"Hell yes!" for universal health care

Hats off to the Kentucky House of Representatives Health and Welfare Committee, which voted earlier this month to urge the U.S. Congress to support legislation sponsored by Rep. John Conyers of Georgia to establish a single-payer, universal health care plan. It was a bold move for a legislature that often seems at war with itself and unable to articulate anything approaching a vision for Kentucky's future. Rep. Kathy Stein of Lexington responded to the roll call vote on the resolution with a "Hell, yes!"

About 15 percent of all Kentuckians are without any health care coverage at all (private insurance or Medicare/Medicaide). Nationwide, over 40 million Americans are in the same boat. And while there is widespread disagreement about how to respond to this crisis, a national consensus is emerging that something must be done. Last year a survey by the Pew Research Center found that 65 percent of Americans now favor some type of national health care program.

I'm not completely sold on a single-payer system. I believe that every person should contribute some amount of financial commitment to the maintenance of his or her health. After all, there should be some incentive for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But a complete lack of health security for millions of Americans in unacceptable. It's time more Americans say "Hell, yes!" for health care justice.

Katrina Victims Still Need Our Help

This spring I'm joining the effort to rebuild after Katrina. You can too.

Huge areas are still without power. Houses are growing mold while government agencies are slowly moving to respond. Residents are frustrated and eager to get some work done.

You can help by volunteering. For thousands of residents with damaged homes who lacked flood insurance because many lenders didn't require it, rebuilding is agonizingly slow. Volunteers are making a big difference though, and this spring thousands of students will donate their spring breaks to help rebuild. Check the links below, contact a volunteer agency, and start helping out.

You can help by donating. Rebuilding grants are slow and unavailable in many cases. Donate to a rebuilding effort and know that work is being done.

Finally, Bluenecks can help by being tourists. Bus tours are donating proceeds to the rebuilding effort. Mardi Gras is gearing up for next month, and the historic French Quarter and Garden Districts need our tourist dollars.

CNN story with interactive map.

Another CNN story on New Orleans plans.

Stories of recovery and links to volunteer organizations.

Tennessee Ethics Reform Update

I've jumped on my Mac to figure out what is going on in Nashville with ethics reform.

After three weeks of wrangling, the House version of the bill has had its teeth removed to allow for more unregistered lobbying and schmoozing of state legislators. The question is whether the original language of the toothless version will meet the approval of the Tennessee House and Senate.

In the House version of the reform bill, "volunteer" and "incidental" lobbyists would be exempt from registration and disclosure requirements under the house version of the sweeping ethics bill. Some say local businesses should not be hindered by registering lobbyists who want to meet with lobbyists occasionally. Others say that lowering restrictions for "incidental" lobbyists would create a loophole big enough to drive a truck through. Most everyone seem to agree that professional full-time lobbyists should have more restrictions in this state.

Local law: Registered Lobbyists in Nashville

WSMV: Lawmakers define exemptions for lobbyist disclosure

Jackson Sun: Balancing business of ethics

The Tennessean: Amendments to ethics bill at end of two weeks of special session

Kingsport Times-News: Legislators update chamber members on ethics reform

Alito Battle Lines are Drawn

“I’m not going to lend my support to an effort by this president to move the Supreme Court and the law radically to the right and to remove the final check within our democracy,”
— Sen. Patrick Leahy

Three Dems on the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote “no” on Alito, according to today’s news. After Senator Reid played his cards close to the vest on Jim Lehrer last night, it’s a relief to see Senator Leahey leading the charge. The Committee vote is set for January 24. The Senate’s Democratic Caucus meets tomorrow to draw up a confirmation strategy. the GOP claims to have the votes to confirm. The State of the Union is January 31. Let’s see what kind of condition Bush’s condition is in by then.

Here’s a Blueneck prediction: Presidential powers are in more trouble than Roe v. Wade.

Education budgets and the "prevailing wage"

Governor Fletcher proposed a state budget to the General Assembly earlier this week, and it's actually not all bad. His emphasis on pre-school education, for example, is sorely needed. Other ideas to support education, however, are more problematic. Fletcher wants to increase teacher salaries, in part, by adding three days to the school calendar. This seems like a strange way to address the issue of teachers being underpaid. Making them work more seems hardly the way to go. Besides, I am confident that three extra days would do nothing to enhance student achievement. I'm a school administrator by profession, and folks in my business have known for years that just teaching the same way louder and longer does not have an impact on how well students learn. Three extra days of the same thing we're currently doing won't make a difference. If you want to reward teachers and address the wage gap with other states, then just raise their pay.

As a public school administrator, I feel conflicted about the governor's plan to eliminate prevailing wage laws, which require workers on state construction projects to be paid a minimum wage based on the average for workers in their region on similar projects. According to the governor and the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (of which I am a member), this greatly inflates the cost of school building projects. However, as the Lexington Herald-Leader pointed out today, the governor has not been able to provide any evidence for this (though intuitively, it makes lots of sense). While I certainly would like to see more money spent on instruction and student needs, the way school building projects are financed, these funds come from totally separate sources. Eliminating prevailing wage might save taxpayer dollars, but it won't mean there will be more money for education, and it might mean undercutting the standard of living for hourly employees who work in the construction trades.

The students who go to school in these expensive buildings will need jobs someday. Do we want a state where they will earn minimum wage for highly skilled labor, or do we want them to have a higher standard of living?

iPods, Parades, and Martin Luther King

I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours.
— Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 4 April 1967

Today is the twentieth anniversary of Martin Luther King Day. I joined Knoxville’s parade, walking with some of my church friends through East Knoxville, a mostly black neighborhood. The atmosphere was festive and the attitude relaxed.

On the way to the parade I played the “I Have A Dream” speech and the “Beyond Vietnam” speech on my iPod. King’s brave stance against the war in Vietnam is perhaps even more important to hear today, as we struggle with our policy in Iraq. His magnificent oratory still brings tears to speech my eyes. My 4-year-old daughter Chloe listened begrudgingly from the backset. She said matter-of-factly that King’s voice sounded “kind of like a monster.” I explained that he shouts because what he is saying was very important. Being a dad means not laughing at the crazy things kids say.

As we wove through neighborhoods on the way to the Tabernacle Baptist Church, we drove through Walter P. Taylor Homes, a Knoxville housing project. I thought about what it must be like to live in the littered squalor and disrepair I saw there. Dr. King said “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

Dr. King wasn't just about ending racism. His dream was for freedom from all kinds of oppression, even the economic kind. Groups like the Economic Policy Institute, the Acorn Living Wage Campaign, Journalists Covering Inequality, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and United for a Fair Economy continue the struggle to end poverty.

Today there are lots of resources for anyone interested in the rich legacy of Dr. King and the civil rights movement. But perhaps the best thing we can all do is to find events in our local community to participate in, and to volunteer for social justice organizations that continue to keep the dream alive.

Kudos to Republicans, sort of

Lest Bluenecks ever be accused of being strictly partisan, I want to give credit to some Republicans for doing the right thing this week, even if they did so under pressure. Yesterday Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher called for beefed up mine safety rules in the wake of the Pikeville mine collapse (I'm sure the West Virginia mine disaster added some heat to this fire too). Today's Courier-Journal offers a more specific list of safety improvements the Governor should endorse as a part of his plan. Even Kentucky Senators McConnell and Bunning have expressed their concern about the declining budgets for mine regulations. As the C-J points out, it's too little too late and the Senators directly contributed to the problems, but at least they have the sense to see they can't avoid the issue any longer. Too bad it takes a tragedy--and public outrage--to get us there.

Speaking of responding to public outrage, Republican Congressman Ed Whitfield of Kentucky's 1st District filed his re-election papers yesterday and made a point to say he supports a troop withdrawal from Iraq. He still opposes a "premature" exit, but the fact that he felt a need to say anything at all indicates how far the tide has turned on this issue. Whitfield also expressed support for Congressional investigations into the President's decision to order the NSA to engage in warrantless domestic spying. Whitfield, like 2nd District Rep. Lewis faces his first real election challenge in years.

Unconstitutional Design

Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher advocated teaching "intelligent design" in his State of the Commonweath speech last night. "This is not a question about faith or religion," the governor said. "It's about self-evident truth."

Well, not exactly. But you couldn't necessarily tell that from the reaction of Kentucky's Democratic leader in the General Assembly, Rep. Jody Richards. "It is an issue for local school boards," Richards said. "They can make whatever decision they want to do." The problem is, intelligent design is not science, Darwin's theory of evolution is not mutually exclusive with religious faith, and teaching intelligent design has been ruled an unconstitutional effort to impose religion on public schools. Last month a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that intelligent design is, in fact, religion and that local school board's efforts to force its teaching in public schools violates the First Amendment. For extensive quotes from the judge's ruling, look here (and thanks to fellow blogger Kentucky Kurmudgeon for providing the info). While this ruling applies directly only to the circuit that includes Pennsylvania and nearby states, it will be a powerful precedent for future lawsuits. Kentucky school boards should not heed the governor's advice because intelligent design is not science and imposing religion on others is unconstitutional and un-American.

Besides, since Darwin's time, thoughtful people of faith have found no conflict between their belief in God and the scientific fact of evolution, and have found no need to force the connection on others. "Christian faith seeks understanding, as St. Anselm put it," Ted Peters, theologian and author of Evolution from Creation to New Creation, wrote recently. "Historically, Christians have fallen in love with science. Faith loves science. Today, the Christian faith demands that our schools teach the best science, and only the best science. To teach inferior science would be stupid and, yes, irreligious."

Amen.

What the governor left out

Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher gave his State of the Commonwealth address to the General Assembly last night. There were some positive elements to his speech: proposals for substantially increasing teacher pay, enhancements to the seat belt law, and helping small businesses provide health insurance for their employees. Other parts of his speech were cause for concern. The governor wants to let employees opt out of union membership even if the majority of their co-workers want a union, which will significantly weaken unions in a state where organized labor is already at a disadvantage (public employees are prohibited by law from engaging in any type of collective bargaining). Fletcher also advocated setting limits on medical malpractice awards, an idea which has some merit on the surface but might steepen the already unlevel playing field between patients and their doctors, hospitals and huge medical corporations. But the most disturbing part of Fletcher's speech was his advocacy for schools teaching "intelligent design." Since this is a local school board decision, as the governor acknowledged, there seems little reason for him to take this stand except for political pandering to conservative Christian groups.

It was disappointing that the governor did not acknowledge the many other bread-and-butter issues that average Kentuckians are concerned about. As the Kentucky Economic Justice Alliance documented in a well-publicized report last month, chronic underfunding and deliberate spending cuts have left the state nearly $2 billion short in what would be needed to adequately support a wide variety of programs such as P-12 education, higher education, health care, housing, environmental protection and justice. KEJA is pushing for legislation from the General Assembly to correct this need. Likewise, Kentucky's natural environment remains vulnerable to damage and exploitation. House Bill 83 would prohibit coal companies from dumping mine wastes into waterways. These are the kind of initiatives Governor Fletcher should, but did not, address.

Here I Am George...Come and Get Me

Since the Bush administration feels it needs to spend the government's resources, time and energy spying on political activists, peace protestor Kim Redigan says, "Stop wasting our tax money; here I am, come and get me." Read her terrific essay here.

Alito: The Wrong Choice

We need a Supreme Court justice who will protect the Constitution and our core freedoms as Americans. If you’ve been distracted by the holidays, or haven’t been able to get the facts from the “mainsteam” meadia, let me give you the 411 on Alito, and what you can do to stop his approval by Congress.

When applying for a top job in the Reagan administration, Alito proudly touted his membership in the “Concerned Alumni of Princeton,” a far right group that sought to restrict the admission of women and minorities. The group was so extreme that even fellow alumni Bill Frist called their views “distorted, narrow and hostile.” Now, Alito claims he “cannot recall” ever being a member.

Constitutional views: When applying for a job in the Reagan administration, Alito wrote of his strong strong belief that the Constitution does not legally protect a woman’s right to choose. Last month, he claimed that he only said it to get a job. If he would deceive about something so important for that job, what would he say to get on the Supreme Court?

Judicial ethics: During the nomination process for his current post as a federal judge, Alito promised the Senate, in writing, that he would not rule on cases in which he had a personal stake. He broke that promise, repeatedly.

Unfortunately, this is just one example of Alito’s many deceptive attempts to hide his extreme right wing views on issues like civil rights, worker’s rights and privacy. That’s why we’re aiming to deliver 50,000 letters to the Senate this week opposing Samuel Alito and demanding a Supreme Court nominee we can trust to protect our constitutional rights.

You can write and send your letter online here.

Air America to Broadcast Live from Out of Iraq Event Saturday Night

Just found this on AfterDowningStreet.org:

RadioNation with Laura Flanders
7:00 to 10:00pm EST each Saturday and Sunday night
Air America RadioNetwork
Listen here.

Democrats: Canaries in the Coal Mine. Literally.

When the whistle blows each morning
And I walk down in that cold, dark mine
I say a prayer to my dear Savior
Please let me see the sunshine one more time.
— Dwight Yoakam

As our heart go out to the families of the twelve men killed in the Sago Mine this week, it is important to understand how Bush and the Republicans have diminished mining safety, increasing the likelihood of these disasters. Here are a few mine safety facts underreported by the mainstream media.

• The Sago mine, owned by International Coal Group, had 208 citations in 2005 but has been fined only $24,155.
  
• 96 of the 208 citations were rated “significant and substantial” by MSHA.
  
• 16 workers were injured on the job at Sago in 2005, twice as many as the year before.
  
• There were only 68 citations against the Sago mine in 2004.
  
• The Bush administration cut 170 positions from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)
  
• The Bush Administration has not proposed a single new mine-safety standard or rule during its tenure.
  
• Bush appointed Richard Stickler head of MSHA despite his terrible mine management safety record with double the worker injury rates of the national average.
  
• Under the Bush administration, the federal government no longer routinely publishes its mine-inspection findings.
  

This is more than just a tragedy — it is a crime. The Republicans have proven that mining safety is not a high priority. This is Katrina all over again, except now the incompetence is not on national TV.

On the other hand, Democrats like Governor Mark Warner of Virginia are the real canaries in the coal mine. In February Warner signed H.B. 2573, which strengthened Virginia’s mine safety laws.

Top Photo:Coal Miners loading into the mantrip at Upper Big Branch Mine, Vest Virginia in June 27, 1996. Library of Congress Photo by Lyntha Scott Eiler.

Sources:
Administration Neglected Coal Mining Safety
Owner of W. Va. mine with trapped miners also runs in 6 E. Ky.
Governor Warner Signs Mine Safety Legislation
Look at Mining Safety Regulation
The Bush Administration's FY 2006 Budget : Worker Safety and Health Programs

Bluenecks Resolutions

Happy New Year to everyone from the folks here at Bluenecks! We spent a lot of energy the last half of 2005 trying to speak out against the political direction of this country and to raise awareness on a wide variety of issues important to Southern progressives. The year 2006 will be extremely important for our country's future, and our resolve to make some kind of constructive contribution is stronger than ever. In that spirit, we offer the following Bluenecks Resolutions for 2006.

Support Democratic candidates and campaigns in the 2006 Congressional elections. This blog has never taken an exclusively pro-Democratic Party position, and at various times we have personally supported third party candidates and initiatives with great enthusiasm. We appreciate the thoughtful debate that is on-going in progressive circles (which surfaced even earlier this week in comments posted by readers of this blog) about the usefuleness and practicality of working within the Democratic Party. Yes, it's true that the Democrats often possess no real focus and offer no viable, inspiring alternatives to the Republicans. It's true that Democratic politicians have a terrible proclivity for trying to hide somewhere in the political center, undermining real progressive efforts for greater environmental protection, labor and trade reforms and a sane foreign policy. The current lack of unity of Congressional Democrats is a perfect example of this.

But for this blogger personally, the 2000 presidential election proved without question that there is indeed a difference between Democrats and the current leadership of the Republican Party. The war in Iraq, the relentless attack on civil liberties, the rapid undermining of environmental protections, the deliberate effort to redistribute wealth to the already-wealthy, the prospect of radically conservative judges on the Supreme Court--all of this could potentially have been different. Whether we are leftists, centrists, populists, even libertarians, it seems clear to us that the Democrats may be our only viable vehicle for stopping this rightward tide that is so out of step with the majority of American voters. As Ruth Conniff writes in this month's Progressive, only fifteen seats are needed in the House and six in the Senate to change party leadership in Congress. It's still a long-shot, but the possibilities are worth the battle.

Keep the pressure on for withdrawal from Iraq: The majority of Americans are convinced on this one, but we have to keep up the work of pressuring Congress to demand a commitment to exiting Iraq. Now that the Iraqi elections are complete, there is no reason for not making a commitment to withdrawal. The Quaker-led peace and justice group Friends Committee for National Legislation is encouraging voters to contact their Congressional representatives during the January recess to urge their support of the STEP resolution (Sensible Transition to Enduring Peace), a simple, straightforward resolution for commitment to withdrawal.

Organize around an energy policy for the future: Political commentator Molly Ivins, echoing Texas peace activist Gen Van Cleve, has written recently that it's time for Progressives to move from beyond our defensive, hold-the-line position to rallying around some core issues that define our differences from the right-wing and to imagine and articulate how the future could be different. Her proposal is to focus on the environment, an issue that resonates strongly with voters across the political spectrum: "an effort similar to John F. Kennedy's plan to go to the moon in ten years: Marshal a huge concentration of scientific and technical knowledge aimed at finding ways to make renewable, nonpulluting sources of energy available and cheap to share that knowledge with the rest of the world." A good starting point would be supporting the efforts of the Apollo Alliance to spread the gospel that renewable energy does not have to mean economic stagnation.

May 2006 be a year of great blessings for all of you, and thanks for your commitment to a better world!