PA Healthcare Lobby Efforts from Chuck P

If you haven't done so already, please contact the following Members of the Health and Human Services Committee of the House of Representatives. Tell them you appreciate their co-sponsoring House Bill 1660, the "Family and Business Healthcare Security Act" and also their pushing for hearings on HB 1660 at the earliest possible moment.

Yours in unity,

Chuck Pennacchio
____________________________________________

Health & Human Services

Oliver, Frank Louis, Chairman
Seip, Tim, Secretary
Myers, John, Subcommittee Chairman on Human Services
Pashinski, Eddie Day, Subcommittee Chairman on Drugs and Alcohol
Wheatley, Jake, Subcommittee Chairman on Health
Kenney, Jr.,George T., Chairman
Benninghoff, Kerry A., Subcommittee Chairman on Human Services
Reichley, Douglas G. , Subcommittee Chairman on Health
Sonney, Curtis G., Subcommittee Chairman on Drugs and Alcohol

Bishop, Louise Williams
Cruz, Angel
Curry, Lawrence H.
Kirkland, Thaddeus
Manderino, Kathy
McIlvaine Smith, Barbara
Mundy, Phyllis
Payton, Jr.,Tony J.
Shimkus, Frank Andrews
Smith, Ken
Waters, Ronald G.
Cutler, Bryan
Gingrich, Mauree
Kauffman, Rob W.
Mackereth, Beverly
McIlhattan, Fred
Ross, Chris
Taylor, John
True, Katie
Watson, Katharine M.



FAMILY & BUSINESS HEALTHCARE SECURITY ACT
SENATE BILL 300 - HOUSE BILL 1660

#1 Visit our website at http://healthcare4allpa.org to learn more and to educate others.
#2 Lobby your State Legislators using the talking points below. Find your representative at: http://healthcare4allpa.org/legislators.htm
#3 Write letters to the editor, using the talking points below.
#4 Donate $10, $25, $50 – whatever you can – to our volunteer, citizen-centered education and lobbying effort: http://healthcare4allpa.org/donate.htm
#5 Circulate a petition and return it to us:
http://healthcare4allpa.org/documents/petition_s.pdf


Talking points:
1.4 million Pennsylvanians have no health insurance. Millions more are underinsured. Untold thousands more think they have good coverage until the corporate-run insurance company rejects their claim based on technicalities, "pre-existing" conditions—or denies life-saving procedures arbitrarily defined as "experimental."
We are left with a system that delivers reduced preventive care; delayed treatment; difficulty seeing specialists; costly co-pays & deductibles, and caps on treatment costs.
Single-payer universal healthcare replaces the "Medical-Industrial-Complex" of corrupt insurance companies and their allies with a simple plan using existing State and Federal funds, a 3% earnings tax and a 10% business payroll tax (a huge savings for most individuals and employers). The outcome would be an improved Medicare-For-All system of publicy-funded, priavtely-provided universal healthcare.
Once Pennsylvania demonstrates to the nation what 87 countries have already discovered, single-payer universal healthcare will become national policy along the lines of Congressman John Conyers' HR 676. Congressman Conyers made this point precisely when he came to Pennsylvania in April to endorse the "Family and Business Healthcare Security Act."
Over 100 Pennsylvania State Legislators have had discussions with Health Care for All Pennsylvania, and nearly half of them have signed up as co-sponsors.

As the only statewide single-payer campaign in the nation with bills before the House and the Senate, as well as the commitment of our Governor to sign the legislation upon reaching his desk, Pennsylvania is stands to lead the nation out of this crisis, much as we did in 1776.

Consider:
• Administrative costs for greedy insurance companies exceed 30% of the cost of healthcare compared to just 3% for Medicare. (This step would save Pennsylvania taxpayers 6-7 billion dollars.)
• The U.S. already spends double what most industrialized
countries spend per person on healthcare.
• 18,000 Americans die annually from being uninsured.
• Thousands of the insured die from services denied or
delayed by insurance companies.
• Life expectancy in the U.S. is among the shortest in the
industrialized world.
• Infant mortality rate in the U.S. is among the highest in the industrialized world. Only Latvia is worse.
• We pay far more per person than any other country.
• Approximately 50% of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. relate directly to medical bills.

Senate Bill 300
House Bill 1660

YOU MAKE THE DIFFERENCE. So act now and spread the word. Remember, we have the economic (savings, efficiency, competitiveness), moral (lives saved and enhanced), and democratic (65% of citizens want it) high grounds. Now we need to put our citizen power to work and demand single-payer universal healthcare!

Thanks for all you do.

Yours in unity,
Chuck
Chuck Pennacchio, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Health Care for All Pennsylvania
Chuck@HealthCare4ALLPA.org


HEALTHCARE FOR ALL PENNSYLVANIA
For more information, or to make a contribution, contact:
Health Care for All Pennsylvania
P.O. Box 828
Levittown, PA 19058

http://healthcare4allpa.org

The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Mayor's Office Celebrates Entire Week -- without fumbles!

The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Mayor's Office Celebrates Entire Week of Not F@#&ing Up: Late in the day, the Mayor decided against selling high school drop outs to UPMC for organ harvesting purposes.

Field trip chaperone tackles man trying to nab 4-year-old :: Naperville Sun :: News

Good news from a suburban midwest mall.

Field trip chaperone tackles man trying to nab 4-year-old :: Naperville Sun :: News Field trip chaperone tackles man trying to nab 4-year-old

Way to go dad. Gives added meaning to the slogan that Chicago is the city with big shoulders.

Live...From New York! It's PA Society weekend! (Heard in the Hall)

First, these guys make careers off of getting drunk off of public funds, then they get drunk on the real stuff, but in NYC to avoid the 'drink tax' that they left for us to pay, locally.

Live...From New York! It's PA Society weekend! (Heard in the Hall) The weekend that Pennsylvania politicos have been awaiting all year finally arrived, with less intrigue than last year but as much liquor as ever.

My slow down in blogging is NOT because I went off to New York.

Last night was a big night on East Carson Street in the South Side. We had Donnie Iris on one side of the street and Todd Rundgren on the other. Tonight there is a line outside of Club Cafe to see another popular act (sold out) and songwriter.

The Republican Eagle | Rauterkus and Simonson may fill out Port board

The Republican Eagle | Rauterkus and Simonson may fill out Port board: "Rauterkus and Simonson may fill out Port board"

Not me, but an 'open-minded' post.

Book Explodes Swift Boat Myths

Newsmax.com - New Book Explodes Swift Boat Myths: The foreword for the book was written by John E. O'Neill, the lead spokesman for the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth in 2004. One chapter that underscores the impact of the new media on the campaign has been made available online at ToSetTheRecordStraight.com. 'Rather's Ruin and the Rise of the Pajamahadeen' tells how ordinary citizens with computers exposed the phony documents '60 Minutes' used to attack George Bush's National Guard service, effectively ending Dan Rather's career at CBS News.

Sample chapter in PDF format.

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Inkscape. Draw Freely.

Inkscape. Draw Freely. About Inkscape An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.

I've not used it, yet. Reactions welcome.

Ravenstahl, Onorato flush with cash

Poisionous snakes. That's all I have to say. (Inside Oak Hill joke with PittRants.)

Ravenstahl, Onorato flush with cash The $83,610 Mr. Ravenstahl raised during the month prior to the deadline was bolstered by $23,000 in donations on Nov. 8 from Boston-area residents, almost all of whom are listed on the report as associates of the developer Beacon/Corcoran Jennison. That developer, which plans to add to its Oak Hill public-private housing community under a deal the mayor brokered, hosted him in Boston Sept. 26.

Been "no mail" for more than 24 hours

I've been without the internet for more than a day. I'm still alive!

My wife is in Chicago. That hasn't killed us either.

But, we come Sunday -- its the Steelers vs. Patriots. I live with these big New England fans.... But, we'll attending a Christmas concert that starts at 3:30 pm on Sunday at the PPG Wintergarden. Violins are finished at 4:05. Hope the game is still a game by then.

That could be the end of us. Catherine comes home Saturday.

#21 -- RIP

We know #21 for baseball.

Another who wore that number, in another sport, was put to rest this weekend.

Click comments for David's statements.

Just today as I walked Grant to school, as the snow started to build, Grant and I talked about his first day of basketball practice slated for after school. He's on a team of 4th and 5th graders. One of his concerns -- picking a number for his jersey.

He asked what number he should pick.

Good question.

I didn't have a good answer.

Of course, the 5th graders get the first pick.

I told him that when I played basketball, we could only use numbers that a ref could display with two hands. Number ranges were 1 to 5, 10 to 15, 20 to 25, 30 to 35, 40 to 45 and 50 to 55. That's it. How old fashioned, I guess.

Swimmers don't wear any numbers. They should, I guess.

Meanwhile, Erik has his first swim meet today. He got is swim suit yesterday. A blue pair of lycra jammers with FRICK on the leg. Erik is more of a brief kinda-guy. Talk of old fashioned.

Guys today want to wear baggy shorts -- even in swim races. Might as well play basketball games and only shoot 3-point shots and never make a lay-up.

Oh, they do that these days too.

Can't wait for The City Game tonight. I'm sure we'll win!

tribalmedia: Media Blog, says the wait for iPhone's SDK is due to M$

tribalmedia: Media Blog Microsoft - The real reason for an iPhone SDK About a year ago I wrote about the success a full blown SDK for Apple's iPhone's and iPod's would have. And then came the iPhone and there was no SDK and no way to write applications for it. That all changed a month ago when Apple announced that they would release an SDK in February. Now everyone is happy and excited.

Speculation.

What about OpenOffice.org's effort to port to the iPhone?

Pittsburgh Pist-Gazette and school insights

Don't worry. This was the year that the district was to focus upon 'discipline.' (giggle)

Pittsburgh Pist-Gazette Why couldn’t we do what was done when Ms. Pist was young? At that time in ancient history “bad kids” got sent to “bad kid schools.” These unruly delinquents were heavily disciplined in “special schools.” They were made to behave and as a consequence sometimes they actually learned. If their behavior improved, they could rejoin the mainstream schools. If not, then at least their disruptive (sometimes criminal) actions would not deprive other kids of a decent education.

The PPS opened a new school -- almost prison-like. It is run by outside contractors. It costs plenty. An update would be nice. You're on that with 'Conroy.'

Another school that would help -- a Vo Tech High School. Some kids get jazzed about working with their hands in real world situations. Some kids are not cut out for college.

Lots of kids who were attending South Vo Tech, before it closed, were in other high schools first. Then they opted out of that school and found a home and a 'family of learing' at South, unlike what the other schools offer.

Plus, we also have Schuman Center -- a 'jail for kids.' That too is busting at the seams.

Bigotry of low exectations. College scholarships to those with a 2.0 GPA.

Mark Roosevelt scored with the Pittsburgh Promise as it gets kicked off with the first big -- B-I-G -- donation.

On the radio Mark Roosevelt, politician turned school superintendent, spoke of fighting the bigotry of low expectations. Now college scholarships are going to those with those who are able to graduate from Pgh Public Schools with a 2.0 G.P.A.

Mayor Ravenstahl said he is 'terribly excited.'

Marty Griffin, KDKA Radio, said that the downside was that he would have been able to use the money a couple of years ago to go to college. His was a dig at the youthfulness of the mayor. But, Mayor Luke went to North Catholic, a Catholic School -- not a school in the PPS district. He would have NOT been eligible. And, North Catholic is moving out of the city -- and out of the county.

UPMC is stepping up.

China says it welcomes reporters to cover Beijing Olympics in 'fair and objective' way - Tuesday December 4, 2007 3:49PM

SI.com - More Sports - China says it welcomes reporters to cover Beijing Olympics in 'fair and objective' way - Tuesday December 4, 2007 3:49PMChina said Tuesday it welcomes journalists covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, responding to complaints by a media rights group that the Communist regime has decided to clamp down on reporting in the run-up to the games.

I love that play on words. "The run-up to the games." One would hope that there would be a lot of 'run-ups' to the Olympics!

Once you are there, in China, eating the local food, expect that there will be a lot of "run outs" as well, if you know what I mean.

The tastes, smells, cooking, eating, meals, drinks and splendid socialized eating are to be enjoyed -- after the athletes compete in their main events. Soak it all up. Sample each course, and there are often many of them, post-game.

I hope I'm not turned back by the officials. Worse yet would be hitting a road block on the other leg of the trip -- being detained.

At least this is the summer games and there won't be any ice hockey teams there to trash the Olympic Village(s).

Journalist do need to be watched. Frankly they are not that trustworthy these days.

Speaking of Police -- and the witch hunt

The conversation in City Council turned to the police again, today. OMG, I can't even believe how The FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) boss can talk about a 'witch hunt' in terms of the 'time out' that heads to officers who have been served with a PFA (protection from abuse order). He mentioned those words again today --
'witch hunt.' He used them before on Halloween, Oct 31. I thought he had to have been joking. On Halloween, it is easy to find a witch. Hunting isn't even that necessary. They find you that day.

"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

A 60-second promo of a show, speaking of police, that I've been soaking up via podcasts. http://www.freetalklive.com/files/FTLpromocorruptcops.mp3

Jim Brown Productions -- now out -- the film: The Power of Song

Jim Brown Productions Pete Seeger: The Power of Song in theaters now!

Teacher, What do you make?

Well, we know more as to what Jo Pa makes as the football coach at Penn State University.

What Do Teachers Make?

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do… Those who can't, teach."

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make?" (She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about the USA while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant.... You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw had dropped. He stayed silent.

THIS IS WORTH SENDING TO EVERY TEACHER YOU KNOW. Even all your personal teachers like mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and your spiritual leaders/teachers - Pastor's/Priests/Clergy.

Republicans Plot to Rig the 2008 Election

Johann Hari | Republicans New Plot to Rig the 2008 Election If this were being done in every state, everywhere, it would be an improvement. California's forgotten Republicans would be represented in the Electoral College, and so would Texas' forgotten Democrats. But by doing it in California alone, they are simply giving the Republicans a massive electoral gift. Suddenly it would be extremely hard for a Democrat ever to win the White House; they would need a landslide victory everywhere else to counter this vast structural imbalance against them on the West Coast.

National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute

National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute Washington - Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen. It's expanding by about $1.4 billion a day - or nearly $1 million a minute.

What's that mean to you?

It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States.