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Health Care Reform 
Mon Mar 08, 2010 at 17:17:50 PM EST
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Last August, a health care protest rally staged in front of the offices of MI-07 Representative Mark Schauer brought out Jackson County Commissioner Phil Duckham with a swastika sign. You can read more about that in my Huffington Post article. This Thursday, another such rally is scheduled.
So the question is: Will Phil Duckham stage a repeat performance?
A counter protest due to begin a 3:30 pm is planned and, if you have a chance to go, it might be worth a trip. If you take photos of any particularly "interesting" signs or activities, feel free to email me and I will be sure they get published prominently.
The official statement for the counter protest:
Dear Friend-
We urgently need your help. This Thursday, the Michigan Republican Party is planning to hold a health care protest outside Congressman Schauer's district office at 4:30pm. The GOP invitation says, "We need your help to stop Mark Schauer and the liberals from a radical government takeover of health care!"
During a similar protest last August, pro-health care reform activists outnumbered Tea Party protesters by a 4-to-1 margin, and we need your help to do it again. You can watch a video of Mark speaking at last summer's health care rally here.
If you agree with Mark that we need to fix our broken health care system, hold the big health insurance companies accountable, eliminate the prescription drug donut hole, and cut health care costs for working families, then you can show your support by attending a Rally for Health Care Reform this Thursday. Here are the details:
WHAT: Rally for Health Care Reform
WHERE: U.S Rep. Mark Schauer's District Office
800 W Ganson, Jackson, MI 49202
WHEN: Thursday, March 11, 3:30pm
WHY: To send a message that working Michigan families are ready to fight for health care reform
We're in the homestretch of a 62-year battle to fix our broken health care system. Mark is ready to get the job done, but the Party of No and their deep-pocketed friends are willing to do whatever it takes to defend the status quo for another 62 years. We can't let them get away with it.
Come show your support for health care reform and Mark Schauer this Thursday - and don't forget to tell your friends!
RSVP HERE.
The flyer for the event is after the jump. Click it for a larger version. Note that the counter protest begins at 3:30 p.m..
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Sat Jan 23, 2010 at 12:46:36 PM EST
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Cross-posted at Eclectablog.
 Last night, MI-07 Representative Mark Schauer spoke to the 2010 annual membership meeting of the Western Washtenaw Dems. During his conversation, he came out firmly in favor of a reconciliation path to passing health insurance reform legislation and was outspoken about the atrocious decision by the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) to allow nearly unlimited corporate funding of political campaigns.
We need to push a bill, maybe taking the Senate bill and modifying it, and put into it all the components that can be passed under reconciliation. The long and short of that is that it doesn't take 60 votes. It takes 51. That's actually what our democracy is about. Anybody that complains about that, I'm going to give it to 'em and say it's not 60 votes that's a majority, 51 votes is a majority.
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Sat Jan 23, 2010 at 09:07:16 AM EST
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In Michigan, there's a common legislative procedure known as a tie-bar. The legislation doesn't become effective unless another piece of legislation passes. This seems to be relatively unknown at the federal level. Michigan congressional representatives that have been state legislators should be familiar with the process, and can educate the others.
Pass the fixes through the U.S. House and Senate under reconciliation. Use a tie-bar to prevent them from taking effect without specific sections of the full health care bill.
Then, the House can safely pass the Senate version of the bill.
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Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 19:56:10 PM EST
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Cross-posted at Eclectablog.
 My former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers stopped by the offices of the Livingston Press & Argus in Howell, Mich. yesterday to throw some poop on health care reform. Not only did he throw poop, he told several bald-faced lies including this one:
He said a government-appointed panel's conclusion that women need fewer mammograms at certain ages would be incorporated in the bills.
Rogers, himself a cancer survivor, said the government shouldn't dictate who has access to mammograms.
"I said, 'Oh, my gosh. They just sentenced to death 36,000 American women.'"
And that's not the only whopper he told.
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Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 10:58:47 AM EST
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( - promoted by Eric B.)
 As the son of a nurse who worked in primary care for many years, I've long held the belief that decisions about childbearing should be made by a woman in consultation with her family and doctor. The government doesn't belong in the room when these very personal, private decisions are being made.
Unfortunately, the debate over abortion - a legal, constitutionally-protected medical procedure - has become a wedge issue in the larger effort to reform our nation's broken health care system.
Since current federal law already bans the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, and nothing in the Affordable Health Care for America Act changes the Hyde Amendment, I didn't hesitate to vote against the amendment introduced by my colleague Bart Stupak.
This measure represents a dangerous step towards making abortion a class-based procedure that only wealthy women could afford.
Under Mr. Stupak's amendment, women who don't get their health insurance through their employer and purchase affordable coverage through the new Health Insurance Exchange, would be denied the ability to buy a health insurance policy that covers abortion services - even when using their own money. That's right: none of the private plans or public insurance options found in the Exchange would be allowed to cover abortion.
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Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 20:47:49 PM EST
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The wind has gone out of the sails of the Astroturf teabaggers riled up by rightwing Washington, D.C. lobbying groups paid for by the insurance industry, but Republicans are trying to get it going again.
U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, will be in the Lansing area tomorrow for a health care townhall meeting following the historic vote on the Affordable Health Care for America Act last week.
As predicted, the Michigan Republican Teabagger Party has sent out an email blast to get the lunatic fringe that is their base to come out and disrupt the event like they did at town hall meetings of Democratic Congressman last summer. The email uses the regular false, talking point: "We need your help in PROTESTING Schauer's "YES" vote of the radical government takeover of health care!"
Apparently, since Republican Congressman continue to duck townhall meetings, teabaggers have to disrupt ones put on by Democrats. They certainly don't want people to hear the truth.
They are pulling out all the stops because they know the majority of Americans support health care reform, and we need to be there to show our support.
The town hall meeting will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow - Friday Nov. 13 - at the Days Inn - formerly the Best Western - 7711 W Saginaw Hwy in Delta Township, 48917.
Schauer will share information about what's in the bill for Michigan, and he will answer questions from local residents of the 7th Congressional District. Also appearing will be Eric J. Schneidewind, President of Michigan AARP; Erin Knott, Assistant Director of Michigan Citizen Action; and Jeff Breslin, President, Michigan Nurses Association.
Come show your support for health care reform, and get there early to get a seat.
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Thu Oct 22, 2009 at 17:22:33 PM EDT
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( - promoted by Eric B.)
In an eye-opening story, the National Journal compares the percentage of uninsured people in each Congressional district and finds that
Many of the House members in both parties who are most opposed to the health care reform legislation moving toward a historic vote represent districts where the share of residents without insurance exceeds the national average, often by substantial amounts, according to recently released census data.
[skip]
House Republicans are slightly more likely than their Democratic counterparts to represent districts where the share of people without health insurance exceeds the national average of 15 percent. Fully 47 percent of House Republicans (84 of 178) represent districts where the proportion of the uninsured exceeds that average. Among Democrats, 43 percent (111 of 257) represent districts in which the share of the uninsured exceeds the national average.
Bonus: a nifty interactive map...
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Sun Oct 04, 2009 at 14:55:19 PM EDT
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Cross-posted at Eclectablog. October 3, 2009, the Washtenaw County Democratic Party held its annual dinner. Three U.S. Congressmen were in attendance. The first was freshman Representative Mark Schauer, a young, vibrant and optimistic Congressman. The second was Representative John Dingell, the longest-serving member in Congress today and a man who has introduced a single-payer health care bill every year for 52 years. The third was a pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement, a man jailed over 40 times, beaten and bloodied for his views and actions, Representative John Lewis from Georgia. He attended President Obama's inauguration as the only living speaker from the rally at the March on Washington. These three men, from dramatically different backgrounds and perspectives, all spoke with one voice in saying that health care reform in this country is the civil rights struggle of our time. 
From L to R: County Dem. Party Chair Stu Dowty, Rep. Mark Schauer, Rep. John Dingell, Rep. John Lewis
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Tue Sep 08, 2009 at 09:07:48 AM EDT
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The Tea Bag Express is rolling into my little town of Brighton today at 3:30... and I bet we'll see a few of these:
toothpastefordinner.com
Don't let paid out-of-state agitators dominate the day -- come on down to the Mill Pond and let your voice be heard.
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Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 17:26:13 PM EDT
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Cross-posted at the Daily Kos.
Today, at an Organizing for America (OFA)-sponsored event, U.S. Representative John Dingell was presented with over 4,000 health care declarations supporting President Obama's three principles of health care reform. It was a great event with over 250 supporters in attendance and only one anti-reform protester who walked up and down the road in front of the building with a sign reading "Abortion is not health care."
In his comments, Rep. Dingell pledged his strong support of public option in the health care legislation that is under consideration in Congress. At this public meeting, he equated mandated health care coverage without a public option to a giant handout out to the health insurance industry. Some quotes from his talk and more photos after the jump.
Rep. John Dingell holds up 4,000+ health care
declarations presented by OFA
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Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 12:09:48 PM EDT
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With the Michigan legislature proposing cuts to state employee health care, and the debate on national health care, here's my proposal for combining the issues. Let's call this the "Michigan Plan", along the lines of our founding fathers' Connecticut Plan and Virginia Plan. Medicare Patriotic Health Plan: currently 65 years and older. Medicorps Heroic Health Plan: currently military veterans and dependents. Eligibility for both plans should expand to include all Medicaid, S-CHIP, and other grant recipients; current and former Americorps, Peace Corps, Vista, federal, state, municipal, and other not-for-profit employees; and their immediate family; and dependents through age 21. This provides a competitive choice. This competition would be with any other private plans that are available. Who could argue with good ol' fashioned American competition?
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Thu Sep 03, 2009 at 11:51:20 AM EDT
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Cross-posted at the Daily Kos.
Last week I penned a Letter to the Editor to the Dexter Leader, my local newspaper and part of Heritage Newspapers. Heritage Newspapers is, from their webpage:
..an award winning publishing group that consists of 11-suburban publications (9 weekly, 1 twice-weekly and 1 tri-weekly publication) in southeastern Michigan with a circulation of over 316,850. [...] Heritage Newspapers covers southeastern Michigan from Dearborn to Ohio and from Grosse Ile to Chelsea with the highest market penetration of any newspaper, in this area.
Two days later I received a response from one of their editors. The email was such a shocking display of bias and unprofessionalism that I felt compelled to respond to them AND their supervisors at Heritage. Their email and my response are below.
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Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 15:14:58 PM EDT
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Cross-posted at the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post.
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This is a follow-up to my [Daily Kos] diary on Tuesday regarding defeated former U.S. Representative Tim Walberg holding town halls in Michigan in an apparent crass use of the health care debate to launch his 2010 bid to regain his House seat.
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Wed Aug 26, 2009 at 12:12:52 PM EDT
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Heads up to readers in MI House District 41 / Oakland county. The ODCP is try to drum up attendees an Anti health care reform town hall sponsored by Marty Knollenberg.
The time / location is Wednesday, August 26 from 7- 9 p.m. at Troy High School located at 4777 Northfield Parkway, Troy, 48098.
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Tue Aug 25, 2009 at 10:13:50 AM EDT
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As many of you already know, defeated former House Rep. Tim Walberg is hosting a series of health care town halls across MI-07. The one originally scheduled for Battle Creek on Wednesday has been relocated to Marshall. Below is an excerpt from my Daily Kos diary this morning which has details. Note the Walberg has another one tonight in Hillsdale.
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Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 13:42:41 PM EDT
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Hi, my name's Julielyn and I'm a small business owner. I'm lucky enough to be one of the millions of middle-class people who has insurance, but I don't just want health care reform, I desperately need it. I recently quit a good-paying job with great benefits and started my own business. It is something that I'd been thinking about doing for a while, and despite the current economic climate, I knew that my business would be successful, it was the health insurance component that I was most worried about. When I was a teen I was diagnosed with a particularly severe case of Crohn's Disease, and in the ten years that it took me to finally get in remission, I was hospitalized over 80 times, have had over 35 surgeries. Thankfully through my dad's job in Detroit's Auto Industry, I had pretty good insurance, but the co-pays added up. At certain points, we were paying up to 25 different doctors and hospitals a month, and that was on top of raising two other children, a mortgage and all of the other living expenses. I still have no idea how my parents managed to keep us afloat. Nowadays, the cost of staying in remission is a hefty one. I'm on several medications, and in order to stay alive, I had to have a major portion of my digestive track removed which means I now live with an ostomy. Because of this, I will live the rest of my life needing medical supplies just to stay functioning, and believe me, it's not cheap.
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Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 11:23:55 AM EDT
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(More on the Crazy Commissioner of Jackson County. - promoted by rich)
Cross-posted at the Daily Kos. Yesterday my Huffington Post piece recieved a LOT of attention and was on the front page and the politics page all day (still on the Politics page.)
Below is a pretty remarkable update regarding Jackson County Commissioner Phil Duckham who thought it appropriate to bring a swastika sign to the rally.
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Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 17:30:53 PM EDT
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( - promoted by Eric B.)
UPDATE BELOW Huffington Post piece is HERE. Also, Daily Kos diary is HERE and has some additional stuff in it. Check it out and give it a Rec if you're of a mind to.
I got my first inkling that things were going well when I received the following text from a friend: It is AMAZING! HUGE turnout for our side!!! The Jackson Citizen Patriot is now reporting that hundreds of people lined all four corners of the intersection near Schauer's Jackson office in what Jackson police describe as a "primarily peaceful" rally. Positioned on all four corners of the N. West Avenue and Ganson Street intersection, people marched up and down the streets, chanting and carrying signs. Both opponents and proponents of President Barack Obama's health care reform proposal had planned to rally at the location, with supporters starting at 3:30 p.m. and opponents coming out at 4:30 p.m. Many passing motorists were stopping to honk, which created some traffic slowdowns. Police were in the intersection to try and keep things moving.
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