[Street] "Promoting" Mitt Romney: a big problem!
Jim Recht, MD
occupy at jimrecht.com
Tue Jan 3 18:01:04 EST 2012
Hi All:
I'd love to do another teach-in. I am the chairperson of the local
(Massachusetts) chapter of PNHP, and have a lot of experience leading
discussions and presenting on this issue. Actually, my PNHP colleague
Mardge Cohen and I did do a teach-in on November 5 (I think the video is
available online).
Katie, could we set something like this up? How about as a Monday evening
Community Gathering (sort of like the talk last night on campaign finance
reform?)
Yours Truly,
Jim Recht
occupy at jimrecht.com
On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 5:09 PM, Brian K <bdubkwob at gmail.com> wrote:
> +1 To Jim's comments. Romney's Health Care reform in MA is not a model
> for the nation.
>
> Here is a more in-depth presentation of Physicians for a National Health
> Program's (PNHP) diagnosis of the MA reform.
> http://www.pnhp.org/mass_report/mass_report_Final.pdf
>
> I wonder: can we get PNHP to do a teach-in for Occupy Boston about the MA
> reform, so that we can spread this information more widely?
>
> Brian
>
> On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 10:09 AM, James Recht <occupy at jimrecht.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Katie and All:
>>
>> Thanks so much for this feedback. I think it's a good idea to focus on
>> Romney (though I would def support others who want to bird-dog the whole
>> bad bunch). But I'd argue that to be really effective in nailing Romney,
>> the message needs to be as simple and direct as possible. For example:
>>
>> "RomneyCare: great for profits, bad for health."
>>
>> "RomneyCare: Massachusetts' gift to the insurance industry."
>>
>> "RomneyCare: money-grubbing insurance companies WIN, families & children
>> LOSE."
>>
>> Regarding tonight's Street meeting: I will be running a little late but
>> will try to be there by 5:30 PM! Quick question: will this meeting end by 6
>> (so that people can attend the 6 PM Community meeting)?
>>
>> Yours,
>> Jim Recht
>>
>> On Jan 1, 2012, at 22:53, Katie Gradowski <katie at occupyboston.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hey Jim,
>>
>> I proposed this, as a joke action. Endorsing Romney in any capacity
>> will hardly help his campaign -- that's part of the point.
>>
>> That said, these are facts that I certainly wasn't familiar with, and
>> are certainly worth pursuing. We don't have to do this action, of
>> course (implicitly tying it to Obamacare is also highly problematic), but
>> I'd be interested to get your take on whether there's a good and thoughtful
>> way to do this, or whether we should just scrap it. There is, as yet, no
>> action planned -- it was an idea that I threw out, as a way to get the
>> creative juices going -- so I wouldn't worry about this being too far
>> along.
>>
>> Would you be interested in coming to the Street meeting tomorrow to share
>> your thoughts? It would be great to have your input!
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Katie
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 10:02 PM, James Recht <occupy at jimrecht.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi All:
>>>
>>> I'm writing in response to proposals that OB lead a pro-Romney action at
>>> the NH primary. My understanding is that this would emphasize ex-governor's
>>> leadership in passing the MA Healthcare Reform of 2006 (aka "RomneyCare").
>>>
>>> I want to urge my sisters and brothers here to stop for a moment and
>>> reconsider! The prospect of Occupiers voicing support for RomneyCare is, to
>>> put it mildly, highly problematic. There are a number of reasons this is
>>> so, including the following:
>>>
>>> 1) RomneyCare is not "universal healthcare" -- not by the wildest
>>> longshot. Yes, the law reduced the percentage of people in MA who have no
>>> health insurance at all (from 12% to about 6%) but there are still TENS OF
>>> THOUSANDS of us who have no health insurance here in Massachusetts --
>>> including lots of children and many, many immigrants (both documented and
>>> otherwise).
>>>
>>> 2) RomneyCare effectively forces every single state resident to purchase
>>> a health insurance "product" (aka a health insurance policy) from one of 5
>>> private insurance companies. The result has been an unprecedented financial
>>> windfall for these corporations. United Healthcare, Blue Cross/Blue Shield,
>>> Celticare, etc. We are talking about some of the worst corporate hoodlums
>>> here!
>>>
>>> 3) The percentage of MA residents who have truly awful health insurance
>>> coverage (for example: deductibles of more than $1000 a year, no dental
>>> coverage, no maternity coverage, little or no prescription coverage,
>>> pitifully limited or non-existent mental health coverage) has more than
>>> doubled since the Romney law went into effect 5 years ago.
>>>
>>> 4) RomneyCare resulted in the near-collapse of the statewide healthcare
>>> safety net. Community providers like Boston Medical Center and Cambridge
>>> Hospital as well as the biggest providers of care to the undeserved in
>>> Western MA, have all struggled just to keep their doors open during the
>>> past 5 years. Substance abuse treatment has become difficult or impossible
>>> to obtain for most people. Primary care shortages continue to worsen. And
>>> just ask any public sector nurse what he thinks of Romney's "achievement!"
>>>
>>> 5) The cost of this massive growth of a private health insurance market
>>> in our state has exceeded even the most dire "worst-case" predictions, and
>>> it is largely responsible for the horrible economic situation the state is
>>> now in.
>>>
>>> And the list (of ways in which we residents of Massachusetts have truly
>>> gotten sold out in this regard) goes on. Please note that none of the above
>>> is controversial -- none of it is simply a matter of opinion. For more
>>> background on these issues, check out www.masscare.org (follow the link
>>> to their 2011 report).
>>>
>>> I appreciate that some people who didn't have health insurance before
>>> 2006, have been lucky enough to get a reasonably good policy since then.
>>> But this belies the bigger truth, which is that this law is basically a
>>> mechanism for transferring $$$ from the 99% to the health insurance
>>> industry. It's a testament to the power and skill of the conservative
>>> propaganda machine (aided by the Boston Globe, the "liberal" WBUR and
>>> others) that most individuals aren't familiar with these facts.
>>>
>>> (Why am I familiar with them? I'm a community-trained physician, and I
>>> have been fighting for true universal health care since the 1990's. For the
>>> past 5 years I have been working with an organization named *Physicians for
>>> a National Health Plan* (check us out at PNHP.org) advocating for laws
>>> that would put an end to the private health insurance industry and replace
>>> it with a socialized national insurance system. And I can tell you that
>>> when Ted Kennedy threw his support behind RomneyCare 6 years ago, it was a
>>> terrible betrayal. It was a huge setback for the progressive medical
>>> community -- one that we are still reeling from. But that's another story!)
>>>
>>> Yours,
>>> Jim Recht
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Due to the present financial situation, the light at the end of the
>> tunnel will be switched off to save on electrical costs until further
>> notice.
>>
>>
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