pirates of the care

Well as usual we didn't get much chance to read the health care bill. No wonder, its a mile thick and as illegible as a dour corporate lawyer can make it. As usual there are a few spoons of sugar to help the medicine go down but this medicine isn't going to make anyone well, no sir, this is all about ...you guessed it, money, in the form of corporate profits that is. Yup, in the new health insurance law Congress passed, there is a mandate that all states must have an insurance market exchange operating by January 1, 2014. Further, on or before January 1, 2013, if the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that a state will not have an exchange ready by January 1, 2014, the Secretary shall establish and operate the exchange for that state.

Even more significant, States cannot request a waiver to set up a different plan until 2017. There is no wiggle room, the law is the law. There is no opt-out language. This is a clear mandate that exchanges be established in every state by 2014. States are required to spend the time, money and resources to set up and operate the insurance exchange. They may choose to have one or two or more exchanges or set up regional exchanges. A single payer type plan or a public option with or without an exchange is not allowed. Thus, as things stand, states cannot experiment with any approach that is not based on the private insurance market exchange model until 2017, after they have set up an exchange or the federal government has set one up for them.

I guess they didn't like the Greens idea of everyone covering everyone in a way that profits everyone instead of just a few. They do resist pretty much any good idea. It seems to me they've well proven themselves irresponsible citizens, that's polite speak for crooks, and that they deserved to be put out of business. Instead we'll have big healthcare markets dominated by a few big companies with a lot of names. Kind of like buying a candy bar, you think there are a lot of choices but its usually only 3 companies products. We can expect much more of this now that the Supreme Court has allowed corporations to patent living organisms, yes they want to own all the seed, and eliminated all limits on how much they could spend on political campaign, yes they want to one all the politicians. Gosh, I thought they already owned Congress. Oh well, now that we have company owned electronic elections I hope you've all said your good-byes to decency and democracy. Those who called this plan socialism need to study the difference between socialism, corporatism and fascism, and perhaps eat their words. I'll provide the salt.

Green Tea Party

While I have a different view on many issues, I get the feeling that at a deep level we have very much the same concerns as tea party people. The Constitution is being trampled, the wealth of the nation is being wasted, the government is more and more intruding into our lives, education is a joke, the health care bill is unbelievably horrible, we're over-extended in mad wars, and the list goes on. At this level I think we are mostly in agreement. Where we part ways is when the enemy is identified as liberals, progressives, the poor, the addicted, the obese, the immigrant, the handicapped, the others who are different in almost any way. We all know where that brand of disgust leads and believe me we do not want to go there. Having elected Obama on a Tsunami of hope after the disaster of Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush, America is waking up but they're still pretty groggy and confused. Republican extremists are trying to exploit that confusion but I'm hoping they will soon see through that nonsense and realize it is the corporatist democratic and republican parties both that got us into this mess. One is as culpable as the other but we should look beyond them for the answers, beyond them to the industrialist bankers and their corporations that dominate our political system, which even includes the Supreme Court apparently as they concur with them that only money should rule. I am encouraged to see Americans getting off their couches and on their feet but it is a well informed citizenry that is required and if they continue to listen to the political pundits on TV, as has been proven, they will know less and less. I would very much like to sit down with you, drink some green tea, and talk about the future. I think we will need to take care of one another in order to get to the world we all want.

keep our mountains ...green

Hi All, this is something I support without reservation, keep our mountains green.

Tennessee Conservation Voters Applauds EPA's Order to Curb Mountaintop Removal Mining, Calls on Tennessee Legislature to Pass Bi-partisan Scenic Vistas Legislation

NASHVILLE- Tennessee Conservation Voters releases the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency's order to ban moutaintop removal mining: Chris Ford, TCV Executive Director: "Today TCV and our member organizations and many partners throughout the state join our Appalachian brothers and sisters to gratefully celebrate the EPA's announcement by Administrator Lisa Jackson to significantly curb the senselessly destructive practive of Mountaintop Removal Mining in Appalachia." "Banning Mountaintop Remvoal Mining in Tennesee has been a top priority for Tennessee Conservation Voters, committed citizens and the faith community throughout our state for quite some time. I could not agree more with Administrator Jackson----our mountain people should not have to choose between their health, safety and job security. Sound economic development that is sustainable for future generations is the only reasonable solution to protect our mountain heritage and Tennessee way of life. Correcting the injustice visited among Appalachians for the benefit of the wealthy hundreds of miles away is long overdue. "On this Good Friday I am reminded of a scripture passage that exhorts us to let justice roll down like water----CLEAN WATER! We are grateful that many prayers have been answered, but diligent in our resolve to continue forward in our work for clean water, clean air, healthy living and economically strong communities in our mountain communities. Our organization now calls upon our Tennessee elected officials to codify these orders and pass the bipartisan Scenic Vistas legislation presently before the Tennessee House and Senate to stop this destructive practice in Tennessee before it spreads any further. Our future lies before us with endless possibilities for cleaner energy solutions---stand up and be counted as those who are demanding justice and healthy living for Appalachian Tennesseans." ###

Running through the green hills

HI all, I am running for governor of Tennessee again. Why, you might ask, would I do that? Well I could say because I think we need a better government, one that represents the interests of common people, one that does not roll over for large corporations. Or because I think we need a public bank like North Dakota has that protected it from the recent Wall Street shenanigans, or because we need a single-payer health care system like Canada, one that cares not excludes. Or because we need to build a state economy based on producing the essential needs of Tennesseans first, food, housing, medicine, clothing, fuel, etc.. Those are all good reasons however my main motivation today is because we need to open up the current corrupt political process to all parties so we can begin to reclaim the rights and responsibilities of a free people as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. And as part of that to make reparations to natives, former slave families, the land, the water and the air, without whom we would have nothing.