[Peace-discuss] [Discuss] [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange

Tue Jul 31 01:07:51 UTC 2012

AMEN, Astrid!  And direct & forthright as you can find!  He speaks with courage and does not hold back!

Sent from my iPhone
Germaine 

On Jul 30, 2012, at 2:09 PM, Astrid Berkson <astridjb at comcast.net> wrote:

> gill has been active in the single payer group for over 20 years, and it is one of his main goals in washington
> On 7/30/2012 1:57 PM, pengdust at aol.com wrote:
>>  
>> I usually don't participate in thee online disputes BUT .... as a precarious worker I do have a few things to say:
>>  
>> Be wary of the "chipping away at the stone" strategy of placating some to generate division, complacency and submission. To avert an unavoidable critical mass. This is a tried and true partisan strategy [especicially in election year] to let some of the discontent subside, a pressure valve so to speak to protect "Business as usual."
>>  
>> I say: "Sure take it as a small gain.... BUT WE do not owe the bastards one damn thing in return! The response should be -- 'We beg for nothing! Because we demand everything!'"
>>  
>> I agree with Dave. This is a corporate/partisan shell-game in an election year, it's more about the "tactic of exclusion than inclusion." No better than Obama-Care Where the ONLY REAL debate was over "who to exclude, and how to protect/increase corporate profits." Single-payer was NEVER allowed to be spoken.
>>  
>> Maybe setting the bed on fire is a reaonable response to an abusive/brutal relationship?
>>  
>> That's it,
>>  
>> davep
>>  
>> 
>> 
>> ========================
>> “The struggle is for life…. For a real LIFE. You must fight foul, because LIFE IS REAL! … And, this struggle is for HOPE. So, Fucking Fight!!”—@ltazor, Autonome v.1, #1
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ricky Baldwin <rbaldwin at seiu73.org>
>> To: David Johnson <dlj725 at hughes.net>; sf-core <sf-core at yahoogroups.com>; Peace-discuss List <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>; C-U Citzens for Peace and Justice <discuss-communitycourtwatch at lists.chambana.net>; Astrid Berkson <astridjb at comcast.net>; JWJ C-U <centralILJwJ at yahoogroups.com>
>> Sent: Mon, Jul 30, 2012 12:55 pm
>> Subject: Re: [Discuss] [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange
>> 
>> Sorry, but I have to say, with respect to my friend David who is a very 
>> passionate and dedicated ad a tireless advocate, and I am glad we have him 
>> around to speak up when he sees a wrong being committed, that these things below 
>> are not mutually exclusive, and there is value to making the most of the current 
>> situation - even though it is not what we wanted or what we need.
>> 
>> Medicare for All, single-payer, or a British-style National Health, or something 
>> else national and universal and free, is clearly the solution to the problem of 
>> healthcare for the poor and working classes in this very rich and very unequal 
>> country.  Obviously we do not have that.  Clearly we should work for it.  It 
>> should be our stated and our actual goal.  We should never let the rich or their 
>> media or their politicians forget it.  We should never say to Rush and others 
>> who accuse of that goal, no, we just want some incremental change right now, 
>> it's not a step toward 'socialized medicine.' We should say "It wish it were all 
>> the things you say, because that's what we need in this country.'
>> 
>> We have devoted considerable effort to pushing for it already, but we have not 
>> gotten it, not even close.  (I say 'we', because I have always been fully 
>> supportive and have done what I could, but many many others have given much more 
>> time and money than I have to this cause.  Some have dedicated their lives to 
>> it, and among those are people who say this is the best we could get right now.)  
>> That is largely because many of the people who supported these lesser plans to 
>> not actually support what we are thinking of.  Those people are not our friends.  
>> But to refuse to work with them towards a winnable compromise when we have seen 
>> how hard it is to get to our ultimate goal is to shoot ourselves - and the 
>> working people who benefit from this law - in the foot, and in some cases in a 
>> lot of other places, too.
>> 
>> It's foolhardy to pretend this law will fix all our problems.  But it is way 
>> off-base to say that the effort to make the most of the current laws/ options is 
>> a distraction or a waste of time, any more than helping someone understand how 
>> to fill out the forms to get health benefits at work - or ensuring that anyone 
>> who is eligible for any benefit does get it - is a waste of time.  It isn't.  It 
>> helps people.  Obamacare helps people.  Just not enough people.  And not enough 
>> help.
>> 
>> Is it a waste of time to fight for raises for one group of workers even though a 
>> lot of others need a raise?  Or because the wage system should be abolished?  
>> Some have made that argument.  Unfortunately, the just society we deserve 
>> doesn't seem to be just around the corner.  And in the meantime, I think if we 
>> can get raises or health insurance for some people who need them, we take it and 
>> move on, hopefully to more.  Like a ratchet.  Would it be better to approach 
>> wages differently, too?  In Sweden, for example, they negotiate on a national 
>> level for the lowest wages in the country, and that way nobody drops below that.  
>> I would like to see that here.  It just doesn't seem in the offing.
>> 
>> Hopefully we will be able to eventually build a national movement, and 
>> international movement even, that can accomplish these things.  But we have no 
>> such movement now.
>> 
>> I can understand criticizing Gingrich-care or Clinton-care or Romney-care in 
>> Massachusetts or Obamacare when they were proposed, saying what we need is 
>> single-payer, etc.  I did that, too.  Trumka and others did, too.  When the 
>> window is open, we try for everything we can get, right?  I can understand 
>> pointing out the shortcomings of Obamacare now.  CCHCC and others have done so.  
>> We need to get people thinking about what we still need to do.  But it is not "a 
>> waste of time" to ensure that people get the most out of it, especially people 
>> who have very little alternative.
>> 
>> I don't expect everyone to agree, but I think CCHCC's work on this is very 
>> important and we should all support it in any way we can.
>> 
>> Solidarity,
>> Ricky
>> ________________________________________
>> From: CentralILJwJ at yahoogroups.com [CentralILJwJ at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of 
>> David Johnson [dlj725 at hughes.net]
>> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 7:24 PM
>> To: sf-core; Peace-discuss List; C-U Citzens for Peace and Justice; Astrid 
>> Berkson; JWJ C-U
>> Subject: Fw: [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces 
>> State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Correction !
>> 
>> EVERYBODY IN, NOBODY OUT !
>> 
>> Healthcare for all NOW !
>> 
>> No Phoney corporate propoganda substitutes that distract and divide us and 
>> strengthen the private health insurance corporate special interests.
>> 
>> The ONLY sollution is Medicare for all,
>> like EVERY industrialized country in the world EXCEPT the U.S., and even some 
>> third world countries have the equivalent of Medicare for all.
>> 
>> WE need to focus on how we begin to force the corporate powers that be, 
>> republican and DEMOCRAT, to begin implementing the ONLY SOLLUTION to our 
>> healthcare crisis, that is, single payer ( Medicare for ALL ) healthcare.
>> 
>> David J.
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: David Johnson<mailto:dlj725 at hughes.net>
>> To: sf-core<mailto:sf-core at yahoogroups.com> ; Peace-discuss List<mailto:peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> 
>> ; C-U Citzens for Peace and Justice<mailto:discuss-communitycourtwatch at lists.chambana.net> 
>> ; astridjb at comcast.net<mailto:astridjb at comcast.net> ; JWJ C-U<mailto:centralILJwJ at yahoogroups.com>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 7:11 PM
>> Subject: Re: [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces 
>> State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange
>> 
>> Sure Astrid,
>> 
>> Let me rephrase this.
>> 
>> Do WE want REAL results, that is, health care for ALL, nobody in and nobody out 
>> ?
>> 
>> OR
>> 
>> Will we allow ourselves to be distracted and divided by the corporate interests 
>> to accept their corporate sollution via the Democratic National Committee ( DNC 
>> ) ?
>> 
>> David J.
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Astrid Berkson<mailto:astridjb at comcast.net>
>> To: David Johnson<mailto:dlj725 at hughes.net>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 6:25 PM
>> Subject: Re: [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces 
>> State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange
>> 
>> it is nice to demand, but not often effective. we need to get as much as we can 
>> because the more we get now the more we can get later
>> On 7/29/2012 4:23 PM, David Johnson wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: David Johnson<mailto:dlj725 at hughes.net>
>> To: occupycu at lists.chambana.net<mailto:occupycu at lists.chambana.net> ; 
>> s.hansen at comcast.net<mailto:s.hansen at comcast.net>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 4:18 PM
>> Subject: Re: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal 
>> Partnership Health Exchange
>> 
>> This is a Waste of time and a distraction of what needs to be done !
>> 
>> WE Need to demand a single payer healthcare system in the state of Illinois like 
>> Vermont has done !
>> 
>> David Johnson
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: s.hansen at comcast.net<mailto:s.hansen at comcast.net>
>> To: occupyCU at lists.chambana.net<mailto:occupyCU at lists.chambana.net>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 11:51 AM
>> Subject: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal 
>> Partnership Health Exchange
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ________________________________
>> From: "Champaign County Health Care Consumers" <cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org<mailto:cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org>>
>> To: cchcc-l at lists.shout.net<mailto:cchcc-l at lists.shout.net>
>> Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 8:59:39 AM
>> Subject: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health        
>> Exchange
>> 
>> 
>> Dear Friends,
>> 
>> On behalf of Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC), we would like
>> thank everyone who signed the petition calling on Illinois' Governor Quinn
>> to establish the Health Exchange, whether online, in our office, at the
>> Urbana Farmer's Market, or at one of our Task Force meetings.
>> 
>> Last week Governor Quinn announced that Illinois would move forward to
>> establish a state-federal partnership Health Exchange. CCHCC and other
>> health care advocates had been organizing to pressure the Illinois General
>> Assembly and Governor Quinn to instead establish a state-operated Health
>> Exchange that would have allowed for an insurance marketplace that was
>> customized to meet the specific needs of Illinoisans and would have been
>> governed by Illinoisans.
>> 
>> Frankly, we are disappointed that our state leadership did not rise to the
>> challenge and take advantage of the opportunity to have a locally governed,
>> pro-consumer Health Benefits Exchange that would have best met the needs of
>> the residents of Illinois. Despite the claim by state officials that there
>> was not enough time remaining to establish a state-operated exchange, we do
>> believe that Illinois had sufficient time if the elected leadership had the
>> political will.
>> 
>> HOWEVER, having a state-federal partnership Exchange up and running in
>> Illinois in 2014 is indeed a VICTORY for the residents of Illinois.
>> 
>> Through the Exchange in 2014 alone:
>>  * 486,000 residents will enroll in private health insurance plans;
>>  * 500,000 residents will join the expanded Medicaid program (which the
>> state would receive 100% federal matching reimbursement for those costs the
>> first three years of the Exchange); And
>>  * 247,000 residents would qualify for federal subsidies for p
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