Labor & Worker Rights Tue Dec 22 2009

Solidarity Report: HCR & Low Wages, Restaurant Workers, & More

In the 19th Century, wealth was distributed by height.

Some dispatches from the world of work:

*At the stupendous Working blog from In These Times, a few pieces: first, Kari Lydersen profiles the on-going effort of staff at the upscale Andersonville^ Ole Ole! restaurant to organize a union:

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— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)

Health Care Tue Dec 22 2009

Chicago Reporter: Medical Bills Spurring More Bankruptcies

The Chicago Reporter's Amalia Oulahan details how medical bills continue to trigger more and more bankruptcies:

An examination of 2,314 personal bankruptcy cases found that medical expenses caused an estimated 62 percent of the bankruptcies filed nationwide in 2007, according to an August study published in the American Journal of Medicine. In the same year, more than 40,000 nonbusiness bankruptcy cases were filed in Illinois, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

The study's result, compared with findings from a similar 2001 study, shows that the share of bankruptcies caused by illness and medical bills increased by almost 50 percent between 2001 and 2007.

Of the medical bankruptcies studied in 2007, three quarters of the filers had health insurance when they became sick. "For most people, the issue is that they have insurance but it's nearly worthless," said Dr. David Himmelstein, associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and one of the study's authors. "You have this insurance card, but it still leaves you with bills."

Consider this a shout out to my "personal responsibility" friends out there who think the working class is in so much credit trouble because they're buying Dodo egg-yolk fueled ski-doos and genital-massage equipped flatscreens.

In retrospect, I should've continued my COBRA coverage.

— Ramsin Canon / Comments (1)

Health Care Mon Dec 14 2009

A Health Care Omen from the Immigration Process

Most bad government has grown out of too much government.
-John Sharp Williams in a speech about Thomas Jefferson

I have a friend who is in the process of obtaining a student visa in order to attend an a university here in Chicago. The loopholes that they require you to jump through are extensive and often ludicrous, but nothing has been quite as amusing in its absurdity as the questions on a mandatory questionnaire. I've included some of my favorites:

Do you have a communicable disease of public health significance such as tuberculosis (TB)?

Have you ever violated, or engaged in a conspiracy to violate, any law relating to controlled substances?

Are you coming to the United States to engage in prostitution or unlawful commercialized vice or have you been engaged in prostitution or procuring prostitutes within the past 10 years?

Do you seek to engage in espionage, sabotage, export control violations, or any other illegal activity while in the United States?

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— Conor McCarthy / Comments (6)

IL-Senate Campaign Mon Nov 30 2009

Mark Kirk Learned That He Isn't Sarah Palin

The political world is abuzz about Chicago's own Congressman Mark Kirk, who tried to get a "Death Panels"-style meme going but failed miserably. You can read the history here, here, or here. There isn't much more to say on the facts of this story.

I do have some thoughts, though. One aspect of this that hasn't been focused on enough is that Kirk actually thought twisting the truth the way Palin does was worth the risk; he thought it was an effective political strategy. What Kirk didn't realize is that Sarah Palin gets attention more because what she says is unbelievable, outrageous and weak in the truth department than because she is arguably a politician was a politician. Palin is more entertainment than serious policy. Kirk is still regarded--comparatively--as a more serious politician with a better track record and a more promising future. (Let's be real here--Palin will never be president. Period.). Because of that difference, and the fact that Kirk is in a state that remains blue and hesitant to Republicans' accusatory statements about healthcare reform, he will receive more serious scrutiny and less attention, even proportionately, to Sarah Palin.

(Crossposted)

— Daniel Strauss / Comments (0)

Health Care Sat Nov 14 2009

Kirk Still Your Average Conservative at Heart

Mark Kirk is trying to walk a thin line here. He doesn't want to be Scozzafavaed, but he doesn't want to come off as too conservative either. Take this excellent piece by Mike O'Brien (a former classmate of mine) in The Hill. O'Brien reports that Kirk is criticizing the "Pelosi healthcare bill" on its policy, not its ideology. That's enough to make a moderate Democrat in Illinois pause. A Republican who's actually criticizing the bill because of what it does and not because of who proposed it? Well, maybe I'll take a listen. Kirk also keeps his conservative cred by criticizing the bill at all. Problem is, Kirk's criticism is so ridiculous, what he's really doing is just pandering to the base:

Kirk outlined core elements of Republicans' health reform proposals in the address, arguing that the healthcare bill passed a week ago by the House would do little to reform the system, and result in higher taxes.

What about reducing prices? What about insuring millions of Americans? What about stopping insurers from rejecting consumers based on preconditions? That's all nothing?

(Crossposted)

— Daniel Strauss / Comments (2)

Health Care Thu Oct 08 2009

Thursday Watch Party: Death Panels Are Real (Part 3)

Sigh.

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— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)

Health Care Thu Oct 01 2009

Thursday Watch Party - Won't Someone Think of the Insurance Execs?

— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)

Health Care Thu Oct 01 2009

Thursday Watch Party - Rep. Alan Grayson Owns Republicans on Health Care

Representative Alan Grayson Owns Republicans on Health Care

Representative Alan Grayson (D) - FL said that Repubs "want you to die quickly if you get sick" and called government's inaction on health care a "Holocaust". Republicans, of course, want to slap him on the wrist for his comments, by using the same mechanism used on ol' boy Ragin' Joe' Wilson.

Rep. Grayson is the same guy who introduced the Paid Vacation Act of 2009, which would catch America up to the Phillipines in mandatory time off per year (but still far behind every other industrialized nation on earth).

— Timothy Morin / Comments (0)

Health Care Fri Sep 18 2009

Burris Doing Right?

Brian Beutler is tentatively optimistic about Senator Roland Burris's insistence on a public option:

— Daniel Strauss / Comments (0)

Health Care Wed Sep 16 2009

On Healthcare: My Recent Experience at The Post Office, A Narrative

So I was at the post office the other day, mailing something to my special lady friend. It's long distance so you really have to send letters and what not to keep points on the scoreboard, so to speak. I had tried FedEx and UPS, but their prices were astronomical - $60 bucks versus $10 - $20 for USPS.

There I was, putting some stuff in a box and filling out all the appropriate forms, when some girl came in to ship something. It was only the two of us there at the Post Office, so I could easily hear her conversation with the USPS employee. The girl was trying to pay for her purchase with a credit card that said "See I.D." where the signature bar is on the back. The USPS employee was not down with that. You see, their policy is that you have to sign your cards. "You can sign your card right now, but we won't take it if it's not signed," the employee told the young lady - the damsel in distress, you might say.

"I work at a bank," the girl protested. "We tell all of our customers to write 'See I.D' on the back of their cards because it's more secure. Your I.D. has your signature and your picture on it. It helps protect against theft."

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— Conor McCarthy / Comments (18)

Chicago Tue Sep 01 2009

Chicago Justice Project Makes a Connection Traditional Media Won't

As we said over and over again during the budget fight, politics eventually ends up on the streets. The activists, professionals, and politicians who duke it out in the halls of power are usually fairly insulated from the actual effects of their policies. We feel those out on the streets. We, the public.

So when Mayor Daley makes a move to close down mental health centers, some will celebrate "cutting waste", where waste = any social spending. Others will attack the Mayor's callousness, in the abstract. The local media will pick one of those tunes, typically, and sing in that chord. Meanwhile, the Chicago Justice Project makes the connection between the streets and politics that we rarely see anywhere else:

Anyone who pays even a minimal amount of attention to the Chicago media is constantly bombarded with evidence of our society's failures. This week is different in that we have proof of the fallout of a past failure (the shooting of a mentally disturbed homeless man in the loop) mixed with a forecast of what is to come based on decisions currently made by our political leaders (the closing of numerous area mental health clinics). Confused? Allow me to explain with examples drawn from the last seven days of Chicago's history.

— Ramsin Canon / Comments (0)

Federal Government Tue Aug 11 2009

A Mob of Senior Citizens

Via Reason:

Former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski (once the chairman of the US House's Ways & Means Committee) back in 1989 was chased down by some senior citizens protesting legislation, Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act. They complained that they had to pay more taxes for the additional benefits. Rostenkowski seemed more rattled by the citizens than some of the Senators facing their own angry mobs in the current health care debate.

If only we had those types of contentious townhalls here. I can't argue about the people putting their politicians to the fire!

— Levois / Comments (2)