Archive for July, 2009

On July 1, 2009 one of our members, kjisbored wrote to President Obama and two Illinois Senators (see Submittals: July 1: “Is This The Response We Get On Health Care?”).

Below is the response received from Illinois Senator Roland Burris. Our thanks to Senator Burris!

Thank you for writing to express your views on the current financial crisis. I share your concern and appreciate your insight on this important matter.

My Senate colleagues and I are committed to getting the country out of this recession and providing American families with the assistance they need in these trying economic times. As part of this effort, Congress recently passed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. My presence in the Senate and support of President Obama’s priorities were crucial to the final passage of this legislation that will help restore our economic strength.

The Recovery Act will deliver an immediate and tangible impact to the state of Illinois and the United States. Over the next two years, this legislation will create and save more than 3.5 million jobs in a range of industries, with over 90 percent in the private sector. It will put people to work rebuilding our roads, bridges, rail, and waterways and will help Illinois keep police officers, teachers, and firefighters at work servicing their communities. The Recovery Actprovides 95 percent of American workers with a tax cut and makes college more affordable through increased Pell Grant awards and tax cuts for higher education. This measure will also make vital investments in our health care system, move forward alternative energy development, and provide tax incentives to promote recovery.

The passage of H.R. 1 is a vital step towards putting our national economy back on track. As we move forward, I will continue the necessary work to reform our nation’s financial regulations, protect homeowners, crack down on predatory lending, and always put the needs of American families before those of Wall Street.

I will continue to listen closely to what you and other Illinoisans have to say about matters before Congr ess, the concerns of our communities, and the issues facing Illinois and the nation. My job is not about merely supporting or opposing legislation; it is also about bridging the divide that has paralyzed our nation’s politics.

Sincerely,
Roland W. Burris
United States Senator

Below, you will find the response from the Senior Senator of Illinois, Dick Durbin in response to our letter to him on Health Care Reform.

All three of our Representatives in Illinois are behind Health Care Reform! Where is the bottle neck in Congress?

On behalf of the people, thank you Senator Durbin.

Sincerely,

Below is the response we received from our Illinois, 14th District, House Representative, Bill Foster regarding health care reform. Once again, if you let your Washington Representation hear from you, Congress will listen to US, and not the special interest lobbyists.

We have now posted the responses from Illinois Senator Burris and Representative Foster. Both support Health Care reform. This is not about President Obama, not about being republican, democrat, or independent and their political future. This is about our future, our children and grand children’s future. This is about what the people of this country need to have Washington do before it further burdens our economy and every one of US.

Thank you Bill Foster!

We recently came across an e-mail from the President of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (our home State), Paul Boulis. In this e-mail he is calling for “grass roots action alert! Contact your Congressman today!”

Mr. Boulis is stating that a public health insurance option will:

        ” * severely damage the current employer-based system for providing health benefits

          * exacerbate cost shifting

          * eventually squeeze private insurers from the market

          * cause employers to lose any ability to manage the costs of coverage, while still accountable for continued contributions

          * jeopardize delivery system reforms critical to controlling costs.”

Point #1: The “current employer-based system” is disintegrating. More and more companies eliminate health insurance benefits or shift the cost to their employees. Companies can not afford the year-to-year increases in health care costs.

Point #2: Mr Boulis - the shift has been exacerbating for some time now - where have you been?

Point #3: We doubt private insurers will be squeezed “out of the market”. We’re pretty sure they will find a way to sell some sort of private policies to augment a public option.

Point #4: We think most employers (and Individuals)  have already lost the ability to control the costs of coverage.

Point #5: “jeopardize delivery system reforms critical to controlling costs.” Where have the private insurance folks been for the last five years? Costs have done nothing but increase. When was the last time you received a cost reduction in your health care premium resultant of the private insurers’ effectiveness in controlling costs?

Mr. Boulis, we understand that private health insurers Do Not obtain the majority of their revenues and profits from the difference they collect in premiums and the amount of claims they are forced to pay out (even though the vast majority of claims are rejected and require some sort of negotiation).

Private Insurers make the majority of their money on investments they make with the premiums they collect. If they did as well as we all did with our retirement funds over the past two (2) years they have lost about 50% of their value.

What comes next? Increased premiums in attempts to recoup money on investments that did not perform.

Ask any business owner or individual who pays health care premiums - what has happened to their health care rates versus the rate of inflation over the last five (5) years?

The five points Mr. Boulis makes above are nothing more than distractions to the real issue. That real issue is: We can not afford to leave the decisions for our health care in the hands of lobbyists and the influence of private insurers!

 Every one of us must tell our Representation and President Obama’s Administration we want Health Care reform for We The People, not the insurance companies that continue to shift the burden of their profits to their “customers” instead of their executives and shareholders!

As posted yesterday, we have now been able to send in our request to Senator Sanders requesting an update on the Health Care petition link.

Dear Senator Sanders:

Recently we posted a link: http://sanders.senate.gov/petitions/index.cfm on our web site: www.transparencyandaccountability.org so our visitors would be able to go to your link & sign the petition in support of your efforts for Health Care Reform.

Would you please advise us on the status of this petition and aforementioned link as it is not accessible - the link redirects visitors to the US Senate Home page.

We would like to let our site visitors know about the petition and the link.

We appreciate your efforts and response. Thanks Senator Sanders.

Best Regards,
bob.b@transparencyandaccountability.org

We’ll let you know the response  we receive.

Thanks to Bonnie for letting us know the link for Senator Bernie Sanders Single Payer Health Care Petition is not accessible.

We have sent a request to Senator Sanders regarding information on this link and the status of the petition.

Apparently, Senator Sanders web form & site is having technical difficulties and their webmaster has been notified.

We will post up information as it becomes available.

Thank you Bonnie!

Last week we sent off e-mails to our Senators and House Representative regarding our position on Health Care reform. Below is the response we received from Senator Roland Burris, junior Senator from the State of Illinois (the only response we have received thus far).

Dear Bob:

Thank you for writing me with your concerns about health care reform and a public plan option.

From the beginning of the health reform debate, I have expressed support for the inclusion of a public health insurance plan. I consider it essential for private insurers to have healthy market competition, which will increase efficiency and drive down prices. Currently, in Illinois, two insurance companies control 69% of the insurance market. These companies have little incentive to reduce their high administrative and marketing costs because they corner the market. Introducing a public plan that keeps costs low and provides a fair price to consumers would put the pressure on private insurers to change their practices for the better.

As Congress works towards making health reform a reality, my first priority is to ensure quality affordable health insurance for every American. I firmly believe that a public plan option would help to achieve this goal and will advocate for its inclusion in the final health reform bill.

I will continue to listen closely to what you and other Illinoisans have to say about matters before Congress, the concerns of our communities, and the issues facing Illinois and the nation. My job is not about merely supporting or opposing legislation; it is also about bridging the divide that has paralyzed our nation’s politics.

Sincerely,

Roland W. Burris
United States Senator

Thank you Senator Burris for working on behalf of We The People.

Today, we sent requests of support to our Illinois Senators Durbin and Burris and our House Representative Foster.

Our request is simple: Support President Obama’s efforts to reform Health Care as follows:

                * Reduce the Cost of Health Care

                * Guarantee the choice of plans and doctors - including a robust public insurance option.

                * Ensure quality, affordable health care for every American.

We will post up the responses we receive and we encourage you all to contact your Senators and House Representative by voicing your positions on this very important issue.

When we first went live in May, 2009 we sent e-mails to President Obama’s Administration, our Illinois Senators and the House Representative of the 14th District of Illinois asking them how they would like to receive communications from  the members of TransparencyandAccountability.org.

House Representative Bill Foster and/or his staff apparently read our request. On June 23, a member of Representative Foster’s staff called us here at our office to give us the URL for member communications:

 http://foster.house.gov/contact/zipauth.aspx.

If Bill Foster can encourage representation of the people that sent him to Washington why doesn’t every House member, Senator and The Administration do the same?

Thank you Bill Foster - we appreciate your efforts on our behalf!

As we celebrated the birth of our Country and the Freedoms it affords each of us this past weekend, we reflected on how free we are.

The economy continues to deteriorate. People are losing their jobs and homes. Banks are squeezing their customers with higher interest rates and offering little, if any available credit. We can not afford, or many cases can not obtain quality health care. We have an enormous task of getting our arms around an unsustainable energy model that is sapping our financial resources, climate and environment. Our educational system must be re-engineered.  Our infrastructure is crumbling and dangerously outdated. Cities and States are being forced to curtail or eliminate services to its residents because of financial stress. Many foreign nations are testing us as they feel the impact on their economies of a global recession.

And what is happening with our elected representation in Washington? Many in the Senate and House continue to play the same old Washington games - influenced by highly paid lobbyists that direct and even write legislation that is not designed for the best interests of the people of this country. Many of our elected representatives continue to represent special interests groups. Take a look at recent legislation that has been proposed or enacted - how many Senators and/or House Representatives know what all is in a bill that could be 1,000 or 1,300 pages long!

Is this the Transparency and Accountability we voted for?

Do we really have freedom when constituents of the Washington elected feel helpless, that their voice can not or will not be heard as everything they have worked for crumbles around them?

Is it freedom when a handful of wealthy people design and dictate how and what legislation happens?

We don’t think so! If we are to be truly free, as our founding fathers designed 233 years ago, Congress and the Administration must be responsible to their constituents, not special interests. Every one of us has the responsibility to demand the folks in Washington break away from the old political games and become 100% committed to representing the people of this country. This is the only path to a free, engaged and proud America.

Remember, this government was designed for We The People. It’s time we have the guts and fortitude our forefathers exhibited when they founded this country. It’s Our Turn!

 Only then will we be able to celebrate true Independence.