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.
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
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.
I'm planning to be at both of these Town Halls. Tonight I'll be there with nyceve who writes on health care for Daily Kos, and Jonathan Tasini. We'll all be there on the reform side. I hope to see some of you from the Blue Jersey community, too. If you see us, please come by and let us know what's on your mind. - - - promoted from the diaries by Rosi Efthim
Since I first went to Congress some 20 years ago, I've always made a point of coming home from Capitol Hill to listen to my constituents' concerns and brief them on the work I've been doing on their behalf. Despite the well-coordinated campaign by those obstructionists intent on derailing progressive change in Washington, this year will be no different. So in case you haven't heard, I'm hosting town meetings tonight and tomorrow here in my district.
Tonight, Monday, August 24 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Piscataway Municipal Building
455 Hoes Lane, Piscataway
Recently, I posted a diary that outlines an initiative we are undertaking here at Blue Jersey with respect to the upcoming health care legislation as it relates to the public option. While most of the NJ Congressional delegation supports a public option, only Rush Holt and Donald Payne have committed to NOT SUPPORT a bill that did not have a public option. And, as I said in that diary, as well as on Blue Jersey Radio last week, that is why we here at Blue Jersey are going to ask you - the Blue Jersey community - to help whip our fine Representatives into shape.
We will be focusing on each of the six other NJ House Democrats and then probably the three republicans (LoBiondo, Lance, Smith), and will go in order of District. We did a diary on Rep. Rob Andrews (NJ-1) last week, and another yesterday focusing on Rep. John Adler (NJ-3) (if you missed them, please read them and take action there as well). Today's focus is on Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-6).
Please call his office and thank him support for a strong public option and for "Standing with Dr. Dean" on health care reform. Most importantly, since Rep. Pallone is a strong supporter of REAL heath care reform, and has more of a hand in crafting whatever bill gets passed in reconciliation than most, if not all of the other NJ Representatives, he understands what is at stake here. Therefore, it is important to make sure that he would not only commit to vote against a watered down bill that may ultimately be produced in reconciliation that will either (1) not include a strong public option (as outlined in either HR 676 or the current House bill) or (2) will include a "trigger", but also to do all that he can to make sure that the ultimate bill includes a strong public option. A "strong public option" includes the following:
available nationwide;
on day one
and accountable to Congress and the voters
Please report your findings in the comments section below. Additionally, FireDogLake has a "whip tool" that you can fill out with the applicable information, if you are able to get anything definitive (either good, bad or neutral). Also, please get the name and title (and whatever other applicable information) from whomever you speak to.
A little bit about Representative Frank Pallone, Jr.
Thanks so much and we really appreciate your help and participation. I am sure the hundreds of thousands of uninsured and underinsured New Jerseyans thank you even more.
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Our next diary will focus on Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-8).
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.
Today, a number of New Jersey Democrats, both in office and seeking office this November, released statements on the fifth anniversary of the start of Bush's disastrous Iraq misadventure.
Bob Menendez ~
..."We cannot continue to throw American lives and American money at a situation that neither will resolve. There are no good solutions to the conflict in Iraq, only better and worse options for the United States. The best option is to bring our troops home as quickly and safely as possible. Sadly, if the President and his Republican allies in Congress continue to block Democratic efforts to transition out of Iraq, it seems that only the upcoming election gives our nation any hope of believing that this sixth year of war is the last one we will be forced to endure."
"For five years, our troops have done their duty with bravery, answered every call and served above and beyond their commitments. And for five years, President Bush's leadership has failed to live up to their service and their sacrifice. It is time for the President to get the Iraqi government to live up to its commitments and start to bring our troops home."
Linda Stender ~
On the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, it is time our nation comes together to bring our troops home and set a timetable for withdrawal within a year. Nearly 4,000 American soldiers have lost their lives and 29,000 have been wounded in a war should never should have been waged.
"We have the best military in the world, but our soldiers should not have to referee a civil war while the Iraqi political leaders sit idly on the sidelines. President Bush continues to spend more than $12 billion dollars per month to fund a war that the majority of Americans disagree with. While the biggest sacrifice is the nearly 4,000 brave American soldiers who lost their lives and 29,000 additional wounded soldiers, we continue to dangerously neglect American priorities. With more than $3 trillion spent in total on the war, our schools, hospitals, bridges, and military readiness have all suffered. We are on the brink of a recession, American families are struggling, it's time to bring our troops home so we can again focus on making America stronger."
John Adler ~
"Nearly five years ago, President Bush rushed us into an ill-advised war in Iraq without a plan to win the peace or an exit strategy to bring our brave American troops home. In doing so, our President took the focus off the war against al Qaeda terrorist network that attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001. Instead of being bogged down in a civil war in Iraq, we must focus our military efforts on finding Osama bin Laden and destroying the al Qaeda terror network in Afghanistan.
"It is time for President Bush to put an end to our involvement in Iraq in a swift, honorable and responsible way. The war has claimed nearly 4,000 American lives and sent tens of thousands of our young men and women home with serious injuries. It will cost American taxpayers in the excess of $2 trillion."
Congressman Frank Pallone is enjoying the spoils of the new Democratic Congress. He has been named chairman of the Energy & commerce Sub Committee on Health. From his press release...
The subcommittee has sole jurisdiction over Medicaid, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and shares jurisdiction of Medicare with the Ways and Means Committee. The subcommittee oversees public health, biomedical programs, food and drug safety, mental health and research, hospital construction and all health care homeland security-related concerns.
Sounds like a pretty important committee and position. What does he intend to do with his new power you may ask...
"My top priority as chairman this year is to strengthen the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), known in New Jersey as FamilyCare," Pallone said. "While New Jersey is so successful at providing coverage to both low-income parents and their children, this success means New Jersey needs more money from the federal government to meet its needs.
"I also plan to hold hearings to explore ways that we can better help New Jersey seniors with their long term care needs, while, at the same time, preparing for the large number of baby boomers who will soon need long term care assistance," Pallone continued.
Pallone said the subcommittee will also reform food and drug safety laws, do more to safeguard against public health emergencies such as bioterrorism and avian influenza and work to expand NIH medical research.
Thats a pretty ambitious, yet admirable agenda. Best of luck Congressman.
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