There is no real Healthcare plan without UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE COVERAGE FOR EVERY CITIZEN.
There is NO GOOD REASON not to provide healthcare for everyone in the United States. The function of government is to provide citizens with what is not easily done independently by each citizen.
It should be obvious to the people who make policy for the United States that healthcare is one of the services that qualifies for government help.
We share costs of defense against invaders to our country. We share costs of emergency healthcare for people who don't have private health insurance. We share costs of water quality regulations. We share costs of regulating food and safe drugs to fight disease. We share the cost of food inspection and regulations. We share the costs of roads and transportation. We share the costs of trash disposal. I could go on and on. We share the costs of many services that we can't provide for ourselves.
We should share the cost of providing healthcare for every one of us.
The USA waste money every day on stuff that is either not necessary or that we can easily do for ourselves.
Government provided healthcare is the right thing to do.
We need UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE COVERAGE FOR EVERY CITIZEN ---NOW !!!!
Showing posts with label civil rights and voting rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civil rights and voting rights. Show all posts
DC Voting Rights Update
The District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 is moving quickly through Congress. The Senate passed the bill late on February 26. NC Senator Burr voted against the bill. NC Senator Hagan voted for the bill.
Click here to see how all Senators voted.
Despite this victory, the fight is not over yet. In fact, it has only just begun! The House of Representatives is slated to begin debate on the bill and a vote is expected to be scheduled as soon as possible.
More Info
Click here to see how all Senators voted.
Despite this victory, the fight is not over yet. In fact, it has only just begun! The House of Representatives is slated to begin debate on the bill and a vote is expected to be scheduled as soon as possible.
More Info
ARE YOU REPRESENTED IN CONGRESS ???
NOT IF YOU LIVE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Citizens of the District of Columbia pay U.S. taxes, fight and die for the U.S. during wartime, and are governed by the laws that Congress passes. And yet they have no voting representation in Congress. We must right this wrong!
DC has an elected representative in the US House, but the DC Representative doesn't have a vote. Please call your Senators and ask them to support S 160, that gives DC a voting representative in Congress.
Senators are poised for a critical vote on Tuesday, February 24 -- a cloture motion -- which requires the support of 60 Senators. If cloture fails, the Senate will not even be able to consider this vital voting rights measure.
Make your voice heard with those of other activists around the country. Ask your friends, family and others to call as well. No US Citizen should have taxation without representation.
A LITTLE HISTORY: On Friday, September 21, 2007, The United States Senate failed to invoke cloture on the DC Voting Rights Act. Further action was blocked.
The final tally was 57-42. That’s a clear majority of the Senate but THREE VOTES SHORT OF THE SIXTY VOTES NEEDED on this procedural motion. Sen. Burr and Sen. Dole of North Carolina voted NO.
NC Senators in 2009 are:
Sen. Richard Burr
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3154
Sen. Kay Hagan
B40A Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6342
More information on DC Voting Rights
Citizens of the District of Columbia pay U.S. taxes, fight and die for the U.S. during wartime, and are governed by the laws that Congress passes. And yet they have no voting representation in Congress. We must right this wrong!
DC has an elected representative in the US House, but the DC Representative doesn't have a vote. Please call your Senators and ask them to support S 160, that gives DC a voting representative in Congress.
Senators are poised for a critical vote on Tuesday, February 24 -- a cloture motion -- which requires the support of 60 Senators. If cloture fails, the Senate will not even be able to consider this vital voting rights measure.
Make your voice heard with those of other activists around the country. Ask your friends, family and others to call as well. No US Citizen should have taxation without representation.
A LITTLE HISTORY: On Friday, September 21, 2007, The United States Senate failed to invoke cloture on the DC Voting Rights Act. Further action was blocked.
The final tally was 57-42. That’s a clear majority of the Senate but THREE VOTES SHORT OF THE SIXTY VOTES NEEDED on this procedural motion. Sen. Burr and Sen. Dole of North Carolina voted NO.
NC Senators in 2009 are:
Sen. Richard Burr
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3154
Sen. Kay Hagan
B40A Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6342
More information on DC Voting Rights
Taxation Without Representation
---
The United States Senate failed to invoke cloture on the DC Voting Rights Act this week. Further action was blocked for now.
The final tally was 57-42. That’s a clear majority of the Senate but THREE VOTES SHORT OF THE SIXTY VOTES NEEDED on this procedural motion.
Both North Carolina Senators voted NO.
Citizens of the District of Columbia pay U.S. taxes, fight and die for the U.S. during wartime, and are governed by the laws that Congress passes; however, they have no voting representative in Congress.
The United States Senate failed to invoke cloture on the DC Voting Rights Act this week. Further action was blocked for now.
The final tally was 57-42. That’s a clear majority of the Senate but THREE VOTES SHORT OF THE SIXTY VOTES NEEDED on this procedural motion.
Both North Carolina Senators voted NO.
Citizens of the District of Columbia pay U.S. taxes, fight and die for the U.S. during wartime, and are governed by the laws that Congress passes; however, they have no voting representative in Congress.
Little Old Ladies Get Things Done
-----
This article was included in the National League of Women Voters Leaders' Update I received from National President Mary G. Wilson. I especially loved the first few paragraphs. For the entire article as printed in the Washington Post
go to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051401539.html?
Sing It Again, Ladies, for D.C. Justice
By John Kelly
Tuesday, May 15, 2007; Page B03
I think the world might be a better place if it were run by the League of Women Voters. You may think, as I once did, that the League of Women Voters is just a bunch of little old ladies. But we ignore little old ladies at our peril, especially these ones.
League members are a little like Marines. Same drive. Same esprit de corps. And I don't think you're ever an ex-League member. Wrap them in camo, strap them into parachutes and drop them behind enemy lines and they'd get things done lickety-split.
Also hear: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/05/14/VI2007051400520.html
This article was included in the National League of Women Voters Leaders' Update I received from National President Mary G. Wilson. I especially loved the first few paragraphs. For the entire article as printed in the Washington Post
go to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051401539.html?
Sing It Again, Ladies, for D.C. Justice
By John Kelly
Tuesday, May 15, 2007; Page B03
I think the world might be a better place if it were run by the League of Women Voters. You may think, as I once did, that the League of Women Voters is just a bunch of little old ladies. But we ignore little old ladies at our peril, especially these ones.
League members are a little like Marines. Same drive. Same esprit de corps. And I don't think you're ever an ex-League member. Wrap them in camo, strap them into parachutes and drop them behind enemy lines and they'd get things done lickety-split.
Also hear: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/05/14/VI2007051400520.html
Who Represents Washington Residents in Washington?
-----
The District of Columbia has no voting representative in the United States Congress who was elected by the residents of the District.
Why not?
Because the wording in the US Constitution requires that "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, . . ." - The District of Columbia is not a state.
Should the people who live in DC be denied the right to have an elected representative who can vote in the House of Representatives?
The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Will be discussing this problem Tomorrow, May 15, 2007.
U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Title: Equal Representation in Congress: Providing Voting Rights to the District of Columbia
Date: 5/15/07
Time (EST): 10:00 AM
Place: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342
Witnesses
Panel 1
The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch , Senator , U.S. Senate
The Honorable Tom Davis , U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton , U.S. House of Represenatatives
The Honorable Adrian Fenty , Mayor , District of Columbia
Panel 2
The Honorable Jack Kemp , Founder and Chairman , Kemp Partners
Wade Henderson , President and Chief Executive Officer , Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Viet D. Dinh , Professor of Law , Georgetown University Law Center
Jonathan R. Turley , J. B. And Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law , The George Washington University Law School
-----
Findmore info on the DC Voting Rights Web Site.
Read my post from March 2007 at greensboropeerpressure.
See:
http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=444
http://greensboropeerpressure.blogspot.com/2007/03/our-ancestors-fought-and-died-to-give.html
http://www.dcvote.org/events/event.cfm?eventID=330
The District of Columbia has no voting representative in the United States Congress who was elected by the residents of the District.
Why not?
Because the wording in the US Constitution requires that "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, . . ." - The District of Columbia is not a state.
Should the people who live in DC be denied the right to have an elected representative who can vote in the House of Representatives?
The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Will be discussing this problem Tomorrow, May 15, 2007.
U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Title: Equal Representation in Congress: Providing Voting Rights to the District of Columbia
Date: 5/15/07
Time (EST): 10:00 AM
Place: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342
Witnesses
Panel 1
The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch , Senator , U.S. Senate
The Honorable Tom Davis , U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton , U.S. House of Represenatatives
The Honorable Adrian Fenty , Mayor , District of Columbia
Panel 2
The Honorable Jack Kemp , Founder and Chairman , Kemp Partners
Wade Henderson , President and Chief Executive Officer , Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Viet D. Dinh , Professor of Law , Georgetown University Law Center
Jonathan R. Turley , J. B. And Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law , The George Washington University Law School
-----
Findmore info on the DC Voting Rights Web Site.
Read my post from March 2007 at greensboropeerpressure.
See:
http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=444
http://greensboropeerpressure.blogspot.com/2007/03/our-ancestors-fought-and-died-to-give.html
http://www.dcvote.org/events/event.cfm?eventID=330
Why was the Battle of Guilford Court House Fought? Right to Representative Government?
-----
Our ancestors fought and died to give and protect our right to representative government. A major battle was fought right here in Guilford County. Remember the idea of "No taxation without representation?" Some of us take advantage of that right, some do not possess it.
Many citizens, in fact, a majority of those eligible to vote do not take advantage of the right. Citizens living in DC do not have an option. A member of the US House of Representatives from the District of Columbia (because of the wording in the US Constitution) does not have a vote.
I think this is wrong. Here is some information I have found about the problem and about a bill that has been progressing through the system for some time. The full House of Representatives is set to take up the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act next week. If this legislation is passed it will be another step in the struggle to give every adult US citizen full voting rights. It will be discussed and voted on in the next few weeks. I hope it passes.
The Washington Post reports today that the White House opposes the bill because The Constitution specifies only people of the several states elect representatives to the House; and, DC is not a state.
Full Text of House Bill 5388 is available at the Library of Congress Web Site.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.5388:
And more information from the League of Women Voters of the US:
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on the Judiciary both approved the DC Voting Rights Act the week of March 12, clearing the way for historic action in the full House of Representatives.
Citizens of the District of Columbia pay U.S. taxes, fight and die for the U.S. during wartime, and are governed by the laws that Congress passes. And yet they have no voting representation in Congress. They have only a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives.
The “District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act,” sponsored by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D DC) and Representative Tom Davis (R VA), would right this wrong. The legislation provides voting representation in the House for DC citizens by increasing the size of the House by two seats – one for DC and the other for the state of Utah, which is entitled to the next seat by size of population. This balanced approach provides voting rights for District citizens without upsetting the partisan balance of the House.
Americans living in the nation’s capital deserve to have voting representation in the body that makes their laws, taxes them and can call them to war. Only Congress can ensure that the democracy Americans have espoused and fought for across the globe becomes a reality in the nation’s capital.
A basic principle of democracy is at stake. Your Representative needs to hear from you today! Please urge your Representative to support the DC Voting Rights Act.
You can contact your Representative and give him or her your opinion on this bill.
Phone calls are helpful and can be made through the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121.
Our ancestors fought and died to give and protect our right to representative government. A major battle was fought right here in Guilford County. Remember the idea of "No taxation without representation?" Some of us take advantage of that right, some do not possess it.
Many citizens, in fact, a majority of those eligible to vote do not take advantage of the right. Citizens living in DC do not have an option. A member of the US House of Representatives from the District of Columbia (because of the wording in the US Constitution) does not have a vote.
I think this is wrong. Here is some information I have found about the problem and about a bill that has been progressing through the system for some time. The full House of Representatives is set to take up the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act next week. If this legislation is passed it will be another step in the struggle to give every adult US citizen full voting rights. It will be discussed and voted on in the next few weeks. I hope it passes.
The Washington Post reports today that the White House opposes the bill because The Constitution specifies only people of the several states elect representatives to the House; and, DC is not a state.
Full Text of House Bill 5388 is available at the Library of Congress Web Site.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.5388:
And more information from the League of Women Voters of the US:
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on the Judiciary both approved the DC Voting Rights Act the week of March 12, clearing the way for historic action in the full House of Representatives.
Citizens of the District of Columbia pay U.S. taxes, fight and die for the U.S. during wartime, and are governed by the laws that Congress passes. And yet they have no voting representation in Congress. They have only a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives.
The “District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act,” sponsored by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D DC) and Representative Tom Davis (R VA), would right this wrong. The legislation provides voting representation in the House for DC citizens by increasing the size of the House by two seats – one for DC and the other for the state of Utah, which is entitled to the next seat by size of population. This balanced approach provides voting rights for District citizens without upsetting the partisan balance of the House.
Americans living in the nation’s capital deserve to have voting representation in the body that makes their laws, taxes them and can call them to war. Only Congress can ensure that the democracy Americans have espoused and fought for across the globe becomes a reality in the nation’s capital.
A basic principle of democracy is at stake. Your Representative needs to hear from you today! Please urge your Representative to support the DC Voting Rights Act.
You can contact your Representative and give him or her your opinion on this bill.
Phone calls are helpful and can be made through the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121.
Death, Sentencing, Danger in Jail
_____
Thank you Doug Clark for taking a stand against the death penalty. From the column in today's N&R
. . ."If we can't explain or justify these disparities, then the death penalty is arbitrary and should be abolished.
Not out of sympathy, but fairness. Because unfairness is inexcusable in matters of life and death."
_____
An account in the N&R yesterday said that a man in Charlotte was arrested and charged with killing the child of his girlfriend. This man had recently been released after serving 25 years for killing his own 19-month-old child in another state.
This is a horrible thing and probably a child's life was lost because this man lived. One justification for the death penalty is that "this particular person will never do the crime again." This is true.
On the other hand, is the awareness that innocent people have been killed by the government for crimes they did not commit. and the reality that the death penalty is not applied fairly or swiftly. The more money or notoriety a convicted death row inmate has, the less likely he/she will be executed by the state in a timely manner.
Another reason given for the death penalty is the cost of housing a prisoner for life. Executing a criminal is more costly to society than imprisonment. Sounds crazy doesn't it. But my research shows that it is true.
Proper sentencing of dangerous people is not an exact science. Keeping dangerous people out of society is adequate to protect us from other crimes they might commit. This is a hard thing to do.
I have read, and I believe, that there are people serving long prison terms and much money spent in catching, trying and incarcerating people for long periods who should not be in prison at all. Reforming our laws, our sentencing system and our prison system should be a priority for law makers, judges and citizens. The US has a higher percentage of people in prison than it should.
Right here in Guilford County, we have much overcrowding in our jails. Around 90 percent of those in local jails are waiting trial or sentencing. Many are violent criminals and repeat criminals. Many are there for non-violent crimes and for missing arraignment or trial dates.
I'm not sure what should be done, but I do know that the current Guilford County Jail is inadequate for keeping these people. There is danger in the jails. Guilford County jails are dangerous for inmates, employees and for Guilford County Commissioners who can be sued because of the conditions in our jail.
Thank you Doug Clark for taking a stand against the death penalty. From the column in today's N&R
. . ."If we can't explain or justify these disparities, then the death penalty is arbitrary and should be abolished.
Not out of sympathy, but fairness. Because unfairness is inexcusable in matters of life and death."
_____
An account in the N&R yesterday said that a man in Charlotte was arrested and charged with killing the child of his girlfriend. This man had recently been released after serving 25 years for killing his own 19-month-old child in another state.
This is a horrible thing and probably a child's life was lost because this man lived. One justification for the death penalty is that "this particular person will never do the crime again." This is true.
On the other hand, is the awareness that innocent people have been killed by the government for crimes they did not commit. and the reality that the death penalty is not applied fairly or swiftly. The more money or notoriety a convicted death row inmate has, the less likely he/she will be executed by the state in a timely manner.
Another reason given for the death penalty is the cost of housing a prisoner for life. Executing a criminal is more costly to society than imprisonment. Sounds crazy doesn't it. But my research shows that it is true.
Proper sentencing of dangerous people is not an exact science. Keeping dangerous people out of society is adequate to protect us from other crimes they might commit. This is a hard thing to do.
I have read, and I believe, that there are people serving long prison terms and much money spent in catching, trying and incarcerating people for long periods who should not be in prison at all. Reforming our laws, our sentencing system and our prison system should be a priority for law makers, judges and citizens. The US has a higher percentage of people in prison than it should.
Right here in Guilford County, we have much overcrowding in our jails. Around 90 percent of those in local jails are waiting trial or sentencing. Many are violent criminals and repeat criminals. Many are there for non-violent crimes and for missing arraignment or trial dates.
I'm not sure what should be done, but I do know that the current Guilford County Jail is inadequate for keeping these people. There is danger in the jails. Guilford County jails are dangerous for inmates, employees and for Guilford County Commissioners who can be sued because of the conditions in our jail.
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