require any tax increase "is good news for taxpayers," said Rep. Bill
Dix of Shell Rock, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. An
overall spending increase of 4 percent "ought to be enough."
...
Democratic legislative leaders heaped criticism on the Republican plan.
"It is based on deception and broken promises," said House Minority
Leader Pat Murphy of Dubuque. He accused the GOP of reneging on
promises to improve teacher quality and creating the illusion of a
balanced budget while tapping cash reserves.
During the last four years, the
Legislature has borrowed heavily from other funds in order to balance
the state's general operating budget. Rather than repay all the money,
the House GOP plan calls for writing off about $1 billion owed to a
tobacco endowment and other funds.
What's missing from all of this is what has been alluded to this week, notably in David Yepsen's column: the state is not building a firm financial footing on which to operate.
To be honest, this probably won't be settled one way or another until
the Legislative deadlock is somehow broken - or we start having honest
discussions about what the state's "priorities" are rather than having
Stuart Iverson decide for the entire state what our "priorities" are.
The truth here is that Medicaid assistance is being slashed at the
Federal level, and we're going to have to pick up the tab - and find
creative ways to do so other than draining every cash reserve we can
find and reducing educational funding, law enforcement funding, and
nearly everything else. Draining funding from a program that
promised a certain service (like draining the Senior Living Trust Fund
as Tom Vilsack's budget proposed) without 'killing' the program is about as dishonest as it gets in legislative terms.
John Drury was right the other day in this column: Iowans need to have a serious dialogue about what we expect out of our government, and how we're going to pay for it.
The insistance by the Legislative GOP leadership that we're somehow
"meeting Iowa's priorities" is a sham. Maybe if we repeat it
enough we might begin to believe it - or maybe not. Iowans
deserve more from our state government. In 2005, we're not
getting it.
Thursday, February 24
Iowa to Face Federal Budget Cuts
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 24 Feb 2005 11:00 AM CST
Iowa to Face Federal Budget Cuts
Iowa Fiscal Partnership
Analysis: Bush Budget Whacks Iowa Services
New report projects Iowa cuts of nearly $580 million in federal spending
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – A new report reveals sweeping cuts in services for Iowa in the budget proposed by [George W.] Bush.
A
Washington budget watchdog group, the Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities (CBPP), reports that Iowans would see cuts in federal grants
in aid of more than $577 million from 2006 through 2010, including $178
million in 2010 alone.
"The administration is hiding the effects of its budget proposals
as no administration has done in over 15 years," said David Osterberg,
executive director of the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project. "It's pretty
hard for Iowans and other Americans to battle back on cuts the
administration won't detail. Fortunately, this new report gives Iowans
a better idea of what they're facing – and information they can use to
talk to their representatives in Congress."
While
the proposed budget details the cuts only for 2006, the CBPP analysis
uses further information provided to congressional committees to make
estimates of future cuts in several areas.
This
is the first time since 1989 that an administration's budget has not
provided information about the proposed funding levels for individual
discretionary programs in years beyond the first year.
Nationally,
[Bush's] budget would cut $214 billion in domestic "discretionary"
spending in the five years. However, only the first $18 billion of
those proposed cuts – cuts that would occur in 2006 – are identified by
the administration.
"The
pain in the budget comes mostly after 2006, with the cuts growing
deeper with each passing year," said Sharon Parrott, CBPP director of
welfare reform and income and the report’s lead author.
Among the Iowa cuts:
-- $3.7
million in 2010 in the supplemental nutrition program for women,
infants and children (WIC), $5.1 million over the 2006-2010 period and
a projected loss in number of recipients of 5,600.
-- $38.1
million in 2010 in elementary and secondary education, including
education for the disadvantaged, impact aid, school improvement
funding, and special education, $108.7 million in total projected cuts
for 2006-2010.
-- $12.5 million in 2010 for vocational and adult education, $57.6 million in total projected cuts for 2006-2010.
-- $3.1 million in 2010 for low-income energy assistance, $4.1 million in total projected cuts for 2006-2010.
-- $9.1
million in 2010 for children and family services, including Head Start,
services for abused and neglected children, and other children's
programs, $26.2 million in total projected cuts for 2006-2010.
-- A loss of rental assistance vouchers for 3,800 families in 2010.
-- $23.2
million in 2010 in [Bush's] proposed "Strengthening America's
Communities" initiative, $100.7 million in total projected cuts for
2006-2010.
"These cuts will be a new burden on the people in Iowa who can least afford to bear them,"
said Charles Bruner, executive director of the Child & Family
Policy Center in Des Moines. "It is important for Iowans and all
Americans to understand that the proposed cuts in these services do not
provide deficit reduction. Instead, they will shift costs to state and
local governments, and will be used to help pay for tax cuts that are
primarily benefiting the wealthiest Americans."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The
new analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Large Cuts
to a Wide Range of Programs are Obscured in the Administration’s
Budget," is available at the Center’s website: www.cbpp.org.
The
Iowa Policy Project and the Child & Family Policy Center will make
federal budget information available in the coming months through their
joint initiative, the Iowa Fiscal Partnership, which is on the web at www.iowafiscal.org.
Wednesday, February 23
Garrison Keillor's 'Homegrown Democrat'
by
Chad Thompson
on Wed 23 Feb 2005 01:04 PM CST
 Garrison Keillor's 'Homegrown Democrat'
With all
of the various things in life that seem to eat up my attention span,
sometimes a few things that I intended to read or pay attention to fall
through the cracks. This book is one of them.
If you
are searching for the answer to the modern question "Why do I care,
anyway?", this book has your answers and a little reminder about just
who we are and where we come from.
Here's an excerpt:
This
is the difference between Democrats and Republicans in 2004, when it
comes right down to it. Republicans are all about Old Glory and school
prayer and the sanctity of marriage and the Fatherhood of
God but when it comes to actually needing help from them,
you shouldn’t get your hopes up. They might send an ambulance or
they might just send a Get Well card. In yellow-dog St. Paul, you
will be rescued by the St. Paul fire department and there is no
better emergency service anywhere in the civilized world. You may
be flat on the floor feeling as if an elephant stepped on your
chest, or your child may have swallowed a fistful of God
knows what medication, or your grandma may have slipped on
the ice and banged her noggin and she insists she’s okay but in
Swedish—whatever your dilemma, the St. Paul rescue squad will
deal with it in swift and professional fashion. Because we
Democrats feel that the people of St. Paul are entitled to the
best when it comes to what’s crucial. You can be a Christian,
atheist, Buddhist, nudist, and the rescue squad will be there for
you within four minutes. Republicans have perfectly nice
manners, normal hair, pleasant smiles, good deodorants, but when
it comes down to cases, you do not want them to be
monitoring your oxygen flow: they will set it to the minimum
required to sustain basic brain function, and then they will
recite a little prayer for you. They are a party that is all
about perceptions, the Christian party that conceals enormous
glittering malice and is led by brilliant bandits who are
dividing and conquering the sweet land I grew up in. I don’t
accept this. We Democrats are deciduous. We fade, lose heart, become
torpid, languish, then the sap rises again, and we are
passionate. This is a year for passion.
You can download a copy of the first four chapters here - and purchase the book from your local bookstore.
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