[Street] "Promoting" Mitt Romney: a big problem!
Brian K
bdubkwob at gmail.com
Tue Jan 3 17:09:32 EST 2012
+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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