Peter Roskam’s Appalling Record on Gay Rights

On 10.14.09, In Civil Rights, Gay Rights, Human Rights, Peter Roskam, By RSR

In light of this past week’s events – the march on Washington, the President’s speech to the Human Rights Campaign, the vote on federal hate crimes legislation – it seems appropriate to review our own Congressman Peter Roskam’s record on issues of importance to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community. It is not a pretty picture.

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization, labors to achieve full equality for LGBT people. For each Congress, HRC produces a scorecard detailing each representative’s votes and co-sponsorships on issues of key importance to the community. Roskam was first scored for the 110th Congress which ended last year, Roskam’s first term in office.

Roskam scored a zero. That mean’s that Roskam opposed LGBT rights 100% of the time, a distinguished record of legislative homophobia:

  • The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1592) would expand federal jurisdiction to reach serious, violent hate crimes perpetrated because of the victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability. The House passed the bill on May 3, 2007, by a vote of 237-180 (Roll Call Vote No. 299, 1st Session, 110th Congress). Democrats — 212 yes, 14 no,6 not voting; Republicans — 25 yes, 166 no, 10 not voting. HRC supported the bill. Peter Roskam voted NO.
  • Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) offered a motion to recommit promptly the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1592). The motion would amend the bill to add the categories of senior citizens and members of the armed forces to the legislation, but also wouldrefer the bill back to committee, effectively killing the bill. The motion was defeated on May 3, 2007, by a vote of 189-227 (Roll Call Vote No. 298, 1st Session, 110th Congress). Democrats — 9 yes, 216 no, 7 not voting; Republicans — 180 yes, 11 no, 10 not voting. HRC opposed the motion to recommit. Peter Roskam voted to kill the bill.
  • The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3685) would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The House passed the bill on Nov. 7, 2007, by a vote of 235-184 (Roll Call Vote No. 1057, 1st Session, 110th Congress). Democrats — 200 yes, 25 no, 8 not voting; Republicans — 35 yes, 159 no, 6 not voting. HRC supported the bill. Peter Roskam voted against the ban on discrimination.
  • Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) offered a motion to recommit promptly the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3685). The motion stated that the bill would have no impact on state or federal definitions of marriage as being between one man and one woman, but also would refer the bill back to committee, effectively killing the bill. The motion was defeated on Nov. 7, 2007, by a vote of 198-222 (Roll Call Vote No. 1056, 1st Session, 110th Congress). Democrats — 14 yes, 214 no, 5 not voting; Republicans — 184 yes, 8 no, 8 not voting. HRC opposed the motion to recommit. Peter Roskam voted to kill the bill.
  • Members of Congress were asked to co-sponsor legislation, introduced on April 24, 2007, that would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. As of Oct. 3, 2008, the measure had 185 co-sponsors: Democrats 179; Republicans 6. Peter Roskam refused to co-sponsor the legislation.
  • Members of Congress were asked to co-sponsor legislation, introduced on Feb. 28, 2007, that would repeal the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy that denies lesbian, gay and bisexual soldiers the right to serve their country openly. As of Oct. 3, 2008, the measure had 149 co-sponsors: Democrats 146; Republicans 3. Peter Roskam refused to help end discrimination against LGBT soldiers.
  • Members of Congress were asked to co-sponsor legislation, introduced on March 29, 2007, that would equalize tax treatment for employer-provided health coverage for domestic partners and other non-spouse, non-dependent beneficiaries. As of Oct. 3, 2008, the measurehad 120 co-sponsors: Democrats 116; Republicans 4. Peter Roskam refused to work for equality.
  • Members of Congress were asked to co-sponsor legislation, introduced on May 8, 2007, that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents the same immigration benefits that legal spouses of U.S. permanent residents enjoy. As of Oct. 3, 2008, the measure had 119 co-sponsors: Democrats 118; Republicans 1. Peter Roskam refused to help LGBT immigrants.

These coupled with Roskam’s vote last week to defund the military rather than approve federal hate crimes legislation paint a picture of a legislator who is agressively anti-gay. LGBT residents of the 6th District need to pressure Roskam to stop voting against equality.

In case you haven’t seen it, here is President Obama’s speech to the HRC last week. Obama vows to sign the hate crimes legislation and to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. I don’t doubt his sincerity of intent. But I sincerely hope that he will take action sooner rather than later. It is growing harder to rationalize support for a party that has so often disappointed when it comes to LGBT rights.

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Peter Roskam’s Conduct in Honduras Is Treasonous

On 10.09.09, In Foreign Policy, Honduras, Peter Roskam, Peter Roskam's Corporate Agenda, By RSR

Foreign Policy’s The Cable published this piece on Peter Roskam’s recent trip to Honduras to meet with Roberto Micheletti and other members of the right-wing junta that overthrew Honduras’s Democratically-elected president in June. Roskam was interviewed for the article:

Congressman Peter Roskam, R-Ill, also spoke with The Cable just after returning from Tegucigalpa to talk about his delegation and the strategy behind the GOP’s controversial engagement approach…

Although the State Department tried to prevent the delegation from going, U.S. consular officials did assist the delegation logistically, but did not participate in the meetings, Roskam said. The delegation also had a tense meeting with U.S. Amb. Hugo Llorens, in which Roskam described him as being “very defensive.”

“The very consistent theme that was coming across was a sense of bewilderment from all the Hondurans we were meeting with at their treatment by the United States,” Roskam related.

Micheletti acknowledged to the group that he did not have the authority to physically remove Zelaya from the country, but he seeks communication with the U.S. government and was not pleased that the State Department had cut him off.

The conclusion Roskam drew from the trip was that the problem in Honduras won’t be solved until the Nov. 29 election, in which neither Micheletti nor Zelaya is running — that is, if it can meet reasonable standards of freedom and fairness.

U.S. trade with Honduras is at stake, Roskam argued, and is needed to counter the expanding regional influence of anti-American forces such as Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.

This is unbelieveably arrogant, and, I believe, treasonous.

First off, the Republican Party is not entitled to conduct an alternative foreign policy. They lost the Presidential election in November, in no small part because of the horrible mess they made of  U.S. relations  with the rest of the world. They are neither competent to or empowered with conducting foreign policy. That is the role of President Obama.

Second, the policy of the United States of America,  as defined by the President, is that Manuel Zelaya was illegally deposed from power and that the government of Roberto Micheletti is illegitimate and must restore Zelaya to power.  Micheletti admitted to Roskam that he lacked authority for his actions. This policy is shared by the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the European Union. The men Roskam met with constitute a criminal regime and consequently are enemies of the United States.

Third, since Roskam is clearly not acting on behalf of the United States, on whose behalf is he acting? Well, clearly, the criminal dictator Micheletti, who seized power and then terminated the constitutional rights of the press and the people of Honduras. But Roskam told us who he was really acting for when he said this was about trade. He is acting on behalf of the huge U.S. based corporations that do business in Latin America and don’t like the democratically-elected governments because they are supportive of higher wages and better working conditions for those who they employ, endangering their obscene profits.

So Roskam’s project in Honduras is to subvert the legitimate foreign policy of the United States, and give aid and comfort to its enemies, the criminal junta in Honduras, on behalf of another power, the multinational corporations.That sounds like treason to me.

And he complains that the U.S. ambassador is defensive??

Fortunately, in this country, we have the possibility of free and fair elections, at least while the Republicans remain in the minority. 6th District voters should overthrow the treasonous Roskam at the polls in 2010.

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Constituents Meet with Peter Roskam on Healthcare – Get Same Tired Answers

On 10.06.09, In Healthcare, Peter Roskam, By Bridget

Yesterday morning, I visited the Bloomingdale office of Congressman Roskam with other constituents of the 6th district, organized by Siobhan and leaders of faith-based organizations from the area. We had a simple message to give: Your constituents want healthcare reform with a public option! Roskam welcomed us and offered bottled water and began by saying our current healthcare system is not working and he agrees that we need reform. He said that we probably agree about more than we think.

We introduced ourselves and explained what brought us to his office. Each of our group of 16 had a unique reason for being there and I was touched by their stories.

Sally was denied coverage for her family after treating her daughter’s depression, because that depression became a pre-existing condition.

Laura’s father was also denied coverage after doctors thought he had a heart attack. They later diagnosed it as just heart palpitations, but the heart attack had already been documented and became a pre-existing condition.

Linda and Herb have seen their family destroyed by bankruptcy because they could not afford healthcare when they needed it most.

After 20 years managing litigation for an insurance company, Brian recently lost his health insurance after being forced into early retirement. The COBRA has run out and he has bladder cancer, likely caused by Agent Orange that he was exposed to as a soldier in Vietnam. He is not eligible for VA programs because he did not register for benefits during the window he was eligible. His wife, Diane, is eligible for the state program, but cannot afford the premiums.

These were just a few of the stories we shared, briefly, with our Congressman. Our faith-based group leaders added that health for all is Christian. How, as Christians, can we let anyone go sick? Additionally, Frank approached Roskam as a fiscal conservative and discussed the profiteering of the American health industry.

Roskam listened, but did not take notes, nor did the staffer who joined us. He asked a few questions to clarify, but waited for each of us to present our case before responding to the group. He talked about cutting some of the administrative waste within the system and making insurance more accessible, but did not talk specifically about how he plans to do that. He used the Congressional report from Peter Ozag, OMB Director, to defend his position against the public option, citing the $1.5 trillion cost of HR 3200, which is now essentially off the table. He compared President Obama’s goal of being the last President to deal with healthcare to President Bush’s immigration proposals, claiming that both issues will require work for years to come.

Roskam used our stories to refute our requests. He used the problem Brian had with the VA system as an example of the problems of a system run by our government. He cited Diane as being part of the 10 million people without insurance, but did not acknowledge the other 35 million we know are uninsured. He used our lack of time as an excuse to avoid details and made a joke that one of our group members was long-winded. He was the only one who found it funny.

While most of us knew where he stood before we went into his office, Roskam’s demeanor surprised me. He completely lacked any compassion, and he would sigh and readjust in his chair when we made a defense of the public option. While many of us support single-payer, we tried to avoid discussing it as we did not want the meeting to become about his opposition to it. He took each opportunity he could to bring up single-payer and he attempted to refute small details of our arguments rather than addressing the big picture. He asked us to follow up when we talked about 65% of the public supporting a public option. (CBS/NY Times Poll 9/25/09) He repeatedly mentioned that he had been informed it would only be five people, even though Siobhan gave his staff a list of thirteen people the week prior.

Despite Roskam’s reactions, I came away from the meeting feeling empowered. We did our job as citizens by sharing our thoughts, ideas and stories with our representation. I hope that we can find a credible candidate to stand up to Roskam on our behalf soon, but in the meantime, we must continue to represent ourselves. Again and again.

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Peter Roskam Receives Contributions from Lobbyists Acting for Libya

On 10.01.09, In Foreign Policy, Friends of Peter Roskam, Libya, Lobbyists, Peter Roskam, By RSR

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6th District Congressman Peter Roskam and members of his staff were contacted numerous times during 2008 by a Washington lobbying firm acting on behalf of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, that is the government of Libya, and Roskam received 3 campaign contributions, totaling $1500, from one of the lobbyists involved. This according to information provided by the new Foreign Influence Lobbying Tracker produced in a joint venture by ProPublica and the Sunlight Foundation. The tool uses Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) disclosures filed by foreign governments and their representatives to document the influence foreign governments may have over our legislative process.

The lobbying firm involved is the Livingston Group, LLC., founded by former Republican representative and speaker-elect Bob Livingston after he resigned from Congress in 1999 having acknowledged an affair during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.  According to the disclosures, the contacts concerned the possibility of amending a statutory provision against U.S. trade with Libya.  It is not known from the disclosures what commitments, if any, may have been received from Roskam.  The full list of disclosures may be viewed here.

Roskam’s willingness to receive campaign contributions made on behalf of any foreign government is appalling to me as a constituent. That the government involved was that of Libya is outrageous.

Libya has been much in the news in recent weeks. In August, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, convicted of 270 counts of murder in the 1988 bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, was released by the Scotish Government on humanitarian grounds because of a reported terminal illness. He was returned to Libya and given a heroes welcome by the Libyan government. Then, earlier this month, Moammar Gadhafi, “Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”, came to New York to address the 64th United Nations General Assembly. Livingston Group was reportedly involved in negotiations surrounding the Libyan strongman’s plans to visit Englewood, New Jersey and erect a bedouin tent.

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Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam Ties to Notorious Criminal Organization Exposed

On 09.28.09, In Economic Justice, Friends of Peter Roskam, Mark Kirk, Organized Labor, Peter Roskam, Peter Roskam's Corporate Agenda, By RSR

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Anti-labor Republican Representatives Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam addressed the media today calling for the U.S. Census to sever its partnership with the  Service Employees International Union (SEIU) because of SEIU’s alleged ties to the community organization ACORN.  ACORN has been the subject of a right-wing smear campaign of late because of its advocacy work on behalf of low- and moderate-income people and particularly because of its efforts to mobilize voters. Kirk and Roskam, who use their offices to advance the interests of corporate contributors and economic elites and thus hate unions almost as much they hate poor voters, have identified an opportunity to damage SEIU by association and to distract the public from their attempts to block healthcare reform, financial industry regulation, and meaningful legislation to address the threat of global climate change.

The U.S. Census Partners are government, non-profit, corporate or community organizations that have formally pledged their commitment to share the 2010 Census message and mobilize their constituents in support of the Census Bureau’s goal of achieving a complete count. SEIU is just one of many diverse partners. Others include American Baptist Churches of the South, American Library Association, U.S. Conference of Mayors, United Way of America, University of Texas, Meals On Wheels Association of America, Marathon Oil Corporation, Monsanto Company, Boy Scouts of America, Home Depot, General Mills, United Methodist Women, to name just a few.  Roskam and Kirk’s assertion that SEIU somehow presents a threat to the “integrity of the Census” is patently ridiculous.

Meanwhile, in a related development, RSR has learned of Peter Roskam’s and Mark Kirk’s shocking ties to to an actual criminal organization, whose members in recent years have been indicted and/or convicted on a variety of serious criminal charges and have been involved in all manner of sexual impropriety. Members of that organization, the Republican Party, also known as the GOP, have been implicated in numerous implicated of bribery, tax evasion, conspiracy, money laundering, fraud, and obstruction of justice and have engaged in voter suppression, frequented prostitutes, solicited sex in mens rooms and conducted inappropriate sexual chit chat with under-aged Congressional pages. Both Roskam and Kirk have maintained close personal ties with members of the GOP and it is believed that money may have been transferred between the GOP and the Roskam and Kirk campaigns.

While it is yet to be determined whether Roskam and Kirk will be forced to relinquish their offices due to their connections to this corrupt organization, it is clear that the integrity of the Census demands that Roskam, Kirk, and their associates in the GOP be banned from any participation in its conduct.

Here are just a few of the more outrageous examples of Republican impropriety from recent years:

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Jack Abramoff:  A former Republican lobbyist and influence-peddler currently incarcerated at the Federal Correction institute in Cumberland, Maryland.  Abramoff was convicted in 2006 and 2008  of multiple felony counts related to his defrauding several Indian tribes of millions of dollars in gaming revenues and his trading of epensive gifts and trips with Republican legislators in exchange for political favors for his clients.

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Bob Ney:  A former Republican Representative from Ohio’s 18th Congressional district, Ney was convicted in 2006 on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, falsifying financial disclosure forms, in connection with actions he took on behalf of an Abramoff client and a foreign businessman. Ney served 17 months in federal prison. He was released in 2008. Mark Kirk received a campaign contribution from Ney, which he later returned.

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Randy “Duke” Cunningham:  Former Republican Congressman who represented California’s 50th district. Cunningham was convicted in 2005 of federal charges of conspiracy to  commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion. Cunningham used his position on the defense appropriations subcommittee to award contracts to defense contractors in exchange for bribes.  He is currently incarcerated in the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona.

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J. Steven Griles: A former coal industry lobbyist who served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior during the Bush administration. Griles was convicted of obstruction of justice in 2007 after making false statements in the Abramoff investigation. Griles pledged to Abramoff that he would use his authority to block an Indian casino that Abramoff was lobbying against. Griles was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment.

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I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby: Aide to President George W. Bush and Chief of Staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, Libby was convicted of federal charges of obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements to federal investigators in connection with the investigation of the Bush administration’s suspected  “outing” of CIA operative Valerie Plame in retaliation for her husband’s criticism of the Iraq war. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison but his sentence was ultimately commuted by President Bush.

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James Tobin: Chairman of George W. Bush’s New England campaign, Tobin was convicted in 2005 of telephone harrassment in connection with a 2002 Republican plot to jam Democratic Party phone lines and frustrate get-out-the vote efforts. That conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court on a technical issue. Tobin was indicted again in 2008, for making false statements to the FBI in connection with the case.

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Tom DeLay: Late of “Dancing with the Stars”,  DeLay is an ex-exterminator from Texas who served as Republican House Majority Leader until 2005.  DeLay, an associate of Jack Abramoff and recipient of numerous Abramoff gifts, is presently under indictment in Travis County, Texas for conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.  DeLay was lobbied by Abramoff to stop legislation banning sweatshops in the U.S.’s Northern Mariana Islands.  After traveling with Abramoff to the islands, Delay block a bill from consideration that would have granted wage and hour protections to workers there. No criminal charges have yet been filed related to DeLay’s relationship with Abramoff. Peter Roskam is an ex-employee of Tom DeLay. Mark Kirk’s campaign has received funding from Tom deLay’s PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority.

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Larry Craig:  The former Republican Senator from Idaho, Craig was arrested for lewd conduct in a men’s room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport in 2007, after attempting a sexual liason with an undercover police officer. Craig plead guilty, then unsuccessfully tried to retract his initial plea.

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David “Diaper Dave” Vitter: The Republican sitting junior Senator from Louisiana, Vitter confessed in 2007 to having committed “a very serious sin”. That was shortly after his phone number was found to be included in the published list of clientele of the famous “D.C. Madam” , Deborah Jean Palfrey.  He was also alleged to have been a regular customer of New Orleans’ “C anal Street Madam”. Vitter is running for re-election to his Senate seat in 2010.

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Mark Foley: Former Republican Representative from Florida’s 16th District. Foley resigned his seat in 2006 after it became public knowledge that Foley had sent sexually explicit text messages and suggestive emails to under-aged males then serving as, or who formerly served as, pages in the House. During the subsequent investigation, it became clear that Foley had been previously been warned about his conduct by the Republican leadership but that nothing had been done to remove him from contact with the pages.

And that’s just the short list.

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Roskam’s Medi-Fraud Alert Highlights Obama’s Vigorous Efforts to Combat Medicare Fraud

On 07.01.09, In Barack Obama, Economic Justice, Healthcare, Peter Roskam, By RSR

In his address to a joint session of Congress on February 24, 2009, President Obama, at the very outset of his administration, promised to “root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in our Medicare program that doesn’t make our seniors any healthier.” In recent days, we have begun to see the President’s promise become a reality.

Obama’s  F.Y. 2010 budget proposal, released on May 10, included a $1.7 billion increase over five years to the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program. That program, under the joint direction of the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services, was established in 1996 by The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), under President Clinton.

On May 20, new Attorney General Eric Holder and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new interagency effort, the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), to combat Medicare fraud. HEAT will build on efforts begun with significant success under the Bush administration:

The HEAT team will include senior officials from DOJ and HHS who will build upon and strengthen existing programs to combat fraud while also investing new resources and technology to prevent fraud, waste and abuse before it happens. Efforts will include the expansion of joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams that have been successfully fighting fraud in South Florida and Los Angeles. Established in 2007, these teams have a proven record of success using a “data-driven” approach to identify unexplainable billing patterns and investigating these providers for possible fraudulent activity. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force team operating in South Florida has already convicted 146 defendants and secured $186 million in criminal fines and civil recoveries. After the success of operations in South Florida, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force expanded in May 2008 to phase two in Los Angeles, where 37 defendants have been charged with criminal health care fraud offenses. To date in the Los Angeles cases, more than $55 million has been ordered in restitution to the Medicare program.

“We know these strike forces work. I believe a targeted civil and criminal enforcement strategy in these locations will have a substantial impact on deterring fraud and abuse, protecting patients and the elderly from scams, and ensuring that taxpayer funds are not stolen,” said Attorney General Holder.

Republican Congressman Peter Roskam recently established his “Medi-FraudAlert” blog on his Congressional web site as a “forum to discuss the massive waste, fraud and abuse in the current Medicare and Medicaid systems”. Roskam absurdly states these costs could reach $500 billion annually. (The total cost of Medicare is only about $450 billion.) But the costs of fraud are significant – 3% or more of total health expenditures, 10.5% of federal Medicaid expenditures by one estimate. Roskam’s blog does a good job of highlighting some of the Obama administration’s early successes in combating fraud:

June 25:  A day after a $100 million fraud was exposed, yesterday, 53 people were indicted in a $50 million Medicare fraud scheme spanning from Detroit to Miami. The scheme involving patients, doctors, medical assistants and company owners, focused on Medicare claims submitted for unnecessary or never delivered treatments mostly for HIV-related drugs and physical therapy treatments.

June 29: Friday, eight Miami-area residents were arrested and charged with attempting to defraud Medicare for $22 million – having already paid out $15.3 million of those claims from Medicare. The Miami Herald reports that this was the prosecutors’ “first crackdown on home healthcare offenders in a decade.” In this case, two firms were raided, had their bank accounts frozen, and stand accused of filing bogus claims mostly for homebound diabetic services. ABC Home Health Care submitted $17 million in false claims since January 2006, and has already been paid $11.3 million in taxpayer money. Florida Home Health Care Providers filed $5.5 million in false claims since October 2007, being compensated with $4 million of taxpayer money.

June 30: Yesterday, a Miami doctor was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay more than $9 million in restitution for his part in a Medicare fraud scheme where he ultimately filed $20 million in false claims. The physician, Roberto Rodriguez, billed for fake HIV infusion services at six Miami-area HIV infusion clinics.

But Roskam, of course, has not created this blog because he wants the public to know how effective the administration has been so early in combatting fraud. Rather, Peter Roskam is using the existence of Medicare/Medicaid fraud as an excuse to subvert Democratic efforts to make quality healthcare coverage available to all American citizens, something to which he is ideologically opposed.

Roskam appeared this morning on WBIG 1280 AM this morning promoting his blog. He bemoaned the fact that physicians are reimbursed at such a low rate by Medicare and Medicaid due to the excessive expenditures on fraud and abuse and reiterated that he thought it unwise to pursue universal coverage with fraud so rampant. Roskam offered no solutions however for the 45 million Americans who have no health coverage. He did not even acknowledge them. Under the Roskam plan, they are on their own. You can listen to Roskam here:

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I think Roskam’s focus on Medicare fraud is a lame excuse for not doing what basic justice and decency require – that we provide healthcare to every American. If you agree with me, I encourage you give Peter Roskam a call and demand universal coverage now.  Tell him we’ve got blogs aplenty, we need a health plan. (You can attempt to post a comment on his blog but I expect that will be a waste of time as they are screening out unfavorable comments).  You can reach Peter Roskam at (202) 225-4561 in Washington or at (630) 893-9670 in Bloomingdale.

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