Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

News bombards my brain from TV, radio, emails, tweets, Facebook, and yes, even from the newspaper. Money to state colleges in Pennsylvania, money to Medicaid recipients, money to public broadcasting, money to the National Writing Project, and money to hundreds of other basic programs, all now lie under a legislative axe.

The National Writing Project is one of the many cuts that made my stomach curdle. In America we give teachers too few tools, too few opportunities for genuine professional development, too few opportunities to be part of a meaningful collegial organization. The National Writing Project (NWP) has provided all of the above and more for thousands of teachers, yet in order to appear fiscally prudent, legislators have cut funding to this most valuable organization.

An old family expression, “That was penny wise and pound foolish,” can easily be applied to such an egregious action as cutting funding to NWP. Many of the projects teachers collaborate on through the NWP are volunteer projects. For a project to be accepted by NWP, a teacher must demonstrate the capacity of the project to provide benefit to a wide range of students. Therefore, many students nationwide benefit from teacher research and project development and collaborations of NWP teacher leaders for discount rates.

For over thirty years NWP’s cost-effective, wide range, productive investment in our education system was valued. Legislators, from Congress up to the President, need to ignore the “slash-the-budget-taxes-don’t-do-any-good” fad and find the courage to raise taxes for programs that work.

Proud Progressive

I hope that Joe Sestak, in his run for a Senate seat from Pennsylvania, won’t be pushed into a corner by Right Wing Toomey and act defensive. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, July 16, 2010, “Sestak had a 'hypersensitive reaction' to valid criticism, Republican opponent Pat Toomey said Thursday.” Sestak needn’t apologize or minimize support for a liberal, progressive, populist voting record. He needs to point out strongly, as he is very capable of doing, that the right wing has successfully deceived much of the middle class into thinking that right wing politics favor the average American. The right wing media has cast a spell over a lot of people and created the very false impression that right wing politics are populist and liberal politics aren’t. I think Joe can campaign to expose that fallacy.

Exposing the agenda of political groups favoring large corporations would be a good way to start. The US Chamber of Congress is one such group. Here are their talking points published this week:

• Privatize Social Security
• Cut taxes for the rich
• Log the national forests
• Expand offshore gas and oil drilling
• Privatize highways and waterways

The above list is as anti-average-person as possible. All progressive folks, Democrat, Independent and Republican alike need to blast such policies.

When Joe dickers over 94% vote with Nancy Pelosi vs. 100% he is defensive. When he is defensive, he is not attacking the anti-average-guy right wing. He seems as though he is trying to be “Republican Lite.” Instead, he needs to be aggressive and show the right wing leaders for what they are: self-serving defenders of the wealthy corporations, who have become the 21^st Century King George ruling and dominating the American people.

A Breath of Fresh Air

A breath of fresh air swept through my church on Valentine’s Day as educator Salome Thomas-El inspired the true believers at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County (UUCDC) that we could indeed make a difference in the life of a child. Thomas-El, who grew up in North Philadelphia, is next to the youngest child of a single mom. She implored his elementary teachers to help Salome be the first of her children to get to college. The teachers made their mark, and Thomas-El went on to become a teacher, principal and author. Now he inspires others to influence youth to aspire and achieve.

At a time when folks in this country are hunkering down into corners and screaming at one another, it is refreshing to participate with a group of people who want to create positive change. People who see a bright future in helping children, largely minority, largely inner city, people who want to ensure that these children do have a chance to get their fair share of the American Pie. Speaker and audience alike looked for ways to help rather than hinder the upward mobility of some of this country’s most challenged children.

The presentation was made possible through monies from the Homer Jack Fund at UUCDC.Homer Jack was an activist UU minister who spent his final years as a congregant of our church.

Here are links to some organizations striving to help young people succeed. Rather than argue, blame, divide, and scream, how about if we all pick an organization and provide support to our young people?

After School Activities Partnership

Created in 2002 in response to a civic outcry for help with activities for the city’s youth during the critical unsupervised hours after school, ASAP/After School Activities Partnerships has provided after school recreational and enrichment activities to Philadelphia kids in some of the poorest and most dangerous areas of the city.

http://www.phillyasap.org/Home.aspx

The Achievement Project

TAP is a nonprofit organization that helps young people in Chester, Pennsylvania to succeed in high school; to apply to and be admitted to college; and to arrive at college having acquired the capacity to succeed there.

420 East 9th Street
Chester, PA 19013-5941
(484) 995-0828

www.tapofchester.org

Chester Eastside Ministries
Provides afterschool programs and summer day camps to children of Chester’s East Side
9th & Potter Sts.

Chester, PA 19016

610-872-4812

RevBerniceWarren@chestereastside.org

The Be Proud Foundation

The overall mission of the Be Proud Foundation is to provide experiential learning opportunities for youth targeted at exposing their thinking errors, misconceptions and gaps in knowledge thereby increasing their chances for a successful life.

(610)891-8808
Fax (610)891-8919
email: beproud@comcast.net

Peace in the Streets/Peach on Earth

Teaches conflict resolution techniques, primarily for Chester, PA youth.Contact Wanda Moore

Pspe2002@yahoo.com

Big Brothers/Big Sisters

The Big Brothers Big Sisters Mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that have a measurable impact on youth.

1341 N. Delaware Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19125

(215) 701-8100
Bigs@bbbssepa.org
http://www.bbbssepa.org

Fresh Air Fund

Since 1877, The FreshAir Fund, a not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer experiences in the country to more than 1.7 million New York City children from disadvantaged communities. Each year, thousands of children visit volunteer host families in 13 states andCanada through the Friendly Town Program or attend Fresh Air Fund camps.

http://www.freshair.org/top-links/about-us.aspx

NAACP Scholarship Fund

The NAACP is a leading advocate of equal access to quality education. In an effort to promote and ensure higher education opportunities for minority youth, the NAACP offers the following national scholarships: Earl G. Graves Scholarship, Agnes Jones Scholarship, Historically Black College & Universities Scholarship Fund, Lillian and Samuel Sutton Scholarship, Roy Wilkins scholarship, and the Hubertus W.V. Willems Scholarship. These awards help eliminate financial difficulties that may hinder students’ higher education goals. Scholarship award amounts range from $1,000 - $5,000 and are disbursed in two installments throughout a specified school year. Each scholarship contains its own set of requirements and students are encouraged to apply for each award that aligns with their eligibility.

Contact your local NAACP

http://www.naacp.org/advocacy/education/

Stop Texas from Rewriting History

As a retired Philadelphia Public School teacher and member of a family blessed with European/Latina/African/Navajo/Chinese ethnicity, I find omitting historical facts related to any human being of any ancestry totally unacceptable. Therefore, I am outraged that the Texas State Board of Education is even considering taking a vote on January 13 that would, for all intents and purposes, erase Cesar Chavez and all Latino historical figures from the state’s public school textbooks.

Since most public school students in Texas will soon be Latino, this is a particularly egregious omission. We are not educating children if we are indoctrinating them with a very biased set of partial facts. It was Hitler who did that in Europe, and the beauty of American democracy is that we try not to do that with our children. It is important that our children learn about all historical figures, European, Latino, Native American, Asian, African and more.

My grandfather migrated from Austria-Hungary in a region now part of Poland. He joined the union of John Lewis and worked in the coal mines as well as maintaining his own business as a huckster of fruits and vegetables. He supported a family of six children, all of whom rose to upper middle class American society through hard work and education. I would not like to see John Lewis removed from text books. Neither would I like to see Cesar Chavez removed. It is totally false for ignorant, racist extremists to say that he "lacks the stature...and contributions of so many others" and should not be "held up to our children as someone worthy of emulation," as claimed by one of the "experts" advising the Texas Board of Education.

Texas should not let its status as a powerful state in this great United States be diminished by a few radicals who want to rewrite history.

For more information, see:http://newsjunkiepost.com/2010/01/10/texas-conservatives-closer-to-banning-cesar-chavez-from-school-textbooks/

http://action.ufw.org/page/speakout/cectxjan10

Greed, Health Care Reform and the American Recovery Act

Middle America needs to get a grasp on corporate greed, and recognize it as the modern day King George. Two of President Obama’s major initiatives, Health Care Reform and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will fare much better if the working class skeptics see the role corporate greed plays in both issues.

Right wing media fear mongers have convinced Joe Sixpack and his buddies that their enemy in health care is the public option. They believe it will raise costs and lead to socialism, which will take away all of their money and freedom. They fail to look at the fact that their health care benefits have cost more and provided less at the hands of greedy private monopolistic insurance companies for years. Even with the threat of a public option on the table, the insurers are still unsympathetic to small businesses that would like to but cannot afford to supply their employees with decent health insurance. Greed has prompted insurance companies to favor their own profits over the services they provide to small businesses and consumers.

Similarly, polls indicate that Middle America feels the Recovery Act is failing to produce jobs, that it is costing money for no gain. Yet, there is gain; businesses are doing better. But the businesses are keeping the better for themselves. Despite the recent paths to economic recovery, employers are not willing to hire new employees. Current employees are often working longer for less in order to keep the jobs they have. The gloomy outlook in the job market is a result of reluctant employers rather than a failed stimulus package. Greed once again prompts businesses to favor their own corporate security over the well being of their employees and the people of America.

It is naïve to think we can rely on business to rescue us out of the mess they put us in to begin with. We need tea parties that put blame where blame is due: tea parties aimed at right wing legislators and their business cronies who exert their tyranny against the American public. Tell them we want a public option now, one that will reign in corporate greed in the health insurance industry. Tell them we want sanctions now against businesses and banks that have failed to use Recovery Act money to provide jobs and loans to small businesses. This is our time, our chance to legislate against corporate greed and for some financial fairness in our society. Let’s not lose it.

Letter Writing for Health Care Reform

My husband, a cancer researcher, sent letters to all of our legislators last week about health care reform. He is encouraging a letter writing campaign this week to ensure that comprehensive health care legislation is indeed passed, despite the horrific August misinformation blasted on right wing media outlets.

Here is a copy of his letter:

September 3, 2009
Re: Healthcare Public Option - Yes
Dear Senator Spector:

The US pays twice as much for health care yet lags other wealthy nations in such measures as infant mortality and life expectancy, which are among the most widely collected, hence useful, international comparative statistics. For 2006-2010, the USA's life expectancy will lag 38th in the world, lagging last of the G5 (Japan, France, Germany, UK, USA) and just after Chile (35th) and Cuba (37th).[1]

The United States is the only highly industrialized nation without some form of national health insurance. Today, 47 million people in this country have no coverage at all. Furthermore, the United States spends the most for health care among the world's 23 top industrialized nations, including countries in Western Europe, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Yet U.S. citizens have the lowest life expectancy of any of those countries. Furthermore, Medical debt is the principal cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States, weakening the whole economy (2).

The United States spent 15.8 percent of its gross domestic product on health care in 2006. The other 22 highly industrialized nations spent less, ranging from 7.1 percent of annual GDP in Ireland, 8.4 percent in Great Britain and 11 percent in France (2)

Despite its high health care expenditure, the United States had the lowest life expectancy - 78.1 years at birth. Life expectancies in the other 22 countries ranged from 78.4 in Denmark, 80 years in Great Britain and 82.4 in Japan. Yet, health spending per individual is $2,992 in Great Britain, but $7,290 here; and for every 1,000 residents there are 2.5 physicians and 10 nurses in Great Britain compared to 2.4 physicians and 20 nurses in the U.S. (2).

Infant mortality in Great Britain is lower - 4.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births, compared to 6.7 deaths for every 1,000 live births in the United States.” Only Latvia, with six deaths per 1,000 live births, has a higher death rate for newborns than the United States, which is tied near the bottom of industrialized nations with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia with five deaths per 1,000 births (3). Yet, "The United States has more neonatologists and neonatal intensive care beds per person than Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, but its newborn death rate is higher than any of those countries," said the annual State of the World's Mothers report (4).

According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the United States is the "only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have health care coverage" (i.e. some kind of insurance) [5].

In summary, our system costs more and works less effectively than health-care systems in 22 other industrialized nations.

I grew up on a farm in rural southern Iowa. I have spent most of my career as a clinical faculty member in a tertiary academic medical center, and my father-in-law was the hospital administrator in a 600-bed hospital in north Jersey. I have seen health care in this country from the inside and from the outside. The U.S. should have universal health care coverage with both public option and private option components. It would be a tragedy to waste this opportunity to enact universal health care coverage.

The principle apparent reason that the general public does not seem solidly behind major renovation of our health care system and adoption of universal health care coverage is that behind the scenes, executives and spokesmen from insurance and pharmaceutical companies discourage reforms that might lower their significant annual profits.

I urge you to vote for the public option in the health care reform bill in Congress. Thank you.


References:
1. Recent Trends in Infant Mortality in the United States, Marian F. MacDorman, Ph.D., and T.J. Mathews, M.S., National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Data Brief, No. 9, October 2008

2. “Health care in the United States”, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States

3.CNN,May102006, http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/05/08/mothers.index/

4. State of the World’s Mothers 2006, Saving the Lives of
Mothers and Newborns, Save the Children Foundation, www.savethechildren.org/publications/mothers/2006/SOWM_2006_final.pdf

5. Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations, Institute of Medicine at the National Academies of Science, 2004-01-14. Retrieved 2007-10-22.

Boycott Whole Foods

My liberal butt just got whacked, my liberal brain ransacked. John Mackey, president of Whole Foods, is pushing against public options in health care reform. He thinks that private programs, which currently leave 46 million people uninsured, are the way to go. He thinks that high health care deductibles for people, regardless of their income, will go a long way to solving the health care crisis.

Sorry Mr. Mackey. How many employees working for Whole Foods can afford a $2,500 deductible?

Thirty years ago, as a young mother, I had to leave a job because the inadequate health insurance at my job failed to pay for necessary services for my three year old disabled daughter. A public option would have enabled me to continue employment uninterrupted.

Now, I am fortunate to be more comfortable financially. I would be willing to pay more in taxes to support a public option health care plan. What truly bothers me is paying more to a private plan that has high deductibles, low coverages and uses MY MONEY to pay a few people at the top.

I can speak with my food store choices, and until you and your company can gain empathy for the 46 million uninsured Americans and the many more underinsured Americans whose insurance premiums pad the pockets of wealthy health insurance execs my food dollars will go elsewhere.