STEPHEN MICHAEL – On August 19, 2013, the Main Street Alliance of Oregon released their most recent report, Voices of Main Street, which challenges conventional perceptions of rural small business owners’ thoughts on key policy issues. It details responding business owners’ views on economic, tax, immigration and health care issues facing Oregon and the nation.
DR, JOSEPH MERCOLA – A review of U.S. healthcare expenses by the Institutes of Medicine1 has revealed that 30 cents of every dollar spent on medical care is wasted, adding up to $750 billion annually.
DR. WILL TUTTLE – “organic foods are not only not subsidized, but organic growers are actually penalized by being forced to pay large amounts of money to have their products certified as organic”
JESSE JACKSON – Republicans on the campaign trail denounce Obama’s health-care reforms as a virtual threat to the Republic. It’s “socialized medicine,” “a job killer,” “a government takeover of health care.” All the Republican candidates for president promise to repeal it, and Republican legislators are virtually united in trying to do so.
ROBERT REICH – Republicans are debating again tomorrow night. And once again, Americans will hear the standard regressive litany: government is bad, Medicare and Medicaid should be cut, “Obamacare” is killing the economy, undocumented immigrants are taking our jobs, the military should get more money, taxes should be lowered on corporations and the rich, and regulations should be gutted.
BETSY CRITES – What do Durham and Afghanistan have in common? We are worlds apart, but we both have people who need jobs, health care, schools, transportation and sewers, and help for our homeless, elderly and hungry. Neither of us is getting our critical needs met in part because a war neither of us really wants is draining our economies, killing and injuring our young people, and depleting our spirits.
DAVID SWANSON – The New York Times has posted seven super-short columns on how to cut the U.S. military. All seven seem to support cutting the military in one way or another. That’s excellent, and I don’t mean to complain, but . . . .
DAVID MORRIS – For Republican presidential candidates the phrase “American Exceptionalism” has taken on almost talismanic qualities. Newt Gingrich’s new book is titled, A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters. “America the Exceptional” is the title of a chapter in Sarah Palin’s book America by Heart.
JEFREY SACHS – Just when it seemed that all of Washington had lost its values and its connection with the American people, a bolt of hope has arrived. It is the People’s Budget put forward by the co-chairs of the 80-member Congressional Progressive Caucus.
JO COMERFORD – [Today is Tax Day. It seems appropriate for Americans to know what their government is using their money for. Here is a comprehensive summary. – Editor]
Six months after the start of the current fiscal year (FY2011), congressional leaders and President Obama have reached agreement on a budget for the second half of the year. In all the deal provides just over $1 trillion in spending over the last six months of the year, a cut of roughly $40 billion from FY2010 levels.
BY ANGUS REID PUBLIC OPINION – As a new Congress prepares to take office in January, Americans believe that Health Care and Social Security should account for a large proportion of the country’s next budget, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found. Health Care (9.9%) and Social Security (9.9%) were the two main priorities for Americans, followed by Labor (8.4%) and Education and Training (8.4%).
PETER BERGEL: On November 9, a delegation organized by Oregon PeaceWorks met with Oregon’s 5th District congressional representative Kurt Schrader. On the agenda were the wars in the Middle East, global warming and health care. The meeting included representatives from OPW, Veterans for Peace, 1000 Friends of Oregon, Fellowship of Reconciliation and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
LETTERS: This month’s letters include: 1) Drug and Insurance Companies Run DC by Ed Hemmingson; and 2) Schrader Responds re: Afghanistan by Rep. Kurt Schrader.
DAVID SWANSON: The president was holding a press conference inside the White House fence with a bunch of doctors who oppose serious healthcare reform. Donna Smith, star of Michael Moore’s “Sicko”, was standing next to me and telling me that every patient who had appeared in that movie had determined that the healthcare…
PETER BERGEL: Legendary labor organizer Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Worker Union (UFW) with Cesar Chavez, was the Salem Peace Lecture speaker this year. She spoke at Willamette University on October 21. She also spoke with The PeaceWorker and other alternative news media. This is a summary of her message from the lecture and the interviews.
LAWRENCE S. WITTNER: Currently, there is nothing more controversial in President Barack Obama’s health care reform proposal than the “public option.” Much of the controversy, of course, has been generated by private insurance companies, determined to safeguard their hefty profits, and by Republican politicians, eager to destroy anything that might redound to the benefit of the Democrats. Even so, a little clear thinking on the subject of public programs might illuminate their advantages and disadvantages.
PHIL CARVER: This month’s Beltway Bulletin includes: 1) Ending the Afghanistan War; 2) The Health Care Bill; 3) Debunking Climate Change Deniers; and 4) More Information.