Rep. Frank Pallone's Twitter Town Hall on health care starts at 1pm today, Monday, Dec. 21, and with the Senate's first vote on reform coming late this weekend, his timing couldn't be better.
How to participate: Sign onto Twitter and direct a question to @FrankPallone with the hash tag "#ttpallone" at the end. The congressman will answer as many questions as possible and respond directly to your Twitter account. Keep your questions to 140 characters. - promoted by Rosi
As the Senate continues its debate on the long road towards reforming America's health care system the end is in sight. Over the past year, there has been discussion, thought, compromise and ideas to get the best solutions to lower costs, reduce premiums, and make sure everyone has access to insurance. This debate has focused on the needs of everyday Americans - those struggling beneath a mountain of debt from medical bills - forced into impossible decisions between filling a prescription bottle or stocking their refrigerator.
I'm trying something new. On Monday, December 21st at 1:00 pm I will hold my first Twitter Town Hall. As the Chairman of the House subcommittee and one of the chief authors of the House reform bill, I want you all to stay engaged in this issue. I want your input; your thoughts and ideas; your hopes and goals; even your criticisms. I hope you will join me.
I am optimistic that the Senate will vote out a bill shortly. After that, we will head into a Conference Committee to merge and reconcile the two bills before it goes to the President.
The process for the Twitter Town Hall is simple. At 1:00 pm, sign onto Twitter and direct a question to @FrankPallone with the hash tag "#ttpallone" at the end. I will work to answer as many questions as possible and respond replying directly to your Twitter account (in 140 characters or less). Please visit Pallone for New Jersey and RSVP.
Without the activists and bloggers in the netroots community staying involved with this issue I doubt we would have made as much progress in this time frame. We all worked hard to get a reform plan in line with our basic principles of lowering costs and covering every American. Please join me on December 21st at 1:00 pm so I can answer your questions and provide an updated perspective on the reform process.
I look forward to answering your questions and opening up a lively discussion on what we need to move forward and get a comprehensive bill to President Obama's desk and be signed into law.
To sum things up, on Monday, December 21st at 1:00 pm, sign on to Twitter and ask me a question about the health care reform legislation by using the following formula in your tweet:
@FrankPallone - "question" "#ttpallone"
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my update, but only because it is from the Congressman to us. A Tweet thanking us for liveblogging: Thanks to the folks at @BlueJersey for live blogging the town hall: http://tinyurl.com/ygmswa5 #ttpallone ---thanks to you for taking the time, Congressman --- Adam/clammyc
Unfortunately, the new austerity budget implemented in the law to raise the debt ceiling, NJ's unemployment of 9.5%, the closing of Borders, the staff reduction at Goldman Sachs, and other depressing news items all bode ill for New Jerseyans in need of a job. Our governor is more concerned with cutting the budget than investing in projects that might increase jobs and strengthen the economy. Congressmen and the President talk about jobs but seem to be at loggerheads as to how to proceed.
As a result the collateral damage in New Jersey includes construction workers where the unemployment rate is about 20%, and FAA employees. Senator Frank Lautenberg has said that $44.7 million in New Jersey projects with the potential to create more than 2,000 construction jobs are threatened.
According to Port Authority of NY-NJ at Teterboro Airport, for example, the rehabilitation work on runway 1-19 is a $7.5 million dollar project with 125 jobs furloughed. In addition, the safety work of constructing compressible concrete to prevent planes from overshooting runways is a $20 million project with 100 jobs furloughed. The impact on neighboring towns creates its own ripple effect.
Rather than seeing the bolder plans like those enunciated by Rep. Pallone, we are increasingly seeing the worst possible collateral damage: JOBS.
It's been a little over 24 hours since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act went into effect. Now, we have real reform that lowers costs, holds insurance companies accountable and guarantees more choice for consumers. Together, we fought against and beat back powerful special interests and partisan extremists to deliver real results and meaningful reform for Central Jersey's middle-class families. Not only were we able to ensure that this reform would be deficit neutral, it will even lower the debt by slowing the growth rate of health care costs. And this was all done in an effort to bring about better, more-accessible, high-quality health care for all.
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It's been a busy 100 days for us in Congress. From reining in Wall Street excesses with comprehensive financial regulation reform to protecting and creating American jobs, we are working hard to fulfill the mandate given to President Obama and Congressional Democrats back in November of 2008. But the next 100 days promise to be even busier.
In Congress, we have been fighting back against the constant obstructions of the Republican minority. Instead of coming to the table with new ideas to get the American people to work, the GOP is still more interested in scoring cheap political points. Whether it's arguing for repeal of health care reform that will help protect America's families, apologizing to BP for Democrats' efforts to hold them accountable for their actions in the Gulf, or denying a crucial extension of unemployment benefits for nearly three million American workers, it's clear that Republicans are more interested in fighting for corporate interests than the interests of the American people.
Despite this obstructionism, we have made some important progress. The most obvious example is the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The White House blog conveniently lays out ten parts of the financial regulation package you may not be aware of, such as prohibiting mortgage brokers from selling unaffordable mortgages simply to make higher commissions, providing consumers with free credit reports, and putting an end to the "too big to fail" mentality by preventing financial institutions from growing to such a point that their collapse would trigger much wider economic collapse.
The financial regulation reform package will prevent the excesses of Wall Street and big banks that led to the financial meltdown in 2008 and protect consumers from confusing and deceitful financial service products. We established an independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a mission of protecting common people from excessive interest rate hikes, misleading financial products, and the leveraged risk of packaged securities that resulted in the loss of people's savings.
With yesterday's primary election in the books, the journey to November's general election starts right now.
While we still don't know who our opponent will be, we do know she will either be a self-funding billionaire or the darling of the tea party. We also know that, no matter what, we will be facing a well-funded right-wing assault seeking to turn back the clock to the Bush/Cheney policies that have caused so many problems for our state and nation.
I treat every election the same, no matter who is on the ballot: run hard and let the voters know of the work we've done to make their lives better. I've been fighting hard every day to deliver real results for the 6th District. I've fought to create and protect jobs, while opposing trade agreements that destroy jobs and give tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. I've safeguarded our beaches and am holding corporate polluters accountable by forcing them to foot the bill for cleaning up their toxic waste sites. And I've worked hard on health care reform that will help everyone across the nation.
But there is still much work to be done, and I simply can not continue my work without your support. So I hope you will join me at my hometown headquarters, as we kick-off my re-election campaign. It's not going to be anything fancy - just some food and refreshments - but it will give us all a chance to get to work, making sure the 6th Congressional District stays blue.
Sunday, June 13th
2:30pm - 4:30pm
Pallone for Congress Campaign Headquarters
495 Broadway, Long Branch, NJ
Please RSVP on Facebook or to matt@pallonefornewjersey.com
Last fall, I fought for the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a reform package that will protect consumers from the financial fallout of the selfish actions of bankers and prevent taxpayers from ever having to foot the bill for another bailout when risky investments go south. It will force the banks to pay back all bailout money they received and then go further, to tighten the reigns on Wall Street's worst practices.
In my book, "too big to fail" means too big - period. No one bank - or small group of financial firms - should have the power to collapse our nation's economy in the blind pursuit of profit. At the end of the day, all the reforms in the world cannot stop all irresponsible behavior and unreasonable risk-taking. But we can ensure that the impact of such bad decision-making is limited by ending the "too big to fail" financial firms. This will both protect the financial well-being of our families, students and retirees as well as businesses small and large. Perhaps more importantly, it will end the need for big bank bailouts that punish taxpayers for Wall Street's risky decisions.
Moving forward, the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) will protect consumers from some of Wall Street's worst abuses. For too long, banks have been allowed to engage in marketing gimmickry and predatory lending practices, aimed right at those who can afford it the least - families and small businesses. The CFPA will enforce transparency and fairness in lending, ensuring that credit cards, mortgages and personal loans are understandable, affordable and free of devious fine print.
In the GOP primary in NJ-6, Anna Little gets the Conservative Party and some tea party love (but uh, not Rush Limbaugh's). And Diane Gooch gets the Chris Christie shout-out, which means more. Gooch, the Two River Times publisher with a Wall Street marriage, can self-finance - and has. We've had the benefit of Frank Pallone's clear voice in the House for 22 years, but this year we have to be alert to how angry the right wing is at those who did the most to bring health care reform. That's my 2 cents. - - promoted by Rosi.
There are only 180 days between now and Election Day. And we're going to have to fight tooth and nail to beat back those seeking to bring about a 180 degree reversal from the progress we've been making.
Since President Obama's historic election, we've brought about the change our nation is clamoring for - from making sure women receive equal pay to providing assistance to homeowners and small businesses. Moreover, the history books will surely look back on extending health care coverage to 35 million more Americans as a massive achievement.
Nonetheless, our opponents want to turn back the clock to the days when Bush-Cheney policies put the well-connected at the top of the agenda and Rove politics ruled the day. Our opponents are seeking to reverse all the progress we're making. And they have deep pockets to fund those candidates and causes who share their regressive goals.
Earth Day is a time for us all to come together and celebrate the great beauty of our planet. This is also a day to remember how fragile our environment is and to think about how we can fight back against growing threats and pollution.
I've spent my career fighting to protect New Jersey's environment - our water, our beaches and our air. This is not just an issue of importance that I talk about on Earth Day, but rather something near and dear to my heart all year long. That's why I wanted to take this opportunity to give you an update on some of the actions we are taking to protect our natural resources and treasures.
We all know how important clean beaches are to our shore economy. That's why I was proud to help pass the Beach Protection Act. This landmark legislation requires tough new water quality testing and public notification standards so beachgoers can be confident the waters they're swimming or surfing in are clean.
Nonetheless, we still find far too much pollution on our shores. Recently, Clean Ocean Action released their Beach Sweeps Report - which presented findings of over 301,500 items washing up over 132 sites statewide. Over the span of just a few months, they removed almost 4,200 bags of trash and nearly 60,000 pounds of debris from coastal habitats. The most common items found were plastic lids, caps, straws and shopping bags, as well as bottles, metal caps, food wrappers and cigarette filters. Sadly, far too many people seem to be forgetting the days - not too long ago - when our shores were closed due to dangerous and unhealthy debris.
Right now, our beaches and ocean waters are facing a new, potentially greater threat. President Obama recently announced plans to open up certain parts of the East Coast for exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas. This misguided policy is not simply troubling - it is unacceptable. So, I'm organizing colleagues, stakeholders, constituents and grassroots activists to write the President and tell him not to put our beaches in jeopardy. I hope you will join us in calling the White House or writing members of Congress.
Going back to my time as a Long Branch City Councilman, I've always believed it was important to give my constituents a direct line to communicate their questions, concerns, and thoughts. Technology is revolutionizing how we interact, and as the Congressman for New Jersey's 6th District, I want to use these new tools to hear directly from you.
The internet opens up new opportunities to solicit input, debate policy proposals, and raise new ideas. My Twitter Town Hall on Health Care was born out of that sentiment. Now I want to take things one step further by introducing a new way for me to interact with my constituents, Blue Jersey readers, and progressive activists. Using the Google Moderator application and YouTube, I want to hear directly from you, and at the end of each month I'll make a web video directly answering your questions.
Google Moderator allows me to get input directly from you so that everyone's voice can be heard. If you happen to like a particular question or suggestion, you can vote for it so it rises to the top and ensure that I address the issue. YouTube offers a different medium than Facebook or Twitter. It allows me to speak directly to you and inform you on the issues facing the 6th Congressional District, New Jersey, and our nation.
The issues will change from month-to-month. I might be seeking input on questions you want asked to a witness testifying in front of my Health Subcommittee. You could want updates on the financial regulation reform and what it will mean to consumers, or what I know about the progress being made in Afghanistan. Some months I'll ask specifically about your thoughts or questions on a certain topic; other months it will be open-ended.
The end game to this new idea for interaction is to create a more open, transparent dialogue. As a Congressman I serve the people, and want to hear your input. My fight against the special interests and lobbyists is an everyday battle and I want to make sure my most ardent supporters - progressives - have a vehicle to give me their opinions and thoughts. I hope I can count on your participation, and as always, you can follow my tweets @FrankPallone and my updates on Facebook.
It sometimes feels like a political eternity has gone by since President Obama was sworn-in with a Democratic Congress last January. After sweeping into office with the most electoral votes since L.B.J in 1964, our country was poised to turn the page on the failed policies of the past. A little over a year later, we have made a lot of progress and realized important achievements on issues long neglected by the Republicans.
But there is much more to do. This Congress and this President are on path to do more. True to their pattern of siding with special interests, the Republican obstructionists are fighting hard to turn back the clock to the policies that caused so much harm to begin with. We need to fight back.
The losses over the last year - Senator Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, as well as the gubernatorial races in Virginia and right here in New Jersey-show that there are political obstacles. We can clearly see that those who stand opposed to reforming health care, protecting the environment and creating good jobs for American workers are well-funded and highly motivated. We can learn from those political setbacks and use them to motivate more people to join us in the fight for more progress.
Two years ago, special interest groups poured $1 billion into American elections - mostly trying to discredit Barack Obama and Democratic candidates. This year their influence could even be more pernicious. I'm sure you're aware the Supreme Court recently issued a ruling removing all limits on corporate money. This will open the floodgates and give corporations unchecked influence over our political process. Big business - even those owned by foreign entities - can now crack open their treasure chests to buy as much television time and as many direct mail pieces as they want to help out their handpicked candidates. Washington Republicans and right-wing challengers will most assuredly reap the benefits - since they've been staunch advocate for tax giveaways to the wealthy and the companies they represent. America is already struggling with the worst recession since the Great Depression, caused in large part by the reckless behavior of big business. The last thing our nation needs is for these same companies to be able to buy elections and undermine our political process.
This was posted last Friday, but just before two big pieces of news broke, Sen. Lautenberg's cancer diagnosis and Bill Baroni's impending exit from the state senate. But it's absolutely worth time up on the frontpage. Cross posted at Daily Kos where it got more than 100 comments, and 222 hits for the Tip Jar. - promoted by Rosi
On Wednesday I headed over to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick to take part in a discussion with doctors, hospital administrators, and consumer groups about repealing the McCarran-Ferguson Act - a law giving health insurers anti-trust exemptions.
My position has always been that insurance companies shouldn't be left to their own rules - nor their own devices. For the past 65 years, the health insurance industry has been operating with special immunity from anti-trust laws. While this exemption may contribute to their profit margins, it's the patients and doctors who are ultimately forced to pay the price. Enough is enough. In Congress, I'm proud to say that Democrats will soon introduce the Health Insurance Industry Anti-Trust Enforcement Act - to finally ban price fixing, bid rigging and market collusion, once and for all.
Right now, insurance companies continue to rake in record profits, while consumer costs are skyrocketing. Most states remain dominated by a small number of competing insurance firms. Here in New Jersey, just two companies control 60% of the market. Even when states pass laws preventing the exemption, most insurance companies still simply continue to ignore them by citing federal law. We must stop this double-standard and give patients a fair choice. By creating more competition, we will lower prices and increase access to medical treatments that are often denied because they are not profitable for insurance companies to cover.
Healthcare should be about putting people first, not profits. We must promote a fair playing field in the insurance industry and make certain they operate under the same rules as every other sector. The sentiment I heard from leading voices in the medical profession was that we need to shine a light on the practices used to set rates. Currently, federal regulators do not have the power to investigate anti-competitive tactics used by the industry to control the market, leaving patients and consumers vulnerable to exploitation at the hands of insurance companies and big business.
As President Obama's health care summit with Congressional leaders approaches, we must not forget the reasons why we began the process of reforming health care in the first place. We must give a voice to those patients being denied much-needed care due to an obsession with profits on the part of fat cat insurance executives.
The profit driven mindset has severe consequences, such as private practitioners refusing to provide general care procedures like vaccinations just because insurance companies don't cover them. This is unacceptable and needs to stop. I will continue to work with leaders and medical experts to give patients the care they need and deserve.
Fair competition in the marketplace will keep the industry honest. Even more importantly, it will cut down on medical costs for patients and their families. Such reform all begins with breaking up the insurance monopolies by repealing McCarran-Ferguson.
As long as I've known him, Frank Pallone has been willing to jump in and try new ways of talking to people. This Twitter Town Hall - which you can read along with here - was pretty cool, no doubt about it. Follow him here. - Rosi
I want to thank everyone who took part in my first Twitter Town Hall - I had a great time doing it and I'm looking forward to coming back again to answer questions on different issues. Congress is truly making history by reforming the health care system. Seven presidents tried - none were successful. We are now on the verge of sending President Obama reforms that will lower premiums, increase competition, and increase access to near universal levels.
But this would not have been possible without you. Citizen participation is important, so when a new technology like Twitter comes along and gives me a new medium to reach constituents and activists - I am happy to embrace it.
We had a lively discussion about the effects of the bill on Medicare, how mandates may affect students and what people can expect when the bill is law. We dispelled myths about the bill and clarified the bill's intentions.
After health care reform is passed and nearly 30 million more Americans are covered there will still be challenges ahead. Climate change, Afghanistan, financial regulation, and a slew of other issues need to be tackled - and we need all of you helping us to combat the special interests. I know some progressives are disheartened by the Senate stripping the public option out of the reform package and so was I. But we must keep our eyes open to the big picture. The public option would only affect approximately 5 million Americans;whereas, the health exchanges we are creating will affect over 30 million. In addition, this bill ends discriminatory practices such as pre-existing conditions and expands Medicaid, among other important reforms. This is real progress on an important American issue.
Thank you again for participating. I hope you'll enjoy some behind the scenes photos and video from the Town Hall and if you have any other questions please visit Pallone for New Jersey . And if you aren't already, please follow me on Twitter so you can participate next time.
This whole issue has left women hearing conflicting things. We had a little technical problem trying to live-stream this yesterday, so it's good to have the congressman's own wrap-up of what happened. Thanks, Rep. Pallone - - promoted by Rosi
Many of you have been following the recent controversy about the US Preventive Services Task Force's new breast cancer screening recommendations - in the news, at the watercooler and around the family dinner table. The implied suggestion that screening should start at age 50 rather than the previous recommendation of 40 is a legitimate cause for concern.
I hope that the yesterday's Health Subcommittee hearing will put some of these concerns to rest. Task Force vice-chair Dr. Diana Petitti put it best, explaining that "communication was poor" on the matter, and that their original statement has "been misconstrued." Most importantly, the hearing clarified that decisions on mammograms for patients between 40 and 50 should be made by women and their doctors, and no one else. Under no circumstances should mammograms be denied to women younger than 50.
However, many opponents of health care reform have stoked the fires of controversy on this issue and are continuing to do so. The most dishonest among them are working hard to mislead the public, implying that the task force recommendations were a product of recent efforts to enact health care reform. They were not. In fact, the task force developed its suggestion while George W. Bush was still in the White House.
My colleague and friend John Dingell of Michigan pointed out these tactics for what they are - scare tactics. Even though the Obama administration was extremely proactive when the task force recommendations were released, affirming that government-backed health programs would not stop covering mammograms for women between the ages of 40 to 49, opponents of health reform have claimed otherwise. In fact, health reform will require mammograms. Now, there are no requirements for mammograms for women at any age. So health reform will make more mammograms available and covered by insurance. And even yesterday, as task force members put our fears to rest, anti-reform Republicans made outlandish statements about reform harming women's health, when clearly the opposite is true. They are trying to exploit the fears of women about breast cancer in a dishonest attempt to score political points on health reform.
As the health reform debate comes to a close, it's more important than ever for those of us who believe in real health care reform and a strong public option to be vigilant against the lies and obfuscation of those who would seek to defend the broken status quo. The only way to do that is to ask questions and uncover the truth, just as we did in yesterday's hearings. The health and safety of American women - our mothers, our sisters, our wives and our daughters - is too important an issue to be turned into political fodder by the opponents of reform.
To learn more about what I'm doing to further the health care reform debate in Congress, visit my website at PalloneForAHealthyNJ.com.
The health care debate brings out strong opinions on all sides of the political spectrum. And these feelings surely were on full display at my recent town hall meetings last Monday and Tuesday. Both in Piscataway and Red Bank, we had huge crowds, as many people waited several hours to come and discuss the pending health care legislation in Congress, among other issues. Emotions ran high in some instances, because clearly we must fix our broken system to cover 46 million uninsured Americans and usher in new medical technologies to increase efficiency and accessibility.
Here are some ideas from the congressman on how health care reform can impact economy. We're going to be asking you - in a few days - to help us find out from Rep. Pallone just how strong his commitment to the public option is. Stay tuned - - promoted by Rosi Efthim
I hope everyone at Blue Jersey is enjoying the Summer now that the rain has calmed down a bit. In Congress, we're working hard to craft real, meaningful health care reform legislation. I just wanted to assure my friends here in New Jersey that we're fighting to make sure any new law includes a public option. We need to expand the access and affordability of health insurance, and I want to make sure our legislation reflects these principles. A public option will help lower costs, give consumers more choice and create more competition in the marketplace.
Additionally, I wanted to bring your attention to an op-ed I penned last week for newjerseynewsroom.com concerning how health care will play a role in helping America move out of the current economic recession and the types of reforms we need:
We have to do more than spend money on healthcare; we need to invest in reforms that will improve the quality, expand the accessibility and lower the long-term costs of healthcare. One of the best areas for investments is biomedical research and development. By investing in biomedical innovation and research we are strengthening an industry that already leads the world in progress and influence, while at the same time ensuring the next generation of medical treatments and therapies.
By investing in biomedical research and development, we strengthen an industry in New Jersey that creates high-paying jobs and produces new medical techniques to improve our lives. Biotech is very important to our state's economy in so many different ways, and we must continue our investment in this important industry.
