The Blue State

Bush to America: Screw the Poor!

President Bush announced Saturday that he will be vetoing a measure by Congress to expand federally funded Health Care for children. The measure, which is expected to pass the Senate and House next week, would expand Health Care for children in low-income households by $35 billion over the next five years, adding 4 million people to program; bringing the grand total up to approximately 10.6 million people. Bush referred to the Democrats pushing the bill as "irresponsible."

"Democrats in Congress have decided to pass a bill they know will bevetoed," Bush said of the measure that draws significant bipartisansupport, repeating in his weekly radio address an accusation he madeearlier in the week. "Members of Congress are risking health coveragefor poor children purely to make a political point."

Yes, giving poor children medical treatment. How "irresponsible" and partisan can you get? Congress is seriously putting these children in harms way by trying to expand their health coverage. Can't someone from the Democratic Party counter this ridiculous claim?

In the Democrat's response, also broadcast Saturday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendellturned the tables on the president, saying that if Bush doesn't signthe bill, 15 states will have no funding left for the program by theend of the month.

There we go! Bush must sign this bill or risk being branded as negligent in protecting American citizens. But then again, after looking at his track record in protecting poor American citizens, it becomes very clear where this "man" stands.

What's the point in protecting Americans from terrorism when children will suffer and die in the United States due to inadequate health care? How can a person talk about how we're fighting a war for to protect or children's future, and then threaten to sign a death warrant for some of those very same children? Hypocrisy doesn't begin to describe it.

If President Bush vetoes this Bill, the responsibility for those children's pain will rest solely at his doorstep. The deaths of those who could not see a doctor will lie on his conscience. His negligence borders on the criminal, and he says the Democrats are the ones being "irresponsible."

The White House Attacks Hillary **VIDEO ADDED**

This post is a follow up to a story in today's 'BlueRadar' regarding the White House's attack on Hillary Clinton:

In response to her campaign ad that was released yesterday, the White House attackedHillary Clinton's claim that Americans are not well-represented by thisadministration.  WH Depouty Press Secretary: "As to the merits of it,I think it's outrageous. This is a president who, first and foremost, has helpedmillions of seniors across the country have access to prescription drugs at amuch lower cost." ("Have access to?"  But at whatcost?)

More Specifically the line:

"As to the merits of it,I think it's outrageous. This is a president who, first and foremost, has helpedmillions of seniors across the country have access to prescription drugs at amuch lower cost."

The audacity of that statement made my skin crawl, so I figuredI would post a reminder about the republicans wonderful victory of Medicare PartD. Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes did a segment on Part D back on April 1, 2007, andit is more than worthy to get it back out there.

The unorthodox roll call onone of the most expensive bills ever placed before the House of Representativesbegan in the middle of the night, long after most people in Washington hadswitched off C-SPAN and gone to sleep.

The only witnesses were congressional staffers, hundreds of lobbyists, andU.S. representatives, like Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Walter Jones, R-N.C.

"The pharmaceutical lobbyists wrote the bill," says Jones."The bill was over 1,000 pages. And it got to the members of the House thatmorning, and we voted for it at about 3 a.m. in the morning," remembersJones.

Why did the vote finally take place at 3 a.m.?

"Well, I think a lot of the shenanigans that were going on that night,they didn't want on national television in primetime," according to Burton.

"I've been in politics for 22 years," says Jones, "and it wasthe ugliest night I have ever seen in 22 years."

The voting which is supposed to remain open for 15 minutes remained open foralmost 3 hours! Read the transcript HERE.

A brief 2 minute video which outlines the story can be viewed HERE.

Here is the complete '60 Minutes' segment 'Under The Influence'

And let's hope Romney isn't elected. Last night on Hannity & ColmesRomney talked about his idea of healthcare.

Well actually, the plan I put forward said no one gotfree insurance. Everybody could pay what they could afford. And so we had asliding scale and still do, based on your income. And the state will help paythe portion of your premium you can't afford for the poor.The good news is it costs us less to help people buy their own private insurancethan it was costing us giving out free care at hospitals. So I do talk aboutthat. And I'll be giving a speech to the Florida Medical Association describingto them our plan in some detail.But I insisted that everyone pays something. I didn't want to have anythingfree. Our legislature overrode that idea and so the people at the very low gotit free. I think that's a mistake. I think everyone should pay something.Read the complete transcript HERE

Great plan Mitt, the poor can pay something for healthcare and eat cardboardboxes.

Edwards rolls out anti-poverty plan

This morning, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards laid out his proposals to fight poverty, should he win the presidency.  The Des Moines Register outlined the proposals:

His campaign provided an outline of the plans, which include several ideas:

*Encourage savings by offering $500 tax credits to low-income andmoderate-income families who put money in accounts for retirement,college, home down payments or small businesses. The credits wouldeffectively double their savings up to $500 per year.

* Add a $500 “work bond” for poor families, which would match additional savings they set aside.

*Give tax exemptions to the first $250 in investment income, toencourage saving and to simplify tax filing for families with smallamounts of interest or investment income.

* Expand the child-care tax credit and allow stay-at-home parents to use it to offset their costs.

* Expand the earned-income tax credit to ease the burden on low-income people without children.

*Raise the top tax rate on long-term capital gains to 28 percent, whichEdwards says would force wealthier Americans to pay taxes at ratescloser to what middle-class families pay on their salaries.

*Repeal President Bush’s tax cuts on families making more than $200,000.Edwards has said he would use the proceeds to pay for a universalhealth-care plan.

We like to see substantive plans such as these, as opposed to relying solely on broad, indefinite campaign promises that in the end might not be kept.  In this case, we now know specifically what John Edwards will fight for if he becomes president.  It would be wise for other candidates to begin laying out their own detailed policy proposals.

First wave of minimum wage increases took effect

This week we saw the first direct impact that the Democratic Congress has had on working class pocketbooks.  In the first of three increases that take place throughout the next few years, the national minimum wage increased by 70 cents to $5.85 an hour.  When it eventually reaches $7.25 an hour, it will have a huge effect on many some American families:

A person working 40 hours per week at the current minimum wage of $5.15makes about $10,700 a year. A raise to $5.85 an hour would increasethat to $12,168 a year before taxes. An increase to $7.25 would boostthat to just over $15,000 a year.

The federal poverty level for singles is $10,210, couples is $13,690 and $17,170 for families of three.

The minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour for roughly a decade -- the longest period without an increase since 1938.

Keep in mind though, as Holly Fechner points out, that even with the wage increase the poor's purchasing power will remain low:

Over the past decade, the purchasing power of the minimum wage fellevery single day, even as costs continued to rise. The bill Congressjust passed merely restores the minimum wage to the same value it hadafter the last increase in 1997.

Of course, the wage hike will not include all workers.

29 states have a higher minimum wage than the federal government.

Expect 'anti-family' Obama smears to begin

If Barack Obama becomes the Democratic nominee, GOP campaign strategists will focus a lot of their attacks on an inner city case study called the Harlem Children's Zone, which Obama said serves as an example of how he plans to tackle urban poverty across the country. 

The Harlem Children's Zone is a non-profit organization that has been fighting poverty in New York City since 1970.  In a speech this week, Obama said their organization's model of fighting poverty has proved successful, and should be replicated in at least 20 American cities.

The Examiner outlined Obama's anti-poverty crusade:

The Harlem Children's Zone is a program that provides prenatal care,early childhood education, life skills classes and free medical care ata cost of $46 million annually. It also offers job counseling,technology training and crime prevention. Obama pledged to fund half ofthe plan, which he expected to cost in the billions, through federalmoney with the remainder coming from the business and philanthropiccommunities.

In addition to replicating the Harlem plan, Obamapledged to raise the minimum wage to a livable one, invest $1 billionover five years in transitional jobs programs and develop more than112,000 affordable housing units nationally.

Obama said on Wednesday that under his administration he would "retire the phrase 'working poor' in our time."

Now back to the strategy aspect.  If this Harlem program serves as the example for how Obama plans to combat poverty, then look for the Republican Party to investigate the non-profit organization more closely, and use its negatives to attack Obama.

It turns out that traditional news sites like ABC are already beating them to it:

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sexeducation for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is"the right thing to do."

Of course, Obama's quote was completely mis-characterized.  He was actually referring to age-appropriate education in general -- not that kindergarten students should be taught about intercourse.

The bigger picture is that the attacks on Obama's morality and views on family have now begun.  They will look for any minor flaw in either Obama's rhetoric or his proposals -- such as the Harlem Children's Zone -- and use them to paint him as an anti-family, Hollywood-friendly, threatening black politician whose candidacy poses a risk to your children.

If you think they can't get that low, look what they did to John Kerry, Max Cleland, Bill Clinton, Michael Dukakis and even John Edwards.  But unlike Kerry, let's hope Obama responds to these attacks immediately before it is too late.

The Victims of Katrina are Still Waiting

We don't see very much about the state of New Orleans on the news, but if yousearch the video sites, or New Orleans, you'll find plenty of information thatwill make you sick. DemandVitter and Landrieu lead on HR 1227 "Help Katrina Survivors Come BackHome"

This is an email from Color of Change.

Today, Congress has the opportunity to help thousands of New Orleansresidents come back home. The Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007 wouldre-open desperately needed public housing units and make sure there is no lossof affordable public housing in New Orleans.

The bill quickly passed the House of Representatives, but the two people whoshould be leading the charge in the Senate—Louisiana Senators Landrieu andVitter—are stalling, and without their support, the bill will go nowhere.Please join us in demanding that Senators Landrieu and Vitter stop draggingtheir feet, and lead on this important legislation, now.

Preserving Affordable Housing in New Orleans

Since Hurricane Katrina hit, public housing residents have been fighting toreturn home. Unfortunately, HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) isplanning to demolish most of the available public housing units—apartmentsthat were minimally damaged by the storm—and replace them with far fewer unitsof affordable public housing.¹

In response to residents' protests, Congresswoman Maxine Waters held hearingsin New Orleans, giving residents a chance to voice their concerns to Congress.Around the same time, Governor Blanco met with Congressman Barney Frank—headof the committee that oversees HUD—to discuss the need to re-open housing notdamaged by the storm.² The result of these meetings was H.R. 1227,the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007³.

H.R. 1227 honors the right to return of all New Orleans public housingresidents and takes steps to preserve affordable housing in New Orleans. Itrequires the re-opening of at least 3,000 public housing units and ensures thatthere is no net loss of units available and affordable to public housingresidents. The bill swiftly passed the House of Representatives, but it won'tpass the Senate unless Louisiana senators take the lead.

Why haven't Senators Landrieu and Vitter stepped up?

Race and class seem to explain Landrieu and Vitter's refusal to step up. Somepeople have expressed a desire to see a "richer" and"Whiter" post-Katrina New Orleans, and many of them have a great dealof political influence. From what we can tell, Senator Vitter is playing tothose interests by ignoring this legislation– but as a senator for allLouisiana residents, it's his responsibility to ensure that everyone whowants to come home can—not the just the wealthy, privileged, and White.Insiders tell us that Senator Landrieu is being cautious for the same reason:that she doesn't want to offend "moderate" supporters who have asimilar vision for New Orleans.

The Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act is the last great hope forNew Orleans public housing residents who want to come home. By urging theSenate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to take up H.R. 1227,Senators Landrieu and Vitter can make it a reality. But if the senators fromLouisiana don't lead on this issue, others simply won't follow.

It's time to do what's right for New Orleans public housing residents andpass this bill in the Senate. Join us in demanding that Senators Landrieu andVitter support H.R. 1227.

Thank You and Peace,

-- James, Van, Clarissa, Gabriel, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
   April 23rd, 2007

1)New Orleans: HUD Policies Limiting Housing for Poor, Truthout, 12-29-06

2) Blanco: HUDshould reopen N.O. public housing projects

3) Text of H.R. 1227-GulfCoast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007

Google Satellite and Darfur

Googlesatellite focuses on the atrocities in Darfur (The Independent)

Click image to enlarge

An insight into the violence and chaos in Darfur has been provided through anew project in which the public can use online satellite imagery to viewdestroyed villages and obtain information about refugee camps and otherhumanitarian efforts.

The project is a joint effort undertaken by the internet search giant Googleand the US Holocaust Memorial Museum located in Washington DC. It utilizes theGoogle Earth service which allows users to view high resolution satellite imagesby moving their computer mouse.

Watch how quickly the governmentmakes Darfur a "more important" issue now as it will probably become viral.

Telegraph U.K. has more. 

Katrina, FEMA & The Banks...oh, and the people

Living hundreds of miles away, and never seeing any stories on the news aboutit, it's almost as if all is ok in New Orleans. I mean this great government ofours wouldn't let it's citizens get screwed because of bureaucracy, greedy banksand do nothing politicians...would they? Yes, yes they would.

Reuters: "AidFlap is New Threat to New Orleans Rebuilding"

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - As homes in New Orleans' flood-stricken zones inchtoward habitability, a bureaucratic storm is brewing between state and federalrelief agencies that could derail the city's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Officials from the state of Louisiana contend that a new federal requirementthat aid checks be issued jointly to homeowners and their mortgage lenders couldmean that money bypasses the owners -- many of whom lost their jobs as a resultof Katrina -- and goes straight to paying their defaulted mortgage payments.

So the banks are getting theirs, now you get your's. But FEMA (Federal EmergencyManagement Agency) must be watching out for the people right?, that's their job right,well...that's a "NO"

Johnson has been waiting for funds from the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency and the state-run, federally funded and roundly criticized Road Homeprogram since being rescued from her attic days after Katrina hit the U.S. GulfCoast.

The Road Home program has received more than 121,000 applications and has60,000 still to process, and has closed on fewer than 6,100 of them. Of $7.5billion in funding, some $4.7 billion has been allocated, but not necessarilypaid out.

"It doesn't make sense. Everywhere we been, we build other people's(countries) but when it come to ourselves it's completely different,"said Vernon Lawrence, 75, pointing to the cost of the Iraq war andreconstruction. "Here we are in this country suffering like hell."

The Washington Post: also reported on the current situation: "KatrinaAftermath Still Undercuts Special-Needs Housing"

And for anyone that thinks it was a big task and the governmenthas been working on this situation all along, On August 28, 2006 Amanda of ThinkProgress kept us posted with this story OneYear Later: The Real State Of New Orleans. There are great links in thisstory which are important, because there was some talk about how "greatthings were going" with the rebuilding. The rebuilding was being focused on thetourist areas.

I've been through a few hurricanes in my life, and when I think of how muchof a "disaster" and "inconvenience" it was to be withoutelectric for 2-3 days, I feel ashamed now. After these current stories, maybewe'll see McCain walk around the French Quarter and say how wonderful everythingis going.

U.S. Diplomat Urges Truce in Somalia

While Bush continues to talk about the war on terrorism, it seems his onlyfocus is on Iraq. Genocide and terrorism is rampant in many parts of the world,but why aren't we addressing those areas with such fortitude as we are in Iraq?Perhaps because they don't have anything we want or need?

Darfur has been getting a lot of attention these days (mainly from theHollywood people), and this story about a top U.S. diplomat urging a truce inSomalia is a promising start.

 

Reuters: TopU.S. diplomat visits Somalia to urge truce

BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - The top U.S. diplomat for Africa met withofficials of Somalia's interim government on Saturday to urge them to open upthe political process to all Somalis who eschew violence and extremism and clearthe way for a reconciliation conference in Mogadishu.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer met withPresident Abdullahi Yusuf, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed and parliamentary leaders,urging them to foster an inclusive political process.

Frazer's arrival under heavy security marked the first time a high-ranking U.S.official has visited Somalia since 1994, when Washington pulled out of adisastrous peacekeeping mission after the downing of two helicopters and thedeaths of 18 American soldiers.

It seems like two extremes, Somalia two helicopters and 18 deaths and we're out,Iraq tons of equipment and 3000 deaths and we're staying. I understand itisn't that simple, but with the money we are spending in Iraq, we could probablysave many lives around the world with food and other forms of support. Thepresident has got to stop talking about the war terrorism as if it only existsin Iraq.

Bunker-busters are more exciting than food stamps

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which has has been skimming the 2008 Bush budget proposals, came across a hidden provision that would cut the food stamp program by $1.2 billion over ten years.  This means about 300,000 Americans would be cut from the program:

The President’s budget includes a provisionthat would cut the Food Stamp Program by $540 million over the nextfive years (and by $1.2 billion over ten years) by taking more than300,000 low-income people off the program in an average month.  The Administration would achieve thesesavings by stripping states of flexibility provided in the 1996 welfarelaw that allows states to coordinate certain aspects of eligibility forthe Food Stamp Program with eligibility rules used for state TANFprograms.

Priorities, priorities, priorities!  The Administration would rather have a 12% increase ($623 billion total) in the 2008 Pentagon budget than make sure the elderly, disabled and many single parents have a food stamp program that is fully funded for a fraction of the cost.