In Iowa, The Des Moines Register has it right! American CAN afford to invest in our future. Read below for a new take on a 75-year-old idea.

Des Moines Register, July 27, 2008

AMERICA CAN AFFORD TO INVEST IN THE FUTURE

Book Review
By John L. Esposito, Ph.D., and Dalia Mogahed

Based on the largest and most in-depth study of its kind, this book presents the remarkable findings of the Gallup Poll of the Muslim World, the first ever data-based analysis of the points of view of more than 90% of the global Muslim community, spanning nearly 40 countries.

Who Speaks for Islam? employs “data-driven evidence” to unveil the aspirations, western perceptions and motivations of Muslims that mainstream rhetoric often misrepresents. The authors found a number of counterintuitive results that reject the popular opinion of the Muslim world. With questions concerning radicalism, western technology, gender and religious justice, and democracy, the book finds striking similarities between American and Muslim ideals.

As a first step in disseminating their findings, every member of Congress received a copy of the study.

Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway, professors of law at Yale and UC Berkeley, respectively, discuss the constitutional consequences of President Bush’s “time horizon” in Friday’s Los Angeles Times:

President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki are poised to conclude a bilateral “memorandum of understanding” that would authorize U.S. troops to continue military operations in Iraq. There is only one problem — the memo won’t be the binding law of the United States.

A memo isn’t a “treaty,” which requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate under Article 2 of the Constitution. It isn’t a “congressional-executive agreement,” which requires the approval of a majority of both houses of Congress under Article 1. It is just a statement of intent. According to the State Department’s Office of the Legal Advisor, “memo” is the term that is “common for nonbinding documents.”

… In the attempt to reach an accord with Maliki, the president made news by negotiating a “general time horizon” for withdrawing troops — but he hasn’t been willing to take the agreement to Congress and deal with Democrats in order to create a sound constitutional foundation for an enduring and bipartisan policy.

Once the deal is signed by both parties, it’s quite possible that the president will proclaim that this memo is special and can serve as a legal basis for all our activities in Iraq. If he does, he will be acting unconstitutionally. There are simply no precedents that support the presidential creation of legally binding commitments on the use of force without congressional consent.

Besides the unconstitutionality, this agreement would undermine democracy in Iraq, allowing the Prime Minister to circumvent parliamentary approval. A short-term extension of the U.N. mandate would protect our troops and uphold the constitutions of the United States and Iraq, while allowing the next administration the opportunity to negotiate a security agreement with Congressional approval.

Maliki has recently come out in favor of a timetable for withdrawal that has caused the current administration to rethink their current occupation strategy. Today, Afghan Ambassador Tayeb Jawad called for a shift in U.S. military focus from Iraq to Afghanistan, which he identifies as “the main battleground in the war on terror.” He went on to point out the need for an increase in U.S. and NATO troops on the ground and more attention to fighting terrorist activities in Pakistan.

In light of these recent statements, it is time for the Bush administration to stand down while Americans stand up for peace.

_{(a cross-post from CCAG.net)}

Watch video from our event on YouTube: HCAN! Action Connecticut - July 24, 2008

CCAG joined with Citizens for Economic Opportunity and others united under the Health Care for America Now! (HCAN!) banner in Hartford Thursday to ask Gov. Rell one simple question: “Which side are you on?”

Before delivering our message to the Governor’s office, our group — fifty strong — started out by following the money from Union Station to the offices of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA). CBIA purports to represent the best interests of small businesses in Connecticut, but what they really represent are their own interests as a seller of insurance. A small business owner from Milford joined us yesterday to tell CBIA that they do not speak for him on the issue of health care.

Which side are you on? Visit the HCAN! website and let us know that you’re with us.

Press Coverage of the Event

• Zachary Abramson covered the event for the Hartford Courant
  [link to online article][scan from print edition]
• Scott Whipple covered the event for the New Britain Herald
  [link to online article] [scan from print edition]

Watch this hilarious new YouTube video by Health care for America Now titled “Insurance Company Rules”. While Americans are working hard and playing by the rules, insurance companies get to make up stuff and change the rules as they go along.

This is about as close as our current President will get to having his likeness on Mt. Rushmore.  Credit to our friends at Americans United for the pic and their terrific Bush Legacy Tour.  Find out when the tour will stop in your area.   

In case you haven’t heard by now, the Insurance industry lobby decided to kick off their own fake astroturf campaign to counter the Health Care for America now grassroots movement. Hundreds of Progress Ohio and SEIU activists showed up to protest their hypocrisy, and for putting profits in front of people.

A recent poll by Lake Research Partners found 78% of voters believe that health insurance companies “put profits before people.” Yesterday, the CEO of WellPoint, the nation’s biggest health insurance company, admitted it saying essentially “We can’t operate without money.” Earlier, she told investors, “We will not sacrifice profitability for membership.” In other words, who cares about people? It’s all about the bottom line.

Click here for more on the priceless confrontation between SEIU and the insurance industry.

It looks like Time Magazine and the Rockefeller Foundation agrees with our “Invest in America” plan that its time to hold our government responsible for providing its people a basic, decent standard of living.

It has become apparent that conservatives want government just small enough to take care of their special interests. But it appears that more and more Americans are rejecting the conservative “dog-eat-dog” ideology and are returning to the principles our founding fathers based this nation on. Having a government “By the people, for the people.”

During and after the great depression, workers, employers and the government entered into an implied social contract that afforded Americans a basic level of economic security if they worked hard and took responsibility for their families. In a new TIME/Rockefeller Foundation survey, however, Americans give voice to a very different reality: the 20th century’s social contract is unraveling, they say, and almost all of us–8 in 10, in fact–yearn for a new bargain to help meet 21st century challenges.

Americans overwhelmingly support major government investments to create jobs that won’t go offshore–public-works and energy-efficiency projects in particular. They favor new policies that reward hard work, including a boost in the minimum wage, employer-paid family leave and more available, affordable child care. They want new ways to save and invest.

Here is the link to the Time story.

The insurance industry is good at many things…like denying care, raising premiums, providing inadequate coverage.  We’ll find out tomorrow whether they’re any good at grassroots organizing.  Check this story from Politico (“Progressives fire back at insurers”). 

Based on what we’re hearing from our organizers on the ground, I don’t think America’s Health Insurance Plan (AHIP), the trade association representing insurance companies, will get the press shot or headline they were probably looking for.  Instead of their preferred message, something along the lines of them feeling our pain and wanting to be a part of a solution, it’ll be AHIP vs. HCAN.  Or, to the heart of it, sham-health care talk vs. a serious movement for quality, affordable health care that we can count on. 

Keep an eye out for pics and stories from our partners on the ground in Ohio.   

Here’s a piece from Congress Daily:

USACTION GETS SOME SUPPORT FOR NEW ‘NEW DEAL’ AGENDA

Three senators and 11 House members Thursday endorsed a plan presented by
progressive advocacy group USAction to address the country’s economic
crisis.

The plan pinpointed quality affordable health care, a stronger public
education system and energy independence as initiatives that could reverse
recent economic trends.

USAction Program Director Alan Charney cited the need for long-term public
investments, rather than quick fixes, to alleviate the current economic
situation. He called the plan “the next New Deal” and emphasized the
importance of the solutions being presented as part of a package, rather
than individual efforts.

Reps. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., Donna Edwards, D-Md., Keith Ellison, D-Minn.,
Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., spoke up in support of
the plan at Thursday’s news conference.