This appeared in today's edition of the Oklahoman.
A race to the bottom
Point of view: Interstate insurance sales
BY JEFF RAYMOND The Oklahoman
Published: February 8, 2010
One of the few parts of health care reform everyone seems to agree on is that selling insurance across state lines should be allowed. "Competition" is the buzz word.
When asked on "Meet the Press" about the GOP's health care reform agenda, the party's Senate leader listed interstate insurance sales near the top.
In Oklahoma, gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, has endorsed interstate insurance sales. Two bills up for consideration in the Legislature this year would allow insurers to sell across state lines. Both were filed by Democrats. It appears as though Fallin's party doesn't share her enthusiasm at the Capitol.
We've added some consumer and health care bills from our 2010 tracking list to our web site, with simple descriptions and links to read the legislation for yourself.
Hello friends,
In light of the recent SCOTUS decision to grant corprations "personhood", many grassroots groups opposed to the ruling have sprung up overnight.
I'm helping to organize efforts to this end locally.
We are attempting to organize as quickly as possible, marches nationwide on our state capitols to demand campaign finance reform. I'm the point person for OKC. The objective up the road -- is to have a mass march on Washington and to seek meaningful campaign finance reform.
Note also that many of us are seeking an amendment to the constitution to reverse the court's decision. A petition to this end can be found at:
http://www.movetoamend.org/tak...
I would really like to hear from anyone who would be interested in participating and/or helping organize. The target date to march at the state capitol is in about four weeks time - to highlight the immediate need for campaign finance reform. These marches will be taking place simultaneously at state capitols across the country.
It includes detailed descriptions of the legislative and executive branches of government and explains how bills are passed. OK Policy, a think tank based in Tulsa, should be commended for compiling the information. It's an invaluable document.
The state provides a full listing of pending legislation. It's often worth it to look through an entire bill that interests you or to go through the entire listing by titles to see what's pending. Online repositories of such information make it easier for all of us to stay informed.
The upcoming legislative session begins Feb. 1. Legislators will be faced with huge budget shortfalls this fiscal year and next fiscal year. State agencies have been forced to cut their budg
Just as Congress begins to close a deal on health care reform, Democratic National Committee spokesperson Derrick Plummer points out the obstructionism and "false claims" of U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn over the issue.
According to the DNC, Coburn, a Republican from Muskogee, remains part of a GOP movement that will try to repeal health care reform legislation if it passes. This is what Plummer had to say about the senator in a media release issued on Thursday:
Sally Kern wants to restrict "incompatibility as a ground for divorce." The amended section is underlined.
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 52nd Legislature (2010)
HOUSE BILL 2279 By: Kern
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to marriage, amending 43 O.S. 2001, Section 101, which relates to grounds for divorce; restricting the use of incompatibility as a ground for divorce; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 43 O.S. 2001, Section 101, is amended to read as follows:
Section 101. The district court may grant a divorce for any of the following causes:
First. Abandonment for one (1) year.
Second. Adultery.
Third. Impotency.
Fourth. When the wife at the time of her marriage, was pregnant by another than her husband.
Fifth. Extreme cruelty.
Sixth. Fraudulent contract.
Seventh. Incompatibility. Provided, however, that the court shall not grant a divorce on the ground of incompatibility if:
1. There are living minor children of the marriage;
2. The parties have been married ten (10) years or longer; or
3. Either party files a written objection to the granting of a divorce.
Eighth. Habitual drunkenness.
Ninth. Gross neglect of duty.
Tenth. Imprisonment of the other party in a state or federal penal institution under sentence thereto for the commission of a felony at the time the petition is filed.
Eleventh. The procurement of a final divorce decree without this state by a husband or wife which does not in this state release the other party from the obligations of the marriage.
Twelfth. Insanity for a period of five (5) years,...
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2010.
Oklahoma's new anti-choice law puts women under the microscope.
What were they thinking?
The Republican lawmakers in Oklahoma City must have been aware that their new anti-choice law would be challenged. They must have known it would be unlikely to stand up in the courts. Yet they passed a law that is so blatantly ideological that the national headlines would again advertise Oklahoma's bold conservatism.
I hope you all missed me, because I missed you dearly. Life has been a hollow shell without the constant pressure of deadlines and the endless quest for new and inspired content. Ah, I missed the old Journal! And I missed the feedback from readers.
Things will be a little different around the Grindstone in the future. Instead of updating the site three days a week, all of our updates will be posted every Monday. This will give me more time to promote the site, read article submissions, and write my own pieces.
As you might have noticed from our archive, I tended to write a lot. I will still write new articles and reviews for the journal, but from now on I will focus more on editing and administering the site. Hopefully this will result in more diverse content from new and inspired writers.
The feature I am most excited about is GJTV. We will have regular videos posted to the Grindstone Journal site and our channel on Youtube, The video feature is fun to produce and it opens the website to a whole new audience.
If you would like to write for Grindstone Journal, send me a submission at journal@grindstonejournal.com. I'll actually have time to read it, now! I'm looking forward to hearing from our loyal and our fantastic stable of writers.
Right now, the State of Oklahoma, and the legislators who make the law, have an important decision to make. As the economic crisis begins to erode critical funding to our state agencies, we have an opportunity to send a message to our state's citizens about what is most important. Life or death.
I attended the demo yesterday, which was sparse, but got great response from passers-by to the "Honk - No Afghan Surge" signs and was well covered by local media. Fox and NBC affiliates, Gazette and another reporter who contracts with local radio stations. The Oklahoman even deigned to cover it!!!
My photo album is here. The Oklahoman's coverage was just a photo sidebar to the president's speech but it was a good pic of Vietnam War Vet Dennis W. See it here (link may die within a few days).
So... a few weeks ago Air America started this contest thing where you nominate a progressive blogger to go on this cruise with all these progressive reporters like Rachel Maddow and Bobby Kennedy Jr. etc...
Bloggers from around the country started entering this, people who have lists that are far superior to our readership. Like we're talking people like Media Matters, Daily Kos, HuffPo, etc.. Power bloggers. While I have a lot of respect for us and the work we do, we're in Oklahoma and we're fighting to get creditability in our own state tackling it at the national level is daunting at best.
But then.. who knew... Air America announced today that I'm one of the people in the Top Ten! There I am! With the likes of Markos, Jane from Firedog Lake, and Karl from Media Matters - all people that I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for. I never thought that someone as young as I am or someone from the heartland even had a chance.
This is where I ask you for help. While I'm in the top 10, I need to be in the top 5 to advance to the next round.
The Oklahoma City Peace House is organizing a demonstration Tuesday against escalating the military occupation in Afghanistan.
The demonstration will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at NW 23rd Street and Classen Boulevard. The Peace House is encouraging people against the escalation to bring signs and protest.
President Barack Obama, with heavy Republican and conservative Democratic support, is expected to announce Tuesday he plans to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. The planned escalation has divided the Democratic Party and could possibly lead to ongoing political turmoil within the party's ranks, especially if it results in a growing number of deaths and casualties among American soldiers and innocent Afghanis.
On Nov. 14, The Peace House issued this statement about the military occupation in Afghanistan:
If you're in the Lawton area and have some time, stop by Cameron University's CETES Conference Center at 1 p.m. for a roundtable discussion on health care reform. It's free and open to the public.
OKWatchdog will be there to talk about health insurance reform. Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland, Wayne Rohde of Oklahomans for Health Care Reform and a Lawton physician will also speak.
Here's the press release from Cameron:
Cameron University's Business Research Center will present Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland during a business forum dealing with healthcare reform issues on Thursday, November 19.
The presentation, starting at 1 p.m. in the CETES Conference Center, will also feature a panel comprised of Jeff Raymond, Executive Director, OKWatchdog, a patient advocacy organization; Wayne Rohde, co-founder of Oklahomans for Health Care Reform; and Dr. Brent Smith, a personal care physician in Lawton. The forum is open to the public at no charge.
A long-time advocate for affordable health insurance, Holland continually works to reduce costs and expand access to coverage. Elected to office in 2006 after having been appointed by Gov. Brad Henry in January 2005 to fill an unexpired term, she has a proven track record of consumer advocacy over more than two decades as an insurance professional. Her professional and public policy experience in health care and health insurance provides a strong backdrop to her commitment as commissioner to lead health policy reforms that guarantee all Oklahomans access to affordable healthcare coverage.
Commissioner Holland is the recipient of the statewide 2007 Public Service Champion of Health, which recognizes her contributions to reducing uninsured in our state.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe is drawing criticism from a Washington, D.C. civil rights organization for threatening to filibuster a judge nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Inhofe's action contradicts his earlier stance against judicial filibusters, according to a statement released by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The judge is David Hamilton, who has the support of his home-state U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, the most senior-ranking Republican senator.
From tonight's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Coburn is taken to task for cloaking himself in this allusion of "caring for our troops" while refusing to do what is right for them. Even his own party disagrees with him, and its no surprise that Oklahoma Democrats all agree we should do the right thing for our veterans.
The Army Times today announced that Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn is the one responsible for holding up a major veterans benefits bill.
"Coburn has been identified by Senate aides as the lawmaker preventing consideration of S 1963, the Veterans' Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009, by using an informal but legal practice of putting a hold on a bill. . .
Earlier this fall, Coburn placed holds on S 252, the Veterans Health Care Authorization Act of 2009, and S 728, the Veterans' Insurance and Benefits Enhancement Act of 2009, which led to the introduction of S 1963, which combines key provisions of the two earlier bills in an effort to get around Coburn's opposition.
In a letter sent Monday night to the Senate majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the 13 military and veterans groups ask the Senate to get on with it.
"It is essential that Congress act on this comprehensive measure without further delay," the letter reads. "Thousands of disabled veterans with serious medical conditions and the family members who care for them are counting on this additional support."
The letter says passing the bill by Veterans Day would be a "fitting way" to honor veterans."
Oklahoma honors its veterans, and I find it totally unacceptable for a Senator to be holding up legislation that would help take care of our veterans in such an unstable economy when everyone is hurting.
All voters, regardless of partisanship stand up for our troops and our veterans, Oklahomans shouldn't stand for Coburn's hold on this bill.
Please contact his office here:
Washington D.C.:
172 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Main: 202-224-5754
Fax: 202-224-6008
Tulsa:
1800 South Baltimore
Suite 800
Tulsa, OK 74119
Main: 918-581-7651
Fax: 918-581-7195
Oklahoma City:
100 North Broadway
Suite 1820
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Main: 405-231-4941
Fax: 405-231-5051
We've all been following the national health care debate. But what most people don't realize is that state governments have many of the same powers at their disposal as Congress and will be called upon to implement whatever Congress passes.
So, shameless plug alert: You can help influence what we do as a state by attending an Oklahomans for Health Care Reform town hall meeting Thursday at Metro Tech, Springlake Campus, from 6 to 8 p.m. This will be the sixth and final town hall meeting we conduct. We will then begin compiling people's stories and survey results and write a report to give to legislators before next session, as well as draft a legislative agenda.
To do this, we need you there.
Previous meetings have been in Noble, Lawton, Muskogee, Stillwater and Broken Arrow.
The format will be open, with audience members sharing their stories and suggesting solutions to make Oklahomans healthier and provide better access to care. We moderate the discussions but depend on the audience and legislators to keep things interesting.
Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow; Rep. Eric Proctor, D-Tulsa; and Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, attended our last meeting and had very different views on health care reform. It made for a worthwhile two hours.
Oklahomans for Health Care Reform is nonpartisan and focuses on state-specific solutions rather than waiting for Congress to act.
WHO: Oklahomans for Health Care Reform (www.okhealthcarereform.com)
WHAT: Last in a series of town-hall meetings throughout the state
WHERE: Metro Tech, Spring Lake Campus, 36th & MLK Blvd., OKC
WHEN: 6 to 8 p.m. Nov 5
It's become more or less common knowledge that US forces have been using music as an operational tool for some time now, and I've begun seeing lists of the songs that are being used either to inflict pain, to demoralize, or to just generally disorient various people in various sorts of situations.
There are others, wiser than I, who will opine as to the questions of efficacy and the moral issues surrounding these kinds of operations; I will opine, instead, as to the quality of the songs used.
Frankly, had anyone asked, I could have put the torturers onto much better musical choices, just by selecting from my own "My Music" folder--which left me thinking: "hey, it's the weekend...why not do exactly that?"
Got any psychological warfare mission planned for the weekend? Expecting to have to direct amplified sound at an angry mob in a defensive maneuver Saturday night? Planning a Halloween haunted house that goes a bit...fuurther?
Come along with me then, soldier, and I'll provide you a playlist that should do the trick in almost any foreseeable emergency.
We are now about two weeks away from the November election in Washington State, and one item on the ballot that has national attention is Referendum 71, the so-called "everything but marriage" proposal that would give same-sex couples more rights and protections than they have today.
There has been a lot of conversation about whether it will or won't pass--and a lot of conversation about whether it should pass.
I hope it does, and if you live here I encourage you to vote "yes" November 3rd.
But that said, you may not be aware that Washington has an electoral system in transition, and that as a result of the transition Washington has some idiosyncrasies that will make forecasting the results a bit tougher, and determining the results a bit slower.
We'll talk about that today, and by the time we're done you should have an appreciation of the odd way in which things can work out--and that, absent a landslide, we aren't likely to know the results on Election Day.
So, a local group in Maine has launched an ad targeting Sen. Olympia Snow who represents a state that went for Obama by 58% to 40% of the vote. They also started a national petition to the President to show support for the Public Option. I urge you to sign it and see how we can show the White House that its not ok to play politics with our health care for the appearance of bi-partisanship with the Party of No.
"Every day, insurance companies deny care and let people die. Getting one Republican senator's vote is not worth delaying reform -- too many real lives are at stake. We need you to fight and state clearly that anything less than a strong public option is not change we can believe in." Sign here."
This is a community blog operated by Oklahoma liberals dedicated to taking back this state for the people. A courageous band of true patriots, we fight right-wing tyranny in one of the reddest of red states. Do you want to help by keeping a diary here? Do you want traffic back to your blog? We welcome diaries written by liberals and centrist/ conservative Democrats. Register to the right and start posting. Crossposting is allowed.
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