[Street] "Promoting" Mitt Romney: a big problem!

Katie Gradowski katie at occupyboston.org
Wed Jan 4 13:38:07 EST 2012


I think that would be fantastic.    Maybe we can discuss it at Monday's
outreach meeting?


On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 6:01 PM, Jim Recht, MD <occupy at jimrecht.com> wrote:

> 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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>>
>


-- 
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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