Lubbock Left

I was driving around the Loop (a preferred recreational activity for us Lubbockites) a little while ago, enjoying the sunny day, the music coming out of my speakers, and the fact that I wasn’t coughing up a lung or running a fever any longer. I had a bit of the ol’ government flu this past week, along with roughly half of Lubbock, apparently. So, naturally, my thoughts turned to my own health and how I got out of my recent sickness.

I thought about how lucky I was to have friends and family to take care of me. I thought about the relatively cheap generic drugs that, along with lots of bed rest, cured me. I thought about the impact to my business (and income) that would happen from missing most of a work week. I thought about health insurance. Like nearly 50 million Americans, I have none. And then I had a thought that really irked me:

How messed up is it that my car has better insurance than I do?

Answer: very.

And what’s even more mind-boggling is that I am required by law to have insurance for my vehicle. What does it say about our priorities when we will legislatively protect our property more than our health, and our neighbor’s property more than our neighbor’s health?

Let’s fight to keep health care one of the focal points of this 2008 election cycle. Whether it’s at the state level or at the national level, we need to get something moving to fix our broken health care situation.

My friend Tommy Sellers has finished a redesign of his website TommySellers.Com. He’s one of the first real masters of IT in the area, having run Lubbock’s first Internet Service Provider as well as an Apple store.

I’m plugging Tommy’s website here because he has lots of useful LOCAL content and links. He also covers a lot of ground in areas of interest to this blog: education, health care, consumer issues, and senior issues to name a few.

Thanks, Tommy, for this great resource!

Surprise, surprise. The fourth veto of Bush’s presidency is against expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The A-J covered the story today.

For a refresher, Bush’s previous vetoes are:

1. Embryonic Stem Cell Research, September 2006
2. Iraq Spending Bill with withdrawal timetable, May 2007
3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research again, June 2007

Congress really should hold his feet to the fire even more. Make Bush follow through on veto threats and let the American people see how far off he is from the mainstream of society. Then, remind voters which of their representatives have been Bush puppets and enablers all these years.

Okay, wow. Now I’ve heard everything.

State Senator Robert Duncan just smacked down Robert Pratt when talking about CHIP on today’s show. He made the excellent point that managing CHIP well — in other words, helping as many kids have health insurance as possible — brings federal money to the state that alleviates the financial burden on local and regional health care providers. The federal government provides 73% federal matching funds for CHIP. That federal matching money means that local hospitals — who would have to provide the care anyway — will have the care paid for. Cheaper local government services, a reduction in taxes paid by local taxpayers… conservatives should be hand-in-hand (not in a gay way, Robert) with progressives on CHIP.

Duncan also spoke about the need for a unified Republican Party going into the 2008 elections. It’s good advice, but good luck with getting anyone to listen…

Last night’s Lubbock Democracy for America Health Care Forum was an interesting experience. The panel was great — very engaging and a good balance of professionals in different areas of health care. The discussion was great too (there were about 25 people there), with questions and personal stories that kept it fresh and moving.

One of the consensus thoughts from the audience was that America needs to expand its government health insurance program. Medicare / Medicaid could be expanded more or less as they are now, but in a more universal way. In other words, the battle for universal coverage does not have to be won all at once. Also, to show what is currently on the legislative table, copies of HR 676, John Conyers’s bill for single-payer universal health care, were made available at the forum.

A few moments stick out in my mind. There was some interesting back-and-forth between two panelists about tort reform. There were also spirited-but-not-mean exchanges between audience members about achieving a balance of business-driven and government-backed health care coverage. One woman, an American who has lived much of her life in England, raved about the national health system there.

Overall, I was very excited to see people getting together to talk about health care in a serious way for the first time in a decade or so. The tide is turning on this issue, and I think real progress will be made in the next few years.

(No pictures this time — forgot my camera.)

Lubbock Democracy for America is hosting a public forum about healthcare on this coming Monday, September 10. It will start at 7:00 p.m. at the Science Spectrum, which is at 2579 S Loop 289
between Indiana & University.

The event will feature a panel of professionals in the healthcare industry. The panel members are:

• Rev. Ted Dotts
• Dr. Rufus Mark
• Jennifer Bard, J.D.
• Dr. Elizabeth Davidson

You can learn more about the event and RSVP for it at the event page on the DFA website.

I saw Garnet Coleman, one of Texas’ finest Democratic leaders, speak at the monthly Texas Democratic Women meeting today. He was wonderful, and his appearance brought the biggest turnout I have ever seen at a local TDW meeting (I have been to a few).

He talked quite a bit about the Speaker’s race, education, CHIP, and other priorities for 2008-2009. If events unfold as they are trending, we’ll see a new speaker (odds are good that there will be 76 people pissed off at Craddick), a Democratic majority in the State House, restored funding to CHIP, re-regulated college tuition, and a public school funding system that makes sense and actually funds our schools.

In what I couldn’t help but think was a remarkable coincidence, Coleman referred several times to Grover Norquist’s rhetoric about shrinking the government, which was the same rhetoric on my mind earlier this week for the Katrina anniversary. What is sad is that the Norquist school of neoconservatism — which is nothing short of an attempt to totally dismantle our government — has been the policy of the Republican overlords at the federal and state level since 2001. His point was very dire: the neocons are succeeding in their attempt to cripple government. Look at CHIP: 230,000 kids cut + 100,000 kids restored = still 130,000 kids not covered while Texas’ population continues to boom. Worse, Bush is now playing the same games with CHIP at the federal level. Sometimes I feel like Texas is the playpen for the most vile Republican policies out there.

But, there’s hope. With seasoned, effective leaders like Garnet Coleman (along with Jim Dunnam and Pete Gallego) and high-performing newcomers like Crosbyton’s own Joe Heflin, I think our odds of making things better for Texans in 2008 and beyond are looking pretty good.

Edit: The A-J covered the event.

Last night I caught a showing of Michael Moore’s “Sicko” with a group of fellow progressive Democrats. It was a great experience!

People criticize Moore for being a propagandist, and I think it’s a fair criticism because he makes frequent use of propaganda film techniques to persuade his audience. However, this film is based on facts and is advocating for something this country needs: a healthcare system that takes care of the poorest among us as well as the wealthiest among us.

Check out the CNN debacle for proof of how Moore can back up his facts.