From the Folks Who Brought Us the Weekend (More about the EFCA)

Hi, everybody--

If I hurry, I'll actually get this posted before midnight!;)

Today I'm in a strong pro-union mood, and I'd like to draw your attention to an eloquent and direct op-ed published in a Portland (Maine) newspaper--with thanks to "Bill in Portland Maine" for the lead. The two pro-union Republicans who wrote it put the case for supporting the Employee Free Choice Act about as effectively as I have ever seen it done. Bottom line: we must work hard to recreate the mindset among the American populace as a whole that "everyone does better when everyone does better" (more or less directly from Jim Hightower). In other words, the true health and stability of our economy are to be gauged by our ability to meet the needs of all people for food, clothing, shelter, healthcare and education, not by the margins of profit obtained by the Fortune 500--and historically we've done better with meeting those needs when we have a respected and active union presence. This is going to be an important piece of legislation for us to secure, and the votes in the Senate are not solid. I'll look up the information for us to be able to do our own follow-up on that and bring it to the meeting on Sunday.

The other article I am going to link to today has a dateline of the 11th, but I just discovered it today. I realize that it's not enough to focus only on the personal shortcomings of particular individuals who advocate for positions that we don't like; that sort of ad hominem strategy is counter-productive in the long run. However, if the conduct of people who are taking a prominent role in the fight to defeat health care reform is arguably corrupt or fraudulent, then I do think it's important to spread the word about how these people really don't have our best interests at heart. That's what this Nation expose of Rick Scott, the new head of a new (misleadingly named) advocacy group, Conservatives for Patients' Rights, accomplishes, by detailing Scott's role as the CEO of Columbia/HCA, at one point the largest for-profit hospital chain in the U.S. Under Scott's leadership, the company defrauded Medicare to such an extent that the charges were settled for $1.7 Billion (with a B). This article reinforces the message that Scott and his ilk ARE NOT to be trusted, and they do NOT act on our behalf.

I'm looking forward to seeing folks on Sunday.
In solidarity,
Catherine