I just made an extra Thanksgiving donation to the United Nations World Food Program. Would you please consider making one too. Donating is easy – you can even us PayPal – and if you chose, you can set up a recurring contribution. The costs of feeding the worlds hungry people are surprisingly small and we can end hunger if everyone will share just a little of what they have.
The food price crisis, dubbed a “silent tsunami” for the world’s poor, is far from over. A recent study revealed that food prices are higher than they were 12 months ago in 46 developing countries. In nine of the countries, food prices are the highest on record.
The current economic crisis, first felt in developed nations, is now impacting on developing nations too. People living in these regions have much less to cushion the blow of an economic downturn and hunger is on the increase.
The combination of high food prices and the economic downturn has the makings of a humanitarian crisis.
In the Horn of Africa, where climate change is aggravating the situation, the effects of the two crises are especially harsh. And as the global economic and financial crises compound the food crisis, hunger and malnutrition are likely to increase further.
Humiliated by his recent fruitless efforts to frighten Illinois residents about the proposed use of the Thomson Correctional Center to house prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Peter Roskam today redirected his efforts back to scaring Illinois residents about healthcare reform. Essentially his argument is that if the government gives you healthcare, you’ll lose your job.
Roskam appeared today on the friendly Fox network touting a report from the Illinois Policy Institute, which he calls a “non-partisan think tank”, that indicates that Illinois will lose 169,000 job if health reform is passed. Roskam is asked directly two times to explain the mechanism for this job loss but doesn’t really do so. Instead he rants about Illinois unemployment rates exceeding the Obama administration estimates. Here’s the video:
As is typical with Roskam, what comes out of his mouth is only peripherally related to the truth. The Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) likes to style itself as a “non-partisan research organization, but what it really is is an ideologically-driven advocacy group. They work for economic deregulation, regressive tax policy, and other right-wing causes, and against policies that benefit working people, like a fair minimum wage . They are also an “astroturf” group – organizing so-called “grass roots” efforts from the top down via their Liberty Leaders program, hardly a non-partisan effort. The group is secretive about its funding sources, saying only that the organization “welcomes donations from individuals, foundations, and other organizations that support free market principles”. According to Sourcewatch, they have received funding from the CATO Institute.
And they are connected with the teabagger movement. Both CEO John Tilliman and Executive Vice-president Kristina Rasmussen spoke at the April 15th teabagger event in Chicago. And that is fine, but please don’t insult our intelligence bby call this a “non-partisan think tank”.
The IPI, apparently being a think-tank unprepared to do its own thinking brought in a hired gun to write the report Roskam refers to: Adding Insult to Injury. The scholar in question is discredited economist Arthur Laffer, seen in the following video scoffing at fellow economist Peter Schiff’s prediction of an impending economic collapse on CNBC in August 2006:
Laffer is, of course, more famous for his role in the development of Reagonomics in the 1980s. His theory known as the “Laffer Curve” proposed that lowering taxes on the wealthy would result in increased tax revenues and a balanced budget. It didn’t work out and Reagan saddled his successor, Bill Clinton, with an enormous deficit, which Clinton fixed, only to have another Republican President, George W. Bush, reapply the failed policy with a vengeance, leaving us in the enormous mess we’re in today.
Not suprisingly, Laffer’s report finds that instead of the Democratic reform proposals we should instead de-regulate the insurance industry and implement tort reform, proposals that will, have talked about here before, do nothing to resolve the problem of the uninsured and instead will result in higher premiums and lower benefits for those lucky enough to have insurance at all as state-imposed benefit mandates and rate regulations are castrated. Meanwhile, the giant healthcare corporations will be given immunity from lawsuits, leaving consumers little recourse when they are harmed by sub-standard care.
I find it very sad and infuriating to see our Representative Peter Roskam, who is supposed to be listening to us and advocating for our interests in Washington, instead engaging in this never-ending marketing campaign aimed at killing any chance that those in his district who presently do not have access to healthcare will be given an affordable solution. It really is time for Roskam to be replaced.
In recent days, the 6th District’s Republican Congressman, Peter Roskam, has been doing his best to stimulate public hysteria over the proposed transfer of prisoners currently held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Illinois’ maximum-security Thomson Correctional Center. Those efforts have largely failed, with both major Chicago newspapers and most reality-based leaders denouncing Roskam’s fearmongering and supporting consideration of the plan. The public seems to have been largely unaffected by Roskam’s campaign.
Now Roskam is whining because U.S. Senate candidate and Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias reports having been briefed on the possible transfer by staff from the National Security Counsil (NSC):
“Given Mr. Giannoulias’ disclosure that he received a NSC briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois, I urge the Obama Administration to eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation. Moving terrorists to Illinois will have tremendous security and economic implications, and now this situation has been tainted by the appearance of political favoritism given that a Democrat U.S. Senate candidate received a NSC briefing while elected Members of Congress have not. The people of Illinois will be best served by a process that forgoes the behind-closed-doors political approach and instead provides foropen and transparent consideration.”
Ha! We’re wondering when Peter Roskam is going to “eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation.” We suspect that Mr. Giannoulias received a briefing because he requested it and that Roskam, as a member of Congress, could have requested the same at any time. Instead, political opportunist that he is, Roskam smelled blood in the water when he heard about the propoosal and immediately launched into an attack against the administration without troubling himself to learn the facts. This, of course, is Roskam’s modus operandi.
Meanwhile, Roskam’s eminently sensible opponent, Democrat Ben Lowe of Wheaton, has released what I think is a terrific statement on the proposed transfer and the need we have as a nation to return to respect for our constitution and legal heritage:
Understandably, after 9/11, our nation developed a heightened fear of those who seek to commit acts of terror against our country. But somewhere during the Bush era, we also lost confidence in the ability of our judicial system to administer justice to those suspected of committing or supporting terrorism.
Instead of trusting that the foundational elements of our democracy are capable of withstanding this great challenge, we began to exchange many of our civil rights (including the writ of habeas corpus) for a greater sense of security. We stopped trusting our courts, our prisons, and the principles of due process and representation under the law, which are so vital to our democracy.
We can do better.
We can do better. We can replace Peter Roskam with a serious leader focused on problem-solving and not political theater. I think Ben Lowe is that kind of leader. Readers who long for things to change may want to wander over to Ben’s website and drop him a few bucks to help get his campaign up and running.
Earlier today, Republican Congressman Peter Roskam voted to cut Medicare payments to physicians, putting at risk access to care and choice of physician for the nations senior citizens, for disabled persons served by Medicare, and for families of U.S. military personnel receiving care through TRICARE, the health care program serving active duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, retirees, and their families and survivors. It was just Peter Roskam’s way of saying thank you to the nation’s elders and soldiers for their hard work and sacrifices for their country, and thank you to the nation’s physicians as well for their efforts on behalf of their patients.
The vote was on H.R.3961 – Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009. Congressional action was required on this bill to prevent physicians caring for seniors and military families from receiving a 21%pay cut in 2010. Such a drastic cut in physician reimbursement would force many physicians caring for seniors and for military families to stop accepting such patients or dratically cut back on the number of physicians. This would result in many patients losing access to their physician of choice and perhaps losing access to care altogether. Roskam himself described the access problem in a letter attacking similar impending cuts back in 2008:
“Despite the rising costs of living, Congress is unwisely poised to cut Medicare payments for physicians, severely limiting access to medical care for an ever growing senior population,” said Roskam. “If such cuts are enacted, Illinois will lose $510 million for the care of elderly and disabled patients over the next year, and $10 billion over eight years. It is my sincere hope the bipartisan support from many of my fellow colleagues will help restore this funding, insuring that Medicare patients can find physicians in their community with the financial ability to treat them.”
Medicare seniors look to their doctor as the key professional in charge of their care. Every aspect of our health care system from hospitals to rural health clinics relies upon the skills and services of physicians. A stable payment structure for physician services is critical. The impending cuts will only destabilize the Medicare program and jeopardize all patients’ access to care if not addressed in a thoughtful manner. It is critical that we work together in a bipartisan fashion to enact legislation early in this year to stop the Medicare cuts.
So Roskam’s support of pay cuts to doctors this time around is based in his obstructive partisanship rather than good policy and he is willing to let everyone suffer for it. DuPage County Seniors, families of servicemen, and physicians should take note of this vote and remember it next fall.
Fortunately, Peter Roskam did not get his way. H.R. 3961 passed by a vote of 243-183. Only a single Republican voted for the bill: Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas. We see once again that all the Republican protestations about supporting the troops are really just so much hot air.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on the passage of H.R. 3961:
“Strengthening Medicare for generations to come is essential to our efforts to reforming health care for all Americans. This legislation will permanently improve the way Medicare pays physicians and in doing so, guarantee that America’s seniors will continue to have access to excellent care through Medicare.
“This legislation is a top priority for seniors and was endorsed by the AARP and the American Medical Association because it protects seniors’ access to their doctor, promotes primary care, and offers incentives for doctors to provide patients with higher quality and more efficient care. Today’s vote by the House keeps our promise to strengthen Medicare, never weaken it.
“As this legislation heads to the Senate, the statutory ‘pay as you go’ budget bill will be added to ensure that we put our nation back on a path of fiscal responsibility and begin to bring down the deep deficits that face our nation.”
My brother used to have a dog, a big mutt, who’d lived only to fetch a green tennis ball. All day long that dog would carry the ball around and beg you to throw it for him. And he’d bring it back and want you to throw it again…and again…and again…all day long. The dog didn’t want to do anything else. And because he had that ball in his mouth all day, it got all wet and slobbery…pretty gross…and you didn’t really want to touch it, but the dog would insist. That was his only trick. I think the dog was kind of dim.
That dog reminds me of Peter Roskam. Peter was at it again today…his one trick…trying to scare the hell out of his constituents, and it is getting pretty old. Roskam proudly tweeted earlier today that his followers should watch him on MSNBC’s Morning Meeting where he had spoken about “Al-Quaeda possibly coming to Illinois”. Turns out he was on with Rep Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Iowa’s 1st District, which is right across the Misssissippi from Thomson, Illinois, home of the prison that is being considered to house inmates presently incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay. Here’s the video:
Roskam spouted the same tired old talking points, trying to scare you. Braley, on the other hand, demonstrated what we would expect from a Congresman: he had been out to the site and inspected it, had been briefed by federal officials, had talked it over with citizens. Why can’t we have a real Representative like Braley, firmly rooted in reality?
Braley wasn’t the only one to call Roskam on his scare tactics. Just yesterday BOTH major Chicago newspapers criticized the antics of Roskam, Mark Kirk, and the other Republican fearmongers.
…when Republicans heard that the Obama administration is looking at buying the largely vacant Thomson Correctional Facility to house some detainees now held at Guantanamo (as well as ordinary maximum security prisoners), they reacted as though Osama bin Laden had been given the keys to a missile silo…
…Give us a break. A super-maximum security prison, such as Thomson would become, is not what most of us associate with the word “neighborhood.” The critics seem to forget that no one has ever escaped from a supermax. If having a terrorist imprisoned on our soil were an invitation for his confederates to slaughter innocent Chicagoans, it would surely have happened already…
…We don’t think the residents of Illinois will buy into the panic the opponents are trying to stoke. And while the change would surely bring economic benefits and jobs to a depressed corner of the state, the best reason for using Thomson for these inmates is that Guantanamo needs to be closed and they have to be locked up securely somewhere…
…It’s a vital responsibility that Illinois citizens are not likely to shirk.
America’s federal prisons are full of people who scare the hell out of us — mob hit men, mass murderers and international terrorists. We arrest and charge such fiends, give them a fair trial and, if they are found guilty, lock them up. We do not quake in fear. We do not shelve our values. We do not cheap out on due process — a fair day in court for even the worst human beings, homegrown or foreign.
…Kirk’s scare talk might do him wonders with the GOP base, but it won’t convince a single terrorist that this nation has a backbone.
Nor will it create a single job in northwest Illinois…
…Federal prisons are skilled in dealing with high-risk inmates (the mobster Frank Calabrese Sr. comes to mind) who try to plot from behind bars. They are subjected to special administrative measures, which typically include solitary confinement, drastic restrictions on visitors and a close eye on all communications.
In the case of the Guantanamo detainees at Thomson, they will be isolated from other prisoners and supervised by the Department of Defense. Under DOD rules, they will be allowed visits only from lawyers.
Guantanamo, where American values go to die, is nothing more than a worldwide recruitment tool for terrorists.
Even Republican stalwarts Grover Norquist, Bob Barr, and and David Keene are critical of Roskam and Kirk’s scare tactics:
The scaremongering about these issues should stop. Using a state of the art but little used prison facility like the one at Thomson, Illinois – with any appropriate security upgrades our law enforcement professionals deem necessary – makes good sense for the tax payers who invested $145 million in the facility and who are seeing millions wasted every month at the costly, inefficient Guantanamo facility. It makes sense for the community which will benefit from the related employment and has absolutely no reason to fear that prisoners will escape or be released into their communities. But most of all it makes sense for America because it is a critical link in the process of closing Guantanamo and getting this country back to using its tried and true, constitutionally sound institutions.
So I wish Peter Roskam would just shut up about Guantanamo and Thomson. His rhetoric is becoming about as attractive as that dog’s slobbery green tennis ball.
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On to health care reform. Peter Roskam emitted another tweet this afternoon pointing to an article he wrote for Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government. (Guess the Tribune and the Sun-Times weren’t taking his calls.) The piece is titled: “Pelosi’s Healthcare Vision: Government Mandate or Jail”. It seems to be aimed directly at the Teabaggers, the only ones, I think who still take Roskam seriously.
Roskam starts out:
“Failing to purchase “acceptable health insurance coverage” could result in a fine punishable “up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” Those are direct quotes from a letter of analysis done by the Joint Committee on Taxation, a non-partisan analysis committee in Congress. While that policy may not be one of Nancy Pelosi’s main talking points about her healthcare takeover legislation, it is an undoubtedly destructive portion of her healthcare bill, part of the reason it passed with only two votes to spare.”
There’s a picture of a scary prison corridor inserted after that paragraph.
Yes, more b.s. on the individual mandate. Yes, the House bill requires most Americans to purchase health insurance, with government subsidy if their income is such that they can’t afford it on their own. And yes, there is a tax that is applied only to those who opt out. The rationale for the mandate and the tax is to try to insure that everyone is covered, because when people who can afford insurance don’t buy insurance, we all end up paying for their care when they get into trouble. In effect, we are all already taxed for their irresponsibility.
When Peter Roskam refers to jail time, what he is really talking about is potential penalties that may apply to people who don’t pay their taxes. It the same as with any tax. If you refuse to pay your federal or state income taxes long enough, eventually you’ll go to jail.
In any event, imprisonment of tax evaders is usually reserved for the most outrageous cases. The letter to Camp notes that the Internal Revenue Service usually pursues unpaid taxes through the civil process — meaning no jail time. In 2008, fewer than 500 people were incarcerated because of the penalties the Republicans are fretting about.
So again, Peter Roskam, is just stirring up needless fear in the minds of his most impressionable constituents. The rest of us are just growing weary and irritated.
On a brighter note:
Our future Congressman, Ben Lowe of Wheaton, today initiated a capability for online donations at his website. I hope everyone will visit and give him some help to get his campaign up and running.
Roskam joined with the also soon-to-be retired Congressman and notable flip-flopper Mark Kirk (who was for closing Guantanamo before he was against it), Congresswoman Judy Biggert, and Congressman Don Manzullo to protest the administration’s proposal to bring prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to a largely unused facility in Thomson, Illinois.
Roskam asserts that that to bring these prisoners to Illinois would put the public at risk and “dissuade businesses from coming to the state”.
“The Obama administration’s utter inability to create jobs here does not somehow make sending some of the world’s worst terrorists to our backyard a good idea,”
And if we are to believe Mark Kirk (who actually voted for the Guantanamo closure before he fell in love with Sarah Palin), Osama Bin Laden himself is likely to take up residence in Skokie and Chicago’s most prominent landmarks immediately destroyed.
All of this is, of course, a big load of hooey. The transfer could produce 2,000-3,000 job in a state that badly needs jobs. And the state has for some time already housed terrorists in federal facilities without any of the problems that the “Frightening Four” predict.
